St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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alllllllllllla gllla gllllllg allls Illllllllllllm ning, tricky, and deceitful intelligences which threw out chance ,f X Ill Q Ill The active powers of the human soul are limited to the individual body which is disposed to receive it, and for which it was created In the second place the operating intelligences never give satis- factory proof of their alleged identity. Occasionally they even admit that they are demons. As an illustration we quote Dr Carrington who says I gained the distinct impression through- out the sittings that instead of the spirits of the personages who claimed to be present, I was dealing with exceedingly sly, cun- remarks fishing guesses, and shrewd inferences, leaving the .sitter to pick them up and elaborate if he would. , Other expert investigators of spiritistic phenomena also testify to the fact that the spirits fail to establish their identity. Professor Camille Flammarion, after a lifetime devoted to the study of Occultism makes the following admission: Souls of the dead? The innumerable observations which I have collected during HIIIIIKIIIIIIE - - . E-.-: EIIIIIIE Ellls HIIIIIIIIIIIIG . . . . l SEQ more than forty years all prove to me the contrary. No satis- -K - factory identification has been made. 'l' . Therefore, since the Telepathic Theory, the Subliminal Mind Theory, and the Spiritistic Theory do not furnish a satisfactory explanation of the varied phenomena of Spiritism, especially for the marvelous messages which very clearly indicate the pres- ence of external intelligences, only one conclusion remains: that these mysterious phenomena and uncanny spirit messages emanate from spirits indeed, but from spirits of,a malignant nature, that is from demons. That it is possible for malignant spirits to produce these phenomena is evident from their aptitude to influence material objects. St. Thomas says that a corporeal substance, being of a lower order than a spiritual substance, can be moved by the latter.I This influence even extends to the organs of man, es- pecially to the brain. lVIan's internal and external organs of sense perception, are by nature subject to the peculiar motion of his vital and subtle nervous system, and thus a fallen angel, because of his perfect knowledge of their operation, can so cause to work together as to produce artificial phantasms, similar to those effected naturally. Q They have also a knowledge of in- dividual things, for as Father Rickaby, S. J. says, We cannot -deny tothe angel the cognition of individual things: nor, I M think, even with St. Thomas for our guide, can we give a satis- Raupert, Black Magic. ISumma Theologica, Ia, q. 110 a.3 5 TMyster1Iaus Psychic Forces. QBlackmore, Spiritism, Facts and Frauds. I 2 gsswg a - 'iX- swear l gllllllg slimgs A ll45ll

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unnnuunq illli illlllli E E . . . . . . . . . . . V . . . . . ' - 71 . . . . a -llllll All . K? -1, . 1 N, 1 , ,V -. 1 , ...-, W, ,,.. .5 .. . , It fthe deceased relativej conveys other informat1on respect- ing things not personally known to the stranger, but to other friends or relatives living in distant parts of the world. Can we attribute to the subliminal mind the power of loosing itself from the personality of the medium, of finding instantly on the other side of the globe a person possessing the desired knowledge, of establishing rapport with the mind of that person immediately: and of purloining the information therefrom while the possessor is unaware of the ingenious theft and in no mood for yielding it? If our minds were so hopelessly exposed to invasion by the de- tached subliminal minds of other men, there would cease to be a secret in the un1verse The messages, moreover, are invariably delivered as emanating from deceased relatives, from friends, or from famous historical characters. Therefore, if it is the sub- l1m1nal mind of the medium and not some deceased associate, that is the communicating intelligence, then we must be prepared to admit, as Professor Alfred Russel Wallace insists, that this, our second self is almost always a deceiving and lying self, or, on the other hand, we must ask with J. Godfrey Raupert, Can this subliminal self be supposed to be always under a chronic and profound delusion as to its own identity? These, though only some of the difficulties that lie in the wake of this theory, suffice to show that it is untenable. For this reason, the most careful investigators have rejected it. Passing to a consideration of the Spiritistic Theory, we find that it accepts the alleged spirit messages for what they pro- claim themselves, namely, communications from departed souls who have found a means to pierce the barriers that separate our lives from theirs. The spirits insist that they are departed men and women and that they produce the varied phenomena of the seance to establish their claim and to offer evidence of their mission to teach the world The Sp1r1t1st1c Theory must be rejected for the following reasons in the first place in its state of separation from the body the human soul cannot produce the effects which are attributed to it by the adherents of this theory By its natural powers the disembodied human soul knows nothing of the happenings of this earth except by direct divine illumination. This statement is based upon the fact that corporeal sense organs and faculties are indispensable instruments on the part of the human soul for the perception of corporeal material things In addition to this we may say that each human being has his own individual soul destined to animate his own body and not that of another 'Hlll llllllll' 'Sl I r 7 ' 9 ! , c l , . gunuuumu mu glllg. . T X' - ui?-5 5 Q in 1:2 - lllllllli i s - ll45ll X lm! W ' ff

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f-R gunuuuua Xxx Sllllllllllllll. illlg 5.Im-E nu lu 5 5 - E 1 2 5 ' . lu rlilllillllllla . . ,, . Q . - Q ' 7 0 1 l , 0 I . ., r 1 v 'lllllllllllllf 7 Y , . I I s . . . . . ll . ! Y . . If , . JIIIIIIIIIIIIL h 2 . zlllllli 2 nulmgmf ij factory account of how he has that cognition 'F This knowledge of individual material things enables the demon s angelic though fallen nature to penetrate even the recesses of the human organ- ism and discern what IS there taking place Briefly these fallen spirits can apprehend those free acts of man which are mani- fested by divers external signs and moreover can know the .acts of the senses and even of the imagination when revealed by some modification of the internal or external senses. T More- over, since their knowledge is not limited by space, they can know even distant events. From the above indications, it is evident that evil spirits or demons can influence material objects-even the bodily organ- ism-and that they can have knowledge of distant events. We conclude, therefore, that it is possible for evil spirits to be the cause of the genuine phenomena of Spiritism. That they are truly the cause may be shown by the following argument: Investigators maintain that at least a few spiritistic phenomena are genuine and of preternatural origin. Therefore, they must have a cause. The Spiritistic Theory does not furnish a satisfactory explanation of these phenomena for the reasons already indicated. Good spirits are not the cause, for the messages communicated are often deceptive, untruthful, malicious, and immoral. God is not the cause for the same reason. Therefore, only malignant or evil spirits are the true cause. We find a confirmation of our conclusion in the fact that not a few scientists many of whom are men inclined to scoff at the idea of Satan speak of the spirits as evil and detestable. Thus for instance Stanton Moses, an ex-Anglican minister and well- known Spiritist says: Some spirits will assent to leading questions and possessed apparently with the desire to please, or unconscious of the import of what they say, or without moral consciousness will say anything. Such motiveless lying bespeaks a deeply evil nature ...... Such an impostor acting with an air of sincerity must be as Satan clothed in light. I Dale Owen writes: There are more' plausible reasons than many imagine for the opinion entertained by some able men Protestant as well as Catholic that the , communications in question come from the powers Gad and His Creatures. TBlackmore op.c1It IStanton Moses, Spirit Identity. ki ll47ll J llllllllllll. 'illlllllllllll 7 7 7 . A l . I I glllg