The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-03-29
Dangers OF Modern Spiritism

Notwithstanding, a scientific expert
menter of recent date, tells us that
"as a rule it took the medium two
days to recover from the nervous
prostration resulting from these sit
tings.' And Sir VIM. Barrett assures
us repeatedly that he has observed
the steady downward course of all
mediums who sit regularly" / need
not say that my long and many-sided
acquaintance with the subject and
the reports | am constantly receiving
from Shipwrecked experimenters, con-
firm the literal truth Of these state
ments.
Some Moral Effects.
Respecting the moral effects of
these spirit-communication the half
has never yet been told: I mean to
tell the whole of it, however, before
| have done with the subject. I will
here but quote the statement of one
disillusioned spiritist: ''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
strange result of the belief that we
are surrounded by the spirits of our
beloved dead who see all we do!'
But Sir Conan Goyle speaks of auto
matte writing as perhaps the most
satisfactory means of communities
ton" He must know something OF
the dangers attending it because he
tells his readers, in a vague sort of
way, that this kind of thing "can b,
overdone." The Well-established fact,
CT course, is that this apparently
harmless form Of communication is
while this writing, in it's various
forms, can be readily induced and pro-
| gressively developed, it cannot be so
easily shut off. In most instances the
experimenter ultimately becomes the
victim of the power which he called
cessant and maddening prompting it.
self, disclosing itself as anything but
kindly relative or friend
Desire to Write.
| have never ceased to draw atten-
| ton in my writings to this peril and
/ have invariably illustrated my as
sertion by accounts of actual and
most painful occurrences. I 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 WE'LL writes DR..
Darlington. Il have SO many differ
! ent accounts sent me from different
sources that | 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, converse
tons, lies, impertinence; then the
stage in which it seems hardly neces
sary for the subject to touch the
board at all; then the board is dis
carded altogether and a pencil is sub
stituted in it's place. The writing
now becomes still more personal, the
subject begins to be domi-
mated 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, a paper knife, ETC., or
with the fingers in the air; finally
the subject seems to ''intuit" the
words before they are written out;
this becomes more and more intense
until distinct auditory Authorizations
result; the patient listens to the in
ternal voices and follows and be-
lieves 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 in
ternal voices and pays but little at
tention to external affairs; she is
completely dominated or obsessed by
the internal reverie; to all intents
and purposes she has become in
sane" 81 doubt not that many
hundreds of persons become insane
every year by reason of these expert
ments with the planchette board.
!. r
In view of such statement as this
based upon wide experience and die
tated by no religious prepossession.
one can but ask this question: Will
any sane person maintain that spirit
intercourse by means of automatic
writing or of any other form Of me-