Healing power of spiritual magnetism.

— In our article of the previous month about Dr. Demeure, we paid a just tribute to his eminent qualities as a man and as a Spirit. The following fact is a new proof of his benevolence, attesting, at the same time, the healing power of spiritual magnetization.

They write to us from Montauban:

Coming to increase the number of our invisible friends, who care for our moral and physical well-being, the Spirit of the good father Demeure wished to manifest himself from the very first days by a benefit. The news of his death was not yet known to our brothers in Montauban when he undertook, spontaneously and directly, the cure of one of them by means of spiritual magnetism, solely through fluidic action. You see that he wasted no time and, as a Spirit, continued, as you say, his work of relieving suffering Humanity. Nevertheless, there is here an important distinction to make. Certain Spirits continue to devote themselves to their earthly occupations, without being aware of their state, always believing themselves alive; this is characteristic of little-advanced Spirits, whereas Mr. Demeure recognized himself immediately and acts voluntarily as a Spirit with the awareness that, in this state, he has greater strength. We had concealed from Mrs. G…, a clairvoyant medium and very lucid somnambulist, the death of Mr. Demeure, in order to spare her extreme sensitivity, and the good doctor, certainly penetrating our thought, had avoided manifesting himself to her. On the 10th of February last, we were gathered at the invitation of our guides who, they said, wished to relieve Mrs. G… of a sprain from which she had been cruelly suffering since the day before. We knew no more than this, and we were far from expecting the surprise they had in store for us. As soon as she fell into somnambulism, the lady let out piercing cries, pointing to her foot. Here is what was happening:

Mrs. G… saw a Spirit bent over her leg, but his face remained hidden; he performed frictions and massages, exerting from time to time a longitudinal traction upon the affected part, absolutely as a physician would have done. The maneuver was so painful that the patient at times cried out and made disordered movements. But the crisis did not last long; at the end of ten minutes every trace of the sprain had disappeared, no more swelling, the foot had recovered its normal appearance. Mrs. G… was cured.

When one considers that to completely cure an affliction of this kind, the most gifted magnetizers and the most experienced ones, not to mention official medicine, which has not yet arrived at a solution, require a treatment whose duration is never less than thirty-six hours, devoting three sessions a day, each lasting one hour, this cure in ten minutes, by the spiritual fluid, may well be regarded as instantaneous, with all the more reason, as the Spirit himself says in a communication you will find below, since it was on his part a first experiment made with a view to a later application, in case of success.

Nevertheless, the Spirit still remained unknown to the medium, persisting in not showing his features; he even gave the impression of wanting to flee, when, in a single bound, our patient, who minutes before could not take a step, threw herself into the middle of the room to seize and press the hand of her spiritual physician. This time the Spirit turned toward her, leaving his hand in hers. At this moment Mrs. G… let out a cry and fell fainting onto the parquet floor: she had just recognized Mr. Demeure in the healing Spirit. During the swoon she received the diligent care of several sympathetic Spirits. At last, having regained somnambulistic lucidity, she conversed with the Spirits, exchanging warm handshakes with them, notably with the Spirit of the doctor, who responded to her tokens of affection by penetrating her with a restorative fluid. Is this not an impressive and dramatic scene? One would say that all the characters were playing their part in human life. Is this not one proof among a thousand that Spirits are perfectly real beings, having a body and acting as they did on Earth? We were happy to find our spiritualized friend, with his excellent heart and his delicate solicitude. During his life he had been the medium's physician; he knew her extreme sensitivity and had guided her as if she were his own daughter. This proof of identity, given to those whom the Spirit loved, is it not admirable and capable of making us regard the future life in its most consoling aspect?

— Here is the communication received from Mr. Demeure, on the day following this session:

“My good friends, I am at your side and I love you always, as in the past. What happiness to be able to communicate with those who are dear to me! How happy I was, last night, to make myself useful and to relieve our dear clairvoyant medium! It is an experiment that will serve me and that I will put into practice in the future, every time a favorable occasion presents itself. Today her son is very ill, but I hope we will soon cure him; all this will give her courage to persevere in the study of the development of her faculty. (Indeed, the son of Mrs. G… was cured of a diphtheritic angina, with homeopathic medication prescribed by the Spirit).

“In some time we will be able to give you occasion to witness phenomena that you do not yet know, and that will be of great usefulness to the Spiritist science. I shall be happy to be able to contribute to these manifestations, which would have given me so much pleasure to see when alive; but, thanks be to God, today I attend them in a very particular manner and one that evidently proves to me the truth of what takes place among you. Believe me, my good friends, I always feel a true pleasure in making myself useful to my fellow beings, helping them to propagate these beautiful truths, which must change the world, bringing it to better sentiments. Farewell, my friends; until soon.”

Antoine Demeure.

— Is it not curious to see a Spirit, already instructed on Earth, make as a Spirit studies and experiments to acquire more skill in the relief of his fellow beings? There is in this confession a praiseworthy modesty that denotes true merit, whereas pseudo-learned Spirits are generally presumptuous.

The last issue of the Review cites a communication from Mr. Demeure as having been given in Montauban on the 1st of February; it was on the 26th of January that he dictated it. In my opinion this date has a certain importance, because it was the day following his death. In the second paragraph he says: “I enjoy a rare lucidity among Spirits so recently freed from matter.” Indeed, this lucidity proves a rapid disengagement, compatible only with Spirits who are morally very advanced.

Observation. – The cure reported above is an example of the action of pure spiritual magnetism, without any mixture with human magnetism. At times the Spirits make use of special mediums, as conductors of their fluid. These are the healing mediums properly so called, whose faculty presents very diverse degrees of energy, according to their personal aptitude and the nature of the Spirits who assist them. We know in Paris a person afflicted for eight months with exostoses in the hip and knee, which cause her great suffering and oblige her to remain bedridden. One of her friends, a young man endowed with this precious faculty, lavished care upon her by the simple imposition of his hands upon her head, for a few minutes, and by prayer, which the patient accompanied with edifying fervor. At the moment the latter presented a very painful crisis, analogous to that which Mrs. G… felt, soon followed by a perfect calm. Then she felt the impression of several hands, which massaged and stretched the leg, which one saw lengthen by 10 to 12 centimeters. In her there is already a very perceptible improvement, for she is beginning to walk; but the long standing and the gravity of the ailment necessarily make the cure more difficult and more prolonged than that of a simple sprain. We will point out that healing mediumship has not yet presented itself, so far as we know, with characteristics of generality and universality, but, on the contrary, restricted in its application, that is, the medium has a more powerful action upon certain individuals than upon others, and does not cure all diseases. It is understandable that it should be so, when one knows the capital role played by fluidic affinities in all mediumistic phenomena. Some persons enjoy it only accidentally and for a determined case. It would be, then, an error to believe that, because one has obtained a cure, even a difficult one, all may be obtained, by virtue of the fact that the fluid proper to certain patients is refractory to the fluid of the medium; the cure is all the easier the more naturally the assimilation of the fluids operates. It is also surprising to see some persons, frail and delicate, exert a powerful action upon strong and robust individuals. It is that, then, these persons are good conductors of the spiritual fluid, whereas vigorous men may be very poor conductors. They have only their personal fluid, human fluid, which never has the purity and the restorative power of the purified fluid of the good Spirits. In accordance with this, one understands the major causes that are opposed to healing mediumship becoming a profession. For that to occur, one would have to be endowed with a universal faculty. Now, only incarnate Spirits of the most elevated order could possess it to that degree. To have that presumption, even exercising it with disinterestedness and out of pure philanthropy, would be a proof of pride that, by itself, would be a sign of moral inferiority. True superiority is modest; it does the good without ostentation and effaces itself, instead of seeking brilliance; the famous one goes in search of it and discovers it, whereas the presumptuous one runs after the fame that often escapes him. Jesus said to those whom he had cured: “Go, give thanks to God and speak of this to no one.” It is a great lesson for the healing mediums. We will recall here that healing mediumship lies exclusively in the more or less instantaneous fluidic action; that it should not be confused either with human magnetism, or with the faculty that certain mediums have of receiving from the Spirits the indication of remedies. These latter are merely prescribing mediums, [1] just as others are poet or draughtsman mediums. [See also: Cure of a fracture by spiritual magnetization.]

[1] Translator's note: In the original: médiums médicaux.