lined, greenish yellow in colour, and appears to be shrunk to almost half its size.' Nor are these morbid phenomena,' continues Professor Lombroso, peculiar to Eusapia; they may be observed and verified 5 with all the mediums.' "Professor von Schrenk-Notzing has a great deal to say on this subject in his remarkable book. I can here only quote a few extracts: 'While the phenomena were in progress,' he writes, 'she (the medium) groaned and trembled, and when she was awakened 10 after the sitting, lasting one and a-half hours, she was very much exhausted. 157 "The medium's loss of blood was considerable on this evening; she was tired and feverish, spoke with a hoarse voice, and coughed a good deal. 66 6 As a rule it took the medium two days to recover from the nervous prostration resulting from these sittings.' "I am content to let these statements speak for themselves." "It is interesting to note how careful Professor von SchrenkNotzing is to abstain from seriously attempting an interpretation 20 of the phenomena and with what scientific loyalty he gives to the public all the facts of the case. Would that our English scientific experimenters were guided by similar wisdom and discretion!" Diabolism the Result of Working with the Human Mind. Mr. R. B. Span, in "Things That Have Happened," gives some 25 most interesting personal experiences. He thinks that these are due to departed spirits, but, from the information now available, it is clear that they were due to the action of his own so-called mind. He gives the following account of the result of this kind of work on a friend of his who had been dabbling with him in spiritualistic 30 phenomena, and to whom he had just related his experiences with what he speaks of as supernatural beings, whose very presence. was terrible beyond words ":: 35 "I was relating the incident to some spiritualist acquaintances -a Mr. and Mrs. Irvine-at their house. In the middle of my narrative I saw Mr. Irvine give a slight start, then bend forward and gaze fixedly at something. I was about to ask him what was the matter, when he quickly threw up his arms in front of his face as if to ward off a blow, then sprang from his chair. The next instant he fell to the ground, writhing and moaning, then jumped 40 to his feet, and the horror on his face was something I shall never forget. He was quite transformed! It was no longer Mr. Irvine, but some awful creature looking through him. Mrs. Irvine had rushed to him, crying and sobbing, and threw her arms round him, like the devoted wife she was. The unfortunate man was possessed 45 by a devil. His face was diabolical to the last degree. The eyes too awful to look at. A tremendous struggle was still going on. Mr. Irvine was gibbering and moaning in a hideous manner, the features quite contorted, and his whole frame skaken by violent Page Line Page Line 5 convulsions. Mrs. Irvine kept her arms round his neck, praying afterwards. "This was a genuine case of diabolical possession, similar to some of those recorded in the Bible and treated by Christ. There have been several well-authenticated instances of such possession in this modern age. No one who had seen Mr. Irvine's face would 15 have said it was merely a fit. For a few moments it was not Mr. Irvine's face at all-even the features were changed. Mr. Irvine, it should be added, was a trance medium, so was easily controlled by spiritual entities." It is clear from what I have said on page 259 onwards, that these 20 results are only the production of the so-called subconscious mind, in other words, mere cinematographic pictures, and therefore they can be entirely destroyed-dematerialised-by true prayer. They have no power in themselves to harm anyone. Note U on page 276. Suspended Animation a Practical Possibility. 25 According to the Leeds Mercury, Dr. Honigberger, when he was travelling in India, was passing the palace of Runjit Singh when a fakir was wrapped in linen, the wrappings carefully sealed, the body placed in a chest, which was locked and buried; the soil 30 .was sown with barley, and the place enclosed by a wall, being guarded day and night by sentinels. After forty days the grave was opened, and the fakir found in the same position. Upon the wrappings being removed, air was forced through the mouth and nostrils, and the body kneaded, and after a considerable time 35 he was brought back to life. According to the Indian Press, Sir Claude Wade, in 1837, was at the Court of Runjit Singh, when a fakir was buried alive for six weeks. The man, it is stated, was buried alive in a square building in the middle of one of the gardens belonging to the 40 Lahore palace. Speaking of the body, the newspaper states: "lts legs and arms were shrivelled and stiff, the face full, the head reclining on the shoulder like that of a corpse. A medical man who was present could discover no pulsation, but there was, however, a heat about the region of the brain. The servant then began to bathe 45 the body with warm water, and gradually relaxed the arms and legs, a process in which Runjit Singh and Sir Claude assisted. A hot wheaten cake was placed on the top of the head, and twice or * Col. H. S. Olcott met an eye-witness of this burial of a Sadhu, and states that 50 Sir Claude Wade gives details in his "Camp and Court of Runjit Singh." Dr. MacGregor was then, he says, Resident Surgeon. thrice renewed. The wax and cotton, which had filled up the nose and ears, was taken out, and after great exertion, a knife was forced between the clenched teeth. The eyelids were rubbed with clarified butter till they opened, and the eyes appeared motion5 less and glazed. After the third application of the wheaten cake the body was violently convulsed; the nostrils became inflated, and respiration ensued. The servant then put some butter on the tongue, and made the fakir swallow it. A few minutes after the eyeballs became dilated and resumed their natural colour, and 10 the recovered man, recognising Runjit Singh, asked in a faint, hollow voice, 'Do you believe me now?'" In Dr. Honigberger's work, "Thirty Years in the East," on page 127, he gives an account substantially in accord with the above, and gives a portrait of the resuscitated fakir. Dr. Honigberger 15 was court physician at Lahore. 20 Braid refers also to what he believes a thoroughly wellauthenticated instance of the kind, and it is evidently this case which Dr. McGregor, who was present at the disinterment, relates in medical detail in his "History of the Sikhs." The above are very likely all accounts of the same occurrence. There are other cases of a similar character, apparently well authenticated. The late Sir Richard Burton wrote to Dr. Lloyd Tuckey on the subject, stating that he had investigated cases of vivi-sepulture, and was convinced of their genuineness. 25 Dr. Lloyd Tuckey, in "Treatment by Hypnotism and Suggestion," page 31, writes as follows: "The best-warranted European case of the sort is that of Colonel Townshend, related as follows by Dr. Cheyne: 'He could die or expire when he pleased, and yet, by an effort, or somehow, 30 he could come to life again. . . . We all three felt his pulse first; it was distinct, though small and thready, and his heart had its usual beating. He composed himself upon his back, and lay in a still posture for some time. While I held his right hand, Dr. Baynard laid his hand upon his heart, and Mr. Skrine held a clean 35 looking-glass to his mouth. I found his pulse sink gradually, till at last I could not feel any, by the most exact and nice touch; Dr. Baynard could not feel the least motion in the heart, nor Mr. Skrine discern the least soil of breath on the bright mirror. Then each of us by turns examined his arm, heart, and breath, but could 40 not, by the nicest scrutiny, discover the least symptom of life in him. We reasoned a long time about this odd appearance, and, finding he still continued in that condition, we began to conclude that he had indeed carried the experiment too far; and at last we were satisfied that he was already dead, and were just ready to leave him. This continued about half an hour. . . . As we were going away we perceived some motion about the body, and, upon examination, found his pulse and the motion of his heart gradually returning; he began to breathe heavily and speak softly. We were all astonished to the last degree at this unexpected change. 45 Page Line Page Line Note V on pages 176, 285, 400, and 624. The Most Accurate View of the Material World.— The life of the material universe may be said to consist of a succession of groups of cinematographic pictures, which we may call a succession of different periods, each period consisting of a group of these fleeting dream pictures, and each group extending over a gradually diminishing length of time. Successive Periods of History.- 5 These cinematographic pictures are the mist that went up from the earth (Gen. 2, ver. 6), and they hide the beauties of heaven from 10 us. As time goes on these pictures pass in review before us, each group of pictures being a repetition of the same events, false views of the real world, seen as what is called successive periods of history, and recognised by students of the past. Whilst these periods are more or less different, they coincide in their main 15 features, a steady improvement for the better in the cinematographic pictures taking place as time goes on, and each period steadily reducing in length of time. For instance, let us take, merely arbitrarily, the first period as extending from the apparent first start of the lines of force until 20 the time they begin to roll up into electrons. This period probably extended over millions of millions of years. Then let us take the second period, as lasting from the end of the first period until the electrons commenced to mass together and form aqueous vapour, say, hundreds of thousands of millions of years. The third period 25 might be taken from the formation of this aqueous vapour up to the time when it began to revolve and to break off into separate portions, ultimately contracting and forming the separate worlds. This may be said to last for tens of thousands of millions of years. The fourth period might extend until the production of the lowest 30 form of mineral life, say, thousands of millions of years; and the fifth from the lowest form of mineral life, on the one hand, to the highest form of mineral and lowest form of vegetable life on the other, say, hundreds of millions of years. As quoted by Professor Winchell, Reade estimates 500,† and Lyell 240 million years since 35 sedimentation started in Europe. Houghton puts the sedimentary age at 11,700,000, Professor Winchell at 37 million years. I The sixth period let us take as extending from the commencement of vegetable life until animal life became apparent, say, millions of years. The seventh, the evolution of animal life up to the lowest 40 form of distinct human life, say, hundreds of thousands of years. The eighth, from that time until now, say, many tens of thousands of years. Anthropology gives man fully 100,000 years. Now, in the same manner, let us take as the last period but two the period from 1866 A.D., the date shown in the Bible as that of the 45 second coming of Christ, to December 3rd, 1910, the date shown of the loosing of the devil; the last period but one from that date to December 3rd, 1917. The final period is unknown. I used to think that it would be only forty-five hours, but this turned out to 5 be wrong. There is nothing in the Bible to show its length. The above periods are purely arbitrary, but give an idea of how they keep on steadily reducing in length, as so-called time continues. Men differ almost incredibly about the length of the different periods. For instance, Belt estimates that 20,000 years 10 have elapsed since the glacial period, Hume 80,000, and Croll 240,000. Yet men have existed in more southern regions, Professor Winchell says, in times remotely pre-glacial." Most people have seen the transformation scene at a pantomime. At first all is darkness and gloom on the stage. This corresponds to 15 the period when the lines of force alone were apparent, the nearest of the veils hiding heaven from us. Then one by one the intervening gauze curtains are lifted, and gradually the light from the stage behind pierces through, until we can even see dimly the appearance of something moving behind, corresponding, let us say, to the 20 evolution of the animals. Then even the colours appear, corresponding to the appearance of man; and, finally, when the last veil has lifted, we see the full beauty of the transformation scene. The So-called Evolution of the Material World. Let us imagine that myriads of years ago we were standing 25 looking at heaven, and in front of us were these numberless veilsthese material cinematographic films of gradually shortening lengths, each one behind the other hiding the perfect world from us. The nearest to us would be the first period I have mentioned, and this, consisting solely of lines of force, would extend out a tremendous 30 distance right and left, corresponding to vast æons of time. The second, which would not extend quite so far, would contain the electrons, the third only aqueous vapour, and so on. As these films receded from us their length would gradually reduce, corresponding to the reduced period of time, until the last one of all would be of a length representing only the final forty-five hours. 35 Whilst at first we were looking at heaven through all these many different veils, each one being down, heaven to us would be what is spoken of in the 2nd verse of Genesis as "without form and void," as it would only appear as lines of force, one impossible to 40 distinguish from the other. When this was lifted, first the electrons would appear as "darkness," and then would be seen the aqueous vapour. These two changes could be spoken of by the words that follow: and darkness was upon the face of the deep." 45 Intellectual Meaning of the First Chapter of Genesis. Every passage from the Bible has three meanings-the spiritual, the material and the intellectual. The spiritual meaning of the 1st Page Line |