The Cairo bulletin., 1912-04-28
NOTED CATHOLIC
PRELATF: ADMITS
FEAR OF SPOOKS
Mons gaor Benson Of England De
clares lie Believes in Ham,
ed Houses

! f+1l, lla HhUNttI mouse, IN SFsF9
community there il always po.atee
| out II the newcomer some structure
| Re Il a palatial manson, or, NOR,
| frequently, some bleak. lose shut
| tered. deserted looking bu lding
| that il given wide berth because OF
he popular relief that the "ghcst
)t some gruesome tragedy or grisiy
romance enacted within its walls, 81
italy relevant to ii, halnts II tC
Fre, k vengeance on all who trans
trsss lis precincts. In this pract a.
tee popular opinion il prone to De
tounce such places or the traditioaa
sales attached to them as fakes, on
Teat.ons Of a highly imaginative
supelstitiors mind Ard yet a.
times proofs 80 eonelus = that
ghosts" or their equivalent, do real
y exist have been presented tina,
scientists have Of late given much
mtlic attention to the question
And now comes a Catholic priest
Monsigno: Robert Hugh Benson
England who some years ago re-
,ounced the Church of England OF
which his father. the late Arch
bishop Of Canterbury. was the
spi-itual head, with the statement
hat he believes in haunted houses
ct All haunted houses, of course
mi the reliable ones vouched foc b.,
Intelligent persons who know 'ha
lift renee between wailing voice
md soughing wind in a garnet.
While nc takes no stock in the &C
.eptel notions about these. haunted
houses, Monsignor Benson, in an ex
slusiye interview with the writer.
Explains a Hypothesis which may BE-
out forward to Clarity this alleged
phenomena II cannot believe he
declared, that the whole human
ace mas been wrong about this al,
-hese centuries. We find ghosts and
haunted houses in all countries and
n. all times. There must be some.
thing in il.
The explan:iion usually 81 On
by the psychologists is based on the
theory Of su0-conscious self that is
IN addition to the practical worka
lay mind with which. we are equip
bed for tho material side Of life. we
lave the sub-consc ious self which
records spiritual and elusive things
like the. memory. imagination and
Gca'.ye powers
Take, for instance. the haunted
house Wen say it Is in castle
where, in the reign OF Anne, a
younger brother cut the elders
throat. You know how a material
hing may gather emotional value
| ring belonging to dear one has
power Of arousing thoughts and
feelings IN you, quite independent OF
ia mate rial appeal to your eye or
touch! That appeal Is your sub
ccnstl oue self, the treasure house
of your emotions. Now, it is CON
eeivable that in our haunted castle
the material surroundings, the spot
where the moonlight falls on the
"blood stained" wall, are 50 charged
with the emotions of that fatal night
that they penetrate the sub-con-
seious selves of persons today who
are sensitive to these things. When
the right person goes into the room
tho emotion vibrating from these
walls makes itself felt, just as Mel
ba's voice vibrating on the phono-
graph can be hear again. under
proper conditions.
THE walls and floors of this
house or any Other might be com
pared to the cylinder of phono-
graph personality living within
these walls might, under abnormal
emotion, register itself in particu-
lar acts, such as murder or suicide,
with the result that strange effects
might continue for two or three
hundred years AID give the house
the name of being haunted"
"Have you ever seen a ghost" he
was asked. mo, nor have ever at
tended a spiritual seance and have
never written book on the sub
iect," he replied, "but from my
earliest years | have been accustom-
I'd to an atmosphere which minis
tered to my fondness for delying
into the experiences of those who
have, or at least claim to- have
always been afraid Of the dark and,
as It's study has progressed, ] have
been led to believe that 1t has in
finite potentialities Of which the
light gives little or no suggestion
Then you believe in ghosts"
Yes he answered, "but only In
50 much as their appearance is In
accordance with my nhilosophy ~