The Case for Spirit Photography: With corroborative evidence by experienced researchers and photographersDoyle, Arthur Conan
Religion
The Case for Spirit Photography: With corroborative evidence by experienced researchers and photographers
Doyle, Arthur Conan
Spirit photography; Spiritualism
I have had one sitting with Mrs. Deane in which six plates were exposed.
In four of them there were abnormal results. One of these was a female
face smiling from an ectoplasmic cloud. What does Mrs. Deane know of
ectoplasmic clouds? One such is visible in the specimen of her work which
is shown in Figure 30. Exactly similar are some of the clouds which
appear in Hope’s work. Such appearances do not aid deception. Why, then,
should they appear if it is not that it is part of a psychic process?
Mrs. Deane gave me the choice of two packets of plates upon this
occasion, and I admit that the effects may very well have been on the
plates before the exposure. None the less, they were probably quite
genuine as supernormal pictures. Such a statement may raise a smile from
Mr. MacCabe or from Mr. Paternoster in _Truth_, but I have the advantage
over them in the fact that I have had practical experience of the matter
at issue.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.—Photograph of Mr. Wm. Jeffrey and his daughter,
showing ectoplasmic bag. (_See_ p. 37.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 13.—Photograph taken immediately after that shown by
Fig. 12. Position of sitters is unchanged, but the ectoplasmic veiling
now contains an excellent likeness (slightly distorted) of Mr. Jeffrey’s
deceased wife.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14.—Psychic likeness of Agnes, daughter of Dr.
Allerton Cushman. A life-like picture obtained by Dr. Cushman through a
surprise visit paid to Mrs. Dean. (_See_ p. 63.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 15.—A normal photograph of Agnes Cushman for
comparison with Fig. 14.]
But I am bound to give my reasons for such a statement, or I might well
be branded as credulous. My reasons are that I am convinced that this
magnetising process is perfectly unnecessary and Mrs. Deane, within my
knowledge, obtains her best results when there has been no possibility of
knowing who her sitter will be. The very finest result which I know of in
psychic photography was that obtained by Dr. Cushman with Mrs. Deane. Dr.
Cushman, a distinguished scientific man of America, had suffered the loss
of his daughter Agnes some months before. He went to the Psychic College
without an appointment or an introduction. When he arrived he found Mrs.
Deane in the act of leaving. He persuaded her to give a sitting, and then
and there he obtained a photograph of his “dead” daughter which is, he
declares, unlike any existing one, and is more vital and characteristic
than any taken in life. When I was in the States I showed this picture on
the screen as in Figure 14, and there was abundant testimony from those
who knew Agnes that it was a life-like picture.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account