|
THE CASE of the medium, Hélène Smith, did
not present any special problem in its main manifestations. The strictly
supernormal phenomena were not sufficiently frequent to be either understood or
admitted. It is a different matter when we come to the American medium,
Mrs. Piper. Mrs. Piper, at an earlier date
than Hélène Smith, produced supernormal phenomena with such regularity and under
such unimpeachable conditions that they can, with the greatest probability, be
regarded as established facts. For decades she was under scientific observation
and the result never varied. Thus we have here a case of which the supernormal
character is above all suspicion. It is therefore no longer a question of. the
problem of the existence of supernormality; the problem lies in the ways and
manners of its evolution.
Mrs. Piper was a married woman of the Boston middle-classes. Her scientific
discoverer was William James, whose
attention was drawn to her in 1885. The manner of his discovery was both
unromantic and unscientific in character; in fact, it sounds more like an old
wives' tale. James's sister-in-law told him one day of an unknown woman who had
been able to give details about the writer of an Italian letter, who was a
stranger to her, simply by placing the letter on her forehead. James was
sceptical, but sufficiently curious and interested to look Mrs. Piper up for
himself. At her first sitting, however, his former suspicious attitude was
replaced by the conviction that Mrs. Piper was producing supernormal psychic
phenomena. In her trance she was able to give detailed information regarding
James's relatives, though none of these lived in the neighbourhood. Some had
settled in California, others in Maine, some were already dead.
She knew that one of James's children was dead. "Your child," said the spirit
which claimed to be talking through Mrs. Piper to James, "has a playfellow here
in our world, a boy named Robert Fr―"; and this name was found to be the actual
name of a child who had died. James himself believed the information to be
incorrect, and that the child referred to had been a little girl. Inquiries
proved, however, that it was not the spirit which was wrong, but James - it
was a boy. The medium made correct assertions about James - "You have just
killed a grey-white cat by means of ether." James's mother-in-law lost a cheque
book; it was found through her indications.
Curiously enough, though he visited Mrs. Piper several times, James did not
undertake any further personal examination of the medium for quite a time,
though he kept himself permanently informed about her through his friend
Richard Hodgson, the Secretary of
the American Society for Psychical Research. The latter, except when away on a
journey, instituted regular sittings several times weekly over a period of
twenty years, from the date of his arrival in America (1887) until his death in
1906. He carried out this duty, if not always in the best of tempers, yet with
the utmost conscientiousness and in a most businesslike fashion. He also
undertook to introduce to Mrs. Piper all the visitors who came to see her, as
she considered it to be her religious duty to place her strange gift at the
service of science.
Shorthand reports of the automatic statements of the medium were taken down at
innumerable sittings. In later years automatic writing came to the fore, and
voluminous records emanating from the supposed spirits were the result. In 1900
the proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research had already published
1,500 pages on Mrs. Piper alone, of which half was devoted to the minutes of her
sittings. Since then, further comprehensive publications have been printed, so
that the present material in hand comprises some 3,200 pages, though many
records of the sittings and inspirational writings have not been printed. To
these must be added other material on the subject published elsewhere. No other
medium, with the exception of Eusapia
Palladino, has been examined so often.
As time went on, Mrs. Piper's mediumistic faculties became fainter. She found
increasing difficulty in falling into a trance, and indeed this became
impossible after the middle of 1911, owing, possibly to the after-effects of a
shock experienced at certain experimental sittings with the psychologist,
Stanley Hall, and his assistant, Miss Tanner. Despite this, she was still able
to produce automatic writing in a state of normal consciousness.
The manner in which the supernormal phenomena manifested themselves through Mrs.
Piper during a lifetime is common to all mediums. She fell, into a trance, and
the spirits then spoke through her. At least so it happened at first, though,
later on, automatic writing was more prevalent. But even so, for many years Mrs.
Piper remained in a state of trance when writing. In order to attain this state
at first she merely held some one's hand; after a few minutes' spasmodic
movements set in, resembling a slight epileptic attack, with a lessening of the
cutaneous sensibility. Then came the state of impersonation. Mrs. Piper
apparently withdrew from her organism, and other individualities took her place.
Their number is a very considerable one, certain of them recurring often,
Phinuit,
George Pelham,
Rector,
Imperator, and others;
and later; after their death; Myers
and Hodgson. The "controls," or impersonating spirits, however, were not always
themselves the communicators on their own behalf. It not infrequently happened
that one or the other of the impersonating spirits volunteered the information
that other spirits were present who said certain things ("communicators"). The
lifelike resemblance of those impersonated must, according to the reports, have
been unusually strong; character, voice and demeanour were almost uncannily
accurate.
Nevertheless, Mrs. Piper is not distinguished by any specific peculiarities from
numerous other mediums of lesser qualifications. The interest of her
manifestations rests in the first place on the knowledge shown by the
impersonated individuals, or rather by Mrs. Piper in the impersonation trance.
This knowledge was not infrequently of supernormal nature - not so much as
regards its subject as in the manner in which that Mrs. Piper was able to obtain
it.
The character of supernormal phenomena always remained the same. When Mrs. Piper
in trance was apparently controlled by certain personalities, she often gave
information concerning the name, character and past of those present as well of
others known to them, either alive or dead. These details were always quite
uninteresting: the description of some one's cane, what sort of cuff-links he
wore, and from whom he had received them as a present, etc. She made a point of
reminding those present of various little details of their past, of which she
was quite unlikely to have heard. Such information was mainly forthcoming when
objects belonging to those interested were placed before Mrs. Piper
(Psychometry). The knowledge which she had of deceased persons was so astounding
that many a sceptic, entirely opposed to spiritualism, became a convert. The
immediate impression produced by the automatic writing or conversation and the
seemingly direct intercourse with spirits, who declared themselves by questions
and answers, were apparently much more convincing than is the subsequent reading
of the minutes of the sittings. This explains how it was that even an
investigator of such strength of mind as Hodgson, who originally belonged
entirely to the positivist school of thought, was converted to spiritualism. His
friend, George Pelham, was apparently impersonated - after his recent death - in
Mrs. Piper, and reminded Hodgson of the varied details of their former
philosophical conversations. Further, the "spirit" greeted all his old
acquaintances. His parents were presented to him under an assumed name; but in
vain, for he recognized them nevertheless. All this made such a profound
impression on Hodgson that he came to the conclusion that the spiritistic
interpretation was justified. The craving to learn more about life after death
from his own experience became overwhelming, and he is reported shortly before
his death to have said that he could hardly contain his impatience:
"I can hardly wait to die."
James had a similar experience after Hodgson's
death, with the latter's impersonation. The resemblance to the deceased and the
supernormal nature of the information volunteered was so great that "I felt a
slight shiver down my spine, as though I really had been talking to my old
friend." And he too, who had for years defended the anti-spiritistic standpoint
against Hodgson, now no longer felt able to reject entirely the spiritist
explanation.
There is no doubt that Mrs. Piper did not obtain her knowledge by normal
methods. Those who have studied but a few passages of the shorthand notes of the
minutes must be certain of this. True, it is dry reading (at least, for those
who are not greatly interested in such problems), for the notes are very trite
and ordinary for the main part. The chief interest invariably centres in the
question how Mrs. Piper could have known of these intimate details. And even
Stanley Hall, who apparently possesses the typical positivistic scepticism of
the average experimental psychologist, admits that "the control seems to possess
faculties that appear supernormal."
The problem no longer runs: "Do supernormal phenomena occur in the case of Mrs.
Piper?" but "Which hypothesis is the more likely to explain them?"
Disciples of the spiritistic interpretation draw attention to further
considerations. For instance, spirits who are impersonated in a medium soon
after death make extremely confused statements, as if they lad not yet
completely found themselves. This is particularly noticeable with regard to the
spirits of those who died from mental or similar diseases, tending to prove that
they still bear traces of their mental deficiencies. It also happened that one
of the "spirits," who was impersonated in Mrs. Piper, explained to a lady
present at the séance, that he had just appeared to one of her relatives who had
died immediately afterwards. It was proved later that the person in question had
actually died and that the "spirit" had actually appeared to him shortly before
death. The very words, which appear to have been heard by the dying man, were
repeated by Mrs. Piper. And yet none of these arguments are incontrovertible.
Every one of the evidential cases might be explained as an elaboration by the
creative imagination of Mrs. Piper's telepathically acquired knowledge and by
her telepathic faculty working in conjunction with the minds of others - in the
instance given with that of the dying man. Without the hypothesis of telepathy,
all attempts at explanation are abortive. And in addition to the telepathic
perception of the immediate actual mental processes of those present at the
séance we have also to assume that the medium could read thoughts which were
latent. When Mrs. Piper informs Professor James that he has just killed a cat
with ether, there is a possibility that he might have given a casual thought to
this fact at that precise moment. When, on the other hand, she gives him
information about distant relatives or a dead child the above theory appears
improbable. It must therefore be assumed that she was herself able to reproduce
even mere latent memories of those present.
A special difficulty arises in those cases where Mrs. Piper made correct
statements in contradiction of the thought of the person who was apparently the
telepathic source of her information, that person making a mistake. This applies
to the case where Mrs. Piper indicated the correct sex of the child, while James
was wrong. If, however, the origin of her assertions is to be found in James's
memory, it must be assumed that there are, so to say, deeper strata of
subconsciousness, otherwise her declaration would have agreed with his erroneous
opinion. That such deeper strata do exist is proved by the fact that under
certain artificially induced conditions it is possible by narrowing the circle
of consciousness to improve the memory and correct mistakes. Mrs. Piper's
telepathic power seems to have gone direct to such latent memories.
But how is it that Mrs. Piper, when shown an object belonging to a person
unknown to all those present, was yet able to give information about it later
proved to have been correct? Or when she disclosed matters even unknown to the
latent memory to those present at the séance? These psychometric manifestations
have so far been considered inexplicable.
In order, however, to attempt to explain them, it has been assumed that all
objects are surrounded, so to speak, by a psychic aura or by the "Life-spirit"
of their owner. ("Influences.") Either conception, particularly the latter, is
quite nebulous. The additional hypothesis deduced from them, that, for instance,
it is not right to place articles which were the property of different owners
close to each other, as they infect each other and give bad psychometric
results, has not been verified. Stanley Hall on one occasion showed Mrs. Piper
an object which was not the one originally chosen to be shown to her, but only
bore a marked resemblance to the original. She was nevertheless enabled to make
correct communications applicable to the owner of the original "real" object; in
spite of the fact that it possessed neither "psychic aura," nor was it steeped
in "nerve spirit." She had apparently been duped.
Another explanation lies in the assumption that the survival of personality is
so limited that only shreds of memory are left in the world, and it is of these
shreds that the mediums are able to take advantage. This conception implies an
exceedingly strange misconception of the nature of the mind, as indeed of memory
in particular, and results in a reversion to the ideas of Herbart. Just as
Herbart materialized the individual acts of perception into permanent atoms, so
upon this theory acts of memory are regarded as concrete facts: and this, though
individual acts of memory, even when repeated with reference to the same object,
cannot by any means be considered as identically the same. Furthermore this
theory is at fault in assuming that if two different people remember the same
event it must be the case of an identical remembrance. On the contrary, there
would be two distinct acts of memory, as each person has his own individual
memory, even though applied to the same event. If this hypothesis is to be
adopted at all, it must be applied consistently and clearly. We shall then need
an entirely new foundation for psychological theory. In exact opposition to the
monadic conception of the soul, it will be necessary to assume that the psyche,
like the body, is also composed of individual parts, capable either of a
permanent, independent existence, or at any rate of a continued existence for a
certain length of time. These separate parts may find themselves combined at
certain times, just as the body is composed of atoms, which, if placed in a
different juxtaposition to each other, would produce other bodies. Dismemberment
and materialization would not only be true of the memory, but of all other
mental phenomena. And the result would be - unless we go on to assume the
existence of separate specimens of the same mental phenomenon - that we should
have to say that to some degree different individuals are actually constituted
from the same parts. For instance, a colour noticed by another person and myself
would he actually the same identical perception in both of us. The same thing
would apply to an emotion or manifestation of will power. For the theory, if it
is right for memory, is right also for all other mental acts, and thus
demonstrates its own absurdity.
In my opinion, all psychometric manifestations alike can be traced back to
Telepathy, and this I have pointed out in my "Fundamental Notions of
Parapsychology." It must be assumed that Mrs. Piper was in unbroken subconscious
telepathic nexus with almost everybody, so that much of their actual experiences
or memories was telepathically transferred to her, and at her disposal while she
was in a trance and able to recall it. If this is so she would, on being shown a
watch, remember its owner, to whom certain associations would necessarily be
attached, in the same way that we, on receiving a gift, may think of the donor
and possibly of his relatives or other common acquaintances. For this reason I
should like to suggest the term "Paramnesy" or "Metamnesy" for psychometric
phenomena. The supposition that spurious spirits and not Mrs. Piper are
responsible for such communications would merely be an explanation created by
the imagination, and it is of daily occurrence in modern occultism by reason of
traditions and beliefs which are passed on from one medium to another.
That the spiritistic interpretation actually presents difficulties to spiritists
themselves has been clearly proved by the recent attempt made to explain Mrs.
Piper's trance, not as genuine impersonations, but as founded on a telepathic
nexus not only with the living but also with the spirits of those who had passed
over and were continuing their existence transcendentally. It is true that it is
not possible to refute this any more than the usual spiritistic interpretation;
but it is still true that all positive proof of spiritism is unjustified, for
whatever the communications may be, by which spirits prove their existence, they
must themselves be verified, in order that their validity may be accepted. But
verification is only possible when the facts are vouched for by living people or
proved by documents. And where this is possible, it is also possible in
principle to ascribe the knowledge of the medium to Telepathy or Clairvoyance.
That Mrs. Piper was in possession of telepathic and possibly clairvoyant
faculties also seems to be confirmed by various data. On one occasion a sitter
was informed by her through a "spirit" that there was a defective place, a crack
under a certain window in her (the sitter's) house. Another time it was directly
arranged with one of the "spirits" (G. Pelham) that he should observe the doings
of a certain person and report at the next séance what had happened in the
meantime. This actually was done. The "spirit" reported that the person under
observation, who lived far away in Washington, had taken a photograph to an
artist on a certain day with a request to paint a portrait from it. This was
quite correct. Not even the man's wife was aware of the incident.
There are, however, various positive considerations which militate against the
spiritistic character of Mrs. Piper's state of trance. For instance, Dr.
Phinuit, who lay claim to being a French doctor at the beginning of the
nineteenth century, speaking through her, had no knowledge whatever of the
medicines used at that time. Mrs. Piper's most outstanding failure lay, however,
in being unable to communicate the contents of a letter, unknown to all who were
then alive, left by a stranger who had died. The attempt was twice repeated, to
fail in both instances. Once, too, there was the question of a letter left by
Hodgson, which he had promised to communicate to his friends if possible after
his death, through Mrs. Piper, as proof of his continued existence. Even though
Hodgson was apparently impersonated soon afterwards in Mrs. Piper, his attempts
to give the contents of the letter proved quite abortive. This led to the
conclusion that Mrs. Piper's efforts as a whole were only connected with her
telepathic nexus with the living; though possibly this conclusion may go too
far. It is only certain, either that she is not in continuous telepathic nexus
with everyone, or that her memories are not always entirely within her control,
otherwise she would have received telepathic news of this letter during
Hodgson's lifetime when it was written, and remembered it later. She was not
gifted with equal paramnestic faculties with regard to all the sitters.
These abortive attempts also prove that Mrs. Piper was not always capable of
clairvoyance, or she would have been able to decipher the letter by that means.
And despite her supernormality there are other errors and gaps in her
manifestations. At times, for instance, she gropes in doubt after a name, and
occasionally does not get beyond similarities in sound. Thus Gibbons was
pronounced as Kiblin, Giblin, and so forth. And the definite impression left is
the same as that when we ourselves are half unable to recall a name, a result
which is much in favour of the explanation already given in regard to
"Psychometry." Half-true, inaccurate, and totally false communications have also
been given; as, for example, the wrong date of the delivery of the photograph to
the painter in the episode above mentioned. In other cases, it was not possible
to establish the exact truth.
But all these inaccuracies, defects and negative results cannot shake the
positive material. Its wealth is overwhelming.
So far as I am aware, no one who came into personal contact with Mrs. Piper, or
who was concerned in first-hand reports about her, had any doubt as to the
supernormal nature of her mind, and her supernormality is as securely
established as any historical event. It has been proved scientifically, and
there can be no further discussion as to the fact. Most of the investigators
fared just as James did. Those who grew up in the atmosphere of the departing
nineteenth century necessarily brought scepticism and rationalistic prejudices
to bear on the preliminary study of parapsychological problems, but the case of
Mrs. Piper could not in spite of all their scepticism be lightly dismissed. In
order to be quite certain steps were taken to place her and her relatives under
continuous supervision by detectives, and nothing in the least suspicious was
ever discovered. She was several times sent to England, to stay as a guest in a
private house, in totally strange surroundings. Her luggage, and practically the
whole of her limited correspondence - she never wrote more than three letters a
week - were examined, with equally fruitless results. What paraphernalia she
would have needed had her demonstrations been founded on fraud! She was fully
informed, so to speak, on each person who came to her; and not only on the
person himself, but also on his friends and relatives, both alive and dead. And
as she never knew who was likely to come to her, she should, by rights, have
possessed a register or family record of everyone under the sun. Though even the
most comprehensive index would have been useless without her supernormal
faculties, for she would not only have had to memorize this index in its
entirety, but also to identify each visitor, even when, as repeatedly happened,
he was introduced to her under an assumed name.
As a matter of fact she only learnt of her peculiar condition through the
reports of third parties. She had herself no recollection of her trance. Unlike
Hélène Smith, she appears to have had herself no consciousness of a dual
personality when she was passing slowly from her normal condition to her trance
state.
While Hélène Smith became aware of her abnormal psychic processes through
automatic writing and semi-somnambulistic conditions, Mrs. Piper was either in a
complete state of impersonation and trance-somnambulism or entirely normal.
There was no transition through intermediate stages. Consequently it was only
through the testimony of others that she became aware of anything remarkable
about herself. She personally was more inclined to the telepathic
interpretations than to the spiritistic, and she is the only one of the three
great mediums with whom we are concerned who shows definite reserve with regard
to spiritism.
Bearing in mind the fanatic devotion evinced by such individuals towards
spiritism on the whole, it is decidedly refreshing to come across a medium of
such remarkable powers who adopted such a critical attitude:
"My opinion is to-day (1901) as it was eighteen
years ago. Spirits of the departed may have controlled me and they may not. I
confess that I do not know."
However unusual the interest created in Mrs. Piper's
case by the wealth, abundance and, above all, the careful scientific control to
which it was so long subjected, her case does not stand alone. She has not only
been rivalled by English-speaking mediums, but by Germans also. Tischner reports
on them, and the psychologist, Professor Baensch, was repeatedly present at such
experiments. In one instance, the latter himself handed the medium, X, a small
silver Turkish coin, which could not be felt through its wrapping of tissue
paper, and which he carried about with him in his purse together with two
fifty-centime pieces, several stamps, a trunk-key, and a ribbon of the Iron
Cross. The medium made some striking assertions with reference to these articles
and their history. On closer examination of the reports of these experiments we
find a jumble of visions and acoustic phenomena (the medium hears a voice saying
something to him), and finally we get purely intellectual perception, as, for
instance, the declaration "from a strange country, without a doubt." Acoustic
phenomena may possibly be explained as an alternative expression of conscious
knowledge, though this can surely not be asserted with regard to visual
phenomena. The paramnestic theory is also applicable to Tischner's case of B,
where the situations remembered were not due to "knowledge," but to sensation of
"sight" (not to say of "hearing"). In this case we must assume that the original
telepathic perceptions themselves were reproduced, just as we ourselves in some
cases remember events, in others, recall an actual concrete sensory picture of
them.
We conclude, provisionally, that Mrs. Piper's achievements were confined to her
intercourse with the living (including those who passed over while her
memorizing powers were still unexhausted). It is, however, most desirable that
further research should be undertaken to see if this conclusion is correct.
Another medium reported on by Eugene Osty
is said to have visualized prehistoric landscapes and catastrophes on being
handed a fossilized animal's tooth, and on touching an antique jewel. This same
medium described facts of ancient Greece, though here, of course, verification
is extraordinarily difficult. Some one was aware that the objects in question
were a fossilized tooth and an antique Greek jewel. And there are enough
sources, "conscious" and otherwise, on which a medium of some education can draw
for descriptions of geological and historical events. It is only if the visions
of the medium exceed these limits and disclose facts which have to be verified
afterwards that we should be justified in assuming that psychometry differs
specifically from an elaborated telepathy as described above. As I have already
indicated in detail, it is, however, possible to ascribe all "historical
psychometry" to telepathy. It is only necessary to assume the existence of a
subconscious telepathic nexus between all, or at least most, of the medially
disposed individuals. In this manner the experiences and knowledge of these
people would be inherited from generation to generation, and a perfect medium
would thus be able to recount the adventures of Rameses the Great or of
Alexander. He might become the spiritual witness of the erection of the Pyramids
and of the invocation of Jupiter Ammon. History would thus have direct connexion
with the past by reawakening in the souls of men the actual traces of past ages
through the intermediary of the great mediums. Mat a perspective is opened out
by the thought that the day may come when the battle of Marathon or the
appearance of Socrates before his judges might be described to us by a person in
a trance. We should learn everything: how Greek was pronounced, and how Socrates
and Plato conversed together; for the voice and physiognomy of the medium of
genius is as malleable as wax.
But how would it be if the medium were capable of still greater efforts, and
could describe events of the prehistoric age? If the whole of the past were to
be unrolled before us? The thought is too fantastical, but we are not aware of
the bounds of psychometry. The possibility must be recognized and investigated.
It is obvious that the truth will take long to establish. If the result of the
investigation were to establish the theory as fact, it would mean that
psychometry cannot be founded (or at any rate not alone) on a telepathic nexus
of humanity. Its causes would be deeper and still more wonderful. Either those
would be right who are of opinion that all events leave traces on the object
under observation, and that these traces produce corresponding thoughts or
manifestations in the psychometric medium, or it must be accepted that these
mediums get their telepathic knowledge from the memory of God or that of another
superhuman spirit (the Earth Soul of Fechner).
Anna Katherina Emmerich, who was canonized by the Catholic Church, was
accredited with supernormal faculties, and in her case what appears to be
historical paramnesia has been proved with comparative accuracy. The poet
Clemens Brentano has collected a good deal of material about her. She left whole
cycles of visions about Jesus and Mary, purporting to contain information on
archaeological details in Palestine, which were still unknown in her lifetime,
but which are said to have been verified lately. Should these assertions really
be confirmed - but I confess that I have felt so sceptical about them that I
have not even troubled to examine them closer - they would be of the greatest
interest for the further development of Parapsychology.
Note:
The above article was taken from Konstantin Oesterreich's "Occultism and Modern
Science" (London: Methuen & Co., 1923).
|
