It is of course conceivable that the whole of these experiences,
including the last, were the result of an hallucination; but on the
other hand, it would be very unwise, in the present state of our
ignorance on the subject, to dogmatise as to the possible action of
unseen forces upon what is commonly called matter. It is interesting
to note that this senseless and childish trick coincides with what was
said by Miss A---- as to the presence of mischievous elementals, and
also what she says as to _apports_.[I]
1. The sensation of the movement of the bed itself, whether as being
rocked, as in the experience of Miss "Duff" on March 22nd, and of Miss
Langton on several occasions, and by guests of the H---- family, or of
being lifted up, as in that of the maid Lizzie, is a phenomenon by no
means uncommon, and if objective is of the nature of levitation; but
we have unfortunately no evidence from a second person observing the
phenomenon from outside. Whether it were actually moved it is
impossible to say, but the sensation seems to have been more than
subjective.
2. The sensation of struggling with something unseen, described by
Miss "Duff," March 22nd, and of the sensation of an incumbent weight,
as described by Miss "Duff" (same date) and Miss "N." on March 2nd.
This coincides with the arrest of his hand experienced by Harold
Sanders. These phenomena adapt themselves to the theory of
subjectivity more easily than the foregoing, because they more closely
resemble those of nightmare (familiar to most persons), although they
occurred while the witnesses were awake.
3. The sensation of being pushed by a dog was experienced in two
different rooms by Miss Freer and Miss Moore respectively. If Mr.
"Endell" were touched by Ishbel on the evening of March 1st, as
appeared to Miss Freer to be the case, he had no independent
consciousness of the fact that might not have been referred to
expectation, so that this cannot be regarded as evidential.
For lack of other classification, we mention under this heading of
"tactile" the sensation of chill experienced by Mr. "Endell" and Mr.
Q---- in No. 3, and which appears to be the same as that described by
Harold Sanders as the sensation of "entering an ice-house."
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