Paris, February 10
th, 1867 – medium Mr. T… in spontaneous sleep
Note: In this session, no previous question had provoked the subject that was discussed. The medium had first dealt with health, then, step by step, he found himself led to the reflections whose analysis we give below. He spoke for about an hour, without a break.
“The progress of Spiritism causes a fear in its enemies that they cannot conceal. In the beginning they played with the turning tables, not thinking that they were caressing a child who was to grow up;… the child grew up… then they had a presentiment of the future, telling themselves that they would soon be right about it… But the child had a hard life, as they say. It resisted all the attacks, anathemas, persecutions, even ridicule. Like certain seeds that the wind carries away, it produced innumerable offspring; … for each one that was destroyed, a hundred others sprouted. At first they used the weapons of another age against it, those that had once succeeded against new ideas, because those ideas were just scattered glimmers that had difficulty in shining through ignorance, and that had not yet enrooted in the masses… today it is something else; everything has changed: manners, ideas, character, beliefs; humanity is no longer moved by the threats that frighten children; the devil, so dreaded by our ancestors, scares no more: we laugh at it. Yes, ancient weapons have blunted against the breastplate of progress. It is as if today, an army wanted to attack a cannon guarded stronghold with the arrows, rams, and catapults of our ancestors. The enemies of Spiritism have seen, by experience, the uselessness of the worm-eaten weapons of the past against the regenerative idea; far from harming it, their efforts only served to accredit it. To fight with advantage against the ideas of the century, one would have to be at the height of the century; to progressive doctrines, it would be necessary to oppose even more progressive doctrines…; but less cannot prevail against more. Unable to succeed by violence, they resorted to cunning, the weapon of those who are aware of their weakness... from wolves they became lambs to enter the sheepfold, to sow disorder, division, and confusion. Since they managed to cast disturbance into a few ranks, they prematurely believed themselves masters of the place. The isolated followers, nonetheless, continued their work, and the idea gains ground every day, without much noise… They are the ones that made the noise… Can't you see it breaking through everywhere, in the newspapers, in books, in the theater, and even in the pulpit? It works all consciences; it leads the spirits to new horizons; it is found in the state of intuition, even in those who have not heard of it. This is a fact that no one can deny, and that is becoming more evident every day; isn’t that a proof that the idea is irresistible, and that it is a sign of the times? To annihilate it is, therefore, an impossible task, because it would have to be annihilated, not on one point, but in the whole world; besides, aren’t the ideas carried on the wings of the wind? How can they be reached? Parcels of goods can be seized at customs; but ideas are elusive. What to do then? Try to get hold of them, to accommodate them as one pleases… Well! That is the party they have sided with. They said to themselves: Spiritism is the precursor of an inevitable moral revolution; before it is entirely accomplished, let us try to divert it to our own benefit; let us make sure that this is the same as with certain political revolutions; by distorting its spirit, we could convey another course to it. The plan of campaign is therefore changed… You will see Spiritist meetings forming, whose avowed goal will be the defense of the doctrine, and whose secret goal will be its destruction; so-called mediums will have preordered communications, appropriate to the intended purpose; publications that, under the cloak of Spiritism, will endeavor to demolish it; doctrines that will borrow some ideas from it, but with the intent of supplanting him. This is the struggle, the real struggle that it will have to sustain, and that will be pursued relentlessly, but from which it will emerge victorious and stronger. What can men do against the will of God? Is it possible to ignore it in the presence of what is happening? Isn’t His finger visible in this progress that defies all attacks, in these phenomena that appear on all sides, like a protest, like belying all denials? ... Aren’t the lives of men, the fate of humanity in His hands? ... Blinds! ... They do not count on the new generation that rises, and that carries away, every day, the departing generation... A few more years, and this one will have disappeared, leaving behind only the memory of its senseless attempts to stop the impetus of the human spirit that walks, walks anyway… They do not count on the events that will hasten the blossoming of the new humanitarian period… without the support that will rise in favor of the new doctrine, and whose powerful voice will impose silence on its detractors, by its authority. Oh! How the face of the world will be changed for those who will see the beginning of the next century! … How many ruins will they see behind them, and what splendid horizons will open before them! … It will be like the dawn, pushing back the shadows of the night; … Songs of joy will succeed the noises, the uproars, the roaring of the storm; after anguish, men will be reborn to hope… Yes! the twentieth century will be a blessed century, for it will see the new era announced by Christ.”
Note: Here the medium stops, dominated by an ineffable emotion, and as if exhausted with fatigue. After a few minutes of rest, during which he seems to return to the regular state of somnambulism, he resumes:
What was I telling you then? - You told us about the new plan of campaign of the opponents of Spiritism; then you envisioned the new era. – continues. In the meantime, they dispute the land foot by foot. They have almost given up the weapons of another age, whose ineffectiveness has been recognized; they are now trying those that are all powerful in this century of selfishness, pride, and greed: gold, the seduction of self-love. With those that are inaccessible to fear, they exploit vanity, and the earthly needs. One that resisted the threat, sometimes lends a complacent ear to flattery, to the lure of material well-being ... They promise bread to those who have none, work to the craftsman , clientele to the merchant, promotion to the employee, honors to the ambitious, if they renounce their beliefs; they are hurt in their position, in their means of existence, in their affections, if they are rebellious; then the glamor of gold produces its ordinary effect on some. Among them there are, necessarily, some weak characters that succumb to temptation. There are some who fall into the trap in good faith, because the hand that manipulates it hides ... There are also many that yield to the harsh necessity, but who think, nonetheless; their renunciation is only apparent; they bend, but to stand up at the first opportunity ... Others, those who have a higher degree of the true courage of faith, resolutely face the danger; these always succeed, because they are supported by the good Spirits… Some, Ah! … But these have never been Spiritists of heart… prefer the gold of the earth to the gold of heavens; they remain apparently attached to the doctrine, and under this cloak, they only serve better the cause of its enemies… it is a sad exchange that they are making there, for which they will pay dearly! In times of cruel trials that you are going to go through, happy are those over whom the protection of the good Spirits will extend, for it will have never been more necessary! … Pray for the stray brothers, so that they take advantage of the short moments of respite that are granted to them, before the justice of the Almighty weighs on them… When they see the storm breaking out, more than one will cry for mercy! But they will be answered: What have you done with our teachings? Haven’t you, mediums, written your own condemnation a hundred times? ... You have had the light, and you have not taken advantage of it; we gave you shelter, why did you desert it? So, suffer the fate of those you have preferred. If your heart had been touched by our words, you would have remained steadfast in the path of good that was laid out for you; if you had had faith, you would have resisted the seductions offered to your self-esteem and vanity. Did you therefore believe that you could impose it on us, as on men, by false appearances? Know this, if you have doubted it, that there is not a single movement of the soul that does not have its repercussion in the spiritual world. Do you believe that it is for nothing that clairvoyance develops in so many people? That it is to offer a new food to curiosity, that so many mediums today spontaneously fall asleep, in the ecstatic sleep? No, think again. This faculty, that has been announced to you for a long time, is a characteristic sign of the times that have come; it is a prelude to the transformation, for as you have been told, it must be one of the attributes of the new generation. That generation, more purified morally, will also be physically; mediumship, in all forms, will be somewhat general, and communion with the Spirits a state, so to speak, normal. God sends this seeing faculty, in these times of crisis and transition, to give His faithful servants a way to thwart the plots of their enemies, for the evil thoughts, that are believed to be hidden in the shadows of the folds of consciences, reflect in these sensitive souls, like in a mirror, and reveal themselves. He who exhales only good thoughts is not afraid of being known. Happy is the one that can say: read in my soul as in an open book.” Observation: Spontaneous somnambulism, that have already talked about, is in fact only a form of clairvoyance mediumship, the development of which has been announced for some time, as with the appearance of new mediumistic skills. It is remarkable that, in all times of general crisis or persecution, there are more people endowed with this faculty than in ordinary times; there were many at the time of the revolution; the Calvinists of the
Cévènes,
[1] hunted down like wild beasts, had many seers who warned them of what was happening in the distance; they were, for this fact, and ironically, qualified as enlightened; today we begin to understand that sight at a distance and independent of the organs of vision may well be one of the attributes of human nature, and Spiritism explains it by the expansive faculty and properties of the soul. Facts of this kind have multiplied so much that we are less astonished; what once seemed a miracle or spell to some, is now considered a natural effect. It is one of the thousand ways by which Spiritism penetrates, so that, if it is stopped at one source, it emerges through other exits.
This faculty is thus not new, but it tends to generalize, undoubtedly for the reason indicated in the communication above, but also as a means of proving to the unbelievers the existence of the spiritual principle. According to the Spirits it would even become endemic, that would naturally be explained by the moral transformation of humanity, a transformation that must bring about modifications in the organism that will facilitate the expansion of the soul.
Like other mediumistic faculties, this one can be exploited by charlatanism. It is, therefore, good to be on guard against deception that could, for any reason whatsoever, try to simulate it, and to ensure, by all possible means, the good faith of those who claim to possess it. Besides the material and moral selflessness, and the notorious honorability of the person, that are the first guarantees, it is advisable to observe carefully the conditions and the circumstances in which the phenomenon occurs, and to see if they offer anything suspicious.
[1] The Camisards, the French Huguenots of the 18
th Century (T.N.)
