Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Varieties: the fake Mr. home

Mr. Home is the victim of a scammer

Some time ago, in the Lyon newspapers, we read the following advertisement, which was also posted on the city walls:

“Mr. Hume, the famous American medium, who had the honor of experimenting before His Majesty the Emperor, from Thursday, April 1st, will give sessions on spiritualism in the great theater of Lyon. He will produce apparitions, etc., etc. There will be special chairs for doctors and scholars, so that they can make sure that nothing has been prepared. The sessions will be varied, with experiences of the famous seer, Mrs…, a very lucid sleepwalker, who will reproduce all the feelings one by one, at the will of the spectators. Ticket prices: 5 francs in first class, 3 francs in second.”

The antagonists of Mr. Home (some write Hume) did not want to miss this opportunity of exposing him to ridicule. In their ardent desire to find where to bite, they welcomed this gross mystification with an enthusiasm that undermines their balance and even more their respect for the truth, because, before throwing stones at others, it is necessary to verify that they will not hit another target. But passion is blind, it doesn't reason and it is often wrong when it tries to harm others. "Look," they exclaimed jubilantly, "this man so much praised, reduced to appearing on the stage, giving so many shows a head!" And your papers giving credence to the fact, without further scrutiny. Unfortunately for them, their joy didn't last long.

Soon they wrote to us from Lyon, asking for enough information to expose the fraud, which was not difficult, especially thanks to the commitment of the many adepts that Spiritism has in that city.
As soon as the theater director learned what it was about, he immediately addressed the following letter to the newspapers: “Mr. Editor. I hasten to inform you that the show announced for Thursday, April 1st, at the grand theater, will no longer take place. I thought I had given the theater to Mr. Home and not to Mr. Lambert Laroche, who calls himself Hume. Persons who have obtained friezes in advance will be able to present themselves at the theater box office for a refund.”

Mr. Lambert Laroche “justifies himself”

On the other hand, the aforementioned Lambert Laroche, born in Langres, questioned as to his identity, felt obliged to respond in the terms that we reproduce in full below, as we do not want to be accused of the slightest alteration.

“Vous m'avez soumis diversse extre de vous correspondence de Paris, desquellesil résulterez that a M. Home qui donne des séancedans quelque salon de la capítalle was trauve at the moment in Italy etne peut para conéquent se trauvir à Lyon. Monsieur gignore 1st la cannaissance de ce M. Home, 2nd je essait quellais son talent 3rd je nais ever rien nue de commun àveck ce M. Home, 4th jait tavaillez et tavaille sout mon nom de gaire qui est hume et dont je vous justi par les article de journaux étrangers et français que je vous est soumis 5th je voyage à vecque deux sugais mon genre d'experriance consists in spiritualism with evocation vision, and in a mot reproduction de ideis du spectateur par un sugais, ma cepécialité est d'operate par c'est proceede sur les personnes étrangere comme on la pue le voir dans les journaux je vien despagne et d'afrique. Seci M. le rédacteur vous démontre que je n'ais poin voulu prendre le nom de ce prétendu Home que vous dites en réputation, le min est sufisant connu par sagrande notoriété et par les expérience que je produi. Agreez M. le redacteur mes salutation empressait”. *

We believe it is useless to say that Mr. Lambert Laroche left Lyon with his head held high. You will certainly go to other places in search of fools to deceive easily. One more word to express our regret at seeing with what deplorable avidity certain creatures who claim to be serious welcome everything that can serve their animosity. Today, Spiritism is highly believed and there is nothing to fear from antics; it is no more debased by charlatans than true medical science by crossroads healers; he finds it everywhere, but mainly among enlightened, zealous people and countless defenders who know how to face the mockery. Far from harming it, the Lyon affair only serves to spread it, drawing the attention of the undecided to reality. Who knows if it was even provoked by a superior force for this purpose? Who can boast of sounding out the designs of Providence?

As for systematic opponents, let them laugh, but not slander. A few more years and we'll see who has the last word. If it is logical to doubt what one does not know, it is always imprudent to manifest oneself falsely against new ideas which, sooner or later, may offer a humiliating denial to our perspicacity. There's history to prove it. Would those who, in their pride, show pity for the adepts of the Spiritist Doctrine be as superior as they think they are? These spirits, whom they seek to ridicule, recommend that good be done and forbid evil, even to enemies; they tell us that we debase ourselves by the only evil desire. Which, then, is higher: the one who seeks to do evil or the one who has neither hatred nor rancor in his heart? Not long ago, Mr. Home has returned to Paris, but will soon leave for Scotland and from there to St. Petersburg.

French text translation

(Translation reproducing the writing and language of a semi-illiterate person)

* “You sent me several extras from your Paris correspondence, from which it appears that a Mr. The home which gives sessions in a salon in the capital is currently in Italy and therefore cannot be in Lyon. My lord, I ignore first the knowledge of this Mr. Home, 2nd I don't know what your talent is 3rd I never had anything in common with this Mr. Home, 4th I worked and I work with a name of war which is Hume and that name I justify by the article in the foreign and French pages submitted to you, 5th I travel with two companions my gene of ixpriença consists of spiritualism or evocation vision and, in a word, reproduction of the spectator's idea by a subject, my specialty is to operate through this process in strangers, as can be seen in the newspapers that come from Spain and Africa. With that, its editor, I show you that I never wanted to take the name of that supposed Home that I tell you that he has a reputation, mine is sufficiently known for its great notoriety and for the ixpriença that I have. Receive, sir, my kind greetings.”

A fact at the Civil Hospital of Saintes

L'Independant de la Charente-Inférieure reported, last March, the following event that would have occurred at the Civil Hospital of Saintes:

“For eight days, in this city, the most wonderful stories have been told and nothing is said except about the singular noises that, every night, sometimes imitate the trot of a horse, sometimes the steps of a dog or a cat. Bottles placed over the fireplace are carried across the room. One morning a bundle of rags was found twisted and knotted and impossible to untie. One night a paper was left on the fireplace, on which it had been written: “What do you want? What do you ask?” The next day, in the morning, there was the answer, written in unknown and indecipherable characters. Matches placed on the table during the night disappeared as if by magic. Anyway, all the objects change places and scatter everywhere. Such spells are only performed in the darkness of night. Once there is light, everything returns to silence; extinguishing it, the noises resume immediately. It is a friendly spirit of darkness. Several people, including ecclesiastics and former soldiers, lay down in that enchanted room and it was impossible for them to discover or explain what they were hearing.
“A hospital employee suspected of being the author of these pranks has just been fired. It is assured, however, that he is not only not guilty, but, on the contrary, was often the victim himself.

“It feels like this story started over a month ago. For a long time nothing was said, for each distrusted his senses and feared being laughed at. It wasn’t until a few days later that the comments came out.”

NOTE: We have not yet had time to verify the authenticity of the above facts. We publish them with due reservations. We note, however, that, if invented, they are no less possible and there is nothing more extraordinary than many others of the same kind, which have been perfectly verified.

You will enjoy reading:

The previous article: Death of Louis XI (From the manuscript dictated by this to Miss Hermance Dufaux).

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Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Death of Louis XI (From the manuscript dictated by him to Miss Hermance Dufaux)

NOTE: We draw the reader's attention to the remarks made about these remarkable communications in our last March article.

Not feeling strong enough to hear the word death pronounced, I had often recommended to my officers that they only say to me, when they saw me in danger: “Speak little,” and I would know what that meant.

When there was no more hope, Olivier le Daim said to me harshly, in the presence of Francisco de Paula and de Coittier:

─ Your Majesty, we have to relieve ourselves of a duty. Have no more hope in this holy man, nor in any other, for you have come to an end. Think of your conscience. There is no more medicine.

At these cruel words a complete revolution took place in me. I no longer felt like the same man and I admired myself. The past quickly unfolded before my eyes and things appeared to me in a new light. I don't know what kind of strange thing was happening to me. Fixing me, Olivier le Daim's hard gaze seemed to question me. To escape that cold and inquisitive gaze, I replied with apparent tranquility:

─ I hope God helps me. It is possible, perhaps, that I am not as bad as you think.

The monarch dictates his last wishes

I dictated my last wills and sent those who still surrounded me to the young king's side. I found myself alone with my confessor, Francisco de Paula, le Daim and Coittier. Francis gave me a touching exhortation. It seems that with each of his words, my vices were erased and nature resumed its course. I felt relieved and began to regain a little hope in God's mercy.

I received the last rites with a firm and resigned piety. Every moment he repeated: “Our Lady of Embrun [1], my good Lady, help me!”

Tuesday, August 30th, at seven o'clock in the evening, I fell into a new prostration. All present judged me dead and withdrew. Olivier le Daim and Coittier, sensing the public execration, had stayed by my bedside, as they had no alternative.

I soon fully regained consciousness. I got up, sat on the bed and looked around. There was no one in my family; no friendly hand sought mine, in that supreme moment, to soothe my agony in a last contact. At that time maybe my children were playing while their father died. No one thought that the culprit could still count on a heart that understood theirs. I tried to hear a muffled sob and only heard the laughter of the two wretches who were next to me.

In the corner I saw my favorite greyhound, dying of old age. My heart throbbed with joy, for I had a friend, a being who loved me.

I signaled him with my hand. The hare dragged itself with effort to the bedside and came to lick my dying hand. Olivier noticed this movement; he jumped up, cursing, and clubbed the unfortunate dog with a club until she was killed. Breathing out, my only friend gave me a long, painful look.

Olivier pushed me violently onto the bed. I let myself fall and gave my guilty soul to God.

[1 ANDmbru is an ancient city in the south of France, located in the Rhône Basin, in Provence. His old Latin name was Ebraduno. It has about 4,000 inhabitants.

Spiritist magazine — Journal of psychological studies — 1858 > May > The heirs of spirits

One of our subscribers from The Hague, Holland, informs us of the following event, which occurred in a group of friends who were involved in spiritist manifestations. This proves, he says, once again, and beyond any possible dispute, the existence of an intelligent and invisible element, acting individually and directly on us.

The Spirits announce themselves by moving a heavy table and knocking. We ask for names: are they the late Mr. and Mrs. G…, very fortunate during existence. The husband, from whom the fortune came, had no children and disinherited his close relatives in favor of his wife's family, who died shortly before him. Among the nine people present at the session were two disinherited women, as well as the husband of one of them.

Mr. G… had always been a poor devil and a humble servant to his wife. After her death, his family moved into his home to take care of him. The will was made with a medical certificate, declaring that the dying person enjoyed the fullness of his faculties.

The husband of the disinherited lady, whom we will call R… took the floor in these terms: “How dare you present yourselves here, after the scandalous will you made?” Then, becoming more and more exalted, he ended up cursing him. Then the table jumped and threw the lamp hard at the speaker's head. He apologized to them for that first surge of anger and asked them what they were doing there.

─ We have come to give you an account of the reasons for our conduct.

(Answers were given by tapping indicating the letters of the alphabet).

Heirs and companions manifest themselves

Knowing her husband's ineptitude, Mr. R… told him brusquely that he should retire and that he would just listen to his wife.

Then the Spirit of Mrs. G… said that Ms. R… and his sister were quite wealthy and could deprive themselves of their share of the inheritance; that others were bad, and that others, in short, should undergo that test; that for such reasons that fortune suited his own family better. Mr. R… was not satisfied with the explanation and poured out his anger in insulting reproaches. Then the table shook violently, jumped, banged hard on the floor, and threw the lamp once more at Mr. A… After calming down, the Spirit tried to persuade that after his death he had been informed that the testament had been dictated by a superior Spirit. Mr. R… and the ladies, seeing the uselessness of an objection, sincerely forgave him. Soon the table rose beside Mr. R… and landed softly against his chest, as if to hug him. The two ladies received the same show of thanks. The table had a very pronounced vibration. Understanding restored, the Spirit lamented the current heiress, saying that she would end up mad.

Still Mr. R… reproached him, but affectionately, for not having done good in life, when he had so great a fortune, adding that it was not mourned by anyone. “Yes, answered the Spirit; there is a poor widow residing on the street… who sometimes thinks of me, because I have sometimes given her food, clothing and heat.”

As the Spirit had not given the poor woman's name, one of the assistants looked for her, finding her at the indicated address. And what is no less noteworthy is that after the death of Mrs. G…, she had changed domicile. The latter is what was indicated by the Spirit.

Read too: Family Lectures from Beyond the Grave: The Spirit of Mozart.

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Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Family lectures from beyond the grave: the Spirit of Mozart

the composer Mozart

One of our subscribers sent us the following two interviews, with the Spirit of Mozart. We do not know where and when they took place; we do not know the questioner or the medium; we are completely strangers to all this. However, it is remarkable the perfect agreement between the answers obtained and those given by other Spirits on several key points of the Doctrine, in completely different circumstances, both for us and for other people, and which we have transcribed in previous numbers. and not Spirits Book.

We call the attention of our readers to this similarity, who will draw the conclusion that seems most appropriate to them. Those, therefore, who could still think that the answers to our questions are a reflection of our personal opinion, will see whether in this case it was possible for us to exert any influence.
We congratulate the people who supported this conversation on the way in which the questions were asked. Despite certain flaws that demonstrate the inexperience of the interlocutors, in general they are formulated with order, clarity and precision and do not deviate from the line of seriousness that constitutes an essential condition for obtaining good communications. Elevated spirits address serious people who in good faith want clarification. The frivolous spirits make fun of frivolous creatures.

first conversation

1. ─ In the name of God, Spirit of Mozart, are you here?

─ Yes.

2.─ Why is it Mozart and not another Spirit?

─ It was me you evoked: so I came.

3.─ What is a medium?

─ The agent that unites mine to your Spirit.

4.─ What are the physiological and psychological changes that, despite himself, the medium undergoes when he enters into an intermediary action?

─ Your body feels nothing, but your Spirit, partially detached from matter, is in communication with mine, uniting me with you.

5. ─ What is happening in him at this moment?

─ Nothing with the body; only a part of your Spirit is attracted to me; I make his hand work by the power that my Spirit exercises over him.

6.─ So, does the medium enter into communication with a spiritual individuality different from his own?

─ For sure. You too, without being a medium, are in contact with me.

7.─ What are the elements that contribute to the production of this phenomenon?

─ The attraction of spirits, in order to instruct men; laws of physical electricity.

8.─ What are the essential conditions?

─ It is a faculty given by God.

9.─ What is the determining principle?

─ I cannot say.

10.─ Could you reveal your laws to us?

─ No, no, not yet. Later you will know everything.

11.─ In what positive terms could the synthetic formula of this wonderful phenomenon be announced?

─ Unknown laws that you could not understand.

12.─ Could the medium put himself in relationship with the soul of a living person? Under what conditions?

─ Easily, if the person is asleep. [1]

13.─ What do you understand by the word soul?

─ Divine spark.

14. ─ And by Spirit?

─ Spirit and soul are the same thing.

15.─ As an immortal Spirit, the soul is aware of the moment of death, aware of itself or of the I immediately after death?

─ The soul knows nothing of the past and does not know the future until after the death of the body. Then he sees his past life and his last proofs; chooses his new atonement for another existence, as well as the test to pass. Thus, no one should regret what he suffers on Earth, but he should bear it with courage.

16.─ After death, is the soul disconnected from every element, from every terrestrial bond?

─ Of every element, no. She also has a fluid of her own, which she extracts from the atmosphere of her planet and which represents the appearance of her last incarnation. Earthly ties are nothing to her anymore.

17.─ Does she know where she comes from and where she is going?

─ The fifteenth answer resolves this question.

18.─ Does nothing take her with her from down here?

─ Nothing but the memory of good works, the regret of their faults and the desire to move on to a better world.

19.─ Does it encompass, in a retrospective glance, the whole of your past life?

─ Yes, to serve your future life.

20.─ She glimpses the purpose of earthly life and its meaning; the meaning of this life, as well as the importance of the destiny that is fulfilled here, in relation to the future life?

─ Yes, she understands the need for purification to reach infinity; wants to purify himself to reach the blissful worlds. I am happy, but I am not yet in the worlds where the vision of God is enjoyed!

21.─ Is there a hierarchy of Spirits in the future life? What's your law?

─ Yes. It is the degree of debugging that characterizes it. Goodness and virtues are the titles of glory.

22.─ As a progressive power, is it the intelligence that determines the ascending march?

─ They are above all the virtues, above all love of neighbor.

23.─ A hierarchy of Spirits implies a hierarchy of residences. She exists? In what form?

─ Intelligence, which is a gift of God, is always the reward of the virtues of charity and love of neighbour. Spirits inhabit different planets, according to their degree of perfection. In them they enjoy greater or lesser happiness.

24.─ What is to be understood by superior spirits?

─ Purified Spirits.

25.─ Is our terrestrial globe the first of these steps, the starting point, or do we still come from a lower point?

─ There are two globes before yours, which is one of the less perfect ones.

26.─ Which world do you inhabits? Are you happy there?

- Jupiter. There I enjoy great calm; I love everyone around me. We don't have the hate.

27.─ If you remember earthly life, you must remember the couple A…, from Vienna. Have you seen them both after your death? In what world and under what conditions?

─ I don't know where they are. I can't tell you. One is happier than the other. Why do you tell me about them?

28.─ By a single word, indicative of a capital fact in your life, and which you cannot have forgotten, you can provide me with certain proof of that memory.
I urge you to say such a word.

─ Love; recognition.

second conversation

The interlocutor is no longer the same. It seems, from the nature of the conversation, that this is a musician, happy to be entertained by a master. After several questions, which it seems useless to reproduce, Mozart says:

1. ─ Let's finish with G's questions… I'll talk to you. I will tell you what in our world we mean by melody. Why didn't you summon me sooner? I would have answered you.

2. ─ What is the melody?
─ For you it is often a memory of your past life; your Spirit remembers what he saw in a better world. On the planet Jupiter, where I live, there is melody everywhere: in the murmur of the waters, in the rustle of leaves, in the wind song; the flowers hum and sing; everything produces melodious sounds. Be good and reach this planet by your virtues. You chose well, singing God. Religious music helps uplift the soul. How I wish I could inspire you with the desire to see this world where we are so happy! Here we are all very charitable; everything is beautiful! Nature so admirable! Everything inspires us with the desire to be with God. Courage! Courage! Believe in my spiritist communication. I am the one who finds myself here. I enjoy the power to tell you what we experience. If only I could inspire you enough to love the good, so that you might become worthy of this reward, which is nothing in comparison with others to which I aspire!

3. ─ Is our music the same on other planets? ─ No. No song can give you an idea of what we have here. She is divine! O happiness! He seeks to deserve the enjoyment of such harmonies; fight; has courage! Here we don't have instruments: plants and birds are the choristers. Thought composes and listeners enjoy without material hearing, without the assistance of the word, and this at an immeasurable distance. In the superior worlds this is even more sublime.

4. ─ What is the life span of a Spirit incarnated on another planet than ours? ─ Enjoy on the lower planets; longest in worlds like this where I have the happiness to be. On Jupiter it averages from three to five hundred years.

5. ─ Will there be great advantage in returning to inhabit the Earth? ─ No, unless we are on a mission, because then we advance.

6. ─ Wouldn't we be happier if we stayed like Spirit? ─ No, no! We would be stationary. We ask for reincarnation in order to advance towards God.

7. ─ Is this the first time that I am on Earth?

─ No. But I cannot speak of your Spirit's past.

8. ─ Could I see you in a dream?

- If God allows it, I will make you see my dwelling in a dream, which you will remember.

9. ─ Where are you here?

─ Between you and your daughter. see you. I'm in the shape I was in when I was alive.

10. ─ Could I see you?

─ Yes. Believe and you will see. If you had more faith, we would be allowed to tell you why. Your own profession constitutes a link between us.

11. ─ How did you get here?

─ The Spirit permeates everything.

12. ─ Do you still think you are very far from God?

─ Oh! Yea!

13. ─ Do you understand better than we do what eternity is?

─ Yes, yes. In the body you cannot understand it.

14. ─ What do you understand by Universe? Was there a beginning and will there be an end?

─ As you think, the Universe is your Earth. fools! The Universe had no beginning and will have no end. Think that he is entirely the work of God. The Universe is infinity.

15. ─ What should I do to calm down?

─ Don't worry so much about the body. Your spirit is disturbed. Resist this tendency.

16. ─ What is this disturbance?

─ You fear death.

17.─ What can I do to not fear her?

─ To believe in God. Above all, believe that God does not deprive the family of a father useful.

18.─ How to achieve this calm?

─ By will.

19.─ Where to find this will?

─ Take your thoughts away from that through work.

20. – What should I do to improve my ability?

─ You can summon me. I got permission to inspire you.

21.─ When I'm working?

─ Certainly! When you want to work, sometimes I'll be by your side.

22.─ Will you listen to my work? (A musical work by the questioner).

─ You are the first musician who evokes me. I come to you with pleasure and listen to your works.

23.─ How come they didn't evoke you?

─ I was evoked, but not by musicians.

24.─ By whom?

─ By several ladies and amateurs in Marseille.

25.─ Why does the Hail Mary move me to tears?

─ Your spirit is released, it joins mine and that of Pergolese, who inspired that work for me, but I forgot that part.

26.─ How could you forget the music composed by yourself?

─ The one I have here is so beautiful! How to remember what was just matter?

27. ─ Do you see my mother?

─ She is reincarnated on Earth.

28.─ In which body?

─ I can't say anything about it.

29.─ And my father?

─ You are wandering, to help with the good. It will make your mother progress. They will reincarnate together and be happy.

30.─ Does he come to see me?

─ Many times. To him you owe your charitable impulses.

31.─ Was it my mother who asked to be reincarnated?

─ Yes. She had a great desire to reincarnate in order to progress, through a new test, and enter a world superior to Earth. You've already taken a huge step.

32.─ What do you mean by that?

─ She resisted all temptations. His life on Earth was sublime compared to his past, which was that of an inferior Spirit. So he climbed several steps.

33.─ So she had chosen a test above her strength?

─ Yes, that's right.

34.─ When I dream that I see her, is it really her I see?

─ Yes, yes.

35.─ If they had evoked Bichat [2] on the day of the inauguration of his statue, would he have responded? He was there?

─ Yes, it was; and me too.

36.─ Why were you there?

─ Like many other spirits who appreciate the good and who feel happy when you glorify those who care about suffering Humanity.

37.─ Thank you, Mozart. Goodbye.

─ Believe me; believe that I am here... I am happy... Believe that there are worlds above yours... Believe in God... Evoke me more often, in the company of musicians. I will be happy to instruct you, contribute to your progress and help you rise to God. Evoke me. Goodbye.

Subtitle:

[1] If a living person is evoked in a waking state, he may fall asleep at the time of the evocation, or at least suffer a numbness and a suspension of his sensory faculties. Often, however, the evocation produces nothing, especially if it is not done with a serious and benevolent intention.

[2] Marie François Xavier Bichat was a French anatomist and physiologist. Bichat is best remembered as the father of modern tissue histology and pathology. Despite the fact that he worked without a microscope, he was able to significantly advance the understanding of the human body.

Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > The Eternal Halves

The letter addressed to the Spiritist Magazine

The following passage is taken from a letter from one of our subscribers.

“…I lost, a few years ago, a good and virtuous wife and, although she had left me six children, I felt completely isolated when I heard about spiritual manifestations. Soon I found myself in a small group of good friends, who every night occupied themselves with this subject. I learned, then, through the communications obtained, that true life is not on Earth, but in the world of Spirits; that my Clemency there was happy and that, like others, she worked for the happiness of those she had met here.

“Now, here is a point on which I ardently desire you to enlighten me.

“One night I said to my Clemency: My dear friend, why, in spite of our love, it happens that we do not always have the same point of view in the different circumstances of our common life, and why are we so often obliged to reciprocate concessions? in order to live in good harmony? “She replied:

─ “My friend, we were good and honest; we lived together and, as best we could say, in this Land of trials, but we were not our eternal halves. Such unions are rare on Earth. Although they can be found, they represent a great favor from God. Those who enjoy this happiness experience joys that you do not know.

─ “Can you tell me if you see your eternal half?

─ “Yes, she replied. He is a poor devil who lives in Asia; you won't be able to join me until 175 years from now, according to your way of counting.

─ “Will your union be on Earth or in another world?

─ “On Earth. But listen: I cannot describe to you well the happiness of the beings thus gathered. I will ask Heloísa and Abelardo to come and inform you.

“So, sir, these happy ones have come to tell us about this unspeakable happiness.

─ “As we wish”, they said, “two do not make more than one. We travel through space; we enjoy everything; we love each other with an endless love, above which there is only the love of God and of perfect beings. Your greatest joys are not worth a single glance of ours and our handshakes.”
“The thought of eternal halves makes me happy. It seems that God, creating Humanity, made it double and, separating the two halves of the same soul, said to them: Go through this world and seek incarnations. If you do good, the journey will be short and I will allow your union. Otherwise, centuries will pass before you can enjoy that happiness. Such, it seems to me, is the first cause of the instinctive movement that drags Humanity in search of happiness, that happiness that people neither understand nor strive to understand.

“I ardently desire, sir, clarification on this theory of eternal moieties and I would be happy if I had an explanation on the subject in one of your next issues…”

The counter-argument of the letter

When asked about the matter, Abelardo and Heloísa gave us the following answers:

1. ─ Were the souls created double?

─ If doubles had been created, singles would have been imperfect.

2. ─ Is it possible for two souls to be reunited in eternity, forming a whole?

─ No.

3. Do you and your Heloísa form, from the beginning, two perfectly distinct souls?

─ Yes.

4. ─ Are you still two distinct souls?

─ Yes, but always together.

5. ─ Are all men in the same conditions?

─ As they are more or less perfect.

6. ─ Are all souls destined to unite, one day, with another soul?

─ Each spirit tends to look for another spirit that is similar to it. It is what you call sympathy.

7. ─ Is there a condition of sex in this union?

─ Souls do not have sex.

São Luís opines on eternal halves

Both to satisfy our subscriber's wish and for our own instruction, we address the following questions to Espírito de São Luís:

1 - The souls that must unite are predestined, from the beginning, to this union and each one of us has, in any part of the Universe, the your half, to which one day it will fatally unite itself?

─ No. There is no particular and fatal union of two souls. There is union between all spirits, but in different degrees, according to the position they occupy, that is, according to the perfection acquired: the more perfect, the more united. From discord all human ills spring; from concord comes complete happiness.

2 - In what sense should we understand the word half, what do some spirits sometimes use to designate sympathetic spirits?

─ The expression is inaccurate. If a Spirit were half of another, separated from it, it would be incomplete.

3 – Once united, do two perfectly sympathetic Spirits remain united for eternity or can they separate and unite with other Spirits?

─ All spirits are united among themselves. I speak of those who have reached perfection. In the lower spheres, when a Spirit rises, it is no longer sympathetic to those it has left.

4 ─ Are two sympathetic spirits the complement of each other or is this sympathy the result of a perfect identity?

─ The sympathy that attracts one Spirit to another results from the perfect agreement of their inclinations and their instincts. If one were to complete the other, it would lose its individuality.

5 ─ Would the identity necessary for perfect sympathy consist only in the similarity of thoughts and feelings, or also in the uniformity of acquired knowledge?

─ In the equality of the degree of elevation.

6 ─ Will the spirits who are not friendly today be able to be so later?

─ Yes, everyone will be. Thus, the spirit that today is in an inferior sphere will reach, through perfection, the sphere where another one resides. His meeting will take place more readily if the higher Spirit, having barely endured the trials to which he has submitted himself, remains in the same state.

7 ─ Could two sympathetic spirits cease to be sympathetic?

─ Certainly, if one of them is lazy.

These answers perfectly solve the question.

The theory of eternal halves is a figure referring to the union of two sympathetic Spirits; it is an expression used even in common language, in the case of spouses, and which should not be taken literally. The spirits who used it certainly do not belong to the highest order. The sphere of their knowledge is necessarily limited. They expressed their thought in the words they would have used in corporeal life. It is therefore necessary to reject this idea that two Spirits, created for each other, will one day have to unite in eternity, after having been separated for a more or less long period of time.

Revista espírita — Jornal de estudos psicológicos — 1858 > Maio > Problemas morais – Perguntas dirigidas a São Luís

Question 1: opulence and work

 ─ Of two rich men, the first was born into opulence and never knew need; the second owes his fortune to his work. Both employ it exclusively for personal satisfaction. Which one is the most culpable?

Response

─ The one who knew suffering. He knows what it's like to suffer.

question 2: accumulation of goods without doing good

─ Will someone who accumulates continuously, without doing good to anyone, have an acceptable excuse in the idea of accumulating in order to leave enough to the children?

Response

─ It is a commitment to an evil conscience.

question 3: the misers receive according to their works

─ Of two misers, the first deprives himself of what is necessary and dies of privation over his treasure; the second is only avaricious towards others: he is prodigal towards himself. While he shuns the slightest sacrifice in order to render a gift or do something useful, he does not limit his personal pleasures. He gets annoyed when asked for a favor; he wants to surrender to his whims, which he never lacks. Who is the most guilty and which one will have the worst place in the world of spirits?

Response

─ What you enjoy. The other has already received its punishment.

Question 4: can fortune be used for good after death?

─ Does he who in life not use his fortune usefully find relief in doing good after death, by the fate that it gives him?

Response

─ No. The good is worth what it costs.

Spiritist magazine — Journal of psychological studies — 1858 > May > Pride – Moral dissertation dictated by São Luís to Miss. Hermance Dufaux

Case I – Pride and humility

A superb man owned a few acres (agrarian measure with 0.2 hectare) of good land. He was proud of the heavy ears that covered his field, and he cast a disdainful glance over the barren field of the humble. This one got up at the crowing of the rooster and stayed all day bent over the ungrateful ground; patiently picked up the pebbles and threw them on the side of the road; he turned the earth deeply and pulled out with difficulty the thorns that covered it. Why, his sweat made the field fruitful, and he gathered the best wheat.

However, the tares grew in the proud man's field and smothered the wheat, while the owner boasted of his fecundity and looked with pity on the silent efforts of the humble.

Truly, I say to you, pride is like tares that drown the good grain. He among you who thinks himself more than his brother and who boasts is a fool. Wise is he who works for himself, like the humble in his field, without being proud of his work.

Case II – The rich man and the poor woodcutter

There was a rich and powerful man who enjoyed the prince's favor. He lived in palaces and numerous servants tried to guess his wishes.

One day when his packs were cornering a deer deep in the forest, he spotted a poor woodcutter bending under the weight of a bundle of firewood. He called him and said:

─ Vile slave! Why do you pass by the way without bowing to me? I am equal to the Lord: in councils my voice decides peace and war, and the great ones of the kingdom bow before me. Know that I am wise among the wise, mighty among the mighty, great among the great, and my elevation is the work of my hands.

─ “Sir! ─ replied the poor man, ─ I feared that my humble greeting would offend you. I am poor and the only good I have is my arms, but I do not desire your deceitful grandeur. I sleep my sleep and I fear not, as you do, that the pleasure of the Lord will make me fall into my obscurity.

Now the prince was weary of the pride of arrogance. The great humiliated rose up against him, and he was flung from the pinnacle of his power, like a dry leaf that the wind sweeps from the top of the mountain. But the humble man peacefully continued his rough work, without concern for the next day.

Case III – The superb

Proud, humble yourself, for the hand of the Lord will bend your pride to the dust!

Listening! You were born where fate cast you; you came from your mother's womb weak and naked like the last of men. Why do you lift up your brow higher than your fellows, who, like them, were born to pain and to death?

Listening! Your riches and your greatness, vanities of vanities, will escape your hands when the great day comes, like the shifting waters of the torrent that the sun evaporates. Thou shalt take from thy riches no more than the boards of the coffin, and the titles engraved on the tombstone will be empty words.

Listening! The gravedigger's dog will play with your bones, and they will be mixed with the beggar's; your dust will be mixed with his, for one day you will both be dust. Then you will curse the gifts you have received, when you see the beggar clothed in his glory, and you will weep for your pride.

Humble yourself, proud, for the hand of the Lord will bend your pride to the dust.

the parables

Why does Saint Louis speak to us in parables?

─ It seems that today the lesson should be given to us in a more direct way, without having to resort to allegory.

─ The human spirit likes mystery. The lesson is best engraved in the heart when we look for it.

─ You will find it in development. I want to be read, and morals need a disguise under the lure of pleasure.

Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — May from 1858 > Considerations on Bergzabern's Beating Spirit

Allan Kardec continues the subject of the previous post about the Beater Spirit with new facts. He seemed not to want to extend the previous one and continued his text with this new title to which we will now refer.

How the Doctrine Regards Bergzabern's Beating Spirit

It is easy to give the explanation requested by the narrator that we have just quoted: There is only one, the one given by the Spiritist Doctrine. These phenomena are nothing extraordinary for people familiar with those to which the spirits have accustomed us. The role that certain creatures lend to the imagination is known. Undoubtedly, if the girl had only had visions, the partisans of hallucination would have flagged themselves. But here there were material effects of an unmistakable nature and which had a large number of witnesses. It had to be admitted that everyone was hallucinated to the point where they thought they heard what they didn't hear and saw motion in immobile things. Now, this would be an even more extraordinary phenomenon.

How does the hierarchy of Spirits occur?

Unbelievers have only one resource left: to deny. It's easier and takes the guesswork out of it.

Examining things from the spiritist point of view, it becomes evident that the spirit that manifested itself was inferior to the girl's, as it obeyed her; he even subordinated himself to his assistants, for they gave him orders. If we didn't know from the Doctrine that the so-called Beating Spirits are at the bottom of the scale, what happened would be proof of that.

It really would not be conceivable that a high spirit, like our sages and our philosophers, would come to amuse himself by beating marches and waltzes and, in a word, playing the role of a minstrel or submitting to the whims of human beings. He appears with the features of an ill-looking creature, a circumstance that only corroborates this opinion. In general the moral is reflected in the wrapper. It is therefore demonstrated to us that the scout de Bergzabern is an inferior spirit, from the class of frivolous spirits, who manifested himself as others did before and still do today.

Why did the scout manifest?

But for what purpose did it manifest itself? The news does not say that he was called. Today, when we are more experienced in these things, such a strange visitor would not be allowed in without him informing what his purposes were. We can only make a conjecture. It is true that he did nothing to reveal malice or ill intent, for the girl did not suffer any physical or moral disturbance. Only men could have shocked his morals, hurting his imagination with ridiculous tales. Luckily they didn't. This Spirit, however inferior it was, was neither evil nor malevolent. He was just one of those so numerous spirits, which, at times and despite our, we are surrounded. He may have acted in those circumstances on a mere whim, as he could have done so at the instigation of high spirits, with the aim of arousing the attention of men and convincing them of the reality of a higher power outside the corporeal world.

faculty of physical phenomena

As for the child, it is certain that he was one of those mediums of physical influence, endowed, in spite of himself, with such a faculty, and who are for other mediums as natural somnambulists are for magnetic somnambulists. Managed with prudence by a man experienced in this new Science, this faculty might have produced things still more extraordinary, and of a nature to throw new light on these phenomena, which are wonderful only because they are not understood.

 Spiritist Magazine — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > The Beating Spirit of Bergzabern I

A stir in Bavaria

We had already heard of certain spiritist phenomena which, in 1852, had caused a great stir in Rhine Bavaria, near Spira; we even knew that a brochure had been published in German with an authentic account. After long and fruitless searches, a lady, our subscriber from Alsace, showing great interest and perseverance, for which we are immensely grateful, obtained a copy of that brochure and offered it to us.

Kardec gave here his translation in full, waiting to be read with all the greater interest as it once again proves that facts of this kind are from all times and places, since they occurred at a time when people were just beginning to talk about spirits.

The Brochure

Preface

For several months now, a singular event has been the subject of all conversations in our city and its surroundings. We refer to scout, as it is called, from the home of the tailor Pedro Sänger.

They were made to refrain from any report on their sheet - the Bergzabern's Journal ─ of the demonstrations that have taken place since January 1, 1852 in that house. But as they attracted general attention to such an extent that the authorities felt it their duty to ask Dr. Bentner an explanation for the case and Dr. Dupping, from Spira, even went to the place to observe the facts, we can no longer shirk the duty of publicizing them.

As for us, we will limit ourselves to the simple report of the facts, mainly of those that we witness or that we hear from people worthy of faith. The reader who forms his opinion.

The introduction was signed by FA Blanck, Editor of the Bergzabern's Journal, in May 1852.

The first strikes of Bergzabern's scout

On January 1st of this year, in Bergzabern, in the house where he lived, and in the room next to the living room, Pedro Sänger's family heard a hammering sound, which began with dull blows and as if they came from afar, and that became progressively stronger and more distinct. These blows seemed to strike the wall, next to which was the bed of his twelve-year-old daughter.

Usually the noise was heard between nine-thirty and ten-thirty. At first the couple didn't care; but as this singularity repeated itself every night, they thought it came from the house next door, where perhaps a sick man was distracted by drumming on the wall. Soon, however, they were convinced that there was no such sick person, nor could he be the cause of the noise. The bedroom floor was turned over; the wall was torn down, but all to no avail. The bed was moved to the opposite side of the room: then – an admirable thing – the noise changed places and was heard as soon as the girl was asleep.

It was clear that somehow the girl was participating in the manifestation of that noise. After the useless investigations by the police, people began to think that the fact must be attributed to a child's illness or a particularity of his conformation. However, so far nothing has come to confirm this assumption. It is still an enigma for doctors.

With the wait, the thing developed: the noise lasted for more than an hour and the blows were vibrated with more force. The girl changed beds and rooms, but the scout manifested in that other room; under the bed; on the bed and on the wall. The blows were not identical: sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker and isolated, sometimes, in short, succeeding each other quickly and following the rhythm of the military marches and dances.

girl's somnambulistic state

The girl had been occupying the aforementioned room for a few days, when they noticed that, during her sleep, she was emitting short and incoherent words. The words soon became more distinct and more intelligible; it seemed that the child was talking to another person over whom he had authority. Among the facts that occurred daily, the author of this brochure relates one, of which he was a witness:

The child was in bed, lying on the left side. Barely asleep, the blows began and so she began to speak: “You, you! Hit a march!” And the scout scored one that looked a lot like a Bavarian march. On the order of “Halt!” given by the girl, the scout stopped. Then she ordered, "Knock three, six, nine times." The scout carried out the order. At a new order of striking 19 strikes, 20 strikes were heard, to which the sleeping girl retorted: “It is not right; there were 20 beats”. Soon it was possible to count 19 blows. Then she asked for 30 blows and the 30 were heard. At the order of 100 strokes, it was only possible to count to 40, so fast were the blows. The last blow sounded and the girl said: “Very well! Now 110”. So we were only able to count to about 50. At the last blow, the sleeper said: “It's not right. You only gave 106”; and then the 4 blows were heard to complete the 110. Then she asked: “A thousand!” Only 15 were hit. “Oh, come on!” The batter scored 5 more hits and stopped.

Then the assistants came up with the idea of giving orders directly to the scout, who carried them out. It stopped when it received the order of “Halt! Silence! Enough!" Then, by itself and without command, it would start knocking again. One of the assistants said, in a low voice, in a corner of the room, that he wanted to command only by thought, so that 6 knocks were given. Then the experimenter stood by the bed and did not say a single word: the 6 blows were heard. Still by thought 4 were asked and the 4 blows were heard. The same experiment has been tried by other people, but it has not always worked well.

Soon the girl stretched, threw back the covers and got up.

The Beating Spirit is Recognized

When asked what had happened, he replied that he had seen a large, grumpy man at his bedside, pressing his knees. He added that he felt pain in his knees when the man hit him. She fell asleep again and the demonstrations continued until the clock struck eleven. Suddenly the beater stopped, the girl went into a peaceful sleep, recognized by the regularity of her breathing, and that night nothing more was heard.

We observed that the scout obeyed the order to mark military marches. Several people stated that when asked for a Russian, Austrian or French march, it was marked very accurately.

On February 25th, while asleep, the girl said: “Now you don't want to hit anymore; want to scratch. It's ok! I want to see how you do it.” In fact, on the following day, the 26th, instead of the blows, there was a scratching that seemed to come from the bed and that has been manifested to this day. The beats were mixed with the scraping, sometimes alternating, sometimes simultaneously, in such a way that in the marching or dancing arias the scraping marked the strong beats and the beat the weak beats. According to requests, the time of day or the age of the people were indicated by dry strokes or by scraping. In relation to the age of the people, there were sometimes errors, which were then corrected on the second or third attempt, as long as it was said that the number had been dialed wrong. Sometimes, instead of giving the required age, the scout would perform a march.

The girl's language is perfected

Day by day the child's language, during sleep, became more perfect. What at first was no more than simple words or quick orders to the scout, over time turned into a conversation with the parents. So one day he talked to his older sister about religious matters, in a tone of exhortation and teaching, telling her that she should go to mass, say prayers every day and show submission and obedience to her parents. In the evening he took up the same subject again. In his teachings, there was nothing theological, but only some of those notions that are learned in school.

Before these conversations, for at least an hour, knocks and scratches could be heard, not only during the girl's sleep, but even in her waking state. We watched her eat and drink while the taps and scrapes were heard, just as, being awake, we had heard the transmission of orders to the scout, all of which were carried out.

On the night of Saturday, March 6, several people gathered at the Sängers' house, for the girl being awake, she had predicted during the day that the scout would appear at nine o'clock at night. At the stroke of that hour, four blows were struck so violently against the wall that the attendants were frightened. Soon, and for the first time, the knocks were on the wood of the bed and on the outside. The bed was all shaken. These blows appeared on all sides of the bed, now in one, now in another place. Blows and scratches alternated. At the order of the girl and the people present, the knocks were sometimes heard inside the bed, sometimes outside. Suddenly the bed rose in different directions, while the blows were delivered with force. More than five people tried in vain to replace the bed, and when they gave up the attempt, it still rocked for a few moments, after which it took its natural position. This fact had already occurred once, before this public manifestation.

the young woman's speech

Every night the girl would make a kind of speech, which we will talk about briefly.

First of all, it should be noted that, as soon as she lowered her head, she immediately fell asleep and the blows and scratches began. With the beats she was moaning, shaking her legs and looking sick. The same was not the case with the sweeps. When it was time to speak, the girl would lie down on her back, her face turning pale, as well as her hands and arms. She would wave her right hand and say, “Let's go! Come to my bed and put your hands together. I will tell you about the Savior of the world.” Then the knocking and scratching ceased and all the assistants listened with respectful attention to the sleeper's speech.

She spoke slowly and very intelligibly in pure German, which was all the more surprising the more it was known that she was less advanced than her schoolmates in this subject, which was certainly due to an eye disease, which made it difficult for her to the study. His lectures were about the life and actions of Jesus from the age of twelve; his presence in the temple among the scribes; its benefits to Humanity and its miracles. Then he amused himself in describing his sufferings and harshly reproached the Jews for having crucified Jesus, despite his acts of kindness and his blessings. At the end, the girl addressed a fervent prayer to God, asking him to “give her the grace to bear with resignation the sufferings he had sent her, since he had chosen her to enter into communication with the Spirit”. I asked God not to die yet, because I was a child and didn't want to go down to the dark tomb. When his sermons were over, he recited in a solemn voice the paternoster, after which it said, "Now you can come." Immediately the beating and scratching began again. She still spoke twice to the Spirit, and each time the scout stopped. He would still say a few words and add: “Now you can go, in the name of God”. And woke up.

During these lectures the girl's eyes were tightly closed, but her lips moved. People closest to the bed could observe his movements. The voice was pure and harmonious.

Waking up, they asked him what he had seen and what had happened. She replied:

“The man who comes to see me.

- Where is he?

“Near my bed, with the other people.

'Have you seen the other people?'

— I saw everyone near my bed.

Disbelief of the demonstrations

It is easy to understand that such manifestations found many unbelievers. One even thought that this whole story was pure mystification. But his father was incapable of clowning, especially clowning that required all the skill of a professional juggler. He enjoys a reputation as a decent and honest man.

To answer and put an end to the suspicion, the girl was taken to a strange house. Just arriving there, the knocking and scratching could be heard. Besides, a few days before, she had gone with her mother to a little village called Capela, about half a league away, to the house of the widow Klein. As she said she was tired, they laid her on a settee, and immediately the same phenomenon took place. Several witnesses can attest to this. Since the child had a healthy appearance, he must have been affected by a disease which, if not proved by the manifestations reported above, at least by the involuntary movements of the muscles and nervous tremors.

Finally, we will note that a few weeks ago the girl was taken to Dr. Bentner, with whom he stayed, so that this sage could study more closely the phenomena in question. Since then, all the noise in the Sänger family's house has ceased, and it has been produced in Dr. Bentner.

These, in all their authenticity, are the events that took place. We deliver them to the public without giving an opinion. May the men of Medicine soon give them a satisfactory explanation.

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Spiritist Journal — Journal of Psychological Studies — 1858 > May > Theory of Physical Manifestations I

In this Spiritist Magazine, Allan Kardec states that it is easy to conceive of the moral influence of the Spirits and the relationships they may have with our soul, or with the Spirit incarnated in us. It is understandable that two beings of the same nature can communicate through thought, which is one of their attributes, without the aid of the organs of speech. It is, however, already more difficult to realize the material effects that they can produce, such as noises, the movement of solid bodies, apparitions and, above all, tangible apparitions.

The Theory of Manifestations defended by Kardec

The theory that Kardec defends is that the Spirit, being immaterial by definition, still has something of matter, because if it had nothing, it would be nothing.

Incarnated in the body, the Spirit constitutes the soul. When he leaves it, with death, he is not stripped of all the envelope. We are all told that they retain the form they had when they were alive; indeed, when they appear to us, it is usually in the form in which we knew them.

Let us observe them attentively as they leave life: they are in a state of disturbance; around you everything is confused; they see their own body, whole or mutilated, according to the type of death. On the other hand, they see and feel themselves alive; something tells them that this is their body, but they don't understand how they can be separate. The bond that united them is not yet completely broken.

After the moment of disturbance, the spirit sees itself free from the carnal envelope that served it as a cage, which it was divested of without regret, but continues to see itself in its primitive form. 

Certain manifestations produced by Mr. Home and by other mediums of the same kind occur with the appearance of hands that have all the properties of the living ones, which we touch, which hold us and which suddenly dissolve.

What are we to conclude from this? See the most outstanding concepts present in the Magazine:

The soul and the perispirit

The soul does not leave everything in the coffin: it takes something with it.

There are two kinds of matter in us: a gross one, which constitutes the outer envelope; the other subtle and indestructible. Death is the destruction, or rather the disintegration of the first, of that abandoned by the soul; the other stands out and follows the soul, which thus always continues to have an envelope.

We call this envelope perispirit. This subtle matter, as it were, extracted from all the parts of the body to which it was attached during life, retains its form. This is why all spirits are seen and why they appear to us as they were in life.

The perispirit does not have the tenacity or rigidity of the compact matter of the body: it is flexible and expansive. This is why the form it takes, even though it is based on that of the body, is not absolute: it bends to the will of the Spirit, which gives it, as it wishes, this or that appearance, while the solid envelope offers it an insurmountable resistance. .

Untangling itself from this obstacle that compressed it, the perispirit stretches or contracts; it transforms itself and, in a word, lends itself to all metamorphoses, according to the will that acts upon it.

Kardec points out that, through extensive studies, the subtle matter that constitutes the second envelope of the Spirit only gradually detaches itself from the body, and not instantly.

That said, experience still proves that the duration of this detachment varies with individuals. In some it takes three or four days, while in others it is not completed until after several months.

How does the separation of the Spirit occur after the death of the body?

In some people, separation begins before death: they are those who, in life, were elevated by thought and the purity of their feelings, above material things.

In them death finds only weak bonds between soul and body, which are broken almost instantly. The more materially man lived; the more his thoughts have been absorbed in the pleasures and worries of the personality, the more tenacious are those bonds. It seems that subtle matter is identified with compact matter and that a molecular cohesion is established between them. This is why they only separate slowly and with difficulty.

In the first moments after death, when there is still union between the body and the perispirit, the latter preserves much better the impression of the corporeal form, which, so to speak, reflects all the nuances and even all the accidents. This is why one of the victims told us, a few days after his execution: If you could see me, you would see me with my head separated from my torso. A man who had been murdered told us: Look at the wound they made in my heart. He thought we might see him.

Sensation of the Spirits

Let us imagine the Spirit clothed in its semi-material envelope, or perispirit, having the form or appearance that he had when he was alive. Some even use this expression to designate themselves: my appearance is in such a place. The matter of this envelope is subtle enough to escape our sight in its normal state, but it is not completely invisible. To begin with, we see it through the eyes of the soul, in the visions produced during dreams. But that's not what we want to deal with. In this etherealized matter there can be a modification; the Spirit itself can make it undergo a kind of condensation that makes it perceptible to the eyes of the body. This is what happens in vaporous apparitions. The subtlety of this matter allows it to pass through solid bodies, which is why such apparitions encounter no obstacles and why they so often disappear through walls.

Condensation can go so far as to produce resistance and tangibility. This is the case with hands that we can see and touch. But this condensation - and this is the only word we can use, to give an idea, albeit imperfect, of our thought - this condensation, we were saying, or even this solidification of ethereal matter, is only temporary or accidental, because this condensation it's not your normal state. This is why, at a given moment, tangible apparitions escape us like a shadow. Thus, in the same way that a body appears to us in a solid, liquid or gaseous state, depending on the degree of condensation, so the ethereal matter of the perispirit can appear to us in a solid, visible vapor or invisible vaporous state.

How does spiritual matter appear to us?

The apparent, tangible hand offers resistance: it exerts pressure, leaves impressions, operates a traction on the objects we hold. There is, therefore, a force in it. Now, these facts, which are not hypotheses, can lead us to the explanation of physical manifestations.

Let us note, first of all, that this hand obeys an intelligence, since it acts spontaneously; it gives unmistakable signs of a will and obeys a thought: it therefore belongs to a complete being, which only shows us that part of itself, and the proof is that it produces impressions with the invisible parts; teeth leave marks on the skin and produce pain.

Among the various manifestations, one of the most interesting is, without a doubt, the spontaneous playing of musical instruments. Pianos and accordions are apparently the instruments of choice. This phenomenon is explained very naturally by the foregoing. The hand that has the strength to pick up an object may also have the strength to press down on the keys and make them sound. In fact, on several occasions we saw the fingers in action, and when the hand is not seen, the keys are seen moving and the bellows stretching and closing. The keys can only be moved by an invisible hand, which shows intelligence, playing perfectly rhythmic arias and not incoherent sounds.

Since that hand can dig its nails into our flesh, pinch us, snatch what we have in our hand; since we see her pick up and carry an object, just as we would, she can also hit us, lift and knock down a table, ring a bell, pull a curtain, and even give us an invisible slap.

You will perhaps ask how this hand, in the vaporous invisible state, can have the same strength as in the tangible state. And why not? Do we see air topple buildings, gas launch projectiles, electricity transmit signals, magnet fluid lift masses? Why would the ethereal matter of the perispirit be less powerful? But we don't want to subject it to our laboratory experiments and our algebraic formulas. Mainly because we have taken gases as a term of comparison, we will not attribute identical properties to them, nor compute their strength in the same way as we calculate that of steam. So far it eludes all our instruments. It is a new order of ideas, outside the scope of the exact sciences. That is why these sciences do not offer us the special ability to appreciate them.

the movement of bodies

We give this theory of the movement of solid bodies under the influence of spirits only to show the matter in all its aspects and to prove that, without departing too far from received ideas, it is possible to realize the action of spirits on inert matter. There is, however, another, of high philosophical scope, given by the Spirits themselves, which sheds an entirely new light on this problem. It will be better understood after you have read it. In fact, it is useful to know all the systems in order to be able to compare them.

It remains now to explain how this modification of the ethereal substance of the perispirit takes place; by what process does the Spirit operate and, consequently, the role of mediums of physical influence in the production of these phenomena; what in such circumstances happens to them; the cause and nature of his faculties, &c.

This is what will be done in the next article.