Materialized Apparitions: If Not Beings from Another Life, What Are They. Edward A. Brackett

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ chair beside me, sits down and begins to talk, apparently not noticing those around her.

      At a Thursday afternoon séance, held last spring, she came out very lively; and after a cordial greeting I said, "You are feeling strong to-day; can you not do something to interest us?" She hesitated a moment; then leading me into the middle of the room, looked up laughingly into my face and said, "I will show you how we dress the forms in the cabinet."1 Stretching out her bare arms, turning them that every one could see that there was nothing in them, she brought the palms of her hands together, rubbing them as if rolling something between them. Very soon there descended from her hands a substance which looked like very white lace.

      She continued this until several yards of it lay upon the carpet, and then asked me to kneel down, saying I was too tall for her to work easily. She then took the fabric and made a robe around me, which appeared seamless. On being reminded that there were no sleeves, she took each arm in turn and materialized sleeves. Putting her hand on my head she said, "You have not hair enough," and, rubbing her hand over my head, materialized a wig. This I could not see, but put my hand up and felt of it, and those who were near me said it was in keeping with my own hair and quite an improvement.

      Removing the garment, she rolled it into a compact mass, manipulated it a few moments, and it was gone! In materializing and dematerializing this fabric, her arms, which were bare to the shoulders, were stretched out at full length, precluding the possibility of any deception.

      Thursday afternoon, Oct. 2, I visited Mrs. Fay's séance with some friends from New Bedford and Cincinnati. When Bertha came out I introduced her to my friends, and asked if she would be kind enough to show them how to make lace. She stepped forward and asked for my handkerchief, which she placed between her hands, manipulating it much after the manner of starching fine fabrics. It was easy to see that the material in her hands was rapidly increasing in volume, and soon the lace began to descend; but instead of being only one piece, there were two, one dark red, and one white, both falling at the same time, each piece about three quarters of a yard wide.

      When she had completed it, she held one end, while I took the other and walked across the room, stretching it out to its full length, between three and four yards, so that all could see it; and while it was so held, the controlling spirit shut off the light, showing that the lace was brilliantly illuminated. Bertha then gathered it in, rolled it up and dematerialized it on my shoulder, the light remaining on my coat for nearly a minute after the lace had entirely disappeared.

      These things are not new; they are as old as the history of man, and are of common occurrence in India at the present time. They have no possible connection with what is known as sleight-of-hand, or legerdemain. Louis Jacolliot, Chief Justice of Chandenagur, French East Indies, in his able work on Occult Science in India, thus points out the difference: —

      "Every European has heard of the extraordinary skill of the Hindoo Fakirs, who are popularly designated under the name of Charmers or Jugglers. They claim to be invested with supernatural powers. Such is the belief of all Asiatic people. When our countrymen are told of their performances, they usually answer, 'Go to the regular magicians; they will show you the same things.'

      "To enable the reader to appreciate the grounds of this opinion, it seems necessary to show how the Fakirs operate. The following are facts which no traveller has ventured to contradict: —

      "First.– They never give public representations in places where the presence of several hundred persons makes it impossible to exercise the proper scrutiny.

      "Second.– They are accompanied by no assistant, or confederate, as they are usually termed.

      "Third.– They present themselves in the interior of the house, completely naked, except that they wear, for modesty's sake, a small piece of linen about as large as the hand.

      "Fourth.– They are not acquainted with goblets, or magic bags, or double-bottomed boxes, or prepared tables, or any of the thousand and one things which our European conjurers find necessary.

      "Fifth.– They have absolutely nothing in their possession save a small wand of seven knots of bamboo, as big as the handle of a pen-holder, which they hold in their right hand, and a small whistle, about three inches long, which they fasten to one of the locks of their long, straight hair; for, having no clothes, and consequently no pockets, they would otherwise be obliged to hold it constantly in the hand.

      "Sixth.– They operate, as desired by the person whom they are visiting, either in a sitting or standing posture, or, as the case may require, upon the marble, granite, or stucco pavement of the veranda, or upon the bare ground in the garden.

      "Seventh.– When they need a subject for the exhibition of magnetic or somnambulistic phenomena, they take any of your servants whom you may designate, no matter whom, and they act with the same facility upon a European in case he is willing to serve.

      "Eighth.– If they need any article, such as a musical instrument, a cane, a piece of paper, a pencil, etc., they ask you to furnish it.

      "Ninth.– They will repeat any experiments in your presence as many times as you require, and will submit to any test you may apply.

      "Tenth.– They never ask any pay, merely accepting, as alms for the temple to which they are attached, whatever you choose to offer them.

      "I have travelled through India in every direction for many years, and I can truthfully state that I have never seen a single Fakir who was not willing to comply with any of these conditions.

      "It only remains for us to ask whether our more popular magicians would ever consent to dispense with any of their numerous accompaniments, and perform under the same conditions. There is no doubt what the answer would be."

      Whether the forms or articles exhibited are considered as objects invisibly brought into the room, or created from the atmosphere, they are alike astonishing manifestations of an occult power. It does not simplify or explain these singular phenomena to deny their relation to beings of another life, and refer them to a supposed power in man, the laws of which are unknown to us. We have to deal with them as we would with any of the natural manifestations of life.

      To assume that these things are not honest, – that these beings, who come to us claiming to be our friends and relatives, are deceiving us, playing on our credulity, – is to decide the question without evidence.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

      1

СКАЧАТЬ