Experiments in psychical science : levitation, contact, and the direct voice

Front matter

Levitation, Contact and the Direct Voice

W.J.CRAWFORD, D.Sc.

Class i

Preface

In this work I deal with problems connected with the physical phenomena of spiritualism. I have already examined some of these in The Reality of Psychio Phenomena published two years ago, but in the present yolume I go further into details, I described experiments for the most part of a more difficult and far-reaching nature than those set forth in my former book. In addition, I give the results of tests carried out on "contact" phenomena and on the "direct voice," :

I purpose in the near future to write a volume dealing with the more intimate details of the psychic structures at the Goligher circle.

I think that a series of small works dealing with the results of psychic investigation is preferable to one unwieldy volume containing masses of detail. One needs to take these psychic matters in small doses if they are to have any chance of assimilation.

My purpose in writing these books, is to advance our knowledge of psychic phenomena and the laws underlying them. The actual experimenting has given me great pleasure, though it vi PREFAGE

has involved the outlay of much time and labour. No one unacquainted with the subject and its peculiar difficulties can adequately appreciate the time and toil required in the preparation of even a small work such as this. The only reward is a mental one and the stimulation comes from one's innate interest in the subject.

I have to thank Mr. S. Stoupe, of the Art Department of the Technical Institute, Belfast, for the valuable help he has given me, especially with regard to photography, and Mr. C. C. Pounder, A.M.I.Mech.E., for his assistance in reading over the manuscript and suggesting alterations and improvements.

I also desire to thank other friends who have helped me in various ways.

In the text of the present work I use the letters R.P.P. when I refer to my former book The Reality of Psychic Phenomena.

W. J. Crawford.

Belfast, February, 1919.

Contents

CHAFTEB PAG3

I. Introductory • 1

II. New Problems and Experiments on Reaction 19

Chapter I

Problems which await solution — The Goligher phenomena — What the operators themselves say about the psychic structures.

AiiTHOUGH complete in itself, the present volume is partly a continuation of my previous book, "The Reality of Psychic Phenomena," which I assume the reader has perused. In that book I described a series of experiments carried out with a view of ascertaining the laws governing the lifting of tables at seances. Those experiments dealt, in the main, with phenomena produced at a home-circle in Belfast at which tables and stools and other articles were lifted into the air untouched by any person. I put forward the theory that rod-like structures issued from the body of the medium and effected the levitations. The table movements were execu-

l

2 EXPERIMENTS EST PSYCHICAL SCIENCE

ted under the guidance of invisible "operators" who, under the seance conditions, were able to work in conjunction with the medium.

In this volume the matter is taken further. li deals with experiments carried out by me at Belfast in 1916-1917. The circle referred to as the Goligher circle consists of Miss Kathleen Goligher (the medium), her three sisters, brother, father, and brother-in-law. The terminology employed is the same as that previously used.

Although certain general conclusions were put forward in my previous book, many problems were necessarily left unsolved or were only partly solved. A few such are as follows:

(1) While the table is levitated, what is the ef-

fect of adding weights to it, i.e., of gradually increasing the weight of the levitated body? If the cantilever theory be true, would not the applied moment of the weight at length reach such a magnitude that the medium would topple over in her chair?

(2) When a man presses downwards with great

force upon the levitated table would not the cantilever theory involve the toppling over of the medium?

(3) Is the cantilever theory true for all types of

levitation phenomena or is it only true for a particular case?

(4) What type of psychic mechanism is employed when the medium's chair (with the medium sitting in it) is bodily moved about the floor of the seance room?

(5) How is it that the medium feels no reaction

effects upon her body?

(6) What type of psychic mechanism is em-

ployed when the table rests on the floor several feet from the medium and a man cannot move it either inwards or outwards, however hard he pushes it towards, or pulls it from the medium?

(7) What is the exact shape of the cantilever

arm which levitates the table?

These are problems upon which I hope to throw some light in this book. The experimental consideration of the more intimate details of the psychic structure is left to another occasion.

In order that the reader may properly focus his attention on the work to follow, let me briefly describe, even at the risk of some slight repetition, the phenomena that occur at an ordinary observational seance with the Goligher circle.

THE GENERAL PHENOMENA

The members constituting the circle enter the room and each sits down on his customary chair. They sit round in the form of a circle about five feet diameter and the table is placed in the centre. The ordinary illuminant is turned off and a red light turned on. The sitters clasp each other's hands in chain order and the seance commences. One of the members of the circle opens the proceedings with prayer and then a hymn is snng. In a few minutes, sounds — tap, tap, tap, ; — are heard on the floor close to the medium. These are the first "spirit" raps of the evening. They soon become louder and stronger and occur right out in the circle space, on the table, and on the chairs of the sitters. Their magnitude varies in intensity from the slightest audible ticks to blows which might well be produced by a sledge-hammer, the latter really being awe-inspiring and easily heard two stories below and even outside the house. The loud blows perceptibly shake the floor and chairs. Sometimes the raps keep time to hymns sung by the members of the circle ; sometimes they tap out of themselves complicated tunes and dances on top of the table or on the floor. Besides the ordinary raps the operators can produce various modifications and peculiar variations. For instance, they can imitate a bouncing ball so perfectly that one would be prepared to affirm a ball was really in the room. They can imitate to perfection the sawing of the table leg, the striking of a match, the walking of a man, and the trotting of a horse. They give double and treble knocks, i.e., two or three fast ones and one slow one. In fact, almost every variety and combination of rap it is possible to imagine is heard. I have used the phonograph in the seance room and possess three authentic records of many varieties of the raps. These records I have used while lecturing on this subject. The recorded sounds can easily be heard in a hall holding 500 people.

After a quarter of an hour or so the rapping ceases and another type of phenomenon takes its place. The reader should remember that the members of the circle are simply sitting on their chairs holding each other's hands in chain order and are only passive instruments in the hands of the invisible operators — whoever the latter may be supposed to be. The little table is standing on the floor within the circle formed by the sitters and is not in contact with any of them or with any portion of their clothing. Suddenly the table gives a lurch or moves slightly along the floor. After a while it may give another lurch or it may rise into the air on two legs (two legs being thus in the air and two on the floor) . These movements — which are executed, as I have said, without physical contact with the medium or the members of the circle — are the preliminary motions which usually take place just previous to the first levitation, i.e., before the table rises completely into the air of itself where it remains suspended for several minutes without visible support.

I have seen hundreds of levitations under all conditions; standard levitations such as that mentioned above, abnormal levitations (such as where a stool rose four feet into the air and moved gently up and down for several minutes while we all examined it closely and while the medium was seated on a weighing machine) and freak levitations (such as where the table, being levitated, rocked in the air just like a small boat tossed about on a choppy sea). I have seen the table turn completely round in the air, and I have seen it levitated upside down and sideways. After the exhibition of levitation ceases, the trumpet phenomena commence. At the beginning of the seance a couple of thin metal cones which fit telescopically into each other and which we will call "trumpets" are fixed together and placed upright on the floor between the medium and her father. The trumpets now begin to straddle over the floor with little leaps and jerks, remaining in a vertical position until they reach the table (now at rest in the centre of the circle) where they fall or are sometimes seemingly pushed over, and are then drawn under the table. A loud shuffling noise is now heard, for the operators are trying to detach the trumpets, a somewhat difficult process as they fit rather tightly together. At length, however, the operators succeed in separating the two pieces, which are soon seen floating in the air, with their ends projecting from under the table. The halves

INTRODUCTORY R6

then beat time to a tune, like the batons of a conductor, after which a visitor is allowed to grasp the end of either and thus "shake hands" with the invisible entities. Sometimes the operators press upwards on the under-surface of the table with one or both of the floating trumpets, thus levitating it. A little handbell is sometimes placed on the floor and this is often lifted and rung. The sound may be clear as though the bell were held by the handle, or dull as though it were held by the metal. Sometimes raps accompany the ringing of the bell. The sitters are occasionally psychically "touched" on various parts of the body.

Towards the end of the seance — about an hour and a half from the opening — the psychic energy available, to use a common term, is at a maximum and great forces are exerted. For instance, although a heavy man sits upon the table it moves about the floor with great ease; or the table being levitated, a strong man pushing from the top cannot depress it to the floor; or the table moves to the side of the circle farthest from the medium and an experimenter is asked to lay hold of it and try to prevent its return to the centre, but he is totally unable to do so; or the table's weight can be temporarily so much increased that it cannot be lifted, or on the other hand so much reduced that it can be raised by an upward force of an ounce or two ; or the table being turned upside down on the floor cannot be raised by a strong upward pull on the legs, being apparently fastened to the floor.

SOME NEW LEVITATIONS

Besides the ordinary standard type of levitation in which the table rises vertically into the

FLoor .LeveL.

Fig. 1.

air in a normal manner, various modified and peculiar types of the phenomenon have occurred. At a recent seance the table turned over on its side with edge of surface and two legs on the floor, surface remote from medium. Then it levitated in that position (Hg. 1) remaining in the air for about half a minute, with lowest edge about a foot above the floor. The surface (S) was about 4 feet from the body of the medium.

It levitated again in the same way and then turned over in the air, very slowly at first and then jerkily, until its surface was horizontal and it had attained a normal levitated position. Fig. 2 gives successive positions.

Floor Level.

Fig. 2.

At subsequent seances the table turned completely over, as above, both broadwise and endwise, i.e., where in the one case AB (fig. 1) represents the short edge, and, in the other case, the long edge of the surface.

While at position (3), i.e., where the table was inclined at about 45° to the floor, the operators seemed to experience the greatest difficulty in the carrying out of this phenomenon. They seemed to have no trouble in levitating the table as at (1), and in turning it over in the air to about position (3), but a halt always occurred at (3). Sometimes, even, the table dropped there, the completed phenomenon evidently being impossible despite the almost frantic efforts of the operators. At other times, after a brief halt and various shakings and jerkings in the air, the table was turned over into positions (4) and (5). At the critical point (3) sounds were often heard on the surface and legs of the table, as though suckers were slipping over the wood, or were being forced off, or were taking new grips. There could be no mistaking these sounds, for they made quite an audible swish. On one or two occasions the table suddenly dropped 6 inches or so in the air, and simultaneously there was heard the swishing noise, the inference being that a sucker had been torn from its grip. The operators themselves say that during these abnormal levitations they have several psychic rods projecting from the medium simultaneously, and that they grip the surface, the legs, and the cross-bars (if the table possesses them) with the ends of these rods, which resemble straight aims having the power to take a suction grip on wooden surfaces with their free extremities. Up to position (3) (fig. 2) it is easily understandable that the rods could fairly easily grip the legs or under-surface of the table (perhaps three rods being in operation at once) and turn the table partly over as shown; but about position (3) there would have to be a new disposition of the rods; or one or more of them would have to let go and take a grip on another part of the table;

or owing to the awkward position reached, some of the rods would have too much stress upon them and would be likely to slip (as seems actually to occur, if we may judge by the sounds heard) ; and in general, new arrangements would have to be made. Imagine a man sitting in the medium's chair and, instead of his two arms, to possess three or four unjointed rods which he

*

Floor L.EVEL.

Fig. 3.

can move up and down and to and fro, which he can shorten and lengthen but which he cannot bend, and with the ends of which he can take a suction grip on various parts of the table, and we have a fairly good idea of what is taking place during the occurrence of the phenomenon.

The psychic rods are usually quite invisible.

Abnormal levitations (in each case lasting for a minute or longer, not merely transitory) have also occurred as in Fig. 3, where the table remained in the air inclined as shown, with legs towards medium, and as in Fig. 4, where the legs were directed away from the medium.

Floor Leve:U

Fig. 4.

THE SHAPE OF THE LEVITATING CANTILEVER ACv CORDING TO THE OPERATORS

The shape of the cantilever at the end of my first series of experiments was comparatively doubtful. I took it to be roughly as follows (see Figure 5 on the following page) : — Here M is the medium, T the levitated table and AB the levitating cantilever, the last consisting of two main portions, A, an arm springing from the medium, and B, a vertical column continuous with the arm pressing upwards on the under-surface of the table. I have since taken the opportunity thoroughly to question the operators as to its shape. A seance was held at my own house and replies to questions were given by means of raps, blows, shufflings on the floor, etc. The following was the code —

Three raps meant "Yes,"

One rap meant "No,"

Two raps meant "Doubtful."

A continuous series of raps meant that the operators wished to say something on their own account, i.e., they wished the alphabet spelt out

FLoor Level..?

Fig. 5.

to them so that they could interpolate a word or a short sentence.

A long scraping sound on the floor meant that my supposition (on which I was basing the question) was not quite correct although it contained some elements of the truth.

A great many emotions such as joy, sorrow, agreement, disagreement, fun, friendliness, anger, etc., were often also indicated by the various styles of rapping. For instance, loud emphatic blows in answer to a question indicated (according to their number) strong agreement or disagreement; or if a lot of questions were asked, none of which would seem to hit the exact truth, and a final question apparently did actually strike it, there was a little fusillade of raps indicating that the correct solution had at last been reached. Sometimes the operators seemed so pleased at my guessing something correctly that they suddenly rapped out a lively little tune on the floor.

The reader should understand that the following description of the levitating structure is given by the operators and that I am not responsible for it and do not attach undue importance to it. Nevertheless it has its points of interest and I think should be included.

With regard to the dimensions of the cantilever structure, I first asked the operators if they understood what a "cross-section" was. They answered "No." Then I went on as follows:

Q. Do you know the meaning of the words "diameter" or "thickness"?

A. Yes.

Q. Do you know the magnitude of the dimension we call an inch?

A. Yes.

When I asked them to rap out the number of inches in a certain part of the structure they usually hesitated for a little as though thinking the matter over, and then rapped out the number decisively and firmly.

According to the operators the dimensions and shape of a normal levitating cantilever are as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6.

B.

The top of the columnar part of the cantilever is spread out into a broad flat surface of area approximating to the under-surface of the table. In other words the head of the cantilever is shaped like a mushroom and even bears some analogy to that boy's plaything known as a sucker.

A fairly uniform vertical column of diameter about 4 inches. At K the cantilever changes its direction from vertical to more or less horizontal. At K the structure is 3 or 4 inches above the floor. C. Just before entering the body of the medium the rod widens to a diameter of about 7 inches. The rod does not branch out like the roots of a tree where it enters the body of the medium, but goes in undivided. I had thought it possible that the fixed end of the cantilever (i.e., the end fixed to the body of the medium) might spread out into a large number of little rootlets (see R.P.P. ch. xiii), but the operators were most emphatic that it does not, but goes in solid, although its diameter increases (from 4 inches to 7 inches). The diameter given for the greater part of the structure, viz., 4 inches, agrees approximately with the diameter of the vertical and arched columns seen in the photograph (see R.P.P. ch. xii).

It is to be remembered that the whole structure is generally quite invisible to any one with normal eyesight. The operators always said, however, that under certain conditions certain people who are not clairvoyants would be able to see it, and this statement of theirs has lately proved to be true. I will deal with this point in a later volume.

WHAT THE OPERATORS SAY OP THE RAPPING RODS

The theory for rapping developed in my former book is that a psychic "rod" issues from the body of the medium; a semi-flexible rod, which is moved up and down and strikes the floor or table. The operators say that the rod theory considered generally is correct. They say that raps are produced in two ways :

(1) Soft raps, bouncing ball imitation, etc., —

by beating the side of the rod on the floor, as one uses a stick for beating a carpet.

(2) Hard raps — by beating the rod on the floor

more or less axially.

While I was obtaining this explanation from them, they illustrated the various styles of raps under consideration at the moment by actually rapping on the floor.

I asked them the approximate dimensions of a rapping rod used to give a fairly hard blow. They gave a blow on the floor as a sample and then said that the diameter of rod used in that particular case was about 2 inches and of uniform thickness over its length, until just before entering the body of the medium where it increased to a diameter of about 3 inches.

The operators also said that the same rod could be used to make a variety of raps according to the strength with which it was struck on the floor. They illustrated this statement by producing (they said with the same rod) a quick variety of raps, as follows: (1) Light taps, as though a lead pencil were striking the floor t

(2) Light bouncing ball imitation, and

(3) Hard blows.

These three different raps were used at this time to reply to questions requiring an affirmative answer, i.e., if the operators wished to say "Yes" they gave the three raps (1), (2), (3) above, all different, in succession; a rather interesting development.