A GUIDE TO MEDIUMSHIP AND PSYCHICAL UNFOLDMENT BY E. W. AND M. H. WALLIS [Wallis, Edward Walter 1855-1914 Wallis, Minnie Harriot 1854-] ——— In Three Parts PART I.—MEDIUMSHIP EXPLAINED PART II.—HOW TO DEVELOP MEDIUMSHIP PART III.—PSYCHICAL POWERS: HOW TO CULTIVATE THEM —————————— 'I could as soon doubt the existence of the sun as doubt the fact of my holding communion with my darling daughter. I thank God daily for the privilege.' —REV. THOS. GREENBURT. CHICAGO, ILL. 1903 Courtesy of SpiritWritings.com Do we indeed desire the dead Should still be near us at our side? Is there no baseness we would hide? No inner vileness that we dread? Shall he for whose applause I strove, I had such reverence for his blame,— See with clear eye some hidden shame. And I be lessened in his love? I wrong the dead with fears untrue; Shall love be blamed for want of faith? There must be wisdom with great Death: The dead shall look me through and through. Be near us when we climb or fall; Ye watch, like God, the rolling hours With larger other eyes than ours, To make allowance for us all. —TENNYSON. PREFACE. Having been frequently asked, during the last twenty-five years, for information and advice concerning Mediumship and its Development, we have constantly felt the want of a suitable handbook which we could recommend to inquirers and to those who were developing their own mediumistic powers, or assisting in the development of others. As this need has grown more and more pressing with the increasing number of investigators into Spiritualism, we have endeavored to produce a clear, practical, and serviceable 'Guide,' embodying the most comprehensive explanations and the best counsel that we are able, to give, derived from our own experiences and inspirations, and from those of other writers, both English and American. We have found it advisable to divide this 'Guide' into three distinct parts, and, although this arrangement has compelled us to present matters from different points of view, we feel assured that our readers will recognize the advantages that have been gained by the separate consideration of the many problems involved. Commending this work to the kindly consideration of Spiritualists, and to the thoughtful study of inquirers, we send it forth to the world, with, we trust, the blessings of the angels, in the hope that it may prove helpful to many of our brothers and sisters who are seeking for 'Light, more Light.' E. W. AND M. H. Wallis. PART I. CONTENTS ——— CHAPTER PAGE I.—THE SACRED OFFICE OF MEDIUMSHIP 5 II.—WHAT IS MEDIUMSHIP? 10 III.—THE EFFECTS OF MEDIUMSHIP 26 IV.—THE PHENOMENA OF MEDIUMSHIP 32 V.—THE DIFFICULTIES AND DELIGHTS OF MEDIUMSHIP 87 VI.—THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF MEDIUMSHIP 49 VII.—PSYCHICAL SUSCEPTIBILITY AND MEDIUMSHIP 65 VIII.—BIBLICAL AND MODERN MEDIUMSHIP 77 PART I. ——— MEDIUMSHIP EXPLAINED. CHAPTER I. THE SACRED OFFICE OF MEDIUMSHIP. I do not know of any other subject on the face of the earth that can for one moment compare with it (psychical investigation) in importance. On the turning of this investigation depends the opinion which the intelligent world is to hold in the future as to the nature and destiny of man. —REV. MINOT J. SAVAGE. What if what we call death is only the passing out of a spirit-self to a more refined or in some way entirely different etheric movement?—in which case a spirit might be perfectly well able to pass through what we call solid Matter, and live its own free and glorious life, on its appropriate plane, rid of 'this muddy vesture of decay.' An inspiring thought! An enchanting hope! —J. PAGE HOPPS. Through the gateway of mediumship for upwards of fifty years the world has been catching glimpses of the glory of the land immortal, and visitants from that 'bourne' whence it was erroneously said that 'no traveler returns' have made their presence known beyond all doubt or denial, thus proving the continued conscious existence of human beings and the sequential character of the life hereafter. Though the messages from the unseen have at times been imperfect and fragmentary, still they have been messages. 5 6 A Guide to Mediumship If but telegraphic despatches, so to speak instead of voluminous letters; or like telephonic snatches of conversation rather than face-to-face outpourings of thought and feeling, still they have been greetings and comforting assurances of undying affection from the people living in the land 'beyond the veil.' Although many a sorrowing soul has longed for further revelation, and regretted the inability of the spirits to comply with the requests for fuller information, still, the gates have been ajar, and sometimes it has truly seemed as though they had been flung wide open—so clear and consoling were the messages from the loved ones on the other side of death's valley of shadow. The manifestations of the presence of spirits and the evidences of their identity, which have been accumulating during all these years, have solved the 'great secret,' and we know that death is not a cul-de-sac, but a thoroughfare. The dread of death disappeared altogether with the mists of ignorance, as, through the gateway of mediumship, the shining presence of ministering spirits, 'our very own dear departed,' illumined the pathway which we must all tread to our great promotion. THE STONE ROLLED AWAY. 'Immortality demonstrated through mediumship' should be inscribed upon the banner of Spiritualism, for the fact of life beyond the incident of death has been proved beyond all peradventure to millions of intelligent and enlightened people since the new spiritual era was inaugurated. To mediums—the modern mediators therefore, belong the office and the honor of rolling back the stone from the tomb and establishing faith upon the firm basis of the knowledge (scientifically ascertained and proven) of the continued intelligent existence in the spiritual realm of those who went forth through the death change into light and liberty 'over there.' Mediums, as intermediaries, have enabled spirit people to comfort the sad and encourage the weak; to relieve the doubter and console the bereaved; to confirm the old-world A Guide to Mediumship 7 traditions regarding bygone spirit intervention and revelation, and supplement our hopes and intuitions with proof palpable. Present-day experiences of inspiration and spirit manifestation make credible and acceptable many things in ancient records which must otherwise have been discarded as superstitious and false. Spiritualism redeems the so-called 'supernatural' and 'miraculous' occurrences of the Bible, by explaining them and proving their naturalness. The capability claimed for old-time seers and prophets to see angels and hear voices is now known to be a natural faculty, which, in certain people, is perfectly normal, while it can be induced in others by the influence of operators in or out of the body. It can also be cultivated to some degree by most people who care to study the subject and provide the necessary conditions for its development and exercise. The famine, 'not of bread, nor of water, but of hearing words from the Lord,' and the loss of the 'open vision' of the spirit, which afflicted Christendom for so many years (because of the blind intolerance of zealots who, in their adherence to the 'letter,' crushed out the sensitives through whom the 'spirit' might have been revealed), that famine is rapidly passing away, and we are being fed with the living bread of spiritual inspiration, and are growing strong enough to welcome the messengers who come to us through the gateway of mediumship from their afterdeath home. THE JOY OF KNOWLEDGE. The intense joy which results from the complete realization of the actual presence and identity of the so-called dead; of their independent activity; of their unchanged nature and affection—that they are truly alive, thinking, remembering, loving, and happy—that they are just themselves—must be experienced to be understood. Let idealists, intuitionalists, and transcendentalists talk as they may about the superiority of those whose inner consciousness or philosophical attainments enable them to believe 8 A Guide to Mediumship without such evidences, yet even they themselves are thrilled and delighted when they receive actual and satisfactory demonstrations of the personal survival of their own loved ones; and we know of no means whereby such evidences can be obtained save through mediumship. When once the conviction has been driven home, and the truth of spirit ministry has been realized, nothing can destroy it. The Spiritualist stands upon firm ground—the impregnable rock of ascertained fact. He knows that intercourse between the two worlds is real, continuous; therefore he is proof against all speculations, denunciations, and adverse theories. Dogmatic condemnations, 'bogey' cries, charges of fraud against mediums, fail to move or frighten him. He can 'speak what he knows and testify to what he has seen'; his positive and affirmative experience and testimony outweigh all the opposition of 'doubting Thomases' who do not know. PATIENCE AND PERSERVERANCE REWARDED. Through the gateway of mediumship the spirits make themselves known in a variety of ways. There are many phases of mediumistic phenomena, and the student will find that he must be patient, painstaking, and persevering if he would make sure of his facts. Careful investigation, possibly prolonged research, under many difficulties and with many discouragements, will be required; but 'success is certain if energy fail not,' and the results will adequately recompense him for all sacrifice and struggle! For in the light of the demonstrated fact of continued conscious existence after death, it is clear that man is even now 'a spirit served by organs'—that consequently the basis of all religious experience and affirmation is the spiritual consciousness of mankind.