Magnetism and Spiritism Compared

“In life I occupied myself with the practice of magnetism, from the exclusively material point of view; at least so I believed. Today I know that the voluntary or involuntary elevation of the soul, which makes one desire the cure of the patient, is a true spiritual magnetization.

“The cure is due to exceedingly variable causes: A given illness, treated in a given manner, yields before the force of material action; another, which is identical, but less pronounced, undergoes no improvement whatever, although the curative means employed are perhaps even more powerful. To what, then, are these variations of influence due? – To a cause unknown to the majority of magnetizers, who attack only the material morbid principles; they are a consequence of the moral situation of the individual.

“Material illness is an effect; to destroy it, it is not enough to attack it, to take it in hand-to-hand combat and annihilate it. Since the cause always exists, it will reproduce new morbid effects once the curative action is removed.

“The fluid that transmits health in magnetism is an intermediary between matter and the spiritual part of the being, and that might be compared to the perispirit. It unites two bodies one to another; it is a point over which pass the elements that are to effect the cure in the diseased organs. Being an intermediary between the Spirit and matter, by virtue of its molecular constitution, this fluid can transmit a spiritual influence just as well as a purely animal influence.

“In the final analysis, what is Spiritism, or rather, what is mediumship, that faculty hitherto incomprehensible, and whose considerable extension has established upon incontestable bases the fundamental principles of the new revelation? It is purely and simply a variety of the magnetic action exercised by one or several disincarnate magnetizers, upon a human patient acting in the waking state or in the ecstatic state, consciously or unconsciously.

“On the other hand, what is magnetism? a variety of Spiritism, in which incarnate Spirits act upon other incarnate Spirits.

“Finally, there exists a third variety of magnetism or of Spiritism, according to whether one takes as the point of departure the action of the incarnate upon the incarnate, or that of relatively free Spirits upon Spirits imprisoned in a body; this third variety, which has as its principle the action of the incarnate upon the Spirits, reveals itself in the treatment and moralization of the obsessing Spirits.

“Thus, Spiritism is nothing but spiritual magnetism, and magnetism is nothing other than human Spiritism.

“In fact, how does the magnetizer proceed who wishes to bring under his influence a somnambulistic sensitive? He envelops him in his fluid; he possesses him to a certain extent and, note this well, without ever succeeding in annihilating his free will, without being able to make of him a thing of his own, a purely passive instrument. Very often the magnetized one resists the influence of the magnetizer and acts in one direction when the latter would wish the action to be diametrically opposite. Although in general the somnambulist is asleep and his own Spirit acts while his body remains more or less inert, it also happens, though more rarely, that the sensitive, simply fascinated, illuminated, remains awake, although with a greater tension of spirit and an unusual exaltation of his faculties. “And now, how does the Spirit proceed who wishes to communicate? He envelops the medium with his fluid; to a certain extent he possesses him, without ever making of him a thing of his own, a purely passive instrument. Perhaps you will object to me that in cases of obsession, of possession, the annihilation of free will appears to be complete. Much could be said on this question, because the annihilating action operates more upon the material vital forces than upon the Spirit, which may find itself paralyzed, dominated, and powerless to resist, but whose thought is never nullified, as it has been possible to verify on many occasions. I find in the very fact of obsession a confirmation, a proof in support of my theory, recalling that obsession is also exercised from incarnate to incarnate, and that magnetizers have been seen taking advantage of the dominion they exercised over their somnambulists, to lead them to commit reprehensible actions. As always, here the exception confirms the rule. “Although in general the mediumistic sensitive is awake, in certain cases that are becoming more and more frequent, spontaneous somnambulism installs itself in the medium and he speaks of himself, or by suggestion, absolutely as the magnetic somnambulist in the same circumstances.

“Finally, how do you proceed with respect to the obsessing or simply inferior Spirits, whom you wish to moralize? You act upon them by fluidic attraction; you magnetize them, most often unconsciously, to retain them in your circle of action; sometimes consciously, when you establish around them a fluidic layer, which they cannot penetrate without your permission, and you act upon them by moral force, which is nothing other than a quintessenced magnetic action.

“As you have been told many times, there are no gaps in the work of Nature, nor abrupt leaps, but imperceptible transitions, which cause one to pass little by little from one state to another, without the change being perceived except through the consciousness of a better situation.

“Magnetism is, therefore, an inferior degree of Spiritism, and one that imperceptibly blends with the latter through a series of varieties, differing little one from another, as the animal is a superior state of the plant, etc. In one case, as in the other, they are two rungs of the infinite ladder, which links all creations, from the lowliest atom up to God the creator! Above you is the dazzling light, which your weak eyes cannot yet endure; below are the profound shadows, which your most powerful optical instruments have not yet been able to illuminate. Yesterday you knew nothing; today you see the deep abyss in which your origin is lost. You have a presentiment of the infinitely perfect goal, toward which all your aspirations tend. And to whom do you owe all this knowledge? to the magnetizer! to Spiritism! to all the revelations that proceed from a law of universal relation between all beings and their Creator! to a science arisen yesterday in your conception, but whose existence is lost in the night of time, because it is one of the fundamental bases of Creation. “From all this I conclude that magnetism, developed by Spiritism, is the cornerstone of the moral and material health of future Humanity.”

E. Quinemant.

Observation. – The justness of the appreciations and the depths of the new point of view contained in this communication will escape no one. Although departed only a short time ago, Mr. Quinemant reveals himself, from the outset and without the slightest hesitation, as a Spirit of incontestable superiority. Barely detached from matter, which does not appear to have left any trace upon him, he unfolds his faculties with a remarkable force, which promises to his brothers of the Earth one more good counselor.

Those who claimed that Spiritism would drag along in the routine of commonplaces and banalities can see, by the questions it has been addressing for some time, whether it remains stationary; and they will see it still better as it is permitted to develop its consequences. Meanwhile, to tell the truth, it teaches nothing new. If one studies carefully its fundamental constitutive principles, one will see that they contain the germs of everything; but these germs cannot develop except gradually; if not all of them flower at the same time, it is that the extension of the circle of their attributions does not depend on the will of men, but on that of the Spirits, who regulate the degree of their teaching according to opportunity. It is in vain that men would wish to anticipate the time; they cannot constrain the will of the Spirits, who act according to superior inspirations and do not let themselves be carried away by the impatience of the incarnate; if necessary, they know how to render that impatience sterile. Let them act, then; let us fortify ourselves in what they teach, and let us be certain that they will know, in due time, how to make Spiritism give what it must give.