The Irish standard., 1920-05-01
Continued from page y
Black Magic Expert
Warns Against
Ouija

are able to gain possession of the
knowledge which enables them to
transmit particular facts beyond the
reach Of the subjects own mind and
to comment upon and report accurate
ly events taking place at a distance
is not hard to explain.
Recent psychological researches
have established that a very great
part of the operations of the human
mind are subconscious and that every
impression and every emotion of our
lives is retained by this subconscious
mind. 1t is only when in an abnor.
mai state that we become fully aware
of the variety and complexity of these
subconscious possessions of ours.
when the normal mind becomes
lethargic, then it is that the subcon.
scfous mind gains the ascendency
and operates most actively. In the
condition Of sleep the holdings of the
subconscious mind come forth in the
shape Of dreams and in states in.
duced by hypnotism, or, when under
the influence Of the ouija board, they
may be easily pried into.
Experiments have shown that
when this passive state of the mind
Is cultivated door is opened through
which gradually it is possible for evil
spirits, for so they have been identi.
fled by many of their conversations,
to gain access to the storehouse Of
the subconscious and read it like an
open book. The statement of one of
| these spirits, who after having sue
cessfully deceived his auditors for a
long while was finally trapped into
manifest falsehood, was this:
"I obtained all the needed informa-
ton from your own silly thought
boxes. You sit there like set of
fools, in a passive state Of mind, by
which l am able to read your minds
as you read the New Testament
"The ludicrous and fantastic mes.
sages which are usually first obtained
from the use of the ouija board are
explained by the fact that the sub.
conscious mind is only partly awak-
ened and the normal mind is still
functioning. AS long as the messages
contain no information that may not
be known by the experimenter him
self, there is no valid reason to as.
| sumo an outside intelligence.
But, usually, as the experimenter
becomes more and more accustomed
to the use Of the device, it is found
| that the normal mind more readily
succumbs to its influence and more
rapidly passes into the lethargic state
! in which the subconscious flourishes.
Gradually 1t has been observed that
the character Of the messages changes
! and that from the trivial and fantas-
tic note that is usually found at the
outset there flash forth astonishing
communications which suggest the
presence of a critical and observant
mind other than that of the expert.
menter,"
Victims Taken Unawares.
1t has been found that the weaker
the mind that tampers with the ouija
board the more readily is the influ.
ence of the instrument or the spirits
it summons manifested. The chief
danger is in the first step taken,
when curiosity is aroused. The de.
scent from what is apparently harm.
less to what is vicious and danger
GUS is so abrupt that, as in many
cases recently Investigated by lunacy
commissioners, the victims are taken
unawares. Children, as indicated by
the California case, are Just as sus-
ceptible as their elders to derange-
ment and disorders.