Masterpieces by mediumistic means.

— Why do the Spirits of the great geniuses who shone on Earth not produce masterpieces by mediumistic means, as they did in life, since they have lost nothing in intelligence?

This question is, at the same time, one of those whose solution interests the spiritist science as a subject of study, and an objection raised by certain deniers against the reality of the manifestations. The latter say: “These out-of-the-ordinary works would be a proof of identity capable of convincing the most recalcitrant, whereas the mediumistic products signed by the most illustrious names scarcely rise above the commonplace. Up to now no capital work is cited that could even come close to those of the great writers and the great artists.” And some add: “When I see the Spirit of Homer give a new Iliad, that of Virgil a new Aeneid, that of Corneille a new Cid, that of Beethoven a new symphony in A; or when a scholar, like Laplace, solves one of those problems vainly sought after, such as the squaring of the circle, for example, then I shall be able to believe in the reality of the Spirits. But how would you have me believe in them, when I see seriously given, under the name of Racine, poems that a fourth-year pupil would correct; verses attributed to Béranger that are nothing but badly rhymed, insipid, and witless endings, or a cook’s language imputed to Voltaire and Chateaubriand?” There is a serious side to this objection: it is what the last part contains, but it denotes no less the ignorance of the first principles of Spiritism. If those who raise it did not judge before having studied it, they would spare themselves a useless labor.

— As is known, the identity of the Spirits is one of the great difficulties of practical Spiritism. It can only be ascertained in a positive manner for contemporary Spirits, whose character and habits are known. Then they reveal themselves by a multitude of particularities, in the facts and in the language, which cannot leave any doubt. These are the ones whose identity interests us most, by the ties that bind us to them. Often a sign, a word suffices to attest their presence, and these particularities are all the more significant the more similitude there is in the series of familiar conversations one has with the Spirits. Furthermore, it must be considered that the nearer to us the Spirits are by the time of their earthly death, the less are they stripped of the character, the habits, and the personal ideas that make us recognize them. It is no longer so with the Spirits who, in a certain way, are known only through History. For these there exists no material proof of identity; there may be presumption, but not absolute certainty of the personality. The farther removed from us the Spirits are by the time in which they lived, the less that certainty, considering that their ideas and their character may have been modified with time. In the second place, those who have attained a certain elevation form similar families by thought and by degree of advancement, whose members are all far from being known to us. If one of them manifests, he will do so under a name known to us, as a sign of his category. If Plato is evoked, for example, it is possible that he may answer the call; but, if he cannot, a Spirit of the same category will answer for him; it will be his thought, but not his individuality. This is what it is important for us to be thoroughly imbued with. Moreover, the superior Spirits come to instruct us; their absolute identity is a secondary question. Is what they say good or bad, rational or illogical, worthy or unworthy of their signature? That is the whole question. In the first case, it is accepted; in the second, it is rejected as apocryphal.

— Here arises the great reef of the intrusion of frivolous or ignorant Spirits, who adorn themselves with great names in order to have their follies and utopias accepted. In that case, the distinction requires tact, observation, and, almost always, special knowledge. To judge a thing one must have competence. How could one who is not versed in literature and poetry appreciate the qualities and the defects of communications of this kind? Ignorance, in this case, sometimes takes for sublime truths the emphasis, the flourishes of language, the sonorous words that cover the emptiness of ideas; it cannot identify itself with the particular genius of the writer, in order to judge what can or cannot be his. Thus, one often sees mediums, flattered at receiving verses signed by Racine, Voltaire, or Béranger, feel no difficulty in judging them authentic, however detestable they may be, it being a piece of good fortune when they do not grow vexed against those who allow themselves to call them into doubt. We therefore hold as perfectly just the criticism that is leveled at such things, because it abounds in our reason. The error is not in Spiritism, but in those who accept too easily what comes from the Spirits. If those who make of this a weapon against the doctrine had studied it, they would know what it admits and would not impute to it what it repels, nor the exaggerations of a blind and unreflecting credulity. The error is still greater when there are published, under known names, things unworthy of the origin attributed to them; it is to give grounds for well-founded criticism and to harm Spiritism. It must be known that rational Spiritism absolutely does not sponsor these productions, nor assume responsibility for the publications made with more enthusiasm than prudence.

Does the uncertainty regarding the identity of the Spirits, in certain cases, and the frequency of the intrusion of frivolous Spirits prove anything against the reality of the manifestations? In no way, for the fact of the manifestations is just as well proved by the inferior Spirits as by the superior ones. The abundance of the former proves the moral inferiority of our globe and the necessity of working for our improvement, in order to leave it as quickly as possible.

— There now remains the principal question: Why do the Spirits of the men of genius not produce masterpieces by mediumistic means?

First of all, one must see the usefulness of things. What would this serve? To convince the incredulous, it is said. But, when one sees them resisting the most palpable evidence, a masterpiece would not prove the existence of the Spirits to them any better, because they would attribute it, like all mediumistic productions, to cerebral overexcitation. A familiar Spirit, a father, a mother, a son, a friend, who come to reveal circumstances unknown to the medium, to say those words that go to the heart, proves much more than a masterpiece, which could come out of one’s own brain. A son, whom his father mourns, and who comes to attest his presence and his affection, does he not convince better than if Homer came to compose a new Iliad, or Racine a new Phaedra? Why, then, ask of them feats that would astonish more than convince, when they reveal themselves by thousands of intimate facts, within reach of everyone? The Spirits seek to convince the masses, and not this or that individual, because the opinion of the masses makes law, while individuals are units lost in the multitude. This is why they concern themselves little with the obstinate who wish to importune them. They know perfectly well that, sooner or later, these will have to bow before the force of opinion. The Spirits do not submit to anyone’s caprice; to convince, they employ the means they wish, according to the individuals and the circumstances. So much the worse for those who are not content with this; their turn will come later. That is why we also say to the adepts: Attach yourselves to men of good will, for you will not fail; but do not lose your time with the blind who do not wish to see, nor with the deaf who do not wish to hear. To act thus, is it to be wanting in charity? No, for to these it will be only a postponement. While you lose time with them, you neglect to give consolations to a number of needy people who would accept with joy the bread of life that you would offer them. Besides, consider that the refractory, who resist your words and the proofs you give them, will yield one day under the ascendancy of the opinion that will form around them. Their self-love will suffer less from this.

— The question of masterpieces is also linked to the same principle that governs the relations of the incarnate with the disincarnate. Its solution depends on the knowledge of this principle. Here are the answers given on the subject at the Spiritist Society of Paris.

(January 6, 1865. – Medium: Mr. d’Ambel.)

There are mediums who, by their previous acquisitions, by their particular studies in the existence they are now traversing, find themselves more apt, when not more useful than others. Here the moral question is not taken into account: it is simply a question of intellectual capacity. But it must not be ignored that the greater part of these mediums are not devoted, and that many receive from the Spirits communications of an elevated order, which profit only themselves. More than one masterpiece of literature and of the arts is the product of an unconscious mediumship; without this, whence would the inspiration come? Affirm courageously that the communications received by Delphine de Girardin, Auguste Vacquerie, and others were at the level of what one had the right to expect from the Spirits who communicated through them. On those occasions, unfortunately very rare in Spiritism, the souls of those who wished to communicate had at hand good, excellent instruments, or, rather, mediums whose cerebral capacity furnished all the elements of words and of thoughts necessary for the manifestation of the inspiring Spirits. Now, in the greater part of the circumstances in which the Spirits communicate — the great Spirits, of course — they are far from having at hand sufficient elements for the emission of their thoughts in the form, with the formula that they would have given it when alive. Is this a motive for not receiving their instructions? Certainly not! Because if sometimes the form leaves something to be desired, the substance is always worthy of the signatory of the communications. As for the rest, these are quarrels over words. Does the communication exist or not exist? That is the essential thing. If it exists, what matters the Spirit and the name it takes? If one does not believe in it, it matters still less to concern oneself with it. The Spirits endeavor to convince; when they do not succeed, it is an inconvenience of no importance; it is simply because the incarnate is not yet ready to be convinced. Nevertheless, I am quite at ease in affirming here that, out of a hundred individuals of good faith, who experiment by themselves or through mediums who are strangers to them, more than two thirds become sincere partisans of the Spiritist Doctrine, for, in those exceptional periods, the action of the Spirits is not confined merely to the act of the medium, but manifests itself by a thousand material or spiritual aspects upon the evoker himself. In short, nothing is absolute, and there will always come an hour more fruitful, more productive than the preceding hour. Here, in a few words, is my answer to the question put by your president.

Erastus. n

(January 20, 1865. – Medium: Miss M. C.)

You ask why the Spirits who on Earth shone by their genius do not give the mediums communications at the level of their earthly productions, when, by preference, they ought to give them superior ones, since the time elapsed since their death must have been added to their faculties. Here is the reason.

In order to make themselves heard, the Spirits must act upon instruments that are at the level of their fluidic resonance. What can a good musician do with a detestable instrument? Nothing. Ah! many mediums, if not the greater part, are for us very imperfect instruments. Understand that in everything similitude is necessary, both in the spiritual fluids and in the material fluids. In order for the advanced Spirits to be able to manifest themselves to you, they need mediums capable of vibrating in unison; likewise, for the physical manifestations, the incarnate must possess material fluids of the same nature as those of the wandering Spirits, still having action upon matter.

Thus, Galileo will really manifest himself only to an astronomer capable of understanding him and transmitting without error his astronomical data; Alfred de Musset and other poets will have need of a medium who loves and understands poetry; Beethoven, Mozart will seek musicians worthy of being able to transcribe their musical thoughts; the instructing Spirits who unveil to you the secrets of Nature, secrets little known, or still unknown, need mediums who already understand certain magnetic effects and who have studied mediumship well.

Understand this, my friends; reflect that you do not order a garment from the hatter, nor your wigs from the tailor. You must understand that we need good interpreters, and that some of us, for not finding these interpreters, refuse communication. But then the place is occupied. Do not forget that the frivolous Spirits are in great number, and that they take advantage of your faculties all the more easily as many among you, made vain by the notable signatures, are little troubled to inform themselves at the true source and to confront what they obtain with what they ought to have obtained. General rule: when you want a calculator, do not address yourself to a dancer.

A Protecting Spirit.

Observation. – This communication rests on a true principle, which resolves the question perfectly from the scientific point of view; nevertheless, it must not be taken in too absolute a sense. At first sight, this principle seems to contradict the so numerous facts of mediums who treat subjects outside their knowledge, and it would seem to imply, for the superior Spirits, the possibility of communicating only to mediums who were at their level. Now, this is to be understood only when it is a matter of special works and of an exceptional importance. It is conceivable that if Galileo wishes to treat a scientific question, if a great poet wishes to dictate a poetic work, they have need of an instrument that responds to their thought, which does not mean that, for other things, a simple question of morals, for example, a good piece of advice to give, they will not be able to do it through a medium who is neither a scientist nor a poet. When a medium treats with ease and superiority subjects that are foreign to him, it is an indication that his Spirit possesses an innate development and latent faculties, outside the education he received. [1]

[see Erastus.]