Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-28
FAITH
IN SPIRlTUALlSM
DR.. C. E. LOCKE CONDEMNS
CLAIRVOYANCY
DENIES DEAD HAVE EVER COM.
MUNED WITH LIVING
Pastor of First Methodist Episcopal
Church Discusses FaIlacies of Sor-
Gerry and Necromancy from
Ancient to Modern Times

DR.. Charles Edward Locke at the
First Methodist Episcopal Church con-
tinued his series of sermons on, 1.-THE
Truth About Some Things" and dis
cussed the question, Can the departed
communicate with the living?" DIR.
Locke said:
1.-The universal belief in immortality
of the soul is accompanied by an al
most universal desire to penetrate into
the region occupied by departed spir-
its, and to communicate with those
who have passed into that unknown
realm.
"All of the evils of magic, and
sorcery and necromancy among the
ancients, and all of the gross and
cruel deceptions of modern spiritual
ism have grown out of a tremendous
curiosity to know what is behind the
veil. The supply has been equal to the
demand. The credulity of the people
has made it possible to perpetrate the
most grotesque deceptionS; and the
more stupendous the imposition the
more easy has it been for some people
to accept it. Many people want to be
fooled and are disappointed if they are
not fooled; and, for a money consid
GRAFTON, it has not been found difficult
to find some unprincipled scamp to
accommodate them.
''The ancient sorcerers developed
great skill in necromancy. They Sc
lected caves with mephitic odors as
in the Delphic oracle; or they made
the volcanic attitudes their high affairs.
They interpreted the deep, hollow rum
blings of the earth as voices of the
departed and led the people astray. In
the days of ancient Israel these prac
tices were so general that Moses and
Isaiah thundered severe denunciations
against so-called familiar spirits and
those who were deceived by them.
Scheme of lmposture
"Necromancy was a colossal scheme
of imposture. There certainly was not
single supernatural event in all that
dense jargon and jungle of deception
and superstition. Defenders of modern
spritualism cite the story of the
witch of Endor in support of their
claims All there is in that incident
is that the old hag intended to deceive
Saul just as she had deceived all 9TH
ers who came to her, but God over
ruled imposture and used the opportu-
nifty and performed a miracle in order
to send a message to the wicked, and
cowardly king.
"As alchemy was displaced by chem-
istry. and astGplogy by astronomy, so
necromancy surrendered to scientific
knowledge, and must be dismissed as
having contributed absolutely nothing
to substantiate any claim that the de-
parted can communicate with the liv-
ing.
Modern spiritualism had it's def
mite beginnings with the so-called phe-
nomena produced by the Fox sisters in
village in New York state about
sixty years ago There were myste-
rious knocks and rappings and So
called communications. Great excite
ment was produced in this country
and in Europe At length keen in
vestigators discovered fraud; and at
last the Fox sisters confessed that all
so-called phenomena had been pro-
duced by mechanical means.
THAT there is much in hypnotiSm;
and, perhaps, something in the tele-
pathic hypothesis; and much to be
learned of the subconscious self or
secondary personality; that there is
such a thing as self-induced hypnosis
by which some supersensitive people
can go into frances, and that auto
matte writing and 'insprational talk
ing can be produced from natural
causes, all will agree. And there is a
field of remarkable interest in the use
of the power of suggestion.
''But there is not q scintilla of evil
dence that any medium or clairvoyant
ever brought single accent or pune
tuation point from those who have
entered the other world. There is
positively no proof of any communica-
tions being received from the departed.
''By hypnosis, and tricks, and other
physical causes, all of these so-called
demonstrations can be explained; and
there is not a single one of all these
tests which cannot be reproduced by
skillful men who are able to detect and