SPIRITUALISM.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 March 1920, Page 11

SPIRITUALISM.

ITS GROWTH AT HOME. Something like the old invocation, '•'Protect us from our friend?," seems to be the cry of one branch of the Christian Church against these who would overprove the doctrine of immortality bv actually talking with the departed*. The New York Times reports a warning uttered before the 'Catholic Library Association by the Rev- I>r. Joseph H. McMuhon against Catholics attending spiritualistic seances. He told his hearers that the Church placed an i "absolute prohibition upon any dabbling in spiritualism," and this was in view] of the approaching visit of ?.r Oliver Lodge, the English exponent ;>f the faith. "The conscience* o" '",, n olie« are ,10W enfohtoiied bv '.:' - -cvion frnr.i the Holy Sec!" lie said, '.'.:,''. :'.:iy Catholic attendin" a --ranee v ; ll be conscious that ho is s-V- -.--.'.nst rhe light." Sp'ritnalism vi '-» lard has attained such a hold r/-- ; !S neople tltat clergyman of tae

Protestant faith as well as religious newspapers have been outspoken in their denunciation. Dr. Frederick Lynch, writing in The Christian Work (New York) of his observations while sojourning there, says:

'•This remarkable revival of interest in communion with the (lend has naturally come, about through the wide-spread losses from the war. There is hardly a home in England from finch some boy lias not gone forever during ilicsc fust five years. We were recently addressing one of those great Brotherhood meetings in London—lsoo men present—and the chairman said: 'All ihe request hymns now are those which sing of heaven. There are probably not more than a dozen men in this'room who have not lost a son or brother.' These millions of departed ones —can they be reached? Can one have communion with them? Can they break through the wall or partition between their world and ours? These questions arose as the natural yearnings of a million hearts. Then, one by one, such men as Sir Oliver Lodge and Sir A. Conan Doyle published books saying: 'Wp have had communications from our boys. We have spoken with them, and with their comrades who perished on the field of battle.' 'Raymond' and 'The New Revelation' sold by the thousands. Thousands of parents said: 'lf they, why not we?' And the result has been what one might almost call an overwhelming rush upon the mediums to seek communion with the dead- Everybody possessing any mcdiumistic power whatever has found his services in constant demand* and long lists of seances are now advertised in the papers" Following is outlined the nature of the communications which are being received from these hoys: "The first thing, of course, in any seance, is the establishment of identity. Most remarkable corroborations of identity are given. Identity being established, the nest thing is to learn whether the dead are happy. The universal testimony is that they are, and that life is very beautiful where they are. We have been examining with some carefulness the testimony of such books as Sir Conan Doyle's and Mr. Leaf's, and their record of the testimony regarding the next world which they have received may be summed up as follows: Life is taken up in the new world at the point where it is broken off here. A person is no better or worse when he I enters upon the next world than he was here. If he would be good in the nest world he must do good there, and if he would increase in wisdom there, he must | strive for knowledge as he did here. Punishment in the next world is remedial, never vindictive."

Dr. Lynch is not an opponent of spirit communication, but feels it is a matter to he left in competent hands.' He saV3: "Our own feeling about the whole matter is that white it is perfectly natural to seek communion with those whom we have loved, and while there is no reason in the world why we should not talk with them if they arc near to us, he ins, as we are, immortal souls and living in eternity, not tint?, yet the means of communication and the machinery of contact, so to is as yet so_ imperfect it had better be left to the scientists for a time and made a matter of scientific, research rather than of religious faith. As a matter of fact, nothing that has yet come through from the' spirit world adds much to faith." "London is medium-mad," says a writer in 'The Daily Mail, who views the matter as a social phenomenon: "Never has occultism had' so many fervent disciples. Fashionable mediums are having: the times of their lives. Their 'consulting-rooms' are throng.' l -', with an eager crowd of inquirers, and they can afford to pick and choose, their 'clients.' "Most of them specialise. One Is an adept at the direct voice. Another concentrates on clairvoyance or clairaudienee. A third is a professor of paychometry. Others make a spseiality of direct writing on paper or on sealed slates.

'Only a chosen few hold out inducements of being able to produce materialisations of the spirit form. Very few go in for eve*y class of phenomena. The consequence is that the earnest seeker of truth is passed on from one medium to another according to requirement*. "Mediums have their own methods of securing information. Most of them have their touts and spies, who busy themselves not only by talking about the mediums and bringing in business, but also by finding out private facts in tho lives of the possible clients. "When a complete stranger comes to a medium the result is usually a number of commonplaces. The medium feels about to get a clue. 'Come hack again next week and I shall be able to tell you more. The conditions to-day are not quite favorable,' he. says. "The client leaves the house and is followed by the medium's <py. Next time, if it is worth while, 'rile conditions' are more favorable and the sitting much more satisfactory. The spy has been busy. "Some mediums are blackmailers. They use the knowledge they gain from and about their clients to extort money from them. Others are professional conjurers, not of the first rank, who find mediumship a more profitable business than legerdemain."