The rappers : or, The mysteries, fallacies, and absurdities of spirit-rapping, table-tipping, and entrancement

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY arV1810 The rappers

Preface

In presenting to the public this volume on the subject of " Modern Spiritualism," as it is called, the author has only a few words to say. He made the series of visits among the " Rappers," comprised in Book I, with the single purpose of seeing and testing the nature of the " wonderful spirit manifestations" alleged to proceed from tables and entranced persons, and he has written down faithfully and truly all that he saw and heard. He has purposely mingled some pleasantry in his descriptions, but has never suffered that pleasantry to falsify a single word or manifestation alleged to have been uttered or exhibited by a spirit. As the table tipped, or as the raps came, he has described it, and as the alphabet or the entranced medium spoke, he has given it word for word. If the whole appears absurd on the face of it, and the alleged spirits look like very poor imitations, it is not the author's fault ; but it must be charged to the account of the tables, the raps, and the entrancements — must be ascribed in fact to some other and very different causes than voices from x PREFACE.

the spirit world. The main part of the second book of this volume, is a compilation of the various philosophical theories which have been broached by others, in explanation of the " spiritual phenomena," and this compilation, together with the author's visit among the " Rappers," and the contrast which he has drawn between the " religion of Rappers and the religion of Christ," will, lie trusts, present the subject in a complete and satisfactory light before the reader.

BOOK I.

A OIEOLE OF TISITS AMOBTG THE EAPPEBS.

THE RAPPERS.

Chapter I. The Believers And Their Belief

In the city of New York, to which circle our personal investigation has been confined, there are, at the least calculation, forty thousand sincere believers in Spiritual Rappings. We cannot pretend to give the number of the disciples of this new Spiritual doctrine, scattered throughout other parts of the United States. It is sufficient to say, that It is immense, and far greater than the public generally imagine. These believers are to be found in every class of society from the highest to the lowest, and among minds of every degree of capacity and cultivation, from the most accomplished scholar down to the most ignorant of the ignorant. The rush to consult the spirits, both in what are called public and private circles, is so great, that, could New York be unroofed, either in the day or at night, a spectacle of Spirit Rapping would be exhibited, which would astound the public by the magnitude of its extent and almost ceaseless continuance. Prom morning until noon, from noon until night, and from night until morning again, in parlors where flashing mirrors reflect rosewood, and velvet, and silver, and gold ; in humble rooms where the floors and walls are bare, the tables are placed, and around them, men and women, with their hands spread out, and eyes fixed as if on vacancy, are seated, waiting for communications from the Spirit World.

And your true believer in Spiritual Rappings is a man to be noted and marked wherever he goes : Spiritual Rapping with him is a religion not put off and on at intervals ; he is no Sunday professor of his belief, but an every day worker in it, sitting motionless alone in the solitude of his own room, going to private circles where he can get admittance, and spending his money freely at public ones — seeking and asking only for raps and communications from the spirits of the other world. And from morning until night, and from night until morning, whether he is at the circle, or sitting alone, or in his bed, or at work, he is expecting these raps and communications ; he is expecting to hear the spirits rap on tables, and from thence receive messages from them ; he expects to hear them tap on his bedpost, to feel them grasp, or jostle, or knock him in the street, in his store or shop, in his room — at all times and in all places, he is confidently expecting at any moment to be subject to direct spiritual influence — the world's material substances and the bodies of mankind also are, to him, but so many objects for the spirits of the other world to knock upon and thus communicate with mortals. Of

THE BAPPEBS. 15

such believers as above described, there are, as we said before, not less than forty thousand in the city of New York. We have, during our investigations, seen a number of this, description — seen them in circles and in private, conversed with them, and read the spiritual communications which they say, and sincerely believe, they have received. And we have seen such believers not only in the persons of young and credulous men and maidens, but in the persons of men and women where gray hairs and hard wrinkles had set the seal of age and incredulity; and in all, the devotion was complete and the faith boundless. Such being the believers, let us turn to a brief synopsis of their belief.

The disciples of the Spiritual Eappings believe that, on the death of the body, the spirit passes into another world, the position of which, in the sphere of worlds, or the particular nature of which, they do not pretend to describe. They say that it is not Heaven, neither is it Hell ; it is not midway between the two, and it is not a place where God can be seen. They say it is rather a school of progress, where the spirit, when it first becomes a real spirit, that is, when it is freed from the body, goes to learn and advance higher and higher, until it reaches perfection. They believe that this spirit world has seven spheres, and each sphere seven circles ; they believe also that the world of mortals has its spheres and circles, and that in both this world and in the spirit world, the spirit of man occupies a higher or a lower sphere, according to its capability and purity. They believe that when a man dies his spirit passes into that sphere of the spirit world corresponding the nearest to the sphere which he left in this world. They, therefore, as a natural consequence, believe that the spirit world is a most heterogenous place, full of good spirits and bad ones, highly developed and very ignorant ones — all, however, mixing together, knowing of each others' movements — some quite miserable, some supremely happy, and others in a medium state — but all advancing, learning and growing better, through the successive circles and spheres, until they shall go beyond the seventh. At this seventh sphere, the Spiritual Rapping believers pause : they profess, as far as we are now informed, no knowledge of the spirits beyond the seventh sphere of progress, as there has been no communication from the spirits on the subject.

This latter point leads us to the belief of the Spiritual Rappers on the subject of the communication between this world and that of the spirits. They believe that the inhabitants of the Spirit World are ever wandering about this ; that not only the spirits of a man's dead relatives and friends are around him, or at least ready to answer his call, but that any other spirit is ready to answer him, and communicate with him ; nay, even volunteer to do so, even at the time when he is seeking a communication from the spirit of one whom he knew on this earth. They believe also that some spirits of the Spirit World, who are not very highly developed, that is, not much better than they were when they left the earth, will lie to, abuse and trifle with, those of this world when they are in the act of seeking spiritual communi-

THE EAPPEBS. 17

cations. Even good spirits, when holding communication with mortals, will often joke. The Spiritual Kapping disciples believe that communication with the Spirit World can only be had through the intervention of what is called a Medium ; that is, some particular mortal to whom either the spirits take a fancy, or who is spiritual enough for them to hold direct intercourse with. Many are Mediums without knowing it, but it is supposed that sooner or later they will find it out. The Mediums place, their hands on a table, in connection with those who seek communication, and the table tips, or raps are heard on it or under it, and thus the spirits testify their presence and willingness to be interrogated. Three raps or taps mean " yes ;" one, " no ;" and two, " I don't know," or " doubtful." When the spirit speaks by raps, the answer, if it be a name or place, or datq, an alphabet constructed by the Mediums spells out the meaning. Often, however, the spirit communicates by taking possession, according to the belief of the Spiritual Rapping disciples, of the Medium, and compelling him to write what the spirit would say. So much for Spiritual Rapping belief.

There are, according to this Spiritual theory, six kinds of Mediums, viz :

Rapping Mediums, being those persons through whom the supposed spirits manifest themselves by sounds on the table or other places.

Tipping Mediums, being those persons through whom the supposed spirits manifest themselves by tipping tables, &o.

Speaking Mediums, being those whom the supposed spirits throw into a state of enhancement, and then speak through them.

Singing Mediums are those through whom the supposed spirits sing by means of entranoement.

Writing Mediums, being those of whose hands the supposed spirits take possession, and compel them to write as they, the spirits, dictate.

Impressible Mediums, being those whom the supposed spirits impress to think as they, the spirits, wish.

THE CIRCLE.

The first Spiritual Rapping Circles to which we shall take the reader, were public ones. The visitor to the public circles pays a small admission fee, the philosophy being, that the Mediums, although in daily communication with the Spiritual World, have not yet arrived at that degree of spirituality which will enable them to live without food and clothing ; that they are still mortals and must work, like all mortals, for money.

In the early part of an evening, we rung the bell of a fine three-story house, and were ushered into the presence of Mrs. J5., a public Rapping Medium. We expressed our desire to be introduced, if possible, to the spirits, and were accordingly invited to join the circle which was just at that moment forming. We entered a room, neatly furnished, and found some fourteen persons, male and female, seated around two tables, one of them covered with a green cloth, the other bare. The party, this evening, being rather too

THE EAPPBE8. 19

large for the usual table employed, the second one, which was a common ironing-table, had been, on the spur of the moment, pressed in from the service of the kitchen to the service of the spirits. Before Mrs. B. took her seat to preside over the circle, and while she was absent for a moment in another room, a respectable old gentleman very solemnly placed his hands on the table and suggested that probably, if the rest of the company followed his example, they would get a communication without the help of Mrs. B., intimating at the same time, that he believed he was something of a medium himself. The circle placed their hands as the old gentleman wished, but the spirits were as silent as the grave.

Mrs. B. now appeared. She is a fine-looking woman, portly in person and bearing, with jet-black hair, and an inteltectual expression of countenance. She was richly dressed, and bore in her hand a gold watch, to which was appended a massive gold chain. The watch was to time — not the spirits— but each mortal in the Circle ; for each mortal in Rapping Circles is often apt to talk so long to the spirits, that he interferes with the rest of his brother seekers after spiritual knowledge. Mrs. B. having taken her seat at the centre of the two tables, all hands were spread, and the performance or ceremony commenced*

First Gentleman — " Is there any spirit here wishing to communicate with me 1"

Three raps ("yes,") loud and distinct, under the table.

20 THE KAPPBRS.

A curious observer, in a large overcoat, here peered under and around the table, but the feet were all quiet, and the prospect, so far as any explanation of the manner in which the raps were produced was concerned, was a perfect blank.

First Gentleman here wrote inquiries on a paper, which he kept concealed ; and the answers to them, made by the raps, which were now again resumed, were declared by the gentleman to be wrong.

Second Gentleman — Called up a musical spirit, and asked him to rap a tune. Hail Columbia was rapped, first in slow measure and then in quick, and excellently well rapped in both.

Third Questioner — Was a lady, dressed in mourning, young and interesting in appearance, with a high, pale forehead, and a bright speaking eye. She asked if her little daughter was present.

Three raps answered that she was, and would make her mother a communication sometime during the evening.

" Have you been with me, little daughter, all day, and did you come here with me V

Three raps " yes."

" Are your guardian spirits with you V

One rap "no."

It seems, according to the Spiritual Eapping belief, that the spirits in the other world have also their guardian angels.

" Do you know how many came here with ine '{"

"Yes."

" Can you name them ?"

The little spirit, however, did afterwards (so the questioner said) name two of them correctly.

Fourth Questioner — A gentleman, who asked for the spirit of his father and mother. The answer was the mingled rapping of two distinct rappers, and the gentleman not being able to make out either, gave the matter up, and expressed himself satisfied — how, he did not say.

Fifth Questioner — Called up the spirit of his father, who, when asked what was his age when he died, gave answer that it was fifty years, which was five years beyond the correct answer. One of the circle here remarked that 'the spirits in the other worl'd kept no account of time, that time was only kept in this world and that one spirit had answered him that he (the spirit) had been so happy in the Spirit World, that he had forgotten all about his age and life in this.

This was all of any consequence that was done at Mrs. B.'s circle, while we were there present. The spirits, it was remarked, did not appear on that night to be very communicative, and we accordingly left. Previous, however, to our leaving, it was stated by some of the circle that several nights previously a remarkable . Spiritual manifestation had taken place in that room. A highly respectable physician of New York, with his wift, was present, and wore gaiters over his shoes; each gaiter was fastened with twelve buttons ; and, while the physician was seated at the table, another member of the circle present asked a spirit to unfasten the doctor's gaiter and hand it to another gentleman present. Before the doctor knew anything about it, the gaiter was unfastened and handed as directed.

The next Spiritualist whom we visited was Mr. C. , a public Tipping Medium. He is a young man, pleasing in his manners, slight in person and complexion. We found three gentlemen at his circle, and some four or five others, both ladies and gentlemen, just on the point of leaving. Mr. C.'s room was plainly furnished, with a common black walnut table in the centre, covered with slips of paper and lead pencils.

First Questioner — "Is there any spirit present who wishes to communicate with me V

Three tips of the table, " yes."

" Who is it ?"

Mr. C. here told the questioner to write the names of four or five living persons, and of one dead, on separate slips of paper, double them up so that no one could see them, and then throw them on the centre of the table. This was done by the questioner, who wrote on the slip of the dead the name of his brother.

" Now," said Mr. C, " we will take each paper and ask the spirit present to pick out the slip on which is written the' name of the dead friend or relative of 'whom you (the questioner), are at this moment thinking."

Mr. C. did so, and when he held up the wad of paper on which the questioner had written the name of his dead brother, the table tipped three times, to signify that that was the one.

The arm of Mr. C. at this moment seemed to be seized with a violent spasm ; he caught hold of a pencil and wrote away with a spasmodic rapidity, that to the observer appeared as if a streak of lightning was erratically amusing itself with tracing- pot-hooks and hangers.

First Questioner — " Mr. C, what is the matter — you seem to be writing under some slight excitement?"

" The spirit has possession of me, and I must write whatever it dictates. I have a communication for you."

And, by the time he had thus answered, he ceased writing, and read to the questioner the following communication from his mother : —

My Dear Son — I am happy that you are willing to receive truth, and 'the happy hour that reunites mother and son will be looked forward to with pleasure.

(Signed,) A.

Questioner — " Can my mother spell me out her name ?"

One tap of the table, " no."

Several names, and among them the name of the mother, were then written by the questioner on slips of paper, and doubled up as before, so that no one but himself could see or know their contents. The spirit, at the right name, tapped three times, as much as to say, that is the right one.

The same questioner was now answered by the spirit of his brother, whose name he had before written, and told correctly the name of the place where he died, which was spelt out by alphabet. The spirit also, after having answered several other questions without making a mistake, again ipvisibly took possession of Mr. C.'s arm, and sent the following communication to the questioner :

Dear Brother — You ask for evidence. Spirits cannot answer all questions, as their friends desire. For my part, I am happy that I can control this medium's hands, to convey my thoughts on paper. I want you to give a careful investigation to this subject, and be slow to receive ; digest nothing which dt>es not harmonize with your reason.

This communication was signed with correct initials of the questioner's brother's name. * So the questioner acknowledged in the presence of the circle.

To the question of which sphere he was in, the brother answered that he was in the fourth, and he sent the following communication :

Dear Brother — Death is different from what I supposed it to be. It is only the waking up, as it were, from a long dream. In whatever stage of progress the spirit was when in the body, that sphere it enters in the Spirit World. Cultivate your spiritual faculties, and never heed the dogmas of the day.

Questioner — " I want a just idea of God."

(Spelt out by alphabet.) " I do too."

" Is there a personal God V

" I believe I shall see a personal God, but never have ; the spirits do not see God."

" Is there a personal devil V

"No : the idea of a personal devil is a humbug."

Second Questioner (to Mr. C.) — "May I ask some mental questions V

" Yes."

And the questioner, after writing some questions on a paper, remained silent for some time, during which the table at intervals tipped the answers yes and no. The questioner having finished, he was asked if he had received correct answers. He answered by reading the following question, as one which he had put :

" Was it spiritual agency that caused the ship Great Republic to be burnt V

The answer to the question was " Yes."

This questioner did not favor the circle with any more of his questions or answers, and we are therefore not able to give the nature of either.

The above was all of any note that occurred while we were at Mr. C.'s circle, and we left with our budget of spiritual information. The reader will observe that in writing this chapter, We have adopted the language of the Spiritualists, and said the spirit says so and so. We do not mean by this to assert that it was really a spirit who answered the questipns and made the communications ; we mean only to say that it was the voice of the raps on, and the tips of the table, as interpreted by the mediums, and we have only used the word spirit for convenience. Our own ideas on the matter we shall give at the proper time. Meanwhile we are on a tour of investigation, and the above is our first instalment of facts, of which we have personal knowledge.

THE KAPPEBS. 27.

Chapter II. The Travelling Spirit

Our third visit was to the rooms of Mrs. C, a public Rapping Medium. The apartment in -which Mrs. C. called up the spirits, or rather in which the spirits were called up, through the medium of her presence, was a large, well furnished one, having a round table in the centre, covered with cloth. Mrs. C. is a woman of slight and delicate, but well-formed figure, with small and regularly chiseled features, complexion clear and white, auburn hair, and eyes large, blue and expressive. She is, in her appearance, decidedly spiritual — just such a looking person as one would suppose the spirits, if in reality they do select any mortals for their favorites, would be likely to choose as the medium of their communications to this world. Mrs. C. informed us, that it is now nearly five years since she first discovered that she was a medium, and the discovery was made in this wise. A lady asked her to sit up at the table, when a spirit present informed her, to her astonishment, that she was a medium. During the first year afterwards, the spiritual manifestations to her were by indefinite sounds of various kinds, which accompanied and were heard around her, wherever she might be. Since then, she has become a regular medium, and the spirits not only rap, in general at her request or the request of others when she is present, but they take possession of her, and through her hand write communications.

It was evening when we visited Mrs. C, and the circle was very full, some fourteen or fifteen being around the table. The most marked individual in the group was an elderly gentleman, with hair as white as snow, forehead finely developed, and features giving evidence of great energy and decision of character. This gentleman had a sheet of paper before him, and was, as we entered, busily engaged in writing down his questions to the spirits, and their answers. There was a profound silence in the room, as the questions which the elderly gentleman put were entirely mental, and therefore known by none of the company but himself. His eyes, as he put the questions, were intently bent on the paper before him, with an expression which seemed to say, that while his ear was open to catch the faintest rap or sound, his soul was also open and waiting to receive some test, if he could possibly get one, of.the presence of a spirit which should convince him that it was in reality a spirit with whom he was holding communication. The elderly gentleman, metaphorically speaking, had evidently taken off his coat to the spiritual business before him, and had determined to find out something if he could.

In the deep silence of the room, the raps in answer to the elderly gentleman's mental questions, were clear and distinct, and given with great promptness. Sometimes the questioner, however, would be in doubt whether the taps were two or three, and he would then in a sonorous voice say, " Will the spirit repeat that answer and rap the answer distinctly 1" and the answer would be three loud raps given in quick succession and with great energy, as if the spirit intended that its " yes" should be emphatic.

Suddenly the raps, which had been continuous, ceased altogether, and the elderly gentleman with his pencil was brought to a stand still. He looked up from the paper in amazement, and repeated his question, but there was no response.

Mrs. C. — Perhaps there is a spirit present that will communicate with some of the other gentlemen, and it would be well, therefore, for the circle to pass the question around.

A young lawyer of New York, whose profound legal ability and estimable social qualities are universally acknowledged, but whose faith in Spirit Rappings is somewhat less extensive than the Russian Empire, even without the addition of Turkey, here took up the questioning of the spirits rendered vacant by the cessation of the spiritual communications to the elderly gentleman.

Lawyer. — Will any one talk with me?

The table gave forth no sound in answer, not even the faintest intimation of a rap was heard, and the lawyer was nonplussed as he continued in a slightly elevated voice and somewhat of a professional tone, " Won't you come and answer ?" But the table was silent, as before; the witness refused to appear, and as there was no competent judge present to compel attendance, the lawyer gave it up, and leaning back in his chair, looked at the gentleman next in order in the circle, with that legal resignation of countenance, which is always in court understood to say to the opposite counsel " The witness is yours, sir."

Before, however, the next gentleman took up the question, Mrs. C. suggested to the lawyer that he had not asked the spirits in exactly the right form, and perhaps if he would put the question in the usual manner, as — " Is there any spirit present that will communicate with me V he would get an answer. A smile illumined the countenance of the young lawyer as he complied with the medium's suggestion, but the spirits remained silent as before, and the young lawyer had no rap or raps.

The question, " Is there any spirit present that will communicate with me V was now asked in succession by all in the circle, Mrs. C. included, but the lawyer's fortune attended the whole, and the spirits appeared to have taken their departure entirely.

Various opinions in regard to the unaccountable absence of all the spirits, and the abrupt departure of the one which had been communicating with the elderly gentleman, were expressed by several persons at the table. Mrs. C. herself remarked it was an unusual circumstance, while one gentleman suggested that possibly the spirits were keeping New Year.

All remarks, however, on the movements of thj spirits were suddenly checked by a nervous motion on the part of the arm 'of Mrs. C, and all eyes were immediately fixed on her, in order to see what result the nervous motion would produce.

" A spirit wishes to write a communication to some one here, and we shall soon see who it is,"- said Mrs. C, seizing a pencil and piece of paper, which latter article seemed involuntarily to fly towards the elderly gentleman who had been asking the mental questions, which the spirit had so suddenly ceased answering, leaving the whole circle in silence.

" It is for you, sir," said Mrs. C, " and possibly we shall now see the cause of the abrupt departure of the • spirit with whom you were communicating,"" and Mrs. C.'s hand wrote with the rapidity of a race horse, and with a series of jerks far outrivalling those of an omnibus sleigh over the crossings of the streets at the last end of sleighing.

The spirits having finished jerking the arm of Mrs. C, and her pencil having performed its work, the manuscript was exhibited, and it was found to be written not only backwards but bottom upwards. None of the visitors present, of course, were linguists enough to decipher such writing, although it was handed round the table and subjected to the closest scrutiny. We ourselves examined it, and it appeared to us very much like what a telegraphic dispatch, announcing the destruction of the tower of Babel, would have been in that day of the confusion of tongues, supposing that the

Babelites tad advanced so far in knowledge as to possess a lightning express in good working order. But the communication of the spirit, although an unknown Ian guage to all the rest around her, was simple English to Mrs. C, and holding it up to the elderly gentleman, she read as follows :

Dear Brother — I have been to see and he will re tain it. (Signed) Eliza.

The communication, although now read in plain English, was still Greek to all around with the exception (as it appeared from his looks) of the elderly gentleman. He sat for a moment with his head leaning on ' his hands, his eyes fixed with an intense gaze on the table before him, and his whole manner betokening deep thought. Seeing, at length, the looks of curiosity around him, he raised his head and said to this effect :