Some Personal Experiences in Spiritualism and Thoughts Thereon*
Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen,—When I was requested to read a paper before this Association I accepted the invitation with a considerable amount of reluctance. Not from any desire to shirk the labour necessarily involved in preparing a paper, but because of the difficulty I experienced in selecting as a subject on which to speak, some phase of what I may term the science of Spiritualism, respecting which I could hope to impart information to such an audience as I should have to address, composed, as such gatherings here usually are, of those who have had equal or much greater opportunities for investigation than I myself have had. This difficulty of selecting a subject was increased by the knowledge of a fact I regret to have to admit, but which is, nevertheless, true, viz., that though I have given much time during some years to the investigation of the phenomena of Spiritualism with fair, and for some phases thereof even exceptional means and opportunities for calm, full, and repeated observation, yet I am by no means certain that at the present moment I have much more positive knowledge relative to such phenomena, and the laws under which they occur or are produced, than I possessed after I had made my first round of the public mediums then in existence, and obtained a first insight of the subject. I hope this is not the experience of many, though I tear there are at least some others who have fared not much better. For my own part I feel that I am still only on the very outer boundaries of the subject and its investigation, and this, you will admit, is not the best “form” in which to appear as a lecturer.
Thus reflecting, it eventually occurred to me, however, that there was some ground which I could occupy as peculiarly my own, and on which, therefore, I could venture to speak with something like authority. That subject was, and is, my own personal experiences in Spiritualism, and I, therefore, decided to state a few of these this evening, believing that if even I fail to impart to you any new fact, at least those experiences may be useful in the sense of comparing notes. I also propose to show you the bearing of some of these experiences on questions the solution of which is troubling and dividing Spiritualists at the present day.
I should not have time this evening to cover the ground of all the different classes of the phenomena of Spiritualism, and I shall therefore select those I deem to be of the most importance.
I will first narrate the particulars of one or two seances held with a medium, who I suppose would be called clairvoyant, though whether that term is correctly applied in the majority of cases I am by no means sure. This medium, I should state, I have had exceptionally good opportunities for observing. The conditions of the first seance I will describe were as follows: I had been talking respecting Spiritualism to a gentleman friend who knew nothing whatever of the subject, and who, of course, in consequence treated the matter as a very good joke. When, however, he found I was thoroughly in earnest, and had heard what I had to say, he expressed a wish to make some investigation. I accordingly arranged for a seance at his house, and on the evening appointed took the medium in question with me. There were present at the seance four in all, viz., the friend I have spoken of (who for convenience we will call Mr. A.), his wife, the medium, and myself. I should here state also that I knew nothing whatever of the family connections of either Mr. or Mrs. A., and that the medium was an utter stranger to both, and I until the visit did not even know where she was going. The conditions, therefore, for myself, at least, were as nearly absolutely test conditions as well could be. It should also be remarked that both Mr. and Mrs. A. were sceptical in the highest degree; so much so, in fact, that they could hardly keep countenance. Likewise, before the seance commenced, I particularly requested both to be very careful not to convey any information to the medium either directly or indirectly by questions (as is so often done), but recommended them to sit quietly and passively, and simply to listen without making any remark until after any particular and complete communication, when they were to clearly admit or deny the truthfulness and exactness of such communication. Under these conditions, satisfactory to all parties, the following took place, and, wonderful as they may seem, I assure you the details are narrated with the strictest accuracy and without the least colouring. After one or two preliminary descriptions of spirits present the medium stated, in almost the following words: “I now see standing before me a young girl, rather tall and slim, but still what would be called a good figure. She has an intelligent countenance, and a pale but clear skin. Her hair is quite black, dressed back off the forehead, and falls down behind in a profusion of long ringlets. She wears a black velvet dress, with very low cut bodice. She appears to me to have been a good musician and to have excelled on the pianoforte. She appears also not to have been English, but to have come to this country for the benefit of her health. She evidently suffered from lung disease, as I can feel a difficulty in breathing and a weakness there. It appears also that you” (addressing Mrs. A.) u cautioned her against wearing such low-cut dresses, assuring her that our climate would kill her if she did, but she continued to wear them, and in consequence caught a severe cold, ending in her death. She asks if you remember her now?” Thus appealed to Mr. and Mrs. A. both stated that they had been trying hard to recognise the spirit from the description given, but could not recollect either the circumstances or the person. To this the medium replied, “I am quite sure though that you do know her. She now tells me you did not hear of her death in an ordinary way, but through an indirect channel, and that the news gave you such a shock as almost to make you ill. She also says that Mr. A. was not in England at the time you heard of her death, and that you sent the news to him.” At this Mr. A. asked of Mrs. A., il do you remember now who it is?” and on her again replying in the negative, Mr. A. remarked, “I do, I remember the whole circumstances now. Don’t you remember, Miss B? When I was in America you sent me a newspaper containing an account of her death, and you said in your letter that you were in bed when you read the account, and it gave you such a ‘turn’ that you were unable to leave your room the whole day.” Mrs. A. then remembered both the individual and the circumstances, and they both assured us that every detail given had been strictly exact. The medium then stated that the spirit had gone away greatly pleased at having been recognised, and continued describing other spirit surroundings. Shortly afterwards, however, she said the spirit had returned with another spirit, whom she described as an old man dressed like a country farmer, short, of ruddy complexion, and with a constant short catchy cough; she also described a thick stick he was carrying as having a very large knob on the end, and stated that this spirit came to Mr. A. and not to Mrs. A. This spirit was at once recognised, and every detail of the description acknowledged to be true. The medium then continued by stating that the man spirit held in his hand a parchment in which Mr. A.’s name had originally appeared several times, but that it had been erased in every case but one, and the spirit wished Mr. A. to know that. Mr. A. here said he could not be sure of the meaning of this part of the communication, but that it quite agreed with his ideas of a circumstance that had happened. This old gentleman, who had lived abroad had always promised to leave the bulk of his considerable property to Mr. A., but after his death, also abroad, his friends had written to Mr. A. telling him that a sum very small indeed had been left him; so small was it, in fact, that Mr. A. made them a present of it. Also he had written several times for a copy of the will, but had failed to obtain one. Naturally he was very much interested in the communication.
Daring the same stance other spirits were as minutely described, but the above will be sufficient for my purpose this evening. This stance is one out of dozens of similar and equally successful ones I have enjoyed with the same medium. One other seance I will shortly describe under this head. On this occasion the medium and myself went by request to the house of a friend to meet an acquaintance of theirs. This gentleman was an utter stranger to both the medium and to myself, not even his name being known to <... continues on page 7-95 >
* A paper read last Monday night before the British National Association of Spiritualists.
Editor's notes
- ↑ Some Personal Experiences in Spiritualism and Thoughts Thereon* by Gray, C. E., London Spiritualist, No. 298, May 10, 1878, pp. 220-1
Sources
London Spiritualist, No. 298, May 10, 1878, pp. 220-1