Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-05-19

called by the Kaba.ists, very soon disinte-
CRATE, the Animal Soul, having always been
in subsection to the Spirit, being feeble
and inert. The rapidity of the disintegra-
ton of the shells is, in fact, exactly pro-
portioned to the purity of the person of
whom they are reliquie, and thus it is al.
legged to be very rare that the
simulacra of the purer spirits ever
enter the seance.room. Even should
they thus appear, however, they will
be scarcely or not at all conscious of what
they are doing, since the stronger portion
of their intelligence has gone elsewhere.
But, say the Adopts, Broadly speaking,
as law, it is only the reliquie of non.
spiritually minded men, whose spiritual
Egos have persisted, that appear in sesnce-
rooms and are dignifed. by Spiritualists with
the title of spirits of the departed.
These shells, these animal souls, in whom
still remains the major portion of the intel
ligence, will.power and knowledge that
tuCy PO5SOosCQ nhCA A1iSOA PtlasSo III
human combination, invigorated too by the
assimilation of the spirit. vitalized mat
ter that was combined with the spirit to
compose their spiritual Ego, are often
powerful and highly intelligent, and con-
tinue to survive for heightened periods,
their intense desire for earthly life en-.
abling them to seize from the decaying
simulacre of the good and feeble the ma
terial for prolonged existence. To these
eidolous Occulists are used to give the
name of Elementaries, and these it
is that by the aid of the Acknowledgment
forces of nature which are attracted to
them, perform most of the wonders OF the
seance.room." But it is commended that
these sishells cannot be described as dis
embodied human spirits, since in fact they
are only the husks or remnants of human
spirits the grosser parts, that is, which
are IN process of resolution into their con-
stituent elements. It ia to be observed
that this doctrine at least accounts for the
astonishing diminution of intelligence in
the supposed departed spirits which for
SO long time has perpiexed the ardent
Spiritualist, and afforded matter for ridi-
cule and scoffing to the Skeptic. Yet it
must not be concluded that this absence of
intellectual force is entirely attributable to
tae fact that only shells " are capable of
entering the seance.roon. Allusion is
made in the paragraph last quoted to the
half-intelligent forces Of nature which are
attracted to the shells, and it is necessary
to explain the reference. The Occultists
hold that space is peopled, not only with
planetary spirits and "shells, or Elemen-
taries. out with another class of beings
which they call Elementals. These Ele-
mentals, they assert, have never been hu-
man spirits, though in the process OF
evolution they will be. At present, how
ever, they occupy the position of semi
intelligent natural forces, which are capable
of being controlled and employed in many
ways. The Elementaries act upon and
through them, and thus produce the SO.
called Spiritualist phenomena. The Adopts
are enabled, by commanding these same
purblind forces, to produce all the same
phenomena, and many others unknown to
the seance.room. The character of the
Elementals is mixed. They are perhaps
less malicious than stupid, though some of
them are capable of much mischief. They
appear on the whole, however, to partake
of the "Puck" and "Robin Good Fellow
character, and never seem averse from the
preparation of the most cruel receptions
upon the believers in Spiritualism. The
Occultists declare that Mediumship, as
practiced in these days, is very harmful
and dangerous TO the mediums, and only
less so to ticse who have recourse to them /;
that the influence OF the Elementaries and
Eiementals upon men and women is dis
tinctly demoraiizing that the former are
in the majority OF cases the reliquie of
persons of sordid or sinister character,
now earth bound, and seeking only to graf
ify their degraded needs in the best way
attainable.
Now it must be apparent to those who
have Investigated the phenomena of Spin
itualism that this doctrine, whether true
or not, does afford solution of many per-
picking things. Bat the intelligent Spirit
ualist, however unpIepsred to disprove the
occult hypothesis OF a future life, will re-
fuse TO admit the pestulate that no disem.
bodied human Spirits communicate or man
ifest themselves in the seance room. he
will assert that the evidences of spirit
identity are far too abundant; that every
earnest inquirer has gathered such evil
dences that, moreover, the tests of both
identity and intellectual perception are SO
frequently given by the spirits Of the pure
and good as TO negative the occult doctrine
on that hand completely. For it will be
alleged that Spiritualism, even when di-
vested entirely of all its grotesque and
frivolous and confused elements, still pre-
sents a great body of irrefragible testi-
mony to the effect that human beings sur.
vive the grave; that they do so lin many
instancesl unchanged in character that
their existence under these conditions may
endure for centuries, or even ages; that
this applies as much to educated as to
degraded spirits; that both kinds can
and do return and that the proofs of
these things are such as to exclude
the theory of Elementaries and Elementals.
And unless the Occultists assert that the
"shells " CT pure and good persons may be
absolutely indistinguishable from the liv-
ing peraon as regards intelligence, it is diff
ficult to see how this difficulty can be rec.
onciled. At the same time Spiri.ualists
must acknowledge that the question Of
identity presents the most serious perplex-
tiles, and that in perhaps the majority of
cases it is literally impossible 70 determine
it. For, given the power of mind-reading
on the part of any aupra-mundane intelli.
gence, and it must be able to personate al
most anyone with whom communication is
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