PNEUMATOGRAPHY OR DIRECT WRITING. PNEUMATOPHONY.

Direct writing. — Pneumatophony.

Direct writing.

Pneumatography is writing produced directly by the Spirit, without any intermediary; 2 it differs from psychography, in that the latter is the transmission of the thought of the Spirit, by means of writing done with the hand of the medium.

The phenomenon of direct writing is, there is no denying it, one of the most extraordinary of Spiritism; but, however abnormal it may seem, at first sight, it constitutes today an ascertained and incontestable fact.

Theory, always necessary, in order to acquaint ourselves with the possibility of Spiritist phenomena in general, is perhaps still more necessary in this case which, beyond contestation, is one of the strangest that can be presented; but which ceases to seem supernatural, once one understands its principle.

The first time this phenomenon was produced, doubt was the dominant impression it left. At once the idea of a deception occurred to those who witnessed it.

Everyone, indeed, knows the action of the inks called sympathetic, whose marks, at first completely invisible, appear after some time. It could, then, be that they had, by this means, abused the credulity of those present, and we are far from affirming that they have never done so.

We are even convinced that some persons, whether with mercantile aims, or merely out of self-love and to make their faculties believed in, have employed subterfuges. (See the chapter on Frauds.)

Nevertheless, from the fact that a thing can be imitated, it would be absurd to conclude its nonexistence.

In these latter times, has not a means been found of imitating somnambulistic lucidity, to the point of causing illusion? But, because this process of sleight of hand has been exhibited in all the fairs, ought one to conclude that there are no true somnambulists?

Because certain merchants sell adulterated wine, will that be a reason for there being no pure wine? The same happens with direct writing.

Quite simple and easy were, moreover, the precautions to be taken to guarantee the reality of the fact, and, thanks to those precautions, today it can no longer constitute the object of the slightest doubt.

Since the possibility of writing without an intermediary represents one of the attributes of the Spirit; 2 since the Spirits have always existed from all time and since from all time the various phenomena we know have been produced, that of direct writing must likewise have operated in Antiquity, as much as in the present day.

In this way one can explain the appearance of the three famous words, in the banquet hall of Belshazzar.

The Middle Ages, so fertile in occult prodigies, but which were stifled by means of the stakes, also necessarily knew direct writing, and it is possible that, in the theory of the modifications through which the Spirits can make matter pass, a theory we developed in chapter VIII, may be found the foundation of the belief in the transmutation of metals.

However, whatever the results obtained in various epochs, it was only after the Spiritist manifestations had become widespread that the question of direct writing was taken seriously.

As it appears, the first to make it known, in these latter years, in Paris, was Baron de Guldenstubbe, who published on the subject a very interesting work, with a great number of facsimiles of the writings he obtained. n The phenomenon was already known in America, for some time. The social position of M. de Guldenstubbe, his independence, the consideration he enjoys in the highest circles, incontestably remove all suspicion of intentional fraud, for there was no motive of interest he could be obeying. At most, what could be supposed is that he was the victim of an illusion; to this, however, one fact answers peremptorily: that other persons obtained the same phenomenon, surrounded by all the precautions necessary to avoid any deception and any cause of error.

Direct writing is obtained, as, in general, the greater part of the non-spontaneous Spiritist manifestations are, by means of concentration, of prayer, and of evocation.

They have been produced in churches, on tombs, at the foot of statues, or images of the personages evoked.

It is evident, however, that the place exercises no other influence, beyond that of affording greater spiritual recollection and greater concentration of the thoughts; 4 for it is proved that the phenomenon is obtained, equally, without those accessories and in the most ordinary places, upon a simple household piece of furniture, provided that those who wish to obtain it find themselves in the requisite moral conditions and that among them be found one who possesses the necessary mediumistic faculty.

It was judged, at first, that it was necessary to place here or there a pencil with the paper. The fact then could, up to a certain point, be explained. It is known that the Spirits produce the movement and displacement of objects; that, sometimes, they take them and throw them far. They could, then, well take also the pencil and make use of it to trace letters. Since they impel it, making use of the medium's hand, of a planchette, etc., they could, in the same way, impel it directly. It was not long, however, before it was recognized that the pencil was dispensable, that a piece of paper sufficed, folded or not, for there to be found upon it, after a few minutes, letters written.

Here the phenomenon already changes aspect completely and transports us to an entirely new order of things. The letters must have been traced with some substance or other. Now, it being certain that no one furnished the Spirit with that substance, it is known that he himself composed it. Whence did he draw it? That is the problem.

Whoever wishes to refer to the explanations given in chapter VIII, nos. 127 and 128, will find complete the theory of the phenomenon.

To write in this manner, the Spirit makes use neither of our substances, nor of our instruments. He himself manufactures the matter and the instruments of which he has need, drawing, for this, the necessary materials, from the primitive universal element which, by the action of his will, undergoes the modifications necessary to the production of the desired effect.

It is possible for him, therefore, to manufacture red pencil, printer's ink, common ink, as well as black pencil, or, even, typographic characters resistant enough to give relief to the writing, as we have had occasion to verify.

The daughter of a gentleman we know, a girl of 12 to 13 years, obtained pages and pages written with a substance analogous to pastel.

Such is the result to which the phenomenon of the snuffbox led us, described in chapter VII, no. 116, and on which we dwelt at length, because in it we perceived an opportunity to examine one of the most important laws of Spiritism, a law the knowledge of which can clarify more than one mystery, even of the visible world.

Thus it is that, from an apparently common fact, light can come forth. Everything lies in observing with care, and that all can do as we do, provided that they do not limit themselves to observing effects, without seeking their causes.

If our faith grows stronger from day to day, it is because we understand.

Seek, then, to understand, if you wish to make serious proselytes.

Still another result follows from the comprehension of causes: that of leaving traced a dividing line between truth and superstition.

Considering direct writing from the point of view of the advantages it can offer, we shall say that, up to the present, its principal usefulness has consisted in the material confirmation of a serious fact: the intervention of an occult power which, in this phenomenon, has one more means of manifesting itself.

Nevertheless, the communications obtained in this form are rarely extensive. Generally spontaneous, they are reduced to a few words or propositions and, sometimes, to unintelligible signs. They have been given in all languages: in Greek, in Latin, in Syriac, in hieroglyphic characters, etc., but they have not yet lent themselves to the connected and rapid dissertations, such as psychography or writing by the hand of the medium permits. Pneumatophony.

Given that they can produce noises and raps, the Spirits can likewise make heard cries of every kind and vocal sounds that imitate the human voice, thus at our side, as in the air. To this phenomenon we give the name of pneumatophony.

From what we know of the nature of the Spirits, we may suppose that, among them, some, of an inferior order, delude themselves and think they speak as when alive. (See Spiritist Review, February 1858: History of the apparition of Mademoiselle Clairon.)

We must, however, guard ourselves against taking for occult voices all the sounds that have no known cause, or mere buzzings, and, above all, against giving the least credit to the common belief that, when the ear rings, it is that somewhere they are speaking of us. Moreover, these ringings have no significance, their cause being purely physiological, whereas pneumatophonic sounds express thoughts, and therein lies what makes us recognize that they are an intelligent and not an accidental cause.

One can establish, as a principle, that notoriously intelligent effects are the only ones capable of attesting the intervention of the Spirits. As for the others, there are at least a hundred probabilities against one of their being derived from fortuitous causes.

It frequently happens that we hear, distinctly, when we find ourselves half asleep, words, names, sometimes whole sentences, uttered with such intensity that they wake us, startled.

Although in some cases there may there be, in reality, a manifestation, this phenomenon presents nothing positive enough, for it also to be able to be attributed to a cause analogous to the one we studied at length in the theory of hallucination, chapter VI, no. 111 and following.

Moreover, what is thus heard has no sequel. The same, however, does not happen, when one is entirely awake, because, then, if it is a Spirit that makes itself heard, one can almost always exchange ideas with it and engage in a regular conversation.

The Spiritist sounds, the pneumatophonic ones, are produced in two distinct manners: sometimes, it is an interior voice that reverberates in our innermost being, the words having, however, nothing material about them, although they are clearly perceptible; other times, they are exterior and distinctly articulated, as if they came from a person who were at our side.

In one manner, or the other, the phenomenon of pneumatophony is almost always spontaneous and only very rarely can be provoked. [see example ] [1] The reality of the Spirits and of their manifestations demonstrated by means of the phenomenon of direct writing, by Baron de Guldenstubbe, 1 vol. in-8, with 15 plates and 93 facsimiles.