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vol. title: vol. period: 1882 pages in vol.: 229 |
< Notes by the Way. (continued from page 13-77) >
the creations of his faith, and borne away on an induced current into a phantasmagorial world peopled with his own imaginings.” “Surely the Spiritualists who have, at least, shot leagues ahead in intelligence of the mere materialistic moles of their purblind generation,” will prefer the real knowledge of Occultism to the illusory glimpses of mediumship.
That is the argument and that the conclusion. It will be readily seen that the important part is the early attempt to differentiate true from false knowledge. Much of the rest is mere assumption; and even that part, excellently and instructively put as it is, is very hard to reconcile with what I must still claim as facts within personal knowledge. We are promised more Fragments dealing with, among other things, “the few exceptional cases of genuine Spirit communications.” I wait for these fragments before attempting to reconcile the exclusive possession of real knowledge on the part of the teachers of Occult Truth with such unaccountable illusions or delusions as those with which I dealt at more than sufficient length in No. 57 of this journal. In the meantime I cannot admit that any one mind has a view of absolute truth, or a monopoly of truth, or indeed any right to arrogate to its own methods of experiment and investigation a “right of way” leading to the eternal verities. And to tell me that because I am a Spiritualist I am therefore necessarily the victim of prepossessions which will lead me into error is a Carpenterian method which by no means impresses or will dispose of me.
I have recently received from Captain James a curious piece of corroborative testimony as to the power of the invisible intelligences who surround us to see material objects, and to demonstrate that power by reading, for instance, from a printed paper. Some of my readers may remember that I have printed a detailed account of the reading of a prescribed passage in a closed book, and the writing of it automatically through my hand, with only a verbal variation. Mr. Crookes has also recorded an instance of the writing through Planchette of a word from a newspaper on which he had placed his finger at haphazard, and without knowing what word he had so indicated. Captain James’s case is very similar to this last, and not so elaborately complicated as that recorded by me; and its value rests in the corroboration which it gives to a remarkable fact, lifting it out of the region of probable coincidence; and also in the blow that it gives to the common and superficial theory of thought-reading which is always ready at hand to explain the inexplicable. Here thought-reading is inadmissible as a possible explanation, as in the other similar case, and still more decidedly in mine.
The case is this. It was arranged that Captain James should leave the room with a friend, and agree to certain questions to be put mentally. On their return a lady and gentleman placed their hands on Planchette, and were in every case kept in ignorance of the nature of the questions proposed. The answers throughout were singularly pertinent, even when they were not accurate. For instance, a not very profound question as to the day’s dinner elicited the answer, Sirloin. Now, the joint was not sirloin, as a matter of fact, but the answer was pertinent. The special question to which I draw attention was, Can you read the word under the tip of my finger? Captain James had placed the tip of his forefinger, but without looking, on the first page of a catalogue of books, just brought from London, and which had not been opened. Planchette wrote the word medium. On looking at the spot covered by the forefinger it was found that it was a blank space, and the experiment seemed a failure. Captain James, however, was an experienced mesmerist, and he remembered that he had frequently heard Alexis Didier read a passage on a page of a book through more than twenty other pages of printed matter. He, therefore, marked the exact spot, and turned over two or three leaves. The result was that he found the word “medium” in capitals exactly under the marked spot.
This was Captain James’s first introduction to Planchette, and the séance was held on July 4th, 1874. Various other experiments were tried: e.g., no question was put, and Planchette was left to discourse at pleasure. The result was a sentence in French, which was apropos to nothing that had occurred during the sitting, and a verse in two lines, correct in metre, but incoherent in sense. Captain James tried his own hand at Planchette with the aid of a lady who had been most successful in influencing it to move, but the little plank was obstinate and would not stir. He then tried, mindful of his mesmeric experiences, how far mind-reading could be adduced as an explanation of what was written. To this end he placed his forefinger on the lower part of the forehead of one of the sitters whose hands were laid on Planchette. Having framed the question, he, of course, had it in his mind. In all cases when he knew what would be appropriate as an answer, he succeeded in getting a suitable, though not always accurate, reply. It was, however, in the one case when he did not know, and when no person present knew or could know the answer, that he got the exact answer which fitted his query.
Another of the answers given is worth recording. The question put was—Would Miss X. succeed on the stage? Planchette at once wrote the Christian name of the lady spoken of, a very uncommon one derived from the Greek, and not at all such as would be likely to be guessed. It then wrote the word Rosalind, that being, no doubt, intended as an indication of the sort of character suited to her talents. Finally it wrote—Ask M.... Now M. was the initial letter of the surname of a friend, who of all others would be the best judge of the lady’s dramatic capabilities.
M.A. (Oxon.)
A “Better Way” in Diet.
It may interest your readers—followers of Pythagoras or otherwise—to hear the detail of a recent successful dietetic experiment. On Tuesday, the 4th inst., Dr. and Mrs. G. Wyld, of 12, Great Cumberland-place, entertained at dinner a party of eighteen vegetarians and Theosophists. The table was beautifully decorated with primroses, daffodils, and other wild flowers. The only beverages were Salutaris water (distilled water impregnated with carbonic acid gas), and sweetened lemon-juice (a slight deviation from the ideal of Shelley, who permitted distilled water only). The menu is subjoined:—
Soups.
Artichoke. Tomato.
Rissoles.
Curried Chestnuts.
Salad—Mayonnaise.
Spinach and Eggs.
Artichokes with Sauce.
New Potatoes.
Haricot Beans.
Savoury Omelettes.
Macaroni and Cheese.
Prince Albert Pudding with Cherry Sauce.
Apricots and Whipped Cream.
Sponge Cakes. French Plums Stewed.
Oranges, Sago, and Cream.
If it be not ungracious to criticise the bounty of our genial host and hostess, I would venture to suggest that the banquet sinned in the very delicacy and variety of the dishes. A vegetarian dinner should satisfy, but not tempt, the appetite; and if, as one scoffer said, the unsavoury is the only wholesome, our meal, I fear, fell far short of the highest ideal. It was a noble poem (the memory of those curried chestnuts is still green), but the cantos were too many for the austere simplicity of perfect art. A vegetarian dinner should aim at being, not an epic, but a sonnet, or even—if served at the fashionable hour—an epigram.
But, at all events, the genial doctor’s hospitality was conceived in a higher strain than the laboured prose of the Mansion House banquet, or the kreophagic dinner of ordinary society. The enjoyment—even sensuous enjoyment—and conviviality were assuredly not less than at a dinner of carnivores; and, the appetite satisfied, we all, rejecting the customs of a barbarous age, left the dining-room together, to partake of more intellectual pleasures. Surely all those present, who were not yet vegetarians, seeing “the better way,” must have longed to become so.
May the precedent thus happily set be widely followed.
London, April 6th, 1882.
Quorum Pars.
<Untitled> (Dr. J. M. Peebles is furnishing for publication...)
Dr. J. M. Peebles is furnishing for publication in the Great West newspaper a series of chapters under the heading, “Peebles’ Pilgrimages, or Travels in All Lands.” Each issue of that paper for the year 1882 will present one chapter of these very interesting and instructive experiences.
<Untitled> (Wise sayings often fall to the ground...)
Wise sayings often fall to the ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.
Editor's notes
- ↑ A “Better Way” in Diet. by unknown author (signed as Quorum Pars), Light, v. 2, No. 67, April 15, 1882, p. 174
- ↑ Dr. J. M. Peebles is furnishing for publication... by unknown author, Light, v. 2, No. 67, April 15, 1882, p. 174
- ↑ Wise sayings often fall to the ground... by unknown author, Light, v. 2, No. 67, April 15, 1882, p. 174
Sources
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Light, v. 2, No. 67, April 15, 1882, p. 174