BY-PRODUCTS OF SPIRITUALISM
IT has come to my attention in talking to numbers of laymen that the general public thinks of Spiritualism only in terms of mediums and seances and that the average man does not seem to realize the suffering, losses, misfortunes, crimes and atrocities of which it is the underlying cause and must bear the primary responsibility. During the more than thirty years in which I have been investigating Spiritualism I have industriously collected all possible data on the subject and in the thousands of clippings, dating from 1854 to the present time, which are filed away in my library, there are hundreds which tell of crimes attributable to Spiritualism. In my great collection of books there are many by world-renowned writers, men of science, physicians, and philosophers, each dealing with the curse of Spiritualism. It touches every phase of human affairs and emotions, leaving in its wake a crowd of victims whose plight is frequently pathetic, sometimes ludicrous, oftener miserable and unfortunate, and who are always deluded. It is to these effects of Spiritualism which are seldom considered that I wish to call the reader’s attention in this chapter.
The New York Herald on June 16, 1923, told under a Syracuse date line the following incident:
“William H. Burr of Rochester, speaking to-day at the business session of the New York State Assembly of Spiritualists, of which he is President, said he could prove scientifically and conclusively the fact of communication with the Spirit world. Mr. Burr appealed for the abolition of capital punishment. He explained that he had communicated with Spirits from the bodies of murderers and realized their sufferings, as those skeptical of psychic communication never can.”
The New York Evening World of March 8, 1922, reports that:
“Thurs Bergen Vigelius, a student in chemistry, of Brooklyn, N. Y., with faith that a Spiritual ‘glimpse’ of the hereafter and power to write a book thereof would be a distinct contribution to science and literature if he could ‘project himself into a comatose condition simulating death,’ drugged himself frequently into experimental sleep, but on his last experiment his consciousness not only deserted him, but breath and life accompanied it. He was regarded as an exceptionally bright student with every prospect of a promising career, had he not been susceptible to a fallacious belief.”
One of the saddest cases of modern times is that of the young Barnard College student, Miss Marie Bloomfield, who declared herself in love with a Spirit and finally was driven to suicide in order to join him. The young lady had been an ardent student of Spiritualism and very active in its cause. All the newspapers of February 9, 1923, carried an account of her death, which attracted so much attention that a law was proposed in the New York Assembly to prevent seances but it failed of being passed.
The Washington Times (D. C.) of January 14, 1923, tells of an Earl L. Clark who secured a divorce on the grounds that his wife claimed that she had a “Spirit affinity” named Alfred and that this Alfred through Clark’s wife made his life unbearable, even predicting his death so that she might marry some man who would “accept Alfred’s Spiritual guidance.”
According to an account in the New York World, John Slater, chief medium of the National Spiritualists Association, claims that there were over five hundred Spiritualists who served with the American Expeditionary Force, none of which were wounded or afflicted with “cooties.” The freedom from wounds he attributed to the influence of Spirits.
The New York Times on April 27, 1922, told of a John Cornyn, in San Francisco, who shot and killed two of his boys, one seven and the other eight, because, according to the police, he had been in “communication” with his wife who had been dead a year and she “had asked him to send all of their five children to her.”
The following story in the New York Times of April 22, 1887, comes from Philadelphia:
“The jury in the case of Mrs. Sarah Patterson, an alleged medium, charged by the County Medical Society with practising medicine and surgery without being registered as a physician, this afternoon returned a verdict of guilty. The defence set up by the defendant’s counsel was that Mrs. Patterson was a medium and under the control of Spirits, and was not therefore responsible for what she did in a trance. The defendant’s counsel are both Spiritualists and the case has attracted considerable interest, the court room being crowded since the trial began.”
These are the sort of things for which Spiritualism is responsible that are being told of in the papers frequently. To these few examples I could add hundreds from my files and they are constantly growing.
A hoax which usually creates a sensation, but which is apt, ultimately, to have a decidedly bad effect on believers’ nerves, consists in allowing some person to touch or even fondle a materialized Spirit. One such demonstration occurred in a Southern city, where there lived a medium known as Mrs. M——. Her seances were always well attended and largely made up of the elite of the town. On one particular night a Spirit came forth and called for Andrew, saying in the most austere tones:
“I am the Spirit of ‘Josie’ and I want to see my beloved whom I left twenty years ago. I know that he is present and that he wants to hear from me, and more important, I know he still loves me, for in those twenty years he has never married.”
With trembling knees and shaking hands the man climbed to the stage and in the midst of sobs recognized and embraced his sweetheart. It was a very touching and pathetic scene and the believers were greatly affected, and at some one’s suggestion an ex-minister and editor of a Spiritualistic magazine, who was present, married the Spirit bride to the live groom. It was a sensational proof of mediumship and Mrs. M—— was headlined in all the local papers. Unfortunately, however, for the cause of Spiritualism, my old friend, Professor Harry Cook, happened to be in the neighborhood and on hearing about it hired a hall, challenged the medium to a test, and with a lady assistant performed and exposed the miracle.
I recall another instance where one of my friends was investigating a materialization seance. It was claimed that the Spirit of his deceased wife was manifesting and he asked permission to kiss her. This was graciously granted and he told me later that she must have forgotten to shave for she had a stubble beard. Incidentally I might add that while he attended the seance his real wife waited for him at a nearby theatre.
Such an eminent scientist as Sir William Crookes evidently fell for the materialization hoax, judging from what he tells us about his experience at a seance where Florence Cook was the medium and Katie King the phantom. I will quote the story in his own words as he tells it in his book “Researches in Spiritualism.”
“Several times she took my arm and the impression I received that it was a living woman at my side and not a visitor from the other world was so strong that the temptation to repeat a recent and curious experiment became almost irresistible.
“Realizing then that if it were not a Spirit beside me it was in any case a lady, I asked her permission to take her in my arms in order to verify the interesting observation that a bold experimenter had recently made known. This permission was graciously given, and I took advantage of it respectfully, as any gentleman would have done in the same circumstances. The ‘ghost,’ which made no resistance, was a being as material as Miss Cook herself.
“Katie then declared that on this occasion she felt able to show herself at the same time as Miss Cook. I lowered the gas and with my phosphorus lamp entered the room which served as a cabinet. It was dark and I groped for Miss Cook, finding her crouched upon the floor. Kneeling down, I let the air enter my lamp and by its light saw the young woman dressed in black velvet, as she had been at the beginning of the seance, and appearing completely insensible.
“She did not stir when I took her hand and held the lamp near her face, but she continued to breathe quietly. Raising my lamp, I looked around me and saw Katie, who was standing close behind Miss Cook. She was clad in flowing white drapery, as we had already seen her in the seance. Holding one of Miss Cook’s hands in mine, and still kneeling, I raised and lowered the lamp, as much to illuminate the whole figure of Katie as to convince myself fully that I really saw the true Katie, whom I had held in my arms a few moments ago, and not the phantom of a disordered brain.
“She did not speak but nodded her head in recognition. Three different times I carefully examined Miss Cook, crouching before me, to assure myself that the hand I held was indeed that of a living woman, and thrice turned my lamp toward Katie to scrutinize her with sustained attention, until I had not the slightest doubt that she was really there before me.”
Another instance of this sort is told of by Florence Marryat in her book “There Is No Death.”
“I opened the curtains of the cabinet and there stood John Powles himself, stalwart and living. He stepped up brusquely and took me in his arms and kissed me, four or five times, as a long departed brother might have done; and strange to say, I did not feel the least surprised at it, but clung to him like a sister. John Powles had never once kissed me during his life time. Although we had lived for four years in the closest intimacy, often under the same roof, we had never indulged in any familiarity.”
Unfortunately mere deception is not the only or the worst evil in these Spiritualistic materializations. Frequently they are made the means of accomplishing criminal designs. There came to my attention a case of a very peculiar nature in which a widow was robbed of a large fortune. It appears that there was a wealthy old widower, a devoted Spiritualist, who was easily influenced by certain mediums. These same mediums also had among their clients a rather weak-minded widow. At a seance they got the old man to propose marriage to this widow who, in turn, was being advised through them by the Spirit of her husband to marry the old man. The old man did not live very long after the wedding and on his death bed promised the woman that he would come back to aid her and give her financial advice. He had previously made a will giving her absolute control of his estate.
The body was taken to an undertaking establishment to be cared for until the funeral and on the day before the service the widow attended a seance at which her husband told her:
“You go to my coffin to-morrow morning before the ceremony and I will speak to you, giving you my final instructions from my mortal body.”
The next morning, accompanied by a nurse, the woman went to the undertaker’s and was taken to the room where the body lay in its casket. She spoke and to her astonishment the corpse opened its eyes and said:
“I want you to give half of the fortune I willed you to B—— and M——, the mediums. They have helped me for years and I would like to show them my appreciation. Farewell, I will speak to you at seances but never again from the body.”
The astounded widow threw herself on the body crying:
“I promise! I will! I promise!”
“Promise?” asked the corpse.
“I promise faithfully,” she replied.
True to her word, the widow divided the fortune with the mediums, who are now in foreign countries living a peaceful life unless troubled by their consciences.
The deception was worked as follows: the mediums, taking advantage of the undertaker’s weakness, kept him intoxicated and were thus free to do whatever they cared to around his establishment. The casket was arranged with a false bottom which ran in and out on ball bearings and one end was made to open. Just before the widow’s visit to the undertaking establishment this false bottom with the old man’s body was run out of the casket and hidden in an adjoining room and one of the mediums, made up to represent the dead man, was placed in the casket. As soon as the act was over the corpse was put back in its proper place.
This is not the only instance of this sort by any means. I have known of two other instances in which corpses have been used for purposes of fraud. In one a man was dying. A lawyer was sent for and the nurse gotten out of the way on some plausible excuse. After the man died, but before the lawyer arrived, his body was hidden under the bed. One of the gang took his place in the bed and dictated a will with gasping breath and afterwards made his mark in the presence of a perfectly honest attorney and witness. Before the nurse got back the corpse had been placed in the bed and there was nothing to show that a fraud had been committed.
To show that such things are possible and that exchanging bodies in a coffin can be accomplished, I want to call attention to the coffin act which I did for the Boston Athletic Association. A solid oak coffin was furnished by the National Casket Company and delivered to the Association. Six-inch screws were used to fasten down the lid but I managed to escape nevertheless, leaving no traces.
It is not generally known that Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield, was a pronounced Spiritualist. He claimed that he was inspired by the Spirits four times. Once in connection with his entering the Oneida community. Once preceding his attempt to establish a newspaper called “The Theocrat.” Again when writing his book “The Truth a Companion to the Bible,” and still again when he was inspired to kill the President.
Another case in which Spirits were claimed to have been responsible for diverting funds is told in “The Fallacies of Spiritualism.”
“In September, 1920, an action was brought in the New York Courts against a medium named Mrs. Mabelle Hirons, for the recovery of twelve thousand four hundred dollars, alleged to have been obtained by ‘Spiritualistic’ means from Dr. J. B. Hubbell, of Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Hubbell declared that after the death of Clara Barton,104 founder of the American Red Cross, to whom he had been secretary, it was intended to erect a memorial to that lady, to which he proposed contributing twelve thousand four hundred dollars of his own money, including nine hundred dollars bequeathed him by Clara Barton herself. In 1914 he visited Mrs. Hirons, who, he said, went into a trance and gave him a ‘message’ that was supposed to come from Clara Barton and which directed him to give all the money to Mrs. Hirons for the memorial. Dr. Hubbell believed the ‘message’ to be genuine and gave her the money, but the memorial was never erected—hence the action.”
A few years ago the papers told of the case of a woman in the Middle West who was sensationally and cruelly deceived by a medium. When she lost her little girl it was feared that she would not recover from the intense grief with which she was overcome. On the woman’s farm was a hired man whose wife was a medium. He talked sympathetically with her and got her to allow him to send for his wife, who was in Chicago. She began preaching Spiritualism as soon as she arrived, finding the woman a willing listener. When it was apparent to the medium that the woman thoroughly believed her doctrine she began to advise her to pray nightly for the restoration of her child and finally one night she announced to the credulous woman that at midnight four days later her child would be restored to her. She cautioned her that she must fast that day, dress her room and bed in white, and sleep alone that night. The instructions were followed to the letter. At midnight she heard the stairs creak. Then suddenly her door was pushed open and she saw something luminous approaching her bed. It carried a bundle and a voice announced that her daughter was coming back to her. After the apparition left the woman found a baby girl in the bed with her. Soon after the medium persuaded the woman and her husband to dispose of their property and go to a Spirit Colony in California. After nearly three years they came back to their home with practically no means but with the knowledge that the baby girl came from a foundling society in Chicago.
Not the least of the evils of Spiritualism is the insanity which it causes. A mental specialist of high standing in Birmingham, England, issued a warning in 1922 quoting numerous cases which came under his observation and were the result of Spiritualistic teaching. An English doctor has estimated the number of such cases at a million. It is a well-established fact that the human reason gives way under the exciting strain of Spiritualism. The list is not limited to European countries; we have a goodly share of baneful results right at home. Not long ago Dr. Curry, Medical Director of the State Insane Asylum of New Jersey, issued a warning concerning the “Ouija-board” in which he said:
“The ‘Ouija-board’ is especially serious because it is adopted mainly by persons of high-strung neurotic tendency who become victims of actual illusions of sight, hearing and touch at Spiritualistic seances.”
He predicted that the insane asylums would be flooded with patients if popular taste did not swing to more wholesome diversions.
In March, 1920, it was reported in the papers that the craze for the Ouija-boards, with which it was thought spirit messages could be received, had reached such a pitch in the little village of Carrito, across San Francisco Bay, that five people had been driven mad.
The available amount of evidence of this sort is almost unbelievable, but enough has been given to show the extent of the evil. The average medium works only for the money he or she can extract from the public; money obtained by moving the deepest sentiments in the human soul. Is it right to legally sanction the medium, to allow him to prey on the public—not only allowing him to take the earthly possessions of his victims, but their soul, and oftentimes their mind as well? Spiritualism is nothing more or less than mental intoxication, the intoxication of words, of feelings and suggested beliefs. Intoxication of any sort when it becomes a habit is injurious to the body but intoxication of the mind is always fatal to the mind. We have prohibition of alcohol, we have prohibition of drugs, but we have no law to prevent these human leeches from sucking every bit of reason and common sense from their victims. It ought to be stopped, it must be stopped, and it would seem that the multiplicity of exposures and the multitude of prosecutions that have followed rational investigation should be sufficient to justify, yes, demand legislation for the complete annihilation of a cult built on false pretence, flimsy hear-say evidence, and the absurdity of accepting an optical illusion as a fact.