OF EVOCATIONS.

General considerations. — Spirits who can be evoked.

— Language to be used with the Spirits.

— Usefulness of particular evocations.

— Questions on evocations.

— Evocations of animals.

— Evocations of living persons.

— Human telegraphy.

General considerations.

The Spirits can communicate spontaneously, or respond to our call, that is, come by evocation.

Some persons think that everyone should refrain from evoking this or that Spirit and that it is preferable to wait for the one who wishes to communicate.

They base this on the fact that, in calling a particular Spirit, we cannot be certain that it is indeed he who presents himself, whereas the one who comes spontaneously, of his own accord, better proves his identity, since he thereby manifests the desire he has to converse with us.

In our opinion, this is a mistake: firstly, because there are always around us Spirits, most often of inferior condition, who want nothing other than to communicate; secondly, and indeed for this very reason, to call no one in particular is to open the door to all who wish to enter.

In an assembly, to give the floor to no one is to leave it free to everyone, and one knows what results from that.

The direct call of a particular Spirit constitutes a bond between him and us; we call him by our desire and thus oppose a kind of barrier to intruders.

Without a direct call, a Spirit will often have no reason to come to converse with us, unless it be our familiar Spirit.

Each of these two ways of operating has its advantages, and there would be no disadvantage, except in the absolute exclusion of one of them.

Spontaneous communications present no inconvenience whatsoever, when one is master of the Spirits and certain not to let the bad ones take the lead. Then it is almost always good to await the goodwill of those who are disposed to communicate, because their thought suffers no constraint, and in this way admirable things can be obtained; 9 however, it may happen that the Spirit who is called is not disposed to speak, or is not capable of doing so in the desired sense.

[see no. 272 indicator 3.] The scrupulous examination which we have advised is, moreover, a guarantee against bad communications.

In regular meetings, especially those in which a continuous work is carried on, there are always habitual Spirits who attend them, without being called, because they are forewarned, by virtue of the very regularity of the sessions.

They then frequently take the floor, spontaneously, to deal with some subject, develop a proposition, or prescribe what should be done, in which case they are easily recognizable, whether by the form of the language, which is always identical, whether by the writing, whether by certain habits peculiar to them.

When one wishes to communicate with a particular Spirit, it is altogether necessary to evoke him. (no. 203)

If he can come, the answer is generally: Yes, or I am here, or again: What do you want of me? Sometimes he enters directly into the matter, answering beforehand the questions one wished to put to him.

When a Spirit is evoked for the first time, it is fitting to designate him with some precision.

In the questions put to him, dry and imperative formulas should be avoided, for they would constitute for him a motive of withdrawal.

The formulas should be affectionate, or respectful, according to the Spirit, and in all cases the evoker must give him proof of his benevolence.

It is often surprising, the promptness with which an evoked Spirit presents himself, even the first time.

One would say that he had been forewarned. This is, in effect, what happens, when the one who evokes him has concerned himself beforehand with his evocation.

This preoccupation is a kind of anticipated evocation, and as we always have with us our familiar Spirits, who identify themselves with our thought, they prepare the way in such a manner that, if no obstacle arises, the Spirit we wish to call is already present when he is evoked.

When this does not happen, it is the familiar Spirit of the medium, or that of the interrogator, or else one of those who habitually frequent the meetings, who goes to fetch him, for which he does not need much time.

If the evoked Spirit cannot come at once, the messenger (the Pagans would say Mercury) sets a delay, sometimes of five minutes, a quarter of an hour, and even many days. As soon as he arrives, he says: Here I am.

The questions one wishes to put to him can then begin to be asked.

The messenger is not always an indispensable intermediary, for the Spirit can hear directly the call of the evoker, as is stated in no. 282, question 5, on the manner of transmission of thought.

When we say that the evocation should be made in the name of God, we mean that our recommendation should be taken seriously and not lightly. Those who see in this the use of a formula without consequence will do better to abstain.

Frequently, evocations offer more difficulties than spontaneous dictations, especially when it is a matter of obtaining precise answers to circumstantial questions.

For this, special mediums are necessary, at once flexible and positive, and in no. 193 we saw that the latter are quite rare, because, as we have said, fluidic relations are not always established instantaneously with the first Spirit who presents himself.

Hence it is fitting that mediums not give themselves to detailed evocations until after they are certain of the development of their faculties and of the nature of the Spirits who assist them, seeing that with those badly assisted, evocations can have no character of authenticity.

Mediums are generally much more sought after for evocations of particular interest than for communications of general interest; this is explained by the very natural desire that everyone has to converse with the beings who are dear to them.

We believe we ought to make on this subject some important recommendations to mediums. Firstly, that they accede to that desire only with much reserve, for certain persons of whose sincerity they are not completely sure, and that they beware of the snares that malevolent persons may prepare for them.

Secondly, that they lend themselves to such evocations, on no ground whatever, if they perceive an aim of mere curiosity, or of interest, and not a serious intention on the part of the evoker; 4 that they refuse to make any idle question, or one that goes beyond the scope of those that can rationally be addressed to the Spirits.

The questions should be formulated with clarity, precision, and without preconceived idea, if one wishes categorical answers.

It is fitting, then, that all those of an insidious character be rejected, for it is known that the Spirits do not like those that have for their object putting them to the test.

To insist on questions of this nature is to wish to be deceived.

The evoker should strike frankly and openly at the point aimed at, without subterfuges and without circumlocutions. If he fears to explain himself, it will be better that he abstain.

It is likewise fitting that evocations be made only with much prudence, in the absence of the persons who requested them, it being even preferable that they not be made under those conditions, seeing that only those persons are able to analyze the answers, to judge of the identity, to provoke clarifications, if it be opportune, and to formulate incidental questions that the circumstances indicate.

Moreover, their presence is a bond that attracts the Spirit, who is almost always little disposed to communicate with strangers who inspire in him no sympathy.

The medium, in sum, should avoid everything that might transform him into an agent for consultations, which, in the eyes of many persons, is synonymous with a fortune-teller. Spirits who can be evoked.

All Spirits, whatever the degree at which they find themselves on the spiritual scale, can be evoked: thus the good as well as the bad, those who left life but recently as well as those who lived in the most remote epochs, those who were illustrious men as well as the most obscure, our relatives and friends as well as those who are indifferent to us.

This, however, does not mean that they always want, or are able, to respond to our call.

Independently of their own will, or of the permission that may be refused them by a superior power, it is possible that they find themselves prevented from doing so, for motives that it is not always given us to know.

We mean that there is no absolute impediment that opposes communications, except that which we shall presently speak of. The obstacles capable of preventing a Spirit from manifesting himself are almost always individual and derive from the circumstances.

Among the causes that can prevent the manifestation of a Spirit, some are personal to him and others extraneous.

Among the first must be placed the occupations or the missions that he is carrying out and from which he cannot withdraw, to yield to our desires. In this case, his visit is merely postponed.

There is also his own situation. Although the state of incarnation does not constitute an absolute obstacle, it can represent an impediment, on certain occasions, especially when the incarnation occurs in the inferior worlds and when the Spirit himself is little dematerialized.

In the superior worlds, those in which the bonds between the Spirit and matter are very weak, manifestation is almost as easy as in the wandering state, easier, in any case, than in the worlds where corporeal matter is more compact.

The extraneous causes reside principally in the nature of the medium, in that of the person who evokes, in the milieu in which the evocation is made, in short, in the aim that one has in view.

Some mediums receive more particularly communications from their familiar Spirits, who may be more or less elevated; others show themselves apt to serve as intermediaries to all Spirits, this depending on the sympathy or the antipathy, the attraction or the repulsion that the personal Spirit of the medium exercises upon the Spirit called, who may take him for an interpreter, with pleasure, or with repugnance.

This also depends, apart from the intimate qualities of the medium, on the development of the mediumistic faculty.

The Spirits come more willingly and, above all, are more explicit with a medium who offers them no material obstacle.

Moreover, all moral conditions being equal, the more facility the medium has for writing or for expressing himself, the more his relations with the spirit world become generalized.

It is also fitting to take into account the facility that must result from the habit of communicating with this or that Spirit.

With time, the extraneous Spirit identifies himself with that of the medium and also with the one who calls him.

Leaving aside the question of sympathy, there are established between them fluidic relations that render communications more prompt. This is why a first conversation is not always as satisfactory as could be wished, and why the Spirits themselves frequently ask to be called again.

The Spirit who comes habitually is as if in his own home: he becomes familiarized with his listeners and interpreters, speaks and acts freely.

In sum, from what we have just said it results: that the faculty of evoking any Spirit whatsoever does not imply for him the obligation of being at our disposal; 2 that he may come on a certain occasion and not come on another, with one medium, or one evoker who pleases him and not with another; 3 say what he wishes, without being able to be constrained to say what he does not wish;

go away when it pleases him; in short, that for causes dependent or not on his will, after having shown himself assiduous for some time, he may suddenly cease to come.

For all these reasons, when one wishes to call a Spirit who has not yet presented himself, it is necessary to ask his protective guide whether the evocation is possible; if it is not, he generally gives the reasons, and then it is useless to insist.

An important question presents itself here, that of knowing whether or not there is inconvenience in evoking bad Spirits.

This depends on the aim one has in view and on the ascendancy one can exercise over them.

The inconvenience is nil when they are called with a serious aim, such as that of instructing and improving them; 4 it is, on the contrary, very great when they are called out of mere curiosity or for amusement, or again when the one who calls them places himself in dependence on them, asking of them some service or other.

The good Spirits, in this case, can very well give them the power to do what is asked of them, which does not exclude that the rash one who dared to solicit their help and to suppose them more powerful than God be severely punished later.

It will be in vain that he who acts thus promises himself to make from then on good use of the help requested and to dismiss the servant once the service is rendered. That very service which was solicited, however slight it may be, constitutes a true pact concluded with the bad Spirit, and the latter does not easily let go of its prey. (See no. 212.)

— No one exercises ascendancy over the inferior Spirits, except by moral superiority.

The perverse Spirits feel that men of goodness dominate them.

Against one who opposes to them only the energy of his will, a kind of brute force, they struggle, and often they are the stronger.

To someone who sought to subdue a rebellious Spirit, solely by the action of his will, that Spirit replied: Leave me in peace, with your airs of a swashbuckler; you are worth no more than I: one would say a thief preaching morality to another thief.

There are those who are astonished that the name of God, invoked against them, produces no effect. The reason for this fact was given to us by Saint Louis, in the following reply:

“The name of God has influence over the imperfect Spirits only when uttered by one who can, through his virtues, make use of it with authority. Pronounced by one who has no moral superiority in relation to the Spirit, it is a word like any other. The same holds with the holy things by which one seeks to dominate them. The most terrible of weapons becomes harmless in hands unskilled in using it, or incapable of wielding it.” Language to be used with the Spirits.

The degree of superiority or inferiority of the Spirits naturally indicates in what tone it is fitting to speak to them.

It is evident that, the more elevated they are, the more right they have to our respect, to our attentions, and to our submission.

We must not show them less deference than we would show them, albeit for other motives, if they were alive. On Earth, we would take into consideration their rank and social position; in the world of the Spirits, our respect must be motivated by the moral superiority they enjoy.

The very elevation they possess places them above the puerilities of our flattering formulas. It is not with words that one can capture their benevolence, but by the sincerity of one's sentiments.

It would be, then, ridiculous for us to be giving them the titles that our usages consecrate, for the distinction of ranks, and that perhaps would have flattered their vanity when alive. If they are truly superior, not only do they attach no importance to those titles, but it even displeases them that we should employ them.

A good thought is more agreeable to them than the most laudatory epithets;

if it were not so, they would not be above Humanity.

The Spirit of a venerable ecclesiastic, who was on Earth a prince of the Church, a man of goodness, a practitioner of the law of Jesus, replied one day to someone who had evoked him giving him the title of Monsignor: “You should, at least, say: ex-Monsignor; for here there is but one Lord — God. Know this: many do I see, who on Earth knelt in my presence, before whom today I bow.”

As for the inferior Spirits, the character they reveal traces for us the language we must use toward them.

There are those who, although inoffensive and even courteous, are frivolous, ignorant, scatterbrained. To give them treatment equal to that we accord the serious Spirits, as certain persons do, would be the same as to bow before a schoolboy, or before an ass wearing a doctor's cap.

The tone of familiarity would not be out of place among them, who do not for that take offense; on the contrary, they receive it very willingly.

Among the inferior Spirits, there are many who are unhappy. Whatever may be the faults they are expiating, their sufferings constitute titles to our commiseration all the greater inasmuch as it is certain that no one can flatter himself that these words of Christ do not apply to him: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” The benignity we show them represents for them a relief. In default of sympathy, they need to find in us the indulgence we would wish them to have with us.

The Spirits who reveal their inferiority by the cynicism of their language, by lies, by the baseness of their sentiments, by the perfidy of their counsels, are, undoubtedly, less worthy of our interest than those whose words attest their repentance; 13 but, at the least, we owe them the pity that the greatest criminals inspire in us, and the means of leading them back to silence consists in showing ourselves superior to them, who trust only in persons of whom they judge they have nothing to fear, 14 for the perverse Spirits feel that men of goodness, like the elevated Spirits, are their superiors.

In sum, it would be as irreverent for us to treat the superior Spirits as equal to equal as it would be ridiculous to grant to all, without exception, the same deference.

Let us have veneration for those who merit it, gratitude for those who protect and assist us, and, for all the rest, the benignity of which perhaps one day we may come to have need.

Penetrating into the incorporeal world, we learn to know it, and that knowledge must guide us in our relations with those who inhabit it.

The Ancients, in their ignorance, raised altars to them; for us, they are merely creatures more or less perfect, and altars are raised only to God. Usefulness of particular evocations.

The communications obtained from very elevated Spirits, or from those who animated great personages of Antiquity, are precious, by the lofty teachings they contain.

These Spirits have conquered a degree of perfection that permits them to embrace a far more extensive field of ideas, to penetrate mysteries that escape the vulgar reach of Humanity, and consequently to initiate us better than others in certain things.

It does not follow from this that the communications of the Spirits of a less elevated order are useless. From them the observer gathers much instruction.

To know the customs of a people, it is necessary to study it in all the degrees of the scale. He knows it badly who has seen it only from one side. The history of a people is not that of its kings, nor that of its social eminences; to judge it, one must see it in its intimate life, in its particular habits.

Now, the superior Spirits are the eminences of the spirit world; the very elevation in which they find themselves places them so far above us that the distance at which we stand from them terrifies us.

More bourgeois Spirits (may this expression be excused us) render more palpable to us the circumstances of the new existence in which they find themselves. In them, the link between the corporeal life and the spirit life is more intimate; we understand it better, because it touches us more closely.

Learning, from what they tell us, what they have become, what they think and what they experience, men of all conditions and of all characters, the men of goodness as well as the vicious, the great and the small, the fortunate and the unhappy of the world, in a word: those who lived among us, those whom we saw and knew, those whose real life, virtues, and errors we know, we understand well their joys and their sufferings, we associate ourselves with the one and the other, and from these and those we draw a moral teaching, all the more profitable the closer our relations with them have been.

We place ourselves more easily in the position of one who was our equal than in that of another whom we barely discern through the mirage of a celestial glory. The vulgar Spirits show us the practical application of the great and sublime truths whose theory the superior Spirits furnish us.

Moreover, in the study of a science, nothing is useless. Newton found the law of the forces of the Universe in the simplest of phenomena.

The evocation of vulgar Spirits has, besides, the advantage of placing us in contact with suffering Spirits, whom we can relieve and whose advancement we can facilitate, by means of good counsels. All of us, then, can make ourselves useful, at the same time as we instruct ourselves.

There is egoism in the one who seeks only his own satisfaction in the manifestations of the Spirits, and he gives proof of pride who fails to extend a hand in succor of the unhappy. Of what use is it to him to obtain beautiful communications from choice Spirits, if this does not make him better toward himself, nor more charitable and benevolent toward his brothers of this world and of the other? What would become of the poor sick, if physicians refused to touch their sores?

— Questions on evocations.

Can someone, without being a medium, evoke the Spirits?

“Everyone can evoke the Spirits, and if those whom you evoke cannot manifest themselves materially, they will nonetheless be beside you and listening to you.”

Does the evoked Spirit always heed the call addressed to him?

“That depends on the conditions in which he finds himself, for there are circumstances in which he cannot do it.”

What are the causes that can prevent a Spirit from heeding our call?

“In the first place, his own will; 2 then his corporeal state, if he is incarnated, 3 the missions with which he is charged, 4 or else permission for this being denied him.

“There are Spirits who can never communicate: those who, by their nature, still belong to worlds inferior to Earth.

Just as little can those who find themselves in the Spheres of punishment, unless special permission is given them, with an aim of general utility.

For a Spirit to be able to communicate, he must have attained the degree of advancement of the world where he is called, for, otherwise, being a stranger to the ideas of that world, he will have no point of comparison by which to express himself.

This is no longer the case with those who are on a mission, or in expiation, in the inferior worlds. These have the ideas necessary to respond to the call.”

For what reason can a Spirit be denied permission to communicate?

“It may be a trial, or a punishment, for him, or for the one who calls him.”

How can the Spirits, dispersed throughout space or throughout the different worlds, hear the evocations addressed to them from all points of the Universe?

“They are often forewarned by the familiar Spirits who surround you and who go to seek them.

But here a phenomenon takes place that is difficult to explain to you, because you cannot yet understand the manner of transmission of thought among the Spirits. What I can affirm to you is that the evoked Spirit, however distant he may be, receives, so to speak, the shock of the thought like a kind of electric commotion that draws his attention to the side from which comes the thought that reaches him. It may be said that he hears the thought, as on Earth you hear the voice.” a — Is the universal fluid the vehicle of thought, as the air is of sound?

“Yes, with the difference that sound can make itself heard only within a very limited space, whereas thought reaches the infinite.

The Spirit, in the Beyond, is like the traveler who, in the midst of a vast plain, hearing his name pronounced, directs himself toward the side from which he is called.”

We know that distances are nothing to the Spirits; nevertheless, it causes astonishment to see that they respond as promptly to the call as if they were very near.

“That is because, in effect, sometimes they are.

If the evocation is premeditated, the Spirit is forewarned beforehand and frequently finds himself in the place where he is to be evoked, before he is called.”

Is it the case that the thought of the evoker is more or less easily perceived, according to the circumstances?

“Without any doubt.

The Spirit is more keenly affected when he is called by a sentiment of sympathy and of goodness. It is like a friendly voice that he recognizes.

When this does not occur, it frequently happens that the evocation produces no effect.

The thought that emanates from the evocation touches the Spirit; if it is badly directed, it is lost in the void.

It is with the Spirits as with men; if the one who calls them is indifferent or antipathetic to them, they may hear him, but most often they do not heed him.”

Does the evoked Spirit come spontaneously, or constrained?

“He obeys the will of God, that is, the general law that governs the Universe.

However, the word constrained does not fit the case, for the Spirit judges of the usefulness of coming, or of not coming. There too he exercises free will.

The superior Spirit always comes when called with a useful aim; he refuses to answer only to persons who are little serious and who treat of these things for amusement.”

Can the evoked Spirit refuse to heed the call addressed to him?

“Perfectly; where would his free will be, if it were not so? Do you think that all the beings of the Universe are at your orders?

Do you yourselves consider yourselves obliged to answer all who pronounce your names?

When I say that the Spirit can refuse, I refer to the request of the evoker, seeing that an inferior Spirit can be constrained to come, by a superior Spirit.”

Is there, for the evoker, a means of constraining a Spirit to come, against his will?

“None, provided the Spirit be his equal, or his superior, in morality.

I say — in morality and not in intelligence — because then the evoker has no authority over him.

If he is inferior to him, the evoker can achieve it, provided it be for the good of the Spirit, because, in that case, other Spirits will second him.”

(No. 279.)

Is there inconvenience in evoking inferior Spirits, and is it to be feared that, by calling them, the evoker may fall under their dominion?

“They do not dominate any but those who allow themselves to be dominated.

He who is assisted by good Spirits has nothing to fear. He imposes himself on the inferior Spirits, and not they on him.

Isolated, mediums, especially those beginning, should abstain from such evocations. (No. 278.)

Are some special dispositions necessary for evocations?

“The most essential of all dispositions is recollection, when one wishes to enter into communication with serious Spirits.

With faith and with the desire for good, one has more force to evoke the superior Spirits.

By elevating his soul, through a few moments of recollection, at the time of the evocation, the evoker identifies himself with the good Spirits and disposes them to come.”

— For evocations, is faith necessary?

“Faith in God, yes; 2 for the rest, faith will come, if you desire the good and have the purpose of instructing yourselves.”

United in communion of thoughts and of intentions, do men dispose of more power to evoke the Spirits?

“When all are united by charity and for the good, they attain great things.

Nothing is more prejudicial to the result of evocations than divergence of ideas.”

Is the precaution of forming a chain, all joining hands, a few minutes before beginning the meeting, advisable?

“The chain is a material means, which does not establish among you union, if this does not exist in the thoughts; 2 more advisable than that is for all to unite by a common thought, each one calling, from his side, the good Spirits.

You do not imagine what can be obtained in a serious meeting, from which all sentiment of pride and of personalism has been banished, and where the sentiment of mutual cordiality reigns perfect.”

Are evocations on determined days and hours preferable?

“Yes, and, if possible, in the same place: the Spirits hasten there with more satisfaction.

The constant desire you have is what helps the Spirits to put themselves in communication with you.

They have occupations, which they cannot leave on the spur of the moment, for your personal satisfaction.

I say — in the same place, but do not think that this should constitute an absolute obligation, for the Spirits go everywhere. I mean that a place consecrated to the meetings is preferable, because recollection is made more perfect.”

Do certain objects, such as medals and talismans, have the property of attracting or repelling the Spirits, as some claim?

“This question was needless, for you well know that matter exercises no action upon the Spirits. Be quite certain that a good Spirit will never counsel such absurdities.

The virtue of talismans, of whatever nature they may be, has never existed except in the imagination of credulous persons.”

What should one think of the Spirits who set appointments in lugubrious places and at undue hours?

“These Spirits amuse themselves at the expense of those who lend them an ear.

It is always useless and not rarely dangerous to yield to such suggestions: useless, because absolutely nothing is gained by being mystified; dangerous, not for the harm that the Spirits can do, but for the influence that this can have upon weak brains.”

Are there days and hours more propitious for evocations?

“For the Spirits, this is completely indifferent, like everything that is material, and it would be superstition to believe in the influence of days and hours.

The most propitious moments are those in which the evoker can be least distracted by his habitual occupations, in which he finds himself calmer in body and in spirit.”

For the Spirits, is evocation an agreeable or a painful thing? Do they come willingly when called?

“That depends on their character and on the motive for which they are called.

When the aim is praiseworthy and when the medium is sympathetic to them, evocation constitutes for them an agreeable and even attractive thing; the Spirits always feel happy with the affection shown them.

There are some for whom it represents great happiness to communicate with men, and who suffer with the abandonment in which they are left.

But, as I have said, this likewise depends on their characters. Among the Spirits, there are also misanthropes, who do not like to be disturbed and whose answers betray the bad humor in which they live, especially when called by persons who are indifferent to them, in whom they take no interest.

A Spirit often has no motive to heed the call of an unknown person, who is indifferent to him and who almost always has curiosity to inspire him. If he comes, his appearances are generally short, unless the evocation aims at a serious and instructive end.”

NOTE. There are persons who evoke their relatives only to ask them the most vulgar things of material life, for example: one, to know whether he will rent or sell his house; another, to know what profit he will draw from his merchandise, the place where there is hidden money, whether a certain business will be advantageous or not.

Our relatives beyond the tomb take interest in us only by virtue of the affection we consecrate to them. If our thoughts, in relation to them, are limited to supposing them sorcerers, if we think of them only to ask them for information, it is clear that they cannot have great sympathy for us, and no one should be surprised at the little benevolence they show us.

Is there any difference between the good and the bad Spirits, as regards the solicitude with which they heed our call?

“There is a very great one: 2 the bad Spirits do not come willingly, except when they count on dominating and deceiving; 3 they experience keen annoyance when forced to come, to confess their faults, and they seek nothing other than to go away, like a schoolboy who is called to be reprimanded.

They can be constrained to this by superior Spirits, as a chastisement and for the instruction of the incarnate.

Evocation is painful for the good Spirits when they are called uselessly; for futilities. Then, either they do not come, or they withdraw at once.

“You may say that, in principle, the Spirits, whatever they may be, do not like, exactly as you do not, to serve as a distraction for the curious.

Frequently, you have no other end, in evoking a Spirit, than to see what he will tell you or to interrogate him about particulars of his life, which he does not wish to make known to you, because he has no motive to make confidences to you.

Do you think that he will place himself in the hot seat, solely to give you pleasure? Undeceive yourselves; what he would not do in life he will no more do as a Spirit.”

NOTE. Experience, in effect, proves that evocation is always agreeable to the Spirits when made with a serious and useful end.

The good come pleasurably to instruct us; 11 those who suffer find relief in the sympathy shown them; 12 those whom we know are satisfied to know themselves remembered.

The frivolous like to be evoked by frivolous persons, because this affords them occasion to amuse themselves at their expense; they feel little at ease with serious persons.

To manifest themselves, do the Spirits always have need of being evoked?

“No; very frequently they present themselves without being called, which proves that they come willingly.”

When a Spirit presents himself of his own accord, can one be certain of his identity?

“By no means, for the deceiving Spirits often employ this means, to mystify the better.”

When one evokes by thought the Spirit of a person, does that Spirit come, even though there be no manifestation by writing, or in another way?

“Writing is a material means, for the Spirit, of attesting his presence, but it is thought that attracts him and not the fact of writing.”

When an inferior Spirit manifests himself, can one oblige him to withdraw?

“Yes, by giving him no attention.

But how do you wish that he withdraw, when you amuse yourselves with his vilenesses? The inferior Spirits attach themselves to those who listen to them with complacency, like fools among you.”

Is the evocation made in the name of God a guarantee against the meddling of the bad Spirits?

“The name of God does not constitute a curb for all the Spirits, but it restrains many of them; 2 by this means, you will always drive away some, and many more you will drive away, if it is made from the bottom of the heart and not as a banal formula.”

Can one evoke by name many Spirits at the same time?

“There is no difficulty in this 2 and, if you had three or four hands to write, three or four Spirits would answer you at the same time; this is what occurs when one disposes of many mediums.”

When many Spirits are evoked simultaneously, there being no more than one medium, which one answers?

“One of them answers for all and expresses the collective thought.”

Could the same Spirit communicate, simultaneously, during one session, through two different mediums?

“As easily as, among you, those who dictate several letters at the same time.”

NOTE. We have seen a Spirit answer, making use of two mediums at the same time, the questions addressed to him, by one in French, by the other in English, the answers being identical as to sense; some were even the literal translation of others.

Two Spirits, evoked simultaneously by two mediums, can engage between themselves in a conversation. Without this mode of communication being necessary for them, since each reciprocally reads the thoughts of the other, they lend themselves to it, sometimes, for our instruction. If they are inferior Spirits, as they are still imbued with earthly passions and corporeal ideas, it can happen that they dispute and apostrophize one another with harsh words, that they mutually reproach each other's errors, and even that they throw the pencils, the baskets, the planchettes, etc., one against the other.

Can the Spirit, simultaneously evoked at many points, answer at the same time the questions addressed to him?

“He can, if he is an elevated Spirit.”

a — In that case, does the Spirit divide himself or does he have the gift of ubiquity?

“The Sun is one and, nevertheless, it radiates around itself, carrying its rays far, without dividing itself. In the same way, the Spirits.

The thought of the Spirit is like a spark that projects its brightness far and can be seen from all points of the horizon.

The purer the Spirit, the more his thought radiates and extends, like the light.

The inferior Spirits are very material; they cannot answer any but a single person at a time, nor come to one place, if they are called to another.

“A superior Spirit, called at the same time at different points, will answer both evocations, if both are serious and fervent. In the contrary case, he gives preference to the more serious.”

NOTE. This is what happens with a man who, without changing place, can transmit his thought by means of signs perceptible from different sides.

In a session of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, in which the question of ubiquity had been discussed, a Spirit spontaneously dictated the following communication:

“You were inquiring this evening what is the hierarchy of the Spirits, with regard to ubiquity. Compare yourselves to an aerostat that rises little by little into the air. While it crawls on the earth, only those who are within a small circle can perceive it; as it rises, the circle widens for it, and, upon reaching a certain height, it becomes visible to an infinity of persons. This is what happens with us; a bad Spirit, who is still bound to the Earth, remains in a restricted circle, among the persons who see him. Let him rise in grace, let him improve himself, and he will be able to converse with many persons. When he has become a superior Spirit, he can radiate like the light of the Sun, show himself to many persons and in many places at the same time.” Channing.

Can the pure Spirits be evoked, those who have finished the series of their incarnations?

“They can, but very rarely will they heed.

They communicate only with those of pure and sincere heart and not with the proud and egoistic.

For this very reason, one must distrust the inferior Spirits who boast of this quality, to give themselves importance in your eyes.”

How is it that the Spirits of the most illustrious men heed so easily and so familiarly the call of the most obscure men?

“Men judge the Spirits by themselves, which is an error.

After the death of the body, the earthly ranks cease to exist. Only goodness establishes distinction among them, and those who are good go everywhere where there is a good to be done.”

How much time must elapse, after death, before one can evoke a Spirit?

“You may do it at the very instant of death; 2 but, as at that moment the Spirit is still in a state of disturbance, he answers only very imperfectly.”

NOTE. The time that the disturbance lasts being variable, there can be no fixed term for making the evocation.

However, it is rare that, at the end of eight days, the Spirit does not already have knowledge of his state, so as to be able to answer. Sometimes this is possible for him two or three days after death.

In all cases one may try with prudence.

Is the evocation, at the moment of death, more painful for the Spirit than some time afterward?

“Sometimes.

It is as if you were torn from sleep, before you were completely awake.

There are some, however, who are in no way vexed by it, and to whom the evocation even helps to come out of the disturbance.”

How can the Spirit of a child, who died at a tender age, answer with knowledge of cause, if, when alive, it did not yet have consciousness of itself?

“The soul of the child is a Spirit still wrapped in the swaddling-bands of matter; but, detached from this, it enjoys its faculties as a Spirit, for the Spirits have no age, which proves that the child's Spirit has already lived.

However, until it finds itself completely loosed from matter, it may retain, in its language, traces of the character of the child.”

NOTE. The corporeal influence, which makes itself felt, for a longer or shorter time, upon the Spirit of the child, is likewise noted, sometimes, in the Spirit of those who died in a state of madness.

The Spirit, in itself, is not mad; it is known, however, that certain Spirits judge, for some time, that they still belong to this world. It is, then, not to be wondered at that, in the madman, the Spirit still feels the trammels that, during life, opposed the free manifestation of his thoughts, until he finds himself completely loosed from matter.

This effect varies, according to the causes of the madness, for there are madmen who, immediately after death, recover all their lucidity.

— Evocations of animals.

Can the Spirit of an animal be evoked?

“After the death of the animal, the intelligent principle that was in it remains in a latent state and is soon utilized, by certain Spirits charged with this, to animate new beings, in which it continues the work of its elaboration.

Thus, in the world of the Spirits, there are not, wandering, Spirits of animals, but solely human Spirits.” a — How is it, then, that, having evoked animals, some persons have obtained an answer?

“Evoke a rock and it will answer you.

There is always a multitude of Spirits ready to take the floor, under any pretext.”

NOTE. For the same reason that, in evoking a myth, or an allegorical personage, it will answer, that is, they will answer for it, and the Spirit who presents himself as being it will take on its character and its manners.

Someone had one day the idea of evoking Tartuffe, and Tartuffe came at once. More still: he spoke of Orgon, of Elmire, of Damis, and of Valère, of whom he gave news. As for himself, he imitated the hypocrite with such art that one would say it was Tartuffe himself, if he had existed. He said later that he was the Spirit of an actor who had played that role.

The frivolous Spirits always take advantage of the inexperience of the interrogators; they take care, however, not to address themselves to those whom they know to be sufficiently enlightened to discover their impostures and who would give no credit to their tales. The same happens among men.

A gentleman had in his garden a nest of goldfinches, in which he took much interest. One day, the nest disappeared. Having ascertained that no one of his household was guilty of the offense, as he was a medium, he had the idea of evoking the mother of the little birds. She came and said to him in very good French: “Accuse no one and be tranquil as to the fate of my little ones; it was the cat that, leaping, knocked down the nest; you will find it beneath the bushes, as well as the little birds, which have not been eaten.”

The verification made, he recognized as exact what had been told him. Should one conclude that it was the bird who answered? Certainly not; but only a Spirit who knew the story.

This proves how much one must distrust appearances and how precious is the above answer: evoke a rock and it will answer you. (See the earlier chapter on Mediumship in animals, no. 234.)

— Evocations of living persons.

Does the incarnation of the Spirit constitute an obstacle to his evocation?

“No, but it is necessary that the state of the body permit that, at the moment of the evocation, the Spirit loose himself.

The incarnate Spirit comes with all the more facility, the more elevated in rank is the world where he is, because the bodies are less material there.”

Can the Spirit of a living person be evoked?

“It can, since one can evoke an incarnate Spirit.

The Spirit of a living person can also, in his moments of liberty, present himself without being evoked; this depends on the sympathy he has for the persons with whom he communicates.” (See, in no. 116, the History of the man with the snuffbox.)

In what state is the body of the person whose Spirit is evoked?

“It sleeps, or dozes; it is when the Spirit is free.”

a — Could the body awaken while the Spirit is absent?

“No; 2 the Spirit is forced to re-enter its dwelling; if, at the moment, it is conversing with you, it leaves you and sometimes says for what reason.”

How, being absent from the body, is the Spirit advised of the necessity of its presence?

“The Spirit is never completely separated from the living body in which it dwells; 2 whatever may be the distance to which it transports itself, it remains bound to it by a fluidic bond that serves to call it, when it becomes necessary.

This bond only death breaks.”

NOTE. This fluidic bond has been many times perceived by seeing mediums. It is a kind of phosphorescent tail that is lost in Space and in the direction of the body.

Some Spirits have said that it is by this that they recognize those who are still bound to the corporeal world.

What would happen if, during sleep and in the absence of the Spirit, the body were mortally wounded?

“The Spirit would be advised and would return before death was consummated.”

a — Thus, can it not happen that the body die in the absence of the Spirit and that the latter, on returning, cannot enter?

“No; it would be contrary to the law that governs the union of the soul and the body.”

b — But, if the blow be struck suddenly and unexpectedly?

“The Spirit would be forewarned before the mortal blow is dealt.”

NOTE. Interrogated on this fact, the Spirit of a living person answered: “If the body could die in the absence of the Spirit, this would be a very convenient means of committing hypocritical suicides.”

Is the Spirit of a person evoked during sleep as free to communicate as that of a dead person?

“No; matter always influences it more or less.”

NOTE. A person, who was in that state and to whom this question was put, answered: I am always bound to the shackle that I drag along with me.

a — In that state, could the Spirit be prevented from coming, by finding itself elsewhere?

“Yes, it can happen that the Spirit is in a place where it pleases it to remain, and then it does not heed the evocation, especially when made by one who does not interest it.”

Is it absolutely impossible to evoke the Spirit of a waking person?

“Although difficult, it is not absolutely impossible, 2 for, if the evocation produces effect, it may happen that the person falls asleep; 3 but the Spirit cannot communicate, as a Spirit, except in the moments in which its presence is not necessary to the intelligent activity of the body.”

NOTE. Experience proves that evocation made during the waking state can provoke sleep, or, at least, a torpor approaching sleep, but such an effect can be produced only by an act of a very energetic will and if there exist bonds of sympathy between the two persons; otherwise, the evocation gives no result.

Even in the case where the evocation can provoke sleep, if the moment is inopportune, the person, not wishing to sleep, will offer resistance, and, if he succumbs, his Spirit will be disturbed and will answer with difficulty.

It follows from this that the most favorable moment for the evocation of a living person is that of natural sleep, because, being free, his Spirit can come to the one who calls him, in the same way that it could go elsewhere.

When the evocation is made with the consent of the person and this person seeks to sleep for that purpose, it can happen that this preoccupation retards sleep and disturbs the Spirit. For this reason, unforced sleep is always preferable.

Evoked, does a living person retain the remembrance of the evocation, after waking?

“No; 2 you yourselves are evoked more frequently than you think.

Only the Spirit knows it, being able sometimes to leave of the fact a vague impression, like that of a dream.”

a — Who can evoke us, we being, as we are, obscure beings?

“It may happen that in other existences you were persons known in this world, or in others.

Your relatives and friends in this world, or in others, can likewise do it.

Let us suppose that your Spirit animated the body of the father of another person. Well then, when that person evokes his father, it is your Spirit that will be evoked and who will answer.”

Evoked, the Spirit of a living person, does he answer as a Spirit, or with the ideas he has in the waking state?

“That depends on his elevation; but he always judges with more deliberation and has fewer prejudices, exactly like somnambulists; it is a state almost similar.”

If it were evoked in the state of magnetic sleep, would the Spirit of a somnambulist be more lucid than that of any other person?

“It would answer without doubt more easily, by being more loosed; everything proceeds from the degree of independence of the Spirit in relation to the body.”

a — Could the Spirit of a somnambulist answer a person who evoked it from a distance, at the same time that it answered verbally another person?

“The faculty of communicating simultaneously at two different points is had only by the Spirits completely loosed from matter.”

Could one modify the ideas of a person in the waking state, by acting upon his Spirit during sleep?

“Sometimes it will be possible.

The Spirit then not being bound to matter by bonds so close, it finds itself more accessible to moral impressions, and these impressions can influence its manner of seeing in the ordinary state.

Unfortunately, it frequently happens that, on its waking, the corporeal nature predominates and makes it forget the good resolutions it may have taken.”

Is the Spirit of a living person free to say what it wishes?

“It has its faculties as a Spirit and, consequently, its free will; 2 and, as it then disposes of more perspicacity, it shows itself more circumspect than in the waking state.”

Could one, by evoking a person, constrain him to say what he wished to keep silent?

“I have said that the Spirit has its free will; 2 it may happen, however, that, as a Spirit, the person attaches less importance to certain things than in the ordinary state, its conscience being then able to speak more freely.

Besides, if it does not wish to speak, it will always be able to flee importunities, its Spirit going away, for no one can retain a Spirit, as one retains its body.”

Could the Spirit of a living person be constrained, by another Spirit, to come and speak, as happens with the wandering Spirits?

“Among the Spirits, be they of the dead, or of the living, there is no supremacy except by effect of moral superiority 2 and you must well understand that a superior Spirit would never lend support to a cowardly indiscretion.”

NOTE. This abuse of confidence would be, effectively, a bad action, but one that could produce no result, for there is no means of wresting a secret from the Spirit who wishes to keep it, unless, dominated by a sentiment of justice, it confessed what in other circumstances it would keep silent.

A person wished to know, in this manner, from one of his relatives, whether the will that had been made by the latter was in his favor. The Spirit answered: “Yes, my dear nephew, and you will soon have the proof.” The thing was, in fact, real; but, a few days afterward, the relative destroyed his will and had the malice to make the person aware of this, without, however, having known that this person had evoked him. An instinctive sentiment doubtless led him to execute the resolution that his Spirit had taken, in accordance with the question that had been put to him.

There is cowardice in asking the Spirit of a dead person or of a living one what one would not dare to ask his person, a cowardice that does not even have, by way of compensation, the result that is intended.

Can a Spirit be evoked whose body is still in the maternal womb?

“No; 2 you well know that at that moment the Spirit is in complete disturbance.”

NOTE. Incarnation does not become definitive except at the moment when the child breathes; but, from the conception of the body, the Spirit designated to animate it is prey to a disturbance that increases as birth approaches and takes from it the consciousness of itself and, consequently, the faculty of answering. (See: The Spirits' Book: Return to corporeal life — Union of the soul and the body, no. 344.)

Could a mystifying Spirit take the place of a living person who is evoked?

“It is beyond doubt that it could, and this happens frequently, especially when the intention of the evoker is not pure.

In sum, the evocation of living persons has interest only as a psychological study. It is fitting that you abstain from it whenever it cannot have an instructive result.”

NOTE. If the evocation of wandering Spirits does not always give a result, according to the expression used by them, much more frequent is it that this happen with the evocation of those who are incarnate.

Then, especially, do the mystifying Spirits present themselves, in place of the evoked ones.

Does the evocation of a living person have inconveniences?

“It is not always without danger, this depending on the conditions in which the person finds himself, for, if he is ill, it could increase his sufferings.”

In what case will the evocation of a living person be most inconvenient?

“One should not evoke children of tender age, 2 nor gravely ill persons, 3 nor, again, infirm old people.

In a word, it can have inconveniences every time that the body is much weakened.”

NOTE. The abrupt suspension of the intellectual qualities, during the waking state, could also offer danger, if the person at that moment had need of all his presence of mind.

During the evocation of a living person, does his body, although absent, experience fatigue by effect of the work to which his Spirit gives itself? (A person, who was in that state and who maintained that his body was fatigued, answered thus to this question:) “My Spirit is like a captive balloon tethered to a post; my body is the post, which the oscillations of the balloon shake.”

Since the evocation of living persons can have inconveniences, when made without precaution, does danger cease to exist when one evokes a Spirit of whom one does not know whether it is incarnate and who might not find itself in favorable conditions? “No, 2 the circumstances are not the same. It will only come if it is in conditions to do so.

Besides, did I not already tell you to ask, before making an evocation, whether it is possible!”

When, in the most inopportune moments, we experience an irresistible desire to sleep, does this come from our being evoked somewhere?

“It can, without doubt, happen that it be so; 2 but, most often, there is in this only a physical effect, whether because the body has need of rest, or because the Spirit needs its liberty.”

NOTE. A lady of our acquaintance, a medium, had one day the idea of evoking the Spirit of her grandson, who was sleeping in the same room. The identity was proven by the language, by the habitual expressions of the child, and by the very exact narration of many things that had happened to him at school; but yet another circumstance came to confirm it. Suddenly, the hand of the medium stops in the middle of a sentence, without its being possible to obtain anything more. At that moment, the child, half awakened, made various movements in his bed. A few instants afterward, having again fallen asleep, the hand of the medium began to move once more, continuing the interrupted conversation.

The evocation of living persons, made under good conditions, proves, in the least contestable manner, the action of the Spirit distinct from that of the body and, consequently, the existence of an intelligent principle independent of matter. (See, in the Spiritist Review, of 1860, January and March of 1860, notable examples of evocation of living persons. [Dr.

Vignal] and [Mademoiselle Indermuhle.])

— Human telegraphy.

By reciprocally evoking each other, could two persons transmit from one to the other their thoughts and correspond?

“Certainly, and this human telegraphy will one day be a universal means of correspondence.”

a — Why is it not practiced already?

“It is practicable for certain persons, but not for everyone.

It is necessary that men purify themselves, in order that their Spirits loose themselves from matter, and this constitutes one more reason for evocation to be made in the name of God.

Until then, it will remain circumscribed to choice and dematerialized souls, which is rarely found in this world, given the state of the inhabitants of Earth.”