Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible PowersAtkinson, William Walker
Religion
Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible Powers
Atkinson, William Walker
Mediums
Sometimes, however, in place of the raps being manifested by the spirit
forces, there will instead be manifested that peculiar tipping of the
table which was the distinguishing characteristic of early
spiritualistic phenomena in the western countries. In this case the
tipping of the table will proceed just as in the case of the raps, so
far as the transmission of messages is concerned. That is to say, the
table will tilt three times, one time, etc., in accordance with the
code, just as in the case of communication by means of the raps. In
addition to this, however, the table may begin to manifest strange
motions; it may begin to raise itself, jump around, spin around on one
leg, slide across the rooms, etc. In such cases the hands of the sitters
should be kept on the table, or if they slip off they should be at once
replaced thereupon. Sometimes heavy tables will manifest more activity
than the lighter ones.
The Spirit Signals.
When these rappings or table-tiltings begin to be manifested, all in the
circle should keep cool and calm, and should refuse to become agitated
or excited. If the phenomena should be apparently meaningless and
disconnected, and resulting in no definite communication from the other
side, do not jump to the conclusion that the meaningless rapping or
senseless table tipping is the work of foolish spirits or flippant
decarnate entities. On the contrary, you must remember that not only is
your circle experimenting, but that the spirits on the other side are
also experimenting in hopes of securing proper conditions for
intelligent communications and definite messages. As we have said
before, the spirits have their own troubles, as well as the sitters, and
both sides are really engaged in an effort to "find each other." As a
writer has said: "Remember also that you are merely experimenting, and
that the spirit people are also, perhaps for the first time, trying to
penetrate the veil and utilize powers and agencies of which, in all
probability, they know as little as do you. So many disturbing factors
exist--weather, varying psychical conditions of the sitters, agitated
mental states, too great expectancy, or anxiety for successful
demonstrations--that the true disposition to be maintained by the
inquirer is that of the scientific student, who carefully watches what
transpires, and endeavors to discover the causes of failure as well as
the conditions which favor success."
Flashes of Communication.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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