The Irish standard., 1919-02-22
The Facts and Fa||acies
Of Modern Spiritism

uOnC Will IA0 SuUJSNI. WALL AC40
but quote the statement of one dis
illusioned spiritist: 1.-THE subject
strange to say" he writes. seemed to
! have the power of introducing discord
in every family in which it entered, of
arraying husband against wife in the
divorce court, and Of producing all
manner Of domestic infelicity and
sexual Irregularities. This is rather q
strange result of the belief that we
are surrounded by the siprits of our be-
loved dead who see all we do!"
But Sir Conan Doyle speaks of auto.
matte writing as perhaps the most
satisfactory means of communication"
He must know something of the dan
gers attending 1t because he tells his
readers, in vague sort of way, that
this kind Of thing 'can be overdone." I"
The well-established fact, Of course,
is that this apparently harmless form
of communication is the most danger
Gus one of all. For while this writing,
in it's various forms, can be readily
induced and progressively developed,
it cannot be so easily shut off. In
most instances the experimenter ulti-
mately becomes the victim of the
power which he called into operation
! that power, by the incessant and mad
! dening prompting itself, disclosing it.
self as anything but kindly relative
or friend.
| l have never ceased to draw atten-
: tion in my writings to this peril and
have invariably illustrated my asser-
tion by accounts of actual and most
painful occurrences. l will here let
an authority speak who has never
committed himself to any religious
belief and who writes purely as a
scientific man. Il know this progress
sive development well," writes Dr.
Darlington. Il have so many differ
ent accounts sent me from different
sources that l know each step of the
process perfectly. First slow scrawls
and scratches obtained with difficulty
and only after long waiting; then the
, formation of definite letters; then the
more rapid flow of the hand writing
with intelligent connection; then per-
sonal remarks, answers, conversations,
lies, impertinence; then the stage in
which it seems hardly necessary for
the subject to touch the board at all;
then the board is discarded Altogether
and pencil is substituted in it's place.
The writing now becomes still more
personal, the subject. :. begins to be
dominated by it. Then, If the subject
still continues, rapid-furiously rapid
writing takes place; the desire to
write is constantly present! pain de-
velops at the base of the brain; then
the pencil is discarded and writing is
performed with any object which is
handy-a fork, paper knife, etc., or
with the fingers in the air; finally
the subject seems to "intuit" the words
before they are written out; this be-
comes more and more intense until
distinct auditory hallucinations result;
the patient listens to the internal
voices and follows and believes what
they say; she loses sleep; insomnia
sets in; strange light is seen in her
eyes; all sense Of proportion. is lost,
the subject is completely wrapped up
in the internal voices and pays but
little attention to external affairs; she
is completely dominated or obsessed
by the internal reverie; to all intents
and purposes she has become insane"
......I doubt not that many hun
dreds of persons become insane every
year by reason of these experiments
with the planchette board. -"
In view of such statement as this
based upon wide experience and die.
tated by no religious possession,
one can but ask this question: Will any
sane person maintain that spirit inter.
course by means of automatic writing
or of any other form of mediumship
can ever under any circumstances be
conceived to prove blessing to man
kind?