The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-04-10

|
conscious powers and the like, so as to
attract and deceive human beings.
| Their sleight- of-hand transactions, by
| the effects of electricity, magnetism,
wires and we'll prepared mechanism,
| ensnare poor dupes and persons of or
| binary intelligence. All spiritistic do
| ingS cannot be attributed to the in
J strumentality of the devil. But there
are also obvious and we'll observed
| manifestations inexplicable by the nat
| ural laws and which are, therefore, to
be naturally attributed to the prefer
| natural agents. Honest scientists will
| not contradict this statement. Some
of the revelations and prophecies of
| mediums actually come true. Medi-
ums, clairvoyants and fortune tellers
appear to be frequently employed by
evil spirits, to work on weak minds
who become victims Of their deviltry.
Wholly unreasonable would it be to
imagine that God, in His infinite wis
dow, would reveal secrets and mys-
teries by downright tomfoolery and
that His Divine Majesty would heed
the summons of foolish, silly and con-
niving individuals. Real blasphemy
would it be to assert that the All Wise
God would condescend to work
through good spirits at seances.
The Ouija or Planchette Board.
Harmless and innocent do these
spiritistic devices appear in the initial
stage; their use being frequently re-
garded as mere diversions and pleas
ant pastime. These spiritistc prac-
tees, however, ALLEVIATE the users
thereof from God, impede the fulfill
ment of religious obligations, debase
their minds and ruin their souls as ex-
perience proves. They adroitly relate
past events, tell the age of persons,
write in strange language, give ridicu-
lOus and eVasive responses to interrO-
cations, describe deceased relatives
and friends, and claim to be the souls
OF the dead. Such knowledge or reve-
latiOn does not assuredly proceed
either from angels, or saints, or proph-
cts, or the souls of the dead. The
blessed spirits certainly do not as
sumo the role of playthings or buffoon-
cry for those creatures, whose bus
| mess it is to live prosperously on
| frauds and ghosts. No proof, more
over, exists that God ever bestowed
| on demons the extraordinary power
| to prOphesy or work miracles. A real
| admittance on the part Of evil spirits
ic q thoyy 0y1yy TO a
dead. Nor are they the souls from
| heaven who certainly cannot be drawn
thence by mediums. Nor are they the
souls from purgatory, who shall not
go out of their prison till they repay
| the last farthing" No earthly power
can indeed release the damned souls
in hell
The Church denies not the POSSIBLE
ity Of Intercourse between the living
and the dead which Holy Scripture
and the lives of the saints manifest
but the Church condemns all attempts
of establishing such communications
| With Gods permission spirits could
no doubt, appear in bodily and visible
form, but always for most worthy pur
poses, as God has at times allowed
Evil spirits cunningly take advan
tage of people in various troubles, af
flictions, and especially in sorrow, or
account of the death of dear ones
Unfortunately Americans are practic
ing this odious superstition, in theil
worldliness and forgetfulness of God
for want of the supernatural which is
so natural to the human heart. Spirit
ism is rapidly increasing on the Amer
| lean shores, owing to the great deatf
/, rate caused by the recent epidemic
; and war. But the messages of these
spirits are vain, uncertain and uncOn
soling The tendency of this irration
al practice is to weaken religious be
lief and stop prayer, the salutar.
means of bringing solace to souls il
trouble and grief. Prayer will assis
the dead ones, whose fate is in tn,
hands of the merciful God, and praye
will afford more comfort than imag
mary spirit messages.
Good spirits who stand in uniol
with God could not possibly be guilt
e of things preposterous, base and dc
grading. How irrational to suppos
> that any angel or saint from HEAVIER
or any soul from purgatory would re
veal himself in a seance at the pleas
y ure of a medium, who operate
through mysterious raps, tables turf
! ing, or other connivances. Almight
-. God, undoubtedly, would never perm
- the souls of the departed to be at tn
. disposal of mediums for silly amus'
ments, lucre, yea even immoral pu
! poses. Of course no allusion is mad
- to scientific Investigations, or tn
reading of character by natural skill
L. Hypnotism:
= The phenomena of ordinary hypn
tism scientists are wont to account #
% in a natural way. Ordinary hypnot;sl
. is not essentially wrong, since
y seems free from superstition or sea
q dial and does not exceed natural poN
er. But Holy Church, in her wisdo
~ and protection, condemns the crime
- that may flow from it's indiscrimina
W practice by depraved men. The ny
10 Noticed have sinned and have bet
W sinned against. Ignorant amateu
" should not presume to indulge in tn
le art. The abandonment of ones W
u to another is a dangerous act and
- :,Is ryi1 10 n inn, nv