Mrs. Duret.

Writing medium, who died on May 1, 1860, in Sétif, Algeria, evoked first at the home of Mr. Allan Kardec, on May 21, then on the 25th, at the Society.

Evocation.

Answer. – Here I am.

We know one another by name, if not in person; and although you have never seen me, are you able to recognize me?

Answer. – Oh! very well.

Have you already come to visit me since you died?

Answer. – No; not yet, but I knew very well that you would call me.

As a medium, and perfectly initiated into Spiritism, I thought that, better than another, you could give us instructive explanations on different points of the Science. Answer. – I will answer as best I can.

This first evocation has as its sole object to renew, in a certain way, our acquaintance and to put us in contact. As for the questions, since they are of general interest, I prefer to put them at the Society. I ask, then, whether you would consent to come. Answer. – Yes, with pleasure. I will answer and will ask God to enlighten me.

There are five mediums here; do you have a preference for any of them to serve you as interpreter?

Answer. – That is indifferent to me, provided it be a good medium.

As a medium, were you ever deceived by the Spirits in your communications?

Answer. – Oh! many times. There are few mediums who are not so more or less.

Note. – The following day Mrs. Duret manifested herself spontaneously and confessed regret that a greater number of questions had not been put to her the day before.

If I did not do so, as I said, it was because I was reserving them for the Society. I wished only to assure myself whether I could count on you.

Answer. – What is done in your home is also given for the instruction of the Society and, often, it is useful to take advantage of the moments when the Spirit wishes to communicate, for the conditions are not always equally favorable to it.

What are the circumstances that may be favorable to it?

Answer. – There are many that you know. But you must know that this does not always depend on it. Sometimes it needs to be assisted by other Spirits, who may not be there at the moment.

Considering that you came spontaneously, I must suppose that you are in one of these propitious moments and I will take advantage of it, if you are willing. You said yesterday that you were often deceived as a medium. Do you now see the Spirits who deceived you? Answer. – Yes, I see them perfectly. They would indeed still like to involve me, but I see quite clearly now. I am no longer their plaything. So I repel them.

You also said that there are few mediums who have not been deceived more or less. On what does this depend?

Answer. – Much on the medium and on the one who questions.

Could you explain more clearly?

Answer. – I mean that it is always possible to preserve oneself from the bad Spirits, provided one wills it. The first condition for this is not to attract them by weakness or by defects. How much I would have to say to you about this! Ah! if mediums knew all the error they commit, by giving rein to malevolent Spirits!

Is it in the world of the Spirits that they commit errors?

Answer. – Yes; and also in the world of the living.

What error can they commit in the world of the living?

Answer. – Several. To begin with, they become prey to the bad Spirits, who abuse them and impel them to evil, exciting all the imperfections that are found in germ within them, principally pride and envy. Then, God often punishes them through the sufferings of life. Remark. – We have more than one example of mediums endowed with the happiest dispositions, whom misfortune pursued and brought down, after they had let themselves be dominated by the bad Spirits.

But, then, would it not be better not to be a medium, since this faculty can drag one into such grave inconveniences?

Answer. – Do you believe that the bad Spirits come to attack only the mediums? Mediumship, on the contrary, is a precious means of recognizing them and of guarding oneself against them. It is the remedy that, in His goodness, God places beside the evil. It is the warning of the good father, who loves his children and wishes to preserve them from danger. Unfortunately, those who enjoy this gift do not know how to or do not wish to take advantage of it. They are like the imprudent man, who wounds himself with the weapon that should serve to defend him.

Is it you yourself, Mrs. Duret, who give the answers?

Answer. – It is I myself who give them, and I assure you of this in the name of God. But I believe that, if I had been abandoned to myself, I would not be capable of answering. The thoughts come to me from higher up.

Do you see the Spirit who inspires them in you?

Answer. – No. There is here a multitude of Spirits, before whom I bow, and whose thoughts seem to radiate upon me.

Thus, a Spirit can receive inspiration from others, just as well as one who is incarnate, and serve them as intermediary?

Answer. – Do not doubt it; it often thinks it answers by itself, when it is no more than an echo.

Whether the thoughts are personally yours, or whether they are suggested, matters little to us, provided they are good, and we thank the good Spirits who suggest them to you. But, then, I will ask: why do those same Spirits not answer directly? Answer. – They would do so, if you questioned them. It is I whom you evoked. They wish to answer and so they make use of me for my own instruction.

Will the Spirit who obsessed a medium in life still obsess him after death?

Answer. – Death does not free man from the obsession of the bad Spirits; it is the image of the demons, tormenting the suffering souls. Yes, those Spirits pursue them after death and cause them terrible sufferings, because the tormented Spirit feels itself under a constriction from which it cannot disentangle itself. The one, on the contrary, who freed himself from obsession in life, is strong, and the bad Spirits regard him with fear and respect; they have found their master.

Are there many truly good mediums, in the complete acceptation of the word?

Answer. – It is not physicians who are lacking, but good physicians are rare. The same is true with mediums.

By what sign can we recognize that the communications of a medium merit confidence?

Answer. – The communications of the good Spirits have a character about which we cannot deceive ourselves, when we take the trouble to study them. As for the medium, the best would be the one who had never been deceived, for that would be proof that he attracts only good Spirits.

But are there not mediums endowed with excellent moral qualities who are deceived?

Answer. – Yes, the bad Spirits can make attempts, and they triumph only through the weakness or the excessive confidence of the medium who lets himself be deceived. But that does not last and the good Spirits easily prevail, when there is will.

Is the mediumistic faculty independent of the moral qualities of the medium?

Answer. – Yes. It is often given in high degree to vicious persons, in order to help them correct themselves. Do not the sick need remedy more than healthy persons? The bad Spirits sometimes give them good counsel without knowing it; they are impelled to this by the good ones. But these persons do not take advantage of it, because, out of pride, they do not take it to themselves. Remark. – This is perfectly exact. We have often seen inferior Spirits give rude lessons in little measured terms;

point out defects, expose to ridicule the imperfections of others, with more or less skill, according to circumstances, and at times in a manner very witty.

Can good Spirits communicate through bad mediums?

Answer. – Sometimes imperfect mediums can receive fine communications, which could proceed only from the good Spirits. But, the wiser and more sublime they are, so much the more culpable will the mediums be for not taking advantage of them. Oh! yes; they are very culpable and will suffer cruelly for their blindness.

Can the good intentions and the personal qualities of the one who questions conjure away the bad Spirits, attracted by an imperfect medium, and assure him good communications? Answer. – The good Spirits appreciate the intention and, when they judge it useful, they can make use of any kind of medium, according to the object proposed. But, in general, the communications are the more reliable the more serious the qualities of the medium.

Since no man is perfect, it follows that there are no perfect mediums?

Answer. – There are those who are as perfect as terrestrial humanity allows. They are rare, but they exist; they are the preferred of God and great joys are being prepared for them in the world of the Spirits.

What are the defects that give the most access to the bad Spirits?

Answer. – I have already told you: pride and envy, the latter being a consequence of pride and of egoism. God loves the humble and chastises the haughty.

From this do you conclude that the medium who is not humble merits no confidence?

Answer. – Not in an absolute manner. But if in the medium you recognize pride, envy and little charity, you have much more chance of being deceived.

Remark. – What leads many mediums to ruin is the fact of judging themselves the only ones capable of receiving good communications and of disdaining those of others. They judge that they are prophets, when they are no more than interpreters of cunning Spirits who ensnare them in their nets, persuading them that everything they write is sublime and that they no longer need counsel. The belief of certain mediums in the infallibility and the superiority of their communications is such, that to touch them is almost a profanation; to doubt them is almost an injury;

more still: it is even to expose oneself to making enemies of them, for it would be worth more to tell a poet that his verses are bad. This sentiment, which has as its evident principle pride, is nourished by the Spirits who assist them and who take great care to inspire in them estrangement from whoever might enlighten them. This alone should be enough to open their eyes, were they not fascinated. There is a principle, which no one could contest: the good Spirits counsel only the good. Therefore, everything that is not the good, in the absolute sense, cannot proceed from a good Spirit. Consequently, every counsel dictated, or every sentiment inspired, that reflects the least bad thought, is, for that very reason, of suspect origin, whatever the qualities or the redundance of the style.

A sign no less characteristic of this origin is flattery, of which the bad Spirits are prodigal toward certain mediums. In this regard, they know how to exalt physical gifts or moral qualities, to caress secret inclinations, to excite covetousness and cupidity and, even while censuring pride and counseling humility, to fetter their vanity and self-love. One of the means they employ consists, above all, in convincing them of their superiority as mediums, presenting them as apostles of missions, at the least doubtful, and for which the first of all qualities would be humility, joined with simplicity and charity. Fascinated by the name of venerated beings, of whom they judge themselves the interpreters, they do not perceive the true intentions of the false Spirits, in spite of themselves, for it would be impossible for inferior Spirits to simulate completely all the qualities they do not possess. The mediums will not truly free themselves from the obsession of which they are the target except when they comprehend this truth. Only then will the bad Spirits, for their part, comprehend that they are wasting time with persons whom they could not catch at fault. (SOCIETY, MAY 25, 1860.)

It appears that your husband possesses the faculty of clairvoyance. Does he really have it?

Answer. – Yes, positively.

He says he saw you twice after your death. Is this true?

Answer. – It is quite true.

Are seeing mediums exposed to being deceived by impostor Spirits, like writing mediums?

Answer. – They are deceived less often than writing mediums, but they can equally be so, by false appearances, when they are not inspired by God. Under the Pharaohs, in the time of Moses, did not the false prophets work miracles that deceived the people? Only Moses was not deceived, because he was inspired by God.

Could you now explain to us your sensations, on entering the world of the Spirits? Besides the more or less long disturbance that always accompanies death, was there a moment when your Spirit lost all consciousness of itself? Answer. – Yes, as always; it is impossible to be otherwise.

Did this absolute loss of consciousness begin before the moment of death?

Answer. – It began in the agony.

Did it persist after death?

Answer. – For a very short time.

In all, how long may it have lasted?

Answer. – About fifteen to eighteen of your hours.

Is this duration variable, according to individuals?

Answer. – Certainly. It is not the same in all men; it depends much on the kind of death.

While the phenomenon of death was being accomplished, were you conscious of what was happening to the body?

Answer. – Absolutely not. God, who is good to all His creatures, wishes to spare the Spirit the anguish of that moment. This is why He takes from it all remembrance and all sensation. Remark. – This fact, which has always been confirmed to us, is analogous to what happens in the return of the Spirit to the corporeal world. It is known that, from the moment of conception, the Spirit designated to inhabit the body that is to be born is taken by a disturbance, which goes on increasing as the fluidic bonds, which unite it to matter, tighten, until the proximity of birth.

At this moment, it likewise loses all consciousness of itself and only begins to recover its ideas at the moment when the child breathes. Only then is the union between the Spirit and the body complete and definitive.

How was the moment of awakening effected? Did you recognize yourself suddenly or was there a moment of half-consciousness, that is, a void in the ideas?

Answer. – I remained in that state for a few moments; then, little by little, I recognized myself.

How long did that state last?

Answer. – I do not know exactly; but, a short time. I believe about two hours.

During that kind of half-sleep, did you experience an agreeable or a painful sensation?

Answer. – I do not know; I had almost no consciousness of myself.

As your ideas grew clear, were you certain of the death of the body, or did you for a moment judge yourself still to be in this world?

Answer. – I did indeed judge so, for a few moments.

When you were certain of death, did you feel regret?

Answer. – No, absolutely not. Life is not something to be lamented.

When you recognized yourself, where did you find yourself, and what first struck your sight?

Answer. – I found myself with Spirits who surrounded me and helped me to come out of the disturbance. It was this change that impressed me.

Did you find yourself beside your husband?

Answer. – I leave him little. He sees me, evokes me, and this replaces my poor body.

Did you go to see again immediately the persons you had known: Mr. Dumas and the other Spiritists of Sétif?

Answer. – A. No; not immediately. I thought they would evoke me; it was not long since I had left them, but I met some I had known and had not seen for centuries. I was a medium and a Spiritist. All the Spirits I had evoked came to receive me. This touched me. If you knew how agreeable it is to find friends again in this world!

Did the world of the Spirits seem to you a strange and new thing?

Answer. – Oh! yes.

This answer surprises us, because it is not the first time that you find yourself in the world of the Spirits.

Answer. – A. There is nothing in this that should surprise. I was not as advanced as I am today; and, besides, the difference between the corporeal world and the world of the Spirits is so great that it must always surprise.

Your explanation could be clearer. Would this not result from the progress accomplished by the Spirit, each time it returns to the spiritual world, giving rise to new perceptions that lead it to view that world under another aspect? Answer. – That is just it. I told you that I was not as advanced as I am today.

Remark. – The following comparison allows one to understand what happens in such a circumstance.

Let us suppose that a poor peasant comes to Paris for the first time; he will frequent a society, will reside in a quarter compatible with his situation. After an absence of several years, during which he had become rich and acquired a certain education, he returns to Paris and finds himself in a milieu completely different from that of the first time, and which will seem new to him. He will understand and appreciate a number of things that had only barely awakened his attention the first time. In a word, he will have difficulty recognizing his old Paris and, nevertheless, it will always be Paris, although it presents itself to him under a new aspect.

How do you judge now the communications that are received in Sétif? Are they, in general, better or worse?

Answer. – They are as everywhere: there are good and bad, true and false. Often they occupy themselves with things that are not serious enough nor considered with accuracy. But they do not think they are doing wrong. I will try to correct them.

We thank you for your presence and for the explanations that you have been good enough to give us.

Answer. – I also thank you for having thought of me.