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Thirty Years Among the Dead

by


Dr. Carl Wickland



 

CHAPTER I

INTER-RELATIONSHIP OF THE TWO WORLDS


CHAPTER II

PSYCHICAL RESEARCH



CHAPTER III

SUBCONSCIOUS MIND AND AUTO-SUGGESTION HYPOTHESES UNTENABLE


CHAPTER IV

EARTH SPHERE CONDITIONS AND MAGNETIC AURA


CHAPTER V

TORMENTING SPIRITS. MARRIAGE DISTURBANCES


CHAPTER VI

SPIRITS AND CRIME


CHAPTER VII.

SPIRITS AND SUICIDE



CHAPTER VIII

SPIRITS AND NARCOTICS, INEBRIETY, AMNESIA


CHAPTER IX

PSYCHIC INVALIDISM


CHAPTER X

ORPHANS


CHAPTER XI

MATERIALISM AND INDIFFERENCE


CHAPTER XII

SELFISHNESS


CHAPTER XIII

ORTHODOXY


CHAPTER XIV

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE


CHAPTER XV

THEOSOPHY


CHAPTER XVI

PHILOSOPHY


CHAPTER XVII

CONCLUSION






CHAPTER I -- Inter-Relationship of the Two Worlds


THE reality of an invisible world surrounding the physical world is for
many difficult to comprehend, since the mind sphere is often limited to the
visible and tangible; however, it requires but little thought to realize the
constant change of matter as it occurs in three forms, solid, liquid and
gaseous, in its range back and forth between the visible and invisible.

Visible nature is but the invisible, the Real, made manifest through a
combination of its elements; science informs us that fully ninety-five per
cent of vegetation is derived out of the air, or atmosphere. Is not mankind
living at the bottom of an invisible ocean, the atmosphere, which is even
more important to physical existence than any of the visible physical
substances, since life can continue but a few moments out of it?

Nitrogen gas, constituting the greater bulk of the atmosphere, enters
vitally into vegetable and animal growth and existence. Hydrogen and oxygen
gases are constantly changing from a state of invisible vapor to visible and
solid form. Carbon offers another example of similar transformation. Sounds,
odors, the thermic law of heat and cold. and multitudes of other phenomena,
ranging from the infinitesimal electron to the energy which moves the planets
and suns, are all intangible, invisible factors.

All activities, whether chemical, vital or mental, operate invisibly, as
observed in chemical affinity, in energy, in plant life, in animal life, in
intelligence and mentalization. So in every department of our manifest
physical nature it is evident that all elements have their root and permanence
in the invisible. The invisible is the source of the visible.

Thus when we realize that the objective is only a combination of
invisible substances and forces, the existence of an unseen world is readily
comprehensible. Considering the wonderful advancement of science into the
field of nature's finer forces, it is inconceivable that any thinking mind can
fail to recognize

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the rationale of the independent existence of the human spirit apart for the
physical body. No subject has been better authenticated through the ages and
in all literature than that of spirit existence and a future life.

Fiske, the historian, says: "Among all races of men, as far as can now be
determined, ancestor worship" (contact with the spirits of the departed) "was
the earliest form of worship. . . . prevailing in Africa, Asia, China, Japan,
among the Aryans of Europe and the American Indian tribes."

Allen, in his "History of Civilization" writes: "Rude tribes the world over
are found to have ideas of a human soul, a spirit world, and generally a belief
in immortality. Savages consider the next life simply a continuation of this;
they also recognize an other self which has mysterious powers. Death is the
abandoning of the body by this mysterious other self, which is conceived of
as still existing in the near neighborhood. The loves and hates of this world
are transferred to the spirit world."

Confucius said: "Bemoan not the departed with excessive grief. The dead
are devoted and faithful friends; they are ever associated with us."

The writers of classic times-Socrates. Herodotus, Sophocles, Euripides,
Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Virgil, Plutarch, Josephus, Maximus of Tyre-
repeatedly refer to spirit existence as a well known fact. Cicero wrote: "Is not
almost all heaven filled with the human? Those very gods themselves had
their original here below, and ascended from hence into heaven."

That early Christianity recognized spirits is too well authenticated in the
writings of St. Anthony, Tertullian, Origen and their contemporaries to
require emphasis.

The Bible is replete with references to spirit existence. "We also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses." Heb. 12:1. "Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God." 1 John
4:1. "The spirits of just men made perfect." Heb. 12:23. "There is a natural
body and there is a spiritual body . . . First that which is natural, and
afterward that which is spiritual." 1 Cor. 15:44, 46. Many other similar
biblical citations might be given.

Swedenborg contributed volumes on this subject. Dr. Samuel Johnson
said: "I do not believe in spirits-I have seen too many of them."

John Wesley wrote in "The Invisible World": "It is true that the English
in general-indeed most of the men of learning in Europe-have given up all
accounts of witches and apparitions as

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mere old wives' fables. I am sorry for it, and I willingly take this opportunity
to offer my solemn protest against this violent compliment which so many
that believe in the Bible pay to those who do not believe it. Such belief is in
direct opposition, not only to the Bible, but to the suffrage of the wisest and
best of men in all ages and nations. They well know that the giving up of
witchcraft is in effect giving up the Bible."

That psychic phenomena occurred at the house of Mr. Samuel Wesley,
father of Rev. John Wesley, at Epworth, and continued with noises and
disturbances of various kinds for many months, is well known.

Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Longfellow, and many other
poets wrote with profound understanding of the continued existence of man.

We are all familiar with the convincing results of the psychical
research work of modern scientists, philosophers, ministers, physicians,
psychologists and other investigators-Prof. Crookes, Alfred Wallace, Sir
Oliver Lodge, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rev. R. J. Campbell, Archdeacon
Colley, Rev. Newton, Rev. Savage, W. T. Stead, Camille Flammarion, Dr.
Baraduc, Dr. Janet, Prof.Richet, Cesare Lombroso, Dr. Hodgson,
Dr. I. K. Funk, Prof. James, Prof. Hyslop, Dr. Carrington and many others.

Dr. Thomas J. Hudson, author of "The Law of Psychic Phenomena,"
wrote: "The man who denies the phenomena of spiritualism today is not
entitled to be called a skeptic, he is simply ignorant."

The Rev. Dr. George M. Searle, Rector of the Catholic Church of St.
Paul the Apostle, New York City, said: "The reality of the existence of
spirits in modern spiritism is no longer an open question, even among
scientific men who have examined the subject. Any one who considers
the manifestation of them as mere humbug, trickery or delusion, is
simply not up to date."

"In our times no one denies the real existence of spiritualistic facts,
except a few who live with their feet on the earth and their brains in
the moon," wrote G. G. Franco, S. J., in "Civilta Cattolica."
"Spiritistic phenomena are external facts which fall within the range
of the senses and can easily be observed by all, and when such facts
are attested by so many well informed and credible witnesses, it is
useless, as well as foolish and ridiculous, to fight against proved evidence.
The facts remain assured, even for reasonable men."

The spiritual world and the physical world are constantly intermingling;
the spiritual plane is not a vague intangibility but

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is real and natural, a vast zone of refined substance, of activity and
progress, and life there is a continuation of life in the physical world. On the
physical plane of expression the soul obtains knowledge through experience
and contact with objective things, and intelligence finds itself by manifesting
through physical organs; in the spiritual plane progression of the individual
continues, the mind unfolding along lines of reason, through spontaneity of
service, the attainment and appreciation of high ideals and an ever broadening
conception of life's purpose.

The change called "death,"-the word is a misnomer-universally regarded
with gloomy fear, occurs so naturally and simply that the greater number,
after passing out of the physical are not aware that the transition has been
made, and having no knowledge of a spiritual life they are totally
unconscious of having passed into another state of being. Deprived of their
physical sense organs, they are shut out from the physical light, and lacking,
a mental perception of the high purpose of existence, these individuals are
spiritually blind and find themselves in a twilight condition-the "outer
darkness" mentioned in the Bible-and linger in the realm known as the Earth
Sphere.

Death does not make a saint of a sinner, nor a sage of a fool. The
mentality is the same as before and individuals carry with them their old
desires, habits, dogmas, faulty teachings, indifference or disbelief in a future
life. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Prov. 23:7.

Assuming spirit forms which are the result of their thought life on earth,
millions remain for a time in the earth sphere, and often in the environment
of their earth lives, still held by their habits or interests. "Where your
treasure is there will your heart be also. Matt. 6:21.

Those who have progressed to the higher spirit world ever endeavor to
enlighten these earthbound spirits, but the latter, due to preconceptions
concerning the hereafter, labor under the delusion that the departed are
"dead," or are "ghosts," and often refuse to recognize their friends or to
realize their own condition.

Many are in a state of heavy sleep, others are lost or confused; troubled
minds may be haunted by fear of the strange darkness, those conscience
stricken suffer in anguish or remorse for their, earth conduct; some, impelled
by selfish or evil inclinations, seek an outlet for their tendencies, remaining in
this condition until these destructive desires are outgrown, when the

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soul cries out for understanding and light, and progressed spirits are able to
reach them and aid them.

Lacking physical bodies through which to carry out earthly propensities
many discarnated intelligences are attracted to the magnetic light which
emanates from mortals, and, consciously or unconsciously, attach themselves
to these magnetic auras, finding an avenue of expression through influencing,
obsessing or possessing human beings. Such obtruding spirits influence
susceptible sensitives with their thoughts, impart their own emotions to
them, weaken their will power and often control their actions, producing great
distress, mental confusion and suffering.

These earthbound spirits are the supposed "devils" of all ages; "devils" of
human origin, by-products of human selfishness, false teachings and
ignorance, thrust blindly into a spirit existence and held there in a bondage of
ignorance.

The influence of these discarnated entities is the cause of
many of the inexplicable and obscure events of earth life and of a
large part of the world's misery. Purity of life and motive, or
high intellectuality , do not necessarily offer protection from
obsession; recognition and knowledge of these problems are the
only safeguards.

The physical conditions permitting this impingement are varied; such
encroachment is often due to a natural and predisposed susceptibility, a
depleted nervous system, or sudden shock. Physical derangements are
conducive to obsession, for when the vital forces are lowered less resistance
is offered and intruding spirits are allowed easy access, although often neither
mortal nor spirit is conscious of the presence of the other.

This encroachment alters the characteristics of the sensitive, resulting in a
seemingly changed personality, sometimes simulating multiple or dissociated
personalities, and frequently causes apparent insanity, varying in degree from
a simple mental aberration to, and including, all types of dementia, hysteria,
epilepsy, melancholia, shell shock, kleptomania, idiocy, religious and suicidal
mania, as well as amnesia, psychic invalidism, dipsomania, immorality,
functional bestiality, atrocities, and other forms of criminality.

Humanity is surrounded by the thought influence of millions of
discarnate beings, who have not yet arrived at a full realization of life's higher
purposes. A recognition of this fact accounts for a great portion of unbidden
thoughts, emotions, strange forebodings, gloomy moods, irritabilities,
unreasonable

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impulses, irrational outbursts of temper, uncontrollable infatuations and
countless other mental vagaries.

The records of spirit obsession and possession extend from remotest
antiquity to modern times. Dr. Tyler, the noted English Anthropologist, in
his "Primitive Culture," says: "It is not too much to assert that the doctrine
of demoniacal possession is kept up, substantially the same theory to
account for substantially the same facts, by half the human race, who thus
stand as consistent representatives of their forefathers back in the primitive
antiquity."

In Muller's "Urreligionen" we find: "The general belief of the barbaric
world today is that such attacks as epilepsy, hysteria, delirium, idiocy and
madness are caused by some demon gaining control of the body."

Homer referred repeatedly to demons and said: "A sick man pining away
is one upon whom an evil spirit has gazed." Plato held that demons obsessed
mortals. Socrates speaks directly of demons influencing the possessed
(insane). Plutarch wrote: "Certain tyrannical demons require for their
enjoyment some soul still incarnate; being unable to satisfy their passions in
any other way, incite to sedition, lust, wars of conquest, and thus get what
they lust for." Josephus says: "Demons are the spirits of wicked men."

Obsessing or possessing spirits are frequently mentioned both in the Old
and New Testaments. In I Samuel 16:23, we read: "David took an harp, and
played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit
departed from him."

So common was the belief in spirits and spirit obsession in the time of
the apostles that the ability to cast out evil spirits was considered one of the
most important signs of genuine discipleship, and it must be admitted that a
considerable portion of the work accredited to Jesus was the casting out of
demons.

A few quotations from the New Testament will suffice. "Jesus gave his
twelve disciples power against unclean spirits, to cast them out." Matt. 10:1.
"'Jesus preached . . . and cast out devils." Mark 1:39. "A certain mad which
had devils long time . . . Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out
of the man ... He that was possessed of the devils was healed." Luke 8:27,
29, 36. "Vexed with unclean spirits." Luke 6:18. "The evil spirits went out of
them." Acts 19:12.

"Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit ...
And he asked his father: How long is it ago since this

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came unto him? And he said, Of a child ... Jesus rebuked the foul spirit,
saying unto him, Thou deaf and dumb spirit, I charge thee, come out of him,
and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came
out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose." Mark 9:17,
21, 25-27. (Similar occurrences are not at all uncommon in psycho-
pathological research.)

Among the writers of early Christianity we find that St. Anthony says:
"We walk in the midst of demons, who give us evil thoughts; and also in the
midst of good angels. When these latter are especially present, there is no
disturbance, no contention, no clamor; but something so calm and gentle it
fills the soul with gladness. The Lord is my witness that after many tears
and fastings I have been surrounded by a band of angels, and joyfully joined
in singing with them." Tertullian with authority challenged the heathery to a
trial of superiority in the matter of casting out demons. Minucius Felix, a
Roman advocate and apologist, wrote in "Octavius": "There are some
insincere and vagrant spirits, degraded from their heavenly vigor . . . who
cease not, now that they are ruined themselves, to ruin others."

Dr. Godfrey Raupert, of London, who several years ago was especially
delegated by Pope Pius X to lecture to Catholic audiences in America on
Spiritualism, said in substance: "It is no longer possible to put the subject
of psychic phenomena aside. The scientific men all over the world have
recognized spiritism as a definite and real power, and to shelve it is a
dangerous policy. Consequently the Pope has asked me to tell Catholics the
attitude to take toward the subject ... The Church admits the reality of these
spiritistic phenomena and their external intelligences, in fact, it has always
admitted their reality. The problem at present is to discover the nature of the
intelligence. We are now on the borderland of new discoveries which may
revolutionize the world. It is not the time yet for an explanation of all the
phenomena. We must suspend our judgment until the subject is better
known. The study of spiritism is a new one and therefore dangerous . . . A
partial knowledge of the subject may cause grave dangers." (Resulting in
obsession or possession.)

"There is no doubt about the fact of diabolical obsessions in the olden
time. That the Church (Catholic) recognizes the possibilities is evidenced by
the rules prepared for exorcising," is

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the quoted statement of Monsignor Lavelle, Rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral,
New York.

Julian Hawthorne wrote, in one of the leading newspapers: "Thousands
of evil-minded and evil-acting men and women die every day. What becomes
of their souls, or spirits? They want to get back here . . . the increasing
boldness and frequency with which they take advantage of their
opportunities is illustrated in many ways. . . Two acts of defense are open to
us. We may stop the source of supply of these undesirable visitors and we
may close the doors."

Dr. Axel Gustafson', who publicly acclaimed his views regarding the fact
of spirit obsession, in quoting cases which had come to his attention, said:
"The spirits of the revengeful have power after death to enter into and
possess the living under certain conditions."

Prof. Herbert L. Stetson, of Kalamazoo College, Michigan, stated, in a
lecture at the University of Chicago: "Demon obsession is no myth; illness is
often due to demoniacal possession.

Belief in demons is widespread."

"I often see the spirits who cause insanity," is the statement of Dr. E. N.
Webster, of the mental section of the American Medical Association. "At
times I even hear their voices. Insane persons who are spoken of as
hopelessly insane are frequently lost under the overwhelming control of a
spirit or crowd of spirits. We frequently find by post-mortem examination
that no physical disorder exists in the brain or nervous system of such persons."

Prof. William James wrote in "Proceedings S. P. R.": "That the demon-
theory will have its innings again is to my mind absolutely certain. One has
to be 'scientific' indeed, to be blind and ignorant enough to suspect no such
possibility."

Prof. James H. Hyslop, while editor of the Journal of the American
Society for Psychical Research, wrote: "There is growing evidence of the fact
of obsession which lies at the basis of much insanity and can be cured. The
medical world will have to wake up and give attention to this problem or
materia medica will lose control of the subject."

In one of Prof. Hyslop's latest books, "Contact with the Other World,"
we find the following: "The existence of evil spirits affecting the living is as
clearly taught in the New Testament, and implied in the Old Testament, as
any doctrine there expounded. . . . The term obsession is employed by
psychic researchers to denote the abnormal influence of spirits on the

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living....The cures effected have required much time
and patience, the use of psychotherapeutics of an
unusual kind, and the employment of psychics to
get into contact with the obsessing agents and
thus to release the hold which such agents have,
or to educate them to voluntary abandonment of
their persecutions. . . . Every single case of
dissociation and paranoia to which I have applied
cross-reference has yielded to the method and
proved the existence of foreign agencies
complicated with the symptoms of mental or
physical deterioration. It is high time to
prosecute experiments on a large scale in a field
that promises to have as much practical value as
any application of the scalpel and the microscope."

In "Modern Psychical Phenomena," Dr. Hereward Carrington states: "It
is evident . . . that spiritual 'obsession' is at least a possibility which modern
science can no longer disregard, while there are many striking facts in its
support. This being so, its study becomes imperative-not only from the
academic viewpoint but also because of the fact that hundreds and perhaps
thousands of individuals are at the present moment suffering in this manner,
and their relief demands some immediate investigation and cure. Once grant
the theoretical possibility of actual obsession, and a whole vast field of
research and investigations is opened up before us which demands all the
care, skill and patience which modern enlightenment and psychological
understanding can furnish."

Never before in the history of medical science has there been such
widespread interest, by the public at large, as well as by medical men and
public officials, in the subject of the cause, treatment and cure of nervous and
mental diseases. Statistics show that insanity is increasing with alarming
rapidity everywhere, yet medical experts differ widely as to the causes of
mental deterioration, and science is not yet in possession of knowledge of the
exact etiology of functional insanity. "The whole world will go mad before
long," declared Dr. Winslow of England.

The greater number of neurologists and alienists entertain the belief that
the active and underlying cause of insanity has its origin within the deranged
nervous system, but very little as yet is actually known of the true cause.

Dr. W. M. L. Coplin, Director of the Bureau of Health and Charities,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said- "Insanity, in most cases, is unaccompanied
by any perceptible change in the brain structure. The brain of the patient,
when examined under a

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microscope, shows absolutely nothing which differs in any way from the
appearance of the brain of the perfectly sane person. It is therefore evident
that the insanity might be due to toxemia, the effect of some subtle organism
in the nature of bacilla.... Something causes insanity but what it is, we do not
yet know."

Dr. Britton D. Evans, Superintendent of the Morris Plains, New Jersey,
Insane Asylum, stated: "Brain tumor or brain fever may not affect the
mind.... A man may have trouble of the brain and still have a normal mind."

Dr. Th. Ziehen, a noted German alienist, and an authority on hysteria,
wrote: "For many functional neuroses there is as yet no accurate limitation
and definition. As pathological anatomy does not aid us, no uniform and
exclusive cause for hysteria can be demonstrated."

. Dr. William Hanna Thomson, physician to the Roosevelt Hospital and
Professor of the Practice of Medicine and Diseases of the Nervous System,
New York University Medical College, in referring to Tuke's Dictionary of
Psychological Medicine, asserted that: "The contributors to this great
encyclopedia are from the most eminent professors, experts, and
superintendents of insane asylums in Great Britain, the United States,
France, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Russia. In
the articles by the writers on kleptomania, dipsomania, chronic mania, etc.,
there is not a word about the pathological anatomy, (because none can be
found). Just so it is in the article on melancholia, puerperal insanity,
katatonia, circular insanity, homicidal insanity or epileptic insanity; in none
of these is there a word about pathological anatomy, for the sufficient reason
that not one of these forms of insanity shows any pathological or diseased
condition in the brain different from the sound brain of a healthy man killed
in an accident."

He also said: "It is high time that we now look in the direction of toxemia
(or blood poisoning) for the explanation of the insanities which produce
no changes whatever in the brain."

Recent announcement was made that a large percentage of cures reported
by the New Jersey State Hospital for the Insane at Trenton were effected by
the removal of diseased teeth, tonsils or affected organs. In a resume of the
Trenton method, Dr. R. S. Copeland wrote: "The hypothesis upon which
this treatment is founded is that insanity is a toxemia or poisoning due to
germ infection in some part of the body. If this is true it follows that removal
of the infected tissue, when the case has

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not gone too far, will be followed by disappearance of the mental disturbance."

When statistics compiled by the United States Government, as well as
by others, show that the increase in the number of the insane is
proportionately greater than the increase of the general population, it seems
incongruous to credit decayed teeth and diseased tonsils as being primary
causes of mental unbalance at this time when dental and surgical attention is
so general, whereas, the facts are that when dentistry was little known and
practiced, and people went about with all conditions of decayed teeth,
insanity was less prevalent than now.

Without attempting to discredit the Trenton reports, it may be stated
that our experience has shown that in many cases of mental derangement,
although the patient had badly decayed teeth, mental balance was fully
restored by dislodging the obsessing spirit before any attention was given to
the teeth.*

Since it has been found that obsessing spirits are sensitive to pain, I am
constrained to suggest that such cures as announced by the Trenton Hospital
may, at least in part, be due to the fact that intruding spirits were dislodged,
by dental or surgical interference.

To the investigator in Abnormal Psychology on the spiritistic hypothesis
much of the symptomatology of the "War Neurosis'' or shell shock,--
excepting cases of malingering-as recorded by Dr. F. E. Williams, Acting
Medical Director, National Committee for Mental Hygiene, New York City,
suggests obsession or possession by spirits of dead soldiers, unconscious of
their transition, as the exciting cause. This is indicated by "delirium,
hallucinations, anxiety states, functional heart disorders, paralysis, tremors,
gait disturbances, convulsive movements, pain, anesthesia, hyperesthesia,
blindness, disorders of speech, etc."

The spirit hypothesis regarding War Neurosis is further evidenced by the
rapid recovery of patients under severe electrical treatment- (driving out
obsessing entities?)--"as instituted by Dr. Vincent who, Dr. Williams stated,
would cure in a few hours Patients that had been in the care of other
psychiatrists for months, and would have them walking about and climbing
ladders."

The above theory is also favored by Dr. Williams' further statements
that: "This neurosis is rare among prisoners who have been exposed to
mechanical shock . . . as well as among

See Chap. 5, Patient-Mrs. SI., Page 116.
Chap. 7, Patient-Mrs. R., Page 161.

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wounded exposed to mechanical shock.... Severe injury to the central
nervous system and brain is not accompanied by symptoms found in shell
shock.... Success attends the therapeutic measures employed for the
psychological rather than the mechanical side. . . . Diagnosis should be made
and treatment begun at once before the shell shock"-- (obsession) --"becomes a
fixed psycho-neurosis."

Newspapers recently reported the case of a young man, Frank James, a
boy thug of New York City, who, after a fall from a motorcycle when ten
years old, changed from a cheerful, affectionate and obedient child into a
surly, insolent boy, developing into a confirmed robber and criminal. After
several terms in the reformatory and five years in Sing Sing prison he was
declared hopelessly insane, and sent to the State Insane Asylum. Frank
James, however, escaped, and when pursuers attempted his capture, was hit
on the head with a club, and falling unconscious, was taken to a hospital.

The next morning the boy awoke, extraordinarily changed; he was gentle
and deferential, showing no further indications of an unbalanced mind, and
from that time exhibited not the slightest impulse to commit crime of any
kind. The article concludes: "Just what happened to the mechanism of the
boy's brain is not entirely understood by medical men."

How explain such a case on the toxemia theory? Could a blow on the
head eradicate the supposed toxemia and restore mental balance? The simple
explanation from our viewpoint would be that, following the shock of the
boy's fall, an obsessing spirit criminal had taken control of the boy, and that
the blow from the club on the man's head, with its accompanying pain,
caused the obsessing entity to become dislodged.

The success credited to hydrotherapy as practiced in institutions for the
insane, especially when a strong stream of water, or a continuous bath, is
used, can also be accounted for by the dislodgment of obsessing entities, who
object to the discomforts incident to such treatment.

Dr. Prince, in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, wrote: "If we are to
establish sound principles underlying the mechanism of the mind we must
correlate the findings of all methods of research, experimental as well as
clinical, and give due consideration to the results obtained by all competent
investigators."

After careful elimination of all superstitious notions and absurdities
adherent to the subject of Normal and Abnormal Psychology, excluding also
febrile and idiopathic psychoses or idiosyncrasies, as well as all

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neuro-pathogenic psychoses, there still remains a residuum
of abnormality in a majority of cases of mental aberrations.

That alienists of renown and the foremost authorities widely disagree as
to the cause of insanity is sufficient reason for thinking men to investigate
any theory which promises to lead to results, regardless of personal or
popular prejudice. The situation which confronts us is a serious one, and
nothing but the broadest toleration and liberality can cope with it. Since
insanity is chiefly a manifestation of mental or psychological disturbance-a
Psychic neurosis-the symptomatology therefore should offer a guidance in
ascertaining the etiology, and assist as well in arriving at a solution of the
mental pathology.

This proposition, however, necessitates not only research and study of
Normal and Abnormal Psychology but, in order to have a complete premise,
also implies the recognition of the duality of man-matter and spirit, physical
and spiritual.

Insanity is not a stigma; the public attitude toward this affliction should
be one, not of aversion but of understanding, and a realization of the close
inter-relationship of the visible and invisible worlds.

Spirit obsession is a fact--a perversion of a natural law--and is amply
demonstrable. This has been proven hundreds of times by causing the
supposed insanity or aberration to be temporarily transferred from the
victim to a psychic sensitive who is trained for the purpose, and by this
method ascertain the cause of the psychosis to be an ignorant or mischievous
spirit, whose identity may frequently be verified.

By this method, and without detriment to the psychic, it has also proven
possible to relieve the victim, as well as release the entity from its condition
of spiritual darkness through an explanation of the laws governing the spirit
world, which the experiences to follow will demonstrate.

Inter-communication between the visible and invisible worlds is a natural
privilege and is established through a person of a certain psychic
constitution, capable of acting as an intermediary, through whom discarnate
intelligences can readily come en! rapport with the physical plane. Of the
various phases of contact the most valuable for research purposes is that of
unconscious trance, whereby direct communication may be established with
the invisible world and the mental condition of discarnate intelligences, either
advanced or ignorant, may be ascertained.

Ignorant psychic experimentation may prove injurious when

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dabbled in by those who neglect the necessary precautions and lack
understanding of the laws which govern the subject, just as ignorance and
disregard of the laws governing everyday life may prove dangerous. The
misuse of a thing is no argument against its use.

Psychical Research belongs especially to the domain of science; common
sense and discrimination are essentials in all such experimental work, as well
as a thorough mastery of the laws involved. Under these conditions scientific
research becomes an invaluable factor in the investigation of Spiritual Science.

14




CHAPTER II -- Psychical Research

PSYCHICAL Research contains elements of the greatest importance to
humanity, and has already become a vital factor in the social life of the world
at large. It is undoubtedly true, however, that the various branches of
research are endeavoring to classify their findings on purely
psychophysiological bases.

The Psycho-Analyst advances the theory that many of the psychoses
have their seat or origin in some psychic lesion, or trauma, either concealed or
forgotten. The Analytical-Psychologist, by mental measurements and
intelligence tests, is making the segregation and classification of mental
defectives possible. So also the Neurologist and Psychiatrist are diligently
seeking to isolate the etiological factors in the various neuroses,, mental
aberrations and insanities, and to ascertain the best methods of prevention
and treatment.

While these branches of research are loath to accept the hypothesis of
discarnate intelligences as contributing, exciting factors in many of the
psychoses and aberrations, they are nevertheless rendering important service
in uncovering and bringing to light the unstable qualities in the neurotic, the
susceptible and those predisposed to mental unbalance.

Psychical Research presents two general phases for investigation: the
Normal and the Abnormal.

The Normal phase, from the standpoint of the physician, as well as the
minister, deals, among other issues, with the question: What becomes of the
Dead? This problem is of vital interest to the patient who lingers on the
borderland of transition, doubtful of the future, or perhaps trembling in fear
of his probable condition after the tomorrow of death. Should it not be the
noblest part of the physician's calling, in such situations, to be in a position
to assure his patient from actual knowledge, that there is no death, but a birth
into new fields of activity and opportunities in the higher mental spheres?

In the Abnormal phase of Psychical Research there is demand for
broadest Possible knowledge on the part of the physician pertaining to the
mysterious functioning of minds, discarnated as well as incarnated. Research
in Abnormal, as well as Normal psychology, indubitably indicates, not only the

15

existence of spirits, but also unquestionably demonstrates that such entities
play an important role in the various psychoneuroses and insanities.

The physician, undoubtedly, comes in more intimate touch with the
consequences of promiscuous dabbling in Psychical Research, so frequently
resulting in mental aberrations, than any other person, for he is usually the
first one to be called into consultation, and upon his decision depends largely
the disposal of such an unfortunate victim. For this reason, if no other, it
should surely be not only the privilege, but also the urgent duty of the
physician to become thoroughly acquainted with the various phases of
Psychical Research, particularly its dangers in the hands of thoughtless
investigators, especially the predisposed psycho-neurotic.

The alarming results often occurring in connection with Psychical
Research prompted me to follow up a line of investigation to ascertain the
underlying causes thereof, for these also concern the physician.

The serious problem of alienation and mental derangement attending
ignorant psychic experiments was first brought to my attention by the cases
of several persons whose seemingly harmless experiences with automatic
writing and the Ouija Board resulted in such wild insanity that commitment
to asylums was necessitated.

The first of these cases was that of Mrs. Bl., whose attempts at
automatic writing led to mental derangement and altered personality.
Normally she was amiable, pious, quiet and refined but became boisterous
and noisy, romped about and danced, used vile language, and, claiming she
was an actress, insisted upon dressing for the stage, saying that she had to be
at the theatre at a certain time or lose her position. Finally she became so
irresponsible that she was placed in an asylum.

Another case was Mrs. Bn., who, through the practice of automatic
writing, changed from an artist and a lady of refinement to an altogether
different and violent personality. Screaming at the top of her voice she
continually rubbed her temples and exclaimed, "God save me! God save me!"
Rushing into the street she knelt in the mud, praying, and refused food,
declaring that if she should eat before six o'clock P.M. she would go to hell.

Mrs. Sr., who had followed the same practices, also became mentally
deranged and violent, necessitating police interference. Rising in the night she
posed in the window of her millinery

16

shop as Napoleon, whom she presumed herself to be, and after committing
many other irresponsible acts, requiring restraint, was sent to the Detention
Hospital.

In like manner, Mrs. Wr. became obsessed with hallucinations that God
was constantly talking to her and condemning her for wrong acts of which he
accused her; after attempting suicide at the request of this so-called God she
was taken to the asylum.

Many other disastrous results which followed the use of the supposedly
innocent Ouija Board came to my notice and my observations led me into
research in psychic phenomena for a possible explanation of these strange
occurrences.

My wife proved to be an excellent psychic intermediary and was easily
controlled by discarnate intelligences. In answer to her doubts concerning the
right of "disturbing the dead" these intelligences asserted that a grievously
wrong conception existed among mortals regarding the conditions prevailing
after death.

They stated that there is in reality no death, but a natural transition from
the visible to the invisible world, and that advanced spirits are ever striving
to communicate with mortals to enlighten them concerning the higher
possibilities which await the progressive spirit. But death--the freeing of the
spirit from the body--is so simple and natural that a great majority do not, for
a longer or shorter period, realize the change, and owing to a lack of
education concerning the spiritual side of their natures, they continue to
remain in their earthly haunts.

They maintained that many such spirits were attracted to the magnetic
aura of mortals-although the spirit, as well as the mortal, might be
unconscious of the intrusion-and thus, by obsessing or possessing their
victims, they ignorantly or maliciously became the cause of untold mischief,
often producing invalidism, immorality, crime and seeming insanity.

The risk of interference from this source constituted, they said, the
gravest danger to the unwary novice in psychic research, but to be in
ignorance of these facts was an even greater risk, especially in the case of the
susceptible neurotic.

These intelligences also stated that by a system of transfer, that is, by
attracting such obsessing entities from the victim to a psychic intermediary,
the correctness of the hypothesis could be demonstrated and conditions
could be shown as they actually exist. After this transference of psychoses
the victims would be relieved, and the obsessing spirits could then be
reached by

17

the advanced spirits, who would care for them and instruct them regarding
the higher laws of life.

They claimed they had found my wife to be a suitable instrument for
such experimentation and proposed that, if I would cooperate with them by
caring for and instructing these ignorant spirits, as they allowed them to take
temporary but complete possession of my wife's body, without any injury
to her, they would prove their assertions were correct.

Desirous of learning the truth or falsity of such important claims, which,
if true, would have a great bearing on the cause of much that is otherwise
baffling in criminology, as well as in psycho-pathology, we accepted what
seemed a hazardous undertaking.

In order to carry out their purpose the Guiding Intelligences allowed
many manifestations to take place, often very unexpectedly, and some of
these occurred while I was pursuing my early medical studies.

One day I left home without any intention of immediately beginning my
first dissecting work, therefore my wife's subconscious mind could not
possibly have taken any part in what transpired later.

The students were required to dissect a lateral half of a body; the first
subject was a man about sixty years of age and that afternoon I began
dissecting on a lower limb.

I returned home at about five o'clock and had scarcely entered the door
when my wife was apparently taken with a sudden illness, and complaining
of feeling strange, staggered as though about to fall. As I placed my hand on
her shoulder she drew herself up and became entranced by a foreign
intelligence who said, with threatening gesture:

"What do you mean by cutting me?"

I answered that I was not aware of cutting any one, but the spirit angrily replied:

"Of course you are! You are cutting on my leg!"

Realizing that the spirit owner of the body on which I had been
operating had followed me home, I began to parley with him, first placing
my wife in a chair.

To this the spirit vigorously objected, saying that I had no business to
touch him. To my answer that I had a right to touch my own wife the entity
retorted:

"Your wife! What are you talking about! I am no woman --I'm a man."

I explained that he had passed out of his physical body and was
controlling the body of my wife, and that his spirit was here

18

and his body at the college. When he finally seemed to realize this I said:

"Suppose I were now cutting on your body at the college that could not
kill you, since you yourself are here."

The spirit admitted that this seemed reasonable, and said:

"I guess I must be what they call 'dead,' so I won't have any more use for
my old body. If you can learn anything by cutting on it, go ahead and cut
away."

Then he added suddenly: "Say, Mister, give me a chew of tobacco."

I told him that I had none, and then he begged for a pipe, saying:

"I'm dying for a smoke."

This request was, of course, also refused. (The fact that Mrs. Wickland
has always abhorred the sight of any one chewing tobacco precludes the
possibility of her subconscious mind playing any role in this episode.)

After a more detailed explanation of the fact that he was actually so-
called "dead," the spirit realized his true condition and left.

Subsequent examination of the teeth of the cadaver indicated that the
man had been an inveterate tobacco user in life.

Upon another occasion, when I had been appointed assistant
demonstrator for a class of students in dissecting, the body of a colored man
had been selected as a subject but the body had not yet been disturbed when,
one evening, Mrs. Wickland became entranced and a strange spirit, speaking
through her, exclaimed:

"You ain't goin' to cut on dis colored man, Boss!"

I told him that the world called him dead; that he was not in his old
body, but was now controlling a woman's body. He would not believe this
and when I showed him my wife's hands, saying they were not colored but
white, he replied:

"I'se got whitewash on dem; whitewashin' is my business."

This spirit proved to be very obstinate, offering a variety of excuses and
explanations rather than accept the truth, but he was finally convinced and
departed.

Another incident will still further demonstrate to what a seemingly
unbelievable degree spirits may cling to their earthly bodies through
ignorance of their transition, or so-called death.

In the dissecting room was the body of a woman, about forty years of
age, who had died at the Cook County Hospital, Chicago, the previous June.
In January, seven months after her death, a number of students, myself
included, were assigned this subject for dissection. I could not be present the
first evening but the

19

others began their work. Nothing was ever said to me of what occurred
during those few hours, but for some reason, unknown to me, the other
students never touched that subject again.

The next day there was no school in the afternoon so I began to dissect
alone, working on the arm and neck. The dissecting room was in the rear of a
long basement and very quiet, but once I distinctly heard a voice say: "Don't
murder me!"

The voice sounded faintly, as from a distance, but since I am not in the
least superstitious and not at all inclined to credit small incidents to the
actions of spirits, I concluded that it probably came from children in the
street, although I had not heard any playing nearby.

The following afternoon I was again working alone when I was rather
startled by a rustling sound coming from a crumpled newspaper lying on the
floor, a sound something like that produced when a newspaper is crushed,
but I paid no particular attention to it and did not mention these occurrences
to my wife.

The episodes had quite passed out of my mind until a few days later. We
were holding a psychic circle in our home and our invisible co-workers had
already departed when I noticed that my wife still remained in a semi-
comatose condition. I stepped up to her to ascertain the reason when the
controlling spirit rose suddenly, struck at me angrily and said:

"I have some bones to pick with you!"

After a period of struggle with the stranger I asked what the trouble was.

"Why do you want to kill me?" the entity demanded.

"I am not killing any one," I answered.

"Yes, you are-you are cutting on my arm and neck! I shouted at you not
to murder me, and I struck that paper on the floor to frighten you, but you
wouldn't pay any attention."

Then, laughing boisterously, the spirit added with great hilarity:

"But I seared the other fellows!"

It was necessary to explain at great length the actual situation of the
spirit, who said her name was Minnie Morgan,* but finally she understood
and left, promising to seek a higher life.

The ease with which spirits assume control of the psychic intermediary,
Mrs. Wickland, is so perfect that the majority of them at first fail to
comprehend the fact that they are so-called dead and are temporarily
occupying the body of another.

Those intelligences whose reasoning faculties* are alert can

*See Chapter 8, Page 168. Spirit: Minnie Morgan.

20

generally be made to realize that their situation is unusual when attention is
called to the dissimilarity between their own former bodily features, hands
and feet, as well as clothes, and those of the psychic. This is especially so
when the spirit is a man, for the difference will then be more readily noticed.
Following the statement that the body which is being controlled belongs to
my wife, spirits usually retort: "I am not your wife," and a great deal of
explanation is required before they can be brought to a recognition of the fact
that they are in temporary possession of another's body.

On the other hand, there are spirits, fixed and rooted in obstinate
skepticism, who stubbornly refuse to understand that they have made the
transition out of the physical. These will not listen to reason and fail to be
convinced of their changed condition, even when a mirror is held before them,
declaring that they have been hypnotized, and prove so obdurate that they
must be forced to leave, and are taken in charge by the invisible co- workers.

The transference of the mental aberration or psychosis from a patient to
the psychic intermediary, Mrs. Wickland, is facilitated by the use of static
electricity, which is applied to the patient, frequently in the presence of the
psychic. Although this electricity is harmless to the patient it is exceedingly
effective, for the obsessing spirit cannot long resist such electrical treatment
and is dislodged.

Induced by our invisible helpers the spirit may then entrance the
psychic, when it becomes possible to come into direct contact with the
entity, and an endeavor is made to bring him to a realization of his true
condition and of his higher possibilities. He is then removed and cared for by
the advanced spirits and Mrs. Wickland again returns to her normal self.

In many cases remarkable evidence that discarnated entities were the
offending cause of aberration has been obtained by a system of experimental
concentration in a psychic circle. Obsessing spirits have been dislodged from
victims frequently residing at a distance, conveyed to the circle by the co-
operating intelligences and allowed to control the psychic. Such spirits often
complain of having been driven away, yet are ignorant of being spirits, or of
having controlled or influenced anyone.

But the similarity between the actions of the controlling spirit and the
symptoms of the patient, as well as the relief obtained by the latter through
this removal, indubitably prove the 'spirit to have been the cause of the
disturbance. In many cases the identity of the spirit has been
unquestionably authenticated.

21

After this transfer and permanent dislodgment of the obsessing
spirit, the patient gradually recovers, although there may be a
number of spirits requiring removal from the same patient.

It may be asked why advanced intelligences do not take charge of
earthbound spirits and convert them without having them first control a
psychic intermediary. Many of these ignorant spirits cannot be reached by
the intelligent spirits until they come in contact with physical conditions,
when they are compelled to realize their own situation and are then started
on the road to progression.

While the control of the Psychic by an ignorant spirit in a circle generally
brings the spirit to an understanding and is of interest to the investigator, at
the same time groups of other spirits in darkness are brought to profit by the
lesson conveyed through the actions of the controlling spirit.

Many controlling spirits act as if demented and are difficult to reason
with, this condition being due to false doctrines, fixed ideas and various
notions imbibed in physical life. They are often unruly and boisterous, when
it is necessary to control them by holding the hands of the psychic to keep
them in restraint.

Upon realizing their true condition many spirits experience a sensation
of dying, which signifies that they are losing control of the psychic.

Other spirits, again, are in a sleepy stupor, wishing to be left alone, and
severe language is at times required to arouse them, as will be observed in the
records following. In these records reference is often made to a "dungeon" in
which refractory spirits may be placed, and controlling spirits sometimes
complain of having been kept in a dungeon.

Due to a certain psychic law, intelligent spirits have the faculty of
placing about an ignorant spirit a condition simulating a prison, an
impenetrable, cell-like room from which there is no escape. Herein stubborn
spirits must stay' seeing nothing but the reflection of their own personalities,
their past actions appearing before the mind's eye until they become
repentant and show a willingness to adapt themselves to the new condition
and to conform to the spiritual laws of progression.

The nature of Mrs. Wickland's psychism is that of unconscious trance;
her eyes are closed and her own mentality is held in abeyance in a sleep state
for the time being. She herself has no recollection of anything that transpires
during this period.

Mrs. Wickland is not subject to any negativism between these
experiences; she is at all times her rational self, clear minded

22

and positive, and after thirty-five years of psychic work has not suffered
impairment or detriment of any kind.

She is constantly protected from the invisible side by the supervision of
a group of strong intelligences known as "The Mercy Band," which is
guiding this work, endeavoring to bring humanity to a realization of the
simplicity of the transition called death, and the importance of a rational
understanding of what becomes of the spirits.

The purpose of our work has been to obtain reliable and incontestable
evidence at first hand regarding "after death" conditions, and detailed reports
of hundreds of experiences have been stenographically made in order to
record the exact situation of the communicating intelligences.


23



CHAPTER III Subconscious Mind and Auto-Suggestion Hypotheses Untenable

DURING thirty years of indefatigable research among the "dead" such
startling conditions have been revealed that it seems incredible intelligent
reasoners along other lines of thought could have so long ignored the simple
facts, which can so readily be verified. There is utter impossibility of fraud in
these experiences; foreign languages, totally unknown to Mrs. Wickland, are
spoken, expressions never heard by her are used, while the identity of the
controlling spirits has again and again been verified and corroborations
innumerable have been made.

On one occasion I conversed with twenty-one different spirits, who
spoke through my wife, the majority giving me satisfactory evidence of being
certain friends and relatives known to me while they were incarnated. In all,
they spoke six different languages, while my wife speaks only Swedish and English.

From one patient, Mrs. A., who was brought to us from Chicago,
thirteen different spirits were dislodged and allowed to control Mrs.
Wickland,* and of these, seven were recognized by the patient's mother, Mrs.
H. W., as relatives or friends well known to her during their earth lives.

One was a minister, formerly pastor of the Methodist church of which
Mrs. H. W. was a member, who had been killed in a railroad accident nine
years previous, but was still unconscious of the fact; another was her sister-
in-law; there were also three elderly women, family friends for years, a
neighbor boy and the mother-in-law of the patient--all entirely unknown to
Mrs. Wickland.

Mrs. H. W. conversed at length with each one, as they spoke through
Mrs. Wickland, verifying innumerable statements made by the spirits and
assisted in bringing them to a realization of their changed condition, and of
the fact that they had been obsessing her daughter. This patient is today
entirely well and actively occupied with social, musical and family affairs.

Another case will show clearly the transfer of psychosis from patient to
intermediary, and the impossibility of either "sub

*See Chap. 11, "Materialism," Page 256, Spirit: Frank Bergquist. Patient: Mrs. A. Chap.18,
"Orthodoxy,". Page 343 Spirit: J. 0. Nelson. Patient: Mrs. A.

24

conscious mind" or "multiple personalities" playing any role as far as the
psychic is concerned.

One summer evening we were called to the home of Mrs. M., a lady of
culture and refinement; she was a musician of high rank and when the social
demands made upon her proved too great she suffered a nervous breakdown.
She had become intractable and for six weeks had been in such a raving
condition that her physicians had been unable to relieve her, and day and
night nurses were in constant attendance.

We found the patient sitting up in her bed, crying one minute
like a forlorn child, and again screaming in fear: "Matilla!
Matilla!" Then suddenly fighting and struggling, she would talk
a wild gibberish of English and Spanish, (the latter a language
of which she had no knowledge).

Mrs. Wickland immediately gave her psychic diagnosis, saying the case
was unquestionably one of obsession, and this was unexpectedly confirmed
when Mrs. Wickland, who was standing at the foot of the bed, with wraps
on ready to leave, was found to be suddenly entranced. We placed her on a
davenport in the music room, where for two hours I talked in turn with
several spirits who had just been attracted from the patient.

There were three spirits--a girl named Mary, her suitor, an American,
and his Mexican rival, Matilla. Both of the men had vehemently loved the
girl and as fiercely hated each other. In a jealous rage one had killed the girl,
and then in a desperate fight the two rivals had killed each other.

All were unaware of being "dead," although Mary said, weeping
wretchedly: "I thought they were going to kill each other, but here they are,
still fighting."

This tragedy of love, hatred and jealousy had not ended with physical
death; the group had unconsciously been drawn into the psychic
atmosphere of the patient, and the violent fighting had continued within her
aura. Since her nervous resistance was exceedingly low at this time, one after
the other had usurped her physical body, with a resulting disturbance that
was unexplainable by her attendants.

With great difficulty the three spirits were convinced that they had lost
their physical bodies, but at last they recognized the truth and were taken
away by our invisible co-workers.

Meanwhile the patient had arisen, and speaking rationally to the
astonished nurse, walked quietly about her room. Presently she said: "I am
going to sleep well tonight," and returning to bed, fell asleep without the
usual sedatives, and rested quietly throughout the night.
25


The following day, attended by a nurse, she was brought to our home; we
dismissed the nurse, discarded her medicines, and after an electrical treatment,
the patient had her dinner in the general dining room with the other patients,
and that evening attended a function given in our social hall.

Another spirit was removed from her the next day; this was a little girl
who had been killed in the San Francisco earthquake, and who cried
constantly, saying she was lost in the dark. It is needless to add that she was
comforted and promptly cared for by spirit friends, who had been unable to
reach her while she was enmeshed in the aura of a psychic sensitive.

After some months of treatment, rest and recuperation, the patient
returned to her home and resumed her normal life again.

One of our early experiences in Chicago occurred on the 15th of
November, 1906. During one of our psychic circles, Mrs. Wickland,
entranced by a strange entity, fell prostrate to the floor, and remained in a
comatose condition for some time. The spirit was at last brought to the front,
and acted as though in great pain, repeatedly saying:

"Why didn't I take more carbolic acid? I want to die; I'm so tired of
living."

In a weak voice the spirit complained of the dense darkness all about,
and was unable to see an electric light shining directly into her face. She
whispered faintly: "My poor son! " and when pressed for information said
that her name was Mary Rose, and that she lived at 202 South Green Street,
a street entirely unknown to us at that time.

At first she could not remember any date, but when asked: "Is it
November 15th, 1906?" she replied: "No, that is next week." Life had been a
bitter disappointment to her; she had suffered constantly from chronic
abdominal ailments, and finally, resolving to end her miserable existence, she
had taken poison.

She could not at first realize that she had succeeded in destroying her
physical body, for, like most suicides, she was in total ignorance of the
indestructibility of life and the reality of the hereafter. When the real purpose
of life, experience and suffering had been made clearer to her she was
overcome with repentance and offered a sincere prayer for forgiveness.

Then her spiritual sight opened slightly and she saw dimly the spirit
figure of her grandmother, who had come to take her to the spirit world.

Subsequent inquiry at the address given by the spirit proved her
statements to be true; a woman by the name given had lived at this house, she
still had a son living there, and we were told

26

that Mrs. Rose had been taken to the Cook County Hospital and had died
there the week before.

Upon investigation at the hospital we found further verification of the
facts and were given a copy of the record of the case: Cook County
Hospital, Chicago, Ills.

Mary Rose.

Admitted November 7th, 1906. Died
November 8th, 1906.

Carbolic Acid poisoning.
No. 341106.

Another case will show that identification of a spirit is often possible.

Mrs. Fl., a patient who had been declared incurably insane by several
physicians, was a refined lady of gentle disposition, who had become very
wild and unmanageable, swearing constantly, and fighting with such violence
that several persons were required to restrain her.

She was also subject to coma states, again to fainting spells, would refuse
food, announce that she "had been married above by celestial powers," and
used extraordinarily vile language; these various phases alternated constantly,
but no full proof of obsession was evidenced until one day when Mrs. Fl.
lost all power of speech, and, mumbling idiotically, simulated perfectly a
deaf and dumb person.

At this time a gentleman from an adjoining state came to the house to
visit a patient and, shortly after his arrival, the nurse who attended Mrs. Fl.
reported that the patient had again changed and was talking like a little child.
So striking was this alteration that the gentleman was asked to step into the
room to observe the patient. He was a total stranger to her but as he entered
the room she pointed to him and said, in a high childish voice:

"I know that man! He used to put bows on my shoulders. And he pulled
my toofies! He took me to a gypsy camp too! He lived right across the
street from me, and he used to call me Rosebud. I'm four years old."

The astonished gentleman corroborated every statement, saying that he had
known such a child in his home town in Iowa, but that she had died the year
before. He explained that he was very fond of children and had on several
occasions taken the child to a gypsy camp, and that whenever he bought
taffy-on-a stick for the little girl, he would tug at the stick while she was
eating the candy and playfully threaten to pull her teeth.

It was evident that affection had attracted the spirit child to

27

her friend, and that she found in Mrs. Fl. a vehicle through which she could
make her presence known to the gentleman.

The patient was relieved of this spirit and gradually of other obsessing
influences, and several months later was pronounced entirely competent to
sign' legal papers, being declared normal and sane by a judge and jury.

Another case in point was that of Mrs. 0., who was a cook in a
restaurant. She had observed a waitress acting queerly, laboring under
delusions and hallucinations, and brought her to my office. After an electrical
treatment the patient declared she felt greatly relieved and returned to her home.

But that night Mrs. 0. herself became disturbed by an unaccountable
condition which prevented her from sleeping, and her restlessness continued
until ten o'clock the following morning, when, in the midst of her
preparations for dinner, she suddenly became wild, tore her hair, and
threatened to harm herself.

I was sent for and arriving, found Mrs. 0. raving in a demented condition,
complaining of being chased here and there and being unable to find a resting
place. Suspecting the presence of an invisible entity, I placed Mrs. 0. in a
chair, pinioned her arms to prevent a struggle, and after several remarks the
entity declared it was a man, but denied being dead, or obsessing a woman.

The spirit said his name was Jack, that he was an uncle of the troubled
waitress, and that he had been a vagabond in life. After reasoning with the
intelligence he began to realize his situation, and, promising to cause no
further annoyance, left. Mrs. 0. then immediately became her normal self and
returned to her work without any further disturbance.

It was later ascertained from the waitress that she had had an uncle
named Jack, who had been a vagabond, and that he was dead. In this
experience Mrs. 0. had acted as the psychic intermediary to whom the spirit
obsessing the waitress had been transferred.

A number of years ago Dr. Lydston wrote in the Chicago papers of a
patient who, although having no knowledge of French or music sang well the
"Marseillaise" in French when placed under the influence of an anesthetic.
Dr. Lydston, denying the continued existence of the ego, explained this
phenomenon as one of subliminal consciousness, or unconscious memory,
comparing it with the case of the uneducated domestic, who, in delirium,
recited classic Latin as perfectly as her former employer, a Professor of
Latin, had done during his life.

28

I replied, in a newspaper article, that such phenomena were frequently
met with in psychic research, and stated that, despite the classification of
materialistic scientists, these cases clearly proved the posthumous existence
of spirits and their ability to communicate through mortals. I added that if the
truth were known about these two cases, we would find that the man who
sang French was a psychic sensitive and had at the time been controlled by
some outside intelligence, while in all probability the domestic who recited
Latin was obsessed by the spirit of the former professor.

Shortly after this the gentleman alluded to by Dr. Lydston called on me,
having read my article, and said: "I don't know anything about French, but I
do know that I am bothered to death by spirits."

In the study of cases of "Multiple Personalities," "Dissociated
Personalities," or "Disintegrated States of Consciousness," modern
psychologists disclaim the possibility of foreign intelligences on the ground
that these personalities give neither evidence of supernormal knowledge, nor
of being of spiritistic origin.

Our experience, to the contrary, has proven that the majority of these
intelligences are oblivious of their transition and hence it does not enter their
minds that they are spirits, and they are loath to recognize the fact.

In the case of Miss Beauchamp, as recorded by Dr. Morton Prince, in
"The Dissociation of a Personality," reporting four alternating personalities,
no claim was made that any outside intelligences were responsible for the
various personalities, and yet "Sally" (personality 3) insisted that she herself
was not the same as Miss Beauchamp (Christine), that her own
consciousness was distinct from that of Miss Beauchamp, and told of Miss
Beauchamp's learning to walk and talk. "When she was a very little girl just
learning to walk ... I remember her thoughts distinctly as separate from mine."

Similarly in the case of Bernice Redick of Ohio, the young school girl
who constantly changed from her normal self to the personality of "Polly,"
an unruly child, every indication is given of the influence of a discarnate
spirit, probably ignorant of being dead, controlling Miss Redick.

That such "personalities" are independent entities could easily be proven,
under proper conditions, by transference of the same to a psychic
intermediary, as similar experiments have so' abundantly demonstrated.

Any attempt to explain our experiences on the theory of the

29

Subconscious Mind and Auto-Suggestion, or Multiple Personalities,
would be untenable, since it is manifestly impossible that Mrs.
Wickland should have a thousand personalities, and since it is so
readily possible to cause transference of psychosis from a
supposedly insane person to Mrs. Wickland, relieving the victim, and
in this way discovering that the disturbance was due to a discarnate
entity, whose identity can often be verified.

Individuals who are clairaudient suffer greatly from the constant
annoyance of hearing the voices of obsessing entities (the "auditory
hallucinations" frequently observed by alienists), and when such a
person is present in a psychic circle where the spirits are dislodged
and transferred to the psychic intermediary, interesting developments
occur.

An illustration is the case of Mrs. Burton, a clairaudient patient
who was constantly combating obsessing spirits, and who, while
attending our circle, was relieved of her unwelcome companions. In
the following records the conversation of the spirits through the
psychic, Mrs. Wickland, will elucidate the characteristics of the
several entities.

Spirit: CARRIE HUNTINGTON
Patient: MRS. BURTON.

Doctor Tell us who you are.

Spirit I do not wish you to hold my hands.

Dr. You must sit still.

Sp. Why do you treat me like this?

Dr. Who are you?

Sp. Why do you want to know?

Dr. You have come here as a stranger, and we would like to know
who you are.

Sp. What are you so interested for?

Dr. We should like to know with whom we are associating. If a
stranger came to your home, would you not like to know his name?

Sp. I do not want to be here and I do not know any of you.
Somebody pushed me in here, and I do not think it is right to force
me in like that. And when I came in and sat down on the chair you
grabbed my hands as if I were a prisoner. Why was I pushed in here?
(Brought in control of psychic by guiding intelligences.)

Dr. You were probably in the dark.

Sp. It seems somebody took me by force.

Dr. Was there any reason for it?

30

Sp. I do not know of any reason, and I do not see why I should
be bothered like that.

Dr. Was no reason given for handling you in this manner?

sp. It has been a terrible time for me for quite a while. I have
been tormented to death. I have been driven here, there and
everywhere. I am getting so provoked about it that I feel like giving
everything a good shaking.

Dr. What have they done to you?

Sp. It seems so terrible. If I walk around I am so very miserable. I
do not know what it is. Sometimes it seems as if my senses were
being knocked out of me. Something comes on me like thunder and
lightning. (Static treatment of patient.) it makes such a noise. This
terrible noise-it is awful! I cannot stand it any more, and I will not either!

Dr. We shall be glad if you will not stand it any more.

Sp. Am I not welcome? And if I am not, I do not care!

Dr. You are not very particular.

Sp. I have had so much hardship.

Dr. How long have you been dead?

Sp. Why do you speak that way? I am not dead. I am as alive as I
can be, and I feel as if I were young again.

Dr. Have you, not felt, at times, as if you were somebody else ?

Sp. At times I feel very strange, especially when it knocks me
senseless. I feel very bad. I do not feel that I should have this
suffering. I do not know why I should have such things.

Dr. Probably it is necessary.

Sp. I feel I should be free to go where I please, but it seems I have
no will of my own any more. I try, but it seems somebody else takes
possession of me and gets me into some place where they knock me
nearly senseless. If I knew it, I never would go there, but there is a
person who seems to have the right to take me everywhere, but I feel
I should have the right to take her. (Referring to patient.)

Dr. What business have you with her? Can't you live your own life?

SP. I live my own life, but she interferes with me. I talk to her. She
wants to chase me out. I feel like chasing her out, and that is a real
struggle. I cannot see why I should not have the right just as well as
she has.

Dr. Probably you are interfering with her.

SP. She wants to get rid of me. I am not bothering her. I only talk to
her sometimes.

Dr. Does she know you talk to her?

31

Sp. Sometimes she does, and then she chases me right out She
acts all right, but she gets so provoked. Then, when she gets into
that place, I am knocked senseless and I feel terrible. I have no power
to take her away. She makes me get out.

Dr. You should not stay around her.

Sp. It is my body, it is not hers. She has no right there. I do not
see why she interferes with me.

Dr. She interferes with your selfishness.

Sp. I feel I have some right in life-I think so.

Dr. You passed out of your body without understanding the fact,
and have been bothering a lady. You should go to the spirit world
and not hover around here.

Sp. You say I am hovering around. I am not hovering around, and
I am not one to interfere, but I want a little to say about things.

Dr. That was why you had the "thunder" and "the knocks." Sp. That
was all right for a while, but lately it is terrible. I must have
understanding.

Dr. You will have it now.

Sp. I will do anything to stop that terrible knocking.

Mrs. B. (Recognizing the spirit as one who had been troubling
her.) I am mighty tired of you. Who are you, anyway?

Sp. I am a stranger.

Mrs. B. What is your name?

Sp. My name?

Mrs. B. Have you one?

Sp. My name is Carrie.

Mrs. B. Carrie what?

Sp. Carrie Huntington.

Mrs. B. Where do you live?

Sp. San Antonio, Texas.

Mrs. B. You have been with me a long time, haven't you? (It had
been a number of years since Mrs. B. had been in San Antonio.)

Sp. You have been with me a long time. I should like to find out
why you interfere with me. I recognize you now.

Mrs. B. What street did you live on?

Sp. I lived in many different plates there.

Dr. Do you realize the fact that you have lost your own mortal
body? Can you remember having been sick?

Sp. The last I remember I was in El Paso. I do not remember
anything after that. I went there and I do not seem to remember when
I left. It seems that I should be there now. I got very sick one day
there.

32

Dr. Probably you lost your body then.

Sp. After El Paso I do not know where I went. I went some
distance. I traveled on the railroad and it was just like I was nobody.
Nobody asked me anything and I had to follow that lady (Mrs. B.) as
if I were her servant, and I feel very annoyed about it

Mrs. B. You worried me to death because you sang all the time.

Sp. I had to do something to attract your attention, because you
would not listen to me any other way. You traveled on the train and
it took me away from my home and folks, and I feel very much hurt
about it. Do you understand?

Mrs. B. I understand you far better than you do me.

Dr. Can't you realize what has been the matter with you?

Sp. I want to tell you that I do not want those knockings any
more. I will stay away.

Dr. Understand your condition; understand that you are an
ignorant, obsessing spirit, and that you have no physical body. You
died, probably at the time you were sick.

Sp. Could you talk to a ghost?

Dr. Such things certainly do happen.

Sp. I am not a ghost, because ghosts cannot talk. When you are
dead, you lie there.

Dr. When the body dies, it lies there. But the spirit does not.

Sp. That goes to God who gave it.

Dr. Where is He? Where is that God?

Sp. In Heaven.

Dr. Where is that?

Sp. It is where you go to find Jesus.

Dr. The Bible says: "God is Love; and he that dwelleth in Love
dwelleth in God." Where will you find that God?

Sp. I suppose in Heaven. I cannot tell you anything about it. But I
know I have been in the worst hell you could give me with those
knockings. I do not see that they have done me any good. I do not
like them at all.

Dr. Then you must stay away from that lady.

SP. I see her well now, and I can have a real conversation with her.

Dr. Yes, but this will be the last time.

SP. How do you know it will?

Dr. When you leave here you will understand that you have been
talking through another person's body. That person is my wife.

33

Sp. What nonsense! I thought you looked wiser than to talk such nonsense.

Dr. It may seem foolish, but look at your hands. Do you recognize them?

Sp. They do not look like mine, but so much has taken place
lately, that I do not know what I shall do. That lady over there, (Mrs.
B.) has been acting like a madman, and I have taken it as it came, so I
shall have to find out what she thinks of doing, and why she does
those things to me.

Dr. She will be very happy to be rid of you.

Mrs. B. Carrie, how old are you?

Sp. You know that a lady never wants to tell her age.

Dr. Especially if she happens to be a spinster.

Sp. Please excuse me, you will have to take it as it is. I will not tell
my age to any one.

Dr. Have you ever been married?

Sp. Yes, I was married to a fellow, but I did not care for him.

Dr. What was his name?

Sp. That is a secret with me. I would not have his name mentioned
for anything, and I do not want to carry his name, either. My name is
Carrie Huntington, because it was my name, and I do not want to
carry his name.

Dr. Do you want to go to the spirit world?

Sp. What foolish questions you put to me.

Dr. It may seem foolish to you, but, nevertheless, there is a spirit
world. Spiritual things often seem foolish to the mortal mind. You
have lost your body.

Sp. I have not lost my body. I have been with this lady, but she
does one thing I do not like very well. She eats too much. She eats
too much and gets too strong, then I have no power over her body,--
not as much as I want to. (To Mrs. B.) I want you to eat less. I try
very much to dictate to you not to eat that and that, but you have no
sense. You do not even listen to me.

Mrs. B. This is the place I told you to go to, but you would not go
by yourself.

Sp. I know it. But you have no business to take me where I get
those knockings. I do not want to stay with you if you take those
awful knockings.

Dr. They are in the next room. Do you want some?

Sp. No, thank you. Not for me any more.

Dr. Listen to what is told you, then you will not need any more.
You are an ignorant spirit. I mean you are ignorant

34

of your condition. You lost your body, evidently without knowing it.

Sp. How do you know?

Dr. You are now controlling my wife's body.

Sp. I never saw you before, so how in the world can you think I
should be called your wife? No, never!

Dr. I do not want you to be.

Sp. I don't want you either!

Dr. I don't want you to control my wife's body much longer. you
must realize that you have lost your physical body. Do you recognize
these hands? (Mrs. Wickland's hands.)

Sp. I have changed so much lately that all those changes make me
crazy. It makes me tired.

Dr. Now, Carrie, be sensible.

Sp. I am sensible, and don't you tell me differently, else you will
have some one to tell you something you never heard before.

Dr. Now Carrie!

Sp. I am Mrs. Carrie Huntington!

Mrs. B. You listen to what the Doctor has to say to you.

Sp. I will not listen to any one, I tell you once for all. I have been
from one to another and I do not care what becomes of me.

Dr. Do you know you are talking through my wife's body?

Sp. Such nonsense. I think that's the craziest thing I ever heard in
my life.

Dr. Now you will have to be sensible.

Sp. Sensible? I am sensible. Are you a perfect man?

Dr. No, I am not, but I tell you that you are an ignorant, selfish
spirit. You have been bothering that lady for some time, and we have
chased you out by the use of those "knocks." Whether you
understand it or not, you are an ignorant spirit. You will have to
behave yourself, or else I will take you into the office and give you
some more of those "knocks.

SP. I don't want those knocks.

Dr. Then change your disposition. Realize that there is no death;
when people lose their bodies they merely become invisible to
mortals. You are invisible to us.

SP. I will have nothing to do with you!

Dr. We want to help you and make you understand your condition.

Sp. I don't need help.

Dr. If you don't behave you will be taken away by intelligent
spirits and placed in a dungeon.
35


Sp. You think you can scare me! You will find out what will
happen to you.

Dr. You must overcome your selfish disposition. Look around;
you may see some one who will make you care. You may see some
one who will make you cry.

Sp. I don't want to cry. I like to sing, instead of cry.

Dr. Where is your mother?

Sp. I haven't seen her for a long time. My mother? My mother!
She is in Heaven. She was a good woman, and is with God and the
Holy Ghost, and all of them.

Dr. Look around and see if your mother is not here.

Sp. This place is not Heaven,-far from it. If this is heaven then it is
worse than hell

Dr. Look for your mother; she will put you to shame.

Sp. I have done nothing to be ashamed of. What business have
you to give me those knocks and have me put in a dungeon? That
lady and I made a bargain.

Dr. She made a bargain to come here and get rid of you. You have
been fired out by electricity. You have lost your company.

Sp. Yes, for a while they all left me. I can't find them. (Other
obsessing spirits.) Why did you chase that tall fellow away?

Dr. This lady wants her body herself; she does not want to be
tormented by earthbound spirits. Would you like them around you?

Sp. I don't know what you mean.

Dr. Can't you realize that you bothered that lady and made her life
a perfect hell?

Sp. (To Mrs. B.) I have not bothered you.

Mrs. B. You woke me up at three o'clock this morning.

Sp. Well, you have no business to sleep.

Dr. You must live your own life.

Sp. I will.

Dr. That will be in a dark dungeon if you do not behave yourself.

Sp. How do you know?

Dr. You cannot stay here. You had better be humble and ask for
help-that is what you need. My wife and I have been following this
work for many years, and she allows all sorts of spirits to use her
body, so they may be helped.

Sp. (Sarcastically) She is very good!

Dr. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Do you see your
mother?

36

SP. I don't want to see her. I don't want to call her away from Heaven.

Dr. Since Heaven is a condition of happiness she could not be in
any "Heaven" with a daughter like you,--she could not be happy.
Suppose you were in Heaven, and had a daughter, would you like her
to act as you do?

Sp. I do not act contrary. What is the situation? Tell me that!

Dr. I have already told you the situation. You are controlling my
wife's body.

Sp. How do I do that?

Dr. Because of higher laws, and because you are a spirit. Spirit
and mind are invisible. You are so selfish that you do, not care to
understand.

Sp. This is not Heaven.

Dr. This is Los Angeles, California.

Sp. For God's sake, no (An expression never used by Mrs.
Wickland.) How did I come here?

Dr. By staying around that lady. That is how. She had to, take
those "knocks" to get you out.

Sp. She's a fool to do it.

Dr. She wants to get rid of you and she will get rid of you.

Sp. I will not have those knocks any more.

Dr. Higher spirits will show you something you do not like, if you
do not behave yourself.

Sp. (Shrinking from some vision.) I don't want that!

Dr. It is not what you want; it is what you get.

Sp. Is that so!

As nothing could be done to bring the spirit to an understanding,
she was taken away by intelligent spirits.

Upon a later occasion, when the patient, Mrs. Burton, was in the
circle, another spirit was removed from her and, controlling Mrs.
Wickland, spoke in a very individualistic manner.

Spirit: JIMMIE HUNTINGTON
Patient: MRS. BURTON.

The spirit kicked off both shoes, and seemed greatly disturbed.

Dr. What seems to be the trouble? Have you been in an accident
of some kind? (Holding psychic's hands firmly.) You have no shoes on.

SP. I took them off.

Dr. Tell us who you are.

37

Sp. I don't know whether I want to.

Dr. Tell us where you came from.

Sp. I don't know that I have to do that.

Dr. We would like to know who you are. What seems to be the
trouble? You don't seem to be comfortable.

Sp. I am not.

Dr. What have you been doing lately?

Sp. I haven't been doing anything. I have just been walking
around.

Dr. And what else?

Sp. Why, nothing in particular. It seems that I have been shut up
somewhere. (In patient's aura.)

Dr. In what way?

Sp. I don't know how it is, but I couldn't get out.

Dr. How would you explain that?

Sp. I can't explain it in any way.

Dr. Did you hear any talking?

Sp. Yes, many people talked.

Dr. What did they say?

Sp. One said one thing, one another. They all think they are so smart.

Dr. Did you ever have any chance to say anything?

Sp. Yes, but I got so mad, because there was always a woman
there; she knew all I wanted to say. I felt that some, times I should
have a chance. Whenever they talked, that woman talked. A man has
no chance to say anything when a woman begins to talk.

Dr. You must have been a married man.

Sp. Why yes, I am married.

Dr. Was it a success, or a failure?

Sp. I don't know what it was-an excuse anyway. I was not so very
happy. Women always talk too much. They can't leave a fellow alone
a minute at a time.

Dr. What did they talk about?

Sp. It's that woman, she talks and talks and talks. (Patient, Mrs.
Burton, who talked constantly.) She never can keep still very long at
a time. I felt sometimes like shaking her good. We just had some new
company come in. They talk and talk. It makes me sick; they make me
get out. They are the worst I ever saw.

Dr. Did anything happen at all?

Sp. Lightning played around my head, until I didn't know where I
was. (Electrical treatment given patient.) I thought

38

it was far distant, but, my God and Stars in Heaven, how it hit me!

Dr.. What did you want to do at such times?

Sp. I wanted to get hold of that lightning and try to stop it hitting
my head, but the lightning strikes every time-it never misses.
Lightning used to be different; it didn't always strike, but now it
never misses. I never saw anything like it. There are stars before your
eyes, and it feels terrible, but even while the lightning strikes that
woman keeps right on talking. (Patient talked throughout treatment.)

Dr. What does she talk about?

Sp. Nothing. She wants to be boss, and I want to be boss; so
there we are.

Dr. What does she say?

Sp. You know how it is with women-they talk and talk, but there is
never anything to it.

Dr. Does the lady address you?

Sp. She torments me all the time. I feel like shaking her, but I don't
seem to have any power any more. Then there is another woman, and
she goes right at it too. It makes me sick. What can you do with a
woman to make her stop talking? If you can get any woman to stop
talking, you'll have a pretty hard time to do it.

Dr. What is your name?

Sp. It's a long time since I heard it.

Dr. Where did you come from? Are you in California?

Sp. No; I'm in Texas.

Dr. What did your mother call you when you were a boy? Sp. James
was my name, but they always called me Jimmie. Gosh! I don't know
what is the matter with me. That lightning gets on my knees and feet,
then from my head to my feet, but what I can't understand is, it never
misses its aim.

Dr. How old are you?

Sp. I will say that I am a man about fifty years of age, but I want to
say that during all my life, I never saw such lightning before, and
what I can't understand is that nothing ever catches fire from it.
Gosh! Yesterday I got into a regular nest; it was the worst I ever saw
in my whole life. I think every one was a devil. (Obsessing spirits.)
There's another one standing over there, and that came yesterday.

Dr. How long have you been dead, Jimmie?

Sp. What do you mean?

Dr. I mean, how long is it since you lost your body?

SP. I haven't lost it yet.

39

Dr. Don't you realize that you are in a strange condition?

Sp. I have been that for a long time.

Dr. Did you ever work in the oil business in Texas?

Sp. I don't know where I have been working; things are
very queer.

Dr. Where did you work?

Sp. In a blacksmith shop.

Dr. Do you know what year it is?

Sp. No, I don't.

Dr. How are you going to vote this Fall? For whom will
you vote for President?
Sp. I don't know yet.

Dr. How do you like the present President?

Sp. I like him; he is pretty good.

Dr. Do you know anything in particular about him?

Sp. He's all right; there's no flies on Roosevelt.

Dr. Is he President?

Sp. Of course he is. He just got in. McKinley was also a
good man, but you know, Mark Hanna had an awful influence
over him. It is a long time since I bothered with politics. I
have been shut up a long time, but, my God and Stars in Heaven,
I'm nearly crazy from that woman talking all the time.

Dr. What woman is it that talks so much?

Sp. Can't you see her?

Dr. She might not be here
.
Sp. Oh, yes, she is, it's that woman. (Indicating patient.)

Dr. What does she talk about?

Sp. Nothing but nonsense. She makes me sick.

Dr. What does she say in particular?

Sp. Nothing; she has not sense enough. She mocks me
every once in a while. I'm going to get her some day! Stars
in Heaven, she's terrible!

Dr. Now, friend, I want you to understand your condition.
You have lost your physical body, and are now a spirit.

Sp. I have a body. If only that woman would keep still.

Dr. This is not your body.

Sp. Stars in Heaven, whose body is it?

Dr. My wife's.

Sp. Stars in Heaven and the Heat from the Sun! I'm not
your wife. How could I be your wife when I'm a man? That's funny!

Dr. You are an invisible spirit.

Sp. Spirit? Do you mean a ghost? For Heaven's sake, talk
United States.
40


Dr. Ghosts and spirits are the same thing.

Sp. I know ghosts and I know spirits.

Dr. They both mean the same thing. (Taking hand of psychic.)

Sp. Say, it's not nice for a man to hold another man's hand. If you
want to hold hands, get hold of some lady's hand and hold that. Men
don't hold each other's hands,--that's cold joy.

Dr. Tell us what that woman says.

Sp. She just talks and says nothing.

Dr. Is she young or old?

Sp. She's not so very young. I get so mad at her.

Dr. I am telling you the fact when I say you are a spirit.

Sp. When did I die then?

Dr. It must have been some time ago. Roosevelt has not been
President for many years. He is a spirit like yourself.

Sp. Just like I am? Why, he's dead then.

Dr. So are you.

Sp. When I am here and listening to you, I can't be dead.

Dr. You have lost your body.

Sp. Say, don't hold my hand. It's such cold joy.

Dr. I am holding my wife's hand.

Sp. Well, you can hold her hand, but let mine alone.

Dr. Do you recognize this hand as yours?

Sp. That isn't my hand.

Dr. It is the hand of my wife.

Sp. But I'm not your wife.

Dr. You are using my wife's body only temporarily. You lost your
own body a long time ago.

Sp. How did that happen?

Dr. I don't know. Do you know you are in Los Angeles,
California?

Sp. God, and Stars in Heaven, how did I come to California? I had
no money. You know, there are two women here. One doesn't talk so
much. She looks to me like she was sick. (Another spirit obsessing
patient.) She doesn't say much, but I suppose she is so annoyed
because that other woman talks so awful. Please don't hold my hand;
I like 'to feel free. If I were alone with a lady, and I could hold her
hand, that would be a different story. Aren't you satisfied to hold
just one hand?

Dr. I have to hold both because you will not be quiet. Now, let us
not lose any more time.

SP. I wish sometimes I didn't have so much time on my hands.

Dr. We will give you something to do.

41

Sp. You will? That's good. If you can give me some work of some
kind, I shall be very glad. Do you want me to fix horses, shoes? I used
to shoe horses.

Dr. In what state?

Sp. Texas. That's a big state.

Dr. Did you roam around a good deal?

Sp. Yes, quite a little. I was in Galveston, Dallas, San Antonio,
and many other places. I traveled everywhere I wanted to go. I went
to Houston and other cities.

Dr. You are a spirit and have been allowed to control my wife's
body for a short time. We do not see you.

Sp. Say, just look at those devils there, limping around like a
bunch of little imps. (Obsessing spirits.) They are all around that
woman. (Mrs. B.)

Dr. You take them all with you when you leave.

Sp. Not much I won't. (Touching necklace.) What in the world is this?

Dr. That is my wife's neck ornament.

SP. Your wife?

Dr. You have been brought here for enlightenment. You were
fired out from that other lady.

Sp. Yes, with lightning. For the life of me, I never saw anything
like it. There used to be thunder and lightning storms in Texas, and in
Arkansas, but lightning did not strike every time as it did on me.

Dr. You will not have that thunder and lightning any more.

Sp. I will not? That's good.

Dr. Was your mother living in Texas?

Sp. Certainly, but she is dead. I should know, because I was at her
funeral.

Dr. You were at the funeral of her body, not her spirit, soul or mind.

Sp. I suppose she went to Heaven.

Dr. Look around and see if you can see her.

Sp. Where?

Dr. She might be here.

Sp. What place is this anyhow? If I am your wife I have never
seen you before.

Dr. You are not my wife.

Sp. You called me your wife.

Dr. I did not say you are my wife. You are temporarily using her
body.

Sp. For God's sake in Heaven and hell, how can I get out of your wife?

42

Dr. Be sensible. What do those imps say?

Sp. They say they are going to stay, but I say, and say it strong,
that they are all going to go.

Dr. Do you want them to go with you?

Sp. I should say I do.

Dr. You can help them a great deal by reforming them and making
them understand their condition. They need help. You are all
ignorant spirits and have been bothering that lady. I am the one who
gave you "lightning" and chased you out. You can all 90 to the
spirit world and learn how to progress.

Sp. Is that woman going too? There is a whole lot, a gang, but I
haven't seen any of them until lately.

Dr. Can you see anybody you know? Just sit quietly -for a
moment and look around.

Sp. (Excitedly) Why, here comes Nora! (A spirit.)

Dr. Who is Nora?

Sp. Nora Huntington; she's my sister.

Dr. Ask her if your name is Jimmie Huntington.

Sp. She says it is, and that she hasn't seen me for such a long
time. (Suddenly puzzled.) But-she's dead.

Dr. Let her explain the situation.

Sp. She says: "Jimmie, you come home with me." Where shall I
come ?

Dr. What does she say?

Sp. She says: "To the spirit world,"--but I don't believe her.

Dr. Was your sister in the habit of lying to you?

Sp. No.

Dr. If she were honest before, would she lie now?

Sp. She says she has been hunting for me for years and she didn't
know where I was.

Dr. Where has she been?

Sp. Why, she's dead. I was at her funeral, and I know well that
she was not buried alive.

Dr. You went to the funeral of her body, not her spirit.

Sp. This is her ghost then?

Dr. She is probably an intelligent spirit. We do not need to argue
about that any more. Let her explain.

Sp. She says: "Let us go, Jimmie, and take the 'gang' with us." She
says she is a missionary and helps everybody she can; she says she
helps unfortunates. I have been unfortunate too.

Dr. Tell this lady, this other spirit you have been talking about, to
go with you.

SP. She says if she leaves she has no body.

Dr. Tell her she has a spirit body. She doesn't need a physical

43


body. Tell her that they will teach her how to progress. You take
the imps along too.

Sp. I can't carry them all with me. How do you know they all want
to go with us?

Dr. They will go if you can show them anything better than they
have now. Probably they never had any chance in life.

Sp. I never thought of that.

Dr. We cannot blame them altogether. Show them the better way
and they will follow.

Sp. Where am I now?

Dr. In California.

Sp. Where in California?

Dr. Los Angeles.

Sp. If you are in California, it doesn't mean that I am there too.

Dr. How could you be anywhere else, since you are here?

Sp. Of course, that is reasonable, The last I remember, I was in
Dallas, Texas, and the first thing I knew I was struck on the back of
my head. I was shoeing a horse when I was struck. Did he kill me?

Dr. He evidently chased you out of your body. Nobody ever
dies. If you don't go soon, your sister will become tired of waiting for you.

Sp. I'll go with her, if you'll let me, but I'll have to walk.

Dr. How are you going to walk? With my wife's body? You will
have to learn a new lesson. Just think yourself with your sister and
you will be there instantly. You will have to travel by thought.

Sp. Stars in Heaven, that's a new wrinkle!

Dr. Now, friend, you can't stay any longer.

Sp. That's a nice way to talk to me!

Dr. I don't want you to use my wife's body any longer.

Sp. What body will I get hold of when I get out from here?

Dr. When you leave this body you will have your spirit body.
That is invisible to us.

Sp. Can I jump from this body into a spirit body?

Dr. Your sister will explain. Just think yourself with your sister.
You do not need any physical body for that purpose.

Sp. I am commencing to get sleepy.

Dr. Go with your sister and follow her instructions; you will learn
many new lessons in the spirit life. Take all the gang and the little
imps with you.

Sp. (To spirits) Now you come along with me, all of you, the
whole lot of you.

44

Dr. Will they all go with you?

Sp. Now we are going. Come on, the whole gang of you.
Goodbye.

----

On a subsequent date a spirit "Harry" was brought to the circle
for enlightenment, and, controlling Mrs. Wickland, maintained an
interesting conversation regarding another spirit that had been
troubling Mrs. Burton.

Spirit: HARRY.

Dr. Where have you come from?

Sp. I don't know where I am, and I don't know what is the matter
with me.

Dr. Would you care to know what is the matter?

Sp. I don't know what is the matter.

Dr. Did something happen to you?

Sp. That is what I should like to find out.

Dr. What have you been doing lately?

Sp. I don't know.

Dr. Tell us who you are. Do you know?

Sp. Well, I should say-well, I think I do.

Dr. Where do you think you are?

Sp. I don't know.

Dr. Yes, you do.

Sp. No, I don't know. Everything is so queer, and it just seems to
me I don't know what's the matter.

Dr. Can't you look back and see whether something happened to you?

Sp. I can't look back, I have no eyes in my back.

Dr. I mean, think back.

Sp. Think of my back?

Dr. No, think of your past. Just use your thinking faculties.

Sp. I don't know anything.

Dr. You must not be so mentally lazy.

Sp. What can a man do?

Dr. This is a woman sitting here. Are you a man or a woman?

SP. I am a man, that fellow is a man, and the others are women. I
have always been a man. I was never a woman, and never will be.
You know I am a man.

Dr. Look at your hands; where did you get them?

Sp. Those are not my hands.

Dr. Look at your feet.
45


Sp. They are not mine, either. I never was a woman, and I don't
want women's hands and feet, and I don't want to borrow any one's
body now.

Dr. Are you old ?

Sp. Well, I'm not a young kid.

Dr. You are probably old in years but not in knowledge.

Sp. No, I don't know that I have so much knowledge.

Dr. If you had knowledge you would not be in your present
position.

Sp. That has nothing to do with knowledge.

Dr. Knowledge is just what you lack. Tell us what your name is.
Is it Mary?

Sp. Have you ever heard of a man being named Mary? That's
ridiculous.

Dr. Then tell us what your name is. I can only guess.

Sp. For goodness sake alive, man, it is a man's name, not a
woman's.

Dr. Introduce yourself.

Sp. What in the devil do you need my name for?

Dr. You are well versed in English. Did you have white hair as
you have now? (Referring to hair of psychic.)

Sp. I had gray hair.

Dr. Did you wear curls as you are doing now?

Sp. No, I don't like them.

Dr. Did you wear a comb?

Sp. Did you ever know of a man wearing a comb?

Dr. Where did you get that wedding ring?

Sp. I didn't steal anything. I don't want a woman's hand.

Dr. John, where did you come from?

Sp. I'm not named John.

Dr. What did your wife call you? What did your mother call you?

Sp. She called me Harry. I was not married.

Dr. What is your other name?

Sp. I do not need to tell my name to a lot of women.

Dr. There are some gentlemen present.

Sp. How in the world did I get into this crowd of women? I hate women.

Dr. You must have been disappointed in love. What was the trouble?

Sp. I'd be a big fool to tell my secrets to a lot of women.

Dr. Why did she marry the other man?