Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1868

January

Looking Back

The year 1867 had been announced as having to be particularly fruitful for Spiritism, and this forecast was fully realized. It has seen several books published, that without bearing its name, popularize its principles, and among which we will recall Mirette, by Mr. Sauvage; The novel of the future, by Mr. Bonnemère; God in nature, by Mr. Camille Flammarion; The Reason for Spiritism, by Judge Bonnamy is an event in the archives of the doctrine, because the flag is there, highly and courageously raised by a man whose name, rightly esteemed and considered, is an authority, at the same time that his work is a protest against the epithets with which criticism generally gratifies the followers of the idea. The Spiritists have all appreciated this book, as it deserves, and they have understood its significance. It is an authoritative response to certain attacks; thus, we think that they will consider it a duty to propagate it in the interest of the doctrine.



If the year only had these results, we should be congratulated; but it produced more effective ones. The number of officially known societies or groups has not noticeably increased, it is true; it has rather diminished, because of the intrigues stirred to undermine them, by introducing elements of dissolution; but, on the other hand, the number of private or family gatherings has increased dramatically.



It is also well-known to everyone, and by the admission of our adversaries, that the Spiritist ideas have gained considerable ground, as attested by the author of the work that we report below. They infiltrate through a multitude of openings; everything contributes to that; things that seemed most foreign to them, at first sight, are how these ideas come to light. This is because Spiritism touches on such many issues, that it is very difficult to tackle anything without seeing the emergence of a Spiritist thought, so much so that even in refractory circles, these ideas hatch in one form or another, like those colorful plants that grow through stones. And as in these circles Spiritism is generally rejected, out of a spirit of prevention, without knowing what it is saying, it is not surprising that, when the Spiritist thoughts appear there, they are not recognized, and then they are acclaimed because they find them good, without suspecting that it is Spiritism.



Contemporary literature, large or small, serious, or otherwise, sows these ideas in profusion; it is enameled with it, and all that is missing is the name. If one brought together all the Spiritist thoughts that run the world, one would constitute the complete Spiritism. This is a considerable fact, and one of the most characteristic of the year that has just passed. It proves that each of us possesses some elements of it, in the state of intuition, and that between its antagonists and itself, there is usually only a question of words. Those that repel it with full knowledge of cause are those that have an interest in fighting it.



But then, how to get to make it known, to overcome these prejudices? This is the work of time. It is necessary that the circumstances lead to that naturally, and one can count on the Spirits for that, who know how to bring them to birth at the appropriate time. These circumstances are particular or general. The former act on individuals and the others on the masses. The latter, by their repercussion, have the effect of mines that remove some fragments of the rock, with each explosion.



Let each Spiritist work on his own, without being discouraged by the little importance of the result obtained individually and think that, by accumulating grains of sand, we form a mountain.



Among the material facts that have been reported this year, the healings of Zouave Jacob hold the first rank; they had an impact that everyone knows; and although Spiritism only figured incidentally, general attention was, nonetheless, keenly drawn to one of the most serious phenomena that is directly connected. These facts, produced in common conditions, without a mystical apparatus, not by a single individual but by several, have by that very fact, lost the miraculous character that had been attributed to them up until now; they have returned, like so many others, to the domain of the natural phenomena. Among those that rejected them as miracles, many became less absolute in the denial of the fact, and admitted their possibility, as the result of a unknown law of nature; it was a first step on a path fruitful in consequences, and more than one skeptic was shaken. Admittedly, not everyone was convinced, but there was a lot of talk; this resulted in a great number of people having a deep impression that much more food for thought than one thinks; they are seeds that, if they do not yield an abundant harvest immediately, are not lost for the future.



Mr. Jacob remains drawn back in absolute terms; we do not know the reasons for his abstention and whether he should resume his sessions. If there is intermittence in his faculty, as often happens in similar cases, it would be a proof that it does not hold exclusively to his person, and that there is something, an independent will outside the individual.



But one will say, why such a suspension, if the production of these phenomena was an advantage to the doctrine? Things having been carried out with a wisdom that has not wavered so far, it must be assumed that those leading the movement have deemed the effect sufficient for the moment, and that it was useful to give some break to the effervescence; but the idea has been launched, and we can be sure that it will not remain a dead letter.



In short, as we can see, the year has been a good one for Spiritism; its phalanxes recruited serious men whose opinion is held for something, in a certain world. Our correspondence indicates, from almost everywhere, a general movement of opinion towards these ideas, and oddly enough in this positive century, those that gain most ground are the philosophical ideas, much more than the material facts of manifestation that many people still insist on rejecting. So, given the larger number, the best way to proselytize is to start with philosophy, and that is understandable. Being the fundamental ideas latent in most, it suffices to awaken them; we understand them because we have the seeds of them in ourselves, while the facts, to be accepted and understood, demand a study and observations that many do not want to bother to carry out.



Also, the quackery that seized the facts to exploit them for its profit, discredited them in the opinion of certain people, by giving space to criticism; this could not be the case with philosophy, that was not so easy to counterfeit, and that, moreover, is not an exploitable material.



Quackery, by its nature, is turbulent and intriguing, otherwise it would not be quackery. Critics, who generally do not care to go to the bottom of the well to seek the truth, have seen quackery all over, striving to give it the label of Spiritism; hence, a prevention that fades away against this word, as true Spiritism is better known, for there is no one who, having studied it seriously, confuses it with the grotesque Spiritism of fantasy, that lightheartedness or malice try to substitute. It is a reaction in this sense that has presented itself in recent times.



The principles that propagate more easily are those of the plurality of inhabited worlds and the plurality of existences, or reincarnation; the first can be considered as admitted without dispute by science and by unanimous assent, even in the materialist camp; the second is in the state of intuition in a multitude of individuals in whom it is an innate belief; it finds many sympathies, as a rational principle of philosophy, even outside Spiritism. It is an idea that smiles to many nonbelievers because they immediately find in it the solution of difficulties that had led them to doubt. Also, this belief tends to popularize more and more. But for anyone who thinks about it, these two principles have forced consequences that lead directly to Spiritism. We can, therefore, look at the progress of these ideas as a first step towards the doctrine since they are an integral part of it.



The press, that without knowing it, undoubtedly suffers the influence of the diffusion of the Spiritist ideas, because they even spread in its center, abstains in general, if not out of sympathy, at least out of prudence; it is already noticeable that speaking of the Davenports is not tasteful any more. One would even say that it avoids talking about questions of Spiritualism; if, from time to time, it launches a few spikes against its followers, they are like the last charges lost in a bouquet of fireworks; but there is no longer that rolling fire of invectives that used to hear, barely two years ago. Although it made almost as much noise as Mr. Jacob, regarding the Davenports, its language was quite different, and it should be noted that the name of Spiritism figured only very incidentally in the controversy.



In examining the situation, we must not only consider the great ostensible movements, but we must also, above all, consider the intimate state of opinion and the causes that may influence it. As we have said elsewhere, if we observe attentively what is happening in the world, we will recognize that a host of facts, apparently foreign to Spiritism, seem to come on purpose to clear its way. It is in all the circumstances that we must look for the real signs of progress. From this point of view, the situation is, therefore, as satisfactory as one can wish. Should we conclude that the opposition is disarmed, and that things will now go smoothly? Let us refrain from believing it and falling asleep in a deceptive security. The future of Spiritism is unquestionably assured, and one would have to be blind to doubt it; but its worst days have not passed; it has not yet received the baptism that blesses all the great ideas. The Spirits are unanimous in warning us against an inevitable but necessary struggle, in order to prove its invulnerability and its power; it will come out bigger and stronger; it is only then that it will conquer its place in the world, for those who will want to overthrow it will have prepared its triumph. May the sincere and devoted Spiritists strengthen themselves through union and merge into a holy communion of thoughts. Let us remember the parable of the ten virgins and let us be careful not to be caught off guard.



We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to our Spiritist brothers who, as in previous years, on the renewal of subscriptions to the Spiritist Review, give us new testimonies of their affectionate sympathy; we are happy with the pledges of their dedication to the sacred cause that we all defend, and that is that of humanity and progress. To those who tell us: courage! we say that we will never back down from any of the necessities of our position, however harsh they may be. May they count on us as we count on them, in finding in them, on the day of victory, the soldiers of the day before, and not the soldiers of the next day.

Spiritism before history and before the Church, its origin, its nature, its certainty, its dangers

By Abbot Poussin, Professor at the Nice Seminary

This work is a refutation of Spiritism from a religious point of view; it is, without a doubt, one of the most complete and best done that we know. It is written with moderation and decorum and is not soiled by the coarse epithets to which most of the controversialists of the same party have accustomed us; there, no furious declarations, no outrageous personalisms; it is the very principle that is being discussed. We may not agree with the author, find that the conclusions he draws from his premises are of questionable logic; say that after having demonstrated, for example, with the proofs in hand, that the sun shines at noon, he is wrong to conclude that it must be night, but we will not reproach him for the lack of civility in the form.



The first part of the work is devoted to the history of Spiritism, in antiquity and in the Middle Ages; this part is rich in documents drawn from sacred and secular authors, attesting to laborious research and serious study. It is a job that we intended to do one day, and we are happy that Father Poussin spared us this trouble.



In the second part, entitled: Doctrinal Part, the author, discussing the facts he has just cited, including current facts, concludes, from the infallibility of the Church and his own arguments, that all magnetic and Spiritist phenomena are the work of the devil. It is an opinion like any other, and respectable when it is sincere. Now, we believe in the sincerity of Mr. Poussin's convictions, although we do not have the honor of knowing him. What we can reproach him for is invoking only the opinion of known opponents of Spiritism, in favor of his thesis, as well as the doctrines and allegations that he disavows. One would seek in vain in this book any mention to the fundamental works, nor a direct refutation to the answers that were given to the contradictory allegations. In short, he does not discuss the doctrine properly called; he does not take their hand-to-hand arguments to crush them under the weight of a more rigorous logic.


We can, moreover, find it strange that, in order to combat Spiritism, Father Poussin leans on the opinion of men known by their materialistic ideas, such as Messrs. Littré and Figuier; he especially quoted the latter, who stood out more by his contradictions than by his logic. These gentlemen, by fighting the principle of Spiritism, by denying the cause of the psychic phenomena, consequently, denying the principle of spirituality; they therefore undermine the basis of religion for which they do not have great sympathy, as we know. By invoking their opinion, the choice is not a fortunate one; one could even say that it is clumsy, because it excites the faithful to read writings that are nothing orthodox. Seeing him draw from such sources, one might think that he did not judge the others sufficiently preponderant.



Father Poussin does not dispute any of the Spiritist phenomena; he virtually proves their existence by the authentic facts that he cites, and that he draws indifferently from sacred as well as from pagan history. By bringing them together, one cannot help it by recognize their analogy; Now, in good logic, from the similarity of effects one must conclude that the causes are similar. However, Mr. Poussin concludes that the same facts are miraculous and of divine source in some cases, and diabolic in others.



Men who profess the same beliefs as Mr. Figuier also have two opinions on these same facts: they deny them outright and attribute them to juggling; as for those that are proven, they endeavor to relate them only to the laws of matter. Ask them what they think of the miracles of Christ: they will tell you that they are legendary facts, tales made up for the sake of the cause, or the products of excited and delirious imaginations.



Spiritism, it is true, does not recognize a supernatural character in psychic phenomena; it explains them by the faculties and attributes of the soul, and since the soul is in nature, it considers them as natural effects, produced by virtue of special laws, hitherto unknown, and that Spiritism reveals. These phenomena, being accomplished before our eyes, under identical conditions, accompanied by the same circumstances, and through the intervention of individuals who have nothing exceptional, it concludes that there is the possibility of those that have happened in earlier times, and this by the same natural cause.



Spiritism is not addressed to people who are convinced of the existence of these phenomena, and who are perfectly free to see miracles in them, if that is their opinion, but to those who deny them, precisely because of the miraculous nature that they want to give them. By proving that these facts are supernatural only in appearance, it makes them accepted by those who rejected them. The Spiritists were overwhelmingly recruited from among the unbelievers, and yet today there is not a single one that denies the facts accomplished by Christ; now, which is better to believe in the existence of these facts, without the supernatural, or not to believe in them at all? Aren’t those who admit them, in any capacity, closer to you than those who reject them completely? As soon as the fact is admitted, it only remains to prove its miraculous source, that should be easier, if this source is real, than when the fact itself is contested.



Mr. Poussin, to fight Spiritism, relying on the authority of those that reject even the spiritual principle, would he be one of those who claim that absolute disbelief is preferable to the faith acquired by Spiritism?



We quote in full the preface to Mr. Poussin's book, that we will follow with some thoughts:



“Spiritism, it must be admitted, involves the whole of society as in an immense network, and through its prophets, its oracles, its books and its journalism, strives to undermine the Catholic Church. If he has done us the service of overturning the materialist theories of the eighteenth century, it gives us, in exchange, a new revelation, that undermines from the base the whole edifice of the Christian revelation. And yet, by a strange phenomenon, or better, because of ignorance and the fascination aroused by curiosity, how many Catholics play with Spiritism every day, without worrying about its dangers! It is quite true that the spirits are still divided on the essence and even on the reality of Spiritism, and it is probably because of these uncertainties, that the majority believes in being able to form their own conscience and to use Spiritism as a curious amusement. Nevertheless, deep in timorous and delicate souls, there is great anxiety. How many times have we not heard these never-ending questions: "tell us the truth: what is Spiritism? What is its origin? Do you believe in this genealogy that would like to link the phenomena of Spiritism to ancient magic? Do you admit the weird facts of magnetism and turntables? Do you believe in the intervention of Spirits and in the evocation of souls, in the role of angels or demons? Is it allowed to question the turntables, to consult the Spiritists?



What do theologians and bishops think about all these questions? ... Has the Roman Church made any decisions, etc., etc.? These questions, that still ring in our ears, inspired the thought of this book, that aims to answer them all, within the limits of our forces. Also, to be more sure and more convincing, we never affirm anything, without a serious authority, and do not decide anything that the bishops and Rome have not decided. Among those who have specially studied these subjects, some reject outright all the extraordinary facts that Spiritism attributes to itself. Others, while devoting a large part to hallucinations and charlatanism, recognize that it is impossible not to admit certain inexplicable and unexplained phenomena, as irreconcilable with the general teachings of the natural sciences, as disconcerting to human reason; however, they seek to interpret them, either by certain mysterious laws of physiology, or by the intervention of the great soul of nature, of which ours is only an emanation, etc.



Several Catholic writers, forced to admit the facts, finding the natural solution sometimes impossible and the absurd pantheist explanation, do not hesitate to recognize, in certain facts of Spiritism, the direct intervention of the devil. For these, Spiritism is only the continuation of this pagan magic that appears in all history, since the magicians of the Pharaoh, the pythoness of Endor, the oracles of Delphi, the prophecies of sibyls and diviners, to the diabolic possessions of the Gospel and to the extraordinary and observed phenomena of contemporary magnetism.


The Church has not pronounced on speculative discussions; it abandons the historical question of the origins of Spiritism and the psychological question of its mysterious agents, to the futile dispute of men. Serious theologians, bishops and private doctors have supported these latter opinions; officially, Rome neither approves nor criticizes them. But if the Church has kept cautiously silent on the theories, she has raised her voice in practical matters, and in the presence of uncertainties of reason, she signals dangers to conscience. A curious science and even innocent in itself can, because of frequent abuses, become a source of perils; Rome also condemned, as dangerous for morals, certain practices and certain abuses of magnetism, of which the Spiritists themselves do not conceal the serious inconveniences. What is more, some bishops have thought it their duty to prohibit their diocesans, and in any event, as superstitious and dangerous for morals and for the faith, not only the abuses of magnetism, but the use of interrogating the turning tables.



For us, in the speculative question, put in the presence of those who see the demon everywhere and those who see him nowhere, we wanted, by keeping our distance from the two pitfalls, to study the historical origins of Spiritism, to examine the certainty of the facts and to impartially discuss the psychological and pantheistic systems by which they want to interpret everything. Obviously, when we refute several of these systems, we do not pretend to impose our own thoughts on anyone, although the authorities on which we rely seem to us to be of the highest seriousness. Separating from free opinions all that is of faith, such as the existence of angels and demons, demonic possessions and obsessions of the Gospel, the legitimacy and power of exorcisms in the Church, etc., we leave to everyone the right, not to deny the voluntary trade between men and the devil, that would be rash, says Father Perronne, and would lead to historical pyrrhonism; but we recognize that every Catholic has the right to not see in Spiritism the intervention of the devil, if our arguments seem more specious than solid, and if reason and a more careful study of the facts prove the opposite.



As to the practical question, we do not recognize our right to absolve what Rome condemns; and if a few souls still hesitated, we would simply refer them to Roman decisions, to the episcopal prohibitions, and even to the theological decisions that we reproduce in their entirety.



The plan of this book is quite simple: the first part, or historical part, after providing the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and the tradition of all peoples, on the existence and the role of the Spirits, it initiates us in the most important facts of Spiritism or magic, from the origin of the world to the present day.



The second, or doctrinal part, exposes and discusses the various imagined systems to discover the true agent of Spiritism; after having specified, as best we can, the teaching of the Catholic theology, on the general intervention of the Spirits, and given free rein to free opinions on the mysterious agent of modern magic, we point out to the faithful the dangers of Spiritism to the faith, to manners and even to health or life.



May these pages, by showing the peril, complete the good that others have started! … Needless to add that, docile children of the Church, we condemn in advance everything that Rome could disapprove.”



Father Poussin recognizes two things: (1) that Spiritism involves, as in an immense network, the whole of society; (2) that it has rendered the Church the service of overturning the materialist theories of the eighteenth century. Let us see what consequences emerge from these two facts.



As we have said, the majority of followers of Spiritism are recruited among the unbelievers; indeed, ask the supporters what they believed in before being Spiritists; nine-tenth of them will answer that they believed in nothing, or at least that they doubted everything; to them, the existence of the soul was a hypothesis, desirable no doubt, but uncertain; the future life was a chimera; Christ was a myth or at most a philosopher; God, if he existed, had to be unjust, cruel and partial, reason why they liked so much to believe that he did not exist.



Today they believe, and their faith is unshakeable, because it is based on evidence and demonstration, and satisfies their reason; the future is no longer a hope, but a certainty, because they see the spiritual life manifesting itself before their eyes; they do not doubt it any more than they doubt the sunrise. It is true that they do not believe in demons, nor in the eternal flames of hell, but on the other hand they firmly believe in a supremely just, good and merciful God; they do not believe that evil comes from him, who is the source of all good, nor from demons, but from man's own imperfections; that if man reforms himself, evil will no longer exist; and that to conquer oneself is to conquer the demon; such is the faith of the Spiritists, and the proof of its power is that they strive to become better, to tame their evil inclinations, and to put into practice the maxims of Christ, seeing all men as brothers, without regard to races, castes, or sects, forgiving their enemies, paying back evil with good, following the example of the divine model.



Who should Spiritism have the easiest access to? It is not on those who had faith and for whom this faith was sufficient, who asked for nothing and needed nothing; but on those who lacked faith. Like Christ, it went to the sick and not to the healthy; to those who are hungry and not to those who are full; now, the sick are the ones who are tortured by the anguish of doubt and disbelief.



And what has Spiritism done to entice them? Has it used a lot of advertising? Has it gone preaching the doctrine in public places? Was it by violating the consciences? Not at all, for these means are those of weakness, and if it had used them, it would have shown that it doubted its moral power. Its invariable rule, according to the law of charity taught by Christ, is not to constrain anyone, to respect all convictions; it contented himself with stating its principles, developing in its writings the bases on which its beliefs are based, allowing to come those that wished so; if many have come, it is because it has suited many, and many have found in it what they had not found elsewhere. As it mainly recruited among the unbelievers, if it embraced the world in a few years, this proves that the unbelievers, and those who are not satisfied with what they are given, are numerous, because one is only attracted to something that is better than what one has. We have said it a hundred times: Do they want to fight Spiritism? May they give something better than it does.


You recognize, Mr. Abbot, that Spiritism has rendered the Church the service of overturning the materialist theories; it is a great result, no doubt, and of which it prides itself; but how did it get it? Precisely with the help of those means that you call diabolical, with the material proofs that it gives of the soul and of the future life; it is with the manifestations of the Spirits that it confused skepticism, and that it will triumph definitively. And you say that this service is the work of Satan? But then you shouldn't blame him so much, since he himself destroys the barrier that held back those he had dominated. Remember Christ's response to the Pharisees, who spoke the same language to him, accusing him of healing the sick and casting out demons through demons. Remember also the words of Mgr. Frayssinous, bishop of Hermopolis, on this subject, in his lectures on religion: “Certainly, a demon who would seek to destroy the reign of vice, in order to establish that of virtue, would be a strange demon, for he would destroy himself."



If this result obtained by Spiritism is the work of Satan, how is it that the Church gave him the credit for it and that she did not obtain it herself; that she let disbelief pervade society? It was not, however, the means of action that she lacked; doesn’t she have immense staff and material resources? The sermons, from the capitals to the smallest villages? The pressure it exerts on the consciences, by confession? The horror of the eternal punishments? The religious instruction that follows the child during the whole course of their education? The prestige of the worshiping ceremonies and their seniority? How is it that a doctrine that has barely emerged, that has no priests, no temples, no worship, no preaching; that has been fought to the limit by the Church, calumniated, persecuted as were the first Christians, has brought, in such a short time, to the faith and to the belief in immortality, such a great number of unbelievers? It was not very difficult, however, since most people only needed to read a few books to see their doubts vanish.



Draw from there all the consequences you like; but agree that if this is the work of the devil, he did what you yourselves could not do, and that he did your work.



What testifies against Spiritism, you will undoubtedly say, is that it does not use the same arguments to convince as you do, and that if it triumphs over incredulity, it does not completely lead to you.



But Spiritism does not pretend to side with you or with anyone else; it does its business, and as it sees fit. In good faith, do you believe that if incredulity were resistant to your arguments, Spiritism would have succeeded by using them? If one doctor does not cure a sick person with a remedy, will another doctor cure him with the same remedy?



Spiritism does not seek to bring unbelievers back into the absolute fold of Catholicism any more than into that of any other cult. By making them accept the bases common to all religions, it destroys the main obstacle, and makes them go halfway; it is up to each one to do the rest, as far as it is concerned; those that fail give clear evidence of helplessness.



From the moment when the Church recognizes the existence of all the facts of manifestation on which Spiritism is based; when she claim them for herself, as divine miracles; that there is between the facts that take place in the two camps a complete analogy regarding the effects, an analogy that Mr. Abbot Poussin demonstrates, with the latest evidence and supporting documents, by bringing them up, so that everything boils down to knowing whether it is God who acts on one side and the devil on the other; it is a question of person; now, when two people do exactly the same thing, we conclude that they are both equally powerful; Mr. Poussin's whole argument thus ends in demonstrating that the devil is as powerful as God.



It is one of two things, or the effects are identical, or they are not; if they are identical, it is because they come from the same cause, or from two equivalent causes; if they are not, show how they are different. Is it in the results? But then the comparison would be to the advantage of Spiritism since it brings back to God those who did not believe in him.



Be it, therefore, understood, by the formal decision of the competent authorities, that the Spirits who manifest themselves can only be demons. Admit, however, Mr. Abbot, that if these same Spirits, instead of contradicting the Church on a few points, would have been of her opinion in everything, if they had come to support all her temporal and spiritual pretensions, to approve, without restriction, everything what she says and everything she does, she wouldn't call them demons, but angelic Spirits.



Father Poussin wrote his book with a view, he said, to protect the faithful against the dangers that their faith can run through the study of Spiritism. It is showing little confidence in the solidity of the foundations on which this faith is seated, since it can be shaken so easily. Spiritism does not have the same fear. Everything that has been said and done against it has not made it lose an inch of ground, since it is gained every day, and yet talent has not been lacking in more than one of its opponents. The struggles that have been waged against it, far from weakening, have strengthened Spiritism; they have powerfully contributed to spreading it more quickly than it would otherwise have done; so that this network, that covered the whole society in a few years, is largely the work of its antagonists. Without any of the material means of action that leads to success in this world, it has only spread through the power of the idea. Since the arguments with which it was fought against did not take it down, it is for the fact that they apparently believed that the arguments of Spiritism were less convincing than theirs. Do you want to have the secret of their faith? Here it is: that before believing, they understand.



Spiritism does not fear the light; it calls it onto its doctrines, because it wants to be accepted freely and by reason. Far from fearing for the faith of the Spiritist, through the reading of works that combat it, Spiritism said to them: read everything; pros and cons and make an informed choice. That is why we draw their attention to the work of Father Poussin.[1]



Below we give some fragments taken from the first part, without comments.



1. - Certain Catholics, even pious ones, have singular ideas in matters of faith, inevitable result of the ambient skepticism that, unsuspectingly, dominates them and of which they are subject to the deleterious influence. Talk about God, about Jesus Christ, and they accept everything right away; but if you try to tell them about the devil, and especially about the diabolic intervention in human life, they won't hear you anymore. Like our contemporary rationalists, they would readily take the demon for a myth or a fantastic personification of the genius of evil, the ecstasies of the saints for phenomena of catalepsy, and the diabolical possessions, even those of the Gospel, if not for epilepsy, at least for parables. Saint Thomas, in his precise language, responds in two words to this dangerous skepticism: "If the ease of seeing the demon speak," he says, "stems from the ignorance of the laws of nature and of credulity, the general tendency to not see his action anywhere, proceeds from irreligion and skepticism.” To deny the devil is to deny Christianity and deny God.



2. - The belief in the existence of Spirits and their intervention in the domain of our life, even more, in Spiritism itself or the practice of evoking Spirits, souls, angels or demons, go back to the highest antiquity, and are as old as the world. Let us first question the existence and the role of the Spirits, in our holy books, in the oldest and most undisputed history books, at the same time that they are the divine code of our faith. The demon seducing in a sensible form Adam and Eve in Paradise; the cherubim guarding its entrance; the angels that visit Abraham and discuss with him the question of Sodom's salvation; the angels insulted in the filthy city, snatching Lot from the fire; the angel of Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Tobit; the demon who kills the seven husbands of Sarah; the one who tortures the soul and the body of Job; the angel exterminating the Egyptians under Moses, and the Israelites under David; the invisible hand that writes Balthazar's sentence; the angel who wounds Heliodors; Gabriel, the angel of Incarnation, that announces Saint John and Jesus Christ; what else is needed to show both the existence of the Spirits, and the belief in the intervention of these Spirits, good or bad, in the acts of human life? God made the Spirits his ambassadors, says the Psammite; they are the ministers of God, says Saint Paul; Saint Peter teaches us that demons are always prowling around us like roaring lions; Saint Paul, tempted by them, tells us that the air is full of them.



3. - Note here that pagan traditions are in perfect harmony with Jewish and Christian traditions. The world, according to Thales and Pythagoras, is filled with spiritual substances. All these authors divide them into good and bad spirits; Empedocles says that demons are punished for the faults they have committed; Plato speaks of a prince, of an evil nature, in charge of these Spirits driven out by the gods and fallen from the sky, says Plutarch. All souls, adds Porphyry, whose principle is the soul of the universe, govern the great countries located under the moon: they are the good demons (Spirits); and, let us be quite convinced, they act only in the interest of their citizens, either in the care that they take of the animals, or that they watch over the fruits of the earth, or that they preside over the rains, moderate winds, and the good weather. We must also classify in the category of good demons those who, according to Plato, are responsible for bringing the prayers of men to the gods, and who bring to men the warnings, exhortations, and the oracles of the gods.



4. - The Arabs call the leader of the demons Iba; the Chaldeans fill the air with it; finally Confucius teaches absolutely the same doctrine: "How sublime are the virtues of the Spirits!" he said; “we look at them and we do not see them; we listen to them and we do not hear them; united to the substance of things, they cannot separate themselves from them; they are the cause that all men in the whole universe purify themselves and put on festive clothes to offer sacrifices; they are spread like the waves of the ocean above us, to our left and to our right."



The cult of the Manitous, widespread among the savages of America, is only the cult of the Spirits.



5. - The Fathers of the Church, for their part, admirably interpreted the doctrine of the Scriptures on the existence and intervention of the Spirits: “There is nothing in the visible world that is not governed and arranged by invisible creature,” says Saint Gregory. “Each living being has an angel in this world who rules it,” adds Saint Augustine. “The angels,” says Saint Gregory of Nazianz, are the ministers of the will of God; they have naturally and by communication an extraordinary force; they roam all places and are found everywhere, as much by the promptness with which they exercise their ministry as by the lightness of their nature. Some are responsible for watching over some part of the universe that is marked by God, on whom they depend in all things; others have the custody of towns and churches; they help us in all that we do good.”



6. - With respect to the fundamental reason, God immediately governs the universe; but relative to execution, there are things that he governs through other intermediaries.



7. - As for the evocation of the Spirits, souls, angels or demons, and all the practices of magic, of which Spiritism is only one form, more or less covered of charlatanism, it is a practice as old as the belief in the Spirits themselves.



8. - Saint Cyprian thus explains the mysteries of pagan Spiritism: “Demons,” he said, “enter the statues and the simulacra that man adores; it is they who animate the fibers of the victims, who inspire the hearts of diviners with their breath and who give a voice to oracles.” But how can they heal? “Lœdunt primo,” says Tertullian, “postque loedere desinunt, and curasse creduntur.” They hurt first, and stopping to hurt, they go by healers.



In India, it is the Lamas and the Brahmas who, from the earliest times, have the monopoly of these same evocations that are still going on. “They communicated heaven with earth, man with divinity, just like our current mediums. The origin of this privilege seems to go back to the very Genesis of the Hindus and to belong to the priestly caste of these peoples. Leaving the brain of Brahma, the priestly caste must remain closer to the nature of this creator god and enter more easily into communication with him, than the warrior caste, born from his arms, and even more so, than the caste of Outcast, formed from the dust of his feet."



9. - But the most interesting and authentic fact in history is without a doubt the evocation of Samuel,[2] through the medium of the Pythoness of Endor, that Saul questions: “Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and enchanters from the land. The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. 7 Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” “There is one in Endor,” they said.

So, Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.” But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and enchanters from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?” Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.” Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” “Bring up Samuel,” he said. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure[a] coming up out of the earth.” “What does he look like?” he asked. “An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” “I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So, I have called on you to tell me what to do.” Samuel said, “Why do you consult me now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors to David. Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.” Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and all that night. When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do”



“For forty years I have made a profession of evoking the dead in the service of foreigners," said Philo after this story; but I have never seen such an apparition. The Ecclesiasticus undertook to prove to us that it is a question of a true apparition and not of a hallucination of Saul: “Samuel, after his death, spoke to the king, said the Holy Spirit, predicted the end of his life, and coming out of the earth, he raised his voice to prophesy the ruin of his nation, because of his ungodliness. "

[1] One volume, in-12; price 3 francs. At Sarlit, bookseller, 25, rue Saint-Sulpice, Paris.




[2] I Samuel, 28 (T.N.)

The Aïssaoua or the convulsant of the rue le Peletier

Among the curiosities attracted to Paris by the Exhibition, one of the strangest is undoubtedly that of the exercises performed by Arabs of the Aïssaoua tribe. The Illustrated World, October 19th, 1867, gives a report with several drawings of the various scenes that the author of the article witnessed in Algeria. He begins his story like this:



“The Aïssaoua form a very widespread religious sect in Africa and especially in Algeria. We do not know their objective; their foundation goes back, some say, to Aïssa, the Prophet's favorite slave; others claim that their brotherhood was founded by Aïssa, devout and enlightened marabout of the sixteenth century. Be that as it may, the Aïssaoua maintain that their virtuous founder gives them the privilege of being insensitive to suffering."



We borrowed from the Petit Journal, September 30th, 1867, the account of one of the sessions that a company of Aïssaoua gave in Paris, during the Exhibition, first on the Champ-de-Mars theater, and in last in the hall of the athletic arena on rue Le Peletier. The scene undoubtedly does not have the imposing and terrible character of those that take place in mosques, surrounded by the prestige of religious ceremonies; but, apart from a few nuances of detail, the facts are the same and the results identical, and this is the essential point. Besides, since these things took place in the heart of Paris, before the eyes of a large audience, the story cannot be suspected of exaggeration. It is Mr. Timothée Trimm who speaks:



“I admit that I saw things last night that left the Davenport brothers and the supposed miracles of magnetism very far behind. The prodigies take place in a small room, not yet classified in the hierarchy of shows. It takes place in the athletic arena on rue Le Peletier. This is probably why there is so little mention of the wizards I am talking about today.



It is obvious that we are dealing with enlightened ones, because here you have twenty-six Arabs who squat down, and to begin with, use iron castanets to accompany their songs.



The first one to come was a young Arab, from the Muslim company of ballet, holding a hot coal. I do not suspect that it could be a charcoal with artificial heat, prepared intentionally, for I felt its heat when it went passed in front of me, and it burned the floor when it escaped the holding hands. The man took that scorching hot coal; he put it in his mouth with horrible screams, and he kept it there.



It is obvious to me that these barbarian Aïssaoua are real Mohammedan convulsant. In the last century, there were the convulsant of Paris. The Aïssaoua of rue Le Peletier have certainly found this curious discovery of pleasure, voluptuousness, and ecstasy in bodily mortification.”



Théophile Gautier, with his inimitable style, depicted the dances of these Arab convulsant. Here is what he said about it in the Moniteur, on July 29th:



The first dance interlude was accompanied by three bass drums and three oboes playing in minor mode a song of nostalgic melancholy, supported by one of those implacable rhythms that end up taking hold of you and making you dizzy. One would say a lamenting soul, that fate forces to march with an always equal step towards an unknown end, but that one anticipates painful.



Soon a dancer rose with that overwhelmed air that oriental dancers have, like a dead woman awakened by a magical enchantment, and by imperceptible movements of her feet approached the forestage; one of her companions joined her, and they began gradually coming to life under a measured pressure, those twists of the hips, waves of the torso, those swings of the arms, waving silk handkerchiefs striped with gold and that languidly voluptuous pantomime that forms the basis of the oriental dancers. Raising the leg for a pirouette or a throw would be, in the eyes of these dancers, the height of indecency.



At the end, the whole troupe joined in, and we noticed, among the others, a dancer of fierce and barbaric beauty, dressed in white “haïks” and wearing a sort of “chachia” surrounded by cords. Her black eyebrows joined with “surmeh” at the root of the nose, her mouth red as a pepper in the middle of her pale face, giving her a terrible and charming look; but the main attraction of the evening was the session of the Aïssaoua or disciples of Aïssa, to whom the master bestowed the singular privilege of devouring with freedom everything that was presented to them.



Here, to make people understand the eccentricity of our Algerian convulsant, I prefer my simple and artless prose to the elegant and learned phraseology of the master. So here is what I saw:



An Arab arrives; he is given a piece of glass to eat! He takes it, puts it in his mouth, and eats it’s the whole thing! ... We hear his teeth crushing the glass for several minutes. Blood appears on the surface of his quivering lips… he swallows the piece of crushed glass, dancing and with genuflection, to the obligatory sound of drums.



To this one succeeds an Arab who carries in his hand branches of the Barbarian fig tree, the cactus with long thorns. Each roughness of the foliage is like a sharp point. The Arab eats this spicy foliage, as we would eat a salad of lettuce or chicory.



When the deadly foliage of the cactus had been absorbed, there came an Arab dancing with a spear in his hand. He leaned this spear on his right eye while saying sacred verses that our eye doctors should understand well… and he took his entire right eye out of the orbit! … All those present immediately uttered a cry of terror!


Then came a man who had his body tightened with a rope… twenty men were pulling; he struggles, he feels the rope piercing his flesh; he laughs and sings during that agony.



Then there is another fanatic that has a Turkish saber brough before him. I ran my fingers over its thin, razor sharp blade. The man undoes his belt, shows his bare belly, and lies down on the blade; it is pushed there, but the blade respects his skin; the Arab conquered the steel.



I quietly checked the Aïssaoua who eat fire, while placing their bare feet on a blazing inferno. I went to see the blaze behind the scenes, and I certify that it is fiery and made of flaming wood. I have also examined the mouths of those called the fire eaters. The teeth are burned, the gums are charred, the palate seems to have hardened. But it is indeed fire, all these embers that they swallow, with terrible contortions, seeking to acclimatize in hell…, that passes for a hot country.



What impressed me the most about this strange exhibition of the convulsant of the rue Le Peletier, was the snake-eater. Imagine a man opening a basket. Ten menacing-headed snakes hiss out. The Arab kneads the snakes, annoys them, makes them wrap around his naked torso. Then he chooses the biggest and the liveliest, and with his teeth bites it and punctures its tail. So, the reptile contorts in the anguish of pain. It presents its irritated head to the Arab who puts his tongue at the height of the stinger; and suddenly, with a bite of his teeth, he cuts off the head of the serpent and eats it. We hear the body of the reptile cracking under the teeth of the savage, who shows through his bloodstained lips the beheaded monster.



And during this time, the melancholy music of the drums continues its sacred rhythm. And the snake-eater will fall, lost and stunned, at the feet of the mystical singers. Until last week, they had only done this exercise with snakes from Algeria, that could have become domesticated during the trip; but Algerian snakes are running out, like all things. Yesterday was the debut of the Fontainebleau snakes; and the Algerian seemed full of distrust of our national reptiles.



Give it a pass to the devoured fire, supported at the ends… on the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands… but the glass crusher and the snake eater! … These are inexplicable phenomena.



We had seen them in the past in a dower near Blidah, says Mr. Théophile Gautier, and that nocturnal Sabbath has left us with chilling memories. The Aïssaoua, after being excited by the music, the vapor of perfumes and this swaying of a wild animal that shakes their immense hair like a mane, bit cactus leaves, chewed hot coals, licked hot shovels, swallowed crushed glass that could be heard cracking under their jaws, pierced their tongues and cheeks with needles, made their eyes jump out of their eyelids, walked on the edge of a Damascus steel blade; one of them, tied in the noose of a cord, pulled by seven or eight men, seemed cut in two; it did not prevent them, when the exercises ended, from coming to greet us in our lodge, the oriental way, and to receive their tip. There was no mark left from the terrible tortures to which they had just been subjected. May someone smarter than us explain the prodigy, for from our side we give up.



I agree with my illustrious colleague and revered superior, in the great art of writing, just as difficult as that of swallowing reptiles. I am not trying to explain these marvels; but it was my duty, as a chronicler, not to pass them over in silence.”



We ourselves attended a session of the Aïssaoua, and we can say that this story is not exaggerated; we saw all that is related there, and more, a man crossing his cheek and the neck with a sharp pin in the shape of a larding needle; having touched the instrument and examined the thing very closely, we convinced ourselves that there was no subterfuge, and that the iron really went through the flesh. But the odd thing is that the blood was not flowing, and the wound healed almost instantly. We saw another one holding hot pieces of coal in his mouth, the size of eggs, that he ignited with his breath as he wandered around the room, throwing sparks. It was such a real fire that several spectators lit their cigars there.



Therefore, it is not a question here of tricks of skill, of simulacra, or of juggling, but of positive facts; of a physiological phenomenon that confuses the most vulgar notions of science; however, strange as it may be, it can only have one natural cause. What is even stranger is that science seems to have paid no attention to it. How is it that scientists, who spend their lives in search of the laws of vitality, remain indifferent to the sight of such facts and do not seek their causes? One believes oneself to be exempt from any explanation by saying that “they are quite simply convulsant as there was in the last century; be it, we agree; but then explain what was happening with the convulsant people. Since the same phenomena occur today, before our eyes, in front of the public, that the first comer can see them and touch them, it was not thus a comedy; these poor convulsant, who have been laughed at so much, weren’t therefore jugglers and charlatans, as it has been claimed? The same effects being reproduced at will by disbelievers, in the name of Allah or Muhammad, so aren’t they miracles, as others have thought? They are enlightened, it is said; be it still; but then we would have to explain what it is to be enlightened. Illumination must not be as illusory a quality as it is supposed, since it would be capable of producing such singular material effects; in any case, that would be one more reason to study it carefully. Since these effects are neither miracles, nor conjuring tricks, it must be concluded that they are natural effects whose cause is unknown, but that is undoubtedly not untraceable. Who knows if Spiritism, that has already given us the key to so many misunderstood things, will not yet give us this key? This is what we will examine in a future article.

Varieties

Strange Violation of the Grave

Psychological Study


L'Observateur, d'Avesnes (April 20th, 1867) reports the following fact:



“Three weeks ago, a worker from Louvroil, named Magnan, aged twenty-three, had the misfortune of losing his wife, suffering from a breast disease. The deep sorrow he felt was soon heightened by the death of his child, who only survived his mother for a few days. Magnan spoke incessantly of his wife, not being able to believe that she had left him forever, and imagining that she would soon return; it was in vain that his friends tried to offer him some consolation, he rejected them all and shut himself up in his affliction.



Last Thursday, after many difficulties, his coworkers in the workshop decided to accompany a mutual friend to the railroad, a soldier on leave that was returning to his regiment. But as soon as they got to the station, Magnan slipped away and went alone into town, even more worried than usual. He took a few glasses of beer in a cabaret, that completely disoriented him, and it was in that state of mind that he returned home, about nine in the evening. Finding himself alone, the thought that his wife wasn’t there any more overexcited him again, and he felt an insurmountable desire to see her again. He then took an old hole digger and an ordinary shovel, went to the cemetery, and despite the darkness and the dreadful rain that was falling at that time, he immediately began removing the earth that covered his dear deceased.



It was only after several hours of superhuman work that he managed to remove the coffin from its grave. With his hands alone and breaking all his fingernails, he tore the cover off, then taking the body of his poor companion in his arms, he carried it home and laid it on his bed. It must have been about three in the morning by then. After lighting a good fire, he discovered the face of the dead woman, then almost joyfully, he ran to the neighbor who had buried her, to tell her that his wife had returned, as he had predicted.



Without giving any importance to Magnan's words, who, she said, had visions, she got up and accompanied him to his house in order to calm him down and make him sleep. We can imagine her surprise and her fear when she saw the exhumed body. The miserable worker spoke to the dead woman as if she could hear him and sought, with touching tenacity, an answer, giving his voice the sweetness and all the persuasion of which he was capable; such affection, beyond the grave, presented a heartbreaking spectacle.


However, the neighbor had the presence of mind to urge the poor hallucinated man to return his wife to her coffin, which he promised, when she saw the obstinate silence of the one he believed to have brought back to life; it was by faith on this promise that she returned home, more dead than alive.



But Magnan did not stop there and ran to wake up two neighbors who got up, like the burial woman, to try to calm the unfortunate man. Like her too, having passed the first moment of amazement, they urged him to return the dead woman to the cemetery, and this time the man, without hesitation, took his wife in his arms and returned the body to the coffin, from which he had taken her, replaced it to the pit and covered it with earth.



Magnan's wife had been buried for seventeen days; nevertheless, she was still in a perfect state of preservation, for the expression on her face was the same as when she was buried. When they questioned Magnan the next day, he seemed not to remember what he had done or what had happened a few hours earlier; he only said that he thought he saw his wife during the night. (Siècle, April 29th, 1867).