Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible PowersAtkinson, William Walker
Religion
Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible Powers
Atkinson, William Walker
Mediums
Sir William Crookes, in speaking of D. D. Home and Euspasia Paladino,
said: "Most, if not all, of the occurrences with Euspasia seem to have
taken place when she was in a trance, and the more complete the trance
the more striking the phenomena. This was not always so with Home.
Certainly the two most striking things I ever saw with him, the fire
test and the visible forms, were to be observed while he was entranced,
but it was not always easy to tell when he was in that state, for he
spoke and moved about almost as if he were in his normal condition; the
chief differences being that his actions were more deliberate, and his
manner and expressions more solemn, and he always spoke of himself in
the third person, as 'Dan.' When he was not in a trance we frequently
had movements of objects in different parts of the room, with visible
hands carrying flowers about and playing the accordion. On one occasion
I was asked by Home to look at the accordion as it was playing in the
semi-darkness beneath the table. I saw a delicate looking female hand
holding it by the handle, and the keys at the lower end rising and
falling as if fingers were playing on them, although I could not see
them. So lifelike was the hand that at first I said it was my
sister-in-law's, but was assured by all present that both her hands were
on the table, a fact which I then verified for myself."
Phenomena Without Darkness.
"Home always refused to sit in the dark. He said that, with firmness and
perseverance, the phenomena could be got just as well in the light, and
even if some of the things were not so strong, the evidence of one's
eyesight was worth making same sacrifices for. In almost all the seances
I had with Home there was plenty of light to see all that occurred, and
not only to enable me to write down notes of what was taking place, but
to read my notes without difficulty. Home was very anxious to let
everyone present be satisfied that he was not doing any of the things
himself--too anxious, I sometimes thought, for frequently he would
interfere with the progress and development of what was going on by
insisting that some sceptic or other should come around and take hold of
his hands and feet to be sure he was not doing anything himself. At
times, he would push his chair back and move right away from the table
when things were moving on it, and ask those furthest from him to come
round and satisfy themselves that he had nothing to do with the
movements. I used frequently to beg him to be quiet, knowing that, if he
would not move about in his eagerness to convince us of his genuineness,
the strength of the phenomena would probably increase to such a degree
that no further evidence would be needed that their production was
beyond the powers of the medium.
Test Conditions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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