Voices from the void; six years' experience in automatic communications

Foreword

IN introducing this book to the public, I should like to say that my deepest thanks are due to Sir William Barrett, who has helped and encouraged me in every possible way, and to whom I largely owe my interest in Psychical Research.

I also thank the sitters at my circle, who have always been most patient, friendly, and helpful; what I have written is quite as much a record of their work as my own.

I am grateful to the Rev. Savell Hicks and Mr. Lennox Robinson, both of whom helped me by valuable suggestions.

And, lastly, I dedicate "Voices from the Void" to my friend and fellow-worker

"Dorothy."

Contents

CHAPTER PAGB

Foreword . . v

Introduction ix

CHAPTER I Introductory

SO many valuable books have been offered of late to the public on the subject of psychic phenomena that I feel some apology should be made by a totally unscientific person like myself for adding to their number. I have not even the excuse that I have anything exciting or sensational to tell ; I have never attended a seance for materialization ; I have never seen a ghost. Nearly all my experiences have come to me through automatism, and, such as they are, I venture to bring them into the light on the chance that they may be interesting to the student of these matters; I can vouch for the fact that what I have to tell is the result of patient research, at private sittings, chiefly in my own house, and with the help of various friends, who were as anxious as I to add something, however small, to the vast mass of evidence which has been accumulated on the subject of survival after death.

I have great faith in practical experiment — in fact, I feel sure that those who have actually taken part in seances or sittings get a view of psychic phenomena impossible to persons whose investigations have been merely theoretical. Both points of view are of great value; in many ways the observer is better fitted to weigh the evidence produced by the practical worker than is the worker, for the sense of another personality controlling the automatist is apt to warp the judgment of the sitter. Many things are clear and evidential to the practical experimenter which appear vague to the theoretical student. My reason for laying the results of my sittings before the public is that they are genuine as far as they go; they represent the work of a small circle of people, all of whom desired to get nearer to the truth, and approached the subject of psychical phenomena in a spirit unbiased as to the source from which such phenomena arise. What we accomplished may seem small, but it must be borne in mind by the reader that no help from any professional medium was given in any of the sittings for automatism quoted by me.

Those who are willing to devote some of their time to the study of what is commonly called "spiritualism" should bear in mind that results are slow, uncertain, and cannot be forced. Indeed, one asks oneself whether time is well spent seeking for the few grains of gold one finds in the huge dust-heaps of disappointment and dullness. The value of these golden grains seems immense when one has wandered about in a Hades of dim trivialities and even absurdities, spending evening after evening receiving messages from known, or unknown, persons of a kind which would not do credit to a very mediocre letter-writer. Yet these communications purport to be what the unknown control has an ardent desire to get through from the world of mystery to those still alive! Then, quite unexpectedly, a few minutes may atone for the hours of boredom ! Many times I have felt inclined to give up this apparently hopeless pursuit, elusive and baffling as it is. I have even persuaded myself that I might venture to come to a definite conclusion on the subject, that each experiment made it more obvious that automatism, at any rate, is the sitter's subliminal self — neither more nor less. This theory simplifies the whole problem; it sets aside the most disturbing matter connected with things psychic, the possibility of an external influence, and one can start from a firmer basis — i.e., that we are studying ourselves under abnormal conditions, and not holding converse with the spirits of other human beings, alive or dead.

I must confess, however, that having worked more or less steadily at automatism for six or seven years, having started with no theory on the subject, and having been persuaded by turns that I have found this or that explanation of the phenomena which came under my notice — I must confess, I repeat, that for some time past I have been quite clear and decided on one point — in feeling that the subliminal self accounts for much and many things, but not for everything. I am convinced, in fact, that external influences of some nature work through us, using our senses, eyes, ears, brains, etc., their messages, however, being highly colored by the personalities of their mediums. I feel sure that hardly any of the communications I have had are entirely due to subconsciousness. What the nature of these external influences may be is another and a most interesting question, and one still more difficult to answer. I cannot say I have found anysatisfactory reply to it so far. I am inclined to think that the communications which reach us come from different sources. In a few cases I have felt almost certain that I had spoken to those I knew who had passed over; they appeared to preserve their earth-memory, and continued to interest themselves in the mundane affairs of those they loved.

I now pass on to the kind of experiment in which I personally have had long and interesting experiences. This subject will occupy much of my little book, so in this chapter I only explain, for the benefit of my less experienced readers, the different methods of communication so far as I know them.

First comes the game called "planchette," the apparatus for which can be purchased in any children's toy-shop in the "games" department. I need hardly describe planchette to any person who troubles to read a book on psychical research. I only say here that planchette is the clumsiest, most primitive, and least satisfactory "autoscope" possible, and I should recommend anyone who desires to experiment in this field of research to avoid this particular method.

Next comes automatic writing and drawing. This mode of communication has produced most interesting results without doubt, but there are objections to it. A pencil is held generally between the first and third fingers of the hand of the medium; it touches the paper, and as a rule, after some preliminary flourishes and twirls, the pencil begins to write coherent words and messages. These messages vary according to the communicator, and the handwriting changes as different personalities appear. Sometimes the writing is that of a child, then of an old person, etc. One of my objections is that the script is generally difficult to decipher, as (in the nature of things) the pencil cannot be lifted as in ordinary handwriting, and the MS. is full of scrawls and hard to read. This is not my only objection to automatic writing, which, for some unknown reason, leads in certain cases to continual pain in the arm, an irresistible desire to write, nervous upset, and consequent physical prostration. However, without doubt most interesting and evidential results have been obtained by automatic writing, and my objections to this method do not hold good in all cases.

As to automatic drawing, this phenomenon: seems very wonderful in the case of persons possessing no normal faculty as artists. I have seen automatic drawings executed by persons, who in their normal state, were without either artistic taste or training, which would do credit to an art student of many years' standing.

The third method of obtaining automatic messages is the one I can speak of most confidently, as almost all my work has been accomplished through this "autoscope."

In his work On the Threshold of the Unseen,

Sir William Barrett suggests the term "autoscope" for any mechanical means whereby communication from the unknown may reach us. The unknown may be merely the medium's subconscious self; or it may be some supernormal faculty, such as clairvoyance, possessed by the medium; or it may be the influence of some extraneous mind, living or dead, acting upon the subconsciousness of the medium. The forked rod used by the dowser or water-finder is an autoscope, so is planchette, the ouija-board, etc. Although the last-named may appear slow and tedious, it becomes rapid in the hands of an expert sitter. Moreover, as will be seen directly, the ouija-board we use, and which I now proceed to describe, has many advantages.

The ouija-board is a table or board on which the letters of the alphabet are printed or written. The automatist's fingers rest on a small triangular table or "traveler," the underside tipped with three pads of felt. This traveler glides lightly over the board and spells out messages, darting rapidly from letter to letter. The best ouija-board, the one I invariably use myself, is a card-table covered with green baize, on which the letters of the alphabet, the numbers from o to 9, and the words "yes" and "no" are laid, cut out separately on small pieces of cardboard; over this is placed a sheet of plate glass, the same size as the table. The traveler consists of a small triangular piece of wood, about half an inch thick, shod with three small pieces of carpet felt and having on top a piece of soft rubber material on which the fingers rest. I think experimenters, who try the ouija-board, will, if they have any psychic power, soon be amazed at the rapidity with which the traveler flies from letter to letter. In our own circle the words come through so quickly that it is almost impossible to read them, and it requires an experienced shorthand-writer to take them down when the traveler moves at its maximum speed. At the ouija-board the co-operation of two automatists seems best; three seems to create confusion.

Automatism, practiced with patience and perseverance by any of the methods I have mentioned, presents very interesting phenomena. By means of it results of many and varied kinds may be obtained. During the six years in which I have sat more or less regularly at the ouija-board, I have had many interesting and evidential messages purporting to come from those who have passed over or those who were asleep or in a state of trance. I have found, as I shall show later, that for some unexplained reason automatism awakes in the medium supernormal powers which he or she does not possess in the normal state. Successful experiments in so-called psychometry may be made in this way, and a faculty for prevision undoubtedly shows itself sometimes. Of course, it is an open question whether these powers are merely awakened in the medium, or n VOICES FROM THE VOID

whether an external influence is at work, as it professes to be. It is, I think, not advisable that an experimenter should advance any positive opinion on this subject. I am quite convinced that he or she is in a supernormal state when sitting, and consequently is handicapped in criticising results. My own impression is that in most cases results are not by any means due entirely to the sitters' subconsciousness, but it is a matter which it is almost impossible to prove one way or the other.

It is best I should leave my readers to form their own opinions about the incidents which follow; but for the sake of convenience, and to avoid the constant repetition of qualifying phrases, I shall set down occurrences in the form in which they came to me; that is, I shall assume that the messages come, as they purport to come, from intelligences outside the medium's subconsciousness, although this is a matter in which I still prefer to hold my personal judgment in suspense.

CHAPTER II The Personality of the Control

1HAVE headed this chapter "The Personality of the Control," and before I proceed further perhaps it is best that I should define the terms "control" and "communicator."

By "control" I mean an influence which associates itself with the medium and his sittings, and which appears to act in many cases as organizer at the other side. These controls introduce and fetch communicators, and frequently advise and help the mediums by explaining how matters stand in the Unseen. Many people, who have worked with these controls, believe that they act as amanuenses or interpreters between the medium and the unseen communicator. As far as I can tell, this has not been proved to be the case. I should say, rather, that controls arrange the seance and decide who among those who wish to speak from the other side shall communicate. These controls generally give themselves quaint names, and sometimes say they have lived in distant countries many hundreds of years ago. This is not always the case, but it has been so with the majority of those I have come across.

By "communicator" I mean the influence introduced by the control, or who comes without the help of a control, and gives his personal history, or states that he is a friend or relative of someone present. Such communicator may either have passed over or merely be asleep or drowsy.

In the course of sittings extending over six or seven years many influences have spoken through our small circle. Of these some were obviously frauds, and impersonations were frequent. These disappointments are most dispiriting to the novice in psychic experiments. It must always be borne in mind that in order to attain to any firm ground from which one may review one's work and venture to form a judgment as to whether we are or are not in touch with the spirit world, a mass of evidence must be accumulated. This, of course, demands great patience and perseverance, and the experimenter must judge for himself whether the achieved results justify the expenditure of time and labor. If the results are important to him, he must not be discouraged by many back-slidings, and he must be prepared to keep careful records of sittings, good and bad ; this is essential when he comes to the summing-up of evidence.

I propose to deal here with the most marked personalities among our controls, showing how — even allowing that these entities are merely subconsciousness, parts of our mentality which appear only under abnormal conditions — they preserve certain characteristics which are so striking that there is no possibility of confusing one personality with another.

I shall first describe a control who has been of great service to us in experimental work. He is, in fact, the only influence who has aided and abetted us in applying tests to our experiments, who is willing and ready to do so and proud of his powers in this line. As a rule we find controls most unwilling to submit to tests of any kind; indeed, they are as indignant at such a suggestion as one might expect a person to be who walked into a drawing-room and was subjected to a personal examination by his host. During the winter of 19 14 a small circle of sitters — the Rev. S. H., Mr. L., and myself — did very regular work at the ouija-board twice weekly, and a great deal of interesting matter came through from various controls. We worked blindfold. I can answer for myself, and I believe for my fellow-sitters, that never in the course of all the months we sat together did we see the board while communications were coming through, nor did any of us know at the time what these communications were, as they were recorded in silence by a friend, who was obliged to take them down in shorthand, such was the rapidity with which the traveler moved from letter to letter.

At the second or third sitting of the circle referred to, Peter Rooney made his appearance. He stated that he was an American Irishman ; that he had had a most undesirable career and spent much of his life in jail; that ten days before he communicated with us he had thrown himself under a tram-car in Boston and had been killed. Sir William Barrett, having made careful inquiries both from the Governor of the State prison at Boston, Mass., and from the Chief of Police in that city, found Peter Rooney's tale an entire fabrication. A certain Peter Rooney had fallen from a tram-car in August, 1 910, had suffered from a scalp wound, but was alive in 1914, as far as could be ascertained.

On being upbraided by us for assuming a name and identity not his own, Peter admitted that he had no desire that we should know who he was, and that he had adopted this name as "it was as good as any other." He stated that he had been interested in psychical research in his lifetime, and wished to assist investigations of supernormal phenomena now that he had "passed over." He refused absolutely to give us any further information about himself.

Peter has a burning desire to shine as a "test" control; he prefers us to work blindfold, and he is rashly desirous to attempt experiments. He is most uncertain in results, but, given a quiet room and his own mediums, he can do remarkable things. He is a rather primitive creature, has very strong likes and dislikes, and is very vain and fond of a display of his powers.

Early in our sittings he explained that he used various movements on the board to express his feelings — love, hate, pleasure, annoyance, surprise, etc. We became quite familiar with these movements, and, blindfold as we always were, we quite realized Peter's changes of mood. Working under new conditions, a strange sitter, a disarranged alphabet, etc., Peter begins by a very careful examination of the alphabet ; he moves in and out between the letters until he has traversed the entire board, and in case the letters are not in the usual order he notes the fact carefully. He is most sensitive to noise; it seems to disturb and annoy him. He starts at the sound of a clock striking or any noise in the street, and asks what it is. He is most impatient, and makes no allowance for any hesitation on the part of the person reading and noting down his messages, addressing the unfortunate individual occupied in this somewhat difficult task as "Fool!" if he asks that a word or sentence be repeated. Among the experiments which proved suecessful with Peter, I note a few of the most remarkable. He was asked on one occasion to read something in the room, a sentence from a book or newspaper of which the sitters knew nothing. He selected a page from a calendar of twelve pages ; the calendar was taken from the wall by one of the recorders ; it was turned over at random, the recorder carefully avoiding looking at it, and also taking the additional precaution of placing a screen between it and the medium, Mr. L., who was already blindfolded securely. The exposed leaf of the calendar was then placed under the glass, still carefully screened. It proved, when the transscript and calendar were compared, that this calendar had rather long quotations for each month. The page which was copied turned out to be an early spring month, which had been covered over long before; the sitting was in the late winter.

Peter read the entire page, including the long quotation, perfectly correctly. Of course, in this case it may be open to question whether Mr. L., in whose house the calendar was, might not have had the quotation in his subconscious mind. I do not think this was probable, but I quite admit that it was possible. But even then it must be taken into account that there were twelve pages for his "subconsciousness" to choose from, and it would be at the best exceedingly good guessing, as well as remarkable memorizing, if this were the explanation of what occurred.

Peter was, and is still, very fond of telepathic experiments. He used to ask the people present to choose a number or a letter or even a word unknown to the sitters, and to write it on a piece of paper, and hold it under the ouija-table out of their range of vision. The traveler would then make a sudden dive over to the place where the paper was held, examine it most carefully by dipping over the table, touching the paper on which the numbers were written, and generally dart back to the correct n VOICES FROM THE VOID

letters or numbers on the board. It must always be borne in mind that the sitters were blindfolded, and knew nothing of the result at the time. Peter is a fairly expert graphologist, and can tell character by handwriting as well as the average professional. If a letter is laid under the glass the traveler goes over, examines it carefully, rubbing the glass above the writing several times, darts back, begins generally by mentioning the sex of the writer, then by degrees and with many careful examinations of the writing gives a character-sketch which generally proves fairly correct. With this experiment care is always taken, of course, that the handwriting is that of persons unknown to the sitters. Another successful experiment we have tried with Peter is that one sitter should be blindfolded, and that the other, with eyes open, should receive a short message from him. The message is not read aloud. Conditions are then reversed: the sitter who was blindfolded has his eyes open; the other sitter is blindfolded, the letters of the alphabet are mixed, and Peter is asked to repeat the message. Having done so, both sitters are blindfolded, the letters are mixed again, and Peter, for the third time, spells out the same message. The average success of this experiment was about 90 per cent.

I mention these experiments as they serve to illustrate Peter's character as a test control. Who Peter is or was we do not know, but from years of acquaintance with him on the ouija-board he has become a very clearly marked personality to us. He evidently belongs to the lower middle class; is far from polished in his manners; has very strong likes and dislikes; is a very vain and rather capricious creature, rejoicing in his own importance, and very fond of display; intelligent, but not in the least intellectual; very unwilling to admit other controls to any sitting he takes part in — he is, in fact, an amusing and rather inelegant person, and seems to regard the ouija-board as a means of displaying a limited number of conjuring tricks. He is very particular about the mediums through whom he communicates, and seems to gather his power to "see without eyes" from some unknown quality in certain sitters. I have found only a few people with whom he can do blindfold work; he rather despises sittings with open eyes, and unless a medium is present who has the quality necessary for blindfold sitting he seldom comes.

I now pass on to a control who is an entire contrast to Peter Rooney in every respect. This entity calls himself "Eyen," and says he was an Egyptian priest who served in the temple of Isis in the reign of Rameses II. He professes to have been attracted to the sittings at my house by the fact that I possess a piece of cerecloth in which his mummy was wrapped. Eyen is not a test control like Peter ; he cannot do any ouija-work with blindfold sitters; he avoids all experiments as quite beneath him. He is extremely sentimental, much inclined to flatter his mediums, and most untrustworthy in his statements and in the controls he professes to send us, who generally prove to be Eyen himself in fancy dress. He also is most retentive in his hold of sittings, and anxious to exclude other controls. I have known him to "block the telephone," as he calls it, for a month at a time, and exclude any communication except his own; the only means we have found useful in driving him away has been to hypnotize both mediums and suggest that Eyen should not be permitted to speak. This has generally proved successful — for a time at least; in my own case the driving out of Eyen always produced a struggle. When the suggestion that he should go has been made to me, when under hypnotic influence, I have been considerably shaken by him in a rather unpleasant way.

Eyen interested me for several reasons; he professed in the beginning of our acquaintance to cultivate my psychic powers and those of my fellow-sitter. I had repeatedly tried automatic writing without success. One evening, about three or four months after he appeared, Eyen told me he had brought a spirit-light for me, and that I was to give mine to the friend who sat with me, who had none. I asked how this could be done. The reply was that Eyen would put his hand on my head, and I was to place my hand on the head of my friend, and thus the lights would be transferred. I asked, "What will the result of gaining more light be?" Eyen replied, "You will gain psychic power — you will soon find you can do automatic writing, and your friend will perhaps draw automatically. ,, On the particular night I speak of no further power was developed in myself or my friend, but on the next occasion on which we sat Eyen suggested that I might try to write. I did so with a completely successful result; automatic writing came through quite easily to me. The drawing also was successful to a certain extent; the subjects Eyen permitted to come through were very limited! At first only mummies were drawn, and later what Eyen called "Nile flowers. " These were conventional in design and somewhat like the lotus. At first these results could only be obtained when my friend and I sat together; after a short time Eyen said that while Mr. X.'s influence was still in my hand I should be able to write. This I found was the case, but my own strength must have increased, as gradually I found I got automatic writing by myself without difficulty. Eyen has proved a fraud and a liar in most ways, and he has been driven repeatedly from the board by us in consequence; but he has a very definite personality, and his smoothness, flattery, and falseness are part of it. He is a most sentimental person, full of imagination, and he possesses decided powers in the direction of fiction. More than once he has spelt out most sensational tales to us, the plots of which might quite well be of service to a writer in search of melodrama. He tells us stories of life in ancient Egypt, and describes the rites in which he took part in the Temple of Isis. He has also told us most sensational stories of the present day, and one very striking Italian tale which came through at 12 a.m. while the clocks were striking one New Year's Eve.

The tale runs as follows :

Long ago in an Italian town there lived a most beautiful woman. She was much sought after and had many lovers, but she cared only for one. Now, this beautiful woman was a most enigmatical creature, and was possessed of a strange smile that reminded one of the picture of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. Her lovers made no way with her. She always kept them at a distance.

She was attracted by this particular man because he had never loved any woman; he did not seek her company or friendship in any way, and she determined to conquer him. Long and hopelessly she strove to attract him, with no success. But at last she had her wish; he fell desperately in love with her. Step by step they came nearer and nearer to each other, until, at last, one night he asked her to give him all a woman can give a man. She was furious at this insult to her honor, and refused indignantly, and in a rage the man put an end to her life. (When Eyen came to this point I asked, "Is that all? It's not a very original story/' )

"Wait," said Eyen. "The murdered woman left her lover something as a revenge for her death. She left him the Mona Lisa smile, which had protected her from men, so that he might be protected from all women and never love again."

Eyen's latest development is in the role of poet! He has taken to writing verse, invariably addressed to one of his original mediums, Mr. X. or myself. Mr. X. has driven him from the board of late years, and refused to hold any converse with him. The verses which Eyen addressed to Mr. X. consist of curses, reproaches, and regrets for this insult, while those addressed to me are all suavity and most flattering in tone. These verses came through me, and a friend, Mr. W., who "sits" here frequently. They are more or less correct as to versification, though neither this friend nor I are guilty either openly or secretly of writing poetry!

The next control who occurs to me calls himself "Astor." He professes to be the "guide" of an intimate friend of mine, Miss C, who lives in my house. We frequently sit together, and Astor appears invariably and opens the seance. He controls Miss C.'s hand most powerfully; all the force, mental and physical, seems to come through her, and I add probably a kind of balance only. Astor is, of course, chiefly interested in Miss C.'s concerns, but in so far as hers are connected with mine, he is deeply interested in me also, and often devotes most of his attention to me at a sitting.