Bergzabern's Beating Spirit I

 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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