St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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fx hi... N V -M.. ' ,Q I V la Illilllllllllll Xi Y, are pure trickery and these are in the majority Others are wrongly interpreted as being sp1r1t1st1c Under the latter class fall true telepathic phenomena: cases where 'the sensitive is made cognizant of facts known only to others by mental telepathy We have further subliminal or subconscious phenomena: cases where the sensitive after being put in a trance is peculiarly amenable to suggestion, and believes himself to be actuated by a spirit. These latter cases often yield surprising results, which however, after careful observation are found to be the result of the subconscious operations of the medium's mind. Most med- iums never pass beyond this stage. The phenomena, which are partly spurious and partly genuine vary in character. In some cases a genuine medium, unable to produce the phenomena at will, resorts to trickery to preserve his reputation. In other cases, the spirit messages are either 55? I QQW'-'g 'l TT .. W A u msn: un. s If . b fwiggjlalg - - I - Q 5 K mf nr I A , , - , t 5 S ku so mi , . Y 1 ' 7 ! flll' gllllll' . . . . 7 . . . r . . . . . . 1 . . . 1 . mnuumug - . h l - . 2 I I Ellli Fllllllllllllrl obviously false, colored by suggestion or mixed with matter undoubtedly genuine. This may arise either on the part of the medium or of the control. Sir Oliver Lodge admits that, It is difficult to find a dependable medium: some consciously distort messages, and others may do so unconsciously. On the other hand, the control may misinterpret facts and thus give a false- message, or it may deliberately lie. Dr. L. P. Jacks, in his Presi- dential Address to the Society for Psychical Research in 1917 said: Take the question of imposture. Mediums are not the only impostors. How about the communi- cators? Are they masquerading? You can have no absolute proof that there is no masquerading on the other side: I think the whole meaning of personal identity needs to be very carefully thought out and considered before we begin to produce evidence in favor of personal identity Other experimenters as Dr. Carrington and Mr. Raupert state that the spirits are deceitful and untruthful. Though it may be difficult at times to distinguish between genuine and spurious phenomena there seems to be no doubt that some, at least, are genuinely preternatural in origin The purely genuine phenomena may be described as those which cannot be explained by any natural cause. Among these are, especially physical phenomena produced under the most careful supervision and communicationsrevealing knowledge which the medium could never have acquired in a purely natural manner XT Q-3 ll43ll lllllllilllllll. sllllll- qlllllllllllli o

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'i 4' glql! Q . 9 -2 - r 'll. - li Y l ' . Y . . ! 7 . Y . 7 . . . . I ,. uummiag - : . u: 5 I llll - . - Nlllllllllllll' 4 f, ,f . Q 5vt,83,,7.i,,....A, 15,- QN .X , United States In both countries they were greeted with the open-mouthed credulity so characteristic of the average follower of Spiritism Even scientists, and seekers after truth, are inter- ested 1n Spiritism The former are investigating the phenomena purely as scientific happenings, while the latter are seeking for a true and universal religion, which they believe can be found in Spiritism. But Spiritism is sadly inadequate both from a scientific as well as from a religious point of view. As a science, its claim to prove the immortality of the soul by communication with the dead, has no basis. But even should it prove that spirits are at work, there is no proof at hand that these spirits are what they represent themselves to beg for even unbiased investigators speak of them as lying, impersonating spirits. As a religion, Spiritism establishes no form of morality, for it eliminates Hell and represents Heaven as a sublimated continuation of our earthly life. It denies the Redemption of mankind by denying the divinity of Christ. It has nothing to offer except a vague shadowy existence beyond the grave, such as was offered by paganism. Furthermore, as a religion, it is evidently opposed to the true faith. An analysis of the true and false in Spiritism will reveal the dangers which are always present and arise necessarily from it In general these dangers arise from the phenomena upon which the claims of Spiritism rest, and in particular from the contents of spirit messages. These are transmitted through a person known as the medium or sensitive, by means of whose vital forces- the control or alleged spirit produces the phenomena The phenomena may be divided into physical, or extra-med- 1um1st1c and psychical or intra-mediumistic. Whether they should be called preternatural, is a disputed question. Some of the phenomena observed are easily, and therefore frequently imitated by fraud others may be explained as exaggeratlons or misinterpretations of abnormal, but purely natural, psycho- logical happenings. According to the testimony of J. Godfrey Raupert Dr. Carrington Sir William Barrett, and others, there' seems to be no doubt that some, if only a few, of these observed phenomena are genuine that is, really preternatural in origin. Besides genuine there are also spurious phenomena and such as are partly spurious and partly genuine. This curious mixture of truth and decelt naturally confuses the public mind and there- fore, an explanation of each may not be out of place. In the first place let us consider the spurious phemoneria. Some . 11.4211 - Jil ll!! l IL fllllll- Ulllllillllllll alll alllllllllllll . ',-- y W, wr., '-i' .1 .

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EIIIHIHIIIIE allla illli mmmmpgn . I 7 - 7 . 7 n . . . . - . u n ' Y 7 Q . . - n 0 - 0 . n . .1 9- it ! 7 gp . . . . SP , u 7 O I ,O 0 . 0. J I I disposition of his mind to yield such mformation? Jllllll IIE -lllg . s rj-'XS In explanation of the various phenomena which have been observed three theories are proposed: the Telepathic Theory the Subliminal Mind Theory, and the Spiritistic Theory The Telepathic Theory as the term indicates, has recourse to mental telepathy in explanation of the phenomena observed This theory may explain such phenomena in which the medium relates facts known only to the inquirer. Such facts could easily be transmitted from the mind of the inquirer to that of the med- num by the admitted way of telepathy. Yet it does not explain the cases in which the knowledge of events or facts displayed lies outside of or above the cognitive powers of either medium or mquirer Telepathy, furthermore, is an inadequate explanation of the physical phenomena. The Subliminal Mind Theory distinguishes between two sets of mental act1v1ty. the subliminal Qunconsciousj and the supraliminal Cconsciousb All the psychical acts of which we are conscious, such as hearing, seeing, etc., have their origin in the supraliminal mind. Other psychical acts and functions, which are no less real, despite our unconsciousness of them, have their origin according to this theory, in the subliminal mind. When the medium has lapsed into a state of trance, the supraliminal mind is silenced. This gives a greater scope of operation to the subliminal mind which by some unknown process, detaches itself from the human personality and roams about as an inde- pendent entity. Thus the liberated subliminal enters into psychic contact with other minds and extracts thoughts and ideas there- from The same mysterious faculty, for the period of trance, has entire control of the medium's brain and organs of speech- powers which in the conscious state are entrusted to the supra- l1m1nal. This ingenious explanation labors under great difficulties It does not account for the physical phenomena. Even in the case where intelligence is conveyed, the theory is wholly inadequate This IS readily seen 1n the following illustration cited by J Godfrey Raupert A stranger is introduced to a sensitive Cmediumj who readily passes into a state of trance and conveys a communication from a deceased relative of the stranger This supposed relative communicating through the medium refers to facts in the stranger's life long since forgotten. Can we ascribe to the detached subliminal mind the power of drawing information from the stranger's mind while he remains in a normal alert cond1t1on and while he is Hpersonallyrresisting any Zi ll44ll , gunna: mtg ,li alll? l ni an gllllllg l Q ' 25.5.52 Y Y 'llllllllllllll'