The Washington times., 1926-02-23
Open Forum
for the discussion
PSYCHIC
PHENOMENA

Forum Is conducted for the open
discussion of psychic phenomena
from all angles aid by all degrees
tof believers IN any Of ats branches.
The public Is invited to ask qstes-
| tiOns, many of luhiclt sOiH i,s turn
/ Be submitted to the public for
n4sssces. Please keep all matter
satbnsitted Withip 800 words.
BY FRANK VEDDER
American society for Psychic Re.
search
/ Mediunsi1ip Is q most peculiar
aft, very sporadic in its Manifesto
lions; no two mediums are ever
alike; there is as much difference
and individuality in mediunship as
between persons. What nedilinlslaiD
Is. what Ii its cause. is not known:
there are no distinctive CHARACTER
fstics BY which mediiiin can be
determined; it is known only by its
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. While at times Dc
DEVELOPS slowly. through a. number
Of years, more often 1t comes TO
very sudden development; the
person unexpectedly finds himself
medium. And mediumship VIII
often persist in spite Of the wishes
OF the individual and its manifesto
tons may be very embarrassing 10
him..
At times some irresistible impulse
forces him TO speak of very peg
sonaI and impertinent things to total
strangers. A physician, q material
list who ridiculed mediumship, re-
garding all of it as fraudulent,
suddenly developed a. most peculiar
type OF rnediumship; he could cure
his patients by the laying on OF
hands; sometimes patients were
cured by coming into his presence
before he could give them any treat
ment at ALL Since then this phy-
stefan has been very successful in
the treatment Of nervous disorders.
A very interesting account OF this
matter will be found in the Journal
of the American Society for
Psychical Research for 1913, page
SIT.
Action Is SubcOnsciOus
All nediumship is characterized
by subconscfous action; in the alb
sence Of any evidence of the super
normal it cannot be considered to
be anything more than highly
developed subconsciousness: proba-
bly, much medium is of this type.
No medium can guarantee any
thing or has any control OF the
messages that come through her;
the sitter can expect nothing mere
than he receives and 1t may be
good, poor, entirely false, or moth
ing at ALL At sitting OF the
American Society for Psychical Re.
search the sitter, a lady, got moth.
ing; a few days afterward another
lady being the sitter, all that was
given was entirely false as regards
herself: the society always keeps
careful and detailed records of all
sittings, and it was found tnaC
these messages were intended for
the first sitter. Would not mos.
persons have declared this an evil
dence of fraud on the mediums
part?
When both medium and sitter act
from pure and unselfish motives TIE
results are best: the less worthy the
motives the poorer the results. Ard
it is necessary to treat a medium
as lady or gentleman. O,e
should not abate one whit his
critical attitude nor believe anything
that cannot be verified: and above
to suggest anything to the medium.
And the medium should be paid for
her time, irrespective of what The
results may be, even when they are
total failures. Most persons who
visit mediums are not willing to do
this, they want something for thei4'
money; thus there is often great
temptation for a medium to resort
to fraudulent practices to satisfy
her sitters.
Visit for Curiosity
Many persons visit mediums
from curiosity or to learn some
thing of the future. This is an
improper use of mediumship. The
future is only possibility; We can
realize 1t if we will work for 1t,
but IL we wait only disappointment
and death will be our portion.
working out our own problems
develops US; the attempt to lean
on those in a transcendental world
il wrong and will eventually bring
its own punishment. Many persons
would do well to stay away from
mediums all together and leave them
to the study Of those who are
specially trained for this purpose.
And there are persons posing as