New Spiritist Society of Bordeaux.

— Since the month of June 1866, a new Spiritist Society, already numerous, has been formed in Bordeaux, upon bases that attest to the zeal and good will of its members, and a perfect understanding of the true principles of the doctrine. We extract from the annual report published by the President some passages that will make known its spirit.

After having spoken of the vicissitudes that Spiritism has experienced in this city, of the circumstances that led to the formation of the new society and of its organization, which “allows those of its members who feel their strength to develop, through talks, at the beginning of each session, the great principles of the doctrine, principles that many combat only because they do not know them,” he adds:

“It is these talks that until now have attracted to us numerous listeners who are strangers to the Society. I certainly do not have the pretension to believe that all our listeners come to our house to instruct themselves; many, no doubt, attend here in the expectation of catching us at fault; that is their task. Ours is to spread Spiritism among the masses, and Spiritism has proven to us that the best means, after the practice of the sublime morality that flows from it, and the communications of the good Spirits, is to do it through the word. “Since we constituted ourselves we have two sessions per week. This double work was imposed on us by the necessity of consecrating a particular session (that of Thursday) to the obsessing Spirits and to the treatment of the illnesses they cause, and of reserving another session (that of Saturday) to scientific studies. I will add, to justify our Thursday sessions, that we have the good fortune of possessing among us a healing medium of well-developed faculties, known for his charity, modesty and disinterestedness; he is as well known outside as within the bosom of our society, so that he does not lack the sick. “Moreover, there are in Bordeaux many cases of obsession, and one session per week, especially consecrated to the evocation and moralization of the obsessors, is far from sufficient, for the healing medium, accompanied by a writing medium, by an evoker and, at times, by some of our brothers, goes to the homes of the sick, in order better to identify himself with the obsessors and to reach the result more easily.

“To the healing medium has come to be joined one of our brothers, a magnetizer of great strength and of a devotion proof against everything who, also aided by the good Spirits, assists the first, in such a way that we can say that the Society possesses two healing mediums, although in different degrees.”

— There follows the account of several cures, among which we will cite the following:

Miss A…, twelve years old.

An orphan, cared for by very poor relatives, this girl was presented to us in a pitiful state. Her entire body was seized with convulsive movements; her face contracted incessantly and made horrible grimaces; her arms and legs were constantly agitated, to the point of wearing out the bedclothes within the space of eight days. Her hands, which could not hold any object, whirled ceaselessly around her wrists. Finally, as a consequence of the illness, her tongue had become of an extreme thickness, bringing about the most complete muteness. At first sight we understood that here too there was an obsession. As our guides confirmed this opinion, we acted as is fitting.

According to the opinion of a doctor who was incognito in the home of the sick girl while we were subjecting her to a fluidic treatment, the illness was to translate itself, within three days, into St. Vitus’s dance n and, given the state of weakness in which the sick girl found herself, it would mercilessly kill her within eight days at most.

I will not detail here the countless incidents to which this cure gave rise. I will not speak to you of the obstacles of every kind, heaped up in our path, by contrary influences and which we had to overcome. I will say only that, two months after our interview with the doctor, the girl was speaking like you and me, was using her hands, was going to school and was perfectly cured.

— Here, adds Mr. Peyranne, are the principal teachings that came out for us from the sessions consecrated to the obsessing Spirits:

“To act effectively upon an obsessor, it is necessary that those who moralize it and combat it by means of fluids be worth more than it. This is understood all the better since the power of the fluids is in direct relation with the moral advancement of the one who emits it. An impure Spirit called to a meeting of moralized men does not feel at ease there; it understands its inferiority and, if it attempts to confront the evoker, as sometimes happens, be persuaded that it will soon abandon the role, above all if the persons who compose the group where it communicates unite with the evoker through will and faith. “I believe that we still do not well understand all that we can do upon impure Spirits, or rather, we still do not know how to make use of the treasures that God has placed in our hands.

“We know, further, that a fluidic discharge made upon an obsessed person by several Spiritists, by means of the magnetic chain, can break the fluidic bond that binds him to the obsessor and become for the latter a very efficacious moral remedy, proving to it its impotence.

“We know, likewise, that every incarnate being, animated by the desire to relieve his fellow being, acting with faith, can, by means of fluidic passes, if not cure, at least sensibly relieve a sick person.

“I conclude the Thursday sessions by pointing out that no obsessing Spirit continued rebellious. All those with whom we occupied ourselves ended by recognizing their errors, abandoned their victims and entered upon a better path.”

— Concerning the Saturday sessions, he says:

“These sessions are opened, as you well know, by a talk given by a member of the Society, on a Spiritist subject, and end with a succinct summary, made by the President.

“In the talk total liberty of language is left to the speaker, provided that he does not depart from the framework traced by our regulations. He views from his own point of view the various subjects he treats; he develops them as he sees fit and draws the consequences he judges suitable; but he could never compromise the responsibility of the Society.

“At the end of the session the President summarizes the works and, if he is not in agreement with the speaker’s opinion, he combats it, pointing out to the audience that, in the same way as the first, he compromises no responsibility other than his own, leaving to each one the use of free will and the care of judging and deciding, according to his conscience, on which side the truth lies or, at least, who comes closest to it. Because, for me, the truth is God; the more we approach Him — which we can do only by purifying ourselves and working for our progress — the closer we will be to the truth.”

— We call attention also to the following paragraph:

“Although we have excellent instruments for our studies, we understood that their number had become insufficient, above all in the presence of the ever-increasing extension of the Society. The scarcity of mediums has often come to bring obstacles to the regular march of our works, and we understood that it was necessary, as far as possible, to develop the faculties that lie latent in the organization of many of our brothers. It is for this that we have just decided that a special session of mediumistic trials would be held on Sundays, at two o’clock in the afternoon, in the room of our meetings. I deemed it my duty to invite to them not only our brothers in belief, but also the strangers who might wish to make themselves useful. These sessions have already given results that have surpassed our expectation. There we do writing, typtology, magnetism. Several very diverse faculties were discovered there and from there came two somnambulists who, it seems, must be very lucid.”

— We can only applaud the program of the Society of Bordeaux and congratulate it on its devotion and on the intelligent direction of its works. One of our colleagues, passing through that city, lately attended some of its sessions, bringing from them the most favorable impression. Persevering in this path, it can only obtain results that are more and more satisfactory, and elements for its activity will never be lacking. The manner in which it proceeds for the treatment of obsessions is, at the same time, remarkable and instructive, and the best proof that this manner is good is that it yields results. We will return later to this subject, in a special article. It would be superfluous to emphasize the usefulness of the verbal instructions, which it designates under the simple name of talks. Besides the advantage of exercising one in the handling of the word, they have another, no less great, of provoking a more complete and more serious study of the principles of the doctrine, of facilitating their comprehension, of bringing out their importance and, through discussion, of bringing light upon the controverted points. It is the first step toward regular lectures, which cannot fail to occur, sooner or later, and which, by popularizing the doctrine, will contribute powerfully to rectify public opinion, falsified by criticism that is ill-intentioned or ignorant of what it is. To refute objections, to discuss divergent systems, are essential points that it is important not to neglect, and which can furnish matter for useful instructions; not only is it a means of dissipating the errors that might come to be believed, but it is to strengthen oneself for the particular discussions that one may have to sustain. In these oral instructions, no doubt, many will be assisted by the Spirits, and from there cannot fail to come speaking mediums. Those who might be held back by the fear of speaking before an audience should remember that Jesus said to his apostles: “Do not be anxious about what you are to say; the words will be inspired in you at the very moment.” A provincial group, which can be classed among the most serious and best directed, introduced this usage into its meetings, which likewise are held twice a week. It is composed exclusively of officers of a regiment. But there it is not a faculty left to each member; it is an obligation, imposed on them by the regulations, for each one to speak in turn. At each session the speaker designated for the next meeting must prepare himself to develop and comment on a chapter or a point of the doctrine. From this there results for them a greater aptitude to make propaganda and defend the cause, if necessary. [1]

[St. Vitus’s dance (fr. danse de Saint-Guy). Synonym in disuse for Sydenham’s chorea.]