Materialized Apparitions: If Not Beings from Another Life, What Are They

Diagram of the Misses Berry's Séance-Room.

At these séances, when I have been present, Bertha has materialized outside of the cabinet, more than three feet from it, and at least six feet from the entrance, and on one occasion so close to me that she brushed me with her garments as she rose.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, 1885, I attended in company with my wife and little daughter – Mrs. A. E. Newton, of Arlington, also making one of the party. Although the atmosphere was unfavorable, the manifestations were good, there often being two forms out at once, talking with their friends. My seat was on the right, facing the cabinet, and very near to it. Before the séance commenced, by the request of Mr. Albro, the manager, I locked the door at the farther end of the room; and when this was done, he offered me the privilege of sitting beside it. I declined, preferring to take part in the séance.

I will state, however, for the benefit of those who have any doubt about this arrangement, that the seat I occupied commanded a full view of this door, and that I unlocked it after the séance, and can state positively that it was impossible for the door to have been opened without my knowing it. Again, the cabinet is so constructed that if a confederate had entered, he would have been obliged to go around to the front, in full view of the audience, before he could have passed into the cabinet. Those persons whose fertile brains are always leading them into absurd conclusions, will have to seek for some other explanation than that of a confederate here.

In the course of the séance, I had warning of Bertha's presence, and requested Mrs. Newton, who sat beside me, to watch the left-hand corner, near the cabinet. In a few minutes there appeared a soft light on the carpet, near the wall, and almost instantly Bertha came up in full view of all.

Springing forward and taking my little daughter by both hands, she came briskly across the room to where I sat. After our usual greeting, I introduced her to Mrs. Newton, who detained her for some time, my wife coming forward and joining in the conversation. I have described this beautiful spirit so fully in the preceding chapter that it is unnecessary to repeat it here.

Many persons will find it desirable to make themselves familiar with the different phases of materialization as expressed through different mediums; but nowhere else will they find more strength combined with delicacy and refinement, as shown both in the beauty of the forms and their affectionate bearing. Neither in the controls, the forms, nor the surroundings, is there anything here to offend the most fastidious taste. These séances appear to have advanced beyond the mere fact of materialization, offering to those whose magnetic relations are in accord with conditions, a more attractive expression of social and mental character than is frequently met with. As Mrs. Newton seemed quite interested in Bertha, I felt desirous to know what impression was made upon one so well prepared to form a just opinion on such matters. To my expressed wish she kindly responded with the following statement: —

    "Arlington, Mass., Nov. 11, 1885.

"My Dear Mr. Brackett, —

"In accordance with your request that I would give you my observations and impressions in regard to the materialized apparition claiming to be your spirit-niece, Bertha, I will state that I think her the most intelligent and sprightly re-embodiment of a spirit that I ever saw, – and I have seen a great many within the last ten years. At all events, I am confident no one who sees her can imagine her to be either a made-up figure, a lifeless effigy, or the medium in disguise.

"At Mrs. Fay's séance, where I first saw her, she showed, on meeting you, that spiritual illumination in the face which joy and gladness give to us when we meet those we love, after an absence. She had also those fine intonations of the voice that can spring only from the affections. Can it be, said I to myself, that this beautiful girl, so charming and graceful, so full of life and intelligence, is truly a spirit? Just as the thought had formed itself in my mind, she had turned toward the cabinet and vanished before the curtain. But hardly a minute had elapsed before she sprang out again from the cabinet, like a new-born seraph, and, opening her hands before all the company present, her arms being entirely bare to the shoulder, she extended them above her head, began to manipulate something apparently in the air, and soon handed me a most exquisite rose, with the moisture oozing from the stem where it had apparently been twisted off from the stock.

"When at Miss Helen Berry's séance, a few days later, I had the assurance made doubly sure that she was not a being of earth, by seeing, about three feet from the cabinet, a small, white, cloud-like substance expand until it was four or five feet high, when suddenly from it the full, round, sylph-like form of Bertha stepped forward. Seeing her little cousin and namesake (Bertha Brackett, nine years old), she took both the child's hands in hers, drew her from her chair, and, after greeting her affectionately, led her playfully across the room to where we were sitting. There I studied every lineament of her face. Her hair had all the warmth and glossiness of that of a healthy girl of eighteen. She said to me, 'Don't you think I am very strong to-day?' and, putting both hands in mine, allowed me to caress and converse with her freely. 'Do you remember you materialized a rose for me last week?' I asked. 'Yes,' she replied, 'and you have it now at home.' This was true.

"Mrs. Brackett called my attention to the length and beauty of Bertha's hair, and asked her if she could not make it longer if she wished to. 'Yes,' she laughingly replied; 'but it will grow shorter if I don't get to the cabinet soon!' and, with a graceful adieu, she tripped across the room, leading her little cousin into the cabinet with her, where she dematerialized in the child's presence.

"Since witnessing the foregoing, I have re-read your account of the séance with Miss Berry at Onset, and I feel quite safe in saying your description of Bertha is not overdrawn. She certainly exhibits an individuality intensely human, and yet not of ordinary flesh-and-blood, as shown by her sudden appearance and disappearance. She proves beyond a doubt that, given the same conditions and opportunities to other spirits that you have afforded her, they may come with the same fulness of life and strength.

"I cannot refrain from expressing the hope that some of the members of the Seybert Commission will come to Boston and study Bertha – see her materialize three feet from the cabinet, as we did – hear her converse intelligently – see the divinely moulded form – and then witness, as we did, her sudden change to another sphere of being, doubtless to engage in pleasant duties among that deathless throng who are ever learning, and who will unfold to us, if we will become receptive, the laws of entrancement and of materialization. It seems scarcely possible that these gentlemen would fail to be convinced that 'there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of' in materialistic 'philosophy.'

    "Very truly yours,
    S. J. Newton."

CHAPTER X.

MATERIALIZED FORMS – HOW SHALL WE MEET THEM?

Years ago I had a friend who was generous to a fault. He freely gave wherever he thought there was need. With all his liberality, he was singularly successful in business, and when he passed to the other life left a large fortune, which was mainly distributed to charitable institutions.

Walking with him one day, we passed some beggars sitting on the sidewalk, – pitiful specimens of humanity, with large placards in front of them, detailing the misfortunes that had befallen them. One, not over thirty years old, had lost a leg in the battle of Waterloo; another had lost his eyes by an eruption of Vesuvius which must have occurred twenty years before he was born. The cards must have been heirlooms, handed down at least one generation. These little discrepancies apparently made no impression on my friend, who emptied his pockets of his spare change, giving something to each of them. As we passed on, I said to him, "Do you know that these poor fellows were up before the police court a few days ago for being engaged in a drunken brawl?" I shall never forget the expression of his face as he turned to me and said, "It is my duty as well as my pleasure to give; the responsibility of using it is theirs, not mine."

Many years had come and gone, and the memory of my friend had almost faded from my mind. I was engaged in studying materialization. As my custom is to take one thing at a time, I did not trouble myself about the quality. I did not even propose to myself what I might do afterward; but did propose, if there was any truth in it, to so clearly demonstrate it that no doubts should come up as a disturbing element in any subsequent investigations I might make.

When I had finished my investigations on this point, I found that I stood on the shore of a boundless sea of speculation and uncertainty. I could not help asking myself the question, "What are these forms that, for a few minutes only, clothe themselves in objective reality, bearing the semblance of my friends, blended with the likeness of the medium? Are these my father, my mother, my wife, my brother? Is this the rollicking boy who made the hills echo with his laughter, now whispering in my ear so low that I can scarcely hear him?"

In the midst of this perplexity, this whirl of unanswered questions, the voice of my old friend came to me: "Don't stare these sensitive beings out of countenance, but give to them all that you can of your better nature, and you shall have your reward. If there is a possibility of mistake as to identity, if you are in any way deceived, the responsibility is theirs, not yours. In all true séances, if the forms are not what they are supposed to be, they are, at least, beings from another life, seeking strength and comfort from association with you, else they would not come. Let not a shadow of doubt or distrust bar their approach. Have no awe, no reserve, no fear as to what they are, and they will blend into your soul, become a part of your life. In the true relations which you hold to them will be the fulness of what they bring to you."

With a nature naturally skeptical, and a mind long trained to a close comparison of objects, it was not easy to accept this advice. What, then, was to be done? It was plain that I must move on, or abandon all that I had so successfully demonstrated.

I could not launch out into the endless speculation of "psychical research;" I had not time for that; so I decided to follow the course which had been suggested to me. I would lay aside all reserve, and greet these forms as dear departed friends, who had come from afar, and had struggled hard to reach me.

From that moment the forms, which had seemed to lack vitality, became animated with marvellous strength. They sprang forward to greet me; tender arms were clasped around me; forms that had been almost dumb during my investigations now talked freely; faces that had worn more the character of a mask than of real life now glowed with beauty. What claimed to be my niece, ever pleasant and earnest in aiding me to obtain the knowledge I was seeking, overwhelmed me with demonstrations of regard. Throwing her arms around me, and laying her head upon my shoulder, she looked up and said, "Now we can all come so near you!" Her wonderful spontaneity of character at once asserted itself, and has ever since been the delight of all who have come in contact with her.

My association with these forms is of the most simple character; it is that of children with each other: we realize the full force of the Master's words, "Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Science may wrangle over the supposed movements of molecules and atoms, and the correlation of forces; may dissect the bird to find its song; but love alone shall set the boundaries of knowledge. The key that unlocks the glories of another life is pure affection, simple and confiding as that which prompts the child to throw its arms around its mother's neck.

To those who pride themselves upon their intellectual attainments, this may seem to be a surrender of the exercise of what they call the higher faculties. So far from this being the case, I can truly say that until I adopted this course, sincerely and without reservation, I learned nothing about these things. Instead of clouding my reason and judgment, it opened my mind to a clearer and more intelligent perception of what was passing before me. That spirit of gentleness, of loving kindness, which, more than anything else, crowns with eternal beauty the teachings of the Christ, should find its full expression in our association with these beings.

Part II.

OPINIONS AND THEORIES.

The credulous have their weak points, but the belief of unbelievers surpasses all credulity.

There is no position a man can assume so weak as that of extreme skepticism in the face of fair evidence.

Heat, light, electricity, and force are common things. We accept them as matters of everyday life; our familiarity with them prevents surprise. In our attempts to discover or learn what they are we have utterly failed. All that we have found is how they act under certain conditions. They are the elements necessary to the existence of physical life, and by cultivating their acquaintance we have made friends with them. They walk beside us, lending a helping hand in everything; still they are our masters – we know them not. For the moment we comprehend a thing we are greater than the thing we comprehend: it is behind us, not in front.

Those who are seeking to know how these spirit-forms are created will seek in vain, for there is no language by which the process can be conveyed to our understanding. When it is said that they come out of invisible space, and depart in the same way, all is said that can be in explanation of their advent among us.

CHAPTER I.

A GLANCE BEHIND THE CURTAIN

The nature of man is, to a certain extent, dual. The brain is divided into two parts; there are two sets of nerves crossing each other, so that an injury received on the left side of the brain affects the right side of the body, and vice versa. While the duplicated organs are capable of separate action, anatomically suggesting two distinct beings, they are united so as to form a complete union of both. There is, however, a preponderance of brain or will-force in the left side of the head, giving a more complete control over the right side of the body, and, in some instances, a manifestation of character, which would indicate that each side of the brain might act in alternation, and somewhat independently of the other.

The force which the brain exerts over its own organism and that of others is not understood. Could it be explained, all the phenomena of the material and spiritual would, probably, lie within reach. A person with a strong will may possess a magnetic power enabling him to throw another, of a peculiar temperament, into a trance, in which that person is physically insensible to everything except what comes through the sensibility of the magnetizer.

The material bodies are brought en rapport with each other, or under the law of individual control, and the magnetizer can direct the physical movements of the other very much as he would his own, leaving the spirit of the entranced person free to act, for the time being, independently of its own body. If it has the strength or power to control other sensitives, it may manifest itself in remote places, either clairvoyantly or by materialization more or less tangible. It can, however, do this much more perfectly in close proximity to its own body. Such a materialization is a counterpart of the entranced person; is, in fact, the spirit of that person clothed in a body not strictly its own, but composed of material largely drawn from it. The existence of this phenomenon has been more or less known through all ages, and is probably the origin of that mythical story of the creation of woman, where the Lord is said to have caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam.

Among all nations, traditions of what is known as "the double" exist. Though often classed as a vulgar superstition, it nevertheless finds expression in the works of some of the best intellects. It plays an important part in the progress and development of all physical séances, since it is the first indication of true materialization. Furthermore, the substance composing this counterpart is, to a certain extent, the nucleus around which all spirits materializing are developed or clothed.

The form appears to issue from the left side, but in reality it comes from the whole circumference of the body, in a rapidly-moving luminous vapor, which quickly consolidates into a separate individualized form, complete in its organization, and capable, for the time, of physical and mental action. Such manifestations are what is understood to be the production of living forms by means of living matter given off from the body of the medium. The process is more or less affected by the surroundings, and is ever the result of more intelligent beings coöperating with the spirit of the entranced person.

The spirit occupying this temporary body can, when proper relations have been established with it, surrender it into the control of other spirits, the same as it surrendered its other body into the control of the magnetizer, and from its peculiar structure they can contract, expand, or change it to suit his or her requirements. So long as it remains in the possession of the spirit of the entranced person, the likeness to it is maintained; but the moment it passes into the possession of another, the resemblance will depend entirely upon the strength of the control, and the knowledge the spirit has in shaping the form like to that borne in earth-life. From these conditions materialization may broaden into more complex forms, always depending upon the currents of magnetic thought, and that central will-force that sweeps into its vortex all atoms necessary to its use.

Until the spirits acquire more than ordinary strength by frequent manifestations, or by favorable surroundings, this will probably be found to be the usual way in which they make themselves visible to us. These conditions necessitate more or less resemblance to the medium, both in form and intonations of voice.

I have seen hundreds and thousands of materialized forms; have seen, in a few instances, personation, where the medium was taken possession of, brought out, and controlled as in trance-mediumship; I have seen what appeared to be the double of the medium, so thoroughly like, that I should have testified that it was the medium had I not seen it dematerialize, or been taken into the cabinet by the form and found the entranced medium there; but I have never seen a single instance of transfiguration, unless the double of the medium be considered as such. The fact that Mrs. Fairchild stands outside, by the cabinet, during the séance, in full view of the audience; that at the Berry Sisters', and at Mrs. Sawyer's, the spirits lead the medium out of the cabinet; that at Mrs. Fay's the forms often take the visitors into the cabinet and show them not only the medium but the materialized control, – are things which the skeptic will find very hard to explain. If they are not evidence of the existence of these phenomena, it is difficult to understand what evidence is.

To a sensitive person, with even a limited experience, the character of a séance is easily determined. There is always in the true materialized forms a decided lack of some of the elements that make up the magnetism of what we call real life; something not easily described, but readily perceived by a person thus constituted. To such a one, neither a confederate nor a personation by the medium can pass undetected.

CHAPTER II.

EXPOSURES OF MEDIUMS

There have often been sensational reports circulated claiming to be "exposures" of materialization, but when traced to their origin they have generally been found to be unreliable, and never the result of careful study or scientific investigation. The ungentlemanly and in some instances brutal conduct of the parties engaged in the "exposures" has been such as to discredit their statements, and in no case have they produced evidence that would be considered valid in any court.

If it be true that the garments used to clothe the forms are materialized and dematerialized in the cabinet, any sudden disturbance of the magnetic conditions of the circle might arrest the process of dematerialization, leaving the draperies intact. Persons not understanding this would naturally charge fraud upon the medium, on rushing into the cabinet and finding them there. This has led some mediums to submit to a thorough examination of their clothes before entering the cabinet, going so far, at times, as to allow themselves to be dressed entirely in dark clothing, without a particle of white upon them, and giving every opportunity to prove that there were no concealed draperies in the room. These arrangements, while taking up valuable time that otherwise would have been devoted to the séance, have never interfered with the manifestations.

The most serious and perhaps the most generally believed charges made against these séances is that confederates are used to personate the forms. Passing by the many knotty questions which cannot possibly be explained on the theory of confederates, and considering it in a business point of view, there are difficulties connected with such an arrangement that might in the end prove disastrous.