Theory of physical manifestations.

I.

(First article.)

— The moral influence of Spirits and the relations they may have with our soul, or with the Spirit incarnated within us, is easily conceived. It is understood that two beings of the same nature may communicate through thought, which is one of their attributes, without the aid of the organs of speech; but more difficult to understand are the material effects they can produce, such as noises, movements of solid bodies, and apparitions, especially tangible ones. We shall attempt to give the explanation, according to the Spirits themselves and in accordance with the observation of the facts. The idea we form of the nature of Spirits renders these phenomena, at first sight, incomprehensible. It is said that the Spirit is the complete absence of matter, and therefore cannot act materially; now, therein lies the error. Questioned as to whether they are immaterial, the Spirits answered thus: “Immaterial is not quite the right term, for the Spirit is something, without which it would be nothing. It is, if you will, matter, but matter so ethereal that for you it is as though it did not exist.” n Thus the Spirit is not, as some think, an abstraction; it is a being, but one whose intimate nature wholly escapes our coarse senses. Incarnated in the body, the Spirit constitutes the soul; when it leaves the body at death, it does not come out stripped of every envelope. They all tell us that they retain the form they had when alive and, indeed, when they appear to us, it is generally under that form by which we knew them on Earth.

Let us observe them attentively at the moment when they have just left life: they are in a state of disturbance; around them everything is confused; they see their body whole or mutilated, according to the manner of death; on the other hand, they see and feel themselves alive; something tells them that this is their body, and they do not understand why they are separated from it: the bond that united them, then, is not yet completely broken.

Once that first moment of disturbance is dissipated, the body becomes for them an old garment which they have cast off and which they do not lament, but they continue to see themselves in their primitive form. Now, this is not a system: it is the result of observations made with countless sensitives. Let one now refer to what we have related of certain manifestations produced by Mr. Home and other mediums of that kind: hands appear which have all the properties of living hands, which we touch, which grasp us, and which suddenly vanish. What must we conclude from this? That the soul does not leave everything in the coffin and that it takes something with it.

— Thus, there would be in us two kinds of matter: one coarse, which constitutes the external envelope; the other subtle and indestructible. Death is the destruction, or rather the disaggregation, of the first, of the one that the soul abandons; the other is released and follows the soul, which in this manner always continues to have an envelope; this is what we call the perispirit. This subtle matter, drawn, so to speak, from every part of the body to which it was bound during life, preserves the body’s form; this is why Spirits see themselves and why they appear to us such as they were when alive. But this subtle matter has neither the tenacity nor the rigidity of the compact matter of the body; it is, if we may so express ourselves, flexible and expansible; therefore the form it takes, although modeled upon that of the body, is not absolute: it bends to the will of the Spirit, who can give it this or that appearance at will, whereas the solid envelope offered it an insurmountable resistance. Freed from that hindrance which compressed it, the perispirit dilates or contracts, transforms itself, lends itself to all metamorphoses, according to the will that acts upon it.

— Observation proves — and we insist upon this word observation, because our whole theory is the consequence of facts that have been studied — that the subtle matter which constitutes the Spirit’s second envelope detaches itself from the body only little by little, and not instantaneously. Thus the bonds that unite the soul and the body are not suddenly broken by death. Now, the state of disturbance we observe lasts the whole time during which the detachment operates; the Spirit does not recover the entire liberty of its faculties, nor the clear consciousness of itself, until this detachment is complete. Experience further proves that the duration of this detachment varies according to the individual. In some it operates in three or four days, while in others it is completed only at the end of several months. Thus the destruction of the body and putrid decomposition do not suffice to operate the separation; this is why certain Spirits say: I feel the worms gnawing at me.

In some persons the separation begins before death; these are the ones who in life raised themselves, by thought and by the purity of their sentiments, far above material things; in them death finds only weak ties between the soul and the body, ties that break almost instantaneously. The more a man has lived materially, the more his thoughts have been absorbed in the pleasures and the cares of the personality, the more tenacious are these bonds; it seems that the subtle matter identifies itself with the compact matter and that between them there is molecular cohesion; this is why they separate only slowly and with difficulty. In the first instants following death, when union still exists between the body and the perispirit, the latter preserves much better the impression of the corporeal form, of which it reflects, so to speak, all the nuances and even all the accidents. This is why a man who had been executed said to us, a few days after his execution: if you could see me, you would see me with my head separated from my trunk. A man who had died murdered said to us: See the wound they made in my heart. He believed that we could see him. These considerations have led us to examine the interesting question of the sensation of Spirits and of their sufferings; we shall do so in another article, limiting ourselves here to the study of physical manifestations.

— Let us imagine, then, the Spirit clothed in its semimaterial envelope, or perispirit, having the form or appearance it possessed when incarnated. Some even use this expression to designate themselves; they say: my appearance is in such a place. Evidently, these are the manes of the Ancients. The matter of this envelope is subtle enough to escape our sight in its normal state, but it is nonetheless visible. We perceive it, first, with the eyes of the soul, in the visions produced during dreams; but it is not with this that we are going to occupy ourselves. This etherealized matter is susceptible of modifications, and the Spirit itself can make it undergo a kind of condensation that renders it perceptible to material eyes: this is what happens in vaporous apparitions. The subtlety of this matter allows it to pass through solid bodies, which is why such apparitions meet no obstacles and why they so often vanish through the walls. The condensation can reach the point of producing resistance and tangibility; this is the case of the hands that we can see and touch; but this condensation — the only word we can use to express our thought, though the expression is not perfectly exact — this condensation, we were saying, or rather this solidification of etherealized matter is only temporary or accidental, since it is not found in its normal state. This is why these tangible apparitions, at a given moment, escape us like a shadow. Thus, just as we see a body present itself to us in a solid, liquid, or gaseous state according to its degree of condensation, in the same way the matter of the perispirit may present itself in a solid state, a visible vaporous state, or an invisible vaporous state. We shall see, hereafter, how this modification operates. The apparent tangible hand offers a resistance; it exerts a pressure; it leaves impressions; it operates a traction upon the objects we hold; there is, then, in it a force. Now, these facts, which are not hypotheses, can lead us to the explanation of physical manifestations.

Let us note, in the first place, that this hand obeys an intelligence, since it acts spontaneously; that it gives unequivocal signs of will and obeys a thought: it belongs, then, to a complete being, who reveals himself to us only through this part of himself; and the proof of this is the impression produced by the invisible parts, the teeth leaving imprinted marks on the skin and provoking pain.

— Among the different manifestations, one of the most interesting, without doubt, is the spontaneous playing of musical instruments. Pianos and accordions seem to be, for this effect, the instruments of predilection. This phenomenon is explained very naturally by what precedes it. The hand that has the force to grasp an object can very well press upon the keys and make them resound; moreover, on several occasions we have seen the fingers of the hand in action and, when the hand is not seen, the keys are seen to move and the bellows to open and close. These keys can only be moved by an invisible hand, giving proof of its intelligence, playing perfectly rhythmical airs, and not as incoherent sounds. Since this hand can sink its nails into our flesh, pinch us, snatch away that which we hold in our hand; since we see it take up and transport an object, as we ourselves would do, it can very well strike blows, lift and overturn a table, ring a bell, draw curtains, and even give us an invisible slap.

No doubt it will be asked how this hand can have the same force, both in the invisible vaporous state and in the tangible state. And why not? Do we not see the air overturn buildings, gas hurl projectiles, electricity transmit signals, and the fluid of the magnet lift masses? Why should the etherealized matter of the perispirit be less powerful? Let us not seek to submit it to our laboratory experiments and to our algebraic formulas; above all, because we have taken gases as a term of comparison, let us not attribute to it identical properties, nor compute its forces as we calculate that of steam. Up to the present it escapes all our instruments; it is a new order of ideas that is beyond the reach of the exact sciences; this is why these sciences offer us no special aptitude for appreciating them. We have given this theory of the movement of solid bodies under the influence of Spirits only to show the question under all its facets and to prove that, without departing too far from preconceived ideas, we can account for the action of Spirits upon matter; but there is another, of high philosophical scope, given by the Spirits themselves, which casts upon this question an entirely new light. We shall understand it better after having read it; besides, it is useful to know all the systems, in order to be able to compare them. It remains, then, to explain now how this modification of the etherealized substance of the perispirit operates; by what process the Spirit operates and, consequently, what is the role of mediums of physical effects in the production of these phenomena; what takes place within them in such circumstances, the cause and the nature of their faculties, etc. This is what we shall do in the next article.

THEORY OF PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS.

II.

[Second article. — Review of June 1858.]

— We beg our readers to do us the favor of referring to the first article we published on this subject; this being its continuation, it would be little intelligible if that beginning were not kept in mind.

The explanations we gave concerning physical manifestations, as we said, are founded upon observation and the logical deduction of facts: we concluded in accordance with what we saw. Now, how do the modifications operate, in etherealized matter, that are going to render it perceptible and tangible? Let us first allow the Spirits to speak, whom we questioned on this subject, adding afterward our own comments. The following answers were given by the Spirit Saint Louis; they agree with what had previously been told to us by other Spirits.

How can a Spirit appear with the solidity of a living body?

Answer. — It combines a portion of the universal fluid with the fluid that the medium releases, suited to this effect. At its will, this fluid takes the form the Spirit desires; but in general the form is impalpable.

What is the nature of this fluid?

Answer. — Fluid; everything is said.

Is this fluid material?

Answer. — Semimaterial.

Is it this fluid that composes the perispirit?

Answer. — Yes, it is the link of the Spirit to matter.

Is it this fluid that gives life, the vital principle?

Answer. — Always it; I said link.

Is this fluid an emanation of the Divinity?

Answer. — No.

Is it a creation of the Divinity?

Answer. — Yes, everything is created, except God Himself.

Does the universal fluid have any relation to the electric fluid, of which we know the effects?

Answer. — Yes; it is its element.

Is the ethereal substance that exists between the planets the universal fluid in question?

Answer. — It envelops the worlds: without the vital principle, nothing would live. If a man were to rise beyond the fluidic envelope that surrounds the globes, he would perish, for the vital principle would withdraw from him, to join the mass. This fluid animates you; it is this that you breathe.

Is this fluid the same in all the globes?

Answer. — It is the same principle, more or less etherealized, according to the nature of the globes; yours is one of the most material.

Since it is this fluid that composes the perispirit, would it be in a kind of condensation that, up to a certain point, brings it nearer to matter?

Answer. — Up to a certain point, yes, since it does not have its properties; it is more or less condensed, according to the worlds.

Is it solidified Spirits that lift a table?

Answer. — This question will not yet lead to what you desire. When a table moves under your hands, the Spirit evoked by your Spirit goes to draw, from the universal cosmic fluid, that with which it shall animate this table with a factitious life. The Spirits that produce such effects are always inferior Spirits, not yet entirely detached from their fluid or perispirit. Being thus prepared at its will — at the will of the rapping Spirits — the Spirit attracts and moves it, under the influence of its own fluid, released by its will. When the mass it wishes to lift or move is too heavy for it, it calls to its aid Spirits who are in the same conditions as itself. I believe I have explained myself with enough clarity to make myself understood.

Are the Spirits it calls to its aid inferior?

Answer. — Almost always they are equals; frequently they come of their own accord.

We understand that superior Spirits do not occupy themselves with things that are beneath them; but we ask whether, by virtue of being dematerialized, they would have the power to do so, should they have the will?

Answer. — They have moral force, as the others have physical force; when they need the latter, they make use of those who possess it. Has it not been told you that they make use of inferior Spirits as you do with porters?

Whence comes Mr. Home’s special power?

Answer. — From his organization.

What is particular about it?

Answer. — This question is not clear.

We ask whether it is a matter of his physical or his moral organization.

Answer. — I said organization.

Among the persons present is there anyone who can have the same faculty as Mr. Home?

Answer. — They have it to a certain degree. Was it not one of you who made the table move?

When a person makes an object move, is it always through the concurrence of an alien Spirit, or can the action proceed from the medium alone?

Answer. — Sometimes the Spirit of the medium can act alone, but in most cases it is with the aid of the evoked Spirits; this is easy to recognize.

How is it that Spirits appear with the clothes they wore on Earth?

Answer. — Of these they often have only the appearance. Besides, how many phenomena without solution do you not have among yourselves? How can the wind, which is impalpable, uproot and break trees, which are composed of solid matter?

What do you mean when you affirm that these clothes have only their appearance?

Answer. — On touching them one feels nothing.

If we understood well what you told us, the vital principle resides in the universal fluid; the Spirit draws from this fluid the semimaterial envelope that constitutes its perispirit, and it is by means of this fluid that it acts upon inert matter. Is this so?

Answer. — Yes; that is, it animates matter with a kind of factitious life; matter is animated with animal life. The table that moves under your hands lives and suffers like the animal; it obeys of itself the intelligent being. It is not the Spirit that directs it, as a man does with a burden; when the table rises, it is not the Spirit that lifts it, it is the animated table that obeys the intelligent Spirit.

Since the universal fluid is the source of life, is it, at the same time, the source of intelligence?

Answer. — No; the fluid animates only matter.

— This theory of physical manifestations offers several points of contact with the one we gave, but it differs from it in certain respects. From the one and the other a capital point stands out: the universal fluid, in which resides the principle of life, is the principal agent of these manifestations, and this agent receives its impulse from the Spirit, whether incarnated or wandering.

This condensed fluid constitutes the perispirit or semimaterial envelope of the Spirit. When incarnated, the perispirit is united to the matter of the body; in the state of erraticity, it is free. Now, two questions present themselves here: that of the apparition of Spirits and that of the movement imparted to solid bodies.

In relation to the first, we shall say that, in the normal state, the etherealized matter of the perispirit escapes the perception of our organs; only the soul can see it, whether in dreams, whether in the somnambulistic state or even half-asleep; in a word, every time there is a total or partial suspension of the activity of the senses. When the Spirit is incarnated, the substance of the perispirit is more or less intimately bound to the matter of the body, more or less adherent, if we may so express ourselves. In some persons there is a kind of emanation of this fluid, in consequence of their organization, and it is this that constitutes properly the mediums of physical effects. Emanating from the body, this fluid combines, according to laws unknown to us, with the fluid that forms the semimaterial envelope of an alien Spirit. From this results a modification, a kind of molecular reaction that momentarily alters its properties, to the point of rendering it visible and, in certain cases, tangible. This effect may be produced with or without the concurrence of the medium’s will; it is this that distinguishes natural mediums from facultative mediums. The emission of the fluid may be more or less abundant: hence mediums more or less powerful; and since such emission is not permanent, the intermittence of that power is explained. Finally, if one takes into account the degree of affinity that may exist between the fluid of the medium and that of this or that Spirit, one will conceive that its action may be exercised upon some and not upon others. Evidently, what we have just said also applies to the mediumistic force, as concerns the movement of solid bodies; it remains to know how this movement operates. According to the answers we reported above, the question presents itself under an entirely new light; thus, when an object is set in motion, lifted, or thrown into the air, it is not the Spirit that grasps, pushes, and lifts it, as we would do with the hand; it, so to speak, saturates it with its fluid, combining it with that of the medium, and the object, thus momentarily vivified, acts as a living being would do, with the difference that, having no will of its own, it follows the impulse of the Spirit’s will, that will being able to be that of the Spirit of the medium as well as of an alien Spirit and, sometimes, of both, acting in common accord, according to whether they are sympathetic or not. The sympathy or antipathy that may exist between the mediums and the Spirits who occupy themselves with these material effects explains why not all are apt to provoke them. Since the vital fluid, emitted in some sort by the Spirit, gives a factitious and momentary life to inert bodies; since the perispirit is none other than the vital fluid itself, it follows that, when incarnated, it is the Spirit that gives life to the body, by means of its perispirit; it remains united to the body as long as the organization permits; when it withdraws, the body dies. Now, if instead of a table we carve a statue in wood, and if we act upon it as upon the table, we shall have a statue that will move, that will strike, that will respond by movements and raps; in a word, a statue momentarily animated with an artificial life. What clarity this theory casts upon a multitude of phenomena hitherto unexplained! How many allegories and mysterious effects it explains! It is a whole philosophy. [1] Translator’s note: See The Spirits’ Book — Book II — question 82.