Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and ObservationsMaxwell, J. (Joseph)
Philosophy
Metapsychical Phenomena: Methods and Observations
Maxwell, J. (Joseph)
Parapsychology -- Investigation
“On the morrow—All Souls’ Day—M. Meurice related this vision to me. I
was surprised—but concealed my surprise; for, as a matter of fact, I
did not understand what a wreath of black beads could mean. At certain
epochs I am in the habit of laying a wreath on H. B.’s tomb, but it
is always composed of what were his favourite flowers. M. Meurice
began to write automatically; he wrote: ‘Bring me what you are in the
habit of bringing me; the other wreath was for T. Bring him one too,
for his family have almost forgotten him.’ (I understood T. to be the
initial letter of a great friend of H. B.’s.) My surprise did not
diminish, because I know for a fact that T.’s family cherish his memory
profoundly.
“However, following my usual custom, I treated the personification
H. B. as he desired to be treated and executed his commission. I then
made the following discovery: T. is buried in a vault over which lies
a sort of platform. The vault belongs to his own family and the family
of a near relation. There were fresh flowers on the side of the vault
belonging to his relations; there were none on the side reserved for
his family.
“I believe this circumstance, as well as the friendship which existed
between H. B. and T., was unknown to M. Meurice; but I am obliged to
admit that my belief rests upon no proof.
“Let me add, in order to finish at once with the T. incident, that, on
the eve of my visit to T.’s tomb, I had asked M. Meurice to give me the
Christian and surnames of the person about whom H. B. was supposed to
be talking. The surname was given; a curious mistake was made before
the Christian name was correctly given: the name of T.’s son was given,
and then came T.’s own name. These indications were obtained in broad
daylight, by means of raps without direct contact. The raps resounded
upon a table on which I had placed a shawl, one corner of which was
held by M. Meurice.
“2. A few days afterwards a seance was held in M. Meurice’s bedroom.
A portable cabinet had been used, which M. Meurice had not taken the
trouble to remove before going to bed. During the night he was awakened
by taps on the head; he heard diverse noises, and saw the door of the
cabinet open. H. B. appeared, leaning on two of the ‘fairies’; the two
other ‘fairies’ followed. These personages presented the appearance of
living people, said M. Meurice the next day when describing the vision
to me. They rolled an armchair into the middle of the room; H. B.
sat down in it; the _fairies_ placed a shawl over his knees, and two
of them sat down on the arms of his chair; the other two sat down on
chairs. H. B. spoke about my health, and then bade M. Meurice tell me
that I would be able to find all necessary documents on the history of
religions in my cousin Y.’s library. The Christian names were correctly
given, the surname approximately; but the approximation was such (the
initial letter of the name being the only incorrect one) that I had no
difficulty in recognising the name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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