The Spirit LandEmmons, Samuel B. (Samuel Bulfinch)
Religion
The Spirit Land
Emmons, Samuel B. (Samuel Bulfinch)
Occultism -- Early works to 1900; Spiritualism
After having been disturbed and broken of their rest for several nights
in a vain attempt to discover from whence the sounds proceeded, they
resolved, on the evening of the 31st of March, that this night they
would not be disturbed by it, whatever it might be. But Mr. Fox had not
yet retired when the usual signs commenced. The girls, who occupied
another bed in the same room, heard the sounds, and endeavored to
imitate them by snapping their fingers. The attempt was made by the
youngest girl, then about twelve years old. When she made the noise
with her fingers, the sounds were repeated just as she made them. When
she stopped snapping her fingers, the sounds stopped for a short time.
One of the other girls then said, in _sport_, (for they were getting to
be more amused than alarmed,) "Now do what I do; count one, two, three,
four, five, six," &c., at the same time striking one hand in the other.
The same number of blows or sounds were repeated as in the former case.
Mrs. Fox then spoke, and said, "Count ten," and there were ten distinct
strokes or sounds. She then said, "Will you tell the age of Cathy?"
(one of her children;) and it was given by the same number of raps that
she was years of age. In like manner the age of her different children
was told correctly by this _unseen visitor_.
Mrs. Fox then asked, if it was a _human_ being that made the noise, to
manifest it by making the same noise. There was no answer to this
request. She then asked if it was a _spirit_, and if so to manifest it
by making two distinct sounds. Instantly she heard two raps, as she
desired. She then proceeded to know or inquire if it was an injured
spirit, and if so to answer in the same way, and the rapping was
repeated. In this way it answered her until she ascertained that it
purported to be the spirit of a man who was murdered in that house by a
person that had occupied it some years before; that he was a _pedler_,
and that he was murdered for his money. To the question _how old he
was_, there were _thirty-one_ distinct raps. By the same means it was
ascertained that he was a married man, and had left a wife and five
children; that his wife had been dead two years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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