Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible Powers — John Shaqi
Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible PowersAtkinson, William Walker
Religion
Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible Powers
Atkinson, William Walker
Mediums
The ignorant and unthinking attitude of certain portions of the general
public toward this class of phenomena is akin to that of a community of
blind and deaf persons, satisfied that their own "three sense" standard
is the highest possible one attainable by living creatures and that all
variation therefrom must be considered as "abnormal." In such a
community there would occasionally be born certain individuals possessed
of the senses of sight and hearing, in addition to the common three
senses possessed by the entire community. Judging by what we know of the
tendency of human nature in such cases, we are warranted in conjuring
that the ordinary run of persons in such a community would revile the
seeing and hearing individuals as "abnormal," and their possessors
therefore to be pitied, and perhaps shunned. Only the intelligent and
thoughtful members of such a community would be able to grasp the fact
that these exceptional individuals were really not only not "abnormal,"
and inferior to type, but that they were really "supernormal," and
superior to type.
Prejudice Against the Unusual.
Those to whom the above illustration may seem far-fetched, exaggerated,
and unwarranted, are asked to carefully consider the ignorant and
unthinking attitude which the great majority of the general public, at
least at first, present toward that most wonderful display of
supernormal powers, known as "occult" or "psychic," made by the few
highly developed individuals of the race who are able to manifest them
to some degree. These individuals are regarded as "queer," and
"strange," "unnatural," and "abnormal" by their ignorant and unthinking
neighbors and associates, just as the seeing and hearing exceptional
individuals were likewise so regarded by their blind and deaf neighbors
in the above illustration. And, here as in the illustration it is only
the few intelligent and thinking individuals of the community who
recognize that the departure from the standard type is in the direction
of advancement and gain, rather than of retrogression and loss--a plus
attribute, rather than a minus one. The illustration is startlingly true
and in accordance with the facts of the case, as many thoughtful persons
know only to well, and admit sadly.
Great Changes Impending
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