Untitled Document

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CHAPTER XX.

MENTAL AND MORAL INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIUM.

Questions - Dissertation of a spirit on the mental and moral influence of Mediums on Spirit-manifestation.

226. -

1. Does the development of medianimity depend on the moral development of the medium?

"No; strictly speaking, the medianimic faculty depends on the organism, and is independent of the moral nature. This, however, is not the case as regards the use made of medianimity, which may be good or bad, according to the moral qualities of the medium."

2. It has always been asserted that the medianimic faculty is a gift of God, a grace, a favour; why, then, is it not the exclusive privilege of the good, and why is it bestowed on persons who are unworthy of it, and misuse it?

"All faculties are favours for which you should be grateful; but you might just as well ask why God grants good eyesight to malefactors, sharp wits to sharpers, eloquence to men who use it for evil purposes. It is the same in regard to medianimity; unworthy persons are often endowed with it, because they need it more than others, and in order that it may aid their improvement. Do you suppose that God refuses the means of amendment to the wicked? On the contrary, He multiplies those means about them at every step; He places them in their hands; it is for those to whom they have been given to profit by them. Was not Judas endowed, as an apostle, with apostolic gifts?

God permitted him to be thus endowed,

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that he might afterwards see more clearly the odiousness of his treason." *

* "The treason of Judas was not the result of a predestination, which would have been in contradiction with the justice and goodness of God. Judas was the reincarnation of a spirit who, though proud and presumptuous, was desirous to advance, and had demanded, in the state of erraticity, to be permitted to take part in the special work upon the earth for which its Protecting Christ was then preparing; a participation from which he hoped to reap a rich reward. In vain did his spirit-guides dissuade him from attempting a trial which they saw to be beyond his strength; in vain did they warn him that the influences of the fleshly life would obscure the remembrance of his aim and his good resolutions, and would, at the same time, rouse his instincts of envy and cupidity, and that he would thus be drawn into a failure all the more disastrous from the obstinacy to which it would due; he rejected their counsels, and persisted in his demand. Christ foresaw that the terrible experience which Judas was preparing for himself would complete his purification from the evil qualities which were keeping him back; and He therefore acceded to his request. The humble position of terrestrial life into which this proud, envious, and sensual spirit was born (as a condition of the trial he had so unwisely elected to undergo) weighed heavily upon him. Blinded as he was by the veil of materiality, he could not understand the respect and admiration with which the Celestial Envoy was regarded by all who approached Him, and his jealousy of the Master gradually assumed the form of hatred; tempted by his craving for luxury and sensual enjoyment, he robbed the common purse of which he was the custodian, and betrayed his Master for money.

"The interpretation of the Gospels hitherto received has represented Judas as having been predestined, from his birth, to do these evil deeds, and as having been given over beforehand to the Devil; his soul, according to that interpretation, had been created vile, abject, envious, luxurious, ungrateful, sanguinary, for the express purpose of fulfilling certain prophecies of the Old Testament. How much more consistent with the justice and goodness of God is the explanation we are now charged to give you of the treason of Judas, as having been, on the one hand, the result of the pride and presumption of a spirit still too backward for the trial he had persisted in attempting, and, on the other hand, of a permission which had only been granted him in order that, through a failure which was foreseen to be inevitable, he might be cured of those imperfections, once and for ever, by the misery he would thus have brought upon himself!"

"(The hand of the medium, having written the preceding statement,

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3. Will mediums who misuse their faculty suffer in consequence?

was suddenly controlled by a new influence, under which it again wrote, as follows: - )

"How great is that Being Who makes the very crime of the wrongdoer to become the starting point of his regenerative career of repentance and purification!

"How good is that Being Who is always ready to forgive the sincerely repentant, Whose beneficence sustains him under the sufferings he has brought upon himself by his wrong-doing, and Who leads him on to deliverance through the reformatory influences of expiation and effort! Glory to Thee in the Highest, O my God!

"JUDAS ISCARIOT."

"The hand of the medium, after writing this message, was again controlled by another influence, and continued thus: -

"The love of God is extended to all His creatures. Let all those who have gone astray return with confidence into the path which leads to Him. They will all be welcomed; those who have wandered most widely, even more warmly than the rest; for it is not the innocent who need forgiveness, it is not the strong who need help and support. Let all who regret their wrong-doing commence at once the work of self-amendment and pursue that end unwaveringly, as we have done; they will be aided and sustained, as we have been. For, like all of you, we have been guilty; but we have repented of our wrong-doing and have expiated, through painful and repeated efforts, the crimes we had committed. In the long series of human existences which have prepared and accomplished our purification, we have cured ourselves of the defects to which we had succumbed.

"Our Judge is just; but His justice is paternal, and His judgements are always proportioned to our powers of endurance. He makes us pay, to the uttermost farthing, all that we owe Him; but He is a patient and merciful creditor, and gives us all the time and all the help that we need for paying our debt.

"Judas has achieved his regeneration through the purifying action of repentance, remorse, expiation, reincarnation, and progress; and he is now one of the humble, active, devoted auxiliaries of Christ. His rehabilitation should show you that you must never shut out any one of your brethren from your help and kindness, nor regard him as being excluded from the ultimate attainment of the purity and happiness for which you are all being educated, by Providence, through the trials and discipline of human life."

"MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, assisted by THE APOSTLES”

"JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, SIMON OF CYRENE."

- The Four Gospels, J. B. ROUSTAING, Vol. II. pp. 683 et seq. - TR.

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"They will be punished doubly, because they possess, beyond others, the means of enlightenment. He who, having the use of his eyes, fails to follow the right road, is judged otherwise than the blind man who falls into a ditch."

4. Some mediums receive communications spontaneously, and almost constantly, on the same subject; on moral questions, for example, or certain faults. Is this allowed to occur for any special object?

"Yes; for their own enlightenment in regard to the subject so frequently treated of; and to cure them of the faults thus pointed out. It is to this end that spirits constantly speak, to one, of pride, to another, of charity; for there are natures that need this incessant repetition of warning and advice to open their eyes to a perception of their own defects. The medium who misuses his faculty through ambition or selfishness, or who disgraces it by some glaring fault, such as vanity, egotism, levity, etc., is sure to receive, from time to time, warnings from the spirits about him; but unfortunately, he often fails to take such warnings to himself."

Remark. - Spirits are often extremely cautious in their remonstrances, and make them indirectly, in order to leave the greater merit to him who profits by their homilies. But there are persons so blinded by pride and self-conceit as not to recognise their own portrait, even when placed before their very eyes; nay, more, if a spirit gives them to understand that the picture is meant for them, they get angry, which shows that spirits are right to act with caution in their endeavours to moralise those to whom they address themselves.

5. But are there not cases in which a homily is thus dictated to a medium in a general way, without its being intended for him; and in which he merely serves as an instrument for the instruction of others?

"Undoubtedly; the advice we give is often intended for others, whom we can only address through the intermediary of the medium, but he, too, might sometimes reap benefit from the lesson, if he were willing to do so, although you are right in assuming that the medianimic faculty is intended, not merely for the moral improvement of the medium him

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self, but for that of all mankind. We regard a medium as an instrument, and we prize him as such, but without regarding him as being individually of any more importance than other people; and accordingly, as we give our teachings for the general good, we make use, indifferently, of any medium who offers us the requisite organic conditions. But you may be very sure that the time will come when good mediums will be so common, that superior spirits will be able to choose their instruments, and will no longer make use of mediums of inferior mental and moral advancement, merely because of their medianimic organism."

6. Since the moral goodness of a medium keeps away imperfect spirits, how is it that false or unseemly statements are sometimes transmitted through a medium who is morally good?

"Can you look into all the recesses of a medium's soul? Though not vicious, he may still be frivolous, or may be but imperfectly cured of some defect; and he may need an occasional lesson to keep him on his guard."

7. How is it that superior spirits permit persons endowed with great medianimic power, and who might therefore do much good, to be the instruments of error?

"Spirits try to influence all mediums for good; but when mediums persist in following a wrong road, we leave them to themselves. We use mediums of slight moral advancement, but reluctantly, and from lack of better ones; for we know that truth cannot be duly transmitted by a liar."

8. Is it absolutely impossible to obtain good communications through a medium but little advanced in point of morality?

"Such a medium may sometimes obtain good communications, because, if possessed of good medianimic faculties, the higher spirits may use him, as we have just said, under particular circumstances, or for want of a better; but they will only make a momentary use of him, and will give him up as soon as they find another whose moral qualities suit them better."

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Remark. - It is to be observed, that, when superior spirits see a medium becoming, through his moral delinquencies, the prey of deceitful spirits, they almost always bring about incidents which show up his faultiness, and thus prevent serious and well-intentioned inquirers from being taken in by him. In such a case, however great may be the faculty of the medium, his exposure is not to be regretted.

9. What are the qualities that would constitute a perfect medium?

"Perfect? Alas! you well know that perfection is not to be found upon the earth; and that, moreover, if it were, you would not be in it! Say, rather, a good medium; and that is saying a good deal, for 'good mediums' are rare. The 'perfect' medium would be one whom evil spirits would not even dare to attempt to deceive; the best your earth can furnish at present is he, who, sympathising only with good spirits, is least often deceived."

10. If a medium sympathises only with good spirits, why do they allow him to be deceived?

"Good spirits sometimes permit deception to be practised even on the best mediums, in order to exercise their judgement, and to teach them to discern the true from the false and besides, however good a medium may be, he is never so perfect that he has not some weak point which lays him open to attack; and so he now and then gets a lesson. The false communications which he receives from time to time are warnings not to think himself infallible, and not to give way to pride; for the medium who obtains the most admirable communications has no more reason to be proud of them than an organ-grinder who should grind out the most splendid music by merely turning the handle of some unusually well-constructed barrel organ."

11. What are the best conditions for ensuring the correct transmission of the communications of superior spirits?

"Good intentions, and the renunciation of selfishness and pride; both these conditions are essential."

12. If the communications of superior spirits can only be correctly transmitted to us under conditions so difficult to secure, does not this difficulty constitute an obstacle to the propagation of truth?

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"No; for light always comes to those who are willing to receive it. The darkness you have to dissipate results from impurity of heart. Get rid of pride, cupidity, uncharitableness, and good spirits will help you to light, even without the aid of ostensible medianimity.

"Let all who, not having a medium at hand, are desirous to obtain enlightenment, use their own reason in learning more and more of the infinite power and wisdom of the Creator; they will thus give the best evidence of their sincerity, and that sincerity will ensure to them the occult assistance of spirits of high degree."

227. Although a medium, as such, is only an instrument, he nevertheless exercises a very considerable influence on the communications from the spirit-world. The communicating spirit is obliged, in order to communicate, to identify himself with the spirit of the medium; and as this identification can only take place in proportion to the sympathy, the "affinity," to borrow the expression of Erastes, existing between them, it follows that the soul of the medium attracts or repels disincarnate spirits, according to the degree of their similitude or dissimilitude. Thus good mediums attract good spirits, and bad mediums attract evil spirits; because the moral qualities of the medium necessarily determine the kind of spirits who communicate through his medianimity. If a medium is vicious, inferior spirits come around him in crowds, taking the place of the good spirits who may have been evoked. The qualities that attract good spirits are kindness, good-will, single-mindedness, love of the neighbour, and detachment from earthly things; the defects that repel them are pride, vanity, selfishness, envy, jealousy, hatred, greed, sensuality, and all the passions by which man attaches himself to matter.

228. All moral imperfections are so many open doors, giving access to evil spirits; but what brings us most often under their influence is pride, because it is the defect which of all others we are least apt to recognise in ourselves. Pride has been the ruin of numbers of mediums endowed with the highest faculties, and who, but for that defect, might

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have become equally remarkable and useful; instead of which, their pride having subjected them to the domination of deceptive spirits, their medianimic faculties have been first perverted, then annihilated, and, in more than one instance, such mediums have brought upon themselves the most humiliating retribution.

Pride shows itself in mediums by unequivocal signs, to which it is all the more necessary to draw attention, because it is the defect which, more than any other, is fatal to the veracity of their communications. Pride puffs them up with a blind confidence in the superiority of the communications obtained by them and in the infallibility of the spirit from whom they emanate; and leads them to disdain whatever does not come through their own medianimity, and to look upon themselves as having a monopoly of truth. Dazzled by the great names unscrupulously assumed by the spirits who communicate through them, their self-love prevents them from seeing that they are deceived, and causes them to repel all advice, and to keep away from every one who might open their eyes to the reality of their position. Even should they condescend to listen to advice, they pay no attention to it, and resent as a profanation the suggestion of a doubt as to the excellence of their familiar spirit. They are offended by contradiction or criticism, detest those who warn them of their delusion, and gradually withdraw into an isolation in which they become the sport of obsessing spirits, who make them accept the most glaring absurdities as something sublime. Thus - a blind confidence in the communications made through their agency, contempt for those that are made through other mediums, an overweening confidence in great names, repudiation of advice, angry rejection of all criticism, estrangement from those who would give them disinterested counsel, belief in their own infallibility, - such are the distinguishing signs of pride in mediums.

It must be admitted, however, that pride is often excited in a medium by the injudicious flattery of the persons about him. If possessed of faculties at all remarkable, he is

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sought out, cried up, and courted, until he comes to look upon himself as indispensable, and affects an air of self-sufficiency and superciliousness when condescending to lend himself to his work. We have more than once had cause to regret the praise we had given to certain mediums, for the purpose of encouraging them.

229. In contrast to the class of mediums just referred to, let us turn to the picture of the really good medium, one in whom we may safely confide. We will suppose him, in the first place, to be endowed with a faculty sufficiently developed to admit of the free communication of spirits, unimpeded by physical difficulties. This being premised, the next thing to be considered is the nature of the spirits with whom he is habitually in communication; and for the ascertainment of this point we must rely, not on the names they give themselves, but on the tenor of their communications. We must never forget that the sympathies which a medium conciliates among spirits are in direct proportion to what he does to attract the good ones and to keep off the evil ones.

Believing that his faculty is a gift bestowed on him for good, the true medium neither prides himself upon it, nor makes any merit of it. He accepts the manifestations made through him as a blessing of which he should strive to render himself worthy by modesty, kindness, and goodwill. The proud medium takes credit to himself for his medianimity the good medium is rendered more humble by his intercourse with superior spirits, because regarding himself as unworthy of such a favour.

230. The following remarks on this subject were made to us by a spirit whose communications we have already quoted several times in the present work: -

"As we have told you, mediums, as such, play but a secondary part in the work of spirit-communication; their action is that of the electric machine which transmits telegraphic despatches from one point of the earth’s surface to another point. Thus, when we wish to dictate a communication, we act on the medium, as the telegraph clerk acts on his machinery; that is to say, just as the action of

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MENTAL AND MORAL INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIUM.

the telegraphic needle impresses on a band of paper, thousands of leagues away, the signs which reproduce the despatch, so, by means of the medianimic apparatus, we transmit, athwart the immeasurable distances which separate the visible material world from the invisible immaterial world, the communications we are permitted to make to you. And just as atmospheric influences act upon, and sometimes disturb, the transmission of a telegraphic despatch, so the moral influence of the medium acts upon, and sometimes disturbs, the transmission of our despatches from the world beyond the grave, when we are obliged to transmit those despatches through a medium who is sympathetically or intellectually opposed to their tenor. This opposing influence is, however, often annulled by the energy of our will; so that messages of high philosophic import and elevated morality are sometimes conveyed through mediums but little fitted for their transmission; while, on the other hand, very unedifying communications are occasionally intruded through mediums who are grieved and ashamed to have been used for their transmission. But, notwithstanding these occasional exceptions, it may be affirmed, as a general proposition, that incarnate spirits attract disincarnate spirits of similar nature and advancement, and that spirits of high degree rarely communicate through mediums who are bad conductors, when they have at hand good medianimic machinery, that is to say, good mediums.

"Mediums who do not understand the responsibility of their mission attract frivolous spirits, whose communications are commonplace, shallow, incoherent, and heterodox from the spiritist point of view. Mediums who are used as penholders or mouth-pieces by pretentious, presumptuous, or deceptive spirits, sometimes say very good things but, for this very reason, spirit-messages must always be subjected to severe and scrupulous examination; for, in the midst of these good things, hypocritical and perfidious spirits often artfully introduce false statements, calculated to mislead their auditors. Every doubtful word and sentence must

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therefore be stricken out, and only what is in accordance with reason, or with the principles of spiritist doctrine already laid down and accepted, should be preserved.

Communications of the nature we are considering are only dangerous for isolated spiritists, or for groups of spiritists who have but recently taken up the subject and are but little enlightened; for, in societies whose members are more experienced, the jay gains nothing by putting on peacock-feathers, and is sure to find his borrowed plumage speedily stripped away.

"I do not speak of mediums who take pleasure in evil communications; let us leave them to the congenial society of cynical spirits. Fortunately, communications of this order are rarely made in serious circles, and, at all events, can excite only contempt and disgust among the members of serious and philosophic groups. But, where the influence of the medium is really of great importance, is in the involuntary substitution of his own ideas for those which the communicating spirits endeavour to suggest; and, still more so, in the building up of baseless and fantastic theories, in accordance with his own opinions or prejudices, whether as a product of his own mind, or derived from the suggestions of ignorant or mocking spirits.

"'When in doubt, abstain,' says one of your oldest and wisest proverbs; admit only what is supported by evidence. When any new idea is brought forward, however specious it may appear, subject it to the test of reason and common sense, and reject, unhesitatingly, whatever is in opposition with them. Remember that it is better to repudiate a dozen truths than to admit a single error; for, upon that one error, you might build up a whole false theory, only to see it crumble away like a pillar of sand, at the first breath of truth; whereas, though you should reject a true idea when first presented, and because it does not seem to you to be sufficiently proved, some indisputable fact, or some irrefutable argument, will ere long afford you the necessary proof of its correctness.

"Meantime, O spiritists! remember that nothing is

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impossible with God and with good spirits, excepting the triumph of error and iniquity.

"Spiritism and its admirable doctrine are now so widely diffused that spirits of high degree are no longer compelled to employ mediums of defective moral quality; and therefore, if any medium gives just ground for suspicion, by unseemly conduct or manners, by pride or uncharitableness, repudiate alike both him and his medianimity, however powerful the latter may be, for, in all such cases, there is a snake beneath the flowers. And with this piece of advice, I conclude my dissertation on the moral influence of mediums.

"ERASTES."