< Man as a Spirit; Phenomena as Produced by the Spirits of the Living (continued from page 4-109) >
spirit not desire and see Greek texts written out on the mind’s eye?
Let us apply these views to form manifestations. Mrs.,——a common, uninteresting woman, goes into a cabinet, and has her black dress nailed to the floor of the room. Shortly afterwards out walks the form of a fine young lady dressed in whiter and, by permission, a bit of the white dress is cut off. The cabinet is now searched, but Mrs.—— has disappeared. The young lady form in white returns to the cabinet, when shortly afterwards out walks a big man with a beard, which, on examination, is found to be not glued to but growing out of the skin of his face. The cabinet is again searched; Mrs.—— is not there. This bearded man returns to the cabinet, which is again searched, and there sits Mrs.—— in her black dress nailed to the floor, with a bit cut out, which is found exactly to correspond to the bit cut out of the white dress of the young lady form.
Here we have an astounding narrative, subjecting the believer to the risk of being shut up as a lunatic; but what necessity does there exist for calling in the assistance of foreign spirits? Mrs. C. is a spirit, and her body belongs to that spirit; which can by a spiritual chemistry disintegrate it and reform the materials in any shape which it may then desire.
Let us now consider the most recent and the most astounding of all the spiritual phenomena which have occurred in this country.
Dr. Monck is entranced, and in lamp-light, and under the close inspection of Mr. Colly, Mr. Stainton-Moses, and others, a mist seems to emanate from his body, near the region of his heart; this mist becomes columnar; it gyrates on its axis, when gradually there is evolved the solid frame, make, and character of the deceased Samuel Wheeler. So exactly does this being resemble Samuel Wheeler, in both soul and body, that his oldest friends assert that the figure is absolutely Samuel Wheeler returned to the flesh.
I have not been permitted to witness this astounding apparition, and I admit that those who have been so privileged are better entitled than myself to make assertions regarding it. But Mr. Stainton-Moses has recorded his impression that the apparition seemed to him to be an automaton, and this is the view I, in the absence of experience, now hold.
The fact that the figure revealed a secret known only to one individual is, to my mind, no proof of identity, for in the spirit-life the secrets of all hearts are open for inspection. Nor does the absolute conviction of others, as to the identity, convince me. The fact that the figure is sometimes materialised only to the waist, gives one the idea of an automaton; and as to the conviction of friends, we know that spirits can almost “deceive even the elect,” and have we not, to the minds of accomplished ladies and gentlemen, Arthur Orton presenting himself as Roger Tichborne; but more incredible still, unknown quantities, X.Y.Z., returning from the colonies and claiming to be lost husbands long reputed as dead, are as such joyfully received by sad and solitary widows. To this it may indeed be said that the wish was father to the thought. Such illustrations are, however, not necessary to my theory, for if spirit has, as Swedenborg says, the power to create a physical simulacrum, why should it not have the power to create a simulacrum of that individual’s soul.
When I read that on one occasion Dr. Monck awoke out of his trance, and seeing Samuel Wheeler, the two rushed into each other’s arms, I was at first puzzled how to reconcile this fact with my theory that the medium must be entranced when the spirit-form is materialised. But on reflection I find that the facts of the double explain this difficulty. A young lady friend of mine on one occasion, as she was proceeding homewards on a cold day, strongly desired to be at home, and in the kitchen warming herself; at that moment two servants in the kitchen saw the handle of the door turn, the door open, and the young lady walk in and warm herself at the kitchen fire. They regarded her as identical with their young mistress, even to the minute detail of a pair of new green kid gloves; but suddenly she disappeared, and in about a quarter of an hour, the young mistress actually appeared in the body. Here we have, the double although the original is awake, and unentranced, beyond the stage it might have been of mere absence of mind. But further we know that there are individuals who can project the double at will in the waking state, and converse as with another distinct individual. If so Dr. Monck may be one of these persons, and may have the power of projecting his spirit in the form of himself or of any friend he or his spirit may desire. I am confirmed in this idea by the figure having on one occasion addressed Mr. Wedgwood thus, “Mr. Wedgwood, I am Moncks Samuel Wheeler.” To my mind these words do not suggest an independent identity, but rather a subordinate creation. But again I say I offer this theory with I deference before the superior experience of Mr. Colly and other witnesses.
But the Spiritualist replies, it may be with anger, “Why should you deprive us of the greatest comfort of our lives, the belief that we are in daily communion with the spirits of those we loved on earth?” and very far indeed is it from my desire to do so, but I would say that in memory I can love the departed as much as if they were present. Again, it is said the outcome of the science of the nineteenth century is atheism; but grant the return of one single spirit from the eternal shores, and immortality is at once established. I grant this, and say that the spirits of the departed have a thousand times reappeared as ghosts, before taking their final leave of this world. Ghost stories are established beyond all question, and the impression produced on the mind by these spontaneous ghosts is far more solemn and profound than that which is produced by those spiritually manufactured or produced by mediums.
Further, the double demonstrates the existence of the spirit outside the body, and so far independent of the body. No one, I conceive, could behold a ghost or a double, and not feel that man is a spirit, and an immortal being.
Moreover, the entranced man can see without eyes objects five thousand miles distant. He can hear without ears at distances beyond all natural acoustics. He can taste without contact with the food. He can see the past, the present, and the future. To him the secrets of the heart are open. He can heal the diseases of others, and for his own body you may cut it limb from limb, and his spirit will regard the mutilation with entire indifference. You may burn his body with fire, and he will only rejoice in his victory over matter. Is not this a physical demonstration that spirit is independent of matter?—a unity, therefore, indivisible, and therefore incapable of decay, and therefore immortal? But I hold that the universal belief in a future state is a demonstration of the fact. All error produces sin and misery, and all truth produces, sooner or later, health and happiness. The belief in a future state is productive of health, strength, and happiness, and therefore I hold that this demonstrates the harmony of this belief with man’s nature, and thus demonstrates the reality of a future life. Miracles I define as the action of spirit over matter, and thus miracles I hold demonstrate the immortality of the soul. The spiritual man by faith can shut the mouths of lions, and quench the violence of fire; cast out demons, and raise the dead to life. Of matter itself spiritual phenomena go to prove that per se, it has no existence, matter being only form assumed by spirit. Granting, for convenience, ultimate atoms, spirit takes these and builds them into any form it may desire or imagine. Just as a certain acid seizing on a certain alkali may produce a white triangular crystal, so a stronger acid will displace the weaker, and produce with the same alkali a red hexagonal crystal, and so on ad infinitum.
Read in this light spiritual chemistry, or form materialisings, are profoundly interesting, and go to prove that the spirit of man has, like the Spirit of God, dominion not only over the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field as Adam had, but over the elements of matter. The idealist exercising his hands can with clay or marble mould or chisel the divinest forms. The spiritual man can create or materialize those forms by the mere force of his spiritual nature. The whole universe is only the materialised thoughts of the Divine Mind.
I have spoken much of entrancement, and I may say that my Spiritual theory is mainly founded on that most profoundly [interesting fact that man, when he becomes entranced, is not only above and beyond matter, but he becomes the controller of matter. He reveals the hidden angel, and demonstrates that “the kingdom of heaven is within him.”
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