Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft: Illustrated Investigations into the Phenomena of Spiritualism and Theosophy — John Shaqi
Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft: Illustrated Investigations into the Phenomena of Spiritualism and TheosophyEvans, Henry Ridgely
Religion
Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft: Illustrated Investigations into the Phenomena of Spiritualism and Theosophy
Evans, Henry Ridgely
Blavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna), 1831-1891; Spiritualism; Theosophy
"When your sitter comes in you will notice his slates, if he brings a
pair, and see if they are secured in any way that your man in the cellar
can not duplicate. If they are, you can touch his slates with your finger
and say to him that you can not use his slates on account of the
'magnetism' with which they are saturated. He will know nothing of
'magnetic conditions' and will ask you what he is to do about it.
"You will furnish him a pair of new slates with water and cloths to clean
them. You also furnish him paper to write his questions on and the screws,
wax, paper and mucilage to secure them with. He will write his questions
and fasten the slates securely together.
"You now conduct him to your séance-room and invite inspection of your
table and surroundings. After the examination has been made you will seat
the sitter at one side of the table with his side and arm next it. If he
desires to keep hold of the slates a signal agreed upon between yourself
and your assistant will cause the spirit in the cellar to open the trap
door, which opens downwards, and to push through the floor and into
position where the sitter can grasp one end of it, a pair of dummy
slates. This dummy your assistant will continue to hold until the sitter
has taken hold of it after the following performance:
"Your assistant lets you know everything is ready by touching your foot.
You now reach and take the sitter's slates and put them below the table,
and under it, telling the sitter to put his hand under from his side and
hold them with you. He puts his hand under and gets hold of the dummy
slates held by your assistant.
"Your assistant holds on until you have stood the slates on end, leaning
against the table leg, and have got hold of the dummy. He then takes the
sitter's slates below and closes the trap. He proceeds to open them, read
the questions, answer them and refasten the slates.
"You will be entertaining your sitter by twitching and jerking and making
clairvoyant and clairaudient guesses for him.
"When your assistant touches your foot you will know that he is ready to
make the exchange again, by which the sitter will get hold of the slates
he fastened. When you get the signal you give a snort and jump that jerks
the end of the slates from the sitter's hand. He is now given the end of
the slates held by your assistant, and you will allow the assistant to
take the dummy. After sitting a moment or two longer, you will tell the
sitter to take out his slates and examine them if he chooses. Many times
they do not open the slates until they reach their homes.
"This, reader, is the man who will declare that he furnished the slates
and did not allow them out of his hands a minute.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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