I cannot pretend to say what occurred on the 14th of April last at No.
17, Badderly Gardens. Put down in black and white, my surmise might
seem too crude, too grotesque, for serious consideration. And yet that
something did occur, and that it was of a nature which will leave its
mark upon every one of us for the rest of our lives, is as certain as
the unanimous testimony of five witnesses can make it. I will not
enter into any argument or speculation. I will only give a plain
statement, which will be submitted to John Moir, Harvey Deacon, and
Mrs. Delamere, and withheld from publication unless they are prepared
to corroborate every detail. I cannot obtain the sanction of Paul Le
Duc, for he appears to have left the country.
It was John Moir (the well-known senior partner of Moir, Moir, and
Sanderson) who had originally turned our attention to occult subjects.
He had, like many very hard and practical men of business, a mystic
side to his nature, which had led him to the examination, and
eventually to the acceptance, of those elusive phenomena which are
grouped together with much that is foolish, and much that is
fraudulent, under the common heading of spiritualism. His researches,
which had begun with an open mind, ended unhappily in dogma, and he
became as positive and fanatical as any other bigot. He represented in
our little group the body of men who have turned these singular
phenomena into a new religion.
Mrs. Delamere, our medium, was his sister, the wife of Delamere, the
rising sculptor. Our experience had shown us that to work on these
subjects without a medium was as futile as for an astronomer to make
observations without a telescope. On the other hand, the introduction
of a paid medium was hateful to all of us. Was it not obvious that he
or she would feel bound to return some result for money received, and
that the temptation to fraud would be an overpowering one? No
phenomena could be relied upon which were produced at a guinea an
hour. But, fortunately, Moir had discovered that his sister was
mediumistic-in other words, that she was a battery of that animal
magnetic force which is the only form of energy which is subtle enough
to be acted upon from the spiritual plane as well as from our own
material one. Of course, when I say this, I do not mean to beg the
question; but I am simply indicating the theories upon which we were
ourselves, rightly or wrongly, explaining what we saw. The lady came,
not altogether with the approval of her husband, and though she never
gave indications of any very great psychic force, we were able, at
least, to obtain those usual phenomena of message-tilting which are at
the same time so puerile and so inexplicable. Every Sunday evening met
in Harvey Deacon's studio at Badderly Gardens, the next house to the
corner of Merton Park Road.
1108344097
17, Badderly Gardens. Put down in black and white, my surmise might
seem too crude, too grotesque, for serious consideration. And yet that
something did occur, and that it was of a nature which will leave its
mark upon every one of us for the rest of our lives, is as certain as
the unanimous testimony of five witnesses can make it. I will not
enter into any argument or speculation. I will only give a plain
statement, which will be submitted to John Moir, Harvey Deacon, and
Mrs. Delamere, and withheld from publication unless they are prepared
to corroborate every detail. I cannot obtain the sanction of Paul Le
Duc, for he appears to have left the country.
It was John Moir (the well-known senior partner of Moir, Moir, and
Sanderson) who had originally turned our attention to occult subjects.
He had, like many very hard and practical men of business, a mystic
side to his nature, which had led him to the examination, and
eventually to the acceptance, of those elusive phenomena which are
grouped together with much that is foolish, and much that is
fraudulent, under the common heading of spiritualism. His researches,
which had begun with an open mind, ended unhappily in dogma, and he
became as positive and fanatical as any other bigot. He represented in
our little group the body of men who have turned these singular
phenomena into a new religion.
Mrs. Delamere, our medium, was his sister, the wife of Delamere, the
rising sculptor. Our experience had shown us that to work on these
subjects without a medium was as futile as for an astronomer to make
observations without a telescope. On the other hand, the introduction
of a paid medium was hateful to all of us. Was it not obvious that he
or she would feel bound to return some result for money received, and
that the temptation to fraud would be an overpowering one? No
phenomena could be relied upon which were produced at a guinea an
hour. But, fortunately, Moir had discovered that his sister was
mediumistic-in other words, that she was a battery of that animal
magnetic force which is the only form of energy which is subtle enough
to be acted upon from the spiritual plane as well as from our own
material one. Of course, when I say this, I do not mean to beg the
question; but I am simply indicating the theories upon which we were
ourselves, rightly or wrongly, explaining what we saw. The lady came,
not altogether with the approval of her husband, and though she never
gave indications of any very great psychic force, we were able, at
least, to obtain those usual phenomena of message-tilting which are at
the same time so puerile and so inexplicable. Every Sunday evening met
in Harvey Deacon's studio at Badderly Gardens, the next house to the
corner of Merton Park Road.
Playing with Fire
I cannot pretend to say what occurred on the 14th of April last at No.
17, Badderly Gardens. Put down in black and white, my surmise might
seem too crude, too grotesque, for serious consideration. And yet that
something did occur, and that it was of a nature which will leave its
mark upon every one of us for the rest of our lives, is as certain as
the unanimous testimony of five witnesses can make it. I will not
enter into any argument or speculation. I will only give a plain
statement, which will be submitted to John Moir, Harvey Deacon, and
Mrs. Delamere, and withheld from publication unless they are prepared
to corroborate every detail. I cannot obtain the sanction of Paul Le
Duc, for he appears to have left the country.
It was John Moir (the well-known senior partner of Moir, Moir, and
Sanderson) who had originally turned our attention to occult subjects.
He had, like many very hard and practical men of business, a mystic
side to his nature, which had led him to the examination, and
eventually to the acceptance, of those elusive phenomena which are
grouped together with much that is foolish, and much that is
fraudulent, under the common heading of spiritualism. His researches,
which had begun with an open mind, ended unhappily in dogma, and he
became as positive and fanatical as any other bigot. He represented in
our little group the body of men who have turned these singular
phenomena into a new religion.
Mrs. Delamere, our medium, was his sister, the wife of Delamere, the
rising sculptor. Our experience had shown us that to work on these
subjects without a medium was as futile as for an astronomer to make
observations without a telescope. On the other hand, the introduction
of a paid medium was hateful to all of us. Was it not obvious that he
or she would feel bound to return some result for money received, and
that the temptation to fraud would be an overpowering one? No
phenomena could be relied upon which were produced at a guinea an
hour. But, fortunately, Moir had discovered that his sister was
mediumistic-in other words, that she was a battery of that animal
magnetic force which is the only form of energy which is subtle enough
to be acted upon from the spiritual plane as well as from our own
material one. Of course, when I say this, I do not mean to beg the
question; but I am simply indicating the theories upon which we were
ourselves, rightly or wrongly, explaining what we saw. The lady came,
not altogether with the approval of her husband, and though she never
gave indications of any very great psychic force, we were able, at
least, to obtain those usual phenomena of message-tilting which are at
the same time so puerile and so inexplicable. Every Sunday evening met
in Harvey Deacon's studio at Badderly Gardens, the next house to the
corner of Merton Park Road.
17, Badderly Gardens. Put down in black and white, my surmise might
seem too crude, too grotesque, for serious consideration. And yet that
something did occur, and that it was of a nature which will leave its
mark upon every one of us for the rest of our lives, is as certain as
the unanimous testimony of five witnesses can make it. I will not
enter into any argument or speculation. I will only give a plain
statement, which will be submitted to John Moir, Harvey Deacon, and
Mrs. Delamere, and withheld from publication unless they are prepared
to corroborate every detail. I cannot obtain the sanction of Paul Le
Duc, for he appears to have left the country.
It was John Moir (the well-known senior partner of Moir, Moir, and
Sanderson) who had originally turned our attention to occult subjects.
He had, like many very hard and practical men of business, a mystic
side to his nature, which had led him to the examination, and
eventually to the acceptance, of those elusive phenomena which are
grouped together with much that is foolish, and much that is
fraudulent, under the common heading of spiritualism. His researches,
which had begun with an open mind, ended unhappily in dogma, and he
became as positive and fanatical as any other bigot. He represented in
our little group the body of men who have turned these singular
phenomena into a new religion.
Mrs. Delamere, our medium, was his sister, the wife of Delamere, the
rising sculptor. Our experience had shown us that to work on these
subjects without a medium was as futile as for an astronomer to make
observations without a telescope. On the other hand, the introduction
of a paid medium was hateful to all of us. Was it not obvious that he
or she would feel bound to return some result for money received, and
that the temptation to fraud would be an overpowering one? No
phenomena could be relied upon which were produced at a guinea an
hour. But, fortunately, Moir had discovered that his sister was
mediumistic-in other words, that she was a battery of that animal
magnetic force which is the only form of energy which is subtle enough
to be acted upon from the spiritual plane as well as from our own
material one. Of course, when I say this, I do not mean to beg the
question; but I am simply indicating the theories upon which we were
ourselves, rightly or wrongly, explaining what we saw. The lady came,
not altogether with the approval of her husband, and though she never
gave indications of any very great psychic force, we were able, at
least, to obtain those usual phenomena of message-tilting which are at
the same time so puerile and so inexplicable. Every Sunday evening met
in Harvey Deacon's studio at Badderly Gardens, the next house to the
corner of Merton Park Road.
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Playing with Fire
Playing with Fire
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940013693210 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | WDS Publishing |
| Publication date: | 01/20/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 18 KB |
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