Phenomena of transport.

— This phenomenon is, without contradiction, one of the most extraordinary among those presented by the spirit manifestations and, also, one of the rarest. It consists in the spontaneous transport of an object that does not exist in the place where we find ourselves. We had already known of it for a long time, by hearsay; but since it was lately given to us to witness it, we can now speak of it with knowledge of cause. Let us say, first of all, that it is one of those that most lend themselves to imitation; in consequence, it is necessary that we guard ourselves against trickery. It is known how far the art of prestidigitation can go, in the case of experiments of this kind; but, without dealing with people of the trade, one could easily be deceived by a skillful maneuver. The best of all guarantees lies in the character, in the notorious honorability, in the absolute disinterestedness of the person who obtains such effects; secondly, in the attentive examination of all the circumstances in which the facts are produced; finally, in the enlightened knowledge of Spiritism, the only thing that can lead to discovering what would be suspect. We said that the phenomenon is one of the rarest and, less than the others, perhaps does not occur at will and at the right moment. Sometimes, though rarely, it can be provoked; but most of the time it is spontaneous. Therefore, whoever boasts of obtaining it at will and at the appointed hour can, without fear, be branded as ignorant and suspected of fraud, especially if the least motive of material interest is mixed into it. A medium who drew any profit whatever from his faculty may really be a medium; but since that faculty is subject to intermittences, and the phenomena depend exclusively upon the will of the Spirits, who do not submit to our caprice, it results that the interested medium, in order not to be embarrassed or to produce more effect, according to the circumstances, calls cunning to his aid, because, for him, it is necessary that the Spirit act in some manner; otherwise the latter is replaced by the medium’s craftiness, which sometimes hides itself under the simplest disguises.

— These preliminary reflections having been made, whose aim was to put observers on their guard, let us return to our subject. But, before speaking of what concerns us, we deemed it our duty to relate the following letter, which was sent to us from Orléans, on the 14th of last February. “Sir, “It is a convinced Spiritist who writes you this letter. The facts it relates are rare; they ought to serve the good of all and have already brought conviction to several persons who surround us and who witnessed them. “The first fact took place on the 1st of January, 1861. One of my relatives, who possesses in supreme degree the mediumistic faculty and who was completely unaware of it before I had spoken to her of Spiritism, saw her mother a few times, but took the fact for a hallucination and sought to avoid it. On the 1st of last January, around three o’clock in the afternoon, she saw her again. The start that she and her husband experienced, though the latter saw nothing, prevented her from being aware of her movements. A few minutes later, entering that room again, her husband saw upon the table a ring, which the wife perfectly recognized as being her mother’s ring, which the daughter herself had placed on the finger of her mother at the death of the latter. A few days later, as that lady was suffering from a suffocation, to which she was subject, I advised her husband to magnetize her, which he did; at the end of three minutes, she fell into a deep sleep and her lucidity was perfect. Then she told her husband that her mother had brought her the ring to prove to her that she is with them and that she watches over them. Her husband asks her if she sees the daughter who died eight years ago, at two years of age, and if the latter can bring her a remembrance. The somnambulist answers that she is there, as well as her husband’s mother; that the next day she will bring her a rose and that he will find it upon the writing desk. The fact came to pass; the withered rose was accompanied by a paper, upon which these words were written: To my dear papa. Laura. Two days later, magnetic sleep; the husband asks if he could receive hair from his own mother. His wish is carried out at the same instant: the hair is upon the mantelpiece. Afterward, two letters were written spontaneously by the two mothers. “I come to facts that took place in my house. After a serious study of your works on Spiritism, faith came to me, without my having seen a single fact. The Mediums’ Book had incited me to attempt to write, but with no result. Persuaded that I would obtain nothing without the presence of the person of whom I spoke above, I asked her to come to Orléans, as well as her husband. Monday, the 11th of February, at 10 o’clock at night, magnetic sleep and ecstasy; she sees near her and us the Spirits who accompany her and had promised to accompany her. I ask whether I would be a writing medium; she answers: “Yes, within 15 days”; she adds that the next day she will write through her mother to convince one of my friends, begging me to bring him with me. The next day, the 12th, at 8 o’clock in the morning, sleep; we ask if we ought to give her a pencil: “No,” she said; my mother is near you and writes; her letter is upon the mantelpiece. I go there and find a folded paper, containing these words: “Believe and pray; I am with you. This is to convince you.” She also told me that that night I could attempt to write, with her hand placed upon mine. I did not dare hope for such a result; nevertheless, I wrote these words: “Believe; I am going to return; do not forget magnetism; do not delay too long.” My relative was to leave the next day. In the evening we wrote this: “The spirit science is not a joke; it is true; magnetism can lead to it. Pray and invoke those whom the heart tells you. Do not remain any longer for a long time. Catherine.” It was the name of her mother. “I was ordered several times to write you these facts; I was even reproached for not having done so before; moreover, she told me that you could have the proof of what I tell you, and that her own mother would come to confirm the facts for you, if you called her. Receive, etc.”

— This letter relates two notable phenomena: that of transports and that of direct writing. In this regard, we will make an essential observation: it is that, when the husband and the wife obtained the first results, they were alone, preoccupied with what might happen to them and had not the least interest in deceiving each other mutually. In the second place, the transport of the ring, which had been buried with the mother, is a positive fact that could not be the result of a trickery, for one does not jest with such things.

— Several facts of the same nature have been related to us by persons who enjoy our entire confidence, and which took place in circumstances likewise authentic; but here is one of which we were twice an eyewitness, as well as several members of the Society. Miss V B…, a young woman of 16 or 17 years, is an excellent writing medium and at the same time a very clairvoyant somnambulist. During sleep she sees principally the Spirit of one of her cousins, who on diverse occasions had already brought her different objects, among which rings, candies in great quantity, and flowers. It is always necessary that she be asleep about two hours before the production of the phenomenon. The first time we attended a manifestation of the kind, there was the transport of a ring that was placed in her hand. For us, who knew the young woman and her parents, very honest people, there was no motive for doubt. However, we confess that, for strangers, the manner in which this took place was hardly conclusive. The same did not occur at the other session. After two hours of prior sleep, during which the young somnambulist occupied herself with things very interesting, though foreign to our object, the Spirit appeared to her with a spray of flowers, visible only to her. It was only after a long time, stimulated by ardent desire and provoked by incessant requests, that the Spirit let fall at her feet a spray of orange blossom. The girl did not consider herself satisfied; the Spirit still had something that she wanted; new supplications during about half an hour, after which a bunch of violets, wrapped in moss, appeared on the floor. Some time later a candy, large as a fist, fell at her side; by the taste they recognized it to be pineapple preserve, which seemed to have been kneaded in the hands. All this lasted about an hour and, during that time, the somnambulist was constantly isolated from all those present; her own magnetizer kept himself at a great distance. We were placed in such a manner as not to lose sight of a single movement, and we sincerely declare that there was not the least suspect thing. At that session the Spirit, who is called Léon, promised to come to the Society to give the explanations that might be asked of him.

— We evoked him at the session of the Society, of the 1st of March, simultaneously with the Spirit of Mrs. Catherine, who had manifested herself at Orléans. Here is the conversation that followed:

Evocation of Mrs. Catherine.

Answer. – I am present and ready to answer.

You told your daughter and your relative at Orléans that you would come to confirm here the phenomena that they witnessed. We will be very pleased if we receive your explanations in this regard. To begin, I would ask with what object you insisted so much that they write me relating these facts? Answer. – What I said, I am ready to do, for it is you above all who must be instructed. I had told my children to communicate these proofs to you, with a view to the propagation of Spiritism.

A few days ago I was witness to analogous facts and I am going to ask the Spirit who produced them the kindness of coming. Having been able to observe all the phases of the phenomenon, I hope to address several questions to him. I ask that you unite with him to complete the answers, if necessary. Answer. – I will do what you ask of me; with the two of us there will be more clarity and precision.

Evocation of Léon.

Answer. – Here I am ready to fulfill the promise that I made to you, sir.

Observation. – Very frequently the Spirits exempt themselves from our formulas of politeness. This one offers the particularity of always making use of the word sir, every time we evoke him.

I ask you to tell us why these phenomena are produced only during the magnetic sleep of the medium?

Answer. – This is due to the nature of the medium. The facts that I produce, when mine is asleep, could equally be produced in the waking state.

Why do you make the transport of objects wait so long and why do you excite the covetousness of the medium, exasperating her desire to obtain the promised object?

Answer. – That time is necessary for me to prepare the fluids that serve for the transport. As for the excitation, it is only to amuse those present and the somnambulist.

I had thought that the excitation might produce a more abundant emission of fluids on the part of the medium and facilitate the necessary combination.

Answer. – You were mistaken, sir; the fluids that are necessary to us do not belong to the medium, but to the Spirit and, in certain cases, one can even dispense with them, and the transport occur immediately.

Is the production of the phenomenon due to the special nature of the medium? Could it occur through other mediums with more ease and promptness?

Answer. – The production is due to the nature of the medium and can only be realized with others of corresponding nature. As for the promptness, the habit that we acquire, corresponding many times with the same medium, is of great value to us.

Must the nature of the medium correspond to the nature of the fact or to that of the Spirit?

Answer. – It is needful that it correspond to the nature of the fact, and not to that of the Spirit.

Does the influence of the persons present have any significance?

Answer. – When there is incredulity and opposition, they can be quite harmful. We prefer to make our proofs with believers and persons versed in Spiritism, but by this we do not mean to say that ill will can paralyze us completely.

Here there are only believers and very sympathetic persons. Is there any impediment to the fact occurring?

Answer. – Yes: the one for which I am neither prepared nor disposed.

Would you be on another day?

Answer. – Yes.

Could you fix it?

Answer. – On a day when you ask nothing of me I will come unexpectedly to surprise you with a beautiful spray of flowers.

Perhaps there are persons who would prefer candies.

Answer. – If there are gastronomes, they too can be contented. I believe that the women, who do not disdain flowers, will like the candies still more.

Will Miss V. B. need to remain in the somnambulic state?

Answer. – I will make the transport with her awake.

Where did you take the flowers and the candies that you transported?

Answer. – The flowers I gather in the gardens, where they please me.

But, and the candies? Does the merchant not notice their absence?

Answer. – I take them where it pleases me. The merchant perceives nothing, because I put others in their place.

But the rings have a value. Where did you take them? Does this not harm those from whom you took them?

Answer. – I took them from places unknown to all, and in such a way that no one can suffer any harm.

Is it possible to bring flowers from another planet?

Answer. – No; for me it is not possible.

Could other Spirits do it?

Answer. – Yes; there are Spirits more elevated than I who can do it; as for me, I cannot take charge of this. Be content with what I bring you.

Could you bring flowers from another hemisphere, from the tropics, for example?

Answer. – Provided that they are of the Earth, I can.

How did you introduce those objects the other day, since the room was closed?

Answer. – I made them enter with me, so to speak wrapped in my substance. As for speaking to you more at length, this is not explainable.

(To Mrs. Catherine) – Considering that the ring that you brought to your daughter was buried with you, how did you obtain it?

Answer. – I withdrew it from the earth and brought it to my daughter.

(To Léon) – How did you make visible those objects which, an instant before, were invisible?

Answer. – I removed the matter that wrapped them.

Could you make those objects you transported disappear and transport them again?

Answer. – Just as I brought them, I can carry them off at will.

Yesterday… (the Spirit corrects, writing: Wednesday.) Exactly; Wednesday the medium saw you take a pair of scissors and cut orange blossoms from the bouquet that is in her room. Did you really have need of a cutting instrument for that? Answer. – Absolutely not; I had no scissors, but I made myself seen thus so that they would be quite certain that it was I who took them.

But the bouquet was under a glass globe?

Answer. – Oh! I could well remove the globe.

Did you remove the globe?

Answer. – No.

We do not understand how this can happen. Do you believe that one day we will come to have the explanation of this phenomenon?

Answer. – In a short time even; we do not merely believe it: we are certain.

Who has just answered? Léon or Mrs. Catherine?

Answer. – The two of us.

Does the production of the phenomenon of transports cause you any affliction, any embarrassment whatever?

Answer. – It causes us no difficulty, when we have permission, but they could cause some, and great ones, if we wished to produce effects without being, for this, authorized.

What difficulties do you encounter?

Answer. – None other than the bad fluidic dispositions that can be contrary to us.

How do you bring the object? Do you hold it with your hands?

Answer. – No; we wrap it within ourselves.

Would you bring with the same ease an object of considerable weight, of 50 kilograms, for example?

Answer. – The weight represents nothing for us; we bring flowers because this is perhaps more agreeable than a bulky weight. [We observe that in the Spiritist Review there is no account of transport at a distance with bulky or heavy objects, for which reason they must constitute an obstacle to the production of this type of phenomenon.]

Sometimes there is the disappearance of objects whose cause is unknown and which one could attribute to the Spirits?

Answer. – This happens frequently; much more than you think. Such an occurrence could be remedied if we asked the Spirit to restore the object that disappeared.

Are there effects that are considered as natural phenomena and that are due to the action of certain Spirits?

Answer. – Your days are filled with facts that you do not understand, because you have not thought of them, but that a little reflection would make you see clearly.

Among the objects transported, are there not some that can be fabricated by the Spirits, that is to say, produced spontaneously by the modifications that these impress upon the fluid or upon the universal element? Answer. – Not by me, for I have no permission for this; only an elevated Spirit can do it.

Could an object made in such a manner have stability and become an object of use? If a Spirit made me a snuffbox, for example, could I make use of it?

Answer. – It could have, if the Spirit wished it. But, also, it could be only for the sight and vanish at the end of a few hours.

Observation. – One can classify in the category of phenomena of transport those that took place in the Rue des Noyers and which we related in the Review of the month of August 1860, with the difference that, in this latter case, they are produced by a malevolent Spirit, who only desires to cause disturbance, whereas in the phenomena treated here they are benevolent Spirits who seek to be agreeable and to bear witness to sympathy. Note. – On the theory of the spontaneous formation of objects, see The Mediums’ Book, the chapter entitled Laboratory of the Invisible World.