< The Spiritualism in America (continued from page 4-106) >
English friend, Mr. Robert Cooper, who was so good as to arrange a seance for me with Mrs. Thayer, with the kind consent of Mr. and Mrs. Houghton, at whose house she was staying, and who gave me a most hospitable welcome.
At Albany I was very kindly received by Dr. and Mrs. Ditson, with whom I passed some very happy hours. Dr. Ditson is the author of the foreign articles in the Banner of Light, and is a man of considerable learning. His habits are of the most ascetic kind; he seems to live only on a few biscuits, with grapes and pears from his own garden, and an occasional cup of tea. At Dr. Ditson’s recommendation I made a detour on my journey home from Niagara to visit Mrs. Mary Andrews, formerly of Moravia, now living at Cascade, near Auburn, who was the first materializing medium in America. I am glad to say that she is one of the bright exceptions to the general depravity of American physical mediums; every one spoke well of her, and the impressions I gathered from my one day’s stay were all of a favourable kind. At the only seance I was able to attend with her, there were no manifestations worth recording.
And now I think I have told you all my lesser experiences—at least, those relating to Spiritualism so called. The greatest and most wonderful experience, perhaps, of my whole life, one of which it is impossible for me to speak here in adequate terms, is my acquaintance—my friendship—a friendship to last I hope for life and for ever, with the being called Madame Blavatsky. I can designate her neither as a woman nor a man, for she combines in her nature the noblest attributes of both. For the proofs of her astonishing wisdom and her exhaustless stores of knowledge, I can only point you to her great work, Isis Unveiled; and when you have fathomed some of its depths, I will ask you to imagine what its author can be like. The geniality, richness, and generosity of her character, joined to its uprightness and severity, are only equalled by the breadth, freedom, and boldness of her thought; by her magical power I have seen her produce, irrespective of the hour, company, or place, some of the effects for which mediums require certain given “conditions,” and others which are unlike anything I have seen in the presence of mediums. Those who have known Madame Blavatsky longer than I have done, have related to me many striking instances of her marvellous power; but as a rule she objects to exercise it for the mere gratification of her friends. Two instances will, perhaps, suffice for the present occasion.
A gentleman (who related the fact to me) had been writing at a little table in Madame Blavatsky’s room, and had laid his handkerchief at his side on the table. After a time he observed that there was a movement under the hankerchief. He raised it up, and there darted towards him with a hissing sound a small snake, apparently of a venomous kind. In his surprise and terror, the gentleman started backwards so suddenly that he fell over, with his chair, on to the floor. On rising he saw no more of the snake, and it was nowhere to be found. How did it come? Where did it go to? Was it an illusion? Whatever it may have been, Madame Blavatsky claims that it was a magically produced phenomenon. The modus operandi is the magician’s secret.
The other instance is of mesmeric power exerted upon myself. I was reading, in a position from which I could see into a mirror on the opposite side of the room, and I remarked to Madame Blavatsky that the wall which was reflected in the mirror appeared to be moving up and down. She said, “That is an atmospheric effect,” and went on reading her Russian newspaper. I then began to watch the mirror intently, and I saw Madame Blavatsky look at me once or twice. I was aware that she had her eye upon me, but that was all. I continued to gaze, and presently the mirror became clouded and I saw distinctly, though momentarily, two different scenes. The first was that of a sea in motion, covered with ships, and might have been a port or harbour. This faded out, like a dissolving view, and was succeeded by a picture representing a group of men in Eastern costume, turbans and long garments, such as is worn by Hindoos.
The men seemed as if alive and conversing together. When I told Madame Blavatsky what I had seen, she said, “That is right; that is what I wished you to see; I am sorry I did not write it down, that you might have had the proof to carry away with you.” Now, I have very slight mediumistic powers of any kind, and have never been clairvoyante in my life. It would seem, therefore, that some very strong power must have been exercised by her in order to produce such an effect the first time of trying.
And now, as to my conclusions in regard to that which I saw, heard and read in America. I think, first, that we may congratulate ourselves that certain wholesome checks have operated in England to prevent such catastrophes in Spiritualism as are enumerated in an article in the last number of the Chicago Religio-Philosophical Journal; checks to be traced, I fancy, to the different social conditions existing amongst us generally, and to the more severe standard of criticism amongst English Spiritualists. Secondly, that we must continue rigidly to sift and probe our own facts, and to institute such measures as shall protect our mediums from the public, the public from the mediums, and the mediums from themselves. Thirdly, that we must not rest content with explanations hitherto given and received, but must examine and question every new theory which promises to throw light on the sources of the phenomena, and above all that we must mistrust all communications which we have no means of verifying, coming from sources which have often proved to be deceptive and illusory; and lastly, I feel more strongly than ever that the phenomenal side of Spiritualism as we know it now, separated from the Spiritualist philosophy as it has been known from the most remote ages, is but a new form of materialism, and that the worst danger we have to guard against is a divorce between these two.
On the other hand, I am more than ever convinced of the important nature of our inquiry, of the worthiness of its pursuit by the best minds, of the necessity for their application of the best methods, and of the ennobling effect on human character of the truths brought home to us even by its objective facts, when these are seriously studied, rightly presented, and applied in the direction of self-culture and in the service of the spirit in its struggle for the complete ascendancy over every form of matter.
<Untitled> (Back into the chamber)
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Editor's notes