Philosophy and phenomena of spiritualism

Contents

Introduction 7

Object 12

To The Reader 16

Introduction

This book contains, in part, the story of my early life; some of the many experiences I have had with spirits from my boyhood; a partial record of my being led by the spirit through the spirit world while out of my body; many convincing instances in proof of spirit return; some of my correspondence on various subjects, with the different Spiritualist and other papers; reports and announcements of my meetings and lectures; and my Reports of Societies for the last thirty years. Space in the different papers in which my correspondence appeared was limited and did not permit my going into full detail on the subjects taken up; I hope, however, that enough has been said for your enlightenment on the subjects contained herein to make it worth your while to read this book.

When I began to write articles for Spiritualist and other papers, it did not occur to me to save those articles and have them compiled into book form. If it had, then all the articles I have ever written would have been saved for this work. Nor have I all the Church Notices or reports of meetings I have conducted, or in which I have taken part.

When I was first impressed and commenced to write, I had not the least idea that in later years I should become an author, and that my name (if I may be pardoned for mentioning the fact), would be known all over the world; or that there would ever be a call from my friends or the public for my writings and the suggestion to have them brought together in book form.

I am proud to have been one of the pioneer workers in the Spiritualistic field, and have suffered much for the cause of Spiritualism, in upholding its purity and promulgating its truth. I am writing this in defense of the glorious truth I love so well — that which I knoiv to be the truth, and which I am confident is vastly for the betterment of mankind.

My aim in writing the articles which are now brought together in this book was to make plain to the public the eternal truths of Spiritualism and the verities it teaches. I believe in the Phenomena as well as the

Introduction 9

Philosophy of Spiritualism. I should advise you to study and understand the Philosophy; then you will be ready to perceive the Phenomena and to understand how it is possible for a friend who has passed into the spirit world to send a spirit message through a spirit medium to mortals on the earth plane. You are in no condition to receive a spirit message until you understand the Philosophy, which will enable you to help the spirits that are attracted to you to manifest, or to give you the spirit message they have for you. You can not understand the Phenomena if you do not understand the Philosophy.

The Philosophy teaches that we have both material and spiritual bodies and material and spiritual eyes to use while living on the earth plane. It teaches that it is possible for mortals, while living, to communicate with those who have gone into the spirit world, if those mortals have their spiritual eyes opened. The Philosophy teaches that our spirit eyes are given us to use while living in the body, so that we may be able to protect our spiritual bodies against so-called evil spirits, and so carry on our spiritual work while on earth and be happier here and when we pass into the spirit world.

It must be remembered that as there are good, bad, and indifferent kinds of people living, so when they pass into the spirit world their spirits will be of the same character as when those persons lived in the body, that is, either good, bad, or indifferent, as the case may be; and each will try to find some one still living whom it can impress to do what it did, or wanted to do, while living in the body. The spirit world and the spirits are all around us. We who are living in the body are in the spirit world today, as completely as are those whose spirits have left their bodies and gone to the spirit world ; for there are only two places, Heaven and earth, and we must be in either the one of the other. We are not in the earth, therefore we must be in Heaven.

The Phenomena of Spiritualism prove that spirits can communicate with mortals, but do not teach you how this is done ; neither do those phenomena teach you how to live so as to be happy here, or in the spirit world; nor do they inform you that the spirit messages you may receive from your spirit friends do not depend upon the spirit mediums but upon yourself. No medium can call spirits around you. Mediums can only describe the spirits

Introduction 11

that you have attracted to you, or that you bring with you, that they can see.

Remember, dear friend, that if, every day of your life you were to receive through a spirit medium, spirit messages from the spirit of a loved one who has passed into the spirit world, that fact would not save you or make you any happier when you pass into the spirit world. The only thing that will make you happy here and now, and when you pass into the spirit world, is what you do yourself — not what some one else may do, but what you do. You are responsible, and you will be held responsible, for what you do ; and if you will allow yourself to be influenced or led astray by some spirit or mortal, you will be held responsible for all your wrong doings.

OBJECT

My object in giving to the public an account of my lifework and experience as a Spiritualist is to present some idea of the mission, revelation and teachings of modern Spiritualism. Therefore this book is written not only for all who are now Spiritualists, but as well for those newly seeking the Truth, those who have either just entered the portal of the Temple or are standing upon the threshold, looking in.

I have devoted much time to procuring all the information possible bearing upon the questions involved. Before engaging in Spiritualistic work I gave years of study to the Philosophy and Phenomena of the religion, supplemented by extensive and continued investigation.

I have written the books, " How to Hold Circles for Developing Mediumship at Home/' " Soul Science, the Proof of Life after Death/' " How to Develop Psychic Power," and the present volume, with the hope that they will help those who are now in the position I once occupied, that is, groping in darkness at the foot of the ladder.

The importance of any book depends

Object 18

largely upon the mental attitude of the reader. No mind grasps an idea outside of its own state, and a mind governed by predetermined opposition to a topic will reject the most logical presentation of facts, so long as those facts disagree with the predetermined conception.

The articles contained herein merit more than a passing reading. They should receive careful study, for each reading, accompanied by meditation and analysis, will reveal new lights of importance. Thus only will one be qualified to offer criticism. The subjects are of profound importance, and should be treated as such, in all stages of the discussion.

My purpose in prefixing these comments is solely to ask that impartial thought be given to the dissertations contained in this book — for the open mind alone can learn.

In its reaction against orthodox criticism and persecution, it was natural that Spiritualism should feel inspired to drop from its articles of belief nearly everything that savored of orthodoxy, forgetting, perhaps, that religion is amenable to the law of evolution and that in all evolution there is a gradual growth, with the old blending into the new. In gaining a better understanding of a subject, often mankind seems to move away from that subject — to return to it later with a new angle of vision.

Each advancing year sees the thought of the world becoming more and more liberal and the mind of man made more ready for the great truths of the science, philosophy, and phenomena of Spiritualism. Thus it becomes fitting that organizations be formed to promulgate these truths; to counteract the false teachings of the Sunday newspapers and the popular magazine with respect to them; to affirm our unalterable allegiance to the fundamental American doctrine of complete separation of Church and State, and to exert all honorable means to resist the insidious encroachments, under various guises, that are constantly being made on that great principle, mainly by the enemies of our public school system.

As Mediumship is the basis of Spiritualism, it becomes our sacred duty to foster its unf oldment and development to the highest possible degree, and I urge upon our auxiliaries the importance of conducting properly supervised developing circles, not only for beginners, but for the still further expansion of the powers of our more advanced mediums. One

Object 15

of the greatest needs of our movement is the carrying of our emancipation teaching into the regions now bound by the shackles of orthodoxy. It is the duty of every local society and every individual Spiritualist to do everything possible to build up new societies, and thus aid the cause, since spirit force is an undying force. As the body is the acting force in this life, so is the spirit the acting force in the spirit life, after the change called death. This is according to the teachings of our Spirit-teachers as you will learn from the pages of this book.

TO THE READER

While you are reading this book please tryto eliminate all prejudices from your mind and extend good-will to the sayings you find here, and you will get results. If you will only investigate these sayings with an open and unprejudiced mind, you will find them to be true.

Destroy the thought that you are, or could be, inferior or superior to any one. Why? Because God could not create you inferior or superior to any one. And you must also destroy the thought that you are any more or any less sacred than any other person — then your mind will be purified.

Man is what he is today because of certain definite fixed principles that have been operating in his life without his knowledge. The secret of success is to learn those principles and then apply them, in order to be able to govern his thoughts and emotions, his

To The Reader 17

bodily conditions, the events of his life, and his final destiny.

Man does not understand himself, so he believes the events of his life to be accidental and that his fate and destiny must continue to remain a mysterious uncertainty.

It is possible for him to learn how to make life a complete success. The reason so many people are deficient, unpopular, and failures at the present time, is that they do not understand themselves. They have not been properly taught in the schools, or in the homes, and so have had no chance to learn and to develop, to emerge from this darkened condition into the light.

To have a mental vision of what can happen and to be prepared to meet the situation effectively is the desideratum. Some people have a gift of foresight: they think, and with mental vision see ahead, and success is their reward. Others call it luck, and instead of analysing it, busy their minds with things that happened, and spend their time in lamentations, assuming that all chances for the present and future generation are gone forever!

Which way are you going, up or down? Statistics tell us that only five men out of every hundred at the age of sixty have reached success, and that most of the other ninety-five are dependent upon others for their livelihood. Startling, you say? Yes, but true. It shows plainly that only a very few of us reach the ranks of the successful. When you start out in life you can go either way, up or down. If you wish to go up, you must be alert to catch the opportunity of the moment as it comes your way.

The unexpected has happened, and just when you are least prepared! Of course, it could hardly be called " unexpected " had you been preparing for it. Some one has said that it is the unexpected happenings that show us what we are really made of, and strengthen our courage by putting it to the test.

When the unexpected occurs, do not give way to discouragement and despair, but resolve to see it through. Build up a good, strong, well developed body, a sound mind, a good memory, and a magnetic, well developed personality, that will enable you to meet the world successfully and to accomplish any purpose to which you may desire to dedicate your life ; the chances are that such an opportunity will never be presented to you again.

To The Reader 19

This is the supreme, decisive turning-point in your life, at this moment you are determining your destiny.

Yours in the cause of Truth, Franklin A. Thomas.

PHILOSOPHY ^PHENOMENA ^/SPIRITUALISM

Chapter I Thought, Love, Soul

THOUGHT

Successful lives grow from within outward. There can be no lasting success in outward affairs that does not spring from inward growth; and for this development of our thought and psychic power we are to depend upon ourselves and not upon others. Our entire physical environment is the direct, natural, and inevitable result of our own thoughts, and those of others directly concerned with us.

Thought builds and shapes our character. Thought attracts to us our environment. Thought produces health and joy, or sickness and sorrow. Thought attracts to us poverty, or riches, happiness or misery. Thinking of

Thought, Love, Soul 21

these subjects is something more than the mere idea of their passing through the mind : it is to think with such an intensity of desire, such an exertion of will, such a power of faith, and such a glow of hope and expectation, that our interior spirit forces are unlocked and begin to assert their magnetic power upon the material world, and their creative power upon the spiritual realm around us. Thinking in this sense is the act of the whole being, not a mere exercise of the mentality.

Each thought is a builder of all its conditions. Man is thus directly — and may be consciously — connected with every object and being in the universe and, according to his knowledge and development, may control and attract or repel what he pleases. We must learn that thought has a magnetic force and attracts to the thinker the good desired, or the evil feared. Our progress, safety, and success depend upon the utilization of our thought forces. These forces all operate in strict accord with natural laws, and the more we learn of the laws that govern them, the better we can control those forces.

These interior forces generated by thought may be rightly or wrongly directed, to our own good or harm, according as we cherish noble or ignoble purposes. Cherish, then, the hope of better days, of greater power, and larger opportunities, and see in perpetual mental vision the brighter future before you. Remember that as we foster the noblest aims and purposes, and unfold our thought forces and spirituality, we attract to us spirit intelligences that work in sympathy with us and often open the door to broader fields and wider successes. Watch, therefore, for new impressions, new impulses, new desires, which often come from the spirit realm to lead us "out" and "up" and "on" to nobler heights.

LOVE

Seek to love all men and to see God in everything. Have no fear of any person or any thing. If you are filled with love for all things you will have no fear, for fear is the lack of love. If you fear any thing or anybody, turn that fear into love, and you will have gained a great victory thereby.

Love is the fulfilling of every law in the universe. Seek love in all things. Love will break down every barrier — this is what you need. Love helps to lift all burdens. Love

Thought, Love, Soul 23

will open the way, and will help you to carry on your work of love.

Love is the highest law of which you can conceive. Love means happiness, and that happiness is within the reach of all. Joy and peace are the fruits of love and of right thinking, and there is no reason why every one may not possess them. Go write it on your heart. And wait: your waiting will not be in vain. Make this thought a part of your daily life.

Love for the highest is the beginning of religion. Knowledge of the Truth is the light that illumines the temple within — self -illumination, which brings a realization of our Divine nature — a realization which should come to all, however short or long the duration of life. " Truth does not pay homage to any society — ancient or modern ; society has to pay homage to truth or die." That society is the greatest where the highest truths become practical. Ignorance is man's most powerful enemy ; and is the cause of his greatest misfortunes.

SOUL

Soul is not the body, neither is it the spirit. It is not force, nor is it thought ; but it is the fruit of thought. Spirit is neither the body, nor the soul. Spirit is the life within the body and controls it. There are three — spirit, soul and body. The spirit manifests through the body, and the work of the spirit is the soul. The body could not exist without the spirit, and the spirit could not manifest without the body ; it is evident, then, if there were no spirit, there would be neither soul nor body.

After we have sent thought out, whether good or bad, it remains the same : if it is pure, that is, if our thoughts are pure, the soul will be pure and perfect; and when we send out our thoughts we can never call them back to us again.

Each soul is a circle ; the center is where the body is and the activity — the work of the spirit — is manifested there. Soul is the work of the spirit through the body, and will live on through eternity, doing good. The more good we give out, the more good we shall attract to us and the more perfect will be the soul and the body. Send out therefore the positive desire that your spirit shall go forward ; that greater opportunity shall come to you for progress; that the height of your soul-desire, which is its mighty work for good, may be reached.

Search well your spirit for love. Set a holy

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shrine for God within that temple ; crown him its ruler, for he dwells in you. He, who will illuminate your mind with the vision which the spirit creates, will bring about the realization of that vision in future years. He is your strength, your power, your health, and you must crown him ruler of your life.

I am a living spirit, an instrument of God, and I know I was not made to be a mere instrument of creeds, customs, or preconceived ideas. I am a living spirit and I naturally know right from wrong, within myself. My body is the instrument through which I, the spirit, must act.

I am made in the image of God; I am able to speak the truth and live the truth so long as I listen to my spirit-self and God — these two are one. I realize that God gave to all spirits, Himself, that goodness may be expressed through each individual. I have naught else to do but to live in harmony with spirit-self and God. It is natural for any living spirit — and that is what each one of us is — to be happy and loving; and it is unnatural for us to be otherwise.

Be satisfied to let your spirit be perfectly expressed through the flesh. Live to make your body a temple, an instrument for God and your own spirit, which are one. Live to do good to all. In so doing you will be directed by your own true spirit-self, love of God, the spirit of all living things. Live to be obedient to your own spirit, your noblest impressions and feelings. Send no thought into the world that will not bless, or cheer, or purify, or heal ; have no aim but to make earth a fairer, better place in which to live, and rise each day into a higher sense of Life, Love, God, and Purity.

Chapter II

A BRIEF SKETCH OF BOYHOOD DAYS, AND UP TO THE PERIOD OF GREATER UNDERSTAND- ING AND REALIZATION

I was born in Springfield, Illinois. My father was a farmer. He possessed a fund of common sense and good humor, was veryhuman, and liked to read good stories. He did not use liquor or tobacco ; did not play cards, nor would he permit dancing in the house.

In 1869 my father and mother with six children, of whom I was next to the youngest in age, started for Kansas in what was called a moving wagon, or " prairie schooner," crossing the Missouri and Kansas State line July 4, 1870. We stopped at a place in Kansas called Big Springs, for the remainder of the summer, and left there in the early spring of 1871 for Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas.

My father left Illinois with a span of fine young horses, so gentle that the children could play around with them without fear. While on the road he had opportunities to sell them at a good price, but because of their many good qualities he would not part with them for any sum of money. He knew good horses and how to take care of them. After leaving Big Springs he could not buy the grade of corn to which they had become accustomed in Illinois, and soon after reaching the place destined to be his home for so many years, one after the other, his horses died.

There he was in a new country, with six small children, neighbors many miles apart, and could not get work at fifty cents a day; in truth, there was no work for anybody, for all the families, like ourselves, were newcomers and sadly lacking in worldly possessions.

Father succeeded in getting a yoke of oxen and began to haul logs from the river, a distance of twenty miles, and the only place where there was timber. He hewed them into shape and commenced to build a cabin on which he worked, when he could, for three years. When not thus engaged, he was breaking up sod; that is, plowing the new ground and planting it each spring with corn; the second year he would plow it again and sow wheat in the fall, harvesting it the next summer if he raised any. All this while, we were living in a wagon bed — which was set on the ground — in which we had travelled from Illinois.

We all managed to live and we got along very well for three years, or until '74, " grasshopper year," as it was called, when the grasshoppers swooped down upon the country in clouds, so thick sometimes as to hide the sun, and devoured every green thing before them. But for the aid received from Illinois and other States, the people in Kansas would have starved the winter following this deluge of destruction.

The country at that time was filled with cowboys and Indians. There were no railroads and Wichita was on the Santa Fe trail. There was only one house in the place, a government post office about ten by twelve feet; but there were hundreds of tents, for it was a great Indian trading post. Indians were there all the time, with United States soldiers guarding them. Wichita is at the junction of the Little and the Big Arkansas rivers; the former was a half mile in width, there was no bridge and the river was full of quicksands and, in fording it, one had to be very careful to avoid these holes. The Gulf Division of the

Santa Fe Railroad was started and built in 1872, from Newton, Kansas, to Wichita and the South.

My father was an Englishman and, in consequence, was allowed to " homestead " only eighty acres of land, and on this land he lived until just before his death.

In 1871 our neighbors were yet " few and far between ;" however, each year brought new settlers and the population increased rapidly until the year of the grasshoppers, when everybody who had money went East, some of whom returned; others did not; and their places were soon filled, for newcomers arrived in Kansas year after year in increasing numbers until the land was well settled. The farmers were raising large crops each year, receiving good prices for them, there was a great deal of railroad building, and a general boom of prosperity spread over the State.

Wichita, like all the frontier towns, had its share of shootings ; its variety of drinking and gambling dens; its dance halls and other houses where the lowest types of men and women would meet; thieves and murderers went there from the East, to escape justice. After a while, though, as the country grew, these places and people moved on to the frontier settlement, and Wichita became a safe and respectable town in which to live.

In those early days when sickness visited a house the neighbors rallied to the aid of the sick family, taking their turn at night in the care of the one who was ill, and giving freely of their services wherever needed. If a farmer, through inability in any form, could not plow, plant, or harvest his crop, his neighbors combined and did these things for him. Whenever a death occurred, the news was passed from house to house until the neighborhood knew it and all would attend the funeral. I have known my father to go fifteen miles to a funeral, a long distance in those days under prevailing conditions. The neighborhood covered a wide territory, sheltered many warm hearts, and developed much of the milk of human kindness — in many ways it was a large family.

In this new country there were no schools for me to attend when I was small ; later when there were schools they continued but three months in the year, and by this time I was large enough to help with the work on the farm and had but little opportunity to go, although I had a great desire for an education. During the short periods of my going to school

I had to get up at four o'clock in the morning and do the chores, walk two miles to the schoolhouse, and home again in the afternoon.

My father was a brave man : he never kept any firearms nor allowed any on the place, although in those early days in Kansas there were a great many large black wolves, wild cats, and numerous other wild animals. I dare say I have either learned, or inherited, from him this characteristic for I am not afraid of anything. He thought so much of his horses that he spared them all undue labor : whenever I went anywhere day or night I had to walk.

I used to walk four and a half miles to church when it was so dark that I could not see my hand in front of me, and at a time when there was a " mad dog scare " all over the country. I was not afraid. There were several polecat dens beside the road that I frequented and I could see the polecats when I passed along there during the day; on moonlight nights I saw a great many more. It was my habit to sing or whistle wherever I went, clay or night, and as I neared these dens the polecats would move out of my path and stand beside it, looking at me. There was no fear between us, and their glances were friendly.

I loved to walk along these roads at night, and the darker the night, the better I liked it.

My friends used to call me an old man when I was a boy, for I preferred to be alone rather than with the best friend I had. I had no girl friends, and did not desire any. Yet, all the time I was keenly conscious of wanting something — just what that something was I did not know. I loved to be out of doors walking, it seemed as though there was some one with me watching my every step, and I was filled with happiness. I could not express myself to my friends, either to their understanding or my satisfaction, so I kept it all to myself. I was seeking, seeking — but what? I could not tell.

In my boyhood days church services were held in schoolhouses of course every family went to church, and the Sunday cooking was done on Saturday unless, perchance, the minister were a guest, in which case the rule was " more honored i' the breach than the observance ", and choice dishes might be concocted with impunity.