The Gate of Remembrance: The Story of the Psychological Experiment which Resulted in the Discovery of the Edgar Chapel at GlastonburyBond, Frederick Bligh
Religion
The Gate of Remembrance: The Story of the Psychological Experiment which Resulted in the Discovery of the Edgar Chapel at Glastonbury
Bond, Frederick Bligh
Glastonbury Abbey -- Miscellanea; Parapsychology and archaeology -- England -- Glastonbury -- Case studies; Spirit writings
His motto here would be, "Prove all things, and hold fast that which
is good." These writings, whose value is at present unproven, and in
respect of the detailed statement of names, dates, and places, highly
problematical, are put forward as an illustration of the working of his
method.
They are not to be accepted with credulity, but are subjects for
critical analysis, and must be weighed and examined, with all the
rest, in the light of reason, assisted by every useful means of normal
research and exploration.
If we are resolved to accept nothing which is not first fully endorsed
by reason and common sense, and afterwards fortified by deductions
fairly made from data, however slender, we stand but little risk of
being deceived. Let us, therefore, apply to this case the same rule
which the writer has already successfully applied in the case of the
Edgar Chapel.
Intuition has played her part. From the depths of the subconscious
mind her power has evoked these images. Now let Reason and Logic take
the reins and drive the argument. Let us analyse the facts, such as
they are, which bear upon the case, and in the light of the intuitive
results see whether an argument may be built up which will be capable
of supporting weight.
In this lies the true utility of the method we have chosen. It
claims a double value--(1) in its ability to remember and to review
subconsciously an infinitude of minor things, slightly or casually
impressed upon the mind and unnoticed or unremembered by the working
brain; and (2) the faculty of balancing, assessing, and combining
these in such manner as the brain itself is rarely if ever able to
do, and hence to evolve from slenderest data a scheme in which all
probabilities which can lawfully be inferred from these minutiæ are
welded into a complete whole.
For a moment, let us go farther and assume that some of the statements
made in the script are not merely incapable of proof, but are found
actually inconsistent with facts. Where then do we stand with our
theory?
As I have said, until the statements are accepted, no one is deceived
unless by his own rashness. All that has happened is that two people
having a perfectly honest purpose have attempted to record by
automatic process knowledge arrived at by the trained exercise of the
subconscious mind, and have obtained--let us say--fiction or romance
instead of the fact they sought.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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