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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
[A correspondent, Henry G. Atkinson, of Boulogne, France, quoting from Notes and Queries of August 25, 1883, draws attention to Gaffarel’s Unheard-of Curiosities, wherein it is said that if the ashes of certain plants, such as roses and nettles, are put in a glass and held over a lamp, they will rise up and resume their 72original form. It would appear that Gaffarel came to the conclusion “that ghosts of dead men, which he says are often seen to appear in church yards, are natural effects, being only the forms of the bodies which are buried in those places, and not the souls of those men, nor any such like apparitions caused by evil spirits.” To this H. P. B. says:]
This is precisely that which is held by the Theosophists in all such cases of apparitions long after death.
[The correspondent doubts, however, whether this explanation could possibly apply to “the clothes and armour” which are sometimes seen, as they “are artificial productions, and their ashes scattered to the four winds.” To this H. P. B. says:]
And why not? Anything, of whatever material, and be it an organic or inorganic tissue, once it has imbibed the magnetism of the body it was in contact with, becomes, so to say, part and parcel of the latter. Burn a body clad in a uniform, and the uniform will appear as the aura of these ashes, together with the form of the dead man. The ghosts of the Hindus who are burnt quite naked will never appear clad—unless in the imagination of the Seer. The tale told by Gaffarel is not a fiction. The experiment was made and the assertion found correct.
The following is an extract from the Poona Observer and Civil and Military Gazette of October 24:—
“Mr. Gerald Massey, the poet, has become a Theosophist.
‘Massey’ on us! Who next?”
Editor’s Answer:—Not Mr. Gerald Massey, as far as we are aware, for he is not on the lists. Perchance the poet may be some day the “next,” but the Editor of the Poona Observer was the “next” preceding one, and no great acquisition for the Society either.
73[Cursory comment on the attitude of a Padri Principal of the Missionary College at Tinnevelly, who misinterpreted the Government’s attitude towards The Theosophical Society:]
Oh, Loyola, art thou not content to find so many Protestants among thy faithful followers and disciples?