E S S A Y S I N I M SPIRITI M CCULT S , S , DE MONOLOG Y BY W A RRI S N R . H DEA . “ A h r o f Da and i hts in the Tro i ut o ys N g p cs, “ ” “ B a and Trail Pio neers o f the y P th , ” Cross in Canada, etc . cCLELLAND GO D H D STEWA , O C IL RT, Limite d U BLIS HERS TORONTO ovioi die 29 e t 1 1 S ti. Lud , , S p . 9 8 . F . G . Holweck, I MPRI MA TUR Ludov c di 0 S e t . 1 1 e 3 9 8 . i i, , p J o n lennon " a nes J . G , Archiepiscopus ti Ludov S . ici by“ Jasaph Gu mmers bach te A . Prin d im U. S . TO V RY R B RT McBRA DY C . S . E . E O E , A s a slight mark of gratitude fo r his kindness and of adm iratio n for his character and ab ility H n s o f a aba W en aske if in h e land These i doo M l r, h d , t ir , ‘ ere a a ons or an oms re e : Yes b ut we look there w pp riti ph t , pli d , i e m t h o f upon them as evil spir ts . W believe th e o b e t e s uls o ose wh o co mmit ted swicide o r er s e b a v o en ea . th , p i h d y i l t d th i u e th e Night s their favorite time for appearin g . They sed c w eak -m in ded and th e curiou s and tempt o thers in a thousand e i differen t w ays . Th y a m to do all th e injury th ey can to ’ human being s . ” Gfirres La s ue Vol . I I I . 63 . J , My tiq , , p PREFACE b As far ack as history goes , at all times , in ds m all lan , and a ong all peoples materializations of spirits have occurred . The spirit manifesta tions to- day are but a repetition of those Which - took place in pre Christian times . The war and the publications of Sir Arthur W. J. Cr w Conan Doyle , Sir Oliver Lodge , a B oirac ford, and Emile have given to Spiritism B a popular vogue and impetus . y a singular k coincidence b oo s on Spiritism , published in I t al Germany, France , and aly have appeared most simultaneously With English and Ameri M can publications on this weird subj ect . any of these have given a quasi - scientifi c endorsa ffi i tion to Spiritism, and have contributed o c al support to the current belief in the reality of Spiritistic phenomena . Catholic students of these phenomena have m never doubted their reality . While ad itting 11 and conceding the impositions , frauds , trickery m and deceptions of any professional mediums . Catholic psychologists and theologians, who for nearly two thousand years have investigated the al subject , hold that materializations have w - ays taken place and are occurring to day, and that no theory of fl and or delusion can account for them . Planchette and Ouija b oard answe rs and automatic writing are facts of every- day experi ence , but that these responses , materializations , o spirit c mmunications and the like , are mes e s ch sag s from the dead , Catholic p y ology de nies . A pplying the methods of physics to psychic phenomena , Professor Crawford, in his latest “ ” c a work , The Reality of Psy hic Phenomen , believes he has demonstrated not only the s actuality and truth of these phenomena , but al o the existence of a hitherto unknown manner of manifestation of psychic or spirit energy. l k “ Conan Doy e , in his b oo , The New Revela ” a tion , asserts that these spirit communic tions “ ” establish a new religion , a New Revelation, PREFACE iii a re birth of the Christian religion , while Emile “ B oirac informs us in his Psychology of the ” Future that these phenomena lay the founda oh tions of a new psychology, dealing with the m n scure forces latent in the nature of a . These three well- known writers are fi rm b e liev ers in Spiritism and in the possibility of communicating with the souls of the dead . Professor Crawford in his brief preface says “ that he is personally s atisfi ed that the spirits are the souls of human beings who have passed ” into the beyond . But Catholic psychologists , and many dis tinguished non- Catholic writers Wh o have i studied Spir tism, state that no evidence which Would be accepted in any court of law has been given to prove that the spirits responding to human summons are the souls of men and women who at one time lived upon the earth . They contend that the phenomena are produced and controlled by fallen angels , spirits of evil, and that so far from being communications from the dead, they are actually malign manifesta - tions of diabolic force . They also contend that iV PREFACE these phenomena are manifestations of de moniac spirits With Whom the Catholic Church ’ forbids all those who listen to her yoice to hold intercourse . Mr . J. G Rau ert o odfrey p , who has dev ted many years to the study of psychic phenomena , “ ” asks in his book, The Supreme Problem “ Can we reasonably believe that the heretofore relations and friends will avail themselves of means so repulsive and so disastrous as are the spiritistic methods in order to furnish evi dence to the living that they still survive ? ” The distinguished British scientist Sir Wil “ r : liam Bar ett , writing on Spiritism, says For my own part, it seems not improbable that the bulk, if not the whole of the physical mani festations é witnessed in a spiritual s ance , are - the product of human like , but not really human , — im m’ intelligence good or bad , da o a they may b e—W hich congregate around the medium, as a rule drawn from that particular plane of mental and mo ral development in the un seen which corresponds to the mental and moral development of the medium . More u over, if there is any tr th in the view suggested PREFACE V above of a possible source of the purely physical manifestations , it seems to me that the Apostle Paul, in the Epistle to the Ephesians , points to a race of spiritual creatures , similar to those I have described, but of a malignant type , when he speaks of beings not made of flesh and blood inhabiting the air around us and able injuri ously to affect mankind . Good as well as mis chievous agencies doubtless exist in the unseen ; this , of course , is equally true if the phenomena are due to those who once lived upon the earth . c S In any case , granting the existen e of a pirit a ual world, it is necessary to be on our gu rd against the invasion of our will by a lower order ” of intelligence and morality . In harmony with the will and the orders of Almighty God, the Catholic Church not only denounces Spiritism , but also commands her children to abstain from all intercourse and m w com unication with spirits , hether they be of the dead or demoniacal . She condemns also spirit communications because of the frightful results which inevitably follow all sustained Spiritistic practices . And in her denunciations she is supported by influential members of the vi PREFACE mi Church of England, clergymen and e nent sci entists . Members of the Spiritistic cult may protest against the severe condemnation pro n ounced on Spiritism by the C atholic Church ; “ r Rau r i D . e but, w th p t we ask them to Please examine the evidence . Putting theology aside , examine , with an unbiased mind the Spiritistic phenomena . You will quickly become convinced that a transcendental intelligence is certainly manifesting itself through these phenomena , and you will also fi nd that this intelligence is a powerfully evil force . Centuries of experience have taught Catholic psychologists and doctors that devotion to Spir itism has worked ravages upon the minds of - weak willed and impressionable people , and has driven many to suicide and insane asylums . Whether these statements and the Catholic view of Spiritism are accepted or rejected, the frightful consequences resulting from communi cation with transcendental spirits should be plainly understood, and all thoughtful Chris tians should unite in denouncing the cult of Spiritism and spirit manifestations . H E U TH OR T A . C ON TE N T S PRELI M I N ARY DI S COURSE TH E SIXTH SENS E TH E SEN SE on ORIENTA TION WONDERS OF BILOCATION BI CORPOREI TY DUAL PERSONALITY SP R T SM N EN I I I , A CI T A N D — SPIRITISM WH AT I s I T ? DEM ON I ACAL POSSE SSI ON WH AT OF TH E DEAD ? SPIRITS on AN OTH ER WORLD e e are m e hin s a in ea en and on Th r or t g , Hor tio , h v ” earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy . — AM LET H . Amon g the occult scien ces I in clude the cult of i i ism an d I n ot en a ass a e w it Sp r t , do d y th t oci t d ith are au e e n an d e b ut can an on e fr d , d c ptio trick ry, y b elieve that scholars like de Mirville and Des Mous seaux an d s en is s i e e F amm a i n a e ci t t l k Lodg , l r o , B rr t , Ric e a a e an d James who a e m an ea s h t , W ll c , , , ft r y y r of ex e ien e w m e ium s a e a en exam n a i n p r c ith d , ft r p ti t i t o o f the u an d in e i en s u the su e a an c lt , t ll g t t dy of bj ct , b don ed m e i m— at r alism for Spiritis were deceived .