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HOW TO GO
TO A MEDIUM
A MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION
BY
E. J. DINGWALL, M.A.
]FOREWORD BY
MAURICE B. WRIGHT, M.D.
TO
THE FRIEND
WHOSE DEEP INTEREST IN PSYCHICAL
RESEARCH AND PERSONAL SYMPATHY HAVE
ENABLED ME TO PROSECUTE AND EXTEND
MY STUDIES OF THE SUBJECT WE HAVE
EQUALLY AT HEART
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
FOREWORD ix
PREFACE xiii
INTRODUCTION 1
I. MENTAL PHENOMENA 14
Clairvoyant Descriptions 14
Automatic Writing 20
Inspirational Messages 25
Crystal Gazing 26
Psychometry 28
Sealed Letter Reading 30
II. PHYSICAL PHENOMENA 34
Table Tipping 41
Raps 45
Lights 48
Movements of Objects Without Contact 50
Materialization 55
Apports 63
Trumpet Phenomena 64
Spirit Photography 69
Experiments in Photography 77
Slate Writing 78
CONCLUSIONS 85
APPENDIX I: THE CONTROL OF PHYSICAL MEDIUMS 89
APPENDIX II 96
FOREWORD
This short book should be widely read by all who are interested in the
subject of Psychical Research, and it is especially to be commended to
those who are thinking of taking up the study of mediumistic phenomena,
whether mental mediumship, or the production of physical phenomena by
those claiming supernormal faculties. Mr. Dingwall writes with authority;
he has had many years of experience in investigating the claims of both
physical and mental mediums, and, from my knowledge of him, I think he
brings away from these years of investigation still an open mind, still a
belief in the possibility of the existence of supernormal faculties. On
the other hand, he has seen much of the sad, sordid side of the whole
business-fraud, deceit, trickery, naked and unashamed if only the observer
knows where to look for it, and a public willing and anxious to be gulled,
and resenting bitterly any imputation against their favourite mediums,
from whom they have received some solace,
ix
x FOREWORD
some confirmation to them of their cherished beliefs and hopes. One of the
saddest things that I know is the way in which men and women of the
highest integrity, with well-balanced judgment, good critical faculties
for all the ordinary affairs of life, will bring to a seance room the
gullible mind of a child, ready to accept any marvel, any so-called
evidence for survival. It is within my knowledge, within my almost daily
experience, the harm that is being done by the uncritical, unscientific
approach to the study of supernormal phenomena. It is harmful to be
confirmed in any of our cherished beliefs by fraud and trickery: it is
more harmful still when those beliefs, which may in themselves be
perfectly valid and based upon truth, are shattered by the exposure of
fraud.
Mr. Dingwall's book is written in order to try and obviate some of the
dangers; to try and ensure that those who from any motive wish to
investigate physical or mental mediumship should have some knowledge of
the pitfalls which will surround them during their investigation. The book
will render a very real service if it reaches the public it deserves. In
these matters-as in all scientific inquiries -the difference between
hypothesis and dogma
FOREWORD xi
cannot be too strongly insisted upon. The serious investigator may start
with the hypothesis that supernormal faculties exist, or even with the
hypothesis that discarnate intelligences may communicate through mediums;
but throughout the inquiry these must remain working hypotheses until or
unless proof is obtained which will satisfy the canons of scientific
evidence. To start the inquiry-however scientific the setting and the
apparatus-with the dogmatic belief in supernormal faculties or discarnate
intelligence, is to court disaster and to open the door to the abuses and
cruel frauds which are now so rampant.
Maurice B. WRIGHT, M.D.
PREFACE
This little book is an attempt to fill a gap in the literature of
spiritualism. During some years of experience in psychical research, first
as Director of the Department of Physical Phenomena in the American
Society for Psychical Research and then as Research Officer of the Society
for Psychical Research in England, I have constantly been reminded of the
fact that beginners have had no short text book which may be of assistance
to them in their practical inquiries into spiritualism. I have therefore
tried in this book to provide the novice with some useful hints which he
may find of service when visiting mediums. The work is not intended for
spiritualists or for experienced psychical researchers, although both
classes may find something of interest in its pages. It has been written
for the serious man and woman of to-day who wish to know how to approach
the subject of spiritualism, and to avoid at least a few of the pitfalls
which so plentifully bestrew the steps of the unwary. xiii
xiv PREFACE
There are numbers of intelligent people who desire some personal
experience and yet have no idea how to obtain it. They avoid the public
medium because they do not know how to appraise the material, and have no
idea what to expect and how to make the best of their opportunities. They
have heard that fraud is common, and they do not know how to detect it or
criticise the conditions which are imposed upon them. The present hints
have been designed to help such inquirers and it is hoped that they will
fulfil their purpose.
In conclusion, I must thank those of my friends, too numerous to mention,
who have helped me both in criticisms and in the more mechanical side of
the production of this book.
ERIC JOHN DINGWALL.
73, Corringham Road,
London, N.W.11.
July, 1922
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
INTRODUCTION
Before a person goes to consult or experiment with a medium, it would be
as well for him to know something of the elements of psychology, so that
he may have some acquaintance with the processes at work. In order to give
a very rough and ready definition of psychology one might say that it is
that science which treats of the behaviour of living things. Thus it is
the work of the psychologist to study the conduct of human beings and to
endeavour to understand their mental processes both conscious and
unconscious. Everybody knows more or less what is meant by a conscious
process. Suppose I decide to get down a book from a high shelf in my
library. In order to do this I can do a variety of things. I may get a
chair or table, or better still some
1
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
steps and, after performing certain actions I find myself high enough to
fetch the book and so fulfil my purpose. But even in doing so simple a
thing as this, certain unconscious processes are bound to occur. Thus when
fetching the steps I do not first of all think which foot to advance, but
through an unconscious process move the one which happens to be stimulated
first. Similarly when upon the step ladder, I may without thinking extend
one arm to save myself from falling if the ladder slip, and indeed there
are quite a number of things which one does "without thinking", as the
phrase goes. A still better illustration is that of learning to ride a
bicycle. At first one is conscious of every tendency of the machine to
fall and of one's own endeavour to right it, but later these corrective
movements become unconscious and we can enjoy a spin without having to
keep on thinking how to prevent our bicycle from falling over.
It will be clear from these illustrations that in ordinary life we perform
a great number of actions unconsciously and indeed in many instances, it
would appear to the ordinary
2
INTRODUCTION
man that we are, in a sense, split up, so that we are able to perform
independent actions at the same time. Returning for a moment to our
bicycle example, it is a common thing for a cyclist to talk, laugh and
argue whilst cycling; and cases are known where a rider has fallen asleep
and yet has propelled his machine in just the same way as when he was
awake. Every one has heard of so called somnambulists or sleep walkers,
who perform complicated actions when they are apparently asleep and indeed
are sometimes more efficient in this state than they are when normally
awake.
It is then clear that in many cases-we might say in every case-there is a
certain amount of splitting up, or as the psychologist would say of
dissociation, present and active in the lives of every ordinary being.
This is particularly true of mediums as a class, since the majority of
them are very easily dissociated in a much more pronounced way than is
usual with normal people.
This dissociation takes a variety of forms. A simple example is seen in
the so-called
3
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
"automatic writing", an accomplishment which can be acquired by a certain
number of normal persons. The subject takes a pencil and holds it upon
some paper and remains quiet, either looking at the paper or reading or
engaging in quiet conversation. In some cases the hand soon begins to move
and to write and draw without the subject being aware of what is being
done, and generally being in ignorance of the matter which he is
constructing. We need not be detained here in considering the material of
these automatic efforts.
The same principle is at work in the planchette, ouija board, glass and
letters, or in any similar mechanical device for the same purpose. The
main point to remember is that in these automatic processes, the subject's
own mind is at work and the results obtained can often be seen to be a
product of his own subconscious mind, by which is meant simply that part
of his mental processes which lies beneath the threshold of consciousness.
Thus supposing that last night I dreamt that I was in a foreign country
and saw something which interested me greatly, I might forget
4
INTRODUCTION
the entire dream on waking, and yet the whole picture might be recovered
through automatic writing or through one or other of the many methods of
delving into the subconscious mind, that rich store house of forgotten
memories and experiences.
From what has been said above it is sufficiently obvious that as a great
deal of what mediums obtain through automatic writing, speaking, or
drawing, comes from their own subconscious minds, or at least is largely
coloured by them, it is always very difficult to determine exactly how far
one is justified in ascribing the information given through them to a
supernormal source, by which I mean merely a source which is normally out
of reach of the medium. Taken quite simply the word "supernormal" as used
by psychical researchers implies nothing more nor less than what one would
mean by the expression "beyond the range of normal experience". Thus
sitting here in London I can see across the room and outside to a certain
distance. I cannot see beyond a certain range of "normal" vision. But
supposing I could describe
5
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
accurately what was occurring in a stranger's house in Boston, the vision
would be called supernormal, although no doubt it could be explained
through natural processes if we were aware of them. There is nothing
necessarily "supernatural" about it. The word supernatural means beyond
and above the recognised forces of nature, and is unfortunate because it
suggests miracles, which again is a term which has been much abused, since
it merely means "something to wonder at". Both the terms supernatural and
miracle are to be avoided, since they have come to mean something which
the ordinary scientific man connects with elves and goblins and flying
carpets, all of which he is quite sure have not happened or existed, and
indeed are not likely to happen or exist. The word supernormal is not open
to the above objection, although no doubt so-called scientific men will
try to confuse it in an attempt to evade the facts which it describes.
It has been said above that it is always very difficult to determine
exactly how far the information given through a medium can
6
INTRODUCTION
be ascribed to a supernormal source. That difficulty is increased by the
fact that different people are satisfied with different degrees of
evidence, and what to one man is purely unevidential is to another
something of real value. This difficulty is not so great as it seems, if
people would be content in employing scientific methods and not
investigate in a hazy and personal way which has practically no scientific
value at all.
The purpose of this little book is to give a few hints to intending
investigators and sitters in order to help them in making the most of
their sittings both from their own point of view and also from that of the
medium. It is as great a mistake to suppose that everyone can be a good
"sitter", as it is to suppose that everyone can be a good surgeon or a
good chemist. "Sitting" is an art which has to be learnt and many people
fail altogether to learn it and then wonder that they fail to get any good
results.
The first thing to understand is the medium with whom you expect to sit,
remembering always that mediums are not always quite
7
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
normal, and this not in any derogatory sense, but simply as a fact. Indeed
if they were quite normal, they could hardly be mediums, just as artists
and musicians are often not normal in the generally understood sense of
the term. Remember too that the medium is not a machine that can be turned
on and off at will, but a human being with a highly complex emotional and
mental apparatus, extremely suggestible and touchy, whilst at the same
time capable of warm friendships and equally strong dislikes. Often of a
childlike nature, a medium easily forgives and forgets, although at the
same time a strong sense of justice is often found. Quick temper and
waywardness are other characteristics of some mediums, who as a class are
usually more apparently self-centred than normal people. Generally
speaking each must be taken separately and the sitter will soon perceive
those traits in a medium's character, which will act as signposts and
warnings for his own conduct.
In going to a medium a sitter ought to make up his mind as to the precise
object of his visit.
8
INTRODUCTION
As this book is intended mainly for members of the public who desire
simply to test for themselves the theory of survival on the one hand, and
the fact of supernormal physical phenomena on the other, it has been
thought best to confine the hints given to those two objects only, and not
to discuss the more experimental kind of work undertaken by professional
psychical researchers. For our present purposes then it will suffice to
deal with two classes of mediums; those presenting first what are called
the mental phenomena, and secondly those presenting the physical
phenomena.
By the mental phenomena are meant principally written or spoken
communications, purporting to come from deceased persons, who are either
seen, heard or in any other way sensed by the medium. Thus a medium, who
from a platform describes various "spirits" amongst the audience and
conveys messages from them, is called a mental medium, whilst another who
professes to be able to produce materialised forms, or move objects
without contact is said to be a physical medium.
9
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
Strictly speaking the two forms constantly overlap as in the case of
so-called trumpet mediumship, in which the spirits are supposed to
communicate through a trumpet. This involves a physical side, namely the
production of physical sounds, and as such falls within both classes,
since the messages given by the voices belong to the mental side.
Roughly speaking however, the two classes are distinct and it must always
be remembered that the physical phenomena furnish no proof of survival
themselves. Thus if a table rises into the air and apparently floats in
space, it proves nothing concerning survival, but if it begins to move up
and down according to a pre-arranged code, answering questions wholly out
of the range of the knowledge of the sitters and which afterwards prove to
be correct, then mental phenomena intervene and the hypothesis of survival
might have to be considered. This is very important and is apt to be
overlooked by inexperienced persons, especially by spiritualists, who look
upon the physical phenomena as the work of spirits, oblivious of the fact
that these occurrences, if
10
INTRODUCTION
they occur at all, prove no more than any other ordinary phenomena of
nature.
Before passing on to a more detailed consideration of specific cases, it
may be as well to indicate a few of the mistakes that new sitters are
prone to make in beginning their investigations. Go with an open mind.
Prepare yourself for a serious undertaking and do not approach the subject
in a spirit of levity or silly curiosity. Remember that the medium has his
rights as well as the sitter and does not want to waste time pandering to
idle seekers after sensation. Do not condemn any medium as fraudulent
until you have sure proof of it, but on the other hand do not be put off
from taking perfectly legitimate precautions. Remember that genuine
mediums never object to tests if they understand what they are for and are
sure of the sitters' own genuineness in applying them. Preserve your
equanimity on all occasions, and do not argue with or flatly contradict a
medium with whom you are working. Remember that if genuine all he says has
some meaning even though you cannot understand it and in many cases cannot
11
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
be expected to, since the subject matter may refer to his own mental
processes of which you are not aware. Do not imagine that if you cannot
understand how information comes to a medium "it must be spirits".
Preserve the scientific attitude, and remember that scientific methods
simply consist in:
(a) Collecting your facts.
(b) Classifying them.
(c) Forming a theory that describes them.
Make up your mind before you go whether you want the nearest approach to
truth that you can get. Many people attend mediums simply to obtain
comfort in bereavement by an assurance that death does not end all. I have
seen many people attain it if the medium merely dangles a piece of
luminous veiling in front of them in the dark. Decide whether you want
proof and what sort of proof. This book is designed to help those who want
to obtain some acquaintance with supernormal phenomena through scientific
methods. Proof to such as this book is intended would have to
12
INTRODUCTION
come through evidence based on facts, and facts only. It may be that the
proof for survival may never be surer than proof that other natural
phenomena occur, even if we ever attain such evidence. After all our laws
of nature are but theories that seem to be correct. The theory of survival
may be wrong, but to some it seems the best theory which so far fits the
facts.* This book is for those, who want to investigate the facts on which
some have built that theory, and also for a few who desire to become
acquainted with others which confront us in our study of those facts.
---
* Whether the opinion is justified each reader must judge for himself.
13
CHAPTER I
MENTAL PHENOMENA
Clairvoyant Descriptions
Clairvoyant descriptions are presented most commonly in public on
spiritualistic platforms, but they are sometimes given to private sitters
upon request. The mediums vary in their accounts of how these phenomena
are presented to them, but there is a general consensus of opinion that
they are somehow "impressed" with the image of a person who gives them a
message, either through an inner voice which they hear, or through some
other means. This alleged faculty of "seeing" and "hearing" forms is
called clairvoyance (meaning clear sight), and clairaudience (meaning,
clear hearing).
14
MENTAL PHENOMENA
The objects seen and heard are supposed by spiritualists to be the spirits
of the dead, or at least representations of them pictorially presented and
in many cases the descriptions of them furnished by the medium tally with
their appearance in earth life. Thus a clairvoyant medium may pick out a
lady in the audience and say: "Standing by you is a lady of medium height,
with fair hair and fresh complexion. I should say she passed over about
ten years ago with an affection of the throat, as I get that condition. I
hear the name Sarah. Do you recognise her?" To this question the visitor
may answer yes or no as the case may be. The incident is merely given as
an illustration of what to expect, and is typical of such communications.
The reader will naturally ask at this point:
"How am I to go to such a meeting and what am I to say when addressed?" We
must now try to reply to this question in as clear a way as possible. The
first thing to ask yourself is whether the medium knows you or knows some
one who does so. This is always possible in small provincial towns and
15
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
so it is better to attend seances; of this kind only when staying in large
cities. Naturally if the medium is normally acquainted with you and your
position in life any message given to you would be far less likely to be
supernormal than one given by a medium who was a total stranger.
Go alone if possible, wearing nothing distinctive, such as clerical garb,
mourning, nurse's uniform or livery. Take a pencil and pad to jot down
anything that is said to you, together with your replies, in the identical
language used as far as possible. Wait until the medium points to you
directly. Do not give a sign of assent should, for example the medium say:
"I hear the name John", that being your grandfather's first name. When the
medium addresses you directly, answer frankly but give no information
beyond acknowledging the truth of his statement. Thus when he says: "I see
a gentleman standing by you and hear the name John. I think it is your
father," do not say as many sitters do: "No it is my grandfather", as that
is giving the medium wholly gratuitous
16
MENTAL PHENOMENA
information which only confuses a genuine medium and assists a fraud to
deceive you. Instead of answering in this manner say something like this:
"Yes, go on, I should like to hear some more about the gentleman," an
answer that might be given even if the name has absolutely no
significance. In this way, the medium if genuine is encouraged and if
fraudulent, will only involve himself in mistakes which will soon expose
his true character. Do not betray exaggerated scepticism nor laugh and say
that it is quite impossible. The description given may be wholly wrong,
but you are not likely to get a correct one by laughing at the person who
is working for you.
Remember that it is quite possible that the medium, if fraudulent,
possesses private information about certain sitters, has confederates, and
is good at guessing and at getting sitters to give information. Judge by
what you get yourself and not by what others appear to be getting. After
the meeting leave at once. Do not chat with other visitors on any account,
and if you have got anything
17
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
that you think is good, write out a full account, being careful to note
the time, date and medium's full name. Affix to your copy the notes made
at the sitting. If you go again to the same meeting, remember that you are
known by sight, and if you have a striking appearance do not forget the
possibility that you may have been followed on the previous occasion. Be
as calm and collected as possible, betraying no excitement should the
medium speak of facts which you believed were known only to yourself. Do
not speak to others of your experiences, but if you think them
sufficiently interesting, send all the material to one of the Societies
for Psychical Research, the officers of which will help you if you are a
member of these organisations.
For a private sitting for clairvoyant descriptions the custom is usually
to arrange a sitting by telephone in America and by letter in England. In
either case take care that the request deals simply with the sitting in
question and make a note of what was said in the call or keep a copy of
the letter. In writing or telephoning for an appointment, it is always
18
MENTAL PHENOMENA
as well to use an assumed name and address c/o some trustworthy friend who
will act as intermediary by receiving your correspondence. No genuine
medium objects to this, nor to notes being taken at the sitting which is
both necessary and proper. After the seance, if results have been obtained
write out a detailed account as before, giving the full circumstances of
your visit. Preserve all together with the letter or telephone note for
the appointment, as these small details are important and indicate that
the sitter is earnest in his enquiry.
In conclusion it ought to be stated that it is a mistake, in England at
any rate, to suppose that all mental mediums attempt to gain knowledge
surreptitiously about their clients. It is well known that certain of the
best mediums discourage gossip even on the part of their own sitters as
calculated to spoil their results. Whatever may be the source of the
correct information which is given through them, it is certainly not, in
many cases derived from enquiries made by the mediums or on their behalf.
19
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
Automatic Writing
As has been said in the introduction, messages obtained automatically are
received in various ways. The simplest is for the subject to write
directly on paper in front of him, but everyone cannot do this and so
different methods have been devised. One is called the Ouija Board*. a
piece of wood on which are painted the letters of the alphabet, figures,
and appropriate words such as Yes, No and Good-bye. A small piece of wood
mounted on three legs is used with the board, one part of the upper
portion being pointed. The operators put their fingers lightly on the
surface of the latter, and after a time it begins to move across the board
and points to the letters without the operators being aware that they are
pushing it, which they are probably doing in reality, although in many
cases without knowing it.
The Planchette is a slightly different contrivance. It consists of a
heart-shaped piece
---
* From the French oui and the German ya meaning Yes.
20
MENTAL PHENOMENA
of wood, mounted on three supports, two of which are supplied with small
wheels, whilst the third consists of a pencil with point downwards. The
apparatus is placed on paper and the sitters put their hands on it as in
the Ouija. The result is that the pencil proceeds to write out messages
directly, instead of pointing to the letters in succession as in the
previous case.
Both methods are clumsier than pure automatic writing and it is rarely
that a medium uses them in preference to the simpler form. To see if a
subject is deliberately pushing the board hold your own fingers so lightly
that if the board moves at all your partner must be doing it himself. Note
the colour of the nails of the hand and see if the blood is being forced
up-a sure sign of pressure being applied. Movements of the arm also betray
conscious guidance, although this is not always the case, and certainty
could only be attained by special experiments.
As a general rule it is hardly worth while wasting much time over either
the Ouija or Planchette, unless really remarkable
21
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
results are being obtained, and these, if received, should be sent to a
competent psychologist for advice as to their value.
Pure automatic writing may be performed by a medium either normally or
when in trance. By trance I mean a condition when the medium apparently
loses his normal consciousness, and remains either in a sleeplike
condition or appears to change personality whilst still awake. Usually
good automatic writing mediums fall into trance. If serious experiments
are contemplated it is as well to take a stenographer with you unless you
are able to take notes yourself in shorthand. Your notes must be complete
and accurate. Number your pages, say when and where the sitting took
place, who was there and any special conditions that obtained at the time.
Write down all that is said by the automatist, as well as your own
remarks. Put what you say in round brackets and any notes thought
necessary in square brackets. When copying out the record use some such
form as this:
22
MENTAL PHENOMENA
Automatic Writing
MEDIUM. Mrs. T. F. Jones. PLACE.
The medium's house, 35 King St. Bramgate. DATE & TIME. Nov. 3, 1922. 3 pm
PRESENT. Mrs. Jones and self. Mr. Sharp as note-taker.
[Begin] We are here now [Pause] and are glad to see you [Pause] Henry
wants [written so badly that it is only just able to be deciphered] to say
something (Yes, please; I am listening).
In making the copy keep strictly to the original. Do not add punctuation
marks nor respell mis-spelled words. During the sitting refrain from
asking too many questions, as this tends to interrupt the flow of the
writing. If you think that a question ought to be asked, choose a
convenient opportunity and then ask quietly for what you want. Never mind
if you get no reply, as such answers often come later during the seance.
There is no harm in reading aloud what is produced
23
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
and when a word cannot be read ask firmly that it be repeated. If the
alleged communicator writes undesirable matter or causes the medium to
become excited and violent do not be afraid, but insist calmly and firmly
that if such behaviour continues the writing will have to be stopped.
Normally the seance will end slowly and the medium will gradually awake
from the trance. Between the ending of the trance and being fully awake,
the medium will often say something as if continuing a conversation or
giving fresh material, and this should always be carefully recorded, as
important evidential matter may be found in it.
After the seance leave at once and on no account talk to the medium or to
others in the household. Write out your sitting as soon as you can and
make enquiries if any points seem as, if they could be verified or denied
through enquiry outside. There is no reason why you should tell people why
you ask certain questions if they are likely to be pained or shocked at
your visiting a medium. Put it in such a way that they
24
MENTAL PHENOMENA
give the information which you want without suspecting the origin or
motive of your enquiry.
Remember that you have no proof that what the automatist is writing
proceeds from spirits, and treat the records as material which has to be
weighed, tested and examined, just as any other communication from an
unknown source.
Inspirational Messages
By inspirational messages are meant messages purporting to come from
spirits through a medium who speaks instead of writes as described in the
previous section. Almost exactly the same procedure should be adopted as
in the former case, but fewer questions should be put, as these, in my
experience tend to break up the flow of speech and often stop the sitting
altogether. These messages are most often religious in tone and show the
working of the medium's own mind in strong relief. Evidential material is
rarer than in automatic writing and the faculty
25
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
is usually employed by mediums in giving long winded religious discourses
upon the public platform.
Crystal Gazing
When some people gaze into a crystal glass ball or glass sphere filled
with water they sometimes see pictures or words which are apparently in
the crystal. Looking into a ball in this way is called crystal gazing or "scrying"
and there are some mediums who employ these balls in their experiments.
The medium describes what he sees and the sitter takes notes as carefully
and conscientiously as he would in any other experiment, noting the time,
place etc. as usual.
The visions are usually ushered in by the crystal becoming cloudy or
milky, and then these clouds roll away revealing a picture. In some cases
mediums claim that others can see the picture at the same time. Such cases
are rare and are probably usually fraudulent, a written message,
photograph or coloured scene being introduced under the crystal as
26
MENTAL PHENOMENA
the medium holds it. It must be understood that in ordinary crystal gazing
the pictures are not really in the crystal but in the mind of the person
who sees them, to whom it appears as if they were in the crystal. Thus if
several persons saw the same picture in the crystal at the same time, it
would mean that each had the same mental picture, which is unusual, and
for certain reasons is of especial interest to psychical researchers: if
therefore the reader knows of such cases being well authenticated, he
would be doing a service by reporting it to one of the Societies for
Psychical Research.
There are very few mediums nowadays who sit exclusively for crystal
gazing. Those that remain belong rather to the strolling fortune-telling
class, than to the regular mediums, but there are one or two who still
practise it for evidential purposes and obtain excellent results. Such
persons are usually under the strict surveillance of professional
psychical researchers and it is very unlikely that members of the public
will ever have access to them for experimental work.
27
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
Psychometry
The word psychometry is applied to a phase of mediumship in which the
medium by merely taking some letter, object or other article is able to
relate incidents and facts concerning it and its past history. Thus
suppose I take a letter to a medium, written by a person whom I do not
know and composed during some period of stress or suffering, and the
medium after taking the letter, handles it but does not open it, and then
relates certain incidents about the writer and the conditions under which
the letter was written, that medium would be called a psychometrist. There
is some excellent evidence for this power of psychometry, although at
present no satisfactory explanation of it has been forthcoming.
When visiting a medium of this class, the same care for concealing
identity should be employed as in former cases, although if the purpose of
the visit is a purely experimental one such rigid precautions need not be
observed. The articles taken can be of any
28
MENTAL PHENOMENA
sort, provided that they are small enough to be handled by the medium.
Letters should be enclosed in plain sealed envelopes chosen from an
unopened packet before the sitting as if the medium sees the writing,
style of envelope, post mark etc. of the original, clues might be given
which it would be unwise to furnish. Articles may be either wrapped up in
rubber or oiled silk, or presented uncovered as the needs and requirements
of different mediums vary in this respect.
Some psychometrists add to the demonstration by giving messages from those
persons to whom the articles belonged, if those persons are dead, but in
purely scientific work this is rarely done. Full notes of every thing the
medium says should be taken; the place, date and time given, and special
conditions which appeared to affect the medium during the reading, such as
shivering, fear, or complaint of feeling hot or cold. If articles have
been brought, concerning which the sitter knows nothing, he need not and
indeed cannot reply to the medium's questions, the correctness of the
latter's impressions being confirmed
29
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
later by personal enquiries on the part of the sitter. If the sitter
believes that remarkable results are being obtained a full report should
be sent to one or other of the Societies for Psychical Research, as for
various reasons experiments in this field are particularly interesting
from certain points of view.
Sealed Letter Reading
By sealed letter reading I mean the acquisition of knowledge of a sealed
letter or billet, sometimes said to be shown by a certain class of
mediums. In England such phenomena are now rarely seen in public, although
occasionally such performers hire parlours in fashionable thoroughfares,
and advertise their powers on notice-boards which men carry through the
streets. In Europe there are still some mediums who profess to be able to
read sealed letters, and in America such phenomena are commonly shown at
public circles and services.
Sealed letter reading, like slate writing, is nearly always fraudulent,
and I have only once seen an example of it where I was unable
30
MENTAL PHENOMENA
to discover any normal explanation. It was in connection with a Polish
engineer, in whose case some evidence exists that he does possess a power
of this kind, although systematic enquiry into his claims has never been
granted. In America the most famous exponent of the art of sealed letter
reading was the late Bert Reese, but when I saw him in New York I was able
to detect the methods which he used at his performance. The corresponding
medium in Europe was formerly associated with Reese in Memphis (U.S.A.).
Styling himself Professor Akyldar he took a parlour in Regent Street in
1920. Some years later he reappeared in France under the name of Ludwig
Kahn and was investigated by the Parisian enquirers at the Institut
Metapsychique Internationale. He convinced them of his supernormal powers,
but the reports themselves lent the strongest weight to the assumption
that his methods were those of Reese.'
There are so many methods of producing these phenomena fraudulently, that
it is
---
* I have summarised the literature concerning Kahn in the Journal of the
Society for Psychical Research, 1926, XXIII, 94-95.
31
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
hopeless even to attempt to make a resume of them. Very broadly speaking,
the main point to remember is that the medium at some stage or other of
the proceedings becomes acquainted with the contents of the sealed papers;
and that in order to do this it is often necessary to substitute one paper
for another of the same appearance. Before going, therefore, to such an
exhibition provide yourself with slips of paper and envelopes of bright
colours. Draw on the envelopes some odd designs in deep black ink, so that
it will be impossible for the medium to exchange your envelopes for
others. If you are asked to prepare your billets beforehand (and it is
always good to have some of these prepared) buy some of those opaque black
or red envelopes which photographers sell for enclosing plates, and place
your slip of paper inside one of these and between two opaque black pieces
of thick paper or thin cardboard. Paste down your flap, and seal it with
wax of some unusual colour. Run a line from a copying-ink pencil along the
outer edge of the two flaps at the back. This will prevent the envelope
from
32
MENTAL PHENOMENA
being steamed open, as water will affect the pencil lines if it is applied
to them. Make a note precisely how you have put your billet inside the
envelope: that is to say, notice whether the folded part of your slip when
inside the envelope is at the bottom or top, right hand side or left, when
looking at the envelope flap side away from you. When undoing the envelope
to verify the statement of the medium regarding its contents carefully
note all these particulars, as they may be of extreme importance in
determining the true nature of the phenomena. Many a medium fails to
remember the position of the billet when replacing it after having read it
fraudulently. Spiritualists explain such changes in position both in the
case of billets in sealed envelopes, and photographic plates in sealed
packets by asserting that bad spirits have exercised the power of passing
matter through matter in order to embarrass the medium. The sensible
person will, no doubt, take a different view, and he may be glad of the
preceding hints, which will enable him to detect some of the most
ingenious tricks ever invented by mediums,
33
CHAPTER II
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
The so-called physical phenomena are entirely different from those that we
have been considering in the preceding section. They consist mainly of
occurrences and manifestations which cannot apparently be explained on
normal grounds, and so other "explanations" are resorted to, such as
"spirits", "psychic force" or "psychic substance". A great deal of
spiritualistic belief is based on these physical phenomena and it is
important for the novice to understand the real facts before he begins to
attend seances for these manifestations.
Now there are two main classes of persons who attend seances of this kind,
with a serious purpose. Firstly there are those people who
34
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
have suffered bereavement and who want consolation, hoping to be able to
see again their dear ones in materialized forms, and to recognise their
well known hand writing on slates or paper. Secondly there are those
persons who are interested in the material and mechanical side of the
physical phenomena; that is to say they want to investigate the means
whereby tables are lifted, raps are caused or lights are produced.
Let us take then as a beginning the people who go to obtain comfort and
consolation in bereavement. Firstly, let it be quite clearly understood
that the enormous majority of all physical phenomena by both public and
private mediums is fraudulent; that is to say that the means of their
accomplishment are purely normal and have nothing in them which demands
any but a purely normal explanation. This is the first thing to remember;
that the chances are that when you see a manifestation of this sort it is
fraudulent and the medium is deceiving you. It does not matter if it is a
public medium on a platform or a private medium at home.
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
The chances are that the phenomena are fraudulent.
When you go to a conjuring entertainment, do you expect to understand how
everything is done? Of course you do not. Then why expect to understand
how a medium performs his tricks? You say the conditions are different?
They are: different tricks require different conditions, but that does not
alter the fact that they are tricks all the same.
Now consider another point. Is it worth while to attend seances for
physical phenomena in the hope of obtaining comfort, when the fact is that
even if genuine phenomena occur, they have no bearing on survival without
being accompanied by mental phenomena, which are extremely rare in the
case of the same medium? It is presumed that the reader desires to know
the truth and does not wish to be deceived. The truth is this: the
physical manifestations are fraudulently produced by mediums for the
express purpose of obtaining money from you by trading on your own sorrows
and desires for consolation. If they invite "tests", they make sure that
36
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
they are applied by persons that know nothing about such matters and whom
they can easily deceive. Remember that no genuine medium who gives
sittings 'at all, ever refuses scientific conditions. He usually demands
them and rightly so, for unless such conditions prevail, his work is
certain to be discredited by all sensible people. If therefore a medium
refuses such conditions on the ground of "injurious vibrations"
"unsympathetic conditions" or similar excuses, you have a sure sign of a
fraudulent trickster. Finally I would say to the sorrowing person: avoid
the physical phenomena. If genuine they can offer you little; but they are
almost certain to be fraudulent.
The second class of persons who attend sittings for physical phenomena are
those who are interested in the material and mechanical side of the
proceedings. It is generally of little interest to these if no tests of
any kind are permitted; but if severe conditions are imposed then the
phenomena become interesting from whatever standpoint one chooses to
regard them. The same
37
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
warning is needed here as before, and it cannot be too forcibly pointed
out that the chances are heavily against anything genuine being seen in
circles where the public are admitted. Mediums presenting phenomena which
are either genuine or difficult to explain almost immediately pass under
the control of scientific men with whom they can obtain the best
conditions and can be studied at leisure.
In the following sections no attempt has been made to deal in an
exhaustive manner with any phase of physical mediumship. The hints given
have been put together from my notes in the hope that they may prevent the
mistakes an ill informed sitter invariably makes. They may also be found
of service as signals for care and watchfulness by the more experienced
sitters. Before passing on, it may be as well to say a few words on the
conditions usually obtaining at seances for ordinary physical phenomena.
Darkness or semi-darkness is usually the rule. This assists fraud to an
enormous extent and is wholly unnecessary and indefensible except in a few
rare cases. A dim light can nearly
38
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
always be used and should be insisted upon at the beginning. Music,
praying and singing are often indulged in in public and private circles,
which serve a double purpose in cases of fraud: (a) for drowning the sound
of the medium preparing his apparatus, and (b) for Putting the sitters in
a state of semi-religious anticipation favourable to suggestion and
self-delusion.
In many cases a cabinet is provided which usually consists of a structure
of black curtains with two curtains in front sliding on a rod; or
occasionally merely a couple of curtains are hung on a rod placed
diagonally across a corner of the room. Many of these observances spring
from the idea that the "spirits" can only manifest in darkness and as
"spirits" are connected with religion, so a religious atmosphere is
desirable. Spiritualists are in this way largely responsible for the fraud
that abounds in the "Movement", wholly forgetful of the fact that genuine
physical phenomena seem to have occurred in a good light with the
observers standing all round the medium. There are some people who
39
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
go to seances for physical phenomena for the express purpose of breaking
up the proceedings by violence and of exposing the medium. It need hardly
be said that no experienced and serious investigator ever does this, as if
he cannot distinguish fraudulent from genuine phenomena he leaves the
field open for those who can. A fraudulent medium is almost as interesting
sometimes as a genuine one especially if the investigator is acquainted
with the principles of deception.
In the section that follows a few hints will be given which may help
sitters to distinguish fairly obvious cases of fraudulent practices on the
part of mediums. He must not expect ever to be able to detect the more
subtle devices used, as the knowledge of such is only acquired through
long experience and training. If however, the ordinary layman is
completely puzzled by phenomena he sees with a certain medium, he has a
clear course open to him by which to discover whether his medium is
genuine or fraudulent. All he has to do is to ask the medium whether he
will consent to hold, say half a dozen test sittings
40
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
with an organisation devoted to serious Psychical research. A committee
would then be approached to investigate the phenomena if sufficient funds
were forthcoming, and if genuine a report would be published to that
effect. On the other hand if the medium refuses sittings, talks about
"sceptics' injurious mentality" etc. then the layman may as well put him
down as a fraud, as no genuine medium who gives sittings at all to members
of the public ever refused the honour of investigation by a scientific
society.
Table Tipping
By table tipping is meant a common result obtained when several persons
sit round a table with the fingers resting on the surface. The table
begins to move and tip, and if the alphabet is repeated the table often
tips at certain letters thus spelling out words and sentences. There are
two main points of interest in table tipping. Firstly the fact that the
table moves without the sitters knowing
41
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
that they are moving it; and secondly that it is possible that sometimes
the table may spell out information provably correct which was wholly
unknown to those engaged in the experiment. Generally speaking the table
is always moved by the sitters themselves and there is no "psychic force"
or "magnetism" about it. Such phrases mean nothing and the sooner the
layman stops using them the better. In some cases the sitters move the
table with unconscious muscular action and I have seen two well educated
people, one a medical man, pushing a table all round a room, when I am
pretty sure they were not conscious of the pressure they were exerting.
A good way to prevent muscular action of this sort is to ask the sitters
when the table begins to move to allow their finger tips to slide over the
moving surface, and when this is done it will be noticed how rapidly the
table comes to a standstill.
The interesting thing in table tipping is not the physical movement but
the messages and information spelt out by the tips irrespective
42
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
of the fact of whether these are produced by the sitters or not. This
information should be treated exactly in the same way as that obtained
through mental mediums and should be verified if possible. In many cases
the information will be untrue, and indeed I have never been present at a
table tipping circle where the messages were not wholly valueless. Such
however is not always the case and care should be taken to have an
accurate record made so that everything spelt out and also the questions
put by the leader of the circle may be jotted down at the time for future
reference. If good results are obtained and information is apparently
given which is proved to be both correct and beyond the normal knowledge
of the sitters, arrangements should be made to sit regularly. As public
mediums for table tipping are almost unknown a private circle should be
formed. Four persons are a good number, and a light, firm, plain,
four-legged table should be chosen. Darkness is not necessary nor is
ordinary conversation detrimental provided of course that there be no
levity or silly giggling. Sit
43
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
regularly once a week on the same day and at the same hour and appoint one
of the sitters as leader of the circle to ask any questions and to conduct
conversation with the alleged 49 communicators". There is no harm in
presupposing the existence of some communicating intelligence, provided
that it is remembered that proof must come through evidence of personal
identity and not through vapourings about the life in spirit land or
semi-religious and long-winded messages. Insist on evidence of identity
before receiving messages from the "intelligence". For instance demand the
name of the communicator, approximate date of his death and particulars of
his earth life. All these details might be given and might be correct, but
if the facts were known, or had been known to the sitters they do not
contribute any evidence for the supernormal. For good evidence the facts
must be correct and unknown to any of the sitters; and it must be proved
that the facts could not have been so known at any period of the sitters'
lives.
44
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
Raps
By a rap is meant a sharp tap or knock heard upon or in any object and
produced through some means not recognised at present.
Genuine raps are excessively rare even if they ever take place at all and
I have never heard one in the course of years of investigation. As this
book is confined to raps produced by mediums, it need merely be said that
the first thing to make sure is that the medium is not producing them
normally. Naturally raps produced in the medium's own house on his own
table and chairs are useless as evidence and I assume that the medium has
been invited to the house of the sitter.
Usually a small circle is made round a table and the raps sound on the
chairs, on the table and sometimes as far as four or five feet away from
the medium. A dim light is customary and deception is so easy that strict
conditions have to be imposed. No attention need be paid to raps on the
table if the medium is sitting near to it, nor indeed to any raps
45
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
which occur within a radius of about three feet from the medium. Raps
nearer than this might be genuine but their verification would depend upon
the use of apparatus out of the reach of the normal sitter. If raps occur
at some considerable distance from the medium, and reply to questions by
rapping the number of times required and by spelling out messages when the
alphabet is repeated, then the case becomes important and full notes and
observations should be made at each sitting, and a report sent to one of
the Societies who will assist in the investigation if requested.
There are a dozen of ways of producing fake raps, some almost indetectable
except by the expert. In one method the medium stands three feet from the
table and stretches out one hand about two and a half feet from its
surface. At request sharp raps take place on the under side of the table,
yet everything can be examined a moment afterwards.
In the United States apparatus for producing raps is sold in certain
stores, but I have never seen such contrivances used in England. Very
often fraudulent mediums prefer the
46
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
simpler methods, and at one time I experimented with a private business
man who claimed to produce genuine raps and who produced them with his
hands and feet in a most ingenious manner. Generally speaking there are
few mediums who sit exclusively for raps; these being usually combined
with other phenomena such as lights, the movement of objects without
apparent contact, etc. In sittings for table turning raps are said to be
occasionally produced, but as the sitters usually have their hands on the
table it is very difficult to discover whether the noises are really raps
or merely creaks in the table. I have never heard what I consider to be a
genuine rap at a sitting of this kind, although the other sitters were
quite sure that the noises produced were in reality raps and not sounds
due to the pressure of their hands on the table.
"Genuine" raps seem to be of two kinds. There are some which sound like
short sharp taps sometimes increasing in sound until they resemble
ordinary blows. It is as if objects were being struck by rods furnished
with either padded or hard knobs
47
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
at their ends. The other class of raps are more similar to slight
explosions, like the noise made by an electric spark or by the shattering
of Rupert Drops. With genuine physical mediums they often take place at
the beginning and end of seances, sometimes replying to questions once a
suitable code has been established. Spiritualists are content to think
that the "spirit friends" are rapping and have little interest in the
methods used by psychical researchers to discover exactly how these sounds
are produced.
Lights
By "Lights" are meant luminous points or cloudy masses of vapour which
sometimes appear in the seance room flashing out suddenly or floating
about. Sometimes they are single points of light but occasionally luminous
globes appear of varying degrees of brilliancy. Generally speaking they
are peculiar, inasmuch as they scarcely ever illumine the space around
them and are usually violet in colour, although some have been seen of
yellow
48
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
and salmon-pink shades. Like all physical phenomena they are constantly
being produced fraudulently, and their appearance is of no evidential
value unless the medium has been subjected to a strict control by
competent observers. I have never yet seen what I consider to be genuine
lights, although there is some evidence which might lead one to suppose
that they occasionally occur. Like raps, they are often the accompaniment
of other phenomena and are rarely presented alone by any medium. In public
circles few precautions can be taken, as investigation is not usually
permitted. Those sitting next the medium, however, can make certain
observations which may be of assistance in judging the true nature of the
phenomena. When the lights are visible and are floating about, try to
ascertain whether the limbs of the medium are in movement and whether his
arms are extended either in front or at the sides. Ask to be allowed to
hold one hand of the medium and request the observer on the other side to
do the same. Then notice whether the altitude of the lights has changed,
as it is
49
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
possible that their manipulation, if fraudulent, is now being controlled
by the medium's feet. One clever method is to affix an irregular patch of
luminous paper to the sole of the boot, and when this is moved about as
the medium raises his foot a very striking and novel effect is produced.
At an ordinary seance the casual visitor must not expect to know whether
the lights presented are genuine or fraudulent. This can only be
ascertained through the exercise of the most stringent precautions which
ordinary public mediums never permit and which require expert knowledge
for their successful execution. Lights have little significance, and
although, if genuine, they are of great interest to the physicist and
physiologist they have little meaning to the ordinary public and have but
small relation to survival after death.
Movement of Objects without Contact
The technical term for the movement of objects without contact is
telekinesis. This is derived from the Greek, and simply means
50
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
movement at a distance. Such phenomena are common at public circles where
the physical phenomena are usually presented. Movements of objects are
also said to occur at seances where the spirits are supposed to speak
through a hollow cylinder or trumpet. In this case the trumpet is often
said to float round the room, its motion being observed by means of a
luminous band affixed to its larger end. I have never myself seen a
movement of this sort, although I have often seen what other people
describe as such a movement. It seems to be forgotten that mediums can
stand up and move objects about after having escaped from the inefficient
control exercised at public sittings.
Apart from fraud however, telekinesis is really one of the best attested
of all psychic phenomena. Nor ought it to be considered so very curious.
Everyone believes in telekinesis. I have only to demonstrate it to them
with a magnet and a piece of iron and they are at once convinced. There
seems to be no connection between the iron and the magnet. Nor is there of
a material kind.
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
What that connection is is very mysterious; quite as mysterious as that
which actually happens to a sensitive plate or film when light falls upon
it. Because it is mysterious however, we do not deny its existence. There
is a good deal of evidence for telekinesis with mediums, but as mediums
are much rarer than magnets the phenomena cannot be demonstrated so
easily. Indeed it is so difficult to see these phenomena under proper
control that at the present moment I am unable to indicate a single medium
with whom these occurrences can be observed under satisfactory conditions.
Usually in these cases phenomena of this sort occur without warning and
are seldom repeated, so it is very difficult to investigate them
thoroughly. There are some mediums who claim to be able to show these
movements almost at any time, whilst there are others with whom it is
necessary to wait hours before anything unusual occurs.
When investigating these movements the first consideration is naturally to
determine whether there is anything material in the way of an ordinary
connection between the medium
52
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
and the object. I say ordinary connection because there obviously must be
some connection. Objects do not move or are lifted up unless some "force"
or material link is operating upon them. If there were no link of any kind
then we should have what might conveniently be termed a miracle, and
miracles of this sort have never been scientifically demonstrated. It is
only the disbelievers in all psychical phenomena who demand such miracles.
If it could be shown that, proceeding from the medium there is some
"force" or active principle which was responsible for the movement of an
object at a distance, then it would no longer be considered to be
miraculous but would become an abnormal but natural phenomenon.
Now as sittings for telekinesis are usually held in darkness it is often
quite impossible to determine whether genuine phenomena have occurred or
not. Of course if one were allowed to see that the medium did not move,
then one could be certain that an object entirely out of the medium's
reach could not be normally moved if one had eliminated confederates,
53
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
threads, and similar possibilities. It is the best plan for the
inexperienced sitter to suspend judgment unless the movements take place
in a good light and at such a distance from the medium that normal action
by the latter is impossible. Phenomena occurring in darkness and in public
circles are of no value to the ordinary sitter, and should the medium
refuse better conditions, or appear to be insulted by such suggestions, it
is better to leave him alone. Above all be suspicious of mediums who
prefer to be bound with ropes rather than be held on either side by two of
the observers. Such rope ties may appear to be striking and spectacular,
yet in reality they are easy to escape from and are chosen with that
purpose in view. Without a detailed knowledge of rope ties and the means
to escape therefrom the ordinary sitter will have no chance of detecting
the trick. Further remarks concerning this matter will be found in a later
chapter. Should the reader find himself in serious perplexity regarding a
particular case it is better to consult an expert rather than attempt an
inefficient investigation. Such
54
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
phenomena are of great interest to science, but an enquiry inefficiently
conducted may do harm to the medium concerned and seriously cripple any
supernormal powers that he may possess.
Materialization
By the power of materialization is meant the faculty said to be possessed
by certain mediums of extruding a certain kind of matter* which is able to
form itself or be formed into various shapes and structures. Among
spiritualists the term is more often thought of as denoting the power to
produce forms resembling human limbs and occasionally complete human
bodies which are then styled "full-form materializations". Among psychical
researchers, however, the word is more generally used to denote any kind
of extrusion of matter by the medium, and it is thought by some that the
movement of objects without contact is in reality caused by such
extrusions, although at times these formations are completely invisible.
It will be
¡ Called 'ectoplasm' by spiritualists and others.
55
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
convenient here to confine our attention to the kind of materialization
the spiritualist thinks of when he uses the word.
What usually happens at a seance for materialization is something like
this. In one corner of the room what is called a cabinet is erected. This
is often a couple of curtains running on a rod or tape, placed diagonally
across the corner. The sitters, having been arranged in a horseshoe
formation await the entry of the medium, who will enter the cabinet and
occupy a chair just behind the curtain. Before the sitting begins a
cursory examination of the room, cabinet and medium may be permitted, but
usually the inspection is not sufficient to discover the presence of
trap-doors or similar devices. The medium, having entered the cabinet,
goes into a trance, or is supposed to do so. Before the trance comes on
the light is turned out and either the spectators are left in darkness, or
a dim red light of no practical utility is allowed to remain. The medium
is usually accompanied by his manager or employer, who arranges the
conditions, collects the fees from the spectators and explains what
56
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
is about to happen in a general way. The sitters are usually asked to hold
hands, and after a short time the phenomena begin. Heralded by the strains
of a musical box or gramophone a voice makes itself heard from the
cabinet. This voice is said to be that of the medium's "Control", or
supposed spirit who speaks through the mouth of the medium. This voice
will make an announcement regarding the phenomena, may change the
conditions or order of the sitters or increase or decrease the light. Raps
may be heard within the cabinet, and after a time luminous forms of
varying heights are shown at the opening of the curtains. Occasionally
these forms come out and glide about in front of the observers. Now and
then these figures are life-like, shaking hands with the observers and
showing warmth and vitality. More usually however, they hover around the
curtains, and show no inclination to come forward. In disappearing, they
either withdraw into the cabinet, or at times seem to sink through the
floor itself. Very rarely, when the light is good it is occasionally
possible to see both the medium and the figure
57
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
at the same time, but this has rarely, if ever, happened under conditions
which now-a-days would be considered satisfactory.
The amount of fraud in materialization is enormous, and the beginner would
do well to keep out of public circles, unless the medium concerned has a
good reputation with serious, sensible, well-informed persons. If the
phenomena however, are of such a nature that it is difficult to assume
that fraud has been responsible for them it might be as well to take a
little trouble to ascertain whether the medium will accept reasonable
conditions. In this connexion the following hints may be of some service.
In the first place suggest that the seances should be held in your own
house, or in the house of a trusted friend. If the sittings are held in
the medium's house or in the residence of one of his acquaintances,
deception is merely invited, as trap-doors and similar devices are cheap
and easy to fix. If the medium consents to sit under your conditions with
regard to place, choose a number of serious people for your sitters and
arrange for the medium to
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
bring a friend with him if he wishes to do so. If he is genuine it is
quite natural that he should wish to have a friend near him during the
sittings, and if the seances continue and he realises that the circle is a
serious one who will play no tricks upon him then he will, no doubt,
consent to sit alone without any companion. Remember that no genuine
medium objects to tests, so tell him that you expect he will consent to
certain precautions being taken. It is only the fraud who is insulted by
tests. The genuine medium will insist upon them because he knows that he
is not responsible for what may happen in the trance state, and therefore
he will ask for proper conditions during the sittings. The precautions to
be taken depend upon the phenomena which each particular medium is said to
produce. They vary with the different classes of manifestations and cannot
be dealt with here. Generally speaking the best precaution of all is to
have sittings conducted in such light that everything in the room is
plainly visible. If the medium insists on red light (which is useful for
photographic purposes) arrange
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
it so that a diffused light is shed over the area where materializations
are expected. Never allow the lamp to be arranged so that the light is
thrown into the faces of the observers. Arrange that the medium should
have one hand held on one side by one of your friends, the other being
similarly held on the opposite side. The medium's companion, should he
bring one, should be placed so as to be between the sitter who holds one
of the medium's hands and the next one in the semi-circle. In this way
both his hands are under control. Distrust "full forms"; they are
excessively rare, and should they occur under conditions outlined above
the case should be reported to some competent authority.
As has been said above materializations vary in character. Vague hand and
arm shapes may occasionally be seen; and sometimes the hands are fully
formed being warm to the touch. In recent times materializations have been
taking the form of white veil-like formations and waxy structures which
seem to proceed from various parts of the medium's body. On no account
should any materializations
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
ever be touched or seized without the permission of the medium, or of the
personality which speaks through him in trance. If the medium is genuine
such a proceeding might produce a shock and you will rightly be prevented
from attending any more seances. If the medium is fraudulent it is true
that you may expose the fraud in this manner, but it is a proceeding which
is to be condemned. The leading English spiritualists have recently been
praising a newspaper committee for exposing a medium by flashing a sudden
light upon him. The result has been to show genuine mediums that they are
not able to trust spiritualists when a crucial point is involved. It is
difficult to see how mediums can protect themselves against these
outrages, and probably the best plan for those persons who really possess
supernormal powers is either only to sit for their personal friends or
with scientific men of known probity and seriousness of purpose. Torches
are valuable when used in co-operation with the medium. Without his
consent they should be forbidden in the seance room.
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
A word of advice in conclusion. Avoid public circles where phenomena are
exhibited on certain evenings at so much per head. The manifestations are
almost certain to be fraudulent and are being presented either to make
money or to advertise the medium's manager, who often poses as a serious
scientific investigator, when he is in reality taking the place of a
showman exhibiting a freak. If you still wish to attend these performances
go simply to observe what takes place, using your eyes and cars to the
uttermost and remembering that all is not gold that glitters. If you are
impressed and feel satisfied that the medium is worth serious attention
talk to him quietly and see what conditions he will accept. If he will
give you a private sitting and will accept reasonable conditions try to
arrange a second seance to which you can invite some impartial,
unemotional and experienced observers. If the medium objects to proper
control conditions, or appears to be insulted by your proposals, he is not
worth serious attention and money should not be wasted over him.
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
Apports
By apports (Fr. apporter=to bring) are meant material objects which have
been brought from outside the seance room into it when all normal
openings, such as doors and windows have been closed. Apport mediums are
not common and scientific evidence for their occurrence is very slight.
Few mediums sit exclusively for apports, but these phenomena sometimes
accompany other forms of mediumship. Naturally the only way to secure
genuine apports is to hold the sittings in your own house and to see that
the medium is either thoroughly searched, or sewn up in some gauze-like
bag so that he is entirely enclosed from head to feet. If he is thus
enclosed before being brought into the seance room, into which neither he,
nor a confederate, has ever previously entered then apports may be
seriously considered. If under such conditions large apports appear in the
room it is worth while to report the case to an expert, but as far as my
knowledge goes no
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
apport medium has ever succeeded in producing phenomena under control
conditions. A medium claiming such phenomena resides in Germany, and has
been seen in England. In this case there is often no control whatever, the
hands of the medium not even being held. Yet small stones and similar
objects are sometimes produced and sitters can be obtained to pay good
money to be present at such a preposterous performance.
Trumpet Phenomena
By trumpet phenomena are meant those manifestations in which voices speak
through a cylinder or trumpet to the sitters assembled to hear them. Thus
at a seance with a trumpet medium the sitters are usually arranged in a
semi-circle, the medium either occupying a place in the arc, or being
seated at one end of it. A metal or cardboard tube, somewhat like an
attenuated megaphone, is placed near the medium. Sometimes two or more
trumpets are employed, and occasionally luminous bands or stars are
affixed to the
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
trumpet. The room is made dark, and after a period of waiting one of the
trumpets may move, rise into the air, tap a sitter on the knee; or a
whispered voice may issue from its larger end. These voices are alleged by
spiritualists to be the voices of spirits, and it is true that many of
them purport to be the voices of deceased friends of the sitters giving
names, addresses, and incidents as evidence of identity.
Trumpet mediums may be visited for two distinct purposes. One may go in
order to enquire into what I may term the mechanics of the phenomena; that
is to say the methods by which the trumpet is moved, and by which the
voices are produced may be the chief points of interest. The second
purpose is to determine the accuracy or otherwise of the information
furnished by the voices as evidence of identity. Although the two
interests are not mutually exclusive, people with the second are usually
indifferent to the methods of producing the voices to which they are
listening. In other words it does not really concern such sitters if the
medium is really producing
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
the voices by whispering down the trumpet if the information given is such
that it contains matter which could not have been acquired by the medium
normally.
Like most modern physical mediums trumpet mediums usually work in the
dark, and like all mediums who work in darkness they often have something
to hide. The golden rule for all amateur investigators to remember is that
mediums who sit in darkness are always suspect. Spiritualists will tell
you that darkness is necessary; and the first thing a spiritualist does is
to pull down the blinds. He does not tell you that D. D. Home, the most
famous medium who ever lived, derided dark seances and called black cloth
cabinets "Punch-and-judy boxes". Neither will he tell you that the
greatest of all trumpet mediums (Mrs. Blake) sat in broad daylight, near
the window. If therefore an enquiry into trumpet mediumship is proposed,
the beginner had better concentrate upon the voices and the information
they give. Do not be led away by elaborate apparatus for instituting
so-called mechanical control. Such devices are often
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
constructed to advertise their inventors and not to render the task of
investigating easy. The only apparatus necessary is the light of day, or
at night an electric bulb burning throughout the sitting.
Now even if it be assumed that the medium is really producing the voices
by whispering down the trumpet, there is no valid reason for supposing
that the information given may not be supernormally acquired. It is
certainly unlikely that it is, but we have no proof that it is not. In
this case it would be merely an instance of an ordinary "mental" medium
who uses the trumpet as an added attraction. If the medium consents to
give private sittings, have a shorthand record of everything that is said
by the medium, the sitter, and the voice. In inviting sitters, send to
each a simple pseudonym, for use at the sitting, and permit no
introductions either to the medium or to one another. Avoid giving away
the slightest scrap of information, and follow the rules already given
under the heading of mental mediumship. When a voice speaks give some
encouragement, but give no facts which can
67
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
be later reproduced in a changed form. Do not act as interpreter to the
voices. I have heard a sound like a cough interpreted by innocent sitters
as half-a-dozen different names like Annie, Mary, Carrie, or Dannie. It
was not surprising that, in half an hour when the incident had been
forgotten, Daniel and Caroline both turned up, to be at once recognised by
their delighted relatives. Remember that if the voices are those of your
friends "on the other side" those same friends are as sensible as when
they were on earth, and they will not object to test questions or similar
attempts to obtain trustworthy information. Do not follow the common plan
of treating the voices as if they belonged to children or idiots. Be
self-contained and serious: prepare beforehand what you propose saying, if
certain voices speak to you. If you have no note-taker remember the facts
so that you may know the precise order in which those facts are given.
Remember that to suppose that the voices are being produced by supernormal
power implies that there is something akin to the human larynx which is
causing the necessary
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
air waves. Such phenomena are inherently improbable, and should not be
considered unless they occur under conditions of irreproachable control.
Spirit Photography
Spirit photography is much misunderstood. The man in the street when he
first hears of it is apt to suppose that what is meant is that the
portraits of deceased persons can be obtained through a medium upon a
photographic plate; and that is exactly what the simple minded
spiritualist believes really happens. Such people suppose that the spirits
are around us although invisible, and that through some mysterious process
the "eye of the camera" is able to register their presence when acted upon
by the power of the medium.
Now this ingenuous theory is not that one held by the more intelligent
believers in the authenticity of the phenomena included under the term
spirit photography. It is true that the phenomenon consists essentially in
the
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
production of recognised faces upon photographic plates; but it is thought
that there may be other methods of obtaining such images than to suppose
that the spirits are in the studio and reflecting light into the lens of
the camera. Thus it is often believed that the surface of the photographic
plate or film is in some manner influenced by the spirits, so that on
development the image of the deceased person which has somehow been
impressed is finally made visible. No clear idea of how these remarkable
changes are caused has so far been published, and those who hold such
views have usually so hazy and vague ideas on the subject that any lucid
exposition of the problem is not to be expected.
The ordinary intelligent man and woman of to-day, however, do not care
what may, or may not be the theories underlying spirit photography. They
want to know whether the thing exists at all; whether the faces of the
dead do in reality appear under irreproachable conditions when fraud has
been absolutely eliminated.
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
Now this is a very difficult question to answer. Many people who have had
a great deal of experience are willing to affirm that such phenomena do in
fact occur under conditions which render their fraudulent production
impossible. Such testimony is, in my judgment, considerably weakened by
the fact that such persons are almost, if not always, found to be those
who offer similar testimony regarding other phenomena which are almost
certainly fraudulent. Moreover, in the course of a long professional
experience I have had the opportunity of examining a great number of cases
produced by such persons as specimens of what they consider their best
cases, and I have found that in these cases the evidence is far from
satisfactory.
Apart, however, from my own opinions, it may be stated broadly that there
are no competent psychical researchers who will admit that any good
evidence exists that spirit photographs have been produced under
conditions which rendered their normal production impossible. Isolated
cases may be difficult of explanation, but when a systematic series
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
of experiments is undertaken the phenomena fail to take place, which leads
one to suppose that a series gives the observer the opportunity to
appreciate and check the various fraudulent methods which may be used.
Another fact which supports the theory that fraud is invariably
responsible for spirit photographs is that the mediums refuse systematic
series of experiments conducted by experts. They prefer the untrained
witness, and invariably refuse conditions which prevent them from
tampering with the plates. Moreover they often exact such preposterous
conditions as that the sitters should use the plates provided by the
mediums; and often insist that, if the sitter prefers his own plates,
these should be given to the medium beforehand for the purpose of what is
called "magnetization".* These conditions will, of course, be refused by
the intelligent observer, who, if he is wise, will decline to sit with the
medium except under conditions which I will now briefly outline.
---
*This term is quite meaningless, and is simply used to denote an imaginary
influence exercised by the medium on the plates before the sitting. There
is no evidence whatever that any such influence exists.
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
Firstly, then, if you are not an experienced photographer take someone
with you who is.* Take your own camera with a roll of newly bought film
inserted beforehand. Take in addition a small quarter-plate camera with a
slide ready loaded with two plates of medium speed or of the brand that
the medium prefers. Keep both cameras and any additional plates or films
in a locked attache case or grip. If the medium refuses the roll-film
camera (a suspicious circumstance) then you will be able to use the one
you have already brought loaded with plates. Fix firmly in your mind that
the only part of your equipment that the medium must be allowed to handle
at any time is the outside of your camera. Do not allow him to change the
slide or anything of that sort. If it is proposed to develop the first two
plates, do it yourself, and if the medium insists on accompanying you to
the dark room insist that your friend may also accompany you. Do not
forget to lock up
---
* The following remarks are meant to apply to a sitter with some knowledge
of photography. If an experienced friend accompanies him then they may
refer to the latter.
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
your camera in your case and take it with you to the dark room. A
brilliant trick depends on the sitter leaving his things to be tampered
with by a confederate of the medium when the sitter is absent in the dark
room. When developing, do not permit the medium to handle the plates or
(and this is most important) to pour on the developer. Remember that no
genuine medium will insist on doing any of these things, and would
scarcely demand to be in the dark room at any time with the sitter. If, in
spite of all your precautions faces or abnormal markings occur arrange if
you can afford it for another six sittings to compare your results. If
fraudulent the medium will probably refuse, but if genuine he will welcome
a serious enquirer who understands the importance of systematic work. If
he accepts, tell him that you propose consulting some experienced person
concerning the proper procedure, and note closely how the medium receives
the proposal. At all times remember that every genuine medium welcomes
investigation. If the medium accepts all your proposals, approach some
competent authority
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
and discuss the whole affair. In order to indicate what facts are
necessary in cases of this kind, the following form which I myself have
used for some years and which I have drawn up expressly for the purpose
may be found useful. Nothing essential has been omitted, and although
certain of the details might, to the uninitiated, be thought unnecessary,
it may be said that, in this subject, what are seemingly the most trivial
facts are often the most important.
In conclusion a few hints regarding certain features may not be out of
place. Since the majority of alleged spirit photographs are out of focus,
and present a blurred appearance, it is easy for the enthusiast to
recognise features in vague markings and hazy outlines. Remember that the
medium is not bound to present any particular portrait. He has the whole
range of all your friends and relatives who have died, and for the matter
of that, of all your living acquaintances also. Thus by presenting a vague
face of, say, a middle-aged woman, it is possible that someone in the
gallery of your friends or relatives may
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
bear a resemblance, which, with a little imagination, may develop into
recognition. Do not be led away by emotional excitement to see likenesses
where none really exist. Examine the portrait carefully. Notice how the
features are really made up of vague patches of light and shade, and
possess no true outline of their own. Remember that coincidences must
always happen, and that it is not at all an odd coincidence for a vague
face to resemble someone you know. Finally never be tempted to do what is
so commonly done by thoughtless people. Do not have a sitting without test
conditions in the hope that a recognised portrait will prove to you the
genuineness of the phenomena. There are some people who will allow the
medium repeatedly to use his own plates and willingly pay the fee required
in the hope of getting a recognised portrait. Such mediums reveal their
real nature in their methods, and their supporters are merely putting
money into the pockets of mischievous swindlers, who trade upon the
sorrows and hopes of a suffering humanity.
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
Experiments in Photography
NUMBER PLACE DATE TIME
EXPERIMENTER SUBJECT[i.e. medium]
NAMES OF OTHERS PRESENT
PHYSICAL CONDITION OF SUBJECT
MENTAL CONDITION OF SUBJECT
WEATHER TEMPERATURE OF ROOM
CAMERA USED
SLIDE USED *
PLATES (FILMS)
WHEN WAS THE CAMERA LOADED? BY WHOM?
STOPS USED
TIMES OF EXPOSURE (or of HOLDING SLIDE)*
TIME AND PLACE OF DEVELOPMENT
BY WHOM DEVELOPED? DEVELOPER
METHOD OF DEVELOPMENT BY WHOM PRINTED?
REMARKS
---
* This refers to certain experiments where the medium claims to produce
markings on plates which are enclosed in the slides or even in unopened
packets.
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
Slate Writing
By slate writing is meant the supposed direct writing by spirits upon
ordinary school slates supplied either by the medium or by the sitter.
This phenomenon used to be very common both in England and America, but it
is now almost extinct in England, although still found to a considerable
extent in the United States.
There is no good scientific evidence that any slate writing has ever been
genuine, and although the tricks used by mediums have been repeatedly
exposed there are still simple people who believe in the genuineness of
the phenomena. A thorough training in the principles of deception is
necessary before the average person can expect to understand how these
very clever effects are produced. Many of the results obtained by skilful
mediums appear almost miraculous, yet very often the more marvellous the
effect, the simpler the trick. You must remember that the medium has been
producing these tricks
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
for a great number of years, and his trade has led him to exploit just
those very weaknesses in human observation which are the most difficult to
avoid. Many people with no training in banking are often apt to think that
the operations of the banker are almost astonishing in their intricate
complexity. Yet it is only because the business has not been learnt:
personal experience would soon clear up the difficulties, and all mystery
would vanish. It is only when investigating spiritualism that ordinary
people think that the business requires no training and no knowledge. It
is on such people that the fraudulent medium preys, and in no department
has he waxed so fat as in slate writing.
Although I cannot hope that my advice will be followed, yet I give it to
those of my readers who prefer not to waste their money, for the best plan
is to avoid slate writing mediums altogether. But on second thoughts
perhaps there are those who would like to go to see what occurs in the
same spirit as one visits a conjuring entertainment. After all, by
spending a few dollars, one can become acquainted
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
with a class of phenomena which has deceived thousands, and among them men
and women of no mean intellectual capacity. I propose therefore to give a
few hints which may be found useful.
At slate writing performances the medium will generally use the slates
provided by the sitter if the latter has provided himself with them. The
medium's own slates are often used in addition, and the whole pile placed
upon the table. The room is not usually darkened and everything takes
place in a good light. The first step is usually to ask the sitter whether
he wishes to get into communication with a deceased relative or friend, or
would prefer to ask questions which the spirits can answer. Whatever may
be the reply, the next step is often to request the sitter to write down
on separate slips of paper a number of questions to which he wishes
answers to be given. This having been done, the slips are mixed up on the
table and the medium takes up one of the slips. Putting a piece of chalk
upon a slate the medium then places it under the table at which he is
usually
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
seated, opposite his visitor. He then requests the sitter to assist him in
holding it. Sometimes scratching noises are soon heard upon it, and on
looking at the surface, which may, or may not have been previously
cleaned, a message is found thereon. Various manipulations of the slates
then take place, and, if the sitting is successful (that is to say, if the
sitter is easy to deceive) a number of vague answers to the sitter's
questions will frequently be found scrawled in chalk on the surface of
some of the slates.
When visiting a performer of this description, the beginner has but two
things to bear in mind. If he wishes to see a performance he will accept
the conditions the medium demands and await results. If on the other hand
he wishes to impose conditions, he must be prepared to see no phenomena,
but to pay the same fee as if he had seen a clever exhibition of
legerdemain. Mediums are exceedingly clever in estimating the mental
acuteness of their sitters, and if one wishes to see some good examples of
slate writing an innocent and ingenuous air is a necessity.
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
There are some, however, who would prefer to see nothing and pay for it
rather than to be shown tricks which they cannot discover, and it is to
these that the following remarks are addressed. There is one very simple
condition which you must ask. It is to sit on the same side of the table
as the medium. It is in this way that you will be able to see where his
hands are and what they are doing at the various stages of the seance.
There can be no possible objection to the sitter being seated next to the
medium except that if the medium be fraudulent he will not be able to
execute seventy-five per cent. of his tricks. I have never heard of any
slate writing medium who would grant this simple request, and thus it can
hardly be considered unnatural to regard these "phenomena" with the
gravest suspicion.
A word regarding the stories that you will be told concerning the marvels
of slate writing. Discover whether your informants know anything of
trickery, and ask them whether they sat on the same side of the table as
the medium. In short, pay no attention to these descriptions and when you
are told that a message was
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PHYSICAL PHENOMENA
obtained upon a slate "which never left the sitter's hands for an
instant", remember that the probabilities are that the slate left his
hands for several minutes whilst the message was being prepared upon it.
Malobservation of this sort has been proved to occur in many cases with
intelligent and experienced sitters, and it is unlikely that you will be
an exception to the general rule.
83
CONCLUSIONS
In the foregoing pages I have tried to give in short compass a few hints
which may help serious people in a consideration of one of the most
difficult and controversial subjects of our times. In conclusion let me
advise the would-be psychical researcher to proceed slowly. Do not jump to
conclusions on insufficient data. Cultivate the habit of making full
notes, and do not deceive yourself into thinking that the work can be
mastered in a day. Remember that there are very good reasons for the
incredulity of the scientific world, and that often those who have had
most experience are the most doubtful. Because you cannot understand how a
medium has obtained certain information, do not rashly conclude that the
spirits are responsible. Proceed cautiously, and remember that we
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
know very little about the mind and its relation to the body, and how
memories are stored and brought to the conscious mind. Do not be led away
by the endless repetition of the names of celebrated people who believe
this and that. A longer list could probably be compiled of people who
believe the opposite. Cultivate an independent judgment founded on
observed facts. Do not be frightened of being called sceptical even though
it may prevent you from obtaining access to certain mediums. You lose
nothing, for by their refusal to receive a serious inquirer they show
themselves as self-exposed frauds. Remember that the study of these
subjects is apt to become so fascinating to some people, that their minds
become enthralled and they become credulous without realising it. Do not
acquire the fatal habit of supposing that supernormal phenomena are
common, and are not recognised because of an unbelieving world. These
occurrences are not at all common, but very rare. Do not attend seances if
you find that they have an enervating effect upon you, and that you suffer
from headaches afterwards. Keep an even
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CONCLUSIONS
head and balanced judgment. Listen to the stories of the marvels which are
told to you with an attitude of careful attention, but always remember
that some simple normal explanation will probably account for all the
facts. Notice the conditions of mentality in those you meet at seances.
Observe how phenomena are accepted without any difficulty and remember
that such credulity can readily be excused in people without any knowledge
of the history and methods of science. In dark seances, notice how the
sitters are only interested in obtaining phenomena; how conditions do not
matter as long as their curiosity is satisfied; and how they would prefer
no conditions at all rather than miss seeing some luminous muslin draped
over the medium's fist which they will recognise as a deceased relative.*
Finally if you decide to study the subject seriously, read systematically
and regularly. In Appendix II I have drawn up a list of books that will
help you. Avoid uncritical spiritualistic literature, and especially
highly
---
* I have myself seen this occur on two separate occasions.
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
coloured descriptions of Life after Death. Such writings are of no
evidential value, and are only interesting to students of comparative
automatisms. Lastly, if you are in any serious difficulty and do not know
where to obtain the information you require, the writer will do his best
to reply, if a stamped addressed envelope is enclosed.
88
APPENDIX I
THE CONTROL OF PHYSICAL MEDIUMS
In a brief hand-book like the present it is impossible to deal in any
detail with the control of physical mediums. By the control of a medium I
mean the methods used to restrain him from using normal methods to produce
the phenomena.* Precautions vary with every medium and only the expert can
say just where the weakness in any given control may be said to lie. In
the present position of psychical research any one can claim to be an
"expert" after a few sittings. There are no courses in psychical research
at our Universities, and no training can be obtained in it. The whole
---
* The word control used in this sense must be carefully distinguished from
the word when it is used in another sense, namely to denote the
personality which speaks through the medium when in trance. In this sense
it is better to write the word with a capital letter.
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
subject is held in such contempt by orthodox scientists that they have
never understood that it is one of the most difficult and complicated
subjects in the whole range of human studies. An ordinary scientist will
go to half a dozen sittings; become convinced of the genuineness of the
phenomena that he witnesses, and will then proceed to give his opinion
concerning the value of the control conditions. The reader must understand
that statements such as these have no value whatever, and would be
impossible in any other science. Can it be imagined that after six months'
experience of zoological or electrical work a man is capable of giving
opinions on some obscure point in evolutionary history or in electrical
measurement? In zoology and physics a long training is necessary and in
our Universities both are accorded their proper place. But in psychical
research there are not half a dozen professionals at work. The whole field
is given up to amateurs, advertisers, and cranks who make the subject
ridiculous, and prevent its proper recognition by the scientific world.
The reader must not expect any certainty in
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APPENDIX
psychical. research. The surface of the subject has barely been scratched,
and it is only the enthusiastic and easily convinced who are prepared to
state that they have arrived at the truth concerning these momentous
questions. All that the average person can expect to do, if he wishes to
inquire at all into these matters, is so to arrange his study that, when
making his experiments, a reasonable control of the medium is assured.
The best control condition is good light; not the usual miserable ruby
glimmer, but daylight, or diffused white light. The stories of light
dissolving the "forces" may have a modicum of truth in them, but the fact
remains that the great mediums of the past, and especially D. D. Home,
deplored dark seances just as much as the intelligent investigator. If
darkness or dim light, however, is demanded, then it is a paramount
necessity that the hands of the medium should be held by trustworthy
persons on either side. Do not merely link thumbs or little fingers. Hold
the medium's hands firmly and steadily, not exercising an iron grip, or
just keeping contact with the
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HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
fingers, but holding his hands as if shaking hands. Some mediums prefer to
be tied with rope, and to have their thumbs tied with either cotton or
string. This refusal to be held by the hands is in itself a suspicious
circumstance. But should tying be insisted upon remember that one length
of rope or twine is useless. Use two lengths of soft, white rope, and not
the hard, stiff, brown variety. See that the medium sits well back in his
chair, which should be of the straight-backed kind, and on no account the
sort fitted with curved rungs. Notice whether the medium hunches his
shoulders, or performs any action which points to a desire on his part to
loosen the rope with which he is being tied.* If his thumbs are to be
secured, take two short lengths of the stoutest thread or twine you can
buy. Tie each thumb at the base independently, and then join your two
pieces in the centre with a tight knot. Some mediums prefer to be held in
a rather different way. The controller sits in front of the medium, whose
knees are placed
---
¡ This is technically called cc taking in slack". Its successful execution
is at the bottom of the vast majority of all rope-tying frauds.
92
APPENDIX
between the knees of the controller. The medium's hands are firmly held by
the controller opposite him, and in this way a fairly secure grip is
maintained. In this position it is practically impossible for the medium
himself to produce any of the more startling physical phenomena. On the
other hand the controller (who is often the most experienced person
present) is controlled as well as the medium, and thus if the sitting
takes place at the medium's house, and a confederate is used to produce
the phenomena, the "medium" merely acts as a decoy to occupy the attention
of the controller, since the actual phenomena are being produced by a
person whose very existence is unsuspected by the sitters.
Finally do not make the mistake of supposing that because the control
seems sufficient to exclude fraud that it is really the case. It is only
the rawest of amateurs who thinks that after a few months' experience he
can decide what are "test conditions" and what are not. Conditions vary
with every medium and with every changing circumstance. Not even the most
experienced psychical researcher
93
HOW TO GO TO A MEDIUM
could say what are test conditions without imposing certain tests which
are almost universally refused by nearly every living medium. Remember
that it is the medium who really makes the conditions and not the
investigator. The investigator has to make the best of the medium's
conditions, and try and alter their details so as to assist a scientific
inquiry. It sometimes happens that mediums are reported who know nothing
of spiritualism and have never taken part in sittings, yet in whose
presence movements of objects and lights are said to occur. Unfortunately
it often happens that these persons fall into the hands of untrained and
ignorant people, who, scenting a sensation, persuade them to exhibit their
powers in spiritualistic circles. As has already been said, the first
thing that the ordinary spiritualist does is to pull down the blinds. Thus
darkness is introduced to mediums with whom (if reports are to be
believed) phenomena have always taken place in light. Thus the greatest
hindrance to scientific investigation is deliberately caused, and persons
whose gifts might have been a value to science, become
mere exhibits in the hands of ignorant and sensation-loving showmen.
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The best control of a medium is the holding of his hands by experienced
and reliable persons. Distrust elaborate mechanical controls. They may
look very scientific to the uninitiated, but they are usually clumsy and
inefficient, and far less sure than the human touch.
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APPENDIX II
I am often asked to advise a beginner what books to read when he first
decides to visit mediums. Now there are very few reliable books on the
subject, because few unbiassed people have tried to discuss it seriously.
The majority of the books are by spiritualists and it is unfortunately too
often the case that the facts in these publications are dubious so that
the novice had better avoid them. For the history of modern spiritualism
down to the beginning of the twentieth century there is nothing better
than Frank Podmore's Modern Spiritualism (2 vols., London, 1902), a work
which is continued by the same author's The Newer Spiritualism (London,
1910). For an account of such psychical. phenomena as apparitions and
dreams which appear to have some relation to a current or future event the
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APPENDIX
abridged editions of Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death
(London, 1919) by the late Mr. F. W. H. Myers and of Phantasms of the
Living by Gurney, Myers and Podmore (London, 1918) will be found useful.
It is just as well for the beginner to make himself acquainted with
spontaneous phenomena of an apparently psychic nature before he visits
mediums, and the two books above are the best there are on these
occurrences.
For detailed accounts of trance mediumship the records of certain sittings
with the American medium, Mrs. Piper (Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research, 1889-90, VI, 436-650; 1892, VIII, 1-167: 1897-98,
XIII, 284-582) are good and may be supplemented by similar accounts in the
American S.P.R. Proceedings.
For physical phenomena the best account of carefully controlled
experiments is that describing the seances with the Italian medium,
Eusapia Palladino (Proceedings of the S.P.R., 1909, XXIII, 306-569) with
which may be compared my accounts of the phenomena observed with the
Austrian medium, Willy Schneider (Proceedings of the S.P.R., 1926,
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XXXVI, 1-33) and of the American medium "Margery" (Ib., 79-155), where the
reader will find the two opposing points of view-fraud or
reality-discussed side by side.
A good general introduction to psychical research is the volume
contributed to the Home University Library by the late Sir William Barrett
under the title of Psychical Research, which may be continued by reading
the much larger Thirty Years of Psychical Research (London, 1923) by
Professor Charles Richet.
There are no serious periodicals in English devoted entirely to psychical
research, their place being taken by the Proceedings of the various
societies which are unequal in value and should be used with caution.
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