Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-05-15
STUDY OF PSYCHIC CULTS.
Strange Phenomena Attracting At
tention of Many People.

strange Phenomena Attracting At
tentiOn of Many People.
Our present era has been described
as one given chiefly to materialism,
yet there me- a. was a time when so
many thoughtful persons were engaged
ln the study of psychic phenomena or
when there were so many societies or
gained to prosecute psychical research.
Inc question of the nature of spirit Is
being investigated from many different
points Of view. Physicians attack the
problem from their own side, seeking
Tight In the study Of brain, nerves, etc.,
as well as in phenomena of somnam-
Dulism, hypnotism, double personality
and the like.
Societies for psychicai research in
this country and England number in
their membership some Of the most
eminent names Of modern science-men
who make 1t their task to sift grain
from the chaff of reported apparitions,
instances Of telepathy, alleged commun-
ications with the dead, etc. There is a
large literature on the subject of
"Spiritism"-a different thing from
Spiritualism.
The latter has become a creed with
many persons, who take their belief
seriously, though 1t has been notably
abused by pretenders who give
'seances" and use conjurers' tricks to
Impress the unwary. Mind reading,
suggestions" ETC., are accepted by
many who have no theory to account
for them.
The recent announcement that ex-
perimenters In New England have as
certained that the soul weighs half an
ounce, ridiculous as 1t Is, illustrates
the prevailing disposition to apply the
experimental method to the calculation
Of questions Of spirit. The Materials
tic tendency of the time demands ocu-
lar proof of things the most subtle.
Recent revelations Of the properties Of
radioactive substances have strength
ened this tendency, but have brought
materialists and Spiritualists closer to-
gether by showing that matter consists
apparently of infinitely minute aggre-
cations of ether which are endowed
with wonderful properties
Materiallsts used to laugh at the con-
tention of schoolmen that thousands Of
spirits could dance on the point Of a
| needle, but the calculations of Profess
sors Thompson, Soddy and others seem
to show that the point Of needle
would afford ample space for numerous
organized beings consisting each of mil
lions of atoms. Matter, In short, has
been refined almost to the quality Of
spirit, as the latter was once conceived,
so that materialists are more ready
than formerly to accept Spiritualistic
explanation of phenomena.
Faith in invisible causes is accord
ingly reviving and persons Of ultra
scientific bias will be found entertain
Ing views once deemed highly supersti-
tious. There Is much folly and some
fraud, no doubt, In various popular
manifestations Of the revived interest
In occult matters. The limits between
| the possible and impossible are ignored
! and the anxious inquirer after Spirit
istic truth often has a trick Of slight
of-hand palmed off on him.
The magician and the hoodoo doctor
still flourish upon the credulity of their
admirers. Not that there Is not great
virtue in mental suggestion" in this
! neurasthenic age. Imaginary diseases
require imaginary remedies. The regu-
lar physician finds many Of his pa
tients cured by bread pills, the pill be-
ing something to fix the eye upon,
while confidence In the doctor does the
work The huge boluses Of our grand
! fathers are out of fashion.
Medicine has lost its mysterious
J power and we want more subtle rem
edies Little by little we are finding
out that abstinence from drugs and
| plenty of exercise In the open air are
the true secrets Of physical and men
tai health. As respects Spiritual health,
/ however, the problem, with all our ex-
Pronunciation, remains substantially
where it was before the age Of isms be-
| gan.-Baltimore Sun.