Its-Truth Helpfulness ^'*^DANGER By- James Henry Fletcher Gopyiight]^^._ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2011 witii funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/spiritualismitstOOflet SPIRITUALISM ITS TEIJTH, HELPFULIS^ESS AJSTD da:n^gee JAMES HENRY FLETCHER SPIRITUAUSM ITS TRUTH, HELPFULNESS AND DANGER BY JAMES HENRY FLETCHER The Occult Book Concern PUBLISHERS 9 TO 15 Murray Street New York City /p GOPTHIGHT, 1915 Br James HEisriiT FiiETCHEH #/i/^ ©CI,AJ10S89 JoHiir B. Watkiws €051? abt Phinters New Xoek Gitt SEP 25 1915 Ijs^teodtjction The object of this book is not to convert my readers into Spiritualists, but to call their attention to what my long experience with, and investigation of the subject has proven to me as its Truth, Helpfulness, and Danger. It must be clearly understood that, whilst many of my views may fully coin- cide with the teaching of modern Spiritual- ism, I do not in any way represent any Spiritualist Society — and that Spiritual- ists must be held blameless for any state- ments I make. It is not my purpose to be offensive to that great body of people who call themselves Spiritualists, and for many of them I have profound respect, but I shall not hesitate to state what to me seems true, though it may be opposite to their general teaching. I shall endeavor to place before my read- ers the testimony of some of the Seers, Prophets, and Healers of Bible History, also those of early civilization, and the conclusions reached by many of onr most able Thinkers, Scientists, Teachers, and leaders of present-day thought. This book will by no means cover the whole field of this wonderful subject, and is only intended to touch lightly upon some of its varied phases, leaving to a large ex- tent details to be worked out by the reader or student as opportunity may occur. Considering the large amount of favor- able testimony left us by the greatest think- ers the world has ever known, it should take more than ordinary courage to de- nounce the whole subject as impossible and fraudulent, and yet that is what we often hear. I am, however, glad to believe that this comes chiefly from people who are al- most entirely ignorant on the subject, hence their courage. For some who take this view I feel a great deal of sympathy, knowing the manner in which this subject is frequently presented to the public. To me, faith has been lost in sight, and belief in knowledge. I have seen hundreds of Spirit people, therefore I know that they do return, and that they can give messages of hope, warnings of danger, and solace in distress; the quality and reliability of the message depending on the character of the spirit who is giving it, and the capability of the medium through whom it is given of in- terpreting it correctly. If through the perusal of this book,, some mind that up to now has been lying dormant on this subject, is aroused to active think- ing on the reality of life, or light is shed on a road hitherto dark, and its pitfalls re- vealed; or the burden of sorrow made lighter to some wayfarer; then will it have accomplished the end for which it has been sent out, and will need no apology for its existence. J. H. Fletcher. Spiritual Gifts "Now concerning spiritual gifts, breth- ren, I would not have you ignorant. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of ad- ministrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; to another faith by the same Spirit ; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; to another the working of miracles ; to another prophecy ; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." — I Corinthians, 12. Il^DEX OF OhAPTEES Page Chapter I. Spirit Return 1 Chapter II. Spirit Return of the Bible Supplemented and Confirmed 20 Chapter III. Spirit Lights and Voices 45 Chapter IV. Materialization and Physical Manifestations 54 Chapter V. Prophecy, Ancient and Modern 78 Chapter VI. It Takes Away Pear 103 Chapter VII. Helpfulness by Consolation. . 121 Chapter VIII. Helpful by Spirit Healing... 127 Chapter IX. Astral Bodies and Thought Forms 149 Chapter X. Spiritualism Helpful — by the Demand it Makes for Intelli- gent Research 169 Chapter XI. Spiritualism — Its Danger.... 181 Chapter XII. Obsession 190 Chapter XIII. The Power of Thought and the Need of the World. ... 237 IlyTDBX TO HeADLI]^B8 Page A bright light and a voice 49 A business man's troubles 117 A case of appendicitis 142 A different way 197 A foundation rock 100 A gentleman I had long known in Europe. . 37 A horse would be sick 89 A hotel man 204 A man who had the dropsy 134 A materialized spirit awakens Peter and leads him out of prison 64 A Methodist and an Episcopalian 209 A mother requests her son not to go abroad 119 A rare case of readiness 214 A ring is materialized 76 A sad case 195 A son is promised 79 A son is promised who shall not be shaved. . 80 A spirit from Liverpool 42 A spirit man run over and spirit Indians in paints and feathers 23 A spirit plays on an accordion 71 A spirit sister is described to a friend 39 A spirit who had been shot in the head. ... 41 A suicide asks forgiveness 125 Page A table lifted up by spirits 76 A thought canary 164 A thought-child in New York 157 A train accident t.. 116 A vision whilst in mid-Atlantic 36 A voice from Heaven 49 A wife proves her identity 121 Absent treatment heals 3,000 miles away. . . 139 All nature dangerous when handled in ignor- ance 186 An astral body recognized by a sister 153 An extremely sad case 210 An Oriental materializes 58 An unexpected trip 93 And Satan came also 208 Another hotel man 204 Are hotels hot-beds for obsession? 206 Are they not all ministering spirits? 1 As she had been told 35 Balaam's ass sees a spirit and speaks 5 Because of their unbelief 142 Belshazzar's feast 55 Came in fear, returned rejoicing 211 Consensus of opinion 206 Control by pernicious spirits dangerous. ... 188 Control yourself 187 Cromwell 21 Daniel sees a spirit 14 D, D. Home 69 Discord 198 Dr. Newton 136 xii Page Each in his own tongue 98 Elisha prophesies a son 83 Elisha prophesies seemingly impossible things 83 Ella Wheeler Wilcox 34 Emancipation 233 Ezekiel sees a hand 60 Fear 103 Florence Cook 70 Foolish dependence on spirits 101 For this saying the Devil is deported 193 For thoughts are living things 158 For truth and instruction 185 Frightened by an obsessing spirit 200 Girl is carried in a chair 68 God commands Moses to heal 127 Going to Boston 91 Good tidings 100 Had their tickets for the matinee 184 Healed by laying on of hands 137 Healed by magnetized articles 138 Healed by the spoken word 138 Healing by the churches 132 He cast out Devils 19 2 He dwelt in the tombs 190 He is a lunatic 194 He left his cane home 141 Herod in fear 110 Ignorance 188 "I know thee who thou art" 194 Jacob wrestleth with an angel 57 Jealousy 106 xiii Page Jeremiah foretelleth the death of Hananiah. 84 Jesus appears to His disciples 17 Jesus gives absent treatment 135 Jesus healed those who needed His help. . . . 137 Jesus healing on the Sabbath day 133 Jesus is tempted of the Devil 200 Jesus materialized 61 Jezebel hears Elijah had slain the prophets. . 10 Joan d'Arc 21 Joseph ordered to Egypt 110 Joseph receives instructions 15 Materialized hands 56 Meeting spirit friends a joy 126 Moral courage 115 More than conquerers 232 Moving of material things by spirits 72 My father's vision 30 My first experience 32 My own astral 154 Naaman requested to bathe in Jordan 128 No guarantee 209 No man liveth to himself 242 No two cases alike 204 Not always a case of "like attracts like". . . 200 Obsession nothing new 188 Occupation does not necessarily make obses- sion imperative 209 Painting by spirits 74 Peter's vision 50 Plato 21 Preparing for our next expression 102 xiv Page Prophecy is promised 78 Public circles and developing classes 202 Raps 75 Raps heard Avhilst dining 77 Rev. B. P. Austin 177 Rev. H. R. Haweis 169 Saul blinded by spirit light 47 Saul had caused the mediums to be put to death 7 Shakespeare 22 Sir Oliver Lodge 175 Sir William Crooks and direct writing 71 Some have eyes and see not 112 Spirit help for those who heed 114 Spirit helpfulness varied as human needs. . . 123 Spiritual gifts viii "Such as I have, give I unto thee" 140 Swedenborg 21 The axe's head falls off 12 The bow 53 The burning bush 45 The call of Samuel 51 The children of Israel had done evil 9 The children of Israel led with a pillar of fire by night 46 The day of Pentecost 53 The helpfulness of spiritualism 97 The law of compensation 99 The meeting place of discarnate spirits 207 The message seems so trifling 113 The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire 12 Page The result of fearlessness 103 The solace and rest of music 199 The testimony of one who had investigated for over forty years 124 The thought-body of a youth seen in New York while his physical body was living in Sweden 152 They cast out and healed 192 Think of the biggest crooks you have ever known 208 Told I should leave Toronto soon 88 Told I was coming to America 87 Transfiguration 16 Undesirable results 186 Victorien Sardou 172 Voodooism 217 Warned of a fall 112 We take character with us 183 What of these evil undeveloped spirits?. . . . 203 Where spiritual truth is taught 206 Will have nothing to do with it 183 Will not go back to England to live 87 Worse than highway robbers 216 "You will not be their manager" 92 SPIRITUALISM ITS TRUTH CHAPTER I. ''Are they not all ministering spirits?" —Eeh. 1, 14. SPIRIT RETUEN". The quotations from the Bible are not given because they are there, or that the fact of their being there makes them infal- lible proofs, but rather for comparison, to show how present-day experience proves their truth and calls to our remembrance that God and His laws are the same yester- day, today, and forever. In the Bible these spirits are called by a variety of names, such as God, Angel of God, Lord God, Angel of the Lord, Son of God, Son of Man, Holy Ghost, Archangel, Angel, Spirit, etc., etc. Frequently we find the prophets and seers of Bible history stating they have seen God, and that he has given them defi- nite verbal instruction on specific matters. It is not my desire to cast doubt on the in- 2 Spiritualism tegrity of these people, but I do doubt very much their judgment, just the same as I do some mediums when I hear them state that their chief control is some ancient and re- nowned scholar or philosopher, and yet every statement they make shows lack of both knowledge and philosophy. Such cases as these (and they are altogether too frequent) make one feel not only doubtful as to the identity of the supposed savant, but sorry they have degenerated so badly as to be absolutely unrecognizable. We know life is evolution and progression, just as we know there is no such thing as this life and the next, but one life, life forever- more, whether in this body of flesh, or out of it. Surely there can be no thinking person who wishes to crowd and cramp into human form that divinity which permeates all that is; that majesty of mind that created all that is (and which many of us call God), for: *' Could 'st thou conceive a God, A God he could 'st not be. Or thou not man." Its Truth 3 I see the expression of God in all his marvelous works better. In the flower of the field, In the leaf of the tree, In the song of the bird, In the sigh of the sea ; They all one name speak of. It is God, unto me. My object in quoting from the Bible is not to prove through it the infallibility of Spiritualism, its truth, helpfulness and danger, but to compare extracts therefrom with actual experiences of reputable men and women of our own day, whose state- ments would not be questioned in the high- est court of any civilized country. I do not intend to tie myself down to quoting verbatim. In most cases I shall only give the general meaning, but suf- ficient data will be supplied in order to make it easy for the reader to verify my statements. Where time and opportunity permit, I recommend doing this, as I be- lieve it would be found profitable. In your investigation of psychic phe- nomena let me suggest that you follow the 4 Spiritualism command of John ; viz. : to test the Spirit, for he goes on to say: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world." — I John, 4. Having, I believe, laid a solid foundation, and our object being to find the truth, let us journey together in honesty of purpose and tolerance of opinion. Knowing that we each and all have a right to use the brains the good Lord has endowed us with, to think for ourselves, and to draw our own conclusions from the light we have received without being domineered by others, and bearing in mind that we are in this physi- cal expression for a good purpose, and so long as we are here we have to do with mundane things as well as the Spirit, it is our duty to keep our feet on terra firma and govern our thoughts and actions by plain common sense. In quoting the visions as seen and re- corded in the Bible, by whatever name they may be given there, I shall refer to them simply as Spirit, which I believe is their proper name. Its Truth 5 baalam's ass sees a spieit and speaks. The children of Israel were on the plains of Moab in great numbers. For this rea- son the Moabites became afraid of them. At that time Balak was the King of the Moabs, and he sent a message to Balaam, begging him to come to him and curse the Israelites. On receiving the message Balaam went into the Silence to ascertain from the Spirit side of life, what his in- structions should be regarding the matter, and he was requested not to go. Desirous of obeying the request and the promptings of his own conscience, he returned to the messenger and sent word to Balak that he could not come. Balak was intensely human, and in deep anxiety; therefore, on receiving this mes- sage it made him all the more determined to have Balaam come at all costs and give him such help as he believed him capable of. So he again sent for him, but this time dispatched more important messengers, promising him great rewards. They were so big they unsettled Balaam, and when the second time he went into the Silence for advice and instruction, it was in a dif- 6 Spiritualism ferent Spirit and with a desire to oblige Balak and incidentally benefit himself. Eeturning to the messengers he explained apologetically that he could only give what was given to him, even though Balak would give him his house full of silver and gold. Balaam's ass was saddled, and they started at once on their journey to visit Balak, but Balaam's desires were wavering between the wish to please, and to do what was plainly his duty ; the result was that as they journeyed, a Spirit stood in the way. The ass saw it and was afraid. After Ba- laam had struck his ass three times, and the last time felled it to the ground, Balaam's eyes were opened. And he saw the Spirit with a sword in its hands, not only that, he heard it too, and when the Spirit finished telling him what he thought of him and what might have happened to him had the ass not seen him, I have no doubt Balaam was as much afraid as his ass, or more so ; in any case, he was ready to go on his mis- sion and do as he was told. — Numbers, Chaps. 22 and 24. This is a typical example of the thing that happens today. A person is in trouble Its Truth 7 and decides to go and see a psychic or medium. The medium, wanting to be hon- est, says: ''I am sorry, but I cannot get anything for you," and the client begins at once to think: ''How strange it is, you got so much for my friend. Now, if you will only try again for me I'll give you twice or three times your ordinary fee." So the medium tries, and after the client has been filled with untruths and has proved his messages worthless, he usually accuses the medium of fraud or fake, but seldom ever realizes that he has been en- tirely the cause. SAUL HAD CAUSED THE MEDIUMS TO BE PUT TO DEATH. The Philistines had gathered and pitched in Shunen. Saul had gathered Israel in Gilboa, and was afraid and trembled, for he had tried to get advice and failed. He had previously been the cause of the me- diums being put to death. However, he re- quested his servant to get him a woman with a familiar Spirit (a medium) that he might go and consult her, and his servant 8 Spiritualism said : ' ' There is a woman at Endor. ' ' Saul, not wanting to be recognized, disguised himself and took two men with liim and went to see this woman at night. She being a good medium began by telling him what Saul had been doing with the mediums, be- cause just at that time she was not espe- cially anxious to be killed, so he promised on his word that he would protect her. Then she asked him who he would like to see, and he said, ' ' Samuel. ' ' When Samuel presented himself she got afraid, and after telling Saul his name, asked him why he had deceived her. Be it said to his credit he did not deny his identity. — I Samuel, Chap. 28. Although the above incident occutrred thousands of years ago, with very little im- agination you could easily think you were reading your morning paper with an ac- count of an attempted exposure of some me- dium in New York City last night, for, like Saul, these reformers and investigators prefer darkness to light ; but it is doubtful if they would have been as honest and ready to acknowledge their identity as Saul was. Its Truth 9 THE CHILDREN OP ISRAEL HAD DONE EVIL THEY ASK HELP THE LOED SENDS THEM A PROPHET. The children of Israel had done evil and they had been delivered into the hands of the Medeanites; they had made strong- holds in the mountains, and after they had sown their crops the Medeanites, the Amelerites and children from the East came and camped against them, and they destroyed their crops utterly and did not leave a thing for man or beast until they came to Gaza. Then these destroyers ar- rived there as thick as grasshoppers, and their cattle came along with them; having this burden to carry made the Israelites very poor. Then they did as the average man does today when he cannot do any more for himself. They asked the Lord to help them, and the Lord sent a Prophet, and when he got amongst them he com- menced by telling them a few of the things God had done for them, and reminded them of the way they had behaved them- selves in return for blessings. I don't think they felt very flattered or sang for joy while these things were being 10 Spiritualism related, but probably felt better when the Prophet had concluded the review. God is not a God of Vengeance, but of mercy and goodness; therefore, he allowed a Spirit to appear to Gideon while he was threshing wheat. Gideon was working by the wine press, out of sight of the Me- deanites, so that they should not steal it. Characteristic of all good spirits, this one began to give him words of comfort, and Gideon showed himself full of questions and began to ask the Spirit the whys and the wherefores in the same way a New Yorker, Londoner or Parisian would about something he wanted to be very sure about. And whilst he did not want a signed state- ment from the Spirit he did ask for a sign. — Judges, Chap. 6. JEZEBEL HEAES ELIJAH HAD SLAIN THE PEOPHETS, AND SENT ELIJAH WOED HE WOULD DO THE SAME TO HIM. Ahab whilst conversing with Jezebel in- formed him how Elijah had slain all the Prophets, and it stirred him up very much. So he sent a messenger to Elijah saying, "Let the Gods do to me and more if I do 7^5 Truth 11 not to thee the same things as thou hast done to the Prophets by tomorrow about the same time. ' ' When Elijah got the mes- sage he did what you or I would very prob- ably have done — he lost no time in getting away to save his life — and he came to Beer- sheba, which belonged to Judah, and left his servant there, but went on himself a day's journey into the wilderness and sat down under a juniper tree, as he was both tired and depressed. He asked the Lord to take away his life, saying, '*! am not any better than my Fathers, ' ' He then fell asleep. He must have been very faint, for a good Spirit came, touched him, awak- ened him, and told him to eat; and look- ing around he found cake and water ready for him. The second time the good Spirit awoke him and told him to eat and drink, for it was too great a journey for him ; and he went in the strength of that meat for forty days and hid in a cave. His ex- periences there were very wonderful. Probably the one most worth while was the still small voice which came to him, as it is to most of us, if we will only listen and heed. — I Kings, Chap. 19. 12 Spiritualism THE axe's head PALLS OFF INTO THE WATER. The sons of the Prophets that were with Elisha had begun to feel crowded. So they came to him and said, ''The place where we dwell with thee, it is too strait for us. Let us, we pray thee, go to Jordan and build a place there where we can dwell." And he said, "Go!" Then one of them asked Elisha to come with them, and he said he would go, and he went. When they reached Jordan they commenced cutting down wood, and one man that was using a borrowed axe let its head come off and fall into the water, and he was troubled because it was borrowed. So he told Elisha about it and took and showed him where it had fallen in; then Elisha cut off a piece of stick and threw it in the same place, and the axe head floated to the top so the man could pick it up. THE MOUNTAIN" WAS PULL OP HORSES AND CHARIOTS OF FIRE. The King of Syria was harassing the Israelites by warring against them. He consulted with his servants from time to time and told them where his camp was go- Its Truth 13 ing to be, but somehow the King of Israel always seemed to find it out. This troubled the King of Syria, to know somebody was giving him away. One of his servants in- formed him it was Elisha, the Prophet. The King ordered him spied upon so he could find out where he was and send to fetch him. The servant said, "He is at Dothan." The King sent horses and chariots and a great host, and they encom-; passed the city by night, so when Elisha 's servant got up early the next morning he was surprised to find the city in a state of siege, and went to ask his master what they should do. Elisha told him not to be afraid, because those that were for them were more than those against them; and he prayed Grod to open the young man's eyes, and the Lord opened his eyes and he beheld that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around about Elisha. Of course they were Spirits. — 11 Kings, Chap. 6. Some time ago I heard one of the most able ministers in New York preach on this subject. I was much pleased with his ^dew- point and especially enjoyed his saying, that the Syrians had done the way the 14 Spiritualism world ever does, viz.: based tlieir calcula- tions on the material and physical, and left out altogether the spiritual side, which was always the strongest, hence their failure. I heartily agree with him. DANIEL SEES A SPIRIT. Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar, tells us of what he seems to think a strange incident about a vision he had, which oc- curred in the third year of Cyrus, King of Persia. He had been mourning for fully three weeks and could not take his food, such as bread and meat, and could not drink any wine. On the twenty-fourth day of the month he was by the side of the great river Hiddekel, and when he lifted up his eyes he beheld a Spirit clothed in linen, his loins girded with fine gold from Up- haz. His body was like beryl; his face like lightning; his eyes like lamps of fire; his arms and feet like polished brass ; and his voice like a multitude. Daniel had other men with him, but they did not see the Spirit. They felt its presence, be- came much frightened and ran away and hid themselves. — Daniel, Chap. 10. Its Truth .15 There is absolutely nothing unusual in Daniel's experience; it is, on the other hand, a very common thing that if three or four people be seated in a room who have the gift of clairvoyance, or clear vision, that only one sees the Spirit manifesting at the same time. This is the result of na- tural laws, for you should know that all Spirits cannot manifest through all media, and only through such media as vibrate in the same key, or are in harmony. JOSEPH RECEIVES INSTEUCTIONS FROM A SPIRIT IN HIS DREAMS. In the progress of calling your attention to some of the accounts of visions in the scriptures, we now come to a point where Joseph and Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ), are married. Joseph was much troubled about Mary's condition and anx- ious to know the best and righteous way of acting, for he did not want to make a public example of her, and was inclined to put her away privately. While he thought of these things the Ijord permitted one of his messengers, a Spirit, to appear to Joseph in a dream and say unto him, ' ' Fear not to 16 Spiritualism take Mary thy wife, for that which is con- ceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. She shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus." Whenever we are in perplexity and de- sire to act justly, the Divine (call it by whatever name may suit our particular ideas) never leaves us without guidance or comfort, if even a Spirit messenger has to be sent for our relief. — St. Matthew, Chap. 1. TRANSFIGUEATION Jesus, the promised son of Mary had come, and was busy scattering truth and blessings along His path. The time of His transfiguration was at hand, and taking Peter, James, and John His brother, up into a high mountain apart, was transfigured before them. His face did shine as the sun and His raiment was white as the light. And there appeared unto them the Spirit of Moses and Elias talking with him, and Peter felt it was good to be there and wanted to build three taber- nacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elias. — Matthew. Chap. 17. Its Truth 17 JESUS APPEARS TO HIS DISCIPLES. The time between the transfiguration and crucifixion had not only been crowded with untoward events, but filled with effort on the part of the Great Master Teacher, to make his mission and his teachings clearly understood, and at the same time con- tinuing to give comfort to the sorrowing, and health to those sick of mind and body. As the days grew closer to the time of His departure, deeper gloom settled upon the disciples until the climax was reached. When the crucifixion was an accomplished fact, and they were as sheep without a shepherd, they had been restless days and nights, and Mary Magdalene had arisen before daylight and gone to the sepulchre, and when she got there she found the stone rolled away. With- out stopping she ran to Simon Peter, and the other disciples whom Jesus loved, and told them somebody had removed the body. They were at a high nervous ten- sion, so these two disciples started to run to the sepulchre, and you probably remem- ber Peter was not a good runner, so his friend got there first, then waited until 18 Spiritualism Peter came and they went inside together. Mary stood outside weeping and looking in, and as she stooped down she saw two spirits where the body had lain, and they asked her what she was weeping for, and she told them. Turning around she saw Jesus standing, but she did not know Him, but took Him for the gardener until He spoke to her. Then she went and told the disciples, and that same evening Jesus came and appeared to His disciples in a room where they were assembled, with the doors shut, for fear of the Jews, and He stood in their midst and spoke to them, showing them His hands and His sides, so there should be no mistaking Him. Thomas was not with them, but as soon as he came they told him the wonderful news; it was so wonderful he could not believe, and told them so, unless he saw for himself. Eight days afterwards the disciples were within and Thomas was with them, and Jesus ap- peared again; and He told Thomas to put his fingers in His hands and his hand in His side, and Thomas, with a heart full of ten- derness, said: ''My Lord and my God!" Oh, that we had more Thomases. Some say Thomas had a right to believe his friends. Its Truth 19 I do not think he meant to convey the idea that he did not believe their word so much as he wanted to convey the idea that under their strained condition they might have deceived themselves, because immediately he saw Christ, those words filled with love, faith, gratitude, ''My Lord and my God" burst forth; and remember that Thomas had never before seen a materialized Spirit. After the above incident Jesus showed him- self many times to his loved ones. CHAPTER II. SPIRIT RETURN OF THE BIBLE SUPPLEMENTED AND CONFIRMED. Let on each Eeader gently fall, The wisdom of each Truth to call, A treasure all his own ; Yet not to keep, but give away To all who need, each, every day, Long as his Soul shall live. In going back as far as possible to show the experiences that have occurred to various people, I shall try and not weary you, or you may feel the same way that an old lady did on whom her vicar called, hoping to do her good by directing her mind to things spiritual, but who instead had so wearied her with Bible history that to his chagrin she rose to her feet and said, ' * It is such a long time since, and so far off, let's hope it isn't true." After all it is the things near home, the things that happen to our friends, our loved 20 Its Truth 21 ones, even though in the eyes of the world they be of no account, that influence our lives the most as a rule. PLATO. Plato said; "There are demons, the souls of those who have died, and each human being has a particular spirit with him to be his tutelary and guiding genius during his mortal life." CROMWELL. Oliver Cromwell. Sleeping on his couch saw the curtain open and a gigantic woman appear, who told him he would be the greatest man in England. JOAN d'aec. The visions of Joan d'Arc are so well known that it will be enough to call atten- tion to her name. SWEDENBOEG. Emanuel Swedenborg's experience with spirits, as attested by his writings, was 22 Spiritualism more than a passing vision, for at times they stayed for days. In 1758 a revolution was attempted in Sweden on the twenty- third day of July in that year, whilst Swedenborg was staying in Stockholm. Count Brahe and Baron Horn were exe- cuted. In his scriptural diary Swedenborg says : ' ' Brahe was beheaded at ten o 'clock in the morning. He spoke with me at ten at night. That is to say twelve hours after the exe- cution. He was with me almost without interruption for several days. ' ' SHAKESPEAEE. Shakespeare evidently knew the truth of spirit return, or the following never would have been written : Hamlet: ''What hour now?" Horatio: ''I think it lacks of twelve.'* Hamlet: ''Angels and ministers of grace defend us, Be thou a spirit of health, or gob- lin damned. Its Truth 23 Bring with tliee airs of heaven or blasts from hell ; Be thy intents wicked or charita- ble; Thou comest in such questionable shape That I will speak to thee. ' ' Again in Hamlet the stricken murderer swears : "If I stand here, I who saw liim, The times have been, That when the brains were out the man was dead, and there an end ; But now they rise again. ' ' "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in our philosophy. ' ' A SPIRIT MAN EUN OVER AND SPIRIT INDIANS IN PAINTS AND FEATHERS. Amongst the pioneer workers of modern spiritualism few, if any, had wider or more varied experiences than Emma Harding Britten, the world-wide traveler, lecturer 24 Spiritualism and demonstrator of Spirit phenomena. She was a lady of culture, education and unusual ability, and as many other thinking people have done, began the investigation of spirit return for the set purpose of ex- posing the "horrid stuff," and ended by being one of its most worthy and accepted exponents. From thousands of her marvelous ex- periences I have selected one from her auto- biography which, from its very freedom from the trappings or settings of the ordi- nary seance room, I believe will appeal to the good judgment of the fair-minded. Mrs. Britten had gone to Delphi, Indiana, to lecture, and was there the guest of Dr. Beck and his wife, and now Mrs. Britten shall tell her story in her own words : "It was on the morning after my arrival at their house that Dr. Beck suggested that a drive in the bright summer morning's air might dispel the fatigue of last evening's lecture and prepare me for another effort that night. The doctor himself set off to visit his patients in a one-horse buggy, assigning the phaeton and a pair of fine horses to Mrs. Beck and myself for the pro- posed drive. Its Truth 25 ''The fine summer morning and the ro- mantic scenery of the country in the Wabash Eiver district were equally charm- ing. At length we came upon a long white road with a gentle ascent and thick forests on either side. Mrs. Beck informed me that the termination of this road was a high plateau of rocks, from which we could have a splendid view of the Wabash Eiver, with its celebrated valley scenery. Whilst she was speaking I was looking anxiously for- ward along the road, upon which a tall man dressed like a carter was standing right in the middle of the path we were traversing and directly in line with our carriage. ' See that man!' I cried, 'Surely he must be deaf and does not hear the carriage ap- proaching him.' 'Call to him!' I cried again and again to the driver, who, how- ever, took no notice of what I said. Mean- time the horses rushed on at full gallop as if they had been lashed to madness, though no whip had touched them. I screamed and stood up in the carriage, waving my arms and shouting frantically, but the man in the road never stirred, and the horses, as if possessed by fiends, dragged the carriage 26 Spiritualism on at a mad pace, passed over tlie immov- able figure and then stopped, panting and covered with foam. In an agony of horror I jumped froi!n the carriage into the road and began to search for the crushed re- mains of the victim. All in vain ; there was no sign of any such victim, no trace that any one had been there. Breathless as I was, I still managed to explain to Mrs. Beck and the driver what I had seen. Neither of- them had beheld the sight so clearly ap- parent to me; but when, after their in- quiries, I described, as I could do accu- rately, the dress and great stature of the man I had beheld, both agreed it must have been the ghost of one Bill Nye, who was run over and killed just at that spot in a terrible scene, the particulars of which I was to hear on my return home. ii 'Why not now?' I asked. 'No, no,' re- plied Mrs. Beck, 'we will just drive up to the edge of the rocks and then hurry home.' As we rode on I still noticed the agitation of the horses, and finding that we were advancing up a ledge of rocks which seemed to terminate in a sheer overhanging precipice, I persuaded Mrs. Beck to dis- mount with me, and we walked on together Its Truth 27 to the edge of the rocks commanding a most enchanting view of the river valley and forest land beyond ; but it was not the land- scape on which my eye was fastened, but on a narrow path far beneath us, little more than a bank of earth that ran by the river's brink. ' ' There I saw emerging from a projection of rocks at one end of the path a tall Indian dressed in war paint and feathers, carrying his war hatchet upright in his hand, bow and arrows at his back and trotting rather than walking or running by the river's side. "I cried to Mrs. Beck: 'Look! look! at that tall Indian warrior! See! There's another, another, a fourth, a fifth ! ' and so I went on counting aloud, as if I must do so, until I had numbered up to twenty-five. 'How many did you say I' murmured Mrs. Beck in a low, subdued tone. " 'Twenty-five, all in single file,' I answered. " 'Where are they gone?' " 'Eound that other mass of projecting rock there, there! There go the two last of them. Don't you see them?' " 'I see nothing,' she replied. ' ' ' Good heavens ! Why did you not 28 Spiritualism look? They were such a grand hne and looked so noble, yet so terrible, in their war paint and feathers.' " 'Describe them to me.' '*I did so, but questioned why she did not see them when she was standing so close to me. Mrs. Beck replied solemnly: 'Alas! my friend, my eyes are not opened into the realm of the invisible world as yours are. Those whom you beheld were not beings of this earth, nor is there any path there now. That fatal bank has been broken away and the waters flow over it now. Look again ! ' "I obeyed and to my amazement found there was no path, only the waters of the river flowing as if against the foot of the rocks, on the top of which we were standing. In fewer words than I can write Mrs. Beck then informed me that many years before, when the white men first discovered and came to settle in the Wabash Valley dis- trict, there was a tribe of Indians inhab- iting a camp on the banks of the river beyond the first projection of rocks from which I had seen the Spirit warriors emerge. ''They were a fierce and warlike tribe and gave the white invaders much trouble, Its Truth 29 disputing, as they well might, the right of the stranger to come and possess the lands hitherto occupied by their own people. At length one of the most influential of the white settlers proposed that they should hold a conference in a grove on the banks of the river, reached by the path which was once the line of communication between the two rocky points which marked the fishing ground of the belligerents. ''To attend this conference a chosen band of twenty-five of the grandest of the Indian 'braves' were selected, and these, decked in their full insignia of war, trotted, as was their custom, one after another in single file along the path to the scene of the conference; but, alas, for the everlasting story of the white man's treachery toward what he insolently denominated as "in- ferior races,' a band of perfidious mon- sters, far more worthy of being called 'savages' than the hapless aborigines, met one after the other as they turned the angle of the second group of rocks and killed them in cold blood, not staying their murderous hands until the last of the doomed twenty-five was destroyed. 30 Spiritualism ' * The legend affirms that a white man in league with the murderers (one Bill Nye) was stationed in the road above to prevent any approach to the scene of the massacre, and that this man, who refused to allow a cart and horse to pass the spot where we were then standing, was run over and killed." MY father's vision. An experience of my father's, which I have often heard him relate, I believe will be of interest to all those who are investi- gating psychic phenomena. My father was a farmer in England, as many generations of my forefathers had been; he was a man much beloved by rich and poor, and, as I remember, his word and judgment always carried weight with them. The incident occurred before my birth and was as follows : I had two half-sisters, Mary and Alice, twenty and four years old, respectively, who were both stricken with scarlet fever and died within a few days of each other. Their death was a matter of great sorrow to my father, and he mourned their loss deeply. At that time the old- Its Truth 31 fashioned, four-post beds with canopy tops and curtains of chintz at the head and foot, which were drawn around the bed after you got in, were in vogue. In such a bed, with the curtains tightly drawn, my father was lying awake and sorrowing for those whose physical forms he would see no more, when he beheld what he called a star (bear in mind the curtains of the bed were closed) approach his window, enter his room, when at once a small hand drew the curtains aside and there stood Alice, the younger of the two, who addressed him, saying: ''Sor- row no more. Mary and I are together ; we are very happy. ' ' I have heard my father state many times that with that experience his sorrow for them departed. In the light of these later days and with our wider experience we have been able to give a name to these three distinct phases of Spirit return which my father had in this manifestation. What he called a star we recognize as Spirit light, the arms that drew the curtain aside and the form that presented itself, as materialization, and the voice as Spirit, or direct voice. 32 Spiritualism MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH SPIRITUALISM. In the year 1887 1 was living in Liverpool and at that time had never had any experi- ence with a public medium, or so-called Spiritualists, although psychic powers were lying dormant within me, when one day a friend who was not a Spiritualist asked me * 4f I had ever been to a Spiritualist meet- ing," to which I replied, "I never had, as I supposed it was a good deal of rot." I had a great deal of admiration for the in- tellectual power of my friend and expected her to confirm my statement, when to my surprise she said: ''Well, she didn't know about that as she had a friend who went to the meetings at Daulby Hall who said they did some very marvelous tilings." I at once made up my mind that when the op- portunity presented itself I should go, and it soon came. One evening I had been detained later at business than usual, and when I started for home I found it was one of those dreary, wet nights which are not uncommon in Liv- erpool, and in going up London road and reaching the street where Daulby Hall is situated, I remembered it was the night for Its Truth 33 the Spiritualists to hold their meeting, and I decided to go and see what was doing. When I reached the hall I found the meet- ing had been started some time, with about two hundred people present, all strangers to me and me to them. A medium by the name of Mrs. Green was addressing the meeting as I went in. I had no sooner taken a seat than to my surprise and discomfort she said : ' 'I must stop and speak to the gentle- man who just came in, ' ' and then proceeded to say : ' ^ I see both your father and mother with you," and then described them so ac- curately that it was absolutely impossible for me to doubt their presence. Then she went on to say ''They hold a glass of milk over your head and if you would take a glass of milk about eleven in the morning it would relieve the headache from which you have been suffering for the past three weeks." It was true, I had suffered very badly for three weeks with headache, but I did not like milk and practically had not taken it for years, and decided not to for the time being, with the result that my headaches con- tinued. Eventually I tried the milk and got relief. 34 Spiritualism ELLA WHEELER WILCOX is quoted as saying : ''I believe thousands of instances have occurred where messages have been re- ceived from them (the Spirits), and I have no doubt that we are often visited by de- parted friends whose presence we vaguely feel, but whom we cannot see or hear. ' ' Since such visitations are our only abso- lute proof of a future life, I fail to under- stand why religious people cry out against a belief in Spirit return. ''The Bible is full of such occurrences, and God's universe is the same today as it was in those historic times. "Meantime I feel that since the Spirit life is the more advanced life, we should not intrude upon its higher usefulness by con- tinual attempts to bring our friends back to earth. Let them make the advances. ' ' That such messages have been received I have no doubt. ' ' That I myself have received them I am confident, but such occurrences have been rare, while my investigations have been frequent. ''There is no questioning the fact that Its Truth 35 some people are endowed with what might be termed a spiritual telephone, just as others have mechanical, musical or mathe- matical genius. '^But even as the earthly telephone at times is unreliable and ^Central' does not always make the right connections, so these spiritual wires are not always to be relied upon. ''We are scholars in school and we must not appeal to the graduates to come back from the busy world to give us the answers to all life 's problems. "I am confident we are all often sur- rounded by bands of invisible forces, Spirits in various phases of development who are interested in our welfare. "They are God's messengers, sent to cheer and help struggling humanity. ' ' AS SHE HAD BEEN" TOLD. During 1891 and 1892 I was living in a small town in the west of England, and made my home in the house of a Mrs. P., whom I found to have a most kindly dispo- sition and a profound sense of justice. Whenever the opportunity presented itself 36 Spiritualism she seemed glad to have me tell her the philosophy the Spirit people taught on their return, and it seemed to be a great comfort to her. During my stay in her house, her doctors discovered she had a malignant cancer, for which they told her nothing could be done and of which she eventually died. In the meantime I had been to America and had returned to England, and when in this little town called upon Mrs. P.'s greatest friend, a woman of strong mind and ability at the head of the public school there, and the following is the inter- esting story she told me : Some weeks after Mrs. P. had died she woke up one night and saw Mrs. P. sitting on a chair by her bed- side and smiling at her said : ' 'I have found things over here just as Mr. Fletcher used to tell us." A VISION WHILST IN" MID-ATLANTIC. Prior to the above account and whilst liv- ing in the house of Mrs. P., one Wednesday morning whilst at breakfast I received a cable from a friend in Toronto requesting me to come at once. I telegraphed a friend in Liverpool to secure me a stateroom on Its Truth 37 the first steamer he could sailing to Amer- ica. During the day he replied he had got me passage on the Umbria, sailing the fol- lowing Saturday, and on her I sailed. The following Tuesday after lunch I became very sleepy and retired to my stateroom and soon was fast asleep. On suddenly awaken- ing, to my surprise, there stood looking at me and smiling the lady I was going to Toronto to see. I knew she had died and that I should never again see her in the body. When mutual friends met me at To- ronto they said, "We have bad news for you." I said, ''Yes, I know; when did she die?" They said, "Tuesday." When we compared notes and made allowance for the difference of time, we found I had seen her as soon as she had passed away. A GENTLEMAN I HAD LONG KNOWN IN EUEOPE IS DESCEIBED ACCURATELY TO ME AS A SPIRIT BY A STRANGER IN A FAR WESTERN CITY OF AMERICA. On my second visit to America in Febru- ary, 1895, soon after my arrival in New York I decided to go to one of the large western cities on some matters of business 38 Spiritualism I deemed I could do better than by writing. Whilst there I made the acquaintance of a family, who, finding I was a stranger in the city, invited me to call upon them. I did so several times, and whilst calling one even- ing, to the surprise of my hostess, a friend of hers and his wife from New York, who had arrived in the city that afternoon, called upon her. As they entered her parlor I rose and was introduced. No sooner had our names been given than be- fore either or any of us could sit down this stranger said: ''Pardon me, sir, I see a gentleman standing by your side. He wears a uniform." And he proceeded to describe the uniform. ' ' Oh, yes, he says his name is , and he says he died at and is buried at a long distance from where he died and will you please give a message to . ' ' I said, ' ' No, I will not." The man who gave me this wonderful demonstration of Spirit return I never saw before or since; he was unfortunately a man of little education and seemed puzzled by the strange names of the places and cir- cumstances he was giving me. However, I was personally acquainted with every de- Its Truth 39 tail, and my reason for flatly refusing to give the message which the Spirit had re- quested me to do many times, through varied media in England, was that it seemed then, as it does now, impossible to do so. As I write these words this same Spirit says, ^'It was not; neither is it im- possible." However, I think differently. I have purposely concealed the name of the city and the home where this message was given to me, as well as the name of the Spirit, the place of his death and burial, because the spirit was very prominent and well known all over the civilized world, and I deemed it unwise that the names, etc., etc., should be given, knowing too well the ridicule the dragging in of prominent names generally brings. A SPIRIT SISTER IS DESCRIBED TO A FRIEIS^D. With the passing of time I made a busi- ness connection with a firm in New York City, and whilst this business kept me in the city during the day, I made my home at Yonkers, on the Hudson, with a delight- ful family, who with the rolling years have become my permanent friends. It was a 40 Spiritualism frequent thing for me to have guests from the city to stay over the week end. On these occasions I made it a rule not to mention my knowledge of Spirit return or my psychic gifts unless I was satisfied it would be interesting to my guest. One week end I had a guest whom I had known some time, but to whom I had never mentioned this subject. During the evening an old and dear friend called to see me to whom Spiritualism has been practically his very life for the past thirty-five years, and he has talked it in season and out and has never been able to understand people who were not ready to accept it at once. He at once did what was perfectly natural for him, by asking my guest ''If he was a Spiritualist." My guest replied in a way that was perfectly natural to him, but very shocking to my friend by saying: "Why, no ; I don't believe in that kind of rot. ' ' My caller then said ''He was surprised he should say such a thing in my presence," to which my guest replied by turning to me and saying, "Why, surely you do not be- lieve in it ? " In answer I assured him I did and that if he did not I would tell what I saw at that very moment, and I proceeded Its Truth 41 to describe in detail a lady I saw standing- near him. At first lie seemed unable to rec- ognize the description. Then the Spirit, turning her head to the right, put her finger on her neck under her left ear and showed me a large brown birthmark, which I called his attention to, whereupon he shouted; "Stop! That is my sister, who has been dead for some years, and I do not like it, because it makes me feel queer and I do not want to talk any more about it. " I did not know he had a sister dead and whilst he said he did not want to talk any more about it, yet he kept referring to the subject and kept me from my bed until 2 A. M. A SPIEIT WHO HAD BEEN SHOT IK THE HEAD. During the Spanish- American War I was invited one evening to dine at the home of a Mr. and Mrs. , at Mount Vernon, N. Y. I knew they had two sons at college, but I had never met them. During the din- ner I asked if either of their sons had gone to the war. They said, ''No; why do you ask?" I did not wish to tell them for my reason was a very unpleasant one. I had 42 Spiritualism seen lying on the ground dead a young man with a wound in his head, which I realized was from a gunshot, and as it was shown in connection with my host and hostess I felt it possibily might be one of their sons. However, as they pressed me to tell them what I had seen, and realizing that they were people of good sense and large per- sonal experience of this kind of phenomena, I told them. Naturally they were at a loss to understand its meaning, which, however, was made clear to them the second day after my visit by a telephone call from honkers, requesting Mrs. to come over at once to one of her friends. She drove over as quickly as possible, and on her arrival found her friend in a paroxysm of sorrow, for she had just got the news that her son, who had gone to Maine with his father and a party of friends to hunt big game, had been mistaken for game and shot in the head and killed by one of the party. A SPIKIT FEOM LIVEEPOOL. One day whilst calling on a psychic in New York City, she said, "There is a woman here who says her name is Mary Its Truth 43 Heppy." I said, "Tell her I do not know her." She replied, ''She says you know her very well and that she has been dead three weeks. ' ' I said, ' ' Tell her she 's mis- taken." "She says she is not." "How does she spell her name?" "Mary Heapy." ' ' Oh, of course, I know Mary Heapy, and is she dead?" "Yes." I knew two of Mrs. Heapy 's nephews very well and had spent in their company many happy times at her house in the suburbs of Liverpool. I wrote one of her nephews asking about her and got her statement confirmed that she had been dead three weeks, as she had stated to me in New York Qiij. So numerous incidents of Spirit return could be given as a result of experience by sober, level-headed people whose word would not be questioned on any other subject. If you are a doubter I, like every right- thinking man, have respect for your honest doubt, for remember what Tennyson says : "There lives more faith in honest doubt, Believe me, than in half the creeds. ' ' But if you should be a scoffer, a man who sneers and scoffs at what you know nothing about, I have no respect and would say, 44 Spiritualism don't you think you would do well to stop and ask yourself what reputable men and women have to gain by making statements that are not true or that will not stand in- vestigation? And if you are honest with yourself I feel sure you will reach but one conclusion and at the same time realize that after a subject has been so tabooed as this has that it takes more than ordinary cour- age to voice it at all, unless you are pre- pared to lose caste or that truth is of more value to you than social standing. Yet let me say to you that many who in their social gathering sneer at and treat lightly these facts, privately are anxious to get as much comfort from them as they can. CHAPTER III. Spirit Lights and Voices. In the night of darkness The light of heaven falls, And Spirit Voices whisper Undying truth to tell. Perhaps in the whole experience of man- kind with spirit lights and voices, none is more remarkable than that of Moses, the record of which is as follows and will be found in Exodus III, 1-6: THE BUENING BUSH. ''Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian : and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. ''And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 45 46 Spiritualism ''And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. "And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, Grod called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses ! And he said. Here am I ! ''And he said. Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. "Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." If the reader will turn to the previous chapter he will see that when my sister ap- peared to my father she first appeared as a star of light, and afterwards spoke by the direct voice. THE CHILDKEN OP ISKAEL LED WITH A PILLAE OF FIKE BY NIGHT. Again Moses and the children of Israel have experience of Spirit light, and this time it is for guidance. Its Truth 47 "And they took their journey from Suc- coth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of clond, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light ; to go by day and night. "He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. "—Exodus XIH, 20-22. SAUL BLIi^DED BY SPIEIT LIGHT, Saul was on his way to Damascus to per- secute the Christians when he saw a bright Spirit light and heard a Spirit voice. The light was so bright that it blinded him for three days, and the command of the voice carried such power that when Saul received his sight he was a changed man. "And Saul, yet breathing out threaten- ings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, "And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 48 Spiritualism ''And as he journeyed, lie came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined around him a light from heaven : "And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why per- secutest thou me? "And he said, Who art thou. Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou per- secutest : it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. "And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord what will thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him. Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. ' ' And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man. "And Saul rose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man : but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. "And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. "And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias ; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord."— Acts IX, 1-10. Its Truth 49 I can fully understand the brightness of the light this Spirit gave to Saul, blinding him for three days, for on several occa- sions I have seen Spirit so bright with spirituahty it was difficult to gaze upon it. A BEIGHT LIGHT AND A VOICE SAYING, THIS IS MY BELOVED SON. It was the time of the transfiguration and the hearts of Peter, James and John had been deeply touched, when the impul- sive Peter asked the Master if they could build there three tabernacles, and while he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud over- shadowed them : and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.— St. Matthew, 17, 5. A VOICE FKOM HEAVEN. Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead and many Jews had come to Bethany, not only for the sake of Jesus, but to see Lazarus; and the chief priests had con- sulted that they might put Lazarus also to death, because by reason of him many had 50 Spiritualism believed on Jesus. On the next day much people were come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet Him. The soul of Jesus was troubled, and He said, what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from Heaven saying : I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. — St. John, 12th Chapter. I believe that if we examine the records of voices and visions, that we shall find that they come chiefly when our hearts are troubled, and that they are given for com- fort, or instruction, and often both, as in the case that follows : "And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. "And when Peter was come up to Jeru- salem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, Its Truth 51 * ' Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncir- cumcised, and didst eat with them. *'But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, ''I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners ; and it came even to me: "Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourf ooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. "And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter ; slay and eat. ' ' — Acts XI, 1-7. THE CALL OF SAMUEL "And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days ; there was no open vision. "And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; "And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of 52 Spiritualism God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep ; "That the Lord called Samuel; and he answered, Here am I. ''And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou callest me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. ''And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said. Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son ; lie down again. "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet re- vealed unto him. "And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said. Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. "Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shall say. Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. "And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Its Truth 53 Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth." — I Samuel III, 1-10. THE BOW Ezekiel has one of his wonderful visions, and he says: ''As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face and I heard a voice of One that spake. "—Ezekiel 1, 28. THE DAY OP PENTECOST "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utter- ance." — Acts II, 1-4. CHAPTER IV. MATERIALIZATION AND PHYSICAL MANIFESTA- TIONS. This phase of spiritual phenomena to me is the least pleasing, however, that is not the question, but is it true? And to those who have taken the time and trouble to in- vestigate, there can be no doubt of its reality. That in the past there have been people caught faking and that in the future there may be others caught faking this wonderful phenomena carries no weight one way or other, especially when in the presence and under such careful investi- gators and scientists as Sir William Crooks, Sir Oliver Lodge, Eussell, Wallace, etc., such phenomena has been acknowl- edged to be a fact. We shall again see what the Bible has to say on the subject and what present-day ex- periences proves and then leave you to draw your own conclusions. To those who have ever seen genuine ma- 54 Its Truth 55 terialization, I believe they will fully under- stand what has been said in chapter three about Spirit light, as it very often precedes the materialized form. Perhaps there is no incident more fulfill- ing the statement ^'that God is not mocked" than the following: belshazzar's feast "Belshazzar, the King, made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. ''Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. "Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem ; and the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. ' ' They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 56 Spiritualism "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. "Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosened and his knees smote one against another. "The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the sooth- sayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the inter- pretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." — Daniel V, 1-7. MATEKIALIZED HANDS If my memory sei-ves me correctly, it was in the fall of 1895. I was in Boston and visited the temple built by Mr. Eyers for the use of Spiritualists. Mr. Frederick Keeler, a noted medium, now living in Washington, D. C, was giving demonstra- tions of his gifts, and not only did I see one Its Truth 57 hand that was materialized pushed through a curtain, but dozens, and all sizes, and, like the hand at Belshazzar's feast, they wrote, but upon a pad that was held for them, and many of the messages were ac- knowledged as correct by the people they were for. JACOB WRESTLETH WITH AN ANGEL ''And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ''And when Jacob saw them, he said, this is God's host; and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. "And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. "And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. "And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 58 Spiritualism ''And lie said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob. *'And he said. Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. ''And Jacob asked him, and said: Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said. Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. ''And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel : for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved." — Genesis 32, 1-3, 24-30. AN OKIENTAL MATERIALIZES On one occasion, a number of others and I, who were investigating this phase of phenomena, were invited to the home of a Mr. Buchanon, who lived on Hawthorne Avenue, Yonkers, to a seance to be given by a Mr. Concanon, a small, fragile-look- ing man. As we were anxious not to be deceived and specially did not want to de- ceive ourselves, we took the precaution to take this man into a side room and have him disrobe entirely and put on a suit we Its Truth 59 had provided — then, taking him into a cabinet which had been improvised, tied him in a chair, put his bare feet in a pan of flour, and after putting rice in both hands, nailed him by the trouser legs to the floor. Afterward, we took our seats and waited only a short time before the manifestations began. Presently a spirit whom I had frequently been told through and by various media in England and in this country, was one of my spirit helpers, stepped out of the cabinet and asked for me, and after announcing who he was began to speak very rapidly and very fluently in a foreign tongue. I shall never forget the powerful grasp of his hand. I am sure he could have lifted me up from the floor with one of them. Then, again,* he was a magnificent specimen of man in size, for he must have stood 6 feet 6 inches whereas the medium was short and small. Later another spirit came and asked for me, and this time I recognized at once my fiance who had passed away a few years before. Of course, the other guests had friends materialize that they could vouch for. 60 Spiritualism Now how had the precautions worked that we had taken ? When the cabinet was opened there was our man sitting as we had tied and nailed him. As there was not a grain of rice or a foot print of flour on the floor, he could not have moved his feet or opened his hands. EZEKIEL SEES A HAND AND A BOOK. Ezekiel, in the first chapter of his book, had described in his wonderfully flowery imagery and poetic way, one of his marvel- ous visions and a commission he had re- ceived to go to the Children of Israel, who had become rebellious, and bear a certain message to them. Evidently Ezekiel real- ized what lay before him and did not spe- cially fancy the task, for in the second chapter and 6th, 7th, 8th and 91;h verses he is further instructed. *'And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. Its Truth 61 "And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. ''But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee : Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house ; open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. "And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me ; and lo, a roll of a book was therein. ' ' — Ezekiel, 2 Chap., 6th-9th verses. JESUS MATEEIALIZED Once again let me call your attention to the great Brother and Teacher, Jesus Christ. It was after some of his loved ones had been to his grave and found it empty that he materialized to two of them, as the fol- lowing beautiful record of 24th Chapter of St. Luke shows, beautiful, and to me espe- cially beautiful with its blending and inter- weaving of the human and divine, the hu- man suffering and sorrow, and the divine love and sympathy and blessing : "And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, 62 Spiritualism which was from Jerusalem about three score furlongs. ''And they talked together of all these things which had happened. *'And it came to pass that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. ''But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. "And He said unto them, what manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? "And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto Him, Are Thou only a stranger in Jerusalem and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? "And He said unto them. What things! And they said unto Him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. "And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and have crucified Him. "But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Its Truth 63 '*Yea, and certain women also of our company made ns astonislied, which were early at the sepulchre. ''And when they found not His body they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that He was alive. ''And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre and found it even so as the women had said, but Him they saw not. "Then He said unto them, fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ' ' Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Him- self. "And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went. And He made as though He would have gone further. "But they constrained Him, saying. Abide with us ; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And He went in to tarry with them. "And it came to pass, as He sat at meat 64 Spiritualism with them, he took bread and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. ''And their eyes were opened and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. ''And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures? "And they rose up the same hour and re- turned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, "Saying the Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. "And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. "And as they thus spake Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them. Peace be unto you. ' ' I suggest you read the whole chapter. A MATERIALIZED SPIEIT AWAKENS PETER AND LEADS HIM OUT OF PRISON. I now call your attention to a physical manifestation by Spirit, showing what the Its Truth 65 great creative spirit can do when it is neces- sary or desirable to protect men from their fellow men ; and that power is the same to- day as it was in days of old. Herod was King, and he fell in line with what was the fashion in his day, viz. : to persecute the Christians. He had killed James, the brother of John, which had pleased certain of the people, and being anxious to gain still greater favor, he had Peter arrested and put in prison (it was the days of unleavened bread), but after Easter he intended to bring him forth to the people : ''And when he had apprehended him he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him ; intend- ing after Easter to bring him forth to the people. ''Peter therefore was kept in prison; but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. "And when Herod would have brought him forth the same night Peter was sleep- ing between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the prison. 66 Spiritualism ''And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison ; and he smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. "And the angel said unto him, Gird thy- self and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Oast thy gar- ment about thee and follow me. ''And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. "When they were past the first and sec- ond ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of its own accord, and they went out and passed on through one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him. "And when Peter was come to himself, he said. Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent His angel and hath deliv- ered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the- Jews. "And when he had considered the thing he came to the house of Mary, the mother Its Truth 67 of John ,wliose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. '^ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate a, damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. '^And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. '^And they said unto her. Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then they said, it is his angel. ''But Peter continued knocking, and when they had opened the door and saw him they were astonished. "But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go, show these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place. "Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was be- come of Peter."— Acts 12, 4-18. Dr. Marden in one of his helpful books calls this sort of thing, "Working for one thing and expecting something else." Peter's friends had been praying for his 68 Spiritualism deliverance from Herod, and yet the thing seemed to them so unlikely and improbable that when it was accomplished, at first they were so surprised that they did not believe it. The Great Master Spirit is constantly doing for us beyond our ken, and whilst nb one would doubt the goodness of heart, life and purpose of these friends of Peter, yet it is self-evident they had not the remotest idea of the power of the Spirit, which is absolutely irresistible. GIRL IS CAEEIED IN A CHAIR WITHOUT HUMAN AGENCY. ''A report by Gen. Bullard of a seance held with a little daughter of Mr. Alwood, of Troy, N. Y., is of peculiar interest. He was induced to attend by a clergyman, and the party was joined by four other eminent men. While the little girl sat in her high chair, her tiny feet resting on the foot- board, she was lifted and carried about as a feather blown by the wind. The heavy table around which we were seated rocked, while loud raps resounded from various parts of the room, and spelled out names and dates and messages, identifying de- Its Truth 69 parted friends of the sitters. And as they were about to adjourn, a message was given from Gen. Bullard's deceased brother. Then he thought as a test, 'If it is my brother, move the medium in her chair toward me.' His idea was to have her moved a little way; but she was carried around the table and sat by his side almost instantaneously. Then Gen. Bullard started up, exclaiming, 'By heavens, it is all true!' " D. D. HOME AND SIR WILLIAM CEOOKS. ''The most startling manifestations on record have occurred through the medium- ship of D. D. Home in a light sufficient to make objects plainly visible. On one occa- sion Sir William Crooks placed an ac- cordion in a wire cage into which Mr. Home passed his hand, holding the instrument by its base. It then played exquisite tunes in sight of the circle, without visible hands touching the keys. He then withdrew his hand and it continued to play, suspended in the cage. We learn by this well-attested fact that a wire cage is no obstruction to the passage of spirit force, and hence a cage 70 Spiritualism adjusted over a medmm cannot in any way impair the 'conditions/ " FLORENCE COOK AND SIR WILLIAM CROOKS. In his, Sir William Crooks', book ''Re- searches in the Phenomena of Spirit- ualism, ' ' he states his conviction of the fact of an intercommunion between the two worlds. In his investigation of Spiritual- ism, Sir William Crooks was visited by many mediums. At one time, when the noted medium, Florence Cook, was at his house, he says: "On one occasion, for nearly two hours, Katie walked about the room conversing familiarly with those present. Several times she took my arm when walking, and the impression was conveyed to my mind that it was a living woman by my side, in- stead of a visitor from the other world." He then describes how he clasped her in his arms and found her as material a being as the medium herself. He also tells us that he took several flashlight photographs of his mysterious friend, and that on one of these occasions "Katie muffled her me- Its Truth 71 dium's head up in a shawl to prevent the light falling upon her face. ' ' '*It was a common thing," he adds, "for seven or eight of us in the laboratory to see the medium and Katie at the same time under the full blaze of the electric light." A SPIRIT PLAYS AN ACCORDION. ''A phantom form came from the corner of the room, took an accordion in its hand and then glided about the room playing the instrument. The form was visible to all present for many minutes, the medium also being seen at the same time. Coming rather close to a lady who was sitting apart from the rest of the company, she gave a slight cry, upon which it vanished. ' ' SIR WILLIAM CROOKS AND DIRECT WRITING. Describing his experiences with direct writing, Sir William says; ''A luminous hand came down from the upper part of the room, and after hovering near me for a few seconds, took the pencil from my hands, rapidly wrote on a sheet of paper, threw the pencil down and then rose up over our 72 Spiritualism heads, gradually fading into the darkness." 'M would again remind my readers," he adds, ' ' that what I relate has not been ac- complished at the house of a medium, but in my own house, where preparations have been quite impossible. "A medium walking into my dining room cannot, while seated in one part of the room with a number of persons keenly watching him, by trickery, make an accordion play in my own hand when I hold it, keys down- ward, or cause the same accordion to float about the room playing all the time ; he can- not introduce machinery which will wave window curtains or pull up Venetian blinds eight feet off; tie a knot in a handkerchief and place it in a far corner of the room; sound notes on a distant piano; cause a card plate to float about the room; raise a water bottle and tumbler from the table; make a coral necklace rise on end; cause a fan to move about and fan the company ; or set in motion a pendulum when enclosed in a glass case firmly cemented to the wall." MOVING OF MATERIAL THINGS BY SPIRITS. Torquato Tasso, an Italian poet, was both helped and tormented by the spirits. Its Truth 73 The following is what he wrote to a friend : ' ' This day, being the last but one of the year, the brother of the Eev. Licino has brought me two letters from Vostra Sig- noria, but one disappeared after I had read it, and I think the Spirit (il folletto) has carried it away, because it is that letter in which he is mentioned. This is one of those miracles which I have frequently seen in the hospital (of St. Ann, which was his prison), on which account I feel certain that it is the work of some sorcerer (mago) and I have many other proofs of it, but par- ticularly of a roll of bread taken from before me, visibly, half an hour before sun- set (a ventrite ore) ; of a plate of fruit taken from before me the other day when that amiable young Pole so worthy of ad- miration came to see me, and of several other articles of food to which at other times the same thing occurred when no one entered my prison; of a pair of gloves, of letters, and of books taken out of boxes that were shut and found on the ground in the morning, and others that were never found, and I know not what became of them." 74 Spiritualism PAINTING BY SPIRITS. There lived in Glasgow, Scotland, a man by the name of Duiguid. He was a remark- able man, with many remarkable medium- istic gifts, the most interesting being that of direct painting by spirits, the modus operandi of which was as follows: Those desirous of getting a painting presented their visiting card or any card which they might choose, then they would .tear off one corner and keep it, so as to prevent the possibility of a card with a pic- ture previously on it being substituted. The keeping of the torn-off comer was for absolute test, as of course no two people would tear a piece of card just the same. A few paints were put on a palette and a brush laid by them was put on the table. The light was then turned out. In a few seconds Mr. D. would ask for the light to be turned on and there would be found a little landscape, seascape or some- thing of that kind painted in the dark, the paint of course still wet, done in a few sec- onds, that would have taken any living artist in a good light perhaps ten to twenty minutes or an hour. I have seen several of Its Truth 75 these paintings. The seances were of such importance to those interested that it was not an unusual thing for people to go from London to Glasgow, a distance of five hun- dred miles, to be present at them. KAPS. I knew very well a Mrs. , liv* ing at East Eighty-third Street, New York City, who was a remarkable medium for physical manifestations. Her gift was for table rapping, etc. I was a frequent visitor at her home, and witnessed many interesting manifestations. For instance, if when I called we did not sit to the table at once, raps would begin to come on the table, and not one, but anyway from three or four to perhaps six or eight, all at the same time; these raps would be as dis- tinctly individual as a person's voice or manner of speech; many of these spirits I knew perfectly by their raps, just as well as I know some of my friends in body by their voice. If you have ever lived in a house with a door knocker you know what I mean by the individuality of a rap, or even the ring of a door bell. Haven't you said 76 Spiritualism many a time that it's so and so before open- ing your door? Because there was some- thing in the rap or the ring that no one else ever gave? Yes, you might know a dozen Johns, Williams, Toms, Marys, Hannahs, etc, but you only knew one person with that exact rap or ring. To me they are more individual than names. TABLE LIFTED UP BY SPIRITS On one occasion Mrs. and I were sitting at the table alone with our hands resting lightly upon it, when it quietly rose up from the floor about six inches and then just as gently and quietly settled down. A RING IS MATERIALIZED. On another occasion, a gentleman and I were calling, and after we had sat at the table some time, I was asked or requested to clasp my hands together. I did so and in a short time I felt that a ring was ma- terialized in the palm of my hand. I asked the gentleman, also Mrs. , to put their finger into my hand between the index Its Truth 11 finger and the thiunb, and they both said they could feel the ring. EAPS HEARD WHILST DINING. At another time, when I had invited her to my house for dinner, raps came all over the dining table, walls and sideboard, much to the astonishment of a few other guests I had invited to meet her, and I feel sure, to the alarm of some of them. A few years ago. after suffering for some time, Mrs. passed into the higher phases of life and to such conditions as she had prepared herself for, and surely they were good, for she was ever ready to help the distressed in mind, body or estate. CHAPTER V. Pkophecy, Ancient and Modekn, As we look down the ages, as far back as we can go, we find there were prophets; and as we look at them individually we find they were similar to what we have today, viz. : good and bad, true and false. Never- theless, this power being the gift of the Spirit, it will continue to exist through all time no matter what the persecutions and conditions it may have to pass through. PKOPHECY IS PROMISED. *'And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. ''And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit."— Joel II, 28-29. 78 Its Truth 79 A SON IS PROMISED. ''Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children, and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. "And Sarai said nnto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. "And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband, Abram, to be his wife. "And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived ; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. "And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid into thy bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived I was despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between me and thee. "But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it 80 Spiritualism pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. ''And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. ''And he said, Hagar, Sarai 's maid, whence camest thou, and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai. "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Eeturn to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands. "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multi- tude. "And the angel of the Lord said unto her. Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael ; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. ' ' —Genesis XVI, 1-11. "And Hagar bare Abram a son; and Abram called his son's name which Hagar bare Ishmael. ' ' — Genesis XVI, 15. A SON IS PKOMISED WHO SHALL NOT BE SHAVED. "And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name Its Truth 81 was Manoali ; and his wife was barren and bare not. "And the angel of the Lord appeared nnto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not ; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. ' '■ Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing : "For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son ; and no razor shall come on his head : for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to de- liver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. ^ ' Then the woman came and told her hus- band, saying, A man of God came unto me and his countenance was like the counte- nance of an angel of God, very terrible : but I asked him not when he was, neither told he me his name : "But he said unto me. Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son : and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any un- clean thing: for the child shall be a Naz- arite to God from the womb to the day of his death. "Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and 82 Spiritualism said, my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. ''And God barkened to the voice of Ma- noah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field : but Manoah, her husband, was not with her. "And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him. Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. ''And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him. Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman ? and he said, I am. "And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? "And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. ' ' She may not eat of anything that com- eth of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing : all that I commanded her let her observe. "And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until Its Truth 83 we shall have made ready a kid for thee. ' ' — Judges XIII, 2-15. ELISHA PROMISES OE PEOPHECIES A SON TO THE SHUNAMMITE AND HIS PROPHECY IS FULFILLED. ^'And he said, About this season, accord- ing to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my Lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. "And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life." — II Kings IV, 16-17. ELISHA AGAIN PROPHESIES SEEMINGLY IMPOS- SIBLE THINGS IN SAMARIA. "Then Elisha said. Hear ye the word of the Lord ; Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. "And the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two 84 Spiritualism measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. ' ' — II Kings, VII, 1 and 16. JEKEMIAH FORTELLBTH THE DEATH OF HANANIAH. ''Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the Priests and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord. "Even the prophet Jeremiah said. Amen : The Lord do so : the Lord perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into the place. ''Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people ; "The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pesti- lence. "The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall Its Truth 85 come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him. ''Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. ''And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people saying. Thus saith the Lord ; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchad- nezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way, "Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "Go and tell Hananiah saying, Thus saith the Lord ; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby- lon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also. "Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet. Hear now, Hana- 86 Spiritualism niah ; The Lord liath not sent thee ; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. i i Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth : this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. ' ' So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month." — Jeremiah, XXVIII, 5-17. As we look back and then view the pres- ent, it would seem as if amongst the gifts of the Spirit that prophecy or prediction was the most prevalent ; and like the prophet Hananiah they are not all truth- ful or correct. Yet let me state, that I be- lieve the modern prophet is much more cor- rect and truthful than the world is apt to give credit for ; I make a good deal of dif- ference between a prophecy or prediction. Not being correct and its being untruthful, a prophecy or prediction may not work out in every detail, and yet a fair-minded per- son may see such a close resemblance that it would be unfair to call it untrue. I have in mind some of my own experiences in what has been predicted for me and others that I can vouch for, that I think may be of interest. Its Truth 87 TOLD I WAS COMING TO AMEEICA. Years before I ever thought of coming to America I was told by psychics in various parts of England that I should go to America; this was especially so before I came the second time, and invariably I asked the question, ''Shall I come back to England?" And the reply was always, ''Yes." WILL NOT GO BACK TO ENGLAND TO LIVE. On my reaching New York the second time I decided to go to Brookline, Mass., to visit a friend; knowing my interest in psychic phenomena, the second morning I was there he said. "Wouldn't you like to go and see some psychic," to which I said, "Yes." As we were both going into Bos- ton I called upon one. The first thing she said was, "You will never go back to Eng- land to live. ' ' I told her she was mistaken ; then she went on to say I was going a long, long way west. At the time my plans were totally unformed. Then she went on fur- ther to say that within a year she saw me living in Boston. At that time I had no such thought. However, in a few weeks I found myself in the Eocky Mountains, and 88 Spiritualism one day whilst in one of the western cities I called upon another psychic, and the first thing the medium said was, "You will never go back to England to live." I said, ''I do not want to hear any more of that ; it is not true ; I shall go back, ' ' to wliich she replied, ' ' You need not get angry, for in a year from now you won't want to." That is nearly twenty years ago and I am in America yet, and my love for it and its people gives me no desire to leave either one or the other. TOLD I SHOULD LEAVE TOEONTO SOON. Whilst in the West I was suddenly called on business to Toronto, Canada, and when I got there I found my business in such a condition that it seemed as if it would take several months to complete. Therefore, I secured comfortable room and board in the house of an excellent Irish Catholic family. After I had been there a few weeks, when I went down to breakfast one morning, I found the lady of the house at the table looking very depressed, so I asked her, ''Wliat was the matter?" She said, "Oh, it is about you!" About me I" "Yes, you are going to leave us very soon, and we Its Truth 89 liad so hoped you would stay all winter." I replied, "What nonsense; why, of course I shall be here all winter. " "No you will not ; you will leave us soon. ' ' In two weeks I was back living in Boston. You may say, what falsehoods I was told in England; nothing of the kind; you see I did not ask if I should come back to Eng- land to live ; as a matter of fact, I have been back to England many times. I am inclined to think that the good entities on the other plane of life treats us the same as intelli- gent parents treat their children, viz. : tell just what is best for them to know at the time and no more, for we may not be ready to receive or capable of understanding all they may see or have planned for us. Neither do I think that any wise psychics tell all they see for people; in my opinion they should not. A HORSE WOULD BE SICK. I knew well and intimately all the parties concerned in the following incident and was present when it occurred. A gentleman and I had been imated to the suburbs of 90 Spiritualism New York to dine at the home of a friend. It was the first time the gentleman who went with me had been to the house, and I am sure he did know whether or not our host was the owner of a horse or not. We had just started dinner when this particu- lar guest addressed our host in the follow- ing language: "You have a horse in your stable which stands sixteen hands high. A bright, clear bay in color. This is not only your favorite horse, but it is your most valuable one." To which our host said it was in every detail as this gentleman had said. Then he (the guest) went on to say: that very shortly this horse would be taken sick in the night and that unless they got the veterinary there at once it would die. In less than one week our hostess called at the store of this gentleman on Fifth avenue and said that two nights after we were there their groom had called them up in the mid- dle of the night, saying the horse was sick. They got the veterinary there at once. He remained with the horse until the next morning, and they felt they had to thank this gentleman (their guest) for the saving of the horse's life. Its Truth 91 GOING TO BOSTON. As I have already said, I knew this gen- tleman very intimately, consequently we were often together. So it happened he was at my house one evening when two ladies and two gentlemen called. The con- versation seemed to drift naturally to his gift, and they were anxious to know if he could get anything for them. We will call these ladies and gentlemen Mr. and Mrs. A. and Mr. and Mrs. W., and at last he said to Mr. A., ''Yes, I see you are going to Boston very soon." "What for?" "On business; you are going to be called there. ' ' Mr. A. : "If there is one place in the United States I am less likely to go to than another it is Boston, for I do not know a soul there." "I cannot help that. I believe you will go, and soon." This conversation took place on a Friday evening; the following Tuesday afternoon Mrs. A. called me on the 'phone to say her husband had that morning received a tele- gram from Boston, requesting him to come over, and had already started. 92 Spiritualism ''you will not be their manager." This gentleman with the Spirit of prophecy one day went into a large Fifth avenue store where he had a business ac- quaintance, who held a fine position, and as soon as his acquaintance began to show him the goods he wished to see, he said to him : "Are you thinking of leaving these people, R r' E said, "Why do you ask I" "Because I fear you are, and if you do it will be the greatest mistake you ever made in your life." R ^was a hot-tempered man, so he said, ' ' That is a d n nice way to discourage a fellow. I was away this summer and made arrangements to go and manage F.'s business, and, anyway, I have no use for that nonsense of yours." "All right, let me say you will never be their manager. ' ' This statement angered E all the more, till he would have enjoyed kicking his caller into the avenue. In spite of this warning he gave up his position for the purpose of taking the other, after tak- ing a desired rest and vacation, and whilst he was yet on his vacation the firm he had expected to go with changed their mind and Its Truth 93 sent him word tliey should not require his services. E suffered very much financially for some years, and finally learned the les- son that adversity is sent to teach and grew largely in the things of the Spirit. AN UNEXPECTED TKIP AND AN UNEXPECTED STAY AT HOME. One February my gifted friend and I were at the home of Mrs. S., about sixteen miles up the Hudson Eiver, and after din- ner we were sitting in the parlor and a Dr. N. joined us, when all of a sudden Mrs. S. said, ''Shall I go to Europe this summer?" And to my surprise, my friend said, "Yes." I say surprised, because at that time I knew Mrs. S. to be of limited means, there- fore I was not surprised when she laugh- ingly asked, ''Where is the money coming from ? ' ' And not surprised at the reply, ' ' I don't know, I only know you will go." However, the months rolled away and one day Mrs. S. 's mother-in-law came to tell her she was going to Europe and that she was going to take her (Mrs. S.) and also her (Mrs. S.'s) youngest daughter with her; 94 Spiritualism and to Europe they all three went. We have still the gentleman named Dr. N. to account for, and let me say, I do not think he believed anything that was said al- though he had an experience that should have convinced any but a person that was lopsided to the last degree. Yet I believe he is as far from believing as he was that night when he asked in a very dignified and demanding manner, "Am I going to Europe this year?" And the reply equally clear and dignified was given, "No, sir." I ad- mit seeing that Dr. N. had already got his ticket and the date of sailing, it did seem a little startling; nevertheless Dr. N. did not go until the following year, as the plans he had made had to be altered altogether. SPIRITUALISM ITS HELPFULNESS THE HELPFULNESS OF SPIRITUALISM. To what extent it shall be helpful can only be determined by the intelligent appli- cation of its messages, reproofs, warnings and philosophy. It takes away the fear of death by proving the continuity of life ; it brings consolation to the sorrowing by mes- sages from loved ones proven to be reliable. To those in perplexity it gives gniidance, courage, hope, and the assurance that be- yond the vale loved ones are working for our good ; above all, that the expression of power, intelligence, wisdom, love, which is the foundation and the cause of all that is, whether in the physical or spiritual realms, is our Father, God, and he will express him- self to us, each in his own way, if we leave our souls open to receive Him. 97 98 Spiritualism EACH IN HIS OWN TONGUE. '*A fire-mist and a planet, A crystal and a cell ; A jelly-fish and a saurian, And caves where the cave-men dwell ; Then a sense of law and beauty, And a face turned from the clod; Some call it Evolution, And others call it God. "A haze on the horizon, The infinite, tender sky, The ripe, rich tint of the cornfields. And the wild goose sailing high ; And all over upland and lowland The charm of the golden-rod ; Some of us call it Autumn, And others call it God. "Like tides on a crescent sea-beach When the moon is new and thin. Into our hearts high yearnings Come welling and surging in ; Come from the mystic ocean. Whose rim no foot has trod ; Some of us call it Longing, And others call it God. Its Helpfulness 99 ''A picket frozen on duty, A mother starved for her brood ; Socrates drinking the hemlock, And Jesus on the rood ; And millions who, humble and nameless, The straight, hard pathway trod — Some call it Consecration, And others call it God. ' ' — William Hekbert Carruth. It teaches man his own responsibilities and does not attempt to blame God, the world, the flesh or the devil for what is fre- quently his own desire. THE LAW OF COMPENSATION NEVER GOES ASTRAY. The tried, proven and trusted messengers of Spiritualism state that the law of com- pensation never goes astray on the spirit plane; that every kind thought, every cup of water given in the name of a disciple, and every goodly desire is a prayer, which not only benefits the giver (which it does), but the whole universe. Don't begin sending out good desires for the purpose of the re- ward, for at once the reward thought makes 100 Spiritualism nil and void the would be good, your desire (prayer) bringing an answer, but very dif- ferent to your wish, but what it justly calls for. A FOUNDATION EOCK. They teach this truth and rock founda- tion by stating clearly that whoever for- gives us, and however freely, there is abso- lutely no possibility of our getting away from the consequence of our sins; that sometime, somewhere, we must pay the full price. It may be a consolation to some that they also say there is no hell of burning. If so, read such books as "A Wanderer in Spirit Land, ' ' and it may be found a doubt- ful advantage until the spirit has received its baptism of peace from the desire for progression. GOOD TIDINGS. Because these messengers of good tidings have not attributed to the majesty of the creative wisdom all the most vile desires for revenge that have ever been found in the most vicious human breast, as some teach- i Its Helpfulness 101 ers of religion seem delighted to do, some have taken it for granted that a full span of human expression could be lived here, if not in open rebellion, in open neglect of their spirit growth, and that with an hour or two consciousness left for their use before pass- ing out of the body they could square it all with God. Do not be shocked at the expres- sion ' ' square it, ' ' it probably is never ver- bally expressed that way, nevertheless it is the foundation thought, either conscious or unconscious, in thousands of minds. To such I say, ye fools, God cannot be deceived. Evidently you expect God to judge or mis- judge you. Nay, verily, never, that awful responsibility He has left to ourselves, hence its justice and severity. FOOLISH DEPENDENCE ON SPIRITS. But because of the helpfulness and as- surance of these messengers, many per- fectly sincere people get so dependent on their spirit friends for help that it is pa- thetic. If their hats should be on one side they would hardly straighten them without advice. Eeader, have you ever had any one tag after your heels so much that you have 102 Spiritualism felt you would like to fly if they didn 't leave you alone! Well, now, if you have felt so, how do you think the spirits feel who are constantly being asked about things that a very little use of our thinking machine would answer for us ? Truly, I'm sorry for the spirits ; their usefulness and helpfulness is only intended for us after we have used the brains, hands and feet wMch God has given us. When we have done that and have failed, then if our object is a worthy one we should call on our spirit friends for help and expect it, and it will be given. PEEPARIJSTG FOR OUR NEXT EXPRESSION". Whatever may be the reason for our con- scious expression on this mundane plain, we can rest assured it is fully in keeping with the divine plan. Therefore it is plainly our duty to make as much of it as we possibly can, both for ourselves and humanity, and I am satisfied that by doing this we are making the best preparation possible for the next stage of evolution. CHAPTER VI. It Takes Away Feae. **For lie shall give Ms angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. ' ' They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. ' ' — Psalm XCI, 11-12. FEAE. Fear has ever been the retarder of prog- ress and demoralizer of human effort. Dr. 0. S. Harden, in his "Miracle of Right Thought," speaks of fear as "the paralysis of fear." Therefore, anything that takes away fear is not only helpful, but is a great blessing. THE RESULT OF FEARLESSNESS. We will now look at men who were with- out fear, and what they accomplished by their faith and courage. They knew in whom they believed, and that He was able to deliver, even though only certain death seemed possible. 103 104 Spiritualism Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, and one night he had a dream that frightened him so he could not sleep, and as was the custom under such circumstances in his time, he sent for his astrologers, psychics, interpreters of various kinds, etc., etc., requesting them to interpret the dream to him. When they arrived they asked what his dream was about, and he said he could not remember, but that he wanted them to tell him what the dream was and its meaning, and that if they could not they would just be chopped to pieces and their houses destroyed, and that he was not go- ing to give them any time to make up lies to him. They were either to tell him his dream and its meaning at once and get a big reward, or delay and reap the conse- quences. These Chaldeans told the King neither they nor anybody else could tell him, for no such request had ever been made and it could not be done. Kings in those days were accustomed to being obeyed, no matter how unreasonable their demands. So this inability of the Chaldeans did not appeal to the King's sympathy, but to his anger, therefore, one of the captains of the guard was sent forth Its Helpfulness 105 to slay all the wise men of Babylon, and they sought Daniel and his followers. Daniel and his followers did not fear the King, but desired to be civil, where they could without yielding their allegiance to their God so when the captain found Daniel, instead of bribing the captain to say he could not find him and his three com- panions, he calmly and dignifiedly asked the captain why the King was in such a hurry to slay. The captain explained. Then Daniel went in and told the King to give him time and he would tell him all he wanted to know. Daniel went home and talked it over with his three friends, and they concentrated in prayer to get the dream and its meaning, and the secret was revealed to them, and Daniel gave the dream and its interpretation to the King, and the King was so pleased that he wanted to worship him and gave him many great gifts, and he, Daniel, remembering his friends, asked for positions for them, which were given. Later Nebuchadnezzar made a colossal golden image, which he ordered the people at a given sign to fall down and worsliip, and those failing to do so should be cast into a fiery furnace, and they all did 106 Spiritualism worship the golden image, the greatest men of the land, except Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, and they feared not the King, their position, nor death, and because of their faith and their courage the needed help and deliverance was given. ''And he commanded the most mighty men that ivere in his army to bind Shad- rach, Meshach and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. "Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king, was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors. Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the King, True, King. ''He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt ; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." — Daniel III, 20, 24 and 25. JEALOUSY. Eeader, do you suffer from jealousy, either with or without cause! I hope not, but if you imagine that you have the slight- est suspicion of it about you, I would sug- Its Helpfulness 107 gest that you commence at once to take mental medicine for it. It's the only thing that ever does it any good. The lies it makes people tell and the crimes it makes them commit are horrible to contemplate — suicides and murders of the worst char- acter, and if it be possible even worse things than these. You see when per- sons so afflicted commit suicide, they do not in the slightest degree alter or improve con- ditions, they only kill the physical, and this being a mental disease goes on flourishing serenely, unless checked by the spirit; but for those who sincerely crave relief, the spirit is ever ready to help and relieve, and bear in mind there is not a human being worth being jealous of, or a thing or a con- dition worth it, or that can be improved by it. We are going to review a bad attack of this malignant disease and see how help and deliverance came from its cleverly laid plans. Evil is generally clever, but the good spirit helpers are more so. Belshazzar after his impious feast had died and Darius had been made King. As the head of the Government had been changed it was the thing to be expected that the politicians should be anxious for 108 Spiritualism any plums that might be given out in the way of office, the same as when the Presi- dent of the United States is changed. There were those who were almost sick be- cause somebody had got the very plum they wanted. Daniel had grown in favor and in power, and had been made the first of three presidents which the King had appointed. The other officers might have been expected to be beyond jealousy, for they were presi- dents, princes, governors, and so forth, but at heart they were ordinary men, and like bad politicians of all times and all countries who think more of personal gain than the good of their country, they got together and planned how they could trap Daniel. After consulting, they concluded he could not be caught by neglect of duty or incom- petency, so they decided to put up a job on him, and they did, and upon the King also, for they got the King to sign a de- cree that no one should ask a petition for thirty days of God or man except himself unless he paid the penalty of being cast into a den of lions. They knew Daniel was accustomed to ask petitions of his God three times a day, and they knew that Daniel in spite of all human Its Helpfulness 109 orders would continue to do so, which he did, of course. These politicians came to the King at once after Daniel had disre- garded the decree, and asked him what they already knew, if he had not signed a decree forbidding the asking of a petition of any but himself, and after they got his con- firmation they told of Daniel, and the King's heart went out to him in kindness and sympathy, and as soon as they saw that they began to be urgent and press the case and reminded him that the law was unalter- able, and when it could not be altered the King did all he could to comfort Daniel, and after Daniel had been put in the den of lions and the King had sealed it, he (the King) went home and concentrated all night for him, and combined with the victorious faith of Daniel the result was as follows : ''And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel : and the King spake and said to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? ' ' Then said Daniel unto the king, king, live forever. "My God has sent his angel, and has shut 110 Spiritualism the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me : forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me ; and also before thee, king, have I done no hurt." — Daniel VI, 20, 21 and 22. HEKOD IN FEAE. Herod had heard the news that Jesus should be born, and as the kingship of Jesus was all around misunderstood, the result was that Herod was much troubled and had secretly made up his mind to destroy the child, so he privately called the wise men and made careful inquiries, and then sent them to find the birthplace of the child Jesus, and demanded them to return and report to him, but being wise they came to the conclusion through a dream that it was wiser for them to go home by another way and not call on Herod on their way back, and they followed this idea out, which caused Herod not only trouble but great anger. JOSEPH OKDEEED TO EGYPT. When the wise men were departed an angel (a Spirit) appeared unto Joseph in a dream and told him to take the child and Its Helpfulness 111 his mother into Egypt and to remain there until he (the Spirit) should bring him word, for Herod would seek the child to destroy Him. Joseph took the warning and started that night and remained in Egypt until the Spirit again told him that danger was out of the way for the young child for Herod was dead. — St. Matthew, II. Often the way is so dark that not a step can be seen nor heard, and if trodden at all must be trod by faith, whilst the mind and the heart repeat the immortalized words of Cardinal Newmann : "Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom. Lead Thou me on ; The night is dark and I am far from home, Lead Thou me on. Keep Thou my feet ; I do not wish to see The distant scene; one step enough for me. ' ' To this kind of faith the helpfulness of the spirit is ever given, and although the way may be dark to us the result is always right and could not be otherwise, for it is the Father leading through and unto the various stages of evolution which in our 112 Spiritualism progress we must pass ; then why be faint and downhearted at the least approach of rough or strange road! Let us rather be glad, as though it were the graduation out of one class or school and the reception into a higher one. SOME HAVE EYES AND SEE NOT, EAES AND HEAR NOT. The question will naturally be asked, and rightly so, too: ''do visions, and dreams, and voices come today, as of old, to help us ? Yes, certainly they do, and as of old, ' ' some have eyes and see not, ears and hear not. ' ' Therefore, if you be one of those who are blind and deaf do not be one of the foolish ones who say no one else sees or hears be- cause you do not; there are too many reputable witnesses against you. But as of old, many people disregard their warnings and advice and suffer the consequences. WAENED OF A FALL. One winter I was at a public meeting and heard a man say to a woman who was a stranger to him, "I see you have three or Its Helpfulness 113 four steps leading up to your house," to whicli she said it was so. He then went on to say to her, "During the next two or three weeks you should be very careful in coming down the steps out of your house, for I see great danger of your slipping and spraining your ankle." She did not take care, and in less than a week had slipped in coming down the steps, and was confined to her bed for several weeks. Don't go and blame this lady and say "it served her right." She was not a bit different from the average person who gets a warning or advice in a public meeting. I believe unless they get a message that pleases them they straightway go and forget it, and as this lady did, only remember when it is too late. THE MESSAGE SEEMS SO TEIFLING. How often we hear people say, "Oh, yes ; but if the spirits do come back and give messages they always seem so very trivial. ' ' Well, now that may be largely so, yet the sum total of life (if there is such a thing as a trifle) is made up of trifles. Fly- ing a kite was seemingly a trifling thing, but through it Franklin laid the foundation of 114 Spiritualism all forms of electrical expressions and con- veniences we enjoy today. To me this psychic, the man who gave tliis woman the message, his duty was plain to warn her of the probabilities of spraining her ankle, although it might have seemed to those it did not concern a very ordinary, trifling thing. A scientific discourse on botany or zo- ology might have been very interesting to some, but neither, even by heeding them, would have saved the fall, so the common sense thing was evident. Then remember that in the world of Spiritualism there are lecturers who do give the very finest kinds of lectures on philosophy and science, and what is their attendance as a rule 1 Simply disgracefully small. Some time since I heard a wonderful lecture by one of the well-known speakers that should have at- tracted enough people to fill the largest hall we have in New York. There were less than a dozen people present. SPIEIT HELP FOR THOSE WHO HEED AND WILL ACCEPT IT. Spirit intervention, guidance and helpful- ness for those who need guidance and for Its Helpfulness 115 those who will be helped, is as great today as at any time in the world's history. Do you wish to prove this ? If so, simply keep your ears, eyes and mind open and you will find it easy to prove. MORAL COURAGE, I knew a family who lived in one of the large cities of the Midlands, England. They were prominent socially and finan- cially and had nothing to gain and every- thing to lose by expressing a belief in any- thing that was considered abnormal, or not approved of by Mrs. Grundy. However, the lady of the family had strong psychic gifts and the moral courage to follow them. At the time we are going to speak of she had two young sons at boarding school in Wales. One night about 2 A. M. she awak- ened her husband and told him their two sons had scarlet fever and they must get up and go to them. He told her she had only been dreaming and bade her go to sleep and let him do the same. However, that would not satisfy her and she insisted upon their getting up and taking a train that passed through their city between 116 Spiritualism three and four in the morning, which they did, arriving at their destination four or five hours later, to be told by the principal of the school he was glad to see them, for the day before their boys had been taken sick and the doctor had decided it was scarlet fever. The parents got such assisi>- ance as was needed and their sons were nursed back to health. A TEAIN ACCIDENT. Who shall say how many lives have been spared and prolonged for usefulness by spirit intervention? I knew very well a lady in New York who had decided to go South to visit relatives. She had gotten her ticket and decided to go on a certain train the next morning. Whilst busy pack- ing her trunk ready for departure one of her spirit friends came to her and told her she must change her ticket and must not go on that train or that line. She asked why? But they would not tell her, but insisted she must do as they wished. She changed her ticket and went later the following day on another line, to find that the train she had previously intended taking had met with an Its Helpfulness 117 accident and that a number of people had been killed. She lived many years of use- fulness after this. A BUSINESS MAN S TROUBLES. I knew intimately a gentleman who was in business in New York, a clever man, who understood his business. He had a partner who, in his ignorance, did all he could to annoy him and to destroy their business, wliich eventually he suc- ceeded in doing. As theirs was a stock company and the partner had the ma- jority of stock it gave him the control- ling vote. Knowing this he called a special meeting for the purpose of turning my friend out, and carried the vote to that effect, serving notice upon him that he must vacate in two days. My friend went home feeling very sad, and retired that night feel- ing that life was scarcely worth living, when all at once he noticed sitting on the side of his bed two of his spirit friends, who said to him he was to cheer up, he would not leave until they were ready for him to do so, that he was to stay until they told him to go, and when the time was ripe they 118 Spiritualism would tell him. He stayed for two months exactly as if there had never been a special meeting called, when they, his spirit friends, came again and told him it was now time to leave. He asked them about the financial settlement. They told him not to mind that, but simply to go, that in the end he would get much more out of the business than he expected. He followed their ad- vice and eventually he did get three or four times more than he expected. When I speak of this man following the advice of his spirit friends, do not for a moment take it for granted that I advocate people following the advice of any spirit, whether they know anything about them or not. I do nothing of the kind. This man had proven the judgment and integrity of these spirits, and knew they were to be relied upon, which every one should do be- fore blindly following their advice. How often I have heard people say, ''I always do what the dear spirits say." I always feel like saying, ''Then stop at once," because with this type of person ' ' doing as the dear spirits say" means just simply any spirit — good, bad or indifferent — a thing much to be avoided. Its Helpfulness 119 A MOTHER REQUESTS HER SON NOT TO GO ABROAD. In the early days of June, 1914, six others and I were invited to a private se- ance, to be given at a home in New York City. Our hostess received us in a pretty, bright room, and later we were ushered into a charming room of Oriental character and softly lighted. After chat- ting for a few minutes the psychic sug- gested we had better begin our inves- tigation. Every one was ready and and the work began at once. The mes- sages were so absolutely personal in character they could only be recognized by those for whom they were intended, and in that intimate and personal way they were all recognized, when all at once the psychic turned to a gentleman and said: "Your mother is here and wishes me to say she does not want you to go to Europe this summer because it would be very uncom- fortable for you. You are better home." This gentleman is in the habit of going to Europe frequently, but this year decided not to go. Soon after the war broke out in Europe the gentleman met the psychic, who 120 Spiritualism said to him, "Your mother is here again and says, 'Now you know why she did not want you to go to Europe.' " He said, ' ' Yes, indeed. ' ' Then the mother continued to say that on the Spirit side of life it wa^ well known that war was going to break out in Europe, but they were not allowed to make it generally known. I believe this, and it is well for us to remember thatt spirits are controlled by divine wisdom and are often forbidden to tell all they know, although to them there may seem no reason for not doing so. The gentleman who got this message, in speaking of it to me later, said, "I am thankful I did not go. If I had you know I would have been in Belgium, right in the war zone, and could not have helped suffering great inconvenience. I am grateful to have been spared this trouble." CHAPTER VII. Helpfulness by CoNsoLATioisr. Thousands of reputable men and women scattered all over the world, if necessary, could bear witness to the consolation Spiritualism has given them in time of sor- row and bereavement, often proving to them the continuity of life and the existence of God Himself where these things have been doubted or disbelieved altogether. I have many a time seen the tears spring to the eyes, not of weak, hysterical women, but of strong, self-possessed men, when some loved one has been described and some message given from one they had never ex- pected to hear from again whilst on earth. A WIPE PROVES HER IDENTITY. A few months ago one evening I was taken to call on a gentleman who had re- cently lost his wife. He is a very busy man, 121 122 Spiritualism with the care of a large business in New York City. He is considered very matter of fact and practical. In fact, his calling would demand him to be that. We had been chatting a short time on common place sub- jects when I noticed his wife standing by his side. I did as I generally do under such circumstances, described her to him, and he seemed much astonished, as I had never seen him before, and he realized I did not know his wife. Then she gave me the cause of her death and her name, or more cor- rectly speaking, a pet name. The tears (not of sorrow, but of joy) streamed down his face, and he said, "Yes, it is surely she, for no one except myself ever called her by that name, and you could not have known the cause of her death. How thank- ful I am for this message." Many a human heart finds itself in har- mony with Tennyson, and silently and prayerfully repeats : "But, 0, for the touch of a vanished hand And the sound of a voice that is still, ' ' and only those who feel such touches and hear such voices can appreciate the joy such experiences give. Its Helpfulness 123 SPIRIT HELPFULNESS VAEIED AS HUMAN NEEDS. Spirit helpfulness is as varied as human needs. I knew a gentleman who was calling on an old friend who had lost her husband, and whilst they were chatting the husband came and stood by her side. He said to the gentleman calling, ' ' Tell her not to sell my old desk, there is something in it she will find very useful," and then proceeded to describe how she could locate it. The gentleman repeated the message. After her husband's death she had moved into a smaller apartment, and having no room for the desk sent it to storage and had been thinking of selling it or giving it to one of her friends. After this message she and her daughter went to the storage house and examined the desk, and found two pieces of jewelry they had supposed had been stolen, but what was of much more importance they found papers which helped them to establish a claim to a pension that would have caused them much difficulty without the evidence they found in that desk. The husband had studied, with his wife, the laws of psychic phenomena, and they both knew the importance of taking heed of messages from a reliable source. 124 Spiritualism THE TESTIMONY OF ONE WHO HAD INVESTI- GATED FOR OVEE FORTY YEARS. Last evening, November 12, 1914, 1 spent at the home of a friend at Jamaica, Long Island, where I met an exceptionally bright man, between 70 and 80 years old. I fonnd he was and had been deeply interested in Spiritualism for more than forty years; that his investigations had been made intel- ligently and to a large extent scientifically. He said that his investigations were begun to prove the matter false, but that he was soon convinced that beneath a quantity of debris there lay truth, and he realized that if his investigations were to be of perma- nent good they must be made with system and order. Therefore, at the beginning he took notes of the messages that were given and did not leave to his memory the details which would easily be forgotten. He stated at times he had gotten what seemed contra- dictions, but with the rolling years the seeming contradictions had in almost every case proven themselves in order and true, bringing to him consolation and peace by the frequent visits of old friends who many years previously had joined the great ma- jority on the spirit side of life. Its Helpfulness 125 SUICIDE ASKS FORGIVENESS. One evening last winter, 1913, I was at- tending a social gathering at the home of a well-known doctor in New York City. My host and hostess knew I had clairvoyance, and as the evening passed along asked me if I would give a demonstration of that power. Eealizing the kind of people who were there I knew it would not be taken as part of the evening's amusement and that possibly it might be the means of helpfulness to some. I consented at once, and afterward was glad I had. I had only been speaking for a short time when I saw standing by a lady a spirit who claimed to be her brother, and yet sent out to her a feeling as if she were his mother. I described his appearance, which she said was that of her brother. Then I asked her if she could understand the feeling of mother which seemed to exist between them. She said, ''Yes! Perfectly, because I was the eldest of the family and he was the youngest. Our mother died when he was a cliild and I brought him up. ' ' Then the spirit asked his sister's forgiveness, which she freely gave. Looking up, she asked me, ''Does he say 126 Spiritualism of what he died?" '^Yes. Suicide," I an- swered. ''True," she said, "and that is what he asks forgiveness for. ' ' Did this message bring this bereaved sister and her husband consolation? You certainly would have said so had you heard their repeated thanks to me that evening, and whenever they called upon me since, because they did not know they would ever hear from him again until they, too, had reached the spirit side of life, and had not even dared to hope that they would do so. Are there any so filled with bigotry as to say this one simple message was not help- ful to them? If so let me say to such a one these people have said to me many times, that since that night they have looked upon life with a brighter, broader view. MEETING SPIBIT FRIENDS A CONSTANT JOY TO AN OLD INVESTIGATOR. I have known for the past eighteen years a gentleman to whom his weekly seance and communion with his loved friends on the spirit side has been the one bright place in an otherwise very monotonous life. CHAPTER VIII. Helpful by Spirit Healing In our terminology, and especially when we consider our differences of opinion as to what is the correct term to use, we are very apt to lose sight of the object itself. But this time the thing of which I am going to speak as Spirit Healing you are at liberty to call Christian Science, Mental Healing, Mental Science, Magnetic Healing or, if you have any name better than these, call it by that, for as far as I am concerned it matters not by which or by what name it is called, for to me it emanates from the spirit. GOD COMMANDS MOSES TO HEAL. ''And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 127 128 Spiritualism ''And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." —Numbers XXI, 8-9. NAAMAlSr KEQUESTED TO BATHE IN JOEDAN. ''Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria ; he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. "And the Syrians had gone out by com- panies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid ; and she waited on Naaman 's wife. "And she said unto her mistress. Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. "And one went in, and told his lord, say- ing, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. "And the king of Syria said. Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Its Helpfulness 129 Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. "And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying. Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou may- est recover him of his leprosy. "And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said. Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? where- fore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. "And it was so, when Elisha, the man of God, had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying. Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. "So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. "And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying. Go and wash in Jordan seven times, 130 Spiritualism and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. ''But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said. Behold, I thought. He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his head over the place, and recover the leper. ''Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israeli may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. "And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said. My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done itf how much rather then, when he saith to thee. Wash, and be clean! ' ' Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the say- ing of the man of God ; and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." — II Kings V, 1-14. As you read this account do you say of Naaman, "How foolish!" If so stop and think of your own friends and you are al- Its Helpfulness 131 most sure to find amongst them those who will have absolute repugnance to doing the simple, easy things, especially if it be to heal them. It is almost certain to be so if they are people of wealth who are accus- tomed to luxury. As we take this view our criticism will be less severe of Naaman. The facts are these : Naaman had probably looked upon Elisha, the healer, as a very ordinary man with a large amount of fake in his pre- tended powers, who would and who should feel much honored and flattered by having such a distinguished caller, but instead of Elisha receiving Naaman with pomp or semi-royal state, he humbled him by not even taking the trouble to go and speak to him. This hurt Naaman 's pride and angered him. If we had been in Naaman 's place possibly we should have acted no bet- ter than he, if as well, but who shall say that this was not a part, an important part, of the healing process or treatment Elisha had to give. How many physicians with a prac- tice among the four hundred would have the courage to tell their patients to bathe in the nearby beaches or streams? And 132 Spiritualism don't blame the doctors, either. They don't want to lose their practice, and they know that the average person would rather take a long expensive trip either to the waters of Germany or the Spas of England, and they are good, too, but it is the lack of faith in. the simple or easily accessible things that is the great stumbling block to all phases of healing outside of materia medica. This repugnance by many for doing the little things, such as exercising faith, often prevents the healing power from working. You will remember on one occasion the great Master said of a people and place — * ' That he could not do many mighty works there on account of their unbelief." HEALING BY THE CHURCHES. When we read accounts of healing being done in the churches of our Catholic friends by exhibiting the bone of one of their saints, how often we hear it denied and ridiculed by that world-wide authority, ' ' Mr. Know- it-all." Nevertheless, I believe it. Don't ask me how it is done or whether it's the 7^5 Helpfulness 133 bone or faith. I only know this, that the bone is the point of concentration and therefore the medium through which the healing spirit flows, and that the greater the faith the greater the cure, and should you ask those who have been healed their opinion, I believe the ma- jority would give the same reply that one young man gave to whom Jesus had given sight by anointing his eyes with clay, when he said, ''That all he knew he was once blind, but now he could see." Of course, they would alter the terms to suit their particular cases. What perfect non- sense argument is to those who have been healed. You may use all the philosophy and logic in the world, and to one who had been healed there would probably be only this reply, "I know I was sick and now I am well." JESUS HEALING ON THE SABBATH DAY. ' ' And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying. Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him. 134 Spiritualism ''And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sab- bath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? "How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath day. ' ' Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth ; and it was restored whole, like as the other. ' ' — St. Matthew XII, 10-13. At times as we view the past we are filled with pride, with the idea of the wonderful progress or evolution we have made, and yet when we consider the above case and realize what happens today to those who have the gift of healing and, like the great Master, desire to do good outside of the pre- scribed medical profession, there are those who will go a long way out of their way to cast doubt upon the work, methods, time and place of executing it. A MAN WHO HAD THE DEOPSY. "And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. Its Helpfulness 135 ''And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? ''And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go. ' ' — St. Luke XIV, 2-4. JESUS GIVES ABSENT TREATMENT. There are few of us, if any, but have heard the ignorant laugh at the thought of absent treatment, as they are ever ready to do about things they know nothing about, or that is beyond their conception. But the following is a case of absent treatment. Some will say. Oh, yes, but it was by Jesus. Surely, and did he not come as an example for us, to show us the way? Did he not say to his disciples that the works he had done they should do and greater if only they had faith? "When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come downl and heal his son ; for he was at the point of death. "Then said Jesus unto him. Except ye 136 Spiritualism see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. '^Tlie nobleman saitli unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. "Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. "And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. "Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. "So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house. "This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judeai into Galilee."— St. John IV, 47-54. DK. NEWTON. There lived in Yonkers a Dr. Newton who had this gift of healing to a marvelous extent. He would stand before a large au- Its Helpfulness 137 dience and command those that were sick to be healed, and many a time they would go away leaving large quantities of crutches behind them. Reader, if you are in honest doubt on this subject try and find out what is being done to-day in these lines, and if you are not biased you will be surprised, interested and convinced. JESUS HEALED THOSE WHO NEEDED HIS HELP. "And the people, when they knew it, fol- lowed him : and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing." — St. Luke IX, 11. HEALED BY LAYING ON" OF HANDS. '^And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux : to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him." —Acts XXVIII, 8. 138 Spiritualism HEALED BY THE SPOKEN WORD. ''And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: * ' The same heard Paul speak : who stead- fastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, ''Said with a loud voice. Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked." —Acts XIV, 8-10. HEALED BY MAGNETIZED AETICLES. "And Grod wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul : "So that from his body were brought unto the sick, handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them." — ^Acts XIX, 11-12. In reading these accounts of healing in the Bible, don't lose sight of the fact that the Grod who gave Paul these special gifts is one and the same God you and I have to deal with, and healing by magnetic articles exists today as it did with Paul. Its Helpfulness 139 ABSENT TREATMENT HEALS 3,000 MILES AWAY. Let me give you a case of absent treat- ment. I knew a lady in England who had developed a bad case of kidney trouble. She had consulted her family doctor and specialists, and they all reached the same conclusion, viz. : that without an operation she could not live three months. About the operation they were honest in telling her they had their doubts. In despair she wrote to a healer in New York and asked him what he thought she should do. The healer gave her his ideas, and said he believed he could help her. If she desired him to do so he would con- centrate for her and he should expect her to report progress every week. She ac- cepted his offer and was cured of her trouble without the operation, and is living today, although it is nearly eight years ago since the healer worked on her. For nearly two years previous to the time she wrote and during the time he was using his heal- ing power they did not come within ap- proximately three thousand miles of each other, and yet sooner than accept these un- 140 Spiritualism deniable truths, there are many who die because they are not ready to claim their own. In my opinion these people cannot be helped until light dawns upon them, for we all know, to have a thing pushed upon us when we are not ready for it is but to drive us farther away. These people are not fools. They are just not ready for this larger truth. SUCH AS I HAVE I GIVE UNTO THEE." "Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, be- ing the ninth hour. "And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple ; "Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an alms. "And Peter, fastening Ms eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. "And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Its Helpfulness 141 '■ ' Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none ; but such as I have give I thee : In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. '^xind he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up : and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. ''And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. — Acts III, 1-8. HE LEFT HIS CANE HOME. I knew a man who had been sick with a bad knee for six months. He was under the care of a doctor at his home for eight weeks. In addition to that he had been in the hospital ten weeks, the remaining time he had cared for himself the best he could, and gradually getting worse the doctors had suggested an operation on the knee as a last resort, wliich alarmed him, because he reasoned if by cutting his knee should become permanently stiff, which he feared, it would debar him from making a living in 142 Spiritualism Ms line of effort for his family atid himself, so he decided to go and see a healer before consenting to the operation. Therefore, one morning he called upon a healer, and the healer treated him and told Mm to come the next day. When the next day arrived he was so much better that he went to the healer's office without the use of the heavy cane he had become accustomed to use, and in about four weeks was sufficiently im- proved to begin work again. BECAUSE OF THEIE UNBELIEF. Does someone ask if I think everybody can be helped or cured by this phase of healing? To such inquirers let me say, *'No, I do not," and that because of their unbelief and their mental opposition. A CASE OF APPENDICITIS. In the early fall of 1913 I knew a gentle- man who was taken sick. He went to con- sult his physician, who examined him and told him he had appendicitis and should be Its Helpfulness 143 operated on the next day. When he re- turned to his office he reported to his part- ner the result of his visit to his doctor and what the doctor had suggested about his being operated upon, adding, ' ' You know I have not the money and I cannot spare the time so long as I can keep going." His partner said to him, "Whenever I have anything the matter with me I go to a friend I have, who is a healer, and he al- ways helps me at once, and I believe he can help you and save you that operation. Let us go up and see him. " Accordingly they went to see the healer. He treated the man, who soon got well and did not have the operation. To apply to a mental or magnetic healer words of praise or call their work clever to me is totally out of place. They are but the instruments used, the same as the pipes which conduct the water or gas or the wires the electricity from the mains to your house for your use and convenience. It is true that the healers may be specially adapted for their work mentally and physically, but so are the pipes for your water and gas, your wires for electricity by shape, size, 144 Spiritualism etc., but even so, though you had the finest fixtures in the world, if there was no source from which water, gas, electricity, etc., could be supplied they would avail you nothing, and though the most abundant ever of these things were at your door, un- less they were connected, attached, it would be as if they were not, and their existence and their use might be doubted. The source of healing is spirit (God) the healer, the connecting link of the great source with the afflicted, but the afflicted also play a great part; there must be on their part the willingness to receive. For example, you have an abundant supply of water in your house and you have a special bottle you want to fill with water. You turn on the faucet and the water flows freely. You hold the bottle underneath, but you find there is no water going into the bottle ; it is not filling. Why! Because the stopper is tightly pressed down in the bottle. Having had that experience, would you say you had your doubts that any bot- tle could be filled? I think not. Yet more than likely you have heard numbers of people say they had tried science, mental Its Helpfulness 145 and magnetic healing and had gotten no good, and that they doubted very much if anybody did or could, and even those who said they had only thought so and were deceiving themselves. When you meet such a person again, ask them if they took the stopper out when the healing spirit was flowing all around them, and you will very likely find they did not or at most only partly so, by such remarks as the following: ''Oh, I only went to please so and so. " "I did not have a bit of faith in it. " ' ' I knew they could not cure me. " You see the stopper was tight in, or perhaps you may find by some such remarks as the fol- lowing it was slightly lifted up : "Well, you know I had a friend who was cured, so I said, well, if they can cure me I'm willing to let them have a try, and for the time be- ing I did seem improved, but I never ex- pected it would be permanent, and I soon got worse when I ceased taking treatment." Where permanent good is to be done the aflflieted must do their part by faith and willingness to be helped. When the noble- man came to Jesus asking him to come and 146 Spiritualism heal his son, Jesus tried his faith, and after proving it said unto him, ' ' Go thy way, thy son liveth." The great healer was con- stantly urging faith, and wherever faith was exercised there followed health. ASTRAL BODIES AND THOUGHT FORMS CHAPTER IX Astral Bodies and Thought Forms. Messages given by mediums, as spirit messages, are often not so, not that the me- diums wish to deceive, for in the majority of cases I am convinced they desire to be truthful, honest, helpful ; but a great many of them have not reached a point in their consciousness where they realize that the astral bodies and thought forms travel at will, and never lose an opportunity of ex- pressing themselves when they find a me- dium by which they can do so. The astral body is the double of the physical body and is looked upon by the theosophist as an empty shell. Then there is yet the thought form for the medium and psychologist to contend with. As a rule you will find that the psychologist understands better about the thought form than the medium. I refer 149 150 Spiritualism specially to those who confine themselves to transmediumship, because the new psy- chologist is medium, and possibly more so than the ones who allow themselves to be entranced, only in a different and con- scious phase. The reason psychologists know more and better is that they are so much more frequently brought in touch with them, and that whilst perfectly nor- mal, conscious and in full possession of their reasoning facilities. As soon as the psychometrist and psychologist takes an article in his hand this usually happens — the conscious thoughts, sub-conscious and super-con- scious that have permeated it, pass before his clairvoyant vision which often seem a combination of the real and the prophetic. It is true there are many advanced think- ers who pooh-pooh the idea of thought forms, but why I fail to see, for everything we see from a grain of sand to the tallest skyscraper, and the starry heavens them- selves were first either the thought of God or man, and before they existed in the ma- terial forms we now behold existed in vision first. Its Helpfulness 151 The psychologist or psychometrist under- stands this thought form because he is fre- quently brought into contact with it, for every time he takes an article to phychome- trize he at once gets the sub-conscious and the super-conscious thoughts that have been poured or pounded into the article by the owners; and not only have the condi- tions of the owners themselves permeated the articles, but their environments are often reflected in minute detail, the result of the delineation often being suprising and blending to the marvelous. In most cases they make no pretense of being spirits, yet frequently tell astonishing facts. It is by no means easy to say always what plane these visions belong to or come from. However, in my experience I have found the spirit forms much more ethereal and lu- minous than the astral, the astral usually being a gray or smoky blue color and the thought form less substantial looking and lighter in color than the astral, but never luminous like the spirit forms. 152 Spiritualism THE THOUGHT BODY OP A YOUTH SEEN IN NEW YORK WITH HIS FATHER, WHILE HIS PHYS- ICAL, BODY WAS LIVING IN SWEDEN. One day a gentleman whom I had never seen before called upon me on business. As he entered he impressed me as an excep- tionally fine man, both mentally and physically, which during our conversa- tion proved correct. He stood six foot two, had broad shoulders and a mind in proportion. As he entered the thought body of his son also entered. Before discussing the business the father had come to see me upon, I said: "Your son comes in with you." "My sonT' "Yes, sir, and as he now steps to my side he holds a violin under his arm. He says he is seventeen years old, and will I please ask you to let him continue his violin lessons, as he wishes to make it his life work. His physical body is in Sweden." This gentleman exclaimed, "My heavens, that's the strangest thing I ever knew. I have a son seventeen who plays the violin, and he is home in Sweden with his mother, and I mailed a letter to his mother three days ago, which is on its way now, saying Its Helpfulness 153 I had decided to let Mm continue his les- sons. You see I am in America trying to get your Government interested in a patent and I have spent so much money I had said to his mother I was not sure if I could allow him to continue his music. ' ' AN ASTRAL BODY RECOGNIZED BY A SISTER. I was entertaining friends and we were talking of psychic matters when I noticed an entity standing by a lady. It was that of a woman who looked about thirty years old. I described what I saw, when my guest said: '^Yes, I think I know who it is. ' ' The entity said : ' ' Oh, do not let there be any mistake ; tell her of a birthmark on my face!" My guest said: "I thought so, it's my sister; tell her to go back to — where she belongs and not be keeping tabs on me. ' ' However, the entity did not heed her sister's request at once, but stayed on a little longer, and stepped to my side and said to me: "I do wish you were one of us." It amused and interested me, and I said to the sister, ''What does she mean?" ''Oh, I know. She belongs to a prominent 154 Spiritualism occult society, and many of them have reached a point where they can project their astral bodies at will. It is wonderful the things they do, and how much of it they remember. She wishes you were a mem- ber. I'm glad you are not." MY OWN ASTKAIi VISITS FRIENDS WITHOUT ASK- ING MY PERMISSION. I have two friends living in a city in close proximity to New York. They had, as all my friends have, the privilege of thinking differently from myself if they desire to do so without interfering with the main bonds of our friendship, and on psychic matters these friends exercised this privilege. They had been married some years and were so placed that life had seemed like a summer holiday to them, when my friend, desiring to expand his op- portunities, invested what he had saved in a business proposition, which quickly proved a complete failure, and for many months following life instead of seeming like a summer holiday was decidedly its very reverse, until my friend made a con- Its Helpfulness 155 nection with a firm that has made his life normal again. He had been connected with this firm a very few days, and I knowing nothing about it, when one night or morn- ing about 2 A. M. his wife woke up and saw me standing in their room (she is a nervous woman, yet she was not afraid, and at the moment it did not seem strange to her that I should be standing there), when, calling her by name, I said to her, "I am glad T has made this business connec- tion ; it is the end of your trouble and I be- lieve will lead to success," and with that I began to retreat, when, she said, she asked me to tell her more, and I said, *'I cannot, I must go back. ' ' At breakfast she thought she would tell T , but decided he would make fun of her and tell her she had been dreaming. However, at dinner she decided to tell him, and began by saying she had seen me in their room and that I had said to her — her husband said, ''Stop, I will tell you what he said. " " You will tell me what he said ? ' ' "Yes," he said, "he was glad I had made this business connection ; it was; the end of our trouble and that he believed it would 156 Spiritualism lead to success." ''Why, how do you know?" ''Because today I worked on my books until 4 o'clock, when my eyes hurt me and I took off my glasses, put my elbow on the desk and my head in my hands and closed my eyes to rest them, when I real- ized Mr. F. was standing by my side, and then I heard him say as distinctly as I ever heard him in my life, ' T , I am glad you have made this connection ; it is the end of your trouble and I believe it will lead to success.' " It made so deep an impression on them that they called) me up on the 'phone, say- ing, "We want you to come to dinner any night this week that is convenient to you. We have something to tell you we think will be of interest to you. ' ' I set the night and went. After greeting me my friend's wife said T has made such and such a business connection. Turning to him, I said : ' ' T , I am very glad ; it means the end of your trouble, and I believe will lead to success." They both commenced to laugh heartily. I asked them what was the matter? for I could see nothing to laugh at, when they said; "No, but per- Its Helpfulness 157 haps you will when we tell you." Then they related the above incident, and we all joked, laughed and were glad together. A THOUGHT CHILD TE NEW YOKK WHILST ITS PHYSICAIi BODY IS IN FLOKIDA. In the early spring one morning I was chatting with a lady, when there came and stood by her knee a little child, a girl that looked about four years old, with bright flaxen hair, wearing a Tuscan lace straw bonnet, trimmed with pink ribbon. I told the lady what I saw, remarking that the physical body of this child was a long way off and her bonnet should have been trimmed with blue ribbon and not pink. The lady smiled, saying, ''How very inter- esting. I must tell you about it, ' ' and pro- ceeded to say: "The father of this child is invahded at the present time, and with his wife and this child is at Palm Beach, Florida. I have been staying with them for a few weeks, and when I left, two weeks since, my friend, Mrs. , asked me to get the child a lace straw bonnet trimmed with blue ribbon. She was in a great hurry for it. The first 158 Spiritualism thing I did when I got home was to look for a bonnet. I could not find one trimmed with bine, so sent what I could get that day, viz., pink. I was wondering if she had got it, but she must or the child could not be here with it on." Some will say, '*0h, my! just a case of thought transfer- ence." Yes, it might be partially that, but it was more besides, because the thought took on form so it could be seen clair- voyantly. FOR THOUGHTS ARE LIVING THINGS ON SWIFT CREATIVE WINGS. And why not? Some of our great think- ers have concluded that sound has color, and color form. Middle C taking the color of red and red the shape of the triangle, but here is the whole scale : Key Color Shape C Eed Triangle D Orange Square E Yellow Hexagon F Green Octagon G Blue Circle A Indigo Depressed circle B Violet Ovate Its Helpfulness 159 The shape is the atomic arrangement of the atoms of color. Beyond this it has been stated by a trustworthy sensitive that these colors have perfume. I mean these psychic colors, and whilst I do not give this as a settled scientific fact, to me it is more than a possibility. Now, if sound has color and color shape, why should not thoughts have color and shape? As a mat- ter of fact, they have. Every normal thinking person knows that there is no distance thought cannot travel, no depth it cannot reach, no height it cannot attain, no circumference it cannot girdle, and to its expression there is no limit. Long years before we had the won- derful Marconigrams sending our thoughts tingling across the Atlantic and expressing themselves on the keyboard at the other side, there were scores of well authenti- cated cases of mental telepathy where dis- tance was no barrier. When we consider what has been done by the scientists since they have taken hold of the ether with Marconigrams, and the wires with the telephones, where men can talk to each other from San Francisco to 160 Spiritualism New York, three thousand miles apart, and it sounds as if they were in the same build- ing only in another room, I believe these magnificent accomplishments are but as trifling playthings compared to what will be accomplished when science once seri- ously busies itself with the powers of thought. Does some one say, ' ' Oh, yes, but thought is such an intan^bje, ethereal, elusive kind of thing, and this is a practical, scientific day?" Yes, you are quite correct in what you say, and you are more than likely to know many of the practical, scientific things electricity supplies us with every day. Therefore let me ask you a few ques- tions about this practical, scientific thing so common in our homes and so necessary to our comfort, bearing always in mind **the luxury of today is the necessity of to- morrow." Have you ever seen electricity? Have you ever smelt it? Do you know just what it is ? If you can answer these ques- tions in the affirmative, give them out to the world and you will be doing it a great service. The world is waiting for it. Then if you cannot answer these seemingly Its Helpfulness 161 simple questions regarding a thing known to have such inexhaustible strength, could you imagine anything more intangible, ethereal, elusive ? Then how has it become so practical? Because some of those with great scientific minds amongst us have studied until they have discovered some of its laws, and today they know how to use, control and govern them. Am I asked in turn if I have ever seen a thought, felt one, or know just what it is composed of? Now to these perfectly fair questions let me first give a candid and flat "no. " Then let me explain. I have seen thought express itself in form. You have seen electricity do the same. I have felt the force of one. You can feel the force of electricity. I have reason to believe it pro- ceeds from the ocean of thought, as elec- tricity proceeds from the great ocean of electricity. Then, after all, all that seems to be needed to put this power of thought in the most practical, helpful way in the world is for some of the great scientific minds to take up the study and find out its laws. So, like electricity, it may be gov- erned, controlled and used to human com- 162 Spiritualism fort and advantage. I believe that will happen as soon as we are taught how it is possible for us to attune ourselves to those with whom we wish to commune. When that time comes, then no longer will those few people who send and receive messages from loved ones with whom they are in tune be looked upon as abnormal, uncanny or tricksters, but as normal, advanced people. Allen wrote: "Mind is the master power that rules and makes. And man is mind, and ever more he takes The tools of thought and shaping what he wills. Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills. He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass, Environment is but his looking-glass." Yesterday a practical demonstration of the power of thought, through the channels of the mind, was brought to my attention. Needless to say, mind is the natural source of expression for thought, and when combined and directed by an intelligent mind is powerful in the extreme. Its Helpfulness 163 I know a working man whose father as a young man was in the Civil War. Several years ago the father died, leaving his widow and family unprovided for. His son began to make an effort to get his mother the pension he thought was her due. He no sooner began than all the difficulties imaginable, and unimaginable, began to present themselves. For example, he found his father had enlisted twice and under two different names, which it seems was not an uncommon thing for men to do during the war. Then the Government naturally and rightly wanted the proof that his mother was the legal wife of his father, and the minister who married them being dead dif- ficulties arose in locating the records of so long ago. For years one difficulty after another kept presenting itself, and time after time his attorneys would make the claim, to be informed that there was yet further proof required before it could be granted. So one year followed another until it seemed as though the requirement of the nation could never be met. The one person who never gave up hope and who persistently thought some day the 164 Spiritualism proof would be forthcoming was the son, who continued to work for that end, in sea- son and out of season, early and late, so when he made his last effort, which com- pletely satisfied the authorities and the pension was given, he was one of the hap- piest men I have seen for many daj^s. It was one of the greatest triumphs of thought and mind over difficulties I have ever seen, once again proving Allen's beautiful ex- pression of "Mind being the master power." A THOUGHT CANARY. One afternoon last week I was introduced to a gentleman, and whilst chatting I heard clairaudiently a canary singing in his at- mosphere, and I asked him if he had one in his home? He said, "No, why do you ask?" "Because a canary figures so strongly with you just now." He began to laugh. Then it was my turn to ask questions, so I asked: "Wliy do you laugh?" "Because I understand so fully the meaning of it I would like to tell you about it. Just now I am writing a story Its Helpfulness 165 and a canary plays quite an important part in it." If we were needing a proof that ''thoughts are living things," surely this would be one. This gentleman did not own or have a canary in his home, yet I heard a canary singing as distinctly as if I had been in a room where a live bird was expressing itself in song for his benefit. I am convinced when once we get the facts of what an important part thought plays we shall be careful what we think. Is the question asked, how can one help what they think? 0, easy, by refusing to en- tertain thoughts you do not want when they come to your thought chamber and ask to be let in, and in their place fill your thought chamber so full with thoughts you desire that there is not even standing room for those you do not want; you will find they will soon depart for more congenial sur- roundings. Have you ever realized how thought even changes our very appearance f There comes to my mind a man who for thirty years has been in the employ of my family as a shepherd. Whenever I looked at him it always seemed to me 166 Spiritualism lie looked like a sheep, not sheepish, as if he had been doing something he was ashamed of, but kind and gentle, as he was. If you have had anything to do with sheep you know what kindly eyes and faces some have. Then how often you meet people in the streets, and you say of them, "They look horsey, or they look stagey, or like doctors, ministers, busi- ness men, bankers, lawyers, etc., etc.," be- cause the continual thought on certain lines has impressed itself on their features, which goes to prove "That as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Yes, thoughts leave their imprint, and the ab- sence of thinking also leaves its mark. At one time when I was in Europe and was spending a few days at the home of friends, they said, "We should like to write Mr. to come and meet you at dinner," andi they named a gentleman with whom I had been closely connected but whom I had not seen for several years. He was invited, came and went. They liked him as well as I did, but they also had not seen him for some time. That night when he left, my friends looked at me, and I at them. All Its Helpfulness 167 our looks had a question mark in them. At last the gentleman in whose home I was staying said, ''WellT' Then I said, "What do you think of Mr. !" He said, ''He seems to me as if he had stojjped thinking about ten years ago." For a mo- ment I laughed, only for a moment, though, for it seemed so true and I felt so sad, be- cause it did seem true, and all I could say with the sadness I felt was "y-e-s." Keep your thinking machine busy grind- ing out thoughts. It will keep you young, and it is much better to work out than rust out. I don't .pretend to know much about machinery, but I do know whenever I see an old rusted-out piece of machinery it always depresses me. It gives one such a sense of encumbrance and uselessness. On the other hand a bright, well-oiled machine (it does not matter how old, whether in motion or not) gives one a feeling of prosperity and usefulness, and when the time comes when they have to be replaced by modern ones, it is often with regret. Keep your thinking machine not only busy, but well oiled with new thoughts, and when the call comes for vour removal 168 Spiritualism it will be with regret your friends will lay you aside. But who regrets having a piece of old rusty machinery thrown upon the scrap heap? CHAPTER X. Spiritualism Helpful by the Demand It Makes for Intelligent Research. I know of no ''-ism" that calls for more careful research than spiritualism, or any that gives greater opportunity or greater return for the exercise of the mind. I know of no other "-ism" that carries beyond its beliefs its proofs as spiritualism does, and none that gives equal consolation and cour- age to the disconsolate and discouraged. Whilst it does these things it also does more by permeating all religions, teaching- ing spiritual truths. rev. h. r. haweis. One Sunday evening whilst attending the Episcopal Church in London, England, of which the late Rev. H. R. Haweis, M. A., was the vicar, I heard him make this state- ment: ''It is no use sneering at spiritual- ism, it's true and I know it's true from my own experience; and what is more, if you 169 170 Spiritualism. take Spiritualism out of the Bible you have not any Bible left that is worth having." In giving an address in St. James Hall, London, he said: ^^I am putting in a plea for the harmony of Spiritualism with Scripture, in order that the clergy shall recognize how much they are indebted to Spiritualism. I don't say there are not great dangers in it; but they exist everywhere. They are not confined to Spiritualism. But I do say that the clergy, through Spiritualism, have had their Bible rehabilitated. We have had a new philosophical basis for immortality after that shock of atoms we call death. We find Spiritualism is not opposed to the Atonement (the reconciling of men to God), not opposed to the doctrine of the dead, not opposed to the communion of saints. 'Are not they all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto such as shall be heirs of salvation?' I say that Spiritualism has finally taken away from us the capricious, fanciful, irrational kind of God who is sup- posed to judge his creatures in a way that would be a disgrace to a common magis- trate, without intelligence, pity, sympathy or knowledge ; such a God as has revolted so Its Helpfulness 171 many sensible religions people ; and Spirit- ualism lias done away with him. Spiritual- ism has pointed us to One who judges righteously; who does not change, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, lov- ing man through all, bringing liim back by slow degrees, back to the diviner life, to the realization of His diviner self; One whose policy can never alter, because He can never alter. Spiritualism has told us of this remedial world beyond. It points us to life, not death, for *' ' 'Tis life, not death, for which we pant; 'Tis life of which our nerves are scant. More life and fuller that we want. ' ' ' Yes, it leads us to the center and source of life ; it reveals to us the bright galaxy of ministering spirits, the Jacob's ladder which reaches from earth to heaven and ujDon which the angels of God are ascending and descending. Spiritualism has given us back our Bible, given us back our Christ, given us back our immortality, and given us back our God." Spiritualism calls for careful research, lest one be deceived, by phenomena mis- understood, or messages misinterpreted. When these researches are made with any 172 Spiritualism kind of system, they open up many ave- nues of thought and' information that when followed lead to a liberal education. The other Sunday morning I heard a prominent minister in New York make the statement that many people live in a religious experience that they had had ten, twenty, thirty or fifty years ago, and that they stood still he did not wonder ; that re- ligion to be what it should be must be pro- gressive. Spiritualism gives to the thinker ample food for thought by its varied phenomena ; thought is naturally the first step to pro- gression. The following is from Dr. J. M. Peebles* book, '*Who Are These Spiritualists?" VICTOBIEN SAKDOU. Victorien Sardou, writer, author and great French dramatist, wrote thus to his friend, M. Jules Bois : *'My Dear Confrere: I was one of the earliest students of Spiritism. That was about fifty years ago. I have passed from incredulity to surprise, and from surprise to conviction. Its Helpfulness 173 ''It would take a volume to answer you. I therefore limit myself to giving you the conclusions I have reached after half a century of observations and experiments. "Material phenomena observed under rigorously scientific conditions, and vouched for by scientists of whose names I need not remind you, are certainly no longer contestable. "But, as a rule, they are also inexplicable at the present stage of our knowledge. "In a great number of cases it is impos- sible to deny the intervention of an intel- lect of the spectators. Impossible also to deny that this intelligent force is neither the projection nor result of their own thoughts. From the production of certain phenomena we must admit the effective presence of occult beings, the exact nature of whom it has been so far impossible to define exactly. "But, then, how can one say so without being covered with ridicule? How would one dare to face the disgusting ignorance that prevails even among so-called educated people, dare to assert that these beings are not chimerical, and that our beautiful (?) humanity is not the work of creation? 174 Spiritualism ''And so, in order to escape the raillery of official science, the skepticism of igno- ramuses and witty people (who so often are fools!) we try to explain away cases by psendo-scientific hypotheses which are very funny to people who know what I know, who have seen what I have seen, and have done what I have done. "You ask me whether I believe in ma- terialization. Of course I do, because I have myself caused spirits to materialize at the tirst epoch when I was a medium. And I still await the scientific man who will suc- cessfully explain, as a psychical force of which I should have been at once the au- thor, spectator and victim, the fact that a bunch of roses which I still preserve was thrown upon my writing table by an invisi- ble hand. "Finally, about the first drawings to which you allude, I obtained the first ones in 1857, under conditions identical with those of M. Demoulin's more recent experi- ences. But I have long since learned to be- lieve that these pretended pictures of plane- tary life had no real value as documents of information. "They are just about as good for that Its Helpfulness 175 purpose as the famous Martian language, which some playful ghost lately tried to palm off upon us. ''There, my dear confrere, you have a summary of the conclusions I have reached from my own experiences with the inhab- itants of the world beyond. It does not amount to much, you see. And yet I feel I have not lost the time I devoted to the study of these things. Amicable saluta- tions. "V. Saedotj.'' SIE OLIVEE LODGE. London, England, November 22. — Sir Oliver Lodge, president of the Society for Psychical Eesearch and one of the leading and most prominent of English scientists, formerly president of the Society for the Advancement of Science, in a lecture today in Browning Hall, Walworth, made an im- pressive declaration of knowledge of con- tinued life in spirit realms, stating his positive and absolute conviction of future existence, asserting that he had conversed with friends whom the world calls dead. "Once you realize that consciousness is something outside of the mechanism it 176 Spiritualism makes use of," Sir Oliver said, "you realize that the survival of existence is the simplest thing. "It is unreasonable that the soul should jump out of existence when the body is de- stroyed. We ourselves are not limited to the few years that we have lived on this earth. We shall go on without it ; Ave cer- tainly shall continue to exist; we certainly shall survive. "Why do I say that? I say it on definite scientific grounds ; I say it because I know that certain friends of mine still exist, be- cause I have talked to them. Communica- tion is possible, but one must obey the laws to find out the conditions. I do not say it is easy, but I say it is possible, and I have conversed with them as I could converse with any one in this audience now. "Being scientific men they have given proof that it is real, not an impersonation, not something emanating from myself. They have given definite proofs, some of which are being published. Many are being withheld for a time, but will be published later. "I tell you it is so with all the strength of conviction that I can muster ; that it is so Its Helpfulness 177 that we do persist ; that people still take an interest in the things that are going on; that they still help us and know more about things than we do, and that they are able from time to time to communicate with us. ''I know that man is surrounded by other intelligences. If you once step beyond man there is no limit until you come to the In- finite Intelligence Himself. Once having gone beyond man you go on and must go on until you come to God. ''But it is no strange land to which I am leading you, the cosmos. We here on this planet are limited in certain ways and blind to much that is going on, but I tell you we are surrounded by beings working with us, co-operating, helping, such as people in visions have had some perception of. That which religion tells us saints and angels are, and that the Master Himself is helping us is, I believe, literally true. ' ' EEV. B. F. AUSTIN. ''After some years of investigation, under a great variety of circumstances, I dare affirm that the ethical system taught 178 Spiritualism in these spirit communications has never been surpassed in the lofty character of the duties it proclaims, or the power and va- riety of the motives it urges to secure obedience to law. ''The spiritual beauty, inherent divinity of many of these spirit messages, renders the thought of their diabolical origin a moral impossibility and the expression of that thought a blasphemy." SPIRITUALISM ITS DANGER CHAPTER XI. "Angels and Ministers of Grace defend us!" — Shakespeare. In the previous chapters we have seen the truth and helpfulness of spiritualism. Therefore, let us be honest with ourselves and look in the face just as squarely its dangers. Does this term danger offend some sincere devout Soul, who has ever looked upon spirits, one and all, as being the messengers of truth and wisdom at all times and in all places. To such a one I have no apologies. On the other hand, if it leads to opening their eyes to the facts that frequently spirits returning bring messages, so far from truth and wisdom that one could easily imagine them being the very father of lies and denizens of the blackness of darkness, therefore the neces- sity of testing the spirits to see if they be of God or not is a command based upon 181 182 Spiritualism good reason. If you have imagined the lay- ing aside of the physical body at death was instantly going to alter the whole habits of your past life, giving in place of ignorance profound wisdom, in place of hate deep- rooted love, in place of falsehood truth, in place of every phase of dishonesty honesty of thought, word and deed, for the use of alcohol and tobacco in their varied forms total abstinence, in place of the habits which have been your undoing and ruin, spirit- ually and physically, a total cessation, if so awake from your slumber and realize that life here or on the next plane of action, or any plane of conscious or unconscious ac- tion, is evolution, and to reach the oppo- sites of the things that have been our failures, faults, drawbacks, ignorances, en- vies, hatreds and besetments, of whatever nature they may be, are only gained by de- sire and persistent effort. This being so, what right have you to swallow for gospel truth any old yarn a spirit may tell you without knowing something of the char- acter of the spirit communicating. If you do, one day you are likely to be very dis- appointed. Its Danger 183 WE TAKE CHAEACTER WITH TJS TO THE NEXT PHASE OF LIFE. Some tell us ''that when we go hence we take nothing with us." I want to tell you we do. We take our characters, and that whether they be good or bad, and to im- prove them even on the spirit plane is not accomplished without work and action on our part. WILL HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. Does some one say, '*0h, my! If spir- ituaUsm holds in its ranks such spirits as these, the untruthful, dishonest and evil, I will have nothing to do with it. ' ' Let me tell you it does hold just such spirits as these — that is, the spirit plane does — and that your refusal to believe it and de- cision to remain in darkness or ignorance does not protect you from the attack of these spirit vampires, but makes you a more easy prey to their vicious and damaging attacks. Neither does your re- fusal to believe alter the fact that unde- veloped spirits do exist and that the great- est help to progression for them often 184 Spiritualism comes from this plane of existence, and whilst it is plainly your duty and mine to protect ourselves from their viciousness, it may be equally plainly our duty to help them to progress. If some one who had seen and knew that your house was on fire should come in and tell you so, would you say, "Oh, my! I'll just lock myself in my room and have nothing to do with it if it's a house of that kind. ' ' Would your refusal to accept the truth about your house or see it put out the destructive fire or save you or your house ? Would it not be more wise to call the fire department and do all you could to save it and not only it, but other good houses from catching fire! Would the fact that your house had caught fire be any proof that all houses must be unfit to live in? Neither does the fact that there are many bad spirits prove that all are bad. And many of us know they are not. HAD THEIB TICKETS FOE THE MATINEE. Or would you prefer to be like a lady (whom a very close friend of mine met one day on Thirty-ninth Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues), and who, on seeing Its Danger 185 volumes of black smoke filling the street, stopped liim, saying, ''Will you kindly tell me where the fire is." "Yes, madam, it is in the Casino Theatre." Smiling very sweetly she said, ''Thank you, but that is impossible, for my husband and I have tickets for the matinee," and on she went and did not stop or believe until she reached where she could see the fire and feel the heat, and then, and not until then, she realized it was a matinee of destruction and not of amusement. FOR TEUTH AND INSTRUCTION. If you have done, if you are doing any investigation into these psychic matters, you, like this matinee lady, have got your ticket — ^hers was for entertainment ; yours, I am sure, is for truth and instruction. Ever keep that its aim and object, and if the truth and instruction come in a form you do not expect, or a quarter you did not look for, do not say "It's impossible," but rather take warning and beware lest a greater disappointment meet you at the very door, as it did this Matinee Lady, and in the very place you expect to find 186 Spiritualism only the things of love and beauty, you find destruction. UNDESIRABLE RESULTS. In my judgment spiritualism when en- tered upon in the spirit of folly is extremely dangerous, and in that condition it is very possible and likely that undesirable results will follow. ALL NATURE DANGEROUS WHEN HANDLED IN IGNORANCE. But why say because it is dangerous you will have nothing to do with it ? If you give up everything that is dangerous you will almost feel like giving up living. Just look at the very things that enter into our every- day life. Mother earth occasionally sends forth her volcanic rumblings, and then opens and swallows us up. The seas and the rivers now and again lash themselves into furies, smashing the crafts that float upon their bosom and drowning their occupants. The soft zephyrs of summer forget their softness and express themselves in the hur- ricane, destroying life and property. Th6 Its Danger 187 sunshine is welcome to most for its heat and light, yet to those who are exposed too much to it sunstroke and death follow. Fire, whilst so useful for our needs and comforts, puts whole nations in sorrow when it destroys life, as it did when it con- sumed the ''General Slocum" on the Sound, taking a toll of hundreds of lives. Similarly could be enumerated practi- cally the whole necessities of life and ex- istence, showing their dangers and our ignorance of their laws, but not one of these things but can be converted to our advantage the moment we discover the law by which we can control them. CONTROL YOUESELF. Then instead of being anxious, as many good people are, of being "controlled by the spirits," be anxious of knowing first how to control yourself and keeping out- side undesirable controls. One day a minis- ter asked me "If I allowed any spirits to control me. ' ' I replied by asking him " If he allowed any old tramp to come in off the street and use the best parlor in his parish house?" He said, "Why, no!" "Then 188 Spiritualism why should you expect me to allow any old tramp spirit you or any one might bring along to use this, my house of clay, my body, which is of much more importance and more easily soiled than your parish house?" At first he seemed shocked at my speaking in this way of spirits. (Don't you be shocked, it's the truth.) Then he said, ' ' He had never thought of it in that way. ' ' CONTROL BY PEENICIOUS SPIRITS DANGEROUS. It is a very undesirable thing for any me- dium to allow themselves to be controlled by pernicious spirits everywhere awaiting just such opportunities. Beware of such! IGNORANCE. The chief danger of spiritualism lies in ignorance. I do not believe that ''where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise." Ig- norance may be content, but does it ever reach the exalted state of bliss? It seems to me knowledge must stand for strength and ignorance for weakness. OBSESSION NOTHING NEW. Obsession or possession by evil spirits has existed from the earliest times, as rec- Its Danger 189 ords show, and probably as long as there have been human beings to obsess or possess. Today it is probably a thousand times more prevalent than is dreamed of, helping to break up happy homes and do- ing its full part to fill insane asylums and prisons. Believing this statement, I feel I should be very derelict in my duty if I did not herald it forth and do my part to stem the tide. ; < CHAPTER XII. Obsession. "And he called unto him the twelve and began to send them out two by two; and gave them power over unclean spirits." HE DWELT IN THE TOMBS AND THE MOUNTAINS. Let US look at some of these cases of obsession and see how the victims have acted. ''And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of Gadarenes. "And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. "Who had his dwelling among the tombs ; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains : "Because that he has been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fet- ters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him. 190 Its Danger 191 ''And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. ''But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him. "And cried with a loud voice, and said. What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. "(For he said unto him. Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.) "And he asked him. What is thy name? And he answered, saying. My name is Le- gion : for we are many. "And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the coun- try. "Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. "And all the devils besought him, say- ing, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. "And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and en- tered into the swine ; and the herd ran vio- lently down a steep place into the sea (they were about two thousand), and were choked in the sea."— Mark V, 1-13. 192 Spiritualism HE CAST OUT DEVILS WITH HIS WORD. "When tlie even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils ; and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick." — Matthew VIII, 16. These undeveloped spirits are frequently called devils, unclean and so forth. THEY CAST OUT AND HEALED. "And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them."— Mark VI, 13. The fame of the great healer and ex- orcist had spread abroad, and whilst the methods were new and doubted by those who had not the misfortune to be obsessed themselves or their loved ones, yet there were many who, like the Syrophenician, had loved ones who were, and their relief and well-being were of more importance to them than their own life. These questioned not the methods. Their anxiety and faith were only for relief, and to such it was given. Its Danger 193 FOE THIS SAYIISTG THE DEVIL IS DEPORTED. "For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet : "The woman was a Greek, a Syrophen- ician by nation ; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. "But Jesus said unto her. Let the chil- dren first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it into the dogs. "And she answered and said unto him. Yes, Lord : yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. "And he said unto her. For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter."— Mark VII, 25-29. When these obsessing spirits once get settled they dislike being disturbed. The very presence of the Great Teacher was dis- turbing to them, because undeveloped as they might be, they recognized in Him this marvelous power and authority as an ex- orcist and frequently they cried out and would make their victims do all kinds of antics and undignified performances. 194 Spiritualism '^I KNOW THEE WHO THOU AET.'' ''And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, * ' Saying, Let us alone ; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us ? I know thee who thou art ; the Holy one of God. ''And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. ' ' — Luke IV, 33-35. HE IS A LUNATIC. "And when they were come to the multi- tude there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying. "Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed; for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. "And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. ' ' Then Jesus answered and said, faith- less and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. Its Danger 195 "^ And Jesus rebuked the devil ; and he de- parted out of him ; and the child was cured from that very hour." — Matthew XVII, X4-18. A SAD CASE. The above account is sad, yes, very sad, for a young man to be made a lunatic by these elementals, but not one whit more sad than cases I have known of personally, especially of one lady who for years was conscious of what was her trouble and dared not let it be known, as day and night she was tormented by hearing spirit voices talking foolishness and if possible singing more foolish songs. In its earlier stages I had been able to give some relief, but the family regarded the case lightly, be- ing entirely ignorant that obsession was possible, until it had destroyed her rea- son. After the family physician and their spiritual adviser had failed to help her, and hearing from her daughter I had been of help to her previously they advised the family to have me sent for at once and see her, but, alas! the spirits had gotten too firm a hold and it had 196 Spiritualism to be said of me, as was said of the disciples, that I could not cast them out. I do not quote the doctor and the pastor in sarcasm or ridicule. Nothing of the kind. Considering the schools of thought to which they both belonged, it was a lib- eral thing to the last degree for them to desire me to be called. Probably the doctor did not know what was the matter, but the pastor did, for he was well acquainted with the scripture accounts of obsession; he also knew what his church taught on the sub- ject, and had been called upon to use his power as an exorcist before. However, in such cases, it seems to me a concerted ef- fort should be made where one is unsuc- cessful alone. If there were only this one case (and there are more to follow) would it not sug- gest the possibilities that many cases of supposed hallucination are in truth cases of obsession, and that it might be well be- fore confining for life such victims in luna- tic asylums, either public or private, to give a powerful exorcist the opportunity to try what could be done to help and save them. Our authorities might find it not only better Its Danger 197 for the individual, but more economical to the state. A DIFFEEENT WAY. Bead the following account, not as show- ing a specially bad case to handle, but a different form of handling : *'Let our Lord now command thy ser- vants, which are before thee, to seek out a man who is a cunning player on an harp ; and it shall come to pass when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hands, and thou shalt be well. ''And Saul said unto his servants. Pro- vide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. ' ' Then answered one of the servants, and said. Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him. "Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said. Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. "And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. 198 Spiritualism "And David came to Saul, and stood be- fore him : and he loved him greatly ; and he became his armour-bearer. ''And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me, for he hath found favour in my sight. "And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. ' ' — I Samuel XVI, 16-23. DISCOKD. Evil is another word for discord. Why in our various places of worship do we usu- ally begin the service with the singing of appropriate music? So that at the very beginning our spirits are at peace and harmony and evil thoughts dissipated. The importance of this has come to be recog- nized as so vital that even whilst the con- gregation is assembling it is not unusual to hear a fine organ or harp solo. Bear this in mind and then for a moment let your mind call to remembrance some of the in- harmonious drunken brawls you have heard in passing some low gin palace, which you Its Danger 199 instinctively felt was calculated to raise all the evil desires in your nature, then men- tally note what your own feelings have registered between the difference of har- mony and discord — development or unde- velopment — good or evil. THE SOLACE AND REST OF MUSIC. Have you never been feeling low spirited or tired or unwell, and against your desire dragged yourself to keep an engagement at some musical — either for the sake of keep- ing your word with your host or pleasing your wife or your fiancee, when truly you felt more like going to bed? and before you have realized it you have forgotten to be cross, tired or unwell, and when the time has come to go home you realized you were feeling fine and had had a pleasant time, and even the next morning went to your office with a brighter viewpoint. Keep yourself (your spirit) in the spirit of music (harmony) whatever environments your physical body may have to be surrounded with. You will find it pays and that your own spirit or mind will unfailingly alter your environment. 200 Spiritualism NOT ALWAYS A CASE OF LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE. In speaking of cases of spirit obsession and evil spirits, one often hears the inex- perienced say, ''Well, like attracts like." Maybe it does, but in cases of obsession it scarcely plays any part. Some of the most desirable people that ever lived have been the victims of evil spirits. JESUS IS TEMPTED OF THE DEVIL. Would anybody say that the devil or evil spirit tempted the Nazarene, the great teacher Jesus, because he had any- thing in common or unison with the evil one"? I think not. FEIGHTENED BY AN OBSESSING SPIRIT. Some little time ago a lady and \her daughter called upon me knowing I had the gifts of clear vision, clairaudience and of exorcism that the lady might ask my aid to release her from the power of an evil spirit who talked to her so much night and day that she was afraid often to stay in her house, and when out afraid to go in again. I was glad to be, or try to be, of service to Its Danger 201 her. I began by describing a spirit I saw near her, and she said that was the one that was giving her the trouble. I then re- quested him to leave this woman, and he re- phed, saying, '^He would leave when he pleased and not before." I then began to demand him to leave, and he told me ''to go to " and became very abusive to me, his language not fit to repeat. However, I had seen and heard the same kind of spirits before, therefore I kept on demanding him to leave till at last he shouted in a loud voice, "If I did not stop ordering him away he would choke her and me both to death. ' ' This she heard as clearly as I, and it so frightened her that she almost fainted. She feared he would carry out his threat. He gained his object, viz., by driving her away and keeping his hold upon her. No one doubted the goodness and sincerity of this lady. I knew her to be an earnest seeker after truth, and like many others she made it a habit of attending first one and then another seance or developing class, just giving such a spirit as this the very opportunity it wanted to attach itself to some unsuspecting soul to annoy, perplex and injure as much as possible. 202 Spiritualism PUBLIC CIRCLES AND DEVELOPING CLASSES. Taking such public circles and so-called developing classes as I have seen, as ex- amples (and I have seen many), I thor- oughly disapprove of them. The places of such meetings, I regret to say, I have found as a rule thoroughly unventilated, and not infrequently stuffy and dusty, and such general conditions as would be calculated to attract evil, undeveloped, earth-bound, elemental spirits to hang around waiting to grasp the unwary. When these classes hap- pen to be dark ones, surely there is nothing lacking to prevent these borderland spirits from fulfilling their desire. The tiling to be wondered at most is that not more people are obsessed. To prevent this get as much knowledge on this subject as possible and the moment you suspect that such are trying to control you ask the Great Spirit to send to you good minister- ing spirits to aid you and prevent them, and whilst such victory may by no means be easy, it will be certain with hosts of the righteous on your side. Its Danger 203 WHAT OP THESE EVIL UNDEVELOPED SPIEITsF What of these evil, undeveloped spirits ! Are they to be left through time and etern- ity unhelped, unaided to a better life. These spirits were once men and women like ourselves. Eemember when Jesus left here ''he went and preached to the spirits in prison," and these earth- bound entities are in prison by their own will and ignorance. Some have been there hundreds of years trying to satisfy their earthly desires by obsession, and in that way getting second-hand satisfaction. The angels of light minister to them at every opportunity, but they can often be reached better from our plane than the spiritual, therefore it may be your duty and your spe- cial privilege to minister unto them. I be- lieve it is some ministers' (mediums') spe- cial gift to do so. I also believe that if any medium requires special gifts, it is he himself called to do this work, and I believe that no ordination, or the laying on of hands, or apostolic succession is needful, the one essential being the gift from the Father. 204 Spiritualism NO TWO CASES ALIKE. As we do not find two faces just exactly the same, neither do we find two cases of obsession the same either in form or object. A HOTEL MAN. I once knew a much respected hotel man. He had been employed in that business in the city many years, and was known for his reliability. He became interested in psychic matters and began investigating in the ordinary way, viz., by attending miscel- laneous psychic meetings. This went on for a considerable time, when he began showing signs of irritability. He had a wife and little daughter to whom he was much de- voted, and they to him, but his condition reached such a stage when they sat down to meals there came over him the most un- natural desire to spank or physically hurt this child in some way or other. Fortu- nately he did not yield. It was to me clearly a case of obsession. ANOTHER HOTEL MAN. I knew also another man in New York City employed in this same business, and Its Danger 205 none more highly respected and trusted for sobriety (he had never been intoxicated in his life), integrity, etc., etc. He was a man of average intelligence, and the most devoted son to his parents I ever knew. He was for many years deeply interested in spiritualism and frequently saw its phenomena. At this time in appearance I would consider him a typical hotel man — stout, ruddy, etc., etc. He became nervous, began losing flesh until he became a mere shadow of his former self, and that without seemingly any cause. He tried doctors, rest and change without success. It was clearly a case of obsession, only expressing itself differently from any other I had seen. Does some reader say this man is a crank about obsession! Oh, no! nor about any- thing else. Those who know me credit me with the full amount of common sense and more than the average amount of liberality in my opinions of giving others credit for correct thinking as well as myself. Then does some one say, might not this last case be something else besides obsession? Yes, but it was not. 206 Spiritualism AEE HOTELS HOTBEDS FOR OBSESSION F Does the question arise, Are hotels and spiritualistic meeting places hotbeds for obsession? Those questions cannot be an- swered with a flat definite yes or no, be- cause some confuse and class as one a low drinking dive with the most reputable hotel, and a fake spiritist meeting with the peace-giving, uplifting influence of a spir- itualists' meeting. Our hotels have largely become residen- tial, and practically entirely so if we con- sider them as homes (residences) for people from home. Who would think of these as drinking shops? WHEEE SPIRITUAL TRUTH IS TAUGHT. Where do spiritualists have meetings'? Anywhere, everywhere, where spiritual truth is taught — true spiritualism (do not confuse with spiritism) is no respecter of creed or place, and permeates all truth. CONSENSUS OF OPINION. The consensus of opinion of the most able, reliable investigators of spiritualism Its Danger 207 and its attendant phenomena is that where a human being has wasted its time and stunted its spirit in drinking shops and other vicious places and habits, that when it dies and the soul leaves the body and the spirit is freed from its house of flesh, it finds itself still tied to and unable to get away from its old haunts. Therefore, if I frequent such places I lay myself open for attack and the chances of being influenced more or less by such spirits. THE MEETING PLACE OF DISCARNATE SPIRITS. In developing classes and circles, which is the acknowledged meeting place of dis- carnate spirits, I find this difference, whereas in the former haunts I have just described I could expect only the bad, here I find good and bad, desirable and unde- sirable, it is easier for the undesirable or evil to manifest on this mundane plane than those who have become more ethereal by spiritualization. At any free meeting you were ever at, didn't the most undesirable in- variably make themselves more prominent than the desirable. To the spirits these meetings are free, not even a collection. 208 Spiritualism And whilst without doubt most of the meet- ing places of the spiritualists are guarded by bands of highly spiritualized spirits, yet it is the place for spirits to meet their friends. And there they come regardless of their development. AND SATAN CAME ALSO. But this is no new idea, for ' * there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. "—Job II, 1. THINK OF THE BIGGEST CEOOKS YOU HAVE KNOWN. Has some one come to the conclusion that these kinds of spirit people must all of necessity be very lacking in intellect? Don't draw that conclusion too quickly. Think of the biggest crooks you have ever known ; haven't you always found them exception- ally bright, clever and intellectual in thei'r special line of crookedness ? Of course you have ; they had to be to get the better of the Its Danger 209 others. This same rule applies on the next plane of life as well as here, even to the exhibition of suavity. OCCUPATION DOES NOT NECESSAKILY MAKE OBSESSION IMPERATIVE. No line of occupation makes it imperative that obsession will follow, and because I named two hotel men who were for a time affected, that does not mean those in that business are the special victims. A METHODIST AND EPISCOPALIAN ALLIED WITH HOTEL WORK. I knew in England the daughter of the proprietor of a commercial hotel who was one of the most consistent Methodists I ever knew. In New York I knew the proprietor of one of our largest city hotels who was a most consistent Episcopalian and church worker. Therefore, it is not occupation, but personality that must occupy itself with these matters. NO GUARANTEE. But, on the other hand, neither your oc- cupation, creed or church are guarantees 210 Spiritualism that you will never be attacked, that you will never yield or be overcome. When a member of one of the orthodox churches becomes obsessed, they name it Eeligious Monomania. Such cases are not un- common. AN EXTREMELY SAD CASE. I knew what to me was an extremely sad case. I had known the lady all my life, and before I could remember she had been a Methodist, consistent in her church duties and obligations, and what to me was more significant, consistent in her duties to the world and her family, and these duties I never remember to have been light. Her re- ligion had been the one bright happy spot in her monotonous, narrow life, but as the rolling years sped away, even that was more a burden than a joy, the sense of fear and of doubt as to whether she was saved or not took full possession of her, and that ques- tion was asked with tears and sorrow by her of every caller at every opportunity, until the last few years of her life were no light burden to her or her family. To me Its Danger 211 this was a clear case of obsession by a spirit who had gone out of the body with that fear thought dominating the mind. It could not be considered an evil spirit, but undeveloped in the broader conceptions of its mind and the Christ meaning of being saved. CAME IN FEAR;, RETURNED REJOICING. One day a lady I had known for several years called with her daughters at my home. The daughters I had not seen for some years. In the meantime they had grown from girls to womanhood. It was a sad story I had to listen to and ran as fol- lows : Naming her eldest daughter, she said : '' During the past sixteen or eighteen months she has become so strangely irrit- able, nervous, sleepless and so unreasonable with her friends we do not know what tq do with her. She makes it hard for all of us. When she goes in the street she is con- stantly turning around, as she imagines some one is following her, and I wondered if you could help her, as it seems to me it is obsession." I said, ''If she will come and 212 Spiritualism see me I shall be glad to help her if I can. ' ' The next day the mother and daughter both came. I think I never saw any one so ner- vous as the daughter. It seemed that men- tally and physically every nerve was on fire^ After we had chatted a few minutes I saw clairvoyantly standing near her the spirit of a young man. I was able to describe him clearly and give what I thought was his na- tionality. They at once said : ' ' Oh, yes, we know him, he has only been dead about two years." When I told them it was he who was giving her the trouble, they were much surprised, for it seems he had not been very well off, and from time to time they had given him such help as they felt he needed, which was in keeping with their general characteristics. I at once began to exorcise her and to command the spirit to leave her and never return. He absolutely refused, saying he would leave when he liked and not before. I saw it was going to be an obstinate case. I therefore asked the as- sistance of two Indian spirits, when in- stantly two magnificent specimens stood by my side. I asked the aid of the Indians be- cause they lived so close to nature that Its Danger 213 when they come in contact with the earth atmosphere they seem to retain more strength. They stepped from my side and began making vigorous passes with their hands in front of the obsessing spirit. I asked them what they were doing. They said, hypnotizing him, and they eventually put him into the hypnotic sleep. They quickly laid him full length on the floor and began making a rope of what seemed to me prairie grass about an inch thick. When they had made what they considered enough, they lifted up his left arm, put one end of the rope in the arm pit and began winding it around him down to his feet. They paused a moment and looked at me, when I asked them, "what are you going to do with him?" "Take him to one of our sanatoriums, where he will receive such care as he needs, and where he will in real- ity be a prisoner without knowing it until he has lost all desire to obsess any one, and it is perfectly safe to give him his freedom when it will be given. ' ' Then I asked, how long will he remain in this hypnotic sleep, "Perhaps, as you measure time, three weeks. When he awakens he will be in a 214 Spiritualism state of convalescence and will be treated as such." With that one laid his head on his shoulder and the other his feet on his, and in that way they bore him away. It was a wonderful experience and one never to be forgotten. The young lady went home, had dinner, and immediately went to bed to have the first real night's rest she had had for months, and did not awake until after ten o'clock the following morn- ing, and has not been troubled since. To me this was another case which could not come under the heading of evil, but of ignorant and undeveloped, spirits, for at no time did the intentions of this obsessing spirit seem to be evil, but mischievous, which was very annoying to the young lady. A RAKE CASE OF EEADINESS. A rare case was brought to my notice a short time ago. A gentleman, a member of an exceptionally intellectual and cultured family and himself not less so than the rest, had found himself afflicted with a habit for years which was extremely annoying to him and distressing to the other members, Its Danger 215 from which habit he couIH not break away. He became attracted to books and thoughts on occultism, and whilst reading and study- ing them became convinced that he was the victim of some phase or other of obsession. He called on a gentleman who was well known for his gifts of exorcism, and they discovered that it was a case of obsession. The obsessing spirit was told of what he was doing, and which he at once acknowl- edged. He was requested to leave at once and did so, only lingering near the victim long enough to ask help for himself, ex- plaining that he could not leave without assistance, for he had long been ready and desirous of doing so, but knew not how to release himself. He explained that when first attaching himself to this gentleman he did not realize that he could inflict upon him the very habits which had been his own un- doing when here, but discovering that he at first felt glad that in a second-hand manner he could enjoy the same things as before he died. This continued for some time when the desire for uplift and better things came and he was unable to detach himself. The gentleman has not had the slightest inclina- 216 Spiritualism tion to commit the same habit since this spirit vacated, and the spirit has returned many times to give thanks for the help it had received and stating that he (the spirit) is now doing rescue work among those carrying the same burden he once did. I know the man afflicted, the spirit and the exorcist. WOESE THAN HIGHWAY BOBBERS. Discarnate spirits are not the only ones who can annoy us without their physical presence being with us, but often incarnate spirits do the same thing by what some call telepathy — mind power, vicious animal magnetism, sub-conscious self and voodoo- ism. "When these things are used for self- ish, vicious purposes, I know of nothing more wicked or vile. I consider the people using them to gain selfish ends worse than highway robbers, because one has generally some show, if ever so small, with a highway- man, but these invisible entities and powers come upon us still and intangible as a shadow; and it is almost as difficult to de- fend ourselves from their real presence, in- Its Danger 217 dividuality and power. One who has ever experienced this could never doubt. VOODOOISM. Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, a pioneer spiritualist, world traveller, lecturer, au- thor and a noble good woman, had the most marked experience of voodooism I have ever known, and this is what she tells of it in her autobiography. "Hitherto it has been my pride and pleasure to point to the Divine side of the great Spiritual movement, and record how often good Spirits come and do help us, both consciously and unknown to ourselves, to outwork the destiny that lies before us. "In the following narrative I am about to call the reader's attention to the dangers and abuses that may grow out of the prac- tice of occult powers, when undertaken by ill-regulated minds, or persons who yield up the reins of judgment or conscience, to the alleged control of any Spirit, whether in or out of the mortal form. "It was during the time when I was fill- ing a lecturing engagement in New York 218 Spiritualism that I received a letter signed 'John Gallagher.' This letter, although ad- dressed to me on the envelope, and com- mencing with my Christian name, was evidently, as it then seemed, sent by mis- take to me, it being an enthusiastic love letter expressed in good enough language, but carrying in its context the idea of being addressed to a very dear and inti- mate friend of the writer's. Coming, however, from a person whose name I had never even heard, and containing language with which no human being then in Amer- ica had the right to address to me, I could arrive at no other conclusion than that the writer, whoever he might be, had penned two letters at once, and put his effusion into the wrong envelope. Rational as this idea seemed, I was soon disabused of it by re- ceiving another, and yet another letter of the same kind within about a week from the receipt of the first. ''On reading over these letters to Mrs. French and Mrs. Culberson, my confidants, both came to the conclusion that some un- fortunate woman of the town had assumed my name (a case that had happened before Its Danger 219 in the experience of a pubKc lecturer), and that her correspondent had mistaken the party he meant to address for me. Even this vague idea we felt obliged to abandon when a letter followed of the same char- acter, but commenting in the most extrava- gant terms on my previous Sunday's lec- ture and the beauty of my costume, the de- scription of which actually corresponded with that I had worn. ^ ' From this time, other letters of a simi- lar character — letters which referred so clearly to my lectures, dresses, and appear- ance that it was impossible to doubt that they were meant for me — kept pouring in with such frequency that I resolved at last to consult the police in the matter. Hither- to I had begged my friends not to mention the matter to my mother, lest she should share with me the terrible distress that these missives occasioned. "Although the postmark was Boston, or some of the various towns in Massachu- setts, the writer showed too intimate knowledge of my doings in New York to be at any great distance off. As to the signa- ture of John Gallagher, that might be, and 220 Spiritualism most likely was, assumed ; hence an inquiry into the whereabouts of all the John Gal- laghers in the United States would reveal nothing. In a word, my official counsellors, like my friends, could offer no other solu- tion to the affair than vague surmise, and thus the matter was left in profound mys- tery. I am not quite certain of the year in which this frightful persecution com- menced. I believe it was in 1858. "Certain it is, however, that from that time forth for a period of at least two years these dreadful epistles followed me every- where. I began to sense the near approach of these hateful letters, first by a feeling of cold chills, and not infrequently by the realization of some evil presence around me. Sometimes these perceptions were so powerful that I felt involuntarily im- pressed to place my chair close up against the wall, lest the dreadful thing which I knew had entered the room should get be- hind me. "As to the spirits, though I repeatedly questioned them on the subject, their only answer was, that the evil power around me was a human one, and for the time being Its Danger 221 was too far removed from their sphere to enable them to control it. All they could do was to assure me of their present protec- tion and final release. ''As an evidence of the direct action of the invisible power by which I was beset, I may mention that during one of my month's engagements at Providence, Ehode Island, I had agreed to give a week-evening lecture at Pawtucket, a place only a few miles dis- tant from where I was sta^dng. My friends at Providence had arranged to drive me over to my lecture and bring me back in a 'carry-all,' a double-seated covered con- veyance. ' ' The night was intensely dark and cold, and during the ride home our driver de- termined to stop at a roadside house he knew of to borrow a lantern. "Arrived at the halfway house my three friends, a lady and two gentlemen, got out to warm themselves as well as to procure the lantern. I was too tired to move, when suddenly, sitting in the 'carry-all' by my- self, the horses began to rear as if fright- ened, and I felt a cold hand doing some- 222 Spiritualism thing to my head, on which I wore a cloud (a knitted scarf). ''I called out loudly to my friends, 'Come here; some one's in the carriage!' In- stantly all was quiet; but again the horses reared, and my friends ran out with the lantern. No one was to be seen ; but when we arrived home and went into the sitting room, to my friends' astonishment and my own we found a spray of lilies of the valley stuck in my hair, which to my dying day I insist was not there when I left for the ride home. I told my friends then, and persist now, that we had no such flowers with us, and that some one or something got into the carriage and placed those lilies there. The next morning's post brought me one of the terrible letters, complimenting me on wear- ing those lilies during my ride home, la- menting the presence of the strangers with me and speaking of words I had said after my return. "Passing over many terrible months fraught with similar mysteries, I now reach a period memorable in my changeful life as being the only occasion when I visited the Southern States of America, in which I Its Danger 223 had several engagements. It was in the winter of 1860 that I proceeded to Macon, Georgia, to lecture for two months, during which time I was the guest of Dr. and Mrs. Andrews. * ' One day, whilst sitting in my own room writing, the feeling of intense cold came over me, which heralded-in one of the well- known dreadful letters. I had hardly pushed back my chair against the wall, to prevent an unknown presence from step- ping behind me, when Dr. Andrews himself knocked at my door and, on being invited to enter, presented me with several letters, one from my tormentor amongst them. I had already apprised my good host of my terrible following, and, by way of proving my confidence in him, and the nature of the mystery by which I was surrounded, when I recognized the all too well-known handwrit- ing and the postmark Boston, I handed the letter unopened to Dr. Andrews and bid him read it. He did so, and, giving it back to me, we found that some one in Boston had described the very scene that took place the evening before in my lecture hall in Macon, Georgia, over a thousand miles away ! 224 Spiritualism ''Dr. Andrews left me to attend Ms pa- tients, whilst I sat down to write a letter to a Major Rhynders, then chief of police in Boston. In this official letter I enclosed several missives from this same 'John Gal- lagher,' received at different places during the past few weeks, and, having a slight ac- quaintance with Major Rhynders, I told him I wanted him to trace this 'John Gal- lagher,' or find as best he could the writer of those letters. I told him that in six weeks from that time I should be in Boston to fulfill a two months' engagement, and that the entire amount of my fees — $200 — and all that I could raise in addition, if re- quired, I would pay to arrest and help prosecute the villianous author of these letters. I had just sealed and directed my packet to the Boston chief of police, when the voice of one of my best beloved Spirit friends, my sailor brother Tom, spoke to me, and the following colloquy ensued : "Spirit: 'Who is Emma sending such a huge package of letters to, and why?' I answered, 'you know; you will not or can- not help me, so I will help myself. ' Its Danger 225 ' ' Spirit : ' We will and do help you when we can ; Spirits are not God, and cannot do all we wish or mortals demand. ' "Emma: 'Perhaps so. Then I repeat I will help myself.' ''Spirit: 'Emma's fire is low, and the weather is chilly; pray make up your fire with those letters?' "Emma: 'I will not! and unless you give me some explanation of this horrible mystery these letters shall go to the Boston chief of police.' ' ' Spirit : ' Poor Emma ; how she will re- pent her work ! ' ' ' Emma : ' What do I care. I have no one to help me. The letters shall go ! ' "Spirit: 'Will our Emma wait, for her own soul's sake, and to please her Spirit friends, for six weeks?' ' ' Emma : ' On this day six weeks I shall be in Boston. What then?' ' ' Spirit : ' W^ait till after the first Sunday tomorrow six weeks, when you speak at Boston. If you are not glad then that you did not send your letters to the police at that time, we will not remonstrate against 226 Spiritualism your sending them or publishing them abroad in any way/ ''Emma: 'I agree; six weeks only, re- member ' *'In six weeks from the date of this con- versation I arrived in Boston, Mass. I had been traveling for eighteen hours, and ar- rived on a Saturday, about 2 o'clock in the day. ' ' The friend who met me took me to the house of Mr. Farrar, in Hancock Street, president of the society by whom I was engaged. ''Retiring to my room, after a three o'clock lunch, I begged Mrs. Farrar to let me be entirely quiet, in the hope of gaining some rest prior to the six-thirty dinner hour. I had just prepared for my much needed repose, when Mrs. Farrar herself knocked at my door, and, on entering, be- sought me to give audience to two ladies who had implored her interest to obtain an interview with me on what they declared to be a matter of life and death. "Overpowered as I was with fatigue, I could not resist my kind hostess's pleading, Its Danger 227 so I descended to the drawing room, only making the condition that, as I myself had no secrets, Mrs. Farrar should be present at the coming interview. ''We found awaiting me two ladies, the youngest of whom, speaking in a refined and graceful manner, said, 'Allow me to say, Mrs. Hardinge, we are mother and daughter, both widows, and have come to you on a most singular and embarrassing errand. This is my mother, Mrs. Gallagher. ' "I need hardly say that I started as I heard this hated name. " 'Do you know my brother, Mr. John Gallagher?' the lady added, anxiously. 'Not personally,' I replied, 'but,' I added, bit- terly, 'I have had some dreadful letters from an individual signing himself thus.' "Then it was that, with many tears, in which the poor mother joined, the daughter explained that they had both been warm Spiritualists for many years. Her brother John, who was a custom house officer, in an excellent situation, and the sole support of both his mother and sister, had no belief in the cause until they persuaded him some 228 Spiritualism two or three years before to go and hear me lecture. ''He became so deeply interested on that occasion that he continued his enquiries, and most unhappily fell in with one of those self-styled mediums, who was always preaching as well as practising the doc- trine of 'affinities.' Having soon discov- ered that her unfortunate visitor had con- ceived a sudden and violent infatuation for the first female lecturer he had ever heard or seen, the cunning impostor flattered her trusting dupe by pretending that 'the Spirits ' influenced her to say that I, Emma Hardinge, was this man's 'affinity,' but, that, in order to win me, he must direct all his actions under certain laws and rules. "In league with this impostor was an- other of the same kind, a man (all too well known in Boston) who claimed to be an adept in East Indian Magic. This precious pair so wrought upon their victim, that after putting him on a regime of fruit and vegetables and reducing him by fasting, etc., they commenced to teach him abomin- able Voodoo arts, by which he could go out of his body and visit as well as follow me about as a Spirit. Its Danger . 229 "The ladies added, that he kept neither his infatuation or his practices secret from them. On the contrary, he showed them continually the book in which the records of his visits to me were inscribed. Therein was described the dresses I wore and what I did and said, and the houses I stayed at during my travels. The sister added, that when he found I was announced to come to Boston, he had besought his mother and sister to visit me, carry his book of records with them, show it to me, and if, as he believed it would be, found correct, they were to tell me how long and faithfully he had spiritually followed me, and entreat me to grant him an interview. "When these ladies proceeded to show me the book of records, and I found how evidently I had been traced, my dresses de- scribed, the very pieces I had played on the piano named, and my walks followed, etc., etc., etc., I became almost frantic with rage and horror. 'See him!' I exclaimed. 'Never!' I added, what was true, that nothing but pity and compassion for his mother and sister prevented me from pub- 230 Spiritualism lishing Ms conduct to the world and holding liim up to universal execration. * ' The poor mother went on her knees to me, pleading that I would see and remon- strate with him, but grieved as I was for her I sternly refused. Then came the ter- rible problem of what they should say to him on their return. Mrs. Farrar urged that they should tell him the truth, and rep- resent the abhorrence in which I regarded his conduct, but, I, alas ! in my blind rage counselled another course of action, and one which I shall ever repent of. I said what I then thought most truly, that the best, perhaps only way, to cure him of these fetish practices was, to allege that all he had recorded was wrong, fanciful, and false, and that no such powers as he claimed to possess appertained to humanity. ' ' I was sincere in my wish to serve these afflicted women, without considering that falsehood can never be right. Enough to say that the poor mother and sister left me deeply sorrowing, but most reluctantly promising to attempt a cure of the unhappy man's infatuation by following my counsel. ''According to promise, they wrote to me Its Danger 231 in a few days, informing me that they had followed my directions, but the result was still more terrible to them than even his former unhappy practices. '^Whether under the belief that he had throughout deluded himself, or that the na- ture of his practices had destroyed his mental balance, none could say. It is enough to add, as the conclusion of this de- plorable narrative, that John Gallagher's widowed sister called on Mrs. F'arrar one day during my absence, to inform her that she had just returned from the Worcester Lunatic Asylum, where she had left her hapless brother a raving maniac. ''Let me add, that in pity for the poor mother and sister, the only part of this sad narrative that I can recall with any satis- faction was the burning of all the maniac's letters, especially of those I had intended to put in the hands of the police. ''As a duty that I owe to the noble cause of True Spiritualism, no less than as a warning to those who either dare to abuse its potencies or to insult its divine realities by misuse, I feel bound to say that the nar- rative I have written out in the preceding 232 Spiritualism pages was not the only case in which I was made the victim of base attempts to put the horrors of Voodooism npon me. ' ' But the whilst I look back with horror upon my would-be captors, I am no less in- dignant with those traders who, under the pretense of mediumship, talk to their sitters of 'Affinities,' and teach them the same arts and base attempts at the projection of mental influences as are common amongst the Fakirs of India and the Magi of most Eastern lands." MORE THAN" CONQUEEOES THEOUGH HIM THAT LOVETH US. But it matters not even though all the discarnate and incarnate hosts of darkness work all their vile forces against us, "We shall be more than conquerors through Him that loveth us," so long as we rely on his power, for He it is who is the creative mind, permeating all that is. Therefore, if we keep at onement with the source of all power, we may sing with absolute faith, in spite of, and in defiance of, all other powers however great they be Its Danger 233 ' ' The King of love my shepherd is Whose goodness faileth never, I nothing lack if I am his And he is mine forever. ' ' EMANCIPATION. Why be afraid of death as though your life were breath? Death but anoints your eyes with clay. Oh, glad surprise ! Why should you be forlorn? Death only husks the corn. Why should you fear to meet the thresher of the wheat? Is sleep a thing to dread? Yet sleeping you are dead Till you awake and rise, here, or beyond the skies. Why should it be a wrench to leave your wooden bench? Why not with happy shout run home when school is out? The dear ones left beliind! 0, foolish one and blind, A day and you will meet — A night and you will greet. 234 Spiritualism This is the death of Death, to breathe away a breath And know the end of strife, and taste the deathless life. And joy without a fear, and smile without a tear ; And work, nor care to rest, and find the last the best. De. M. D. Babcock. The Power of Thought AND The JNTeed of the World CHAPTER XIII. The Power of Thought and the Need op THE World Is Love, Sympathy, Companionship. As we step into the streets of our great cities, and meet the hurrying crowds in pur- suit of bread, or in the attempt to make a fortune, we are struck by a great human wail, that in its very agony is full of longing and hunger for human love, sympathy, understanding, friendship, and in its de- spair, says, no man careth for my soul. Hoping our senses have deceived us, we gaze into the faces of the passers-by, desir- ing to read there a more cheerful story, but alas, the care, sorrow and anxiety we see depicted there, from the one who toils to supply the home with necessities, to the one who seeks safe investments for millions, there stands out over and above all else the longing for one who understands and is ready with sympathy and moral support. When do we see these things? When the 337 238 Spiritualism mask is off, when the unguarded moment reveals the real person ; yes, all wear masks, especially the thoughtful, and it is right to do so, if it be worn to hide from the world our sorrows, struggles, difficulties; surely it is not right for us to carry a banner with all our woes written on it, thus depressing, and saddening all with whom we come in contact. It is our duty, as far as we can, to make the world brighter for our being in it, more hopeful, more courageous. This duty of wearing a mask does not de- bar its wearer from taking it off to his, or her, friend, when seeking advice, sympathy and moral support, etc. If you do not, the advice cannot be so good, nor the sympathy so deep. What is the cause of this lack of friendship and care for each other? Utter and absolute selfishness, and forgetfulness of the Golden Rule. Does some one ask if there is such a thing as a real friend? I tell you **Yes," but your very question shows you have not yet learned that to have friends you must show yourself friendly; that you must give as well as take. Do you think it is a square deal, to make of the man or woman who has elected his or her self to be your friend, the dump- Its Danger 239 ing ground for the debris of all your troubles, and never take them any of the flowers that grow in your garden? The practice of this perpetual dump- ing has killed many a friendship. I know a man that for years when he has come up against difficulties (and he often imagines he is up against them) just runs to an old stand-by friend of his who listens and counsels to the best of his ability, but as long as things keep smooth, mum is the word, the old stand-by friend seems entirely forgotten. For years I have tried to be a friend to and I shall continue to try and be one, because they have so few, and their life is often so lonesome and sad. For what reason? Lots of their acquaintances could answer that question. When they come to see me I mentally say ''what is the tale of woe this time? " Soon it reveals itself. When the ocean of life is smooth sailing for them, I seldom see them or hear from them, but I always feel sorry, not only at the time any fresh difficulty comes their way, but constantly, because they know so little how to be happy, or how to retain 240 Spiritualism their friends, and will not learn the joy that comes of giving one's self for others. Ealph Waldo Trine has said : ' ' Wonld we have all the world love ns, we must first then love all the world — merely a great scientific fact. ' ' If this great multiude we have spoken of, who long to be understood and cared for would drop that desire, and start at once to give to others sympathy, understanding and love, and if everybody living should com- mence to do that tomorrow, the world would be revolutionized in a week — why? For thoughts are living things On swift, creative wings, Obeying laws Divine, Their like returns to you. So, then, my wishing is That all your thoughts be true; Filled with good will to men And every living thing. So shall your cup of joy Be filled without alloy. The question naturally arises, ''If thoughts are living things, how is it that the multitude do not get what they want!" Its Danger 241 Dr. 0. S. Harden explains that in a few words in his book, ''The Miracle of Right Thought." He calls it working for one thing and expecting something else. If you should question this great majority of those who are dissatisfied with their lot, and ask them if they were doing all in their power to better it, it is almost certain you would get some such reply as this: "Why of course I am, and I have been for years, but then I never expect any good to come my way, it never does," How effectively, it never does ' ' and they do not expect it to, ' ' closes the gates against accomplishing the thing they want ; it is a declaration of want of faith both in God and themselves, and that is the reason why so few succeed. In Dr. Harden 's words — it is working for one thing and expecting something else. If thoughts are to be living things, they must be backed by living faith. I want you to notice the difference in these people to whom good things never come, and a young man from whom I had a letter last week. He had been out on the road a few days, traveling for a New York firm, and he wrote me saying, that up to the time of writing he had not done very 242 Spiritualism well, but that lie was not discouraged, be- cause he had made up his mind in spite of anything he was going to do well. That is the kind of fibre success is built of, that which refuses to see anything else but N^O MAN LIVETH UNTO HIMSELF. I knew a distressing case in England. An old lady and gentleman with whom I was acquainted were constantly complaining of how their family neglected them, and with bitterness and pain almost daily stated be- cause they were poor nobody came to see them, none of their friends cared for them. Their family were as devoted as they, their father and mother, would let them be, supplying all the necessities and as many of the luxuries of life as they pos- sibly could. I was so placed I could not help but know, yet many a time I have heard the mother state they never spent a penny on her or their father. The father had been a manufacturer and had been rich, but with time the conditions of trade changed, and with the change his business and his money grew less, until 7^5 Danger 243 both were gone. I was sorry for them. The family, who knew I had often heard the complaint regarding the neglect by their friends, became suspicious that even I might also blame the friends, so one day one of them said, ' ' You have so often heard father and mother complain of their friends, it seems to me you should know the facts, which are these: Years ago many people made social calls upon father and mother constantly. After such callers had gone I have often heard remarks like this, 'Cannot understand people who have got homes wanting to go to other peoples' houses.' When I reached a point where I realized what such calls de- manded, I many a time asked them if they had returned the call of such and such a friend, to get the reply, Hhey had not, and were not going to; home was their place.' This went on until people realized they were not welcome, and one after another left off calhng. I do not blame them. Now things have changed. Of course they would like the comfort such friends could give." This unfortunate couple by living only for themselves, and within themselves, had not only lost their perspective of things, 244 Spiritualism but had so effectively closed the avenue for things to come their way that the very friends whose advice might have been help- ful, and whose material help might have kept the wheels of commerce rolling, were absolutely cut off. They that want friends must show them- selves friendly, and must give as well as take. To some people like this couple there is absolutely a melancholy satisfaction if they can find some one to blame for what is really their own fault. As far as I know this old couple never for a moment con- ceived that the reason they did not have friends was their own fault. They couldn't, for they never got far enough away from themselves to get the right perspective. We may say with Burns : ^'0, wad some pow'r the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us." But before we can do that we must get far enough away from, or outside of our- selves mentally, to get a correct perspec- tive, and when we do, we shall probably not easily recognize ourselves. Has it ever struck you as strange how much we see and hear for other people that really we should apply to ourselves ? I re- 7^5 Danger 245 member some people I used to meet at a church I attended. It ahnost seemed as if these particular people specially attended church for the benefit of others. I never remember hearing them say they had en- joyed the service or that they felt it had been for them, but many and many a time as we were leaving church they would say : "My, I should think the pastor has made so and so feel uncomfortable this morning. I never heard anything fit anybody so well as that did them. ' ' It frequently seemed to me they could have taken it home with great profit. If you and I take to ourselves the lessons that every day come before us, we shall be busy mending our own ways. A friend who called upon me the other day said he would like to be taken in the moving pic- tures just to see how he looked to other people. I feel sure many of us could profit by so doing, and it would make us altogether too busy mending our own faults to be looking for other people's, and what is more, I believe we would find that it is the most effectual way of helping other people. I know of a lawyer in the city, a man 246 Spiritualism with a considerable practice, who when his clients begin stating their troubles, fre- quently tells them that if they will go and look in the mirror when they get home they will then see the one who is to blame. This everlasting blaming is a terrible thing, and another thing is worse, when people interfere with what is none of their business. The New York Journal pub- lished on Dec. 17, 1913, an account of a man who tried to tell Ella Wheeler Wilcox what she should and should not do. Now, if curses, like chickens, come home to roost, sometimes inteference with what is none of our business finds its own resting place. Here is Mrs. Wilcox's account of the whole thing: ''A man who says he is a great student and has studied all the religions, urges me to be 'sinsible' and discontinue writing or talking about 'God' or * Heaven' or 'Future Life.' ''He says all these things are supersti- tions, which people of intellect must aban- don or resign all claim to intellectuality. ' ' This man is, of course, an egotist of the rankest order. He is so blinded by his self-conceit that he cannot see Truth. Its Danger 247 ''He is like an individual who sits hold- ing his own photograph close to his eyes and says, ' There is no universe, no sun, no skies ; there is only this card on which I see my face.' ''The perfectly balanced human being forms a complete triangle. Physically strong, mentally strong, spiritually strong ; the three natures are in perfect harmony. "We find few such beings, and conse- quently the world is filled with those who are in some respects dwarfed or deformed. "There is the robust athlete, whose prowess lies in the physical realm. He has not developed his brain or his spirit. "There is the hysterical spiritual being, who thinks only of the world beyond and neglects his mind and his body. ' ' There is the intellectual giant, who has a stunted body and no spirituality, or who has two sides of the triangle developed, body and mind, and only a blank space where the spiritual space should be. "No one of these individuals is living the life God wants man to live. Each one must be sent back to earth in many incarnations until he learns to make the perfect triangle 248 Spiritualism of himself, and then, being complete, he can pass on to other Avork, in other Mansions, in other Realms. ' ' My correspondent may be a strong man physically and mentally, but he is dwarfed and stunted spiritually; and because he is so, he thinks there is no spiritual truth in the universe ; as the man born blind might think there was no light or sun or moon or star. ^ ' Fortunately there are hundreds of bril- liant minds ready to give their testimony to the contradiction of this man's state- ments that earth and human life are acci- dents and that chance rules all things, and that there is no life beyond this life, and no realm beyond earth. ' ' One of the greatest men who ever lived on earth, a great scientist, a great humani- tarian, a great scholar, was Swedenborg. And this man gave up position and power and place among the ambitious people of earth to devote his mature years to telling the world the marvellous facts he had learned about Realms within Realms and Life beyond Life. ' ' When he was dying at the advanced age of eighty-three, he was offered all the so- Its Danger 249 lace of orthodox religion if he would say that he had not heard these voices or seen these visions. 'But I did see and did hear,' he replied. And those were almost his last words. ''Swedenborg's opinions on politics or science left no marked impression on the world; very few people even know that he was renowned in those days. But Sweden- borg's great religious philosophy is the comfort and the strength of thousands of intellectual and useful human beings. ''There is an old Hindoo phrase which reads thus : " 'He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, he is a fool ; shun him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, he is simple ; teach him. He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep ; wake him. He who knows, and knows that he knows, he is wise ; follow him. ' "Swedenborg was the latter. He was the perfect triangle. Great in all ways. There are thousands of other human beings living, and thousands who have lived, strong of intellect, clear of mind, who have given to the world their testimony of abso- 250 Spiritualism lute knowledge of the existence of invisi- ble worlds about us, and invisible helpers near us, just as travelers on our earth re- port different conditions and different scenes in Northern and Southern and Arc- tic and Equatorial locations. So the vari- ous Seers observe various conditions in the spiritual worlds. There is just as much va- riety in these realms as in our own, and each Seer sees according to his own powers of sight and according to his own mental and spiritual development. * ' The architect, on earth, who is absorbed wholly in buildings, takes a walk with an artist who cares only for nature, and one returns unable to tell anything about the plants, trees, flowers or scenery, but every- thing about the style of houses he has seen ; while the artist has not even noticed a house, but is filled with facts concerning the landscape, the streams, the trees, the verdure. ^'Precisely so with the man who has the open eye in spiritual realms. I know a quiet, industrious business man, respected by his fellows, loved by his associates, who seeks neither glory nor riches, and who is ever ready to serve his friends or his ene- Its Danger 251 mies with good deeds. This man has the open eye and he is privileged in being able to see the invisible realms and the invisible helpers who move about among us. Natu- rally possessed of the clear-seeing eye, he has developed the power of the initiate' by high thinking, and living, and prepara- tion. There are a few such on earth, and to meet and talk with them is to gain a great spiritual uplift. "Without a faith in other states of exist- ence, this life at its brightest and best would be insupportable to a finely organ- ized and loving soul. The sudden calami- ties which befall dear ones, the sorrows and tragedies which come into every life, would make this brief earth stay a ghastly jest were it not that we know it as only one room in our Father's mansion, and that we are to enter other rooms, dressed in other bodies, after we have passed from this. ''Other realms, other lives await us. ''Earth is but one of many spheres through which we pass. "We shall meet and recognize those who were our spiritual kin, in these other realms. 252 Spiritualism ''Vital, deep, beautiful affection can never die. ''Only ephemeral loves die with death. "Ambition for worldly honors, enjoy- ment of wholly physical pleasures and all that are based on selfishness and avarice eventually die with the body. They con- tinue for a time after death, because they have fettered the spirit and prevented it from progressing at once. They make the spirit earthbound for a season, but after a time the spirit gains its knowledge of higher ideals of happiness and goes on to the various heavens, and from those higher heavens it is allowed to come at times to earth to sustain and uplift and help those who remain. ' ' There is no death. There are no dead. ' ' Fortunately we find exceptions to the great multitude who seem burdened with care. Are they rich? Of course they are rich, but rarely with material things. Theirs are the riches of the spirit and mind. Such a one I knew in the person of an old lady eighty-five years old, who lived a few miles out of New York City on the banks of the Hudson. It is true she was such a rare character that she stood out like a Its Danger 253 silhouette. She was very popular with the young set, the boys and girls seventeen to twenty-one or -two, not because she made herself foolish by trying to dress or act like that age herself, but because she always joyed in their happiness and was ever ready to help give them a good time. I never remember hearing her with a tale of woe, but let me tell you, I do know she had gone through as much sorrow as anybody need want to. Every one of her family had gone to the other side of life, she had but very little money, but heaps of friends, and always a cheering word for those in sorrow and always a pleasant greeting for every- body she knew. Let none yield to despair, but ' ' turn your face to the sun and the shadows will fall behind you" and claim the following- thought as your own, for it is true : *' There is no summit you may not attain, No purpose which you may not yet achieve, If you will wait serenely, and believe Each seeming loss is but a step to gain, Between the mountain-tops lie vale and plain. Let nothing make you question, doubt, or grieve. 254 Spiritualism Give only Good, and Good alone receive And as you welcome joy, so welcome pain. That which you most desire awaits your word, Throw wide the door and bid it enter in, Speak, and the strong vibrations shall be stirred, Speak, and above earth's loud, unmeaning din. Your silent declaration shall be heard. All things are possible to God's own kin. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox. ' ' Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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