Legend
Important to Spiritualists
The spiritual movement resembles every other in this respect: that its growth is the work of time, and its refinement and solidification the result of causes working from within outward. The twenty-seven years which have elapsed since the rappings were first heard in Western New York, have not merely created a vast body of spiritualists, but moreover stimulated a large and constantly increasing number of superior minds into a desire and ability to grasp the laws which lie back of the phenomena themselves.
Until the present time these advanced thinkers have had no special organ for the Interchange of opinions. The leading spiritual papers are of necessity compelled to devote most of their space to communication of a trivial and purely personal character, which are interesting only to the friends of the spirits sending them, and to such as are just beginning to give attention to the subject. In England the London Spiritualist, and in France the Revue Spirite, present to us examples of the kind of paper that should have been established in this country long ago—papers which devote more space to the discussion of principles, the teaching of philosophy, and the display of conservative critical ability, than to the mere publication of the thousand and one minor occurrences of private and public circles.
It is the standing reproach of American Spiritualism that it teaches so few things worthy of a thoughtful man’s attention; that so few of its phenomena occur under conditions satisfactory to men of scientific training; that the propagation of its doctrines is in the hands of so many ignorant, if not positively vicious, persons; and that it offers, in exchange for the orderly arrangements of prevailing religious creeds, nothing but an undigested system of present and future moral and social relations and accountability.
The best thoughts of our best minds have heretofore been confined to volumes whose price has, is most instances, placed them beyond the reach of the masses, who most needed to be familiar with them. To remedy this evil, to bring our authors into familiar intercourse with the great body of spiritualists, to create an organ upon which we may safely count to lead us in our fight with old superstitions and mouldy creeds, a few earnest spiritualists have now united.
Instead of undertaking the doubtful and costly experiment of starting a new paper, they have selected the Spiritual Scientist, of Boston, as the organ of this new movement. Its intelligent management up to the present time, by Mr. Gerry Brown, and the commendable tone that he has given to its columns, make comparatively easy the task of securing the co-operation of the writers whose names will be a guarantee of its brilliant success. Although the object has been agitated only about three weeks, the Committee have already received promises from several of our best known authors to write for the paper, and upon the strength of those assurances many subscriptions have been sent in from different cities. The movement is not intended to undermine or destroy any of the existing spiritualistic journals: there is room for all, and patronage for all.
The price of the Spiritual Scientist is $2.50 per annum, postage included. A person sending five yearly subscription, is entitled to a copy for himself without extra charge. Subscriptions may be made through any respectable agency, or by direct communication with the editor, E. Gerry Brown, No. 18 Exchange Street, Boston, Mass.
For the Committee of Seven,(x)
Brotherhood of Luxor ***
(X) See Aug. 27, 1877. Vol. II of the History)
A Message from Luxor
The readers of the Scientist will be no more surprised to read the circular which appears on our front page than we were to receive the same by post since the appearance of our last number. Who may be our unknown friends of the “Committee of Seven,” we do not know, nor who the “Brotherhood of Luxor,” but we do know that we are most thankful for this proof of their interest, and shall try to deserve its continuance.
Can anyone tell us of such a fraternity as the above? And what Luxor is meant? Is it the ancient city of that name, whose majestic ruins, afford but a faint idea of the splendor of its prime? Once a metropolis whose smallest public building must have eclipsed in size any of modern times, it is now a desolate waste, guarded only by a handful of Arabs, whose flocks graze the avenues that in past ages glittered with wealth, and who dare not enter it by night for fear of the Afrites, or unprogressed spirits; who flit with noiseless footsteps through the deserted passages and chambers underground. Travellers tell us of grand rooms in the temples the walls of which are ablaze with frescoes of quaint device which looks as fresh as if the paint were laid on but yesterday. Can it be that shades of the departed Magi, banded together into a Council, meet there to rule the spiritual destinies of mankind ?
It is time that some Power, terrestrial or supernal, came to our aid, for after twenty-seven years of spiritual manifestations, we know nothing about the laws of their occurrence. Have we learnt aught concerning mediumship, its cause, its perils, its possibilities, its advantages? Have we examples of the co-operation of spirits with mortals upon equal terms, or the subserviency of the latter to the former, as in some cases is meet and proper ? Mediumship in our day seems to be synonymous with Slavery, and it really appears as if the medium class had had no rights that their invisible masters were bound to respect.
We cannot help regarding this as an evil of magnitude, and if we could only be satisfied that the appearance of this mysterious circular is an indication that the Eastern Spiritualistic Fraternity is about to lift the veil that has so long hid the Temple from our view, we in common with all other friends of the cause, would hail the event with joy. It will he a blessed day for us when the order shall be, Sit Lux.
<Untitled> (We regret to announce)
We regret to announce that Madame Blavatsky is seriously ill and her life has been in great danger. Last winter she fell with great force upon one of her knees on the sidewalk, and the result was an inflamation of the periosteum, or covering of the bone, which has progressed so far that it is now uncertain if the limb will mortify and be amputated, or become paralyzed. It would be a great loss to the cause of Spiritualism if this distinguished lady should die, for her devotion, learning, and enthusiasm are unsurpassed while in “spiritual gifts” she has scarcely an equal.
Editor's notes