Legend
< The Rostrum (continued from page 7-257) >
...
<Untitled>
...
Eastern Psychological Phenomena
The Assistant Director of Public Instruction and Registrar of Assurances, Mr. D. S. White, of Madras, is a writer of considerable note, and, theologically speaking, an outright freethinker, with no spiritualist proclivities; and yet he confessed that he had witnessed marvellous phenomena, alleged to be spiritual, that sorely puzzled him; and, among others, referred to the wonderful manifestations that occurred in the presence of young Kelly, son of Mr. P. Kelly, a railway contractor. Before leaving the city I visited Mr. Kelly, his son Thomas, and Mr. Cronin, the brother-in-law, getting written statements from them in confirmation of the marvels referred to by Mr.White. Reserving the written documents, I submit the following condensed statement.
The Kellys, Irish in descent, were a quiet, industrious family of Roman Catholics, residing at St. Thomas, some eight miles out from the city of Madras. They had never heard of a people known as Spiritualists. Mr. Kelly, having the supervision of some native Hindus employed upon the public works some distance from home, struck one of these intractable natives with considerable violence. The Hindu was terribly exasperated, and threateningly called upon his ancestral god to palsy the arm or otherwise punish the man who had dealt him the blow; and, strange to relate, almost immediately thereafter, and without any appreciable cause, painful swellings came upon the offending arm. These for a time proved absolutely incurable, and then, all at once, they went away, seemingly of themselves; but at the same time his son Thomas became afflicted and annoyed by what could only be attributed to superhuman agencies.
Perplexed and troubled, Mrs. Kelly wrote her husband of the strange things occurring by invisible powers in the presence of this son, such as stones dropping down before him, dishes sailing out of the cupboard and flying about the room, doors opening of their own accord, trunks unlocked without keys, and some other things too odd to be mentioned.
Mr. Kelly replied to the letter in a rather harsh manner, reproving the wife and family for their superstition. But the noises increased; furniture was injured in locked rooms; crockery-ware was dashed to pieces before their eyes; and a four-pound shot came crashing down through the roof one evening, yet leaving no discoverable opening.
At this singular crisis of affairs Mr. Kelly sent for the son to come to him at once. He did so, and yet these inexplicable manifestations followed him. The son-in-law, Mr. Cronin, a well-educated man, still remaining sceptical upon the spiritual origin of these troublesome wonders, went personally with a carriage to convey the young man to his own house. On the way the carriage was struck several times by some seemingly heavy weapon, stones fell into the carriage before their own eyes, and also a marble paper-weight from his sister’s table.
The following is an extract from Mr. James Cronin’s lengthy statement:—
“On the following day, April 30th, reaching my sister’s house about 10 a.m., I met my brother, who said, come quickly into the hall. I went, and saw the whole of the books, usually in an open bookcase, scattered about; some sticking to the roof of the room, and others hung by the rafters on the roof; the Bible alone was left in the book-case. This circumstance induced my brother to exclaim, ‘I defy the spirits, or whatever they may be, to meddle with that book!’ The challenge was accepted; for having replaced the books, and turning to go out of the room, my brother felt a heavy shock at the back of his head, and wheeling around the Bible fell at his feet. . . . Soon a crucifix and a stove were thrown into the hall. I now not only became convinced, but timid; and accordingly I induced the young man to join a ‘religious order.’ . . . The supernatural phenomena continued, annoying us especially when at prayers. Three priests were called in at one time, but they could do nothing toward casting away these 6vil spirits. Valuable papers were taken from locked drawers and thrown about the room; property was destroyed; my brother was struck in the head, and what caused more anxiety, it was plainly perceptible that he was growing melancholy, nervous, and sickly. Sometimes he would fall into trance-like fits; and at these times he was strong as a Samson, but very weak after coming out of them. When in these trance states he would talk Hindustani, but could not speak a word of it in his natural condition. . . . When in this state of stupor or trance I elicited from the spirit that the young man’s father having struck a lubbay-caste man at Virumputty, a place near Trichonopoly, a spell was put upon him. But he being a healthy, strong-minded man, it did not have so much effect, and was therefore turned upon this young man. ... I laid hold of the young man, a struggle ensued by the door, and he awoke weak and exhausted.”
Finally, this family sent quite a distance for one of those self-sacrificing, holy-minded Hindus, who it was said have the power to thwart all diabolical influences, and cast out demons. He came, wearing a white, robe-like dress, and remained three days and three nights. The first evening he marched around the house several times, carrying fire in his hand, chanting sacred hymns and repeating prayers. He put the lad in front of him the second night, burned perfumed paper, drew diagrams, anointed him, and had him put on a complete change of apparel. The third and last night he placed a mesmeric circle by passes around his head, bathed him in soma-scented water, anointed him with holy oil, made him put on another entire suit of clothes, and repeating prayers, pronounced him, the family, and the house, relieved of all demoniacal influences. And from that hour nothing strange or superhuman occurred.
I saw several members of the family, and also the young man, now about twenty, hale and healthy. He dislikes to talk about the diabolical influences that so long followed and infested him. I may further say, that this old Hindu desired to and did take away with him all the castoff garments that this young man had worn, and so did to burn them. A portion of this extraordinary case of obsession was published in the Madras News, May, 1874.
Nestling among shady trees in the outskirts of Madras, is a Siva Temple, presided over by a Coomarapa Mudliar. On Friday afternoon of each week he casts out demons. Remaining in waiting by this temple about half an hour, a group of friends brought an obsessed woman. She looked wild, spare, skinny, and seemed nervous and sensitive.
“How,” I inquired, “does she appear, and what does she do at home?”
The father replied: “She has times of being stupid, and is irritable and ugly. At other times her head rolls; she falls into unconsciousness, talks strangely in different tongues, and prophesies lies. She has had this demon for four months.” The priest drew a circle on the stone floor of the Temple, and sprinkled the enclosure with water. The friends placed her in the centre of the circle, and holding the image of a god before her, repeated prayers; then, placing his hand upon her head, she became tremulous, spasmodic, and fell seemingly lifeless. The priest evoked the presence of a good spirit to become her guardian. She soon arose, and was pronounced well, to the great joy of her friends.
This man has been in the employ of Mr. Nicholas, a Madras photographer, for several years. His wife, having had some serious difficulty with a neighbouring woman about some fruit, became obsessed by a demon-spirit.
“Her head,” said the husband, “would shake and whirl by the hour. She grew dreamy and lazy. She fell into trances, spoke different languages in as many voices, personated other individuals, fell on the ground at times, and sometimes used improper words.”
“What else did this devil-spirit make her do? and who was he when on earth?’’
“He would not tell his name, but made her break things in the house, and hold fire in her hands without being burned. Large branches of trees would fall down before her, and a great stone lying outside the fence was thrown over into the yard….. Other things were done that I would not like to mention….. At last I took her to that order of priests, or holy men, who have power over evil spirits.”
“What did he do to disobsess her?”
“He told her to go with another woman into a private apartment and bathe herself in fresh water. He then took us into a new and well-perfumed room, and had my wife sit down on a nice clean mat. He then burned some camphor-gum on a flat brass dish, and while it was burning he kept clapping his hands. He then prayed to the great God of the universe, and, stamping, commanded the devil-spirit to go; and he had to go.”
“What assurance had you that he would not return and obsess her again?”
“He could not, because the Guru, or priest, took a singular-shaped piece of brass, and, making figures and devices upon it, he breathed his breath into it and suspended it around her neck. And then he made an offering to the cast-out demon, and invoked a good spirit to become her guardian. She has been all right since.”—Banner of Light, May 11th.
Editor's notes
Sources
-
London Spiritualist, No. 302, June 7, 1878, p. 276