Popular Superstitions, and the Truths Contained Therein: With an Account of MesmerismMayo, Herbert
History
Popular Superstitions, and the Truths Contained Therein: With an Account of Mesmerism
Mayo, Herbert
Mesmerism; Parapsychology and medicine; Superstition
I will conclude this head by introducing M. Alexis’s account of his own
powers of mesmeric prevision, in which the reader will see that his
experience has led him to view his conclusions as calculations upon
certain positive elements; yet he admits the possibility of powers
greater than his own: “On peut prévoir l’avenir,” said M. Alexis;
“mais lorsque cet avenir a des fondations positives. Mais annoncer un
fait isolé, un accident, une catastrophe, non. Cependant quelquefois
cela est arrivé aux individus, mais c’étaient des instruments de la
Divinité: ces hommes sont rares. Etant à une maison de jeu, je sçaurais
d’avance la couleur gagnante, surtout aux cartes. Mais à la roulette
cela me semble très difficile. Cela est de l’avenir. Les cartes, au
contraire, sont dans les mains d’un homme quelques minutes. Cependant
si l’on voulait appliquer la clairvoyance à une exploitation semblable,
je suis materiellement et moralement certain que la vue ferait faute.”
XIV. _Ultra-terrestrial Vision._—If a clairvoyante can discern what
is passing at the distance of one hundred leagues, why should not his
perception extend to material objects beyond our sphere?
Mr. Williamson tried to conduct one of his clairvoyantes mentally
to the moon; but, having got some way, she declared the moon was so
intolerably bright, that the effort pained and distressed her, and
accordingly Mr. Williamson relinquished the experiment, and happened
not to renew it.
M. Alexis, when entranced, in answer to my inquiries, declared himself
cognizant of the condition of the planets. He said that they were
inhabited, with the exception of those which are either too near to, or
too remote from the sun. He said that the inhabitants of the different
planets are very diverse; that the earth is the best off, for that man
has double the intelligence of the ruling animals in the other planets.
It would be the height of credulity to regard this communication as
more than a clever guess; yet a plausible guess it is, for if the other
planets are composed of the same material elements with the earth, it
is evident that the temperature of our planet must render these same
materials more generally available for life and economic purposes on it
than they would be in Mercury or Saturn.
XV. _Ultra-vital Vision._—The following is M. Alexis’s
trance-revelation as to the state of the soul after death. I presume it
is no more than an ingenious play of his fancy; but a young clergyman
of some acumen, to whom I communicated it, was half disposed to give
it more credit, and observed, with logical precision, that, viewing
the statement as an intuition, it would show the necessity of the
resurrection of the body.
“L’âme ne change jamais. Après la mort elle retourne à la Divinité.
Dieu a voulu attacher l’âme au corps, qui est un prison où Dieu a voulu
enfermer l’âme pendant qu’elle est sur la terre. L’âme ne perd jamais
son individualité. Après la mort, nos souvenirs ne nous restent pas.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account