The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1864

History will register the singular contradictors of Spiritism of whom we will give some examples below. We got the ordination of Mr. Bishop of Langres from the Department of Haute-Marne, containing the following passage:



“…Faith, that is what people who call themselves friends of humanity, freedom and progress struggle to remove from the heart of Christian populations at any cost, people that in reality must be taken as the most dangerous enemies of society. It is our duty to warn you, dearest brothers, we that are in charge of watching your souls so that our warnings make you prudent and cautious since such a hateful, broad and dangerous conspiracy has never been seen before and more wisely, that is, more satanically organized against the Catholic faith than the one we see today. It is the conspiracy of secret societies that operate in the shadows in order to annihilate Catholicism if they could; conspiracy of Protestantism that through an active propaganda tries to sneak in everywhere; conspiracy of the rational and anti-Christians philosophers that reject without reason and fight against every reason, the supernatural and the revealed religion and that strive to make their false and dismal doctrine prevail in the literate world; conspiracy of the Spiritist societies that through the practical superstition of the evocation of the dead incite others to engage with the perfidious malice of the spirit of lie and sin; conspiracy of an impious or corrupting literature; conspiracy of the bad journals and books that fearfully propagate in the shadow or under the pretext of a freedom boasted to be the progress of the century as the conquest of what they call modern spirit that is not but an encouragement to the genius of evil, a fair reason for pain of a Catholic nation, a trap and a very imminent danger to all followers of every class that are not sufficiently instructed in matters of religion and whose number is large, unfortunately; finally, conspiracy of that practical materialism that only sees and seeks the interest of the body and the physical well-being; that is not concerned with the soul and its destiny as if it did not exist and whose pernicious example easily seduces and drags the masses. These are, dearest brothers, at first sight, the dangers that faith encounters today etc.”



We are in perfect agreement with Mr. Bishop with respect to the dismal consequences of materialism but it is a surprise to see him confusing in the same reproach materialism that denies everything: the soul, the future, God, the Providence – with Spiritism that comes to fight against materialism and succeeds through the material proofs that are given of the existence of the soul, precisely with the very support of those supposedly superstitious evocations.



Will it be because Spiritism triumphs where the Church is powerless? Would Mr. Bishop share the opinion of that cleric that said from the pulpit: “I prefer to see you out of the Church than with Spiritism” And the other one that said: “I prefer an Atheist that believes nothing than a Spiritist that believes in God and in the soul.” It is an opinion like any other and taste is not to be discussed. Whatever Mr. Bishop’s opinion is about that point we would greatly appreciate his answer to the following two questions: “How come the Church, despite all of its powerful means of making the truth shine to the eyes of everyone, could not stop materialism while Spiritism that was born yesterday converts hardened non-believers on a daily basis? Is the means by which a goal is reached worse than that by which it is not reached?"



Mr. Bishop enumerates a large number of conspiracies that loom against religion. He certainly did not think properly; through such a threatening image he works precisely against his own objective and may even provoke thoughts that are harmful. By hearing him the deduction is that soon the conspirators will be in larger numbers.



Now, what would happen to a State if the whole nation conspired? If religion sees itself attacked by such a large number of flanks that is not a testimony in favor of the sympathies that it finds. By saying that the orthodox faith is endangered is a confession of its argumentations. If it is founded on the absolute truth it must not fear any contrary argument. Sounding the alarm in such a case is a lack of skill.

In a Catechism of perseverance at the Diocese of Langres in regards to the ordination reported above a lesson about Spiritism was given as a matter to be handled by the students. Here is the textual narrative of one of them:



“Spiritism is the works of the devil that invented it. Dealing with Spiritism is the same as to enter into direct contact with the devil. Diabolic superstition! God sometimes allows such things in order to revive the faith of the followers. The devil pretends to be good, sacred, and cites texts of the Scriptures.”



Such a means of reviving the faith seems to be a very bad choice.



“Tertullian that lived in the second century says that they made the goats and tables talk; it is the essence of idolatry. Those satanic operations were rare in certain Christian countries and are very common today. Such demoniac power showed its full shine with the surge of Protestantism.”



These are kids well convinced of the great power of the devil. Isn’t that the case that it should have made them doubt a little bit the power of God when one sees the devil winning so many times?



“Spiritism was born in America at the heart of a Protestant family called Fox. The devil showed up first with scaring knocks. They became impatient and tried to find out about the origin of those knocks. One day Mr. Fox’s daughter started saying: Knock here, knock there and the noises happened where she had ordered.”



Always the excitement against the Protestants! We then have children educated in the hatred against their fellow citizens sometimes members of the same family! Fortunately this is countered by the spirit of tolerance that reigns in our days without which we would see the renovation of the bloody scenes of past centuries.



“That heresy vulgarized soon; it soon counted on five hundred thousand followers. The invisible Spirits were given to do all sorts of things. Just after the request of a simple creature they would move tables covered by hundreds of books; hands without bodies were seen. That is what happened in America and came to France through Spain. Soon the Spirit was forced by God and the angels to acknowledge that it was the devil so that righteous people would not fall in their traps.”



We believe to be well aware of the march followed by Spiritism and never heard that it came to France through Spain. Would that be the case to rectify the history of Spiritism?



From the confession of the adversaries of Spiritism one can see how fast the new idea gained terrain. An idea that has just appeared and conquered five hundred thousand followers is not without value and demonstrates the path that it will follow later on. That is how ten years later one of them increases the number to twenty million in France alone and forecasts that the heresy will soon gain another twenty million (see The Spiritist Review, July 1863). But then if everybody is heretic what is it that will be left to orthodoxy? Wouldn’t that be the case to apply the maxim: When everybody is wrong everybody is right? What would the instructor have answered if a young boy from his juvenile auditorium had framed the following question: how come St. Peter in his first preaching converted only three thousand Jews while Spiritism that is the works of the devil has immediately made five hundred thousand followers? Would Satan be more powerful than God?



He would perhaps have answered: The reason is that they were Protestants.



“Satan says that he is a good Spirit but he is a liar. One day they wanted the table to speak; it did not want to answer and they thought that the presence of a priest precluded that. Finally two knocks were heard warning that the Spirit was there. They asked:

Then there are priests that attend such diabolic sessions? The terrible boy could have asked why, when they come, they do not scare the devil away?



“This is a diabolic scene. Here is what Mr. Allan Kardec said: The lewdness of the mystifying Spirits goes beyond imagination. There was two Spirits, one representing good and the other evil. After a few months one said:

-I am tired of repeating mellow words to you, words that I do not accept.

-You are then the evil Spirit? – A. Yes.

-Talking about God, the virgin and the saints, doesn’t it make you suffer? – A. Yes.

-Do you want good or evil? – A. Evil.

-Aren’t you the Spirit that was speaking before? – A. No.

-Where are you? – A. In hell.

-Do you suffer? – A. Yes.

-Always? – A. Yes.

-Are you submitted to Jesus Christ? – A. No, to Lucifer.

-Is he eternal? – A. No.



This report is undoubtedly dramatic but someone that could demonstrate any involvement from us with such a thing would be very skillful. It is so sad to see what people do convey give faith to others. They forget the fact that these children will grow and think. A faith that is founded on such proofs is right to fear conspiracies.



“We have just seen the evil Spiritism forced to confess what it is. This is another statement written by the pencil in the hands of a medium: - if you want to give yourself to me in soul, Spirit and body I will satisfy your desires; if you want to be with me write your name below mine. He then wrote: Giefle or Satan. The medium then trembled and did not write. Every session ended with these words:



The devil wanted people to cut a deal with him.



-Give me your soul!

-Who are you?

-I am the devil.

-What do you want?





What will those children say when they witness some evocations and instead of a deal with the hellish the hear this from the Spirits: “Love God above all and your neighbor as yourselves; practice the charity taught by Christ; be good to all even to your enemies; pray to God and follow the commandments so that you may be happy in this world and in the next”?



“All of those prodigies, all of those extraordinary things come from the Spirits of darkness. Mr. Home, an eager Spiritist, tell us that the ground sometimes shakes under his feet, apartment buildings tremble, people shiver; an invisible hand touches your knee and shoulders; a table jumps. People then ask:

-Are you there? –A. Yes.



And the table lifts twice!”



Once more all that is very dramatic. However among the listeners more than one has undoubtedly wished to see that and will not miss the first opportunity. Susceptible young ladies of a delicate built will also be found, some that before the slightest sway will see the hand of the devil and will feel ill.



“All these things are ridiculous. The sacred Church, the mother of all of us, makes us see that it is all just a lie.”





If all that is ridiculous and deceptive why then giving so much importance to that? Why scaring the children with scenes that have nothing of real? If there is lie isn’t that in those very images?



“For example, the evocation of the dead. We cannot believe that it is our relatives that are talking to us; it is Satan speaking and going by the name of a dead person. We are certainly in communication through the communion of the saints. We have examples of apparitions of the dead in the life of the saints but that is a rare miracle of the divine wisdom. Here what is said: Demons sometimes manifest as if they were dead people and sometimes as if they were saints.”

“Sometimes” is not the same as always hence it may happen that the communicating Spirit is not a demon.

“They can do many other things. One day a medium that could not draw reproduced the image of Jesus Christ and the Saint Virgin having the hand led by a Spirit; the images were presented to some of our best artists and were considered worthy of being exposed.”

On hearing that one student might think: Ah if a Spirit could guide my hand to do my homework and win an award! Let us try!

“Saul consulted with the medium of Endor and God allowed Samuel to appear to him to say: Why do you bother me in my sleep? Tomorrow you will be with me in the tomb. Our Sauls of theater could well think about this story. St. Philip Neri says: If the Saint Virgin or even Jesus Christ shows up spit on their faces because it would just be a deception of the devil to induce you in error.”

What is then the meaning of the apparition of the Hail Lady of La Salette to two poor children? According to this instruction of catechism she should have been spat on the face.

“Our Saint Father Pope Pius IX expressly prohibited these things. Mr. Bishop of Langres and many others did the same. Life is at risk. Two old men committed suicide because the Spirits had told them that they would enjoy eternal happiness after death. Danger to reason. Several mediums went mad and in a psychiatric home there was more than forty that went crazy.”

We still don’t know the papal bull that expressly prohibits to get involved with such things. If it did exist Mr. Bishop of Langres and the others would not have failed to mention it. The story about the two old men that was mentioned is inaccurate. It was proved through official documents presented to the court and notably through letters written by them before their death that they were committing suicide for lack of money and their fear of becoming miserable (see The Spiritist Review, April 1863). The story of forty persons in a psychiatric homes is truer. It would be very difficult to justify by the name of those pretense mad persons that a first newspaper indicated to be four, a second one forty, a third one four hundred and a fifth said that they were working in the amplification of the home. An instructor of catechism should collect his historical information from another source other than gossips from newspapers.

The children have confidence in stories that are told seriously. However the stronger the confidence the greater the contrary reaction later on when they get to know the truth. This is said generally and not only with respect to Spiritism. If we analyze the work of that young man let it be clear that it is not the opinion of a child that we refute but the one that constitutes the summary of the narrative. If all instructions of that kind were carefully investigated we would be less surprised by the fruits that are picked up later on. It is necessary a lot of care and experience to educate children since we cannot imagine the reach of a single imprudent word that like a bad weed germinates in those young imaginations like in a virgin soil.

As it seems the adversaries of Spiritism don’t think it is too spread yet. One could say that they are imperceptibly impelled to engineer means of propagating it ever further. After the sermons whose result is well-known we could not find a more efficient way of doing that than turning it into homework of lessons of catechism. The sermons act upon the departing generations. The lessons above act upon the newcomers. We would be wrong to assess them negatively.

The following report is a textual transcription of an original letter that we hold in our hands.

“Viviers, April 10^th 1741.

No one in this world, my dear de Noailles, can tell you better than I can about everything that took place in Sister Mary’s cell and if the description you gave made us face ridicule in our town I want to share that with you. The power of truth will always make me face the fear of being taken by a visionary and an excessively believer. Therefore this is a summary of everything that I saw and heard during the four nights that I spent there together with more than forty people, all of them trustworthy. I will only mention the most remarkable events.

On March 23^rd, the day of the Annunciation, I heard rumors that for three days a lot of noise was coming from Sister Mary’s cell; that the two Sisters from St. Domingo that live with her were so much horrified that they had sent for Father Chambon from St. Laurent; that when he arrived one hour past midnight to that cell he heard paintings knocking on walls, a basin with holy water moving around noisily and a chair that was placed in the middle of the room taken down six times. I confess, Sir, that after hearing those things I couldn’t help it and made fun of that. All the devotees were subjected to my criticism and since then I decided to spend the night following that Sister Mary, well persuaded that it would all be quiet in my presence or that I would discover the trickery.

I then in fact went to that home about 9 pm. I questioned many Sisters and in particular Sister Mary that seemed to be aware of the cause of all those noises but did not want to tell us. I then proceed to a very careful search of her room. I looked over and below her bed, the walls and paintings. Everything was examined very carefully and since I found nothing that could explain those noises I ordered that the room was cleared and that I was the only one authorized to return there. I then accommodated myself near the fireplace in a neighboring room; I left the door to the cell opened and placed a candle by the door sill so that from my place I could see almost the whole cell and a chair that I had left near the bed. At about 10 pm Mr. d’Entrevaux and Mr. Archambaud joined me and with them two other artisans from our town.

Around 11:30 pm I heard the chair moving and promptly ran to the room. Having found it down I lifted it and put it further from the patient’s bed since I did not want to lose the sight of the chair. Mr. d’Entrevaux and Mr. Archambaud did the same and soon after we saw it moving for the second time; the basin of holy water near the bed of Sister Mary at a height that could not be reached by her jingled several times and a painting knocked the wall three times. At that time I went to speak to the patient. I found her extremely depressed and from there she fell ill, losing consciousness and the control of her senses but the hearing. I attended her as a doctor myself; she soon recovered her senses with the application of lavender water. We heard the same noises every fifteen minutes and since the paintings were always found in the same condition I ordered the noisy one to knock three times and flip the painting; at that point I was obeyed. Sometime later I ordered that the painting should be flipped back and had the second proof that my orders were obeyed.

I noticed that the only noisy things in the cell were the chair, two paintings and the basin with holy water so that I had them removed. The noise then moved over to the images that we heard dragging several times and a small crucifix that was hanging on a nail on the wall. We made no secret about everything that we saw and heard and leave you to consider if I was not tricked in my vision. I induced the most skeptical persons into believing. We went there three nights in a role and that is what seemed remarkable to me. I only reported certain facts for it would take long to describe all the details. It should be enough to tell you that Messrs. Digoine, Bonfils, d’Entrevaux, Chambon, Faure, Allier, Aoust, Grange, Bouron, Bonnier, Fontenès, Robert and many others witnessed all that.

“The rumor around town was that Sister Mary could be the good actress of that comedy and that had changed the good opinion I had about her; I wanted even to be suspicious of foul play and although she is paralyzed as attested by our doctor and all of those that approach her and that ensure us that she hasn’t moved for over three years, not even her head, I wanted to admit that she could move and with such a hypothesis, Sir, here is how I proceeded: For two or three days in a role I went to the Sister’s home at 9 pm and forewarned her about the actions that I was taking to avoid being deceived and that in the presence of five or six of the gentlemen mentioned above. I had her tucked in in her own clothes. She was placed and attached to her bed like a one month old child in her crib. I also employed two pieces of paper and placed them on her chest in the form of a cross so that she could not make any move without disarranging them.

That day she had told Father Chambon and Father David about the mystery; Father Chambon is her guide in the absence of Mr. Bishop, and Father David is the director of our Seminary. The former asked her and she allowed him to tell us about the causes of all those noises. In confidence she told me that it was a suffering soul whose name she mentioned and that with God’s permission came to have her punishments mitigated. I then duly informed about the mistake did not allow anybody in that cell. That night it was eight of us, everyone determined to not believe anything. Around 11pm the paintings and basin were heard. Next Mr. Digoine and I moved to the door with a light in hand. It must be noted that the cell is small, that I could reach all walls reaching out with my hands, standing in the middle of the room. As soon as we got there the painting knocked on the wall. We moved fast and found the painting stationary and the patient in the same position. We returned to our post and heard the painting making a second noise; we rushed back and saw the painting flipping around over the bed. I placed it by the window. A moment later and it knocked three times in front of all those gentlemen. Wanting to be convinced about the truth of the story told by Sister Mary I ordered the suffering Spirit to take the crucifix from the wall and put it on the chest of the patient. It was immediately obeyed. All of those persons that were with me witnessed that. I then ordered to have the crucifix put back on its original place and the basin moved with noise. It was obeyed again and since I had taken the precaution of moved the basin to a place that could be seen by all we all saw and heard the movement. Since those signs were not good enough to convince me I requested other proofs. I then moved a table next to the bed and told the suffering Spirit that we would in good faith offer her our vows and prayers but she would need to knock on that table as many times as the number of masses she wanted us to give in her favor and that the sacrifice of the mass was the safest to alleviate her pain. She knocked immediately and we heard thirty three. We then organized ourselves to proceed accordingly and while we talked the paintings, the basin and the crucifix knocked all at the same time with a noise that was higher than ever before.



It was 2 am when I sent for Father Chambon that witnessed everything that we had told him since the thirty three knocks were repeated in his presence. Father Chambon then asked to have the crucifix transported to a certain chair. We soon heard a noise from that chair and saw the crucifix under the bed near the chair. I had Canon Digoine, Father Chambon and Father Robert hiding around the cell to keep an eye and see if they could detect something. They heard two different voices in the patient’s bed. The voice of the patient was very distinctive and asking many questions; as for the other one they could not distinguish the response since it spoke in a very lower and fast tone. Those gentlemen passed that information to me and when asked Sister Mary confirmed the fact.

I proposed to them to say a De Profundis for the relief of the sufferings of that soul and when the prayer was over the chair dropped, the paintings knocked and the basin jingled. I told the Spirit that we would say five The Lord’s Prayer and five Hail Mary to honor the five ulcers of our Lord Jesus and that I ordered her to knock the chair down once more and with more force to demonstrate that the prayers pleased her. As soon as we kneeled the chair fell forward lifted in the air and fell backwards, before our eyes.

When I saw the kindness of that Spirit and the readiness to obey I thought I could try everything. I place 40 coins of silver on the bed of the patient and ordered to have them counted. We immediately heard the count on a glass that I had placed nearby. I took the coins and put them on the table. I ordered the same thing that was soon obeyed again. I then placed a shield of six francs and asked to have the number of masses counted with that. The Spirit knocked on the wall 33 times with the shield.

I then called Father Digoine, Father Bonfils and Father d’Entrevaux to the cell, drew the curtains and placed a candle on the bed, asking the Spirit to knock and tell us the number of masses. The four of us saw Sister Mary always lying in bed in the same condition, without a movement and with the pieces of paper in the form of a cross on her chest, and we heard the 33 knocks on the wall. It is necessary to note that the adjacent cell by this wall was empty. We had been careful enough to remove anything and anybody that could bring us any doubt.

Finally, Sir, I tried something else. I wrote the following words in a piece of paper: I command you, suffering soul, to tell us who you are for our consolation and for the satisfaction of our faith. Write your name on this paper or, at least, make a mark and from that we will know the need that you have of our prayers. I then put that text under the patient’s bed with an inkpot and a pen. A moment later and I heard the basin jingle. We all rushed at the same time and found the paper with the crucifix on top. I then ordered to have the crucifix taken back to its place and a mark left on the paper. We said the Hail Mary prayer and when finished we saw the crucifix in its place and the piece of paper with two crosses made with the pen. Father Chambon that was near the bed heard the noise of the pen on the paper. I could tell you many other equally remarkable facts but the detail would require a lot of time.

You will undoubtedly ask, my dear Sir, what my thoughts are about such adventure. I will make my profession of faith. I first establish that what I saw and heard has a cause. The paintings, the chair, the basin, etc. are animated things that cannot move on their own. What is then the cause that made them move? It must necessarily be natural or supernatural. If it is natural it must be Sister Mary since she was the only one there. I cannot consider the hypothesis of springs being used to generate the noises because we examined everything with maximum care even disassembling the paintings and even if a single hair were responsible for the basin or chair we would have noticed. Now, I say that Sister Mary was not the cause. She did not want, or better, she could not deceive us. She did not want because a young lady with the smell of sanctity, a young lady whose life is a continuous miracle that hardly eat or drink for three years and only stones come out of her body; a woman that is suffering for six year always with a remarkable patience and that only opens her mouth to pray and that shows the deepest humility; is it possible, I ask, that she may have wanted to deceive us by forcing the public, her Bishop and confessor and to a number of priests to question her? We found a marvelous consistency in everything that she said; never the slightest contradiction that is the unique character of truth since lies would not sustain it. I don’t believe the martyrs have suffered more than this saint young lady. There are times when her body is a sole ulcer; blood and pus come out of her ears and sometimes long worms are taken from her nostrils. She suffers continually and asks God to make her suffer. A wonderful thing is that every year during East she has bloody vomit collected and after that she receives the Sacred Viaticum and an instant later she is totally shut down. That is what happened last Wednesday.

I then say that she could not deceive us. She has no condition to do anything since she is paralyzed, as I said, and a young lady from our town was completely convinced when she pierced her thigh with a needle. In fact you can attest the precautions we took. We tied her up with her clothes and frequently kept her under our eyes. Hence it is not her. What can you tell me then? It is easy to find the consequence of everything that I have the honor to report to you.

Signed: Abbot de Saint-Ponc, Cannon Presenter.”

OBSERVATION: There is an evident analogy between these events and those of the Rapping Spirit of Bergzabern and Dibblesdorf reported in the Spiritist Review May, June, July and August 1858, with the exception that in this case there was nothing malevolent about the Spirit. They are attested by a man whose character cannot be suspicious and that did not observe them lightheartedly. If, like some intend, it is only the devil that manifests, how come it would be near a lady that smells sanctity? It is noticeable that she was not afraid or tormented; she knew herself, and the experiments demonstrated, that it was a suffering soul. If it is not the devil than do other souls can communicate?

There are two things that hold a particular analogy with what we see today. To begin with the first thought is that there is deception from the part of the person that is involved with the phenomena, despite the material impossibilities that sometimes occur. In the moral and physical situation of that lady it is hard to believe that there was suspicion of a game in the minds of the other Sisters. The second aspect is more important. If some of the phenome took place before the eyes of the persons that were present the majority occurred when they were next door when showing their backs or in the absence of direct light like frequently observed in our days. What is the reason for that? That is not yet sufficiently explained. Since those phenomena have a material and not supernatural cause, it could be the case that like in certain chemical reactions diffuse light would be more favorable to the action of fluids utilized by the Spirit. Spiritual Physics is still in its infancy.