Part 6 (1/2)

There have often been sensational reports circulated claiming to be ”exposures” of materialization, but when traced to their origin they have generally been found to be unreliable, and never the result of careful study or scientific investigation. The ungentlemanly and in some instances brutal conduct of the parties engaged in the ”exposures” has been such as to discredit their statements, and in no case have they produced evidence that would be considered valid in any court.

If it be true that the garments used to clothe the forms are materialized and dematerialized in the cabinet, any sudden disturbance of the magnetic conditions of the circle might arrest the process of dematerialization, leaving the draperies intact. Persons not understanding this would naturally charge fraud upon the medium, on rus.h.i.+ng into the cabinet and finding them there. This has led some mediums to submit to a thorough examination of their clothes before entering the cabinet, going so far, at times, as to allow themselves to be dressed entirely in dark clothing, without a particle of white upon them, and giving every opportunity to prove that there were no concealed draperies in the room. These arrangements, while taking up valuable time that otherwise would have been devoted to the seance, have never interfered with the manifestations.

The most serious and perhaps the most generally believed charges made against these seances is that confederates are used to personate the forms. Pa.s.sing by the many knotty questions which cannot possibly be explained on the theory of confederates, and considering it in a business point of view, there are difficulties connected with such an arrangement that might in the end prove disastrous.

A employs B to personate, at one dollar a seance. B finds that A is making money, and, being rascally enough to engage in such work, would have no scruples in demanding, under threats of exposure, the lion's share of the proceeds.

A is completely in his power, and has no alternative but to submit.

This, and the outside pressure which would be likely to be brought to bear upon B to make public the fraud, would render it almost impossible to carry on the deception for any great length of time.

Again, there are often from fifty to sixty distinct individual forms appearing at each seance, requiring as many confederates to represent them. As the circle is rarely composed of more than twenty-five persons, would it pay to keep so many actors for so small an audience? If people who listen to these accusations would reflect for a moment, they would see that the theory of confederates is not a very plausible one, and it might do much toward relieving mediums from the unjust suspicions to which, through lack of understanding on the part of the public, they are more or less obliged to submit.

All honest mediums will cheerfully do all they can to satisfy the public that there is no deception, and that the cabinet and its surroundings are such as to preclude the possibility of confederates. Any other arrangements are unnecessary, and, to say the least, suspicious. These things are new and strange to most people, and they very naturally expect strong evidence; and they are right, provided their desire is expressed in a kindly and gentlemanly manner.

Any one at all familiar with these seances cannot help seeing that there are some mediums and their controls who are largely responsible for the feeling of distrust more or less manifested toward the subject. When the question of a confederate is fairly settled (and no one can be certain of his position until it is done), and two forms appear at the same time; or when you can be taken into the cabinet by a form, and shown the entranced medium, it is self-evident that one of them is a materialized form, and not a personation by the medium. It needs no argument to settle this, no matter how much it may conflict with pre-conceived notions.

I have quoted from Chief Justice Jacolliot's work on Occult Science in India, to prove that there is no connection between these manifestations and what is called sleight-of-hand.

There is, however, a more important fact conveyed in his statements, corroborated by other writers upon this subject, showing the perfect fairness with which these mediums, or Fakirs, submit to tests, courting the most thorough and exhaustive investigation, even trusting themselves, while in a trance, without any protection, to the honor and good faith of those around them, repeating at request the experiments, again and again, to satisfy that there is no deception about them.

This is strangely in contrast with our mediums, who as a rule shrink from anything of the kind, and are disposed to regard any request of that nature as a direct imputation upon their honesty.

If materialization means anything besides dollars and cents--if it has a mission to perform--it is to enlighten and educate the people upon one of the most important subjects that has ever engrossed the mind.

The lack of openness and confidence on the part of many of the mediums, or their managers, creates a feeling of distrust which sometimes finds an expression in rudeness on the part of skeptics, and leads those who are confident of the genuineness of a part of the seance to be impressed with the idea that there are things connected with it that are dishonest.

There is no difficulty in tracing the source of this feeling. Everywhere like begets like, and as long as this state of feeling exists there will be a lack of harmony in the circle, with more or less disturbance.

It may be that these things are inseparable from the newness of the manifestations among us, and will disappear when mediums are more freely developed in our homes, and the seances a.s.sume less of a commercial character.

While no apology should be made for fraud in these seances, we have no right to make charges that cannot be sustained. Every medium is bound, in justice to the audience, to see that the cabinet and its surroundings are so arranged that the appearance of fraud is, as far as possible, avoided.

Lack of experience, want of perception, or ignorance of a subject, gives no authority to a.s.sume that it is a fraud. The eagerness with which the press circulates reports of imposture finds its excuse, not in a manly defence of the truth, but in a morbid disposition to cater to the whims and caprices of the public. Those who accept such statements without investigation may possibly become victims of a worse delusion than that which they fancy they are condemning in others--a delusion born of ignorance and self-conceit.

CHAPTER III.

PUBLIC SeANCES.

No comparison can justly be made between different mediums. All are excellent in their way. The preference that is given to one over others is mainly due to personal feeling, to likes and dislikes, which must always find an expression among individuals of different tastes.

In some seances the strength of the manifestations is largely exhausted in the production of forms. In others, the social and affectionate element predominates. Where there are from fifty to sixty materialized forms appearing at a sitting, it is hardly to be expected that much time can be given to the interchange of thought or the expression of feeling. Such seances are, as a rule, mere touch-and-go occasions.

The strength of the circle is often exhausted in combating the ignorance and prejudice of the audience, and the higher and more delicate phase of materialization is lost sight of.

Many condemn public seances on account of the mixed audience and the conflicting elements that surround the medium. These things are, at present, a necessity, being the only means of educating the ma.s.ses.

The time has not yet come when, through a more general acceptance of the truth of materialization, it can be transferred to the domestic circle, where it properly belongs, and where its best results will be obtained.