The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-10-19
ANCESTRAL MEMORY.
-ueoRY TO EXPLAIN SOME
.,eAkS OF THE MIND.

clashes Of Renaissance Are
w.. u. sudden Awakening, the Calling
-. Action Of Something We Have
nv are few people who have net
80 been startled by some vivid
once which has suddenly H.
D;,.d their minds when visiting
's -a tn.irely new locality or while
80 No some scene which they know
W. have never seen before. A key
80 hoen somehow, turned; a bolt
- somewhere within the inner
~ 80 Of their consciousness; Sc
" aashed in upon them, a thrill OF
sssht has possessed them. and they
...l for the moment a new light has
.s..or over them Words Of amazed
..non;tion rush to their lips, as a full
y, II Of new thought is switched on
and they feel hey want to say so
IN all at once that the effort gen
..,,lv ends IN their saying little that
= uherent. For an all TOO brief space,
=. recollection is there-a concept
tho minds eye, clear and strong,
~, Il fades away, while they des-
rrsely hang on to the skirts OF the
,.,on When it is entirely gone they
sngsle to recall it as one would re-
nd dream. No use-it is gone; and
\. more serious ones realize that
n.oo are thoughts without words. as
IN as songs without words: slum-
ha,;ng ideas: dormant pictures: gen.
n, held in bondage, which require but
4. magic word to call them into &C
i've operation.
n other times the vision fingers
umciently to enable us to get hold
y something fairly definite; we are
a firm ground to say, Il have seen
Ill this before. I recognize that hill
ud those ruins; beyond that hill there
4 village; the end Of that lane will
| ring us to the main road" and We
rs on to give further details OF what
L picture brings back to Us.
( Have YOU ever felt On seeing place
br the irst time that you have been
here beforeo This is favorite ques-
Ion Of mine, and il quite so per cent
the answers l get something which
ears directly on the theory OF a ra'
dal memory. A few, from fear OF
sdicule or misunderstanding, prefer
b pass the question, and 1t Is not al
hays easy to break through the Eng.
ssh reserve, but l could give some
yuy interesting answers.
And this strange thing-this haunt
liz as Of a pre-existence-is not ex-
|mptional; 1t is not new; it is not
United to poets or dreamers or to
those whose minds are sulpersensitive.
From the very dawn Of history it has
hunted the minds OF men, given food
im. thought and shaped itself in all
k1ds Of speculation.
In common with OTHER forms OF mys-
tcism 1t has its cradle in the East.
where 1t had its philosophers and
poets. In the subtle metaphy sizes OF
| BE Brahmins and in the noble moral
|iH which has its home under the shad-
|w Of Buddha, 1t stands out precise
nd clear as an ultimate fact which
nqu.res theory, and it would appear
! nAgion, for its due expression. 1t
~ grated into the theology Of
Egypt; it laid hold of the mind OF
rlxA who discusses it under the
am a7amnesis-reminiscence OF
Mmer existence or Of things once
nown and seen. Among the Jews the
Faafasees had explained it by a doc
une that the virtuous have power to
Nnve and live again (Josephus,
Aadq, XVIII. In the New Testament
'0an the Baptist is regarded by some
= the reincarnation of Elijah, AID the
elscsples Of the Christ on one occasion
med whether a certain man born
auad was suffering for the sin OF his
safea1 or for some sin of his own.
unoef the forms of transmigration.
assempsychosis, relncalation, such
ssenomena were discussed among the
NY Church Fathers, some OF whom
sA''soedly believed that pre-existence
ne explanation of such phenom-
Is l have mentioned. Schopen.
"a, Lessing. Hegel, Leibnitz, Herd
m Nchte have dealt with it.
ok, Is there not such a thing as
A memory? That a child
ND present certain features of his
aef and mother, and reproduce Ger
veal known gestures and manner
Ok his grandfather, is looked up
= something very ordinary. Is 1t
~eosstble that the child may inherit
ntng Of his ancestors memory?
1 taese flashes Of Renaissance are
0ddea awakening, the calling in
zion Of something we have in
MOOD; the disks, the records O.
0cestor's past life, which require
ncA - \