Glimpses of the Next State

 William Usborne Moore (1849-1918)

 

Vice-Admiral William Usborne Moore’s Glimpses of the Next State (1911) followed the publication of a book he wrote called The Cosmos and the Creeds.  He explained: "I began to feel misgivings as to my agnosticism regarding a future life, for I had not investigated the evidences of those who call themselves ‘Spiritualists.’"  His investigations would acquaint him with dozens of mediums and psychics and encompass three trips to America.  In the preface of the first of the two books providing a "record of investigation and spiritistic phenomena," he observed:

To be brief, I found that the deeper I went into the study of Spiritism the more apparent it became that, whether he wished it or not, man's individuality was not extinguished at death.  I read books, visited clairvoyants, and attended séances for materialisation.  Through all I was constantly reminded of the existence of a near and dear relative, older than myself, who passed away thirty-seven years ago in the prime of her life.  Her continued reappearances could only lead me to one conclusion: I was being guided to a reconsideration of the problem of immortality.

This relative is called in Moore’s books "Iola" — "a spirit name which she herself adopted to avoid the unpleasant complications that may arise as to her identity among those of her friends and relatives who are not educated in spiritism."  Moore noted that "The word ‘spirit’ is used throughout [the book] as indicating a discarnate entity.  It is a loose term, but the one that is in general use, and therefore convenient."  Iola manifesting in proximity to Moore would make evident the intelligence of the intermediary Force controlling the diverse phenomena that would become associated with the Spiritualism movement.

Moore described his plan for recording what he observed.

I carried about with me a small note-book, in which were written down at the time, or directly after the sitting was over, the headings and order of events.  Within twenty-four hours these brief notes were expanded into a record of what took place, from memory, assisted by the headings.  Where light prevailed all the times, as at the Bangs Sisters, the record is naturally more complete than at dark séances, or where half-light was allowed.

Moore disclosed some biographical information about himself. 

At the age of sixteen I entered the surveying branch of the Navy, and remained connected with the hydrographic department of the Admiralty, in some form or the other, for thirty-five years.  When I left I had commanded six surveying vessels, and had been in charge of five surveys in the Pacific Ocean, Australia, China, and on the coasts of Scotland and England.

Glimpses of the Next State provides accounts of dozens of mediums and psychics whom Moore personally observed during many years of research.  He also included as Appendix A of the book a substantial collection of documentation concerning the research of Mr. E. C. Randall of Buffalo, NY in association with Direct Voice medium Mrs. French.  Moore’s experiences related in his metaphysical memoir and a sequel, The Voices (1913), span from 1904 through 1913.  The second book includes many testimonials written by other witnesses and focuses on the Direct Voice phenomena observed to manifest in the presence of Mrs. Henrietta 'Etta' Wriedt during her trips to England in 1912 and 1913.  He identified his motivation upon beginning his investigations:  "I wanted to know the truth.  'If a man die, shall he live again?' — this was the problem to be solved."

The first books I read on the subject were some of the reports of the Society for Psychical Research and Researches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism by W. Crookes, to which my attention was directed by Mr. A. P. Sinnett, the well-known author and theosophist.

While attending seances conducted by trance/materialization medium Cecil Husk, Moore reported hearing different languages. 

When foreigners attended, they [also] always carried on short conversations with their friends on the other side.  I have heard twelve languages spoken at different séances.

He sailed from Southampton to arrive in New York on Christmas Day, 1904, attending a seance the same evening with materialization medium Mr. De Witt Hough and his partner Mrs. Conklin, a clairvoyant.

Raps were heard in and about the cabinet, and tunes were well played on the harmonica, accompanied by bells.  We sang, and at intervals called for tunes to be played by spirits in the cabinet, which were all rendered as requested.  The melody they got out of the ten-cent harmonicas was wonderful.

After half-an-hour of darkness, a little cripple control "Star Eyes" who had been in evidence some minutes, talking and laughing in the cabinet, asked for a light to be lit.  Mrs. Conklin lit an oil-lamp in a corner of the room opposite to the cabinet.  It was shaded with a blue screen, and covered with a shutter which communicated by a string with the cabinet; this enabled the controls to regulate the light at will.

Fifteen or sixteen spirits materialised full length, and were recognized either as friends or habitués of the cabinet.  About half-way through, the cabinet curtains opened, and a small, slight form, below the medium height of females was seen.  Mrs. Conklin called out the earth name of Iola.  I rose in my seat, and the woman came out towards me for a distance of some ten feet, took my hands, and drew me back to the cabinet.  She was in a state of intense vibration.  I asked, "Have you any message?"  "Yes! — Yes!" she said, "I will write."  She took up a pencil, knelt down, and wrote upon the paper in the table.  After writing a few words, she rose and went behind the curtain, apparently to gather strength; then came out again and finished the message.  This she gave into my hands.  She then came back with me to my seat, and said "Sit! — Sit!" — kneeled down by my side, and whispered "I am so glad you have come."  At this time I had the form completely in my power, she holding both of my hands in hers.  Presently she rose slowly and withdrew into the cabinet with a natural, easy gait.  After saying "God bless you," she disappeared.

Moore mentioned that "Iola came three times" during several sittings with Hough.    Here are some other descriptions of incidents that occurred during these seances.

It was noticeable that if some common name was called out, such as "Mary," and the wrong person approached the cabinet to claim the phantom, it would disappear; none of those spirits would take the hand of a stranger.  The controls were alleged to be a Colonel Baker, who was killed in the War of Secession, Dr. Baker and a little spirit called Star-Eyes.  Colonel Baker did not often materialise, but I have seen him in uniform.  Star-Eyes kept up a running conversation throughout every séance, and generally materialised  once or twice.  If I went up to her, she would touch my hand softly; she had the appearance of a small cripple.  There were many materialisations and dematerialisations outside the cabinet.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of all the séances was the visit of a woman we used to call the "Roman lace-worker."  She came sometimes from the cabinet, and at others from the floor outside it.  She would borrow a handkerchief from me or some other sitter, and, shaking it out, evolve yards of drapery, which she would throw in turn over each individual member of the circle.  I have held it in my hands; it was of firm texture, and apparently as mundane as anything bought from a shop.  She would then retire, laying it along the floor towards the cabinet; it would dematerialize from the latter outwards.  When the sitter from whom the handkerchief had been borrowed naturally asked for his property to be returned, she would come out into the circle and pull it out from my back, or shirt-front, or the top of my head, and throw it to its owner.  I have seen this spirit materialize a handkerchief from the carpet.  She would bend down and scratch away until a small white substance appeared; this would get larger and larger, until it assumed the dimensions of a handkerchief.

During the first American expedition, other mediums whose interactions are described by Moore include Margaret Gaule Reidinger, Dora Hahn and Mrs. May Pepper.  He returned to England "in a frame of mind quite ready to receive the truths of spiritism . . ."

The third chapter of Glimpses of the Next State is about the two mediums whose seances Moore attended most constantly during this period through February 1906 (Craddock and Husk) with the author mentioning one sitting with the medium Williams.  At one time Husk and Williams had worked together.  Moore wrote: "The principal control or familiar spirit of Husk is the famous buccaneer of the time of Charles II,  Sir Henry Morgan, who now calls himself "John King."  Moore developed a perspective of 'physical phenomena':

Force is exerted and intelligently directed by invisible beings—dynamic force, which cannot be attributed in any way to the psychic (assuming the honesty of the latter), and which produces results such as telekinesis, materialisation, etherealisation, the direct voice in the trumpet, or independent of it, writing between slates, precipitating pictures, passing matter through matter, and so forth.

In December 1908, Moore returned to America to continue his research.  He visited Rochester, New York; Toledo, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Chicago, Illinois during a period of two and a half months.  His account offers evidence of the omnipresent Force that is all-knowing concerning the relationships and affinities between people on Earth with those who've made the transition to the next state of human existence.  

The evidence I obtained in these cities convinced me that I had been in direct communication with Iola, and with many relatives and friends through her influence, by the mediumship of professional and non-professional psychics.

The correlation of the evidence through different psychics who did not know one another, and in some cases had not even heard of one another, was striking, and — to me — conclusive of the genuineness of each . . .

The first psychic with whom Moore sat after his arrival in the United States was 'automatic mirror writing' medium Mrs. Georgia of Rochester, New York.  He attended seances with Emily S. French,  whom he had read about in Isaac K. Funk's book The Psychic Riddle (1907) and described the manifestations witnessed at seances conducted by Ben Jonson and his wife in a suburb of Toledo, Ohio.  Moore also wrote about experiences with two other Toledo mediums: Mrs. Alexander and novice nineteen-year-old medium Miss Ada Besinnet.

A seance on January 6, 1909 included trance mediumship and a materialization that Moore found greatly unexpected.  Ben Jonson was controlled by Greyfeather, an Indian "who spoke in a different voice from that of the medium."  Moore was accustomed to the many spirits of ‘the Red Man’ who were of great use in seances as "All North American Indians were spiritists in their earth lives . . ."; however, he was startled by what happened next when there was seen what apparently was a famous historical figure.

. . . two strong forms emerged from the opening of the cabinet on my right.  I was almost touching the entranced medium with my left arm; within two feet of me, on my right, was a woman as tall as Jonson, wearing a white robe, a bright silver or steel band on her forehead, and what appeared to be bracelets and jewels on her arms.  After a few words of conversation she let me understand that she was Cleopatra, once Queen of Egypt.  Standing a little behind her was a smaller form who gave the name of Josephine.  In appearance neither of these was human in complexion or lines, but swarthy and dimpling, Josephine's face rather red; the general effect was not unpleasing, though it never occurred to me that either face was mortal.  I asked Josephine who was the spirit that first appeared, and she corroborated my first impression.  It was Iola.

Grayfeather suddenly exclaimed: "I like that squaw, she very nice squaw."  I said: "How flattered Cleopatra would have been, in earth life, to hear that."

The Indian took this innocent remark in bad part, and called out angrily: "I say she nice squaw, I say it to her face, Grayfeather not got four tongues.  No!  no!"

Moore reported another appearance of Cleopatra on January 16.

Cleopatra manifested.  This afternoon she was about 5 ft. 9 in. in height, and not so big as on the first occasion.  She clearly said that she was the Egyptian Queen, and was glad to come to me, and that she intended to accompany me "West."  Around her forehead was the same silver band or crown, and she had the same majestic mein.

Moore commented further about this seance: "Jonson was outside the cabinet for at least half the time that the materialisations appeared . . . I saw several forms dematerialise, two or three outside the cabinet: one male form did it deliberately, to show me how it was accomplished, and Cleopatra dematerialized from feet upwards."  The next materialization of Cleopatra occurred on January 29.  In the interim between the previous seance, he had travelled to Chicago and for a week became acquainted with the mediumship of the Bangs Sisters, obtaining 'precipitated' (invisibly created) letters and portraits, including one of Cleopatra.  The seance was an experiment for Moore as he was sitting alone with the Jonsons and he expressed his surprise about it being so successful.  Iola appeared, then Viola and Abdullah. 

The next materialization was that of Cleopatra, who emerged from the cabinet with her accustomed crown and gestures, but only 5 ft. 3 in. or 5 ft. 4 in. height.  (I account for this by want of power, owing to my being the only sitter.)  She said she would guard her picture (see Chapter VII.) [precipitated in the presence of the Bangs Sisters], and reappeared twice.
 

Cleopatra was followed by Hypatia, who came three times.  She gave her name, and walked (or glided) up and down the room two feet outside the cabinet.  Her face was that of a handsome woman, with much hair, and the movements of the figure were graceful.  She could not talk much.  I said: "If I go to Chicago again, will you help to precipitate your portrait?"  The answer was, "With great pleasure."  There was nothing in the face (nor that of Cleopatra) that suggested a mortal being.  I do not know why, but Mrs. Jonson was delighted at the appearance of Hypatia.

Hypatia brought an old friend of mine on her third appearance.  I thought I knew who it was by his general appearance (possibly telepathy was at work), and asked, "Are you an English naval officer?"  The head was bowed, and he twice put his hand to his forehead, indicating the disease from which he passed out.  (This brother officer died insane some six years before.)  I asked, "Are you happy?"  The head was bowed vehemently.  Both figures were clearly seen together.

My father and mother materialized.  In these there was no possibility of error.  My father had a nose like the Iron Duke, and I saw him in good light three feet outside the cabinet; his prominent feature was clearly distinguishable.  Three men came out whom I did not know; one was said to be Mr. Marshall Fields, a wealthy merchant of Chicago; but, as I never knew him, nor heard of him before this evening, I cannot answer for his identity.

The poor little waif, "Kitty," who died some years ago in New York of cold and starvation, and who is often heard, but seldom seen, at Jonson's séances, manifested on this occasion.  She was more substantial-looking than any other figure, and came out twice to me where I sat in my chair, four feet from the cabinet.  Once she went round behind Mrs. Jonson, who was sitting on my right, and stood behind the chairs, patting me on the hand several times.  This girl had been known to Jonsons' sitters for some six years; she always appears in the same dress and the same size, and invariably manifests the same characteristics.  Flashlight photographs have been taken of her.  I have one in my possession taken three years before, and I can affirm it is the same child I saw on this evening.  So natural and human is this picture that I must confess I thought, when first it was lent to me in England, it was a fraud.  Having seen the materialised form, I no longer have any doubt as to its genuineness.  Kitty must now be, speaking in earthly terms, twenty or twenty-one years of age; but she appears as a little girl of, say, thirteen, with short frock, stockings down at heel, and no shoes.  Is it possible that she is allowed to manifest constantly at the age at which she died to prove the fidelity of these mediums?

Grayfeather took the medium into the cabinet after Cleopatra had shown herself.  While I  was talking to Iola, Jonson stood up.  I touched him with my left arm while I was facing the spirit.

The light was sufficient to read a white-faced watch, except during the appearance of Abdullah. 

Moore reported about 'trumpet medium'/'voicing medium' Mrs. Etta Wriedt of Detroit, Michigan: "I have never met with anyone whose mediumship has brought me so close to the next state of consciousness as Mrs. Wriedt . . . She does not fall into trance, and often joins in the conversation going on between the sitter and her spirit visitor; she speaks sometimes at the same instant as her control or the other spirits. I have been much puzzled to know what she has to do with the manifestations; all I am really sure is that her presence is essential."  She was then forty-seven years of age.  The descriptions of seances where Wriedt presided include the use of a trumpet, which Moore explained in the preface of his second book.

The communications from the spirits to the sitters are usually made through an aluminum trumpet which magnifies the voices, the spirit talking into the mouth, and the sound emanating from the smaller end.  The trumpet is made in three lengths of thirteen inches each.  These are put one inside the other, and gently pulled out until fixed.  When it is on the floor ready for use, the trumpet stands thirty-two inches; the small orifice being from one-half to three-quarters of an in inch in diameter, the mouth five inches.  Some spirits do not require the trumpet; it is a common occurrence for two spirits to talk to two people at different positions in a circle, one with, the other without, its assistance.  The weight of the trumpets varies from eight to thirteen ounces.

During the seance of January 9, 1909, Moore heard his guide Iola confirm that she was in the "Sixth sphere, seventh realm," as he had been told by Mrs. Wriedt's 'chief control' Dr. Sharp.  Sir A. G. spoke about the Maine disaster.

He had altered the view of that catastrophe which he held while in life, and went into long particulars about mines and wires that I could not follow properly, as I am not acquainted with Havana Harbour.  He went on to say: "There were five in my family."  (Correct.)  "Do you remember the last time we met?"  I replied: "Yes; I dined with you at ------." "Yes, we sat and smoked and talked.  You admired a worked cushion we had."  (Mark this trifling detail!  I had a faint recollection of the incident, and, on writing to England, found out from one of the people present that it was true.)

On February 4, Moore asked Iola about the portraits precipitated in the presence of the Bangs Sisters.  Iola is quoted as having said:

"What made the pictures a success was your being present.  Had you laid your gold watch upon the table, I could have extracted the essence and put a gold pin in my hair or dress.  If you had taken roses with you to the séance room, I could have put in roses.  Spirits love the flowers."

Moore commented about listening to the Direct Voice phenomena: "I have heard three voices talking at once, one in each ear and one through the trumpet; sometimes two in the trumpet."  He mentioned that except for the voice of the control Dr. Sharp, he wasn't able to identify the communicators by their voices alone: "The operation is like communicating with a friend or relative through a long distance telephone."

Another Detroit whose seances Moore attended in 1909 was Mr. A. W. Kaiser, who was thirty-three years of age at the time.  A trumpet was also utilized at Kaiser's séances.  Here are some excerpts from Moore's account of the January 9 séance.

The first spirit to come was my brother-in-law, who called himself "Harry," as he did occasionally at Mrs. Wriedt's.

Next came Iola, but she gave very little information; and then my mother, who stopped only to say a few words.  After her departure a spirit called "Tim," one of the habitués of Jonson's cabinet, announced himself, and spoke for a few seconds.  He said he had seen me at a dark séance at Jonson's.  (This is correct; it was on January 4.)

Q.: "Who was that tall woman at Jonson's whom we called 'Cleopatra'?"

A.: "A great spirit from a high sphere."

Tim was followed by Dr. Jenkins, the psychic's control.  He has a strong, clear voice, not resembling that of Mr. Kaiser.  I had a little talk with him.

Q.: "Please tell me, Dr. Jenkins, what it means when I am told that a spirit is in the sixth sphere and the seventh realm."

A.: "The spheres are divided up into realms, seven in number."

Q.: "Cases are numerous of a man and his wife being in very different conditions of spiritual development here on the earth-plane, though much attracted to each other.  If they are in different spheres, or realms, in spirit life, would they be able to live together?"

A.: "Certainly.  This will make no difference to their sharing a home."

At a following seance, Dr. Jenkins is described as having related to Moore that the reception rooms and all large halls are round with the materials of the buildings formed by concentration of the vibrations.  Also: ". . . we have beautiful forests, and streams, and music such as is not understood at all on earth.  Animals?  Yes; but when they leave the body they cease to be savage and cruel.  Our forests are full of animals.  No spirit dies."

In addition to Cleopatra, other familiar names involved in Direct Voice sittings attended by Moore were Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton. 

Moore's description of a sitting with medium Mdme. Julienne de Leamont in Detroit reminds the reader of the diverse aspects of manifestations possible when conditions were in accord with the objectives of the spiritual Force during the epoch of 'The New Dispensation' of the Spiritualism movement:

The mediumship of this lady is of a peculiar kind.  She has six empty globes on a stand, one, in the centre, much larger than the other five.  When conditions are favourable, these six globes become full of light simply through the psychic placing her hands upon them.

W. Usborne Moore embarked on a third visit to America in December 1910.  He mentioned that in the previous months he had discussed his experiences of psychical phenomena with many people, including a sceptical conjuror (magician).  The trip reacquainted him with many of the mediums and visitors from the ascended realm known from past seances.  The visit concluded with a sitting with slate-writing medium Mr. P. O. Keeler in Washington D.C.  The following is Moore's account of a memorable incident during a sitting with the Jonsons on January 19, 1911.

Grayfeather took possession of Jonson easily; he caused him to rise from his chair and throw his hands about as before, collecting magnetism from his wife and the sitters, and throwing it into the cabinet.  Viola came out of the cabinet early, and flitted about, peering into our faces as she did at our last séance.  With her consent I took hold of her tresses of long hair on either side of her head with both hands, drew her face gently down to mine, and kissed her.  It was precisely the same as kissing any ordinary mortal.  This experiment, in the interest of science, was remarked upon with jeers by "Kitty" inside the cabinet, who called out: "Oh! oh! he's all amongst the girls!"  I was told afterwards that this is a favour sometimes accorded by Viola to old friends.  The light was quite good enough to see the face and form clearly down to her feet.  She then retired into the cabinet.  During a subsequent séance at the house of Mr. Kaiser, in Detroit, Kitty spoke to me in the dark, and, among other things, said: "Viola thought that kiss of yours real nice."

Considering his experiences with the Jonsons, Moore concluded:

. . . there are all shades of substantiality in materialization, from the phantasmal form which you can walk through (ghosts, in fact—more properly called "etherialisations") to a form wholly solid.

. . . this phenomenon brings home, as nothing else will, the power of invisible beings around us; but the simulacrum is seldom perfect.

It is the "direct voice" that takes the first place on spirit manifestation.

Moore accepted the invitation of Mrs. Wriedt to stay at her house in Detroit for a twenty day visit.  He occupied a room near the seance-room and noticed that she and her husband kept no servant for housework.

Mrs. Wriedt is forty-nine years of age, a slightly-built, delicate woman, much subject to bronchitis and neuritis.  Last year (1910) she had what she was told by the physicians was neuritis at the base of the brain, and would have died had it not been for the benevolence of Mr. C. A. Newcomb, an investigator into psychic matters, who summoned a celebrated specialist and saved her life.  Since her recovery her power has been more remarkable than before her illness . . .

She cannot see half the people who apply for sittings, but she does her best to give satisfaction to all; the poor are often admitted for nothing.  Her usual fee for each sitter is one  dollar; but, once a week, she gives a public séance, when nobody is expected to pay more than half-a-dollar.  It is on these occasions that the poor are often invited to join the circle without paying any fee.

All my relatives that I wished to hear from spoke to me at some time or the other [during sittings], touching upon all sorts of subjects of family interest.  Iola talked daily at considerable length, often standing before me, a radiant figure in white garments but features invisible, clearly enunciating her sentences in pure English.

When I was a boy, a family tangle took place which puzzled me very much.  Up to this time (191) I had not even suspected the real truth.  My guide, in the course of four or five interviews, solved the enigma, and brought three witnesses from spirit life who spoke at some length to prove that she was right.

"Dr. Sharp," the control, who spoke sometimes through the trumpet and sometimes without, usually manifests early in the séance in a loud, clear voice; and he often comes back at the end of the séance to say "Good-bye," or to explain some doubt which has arisen from the ambiguous utterances of one of the sitters.

Concerning the descriptions of seances with Mrs. Wriedt, Moore acknowledged that a small percentage of her sittings were failures in respect to obtaining phenomena: "If she does too much during the day, 'Dr. Sharp,' her control, does not speak in the evening, and no spirit manifest."  Moore also mentioned appearances of "large. round, illuminated discs" (probably what today are called 'orbs') and "full-form phantoms." 

Moore reminded that "names of eminence" appeared from time to time, including on January 2, 1911 with Mrs. Wriedt Sir Richard Burton, who is also associated with the annals of Instrumental Transcommunication.  Moore wrote about this encounter:

I said: "You were interested in this subject when in life."  Answer: "Yes, I was."  Question: "It was a pity that your wife destroyed your manuscript."  Answer: "A great pity; but women do queer things at times."

During the same seance, a past acquaintance of Moore named George spoke.  While being an officer under Moore's command, George had committed suicide.  Moore asked him if he regretted his rash act and George said he didn't.  He declared that he had been "impelled to do it."  A girl had withdrawn her promise to marry him.  Another interaction was what seemed to Moore "a case of an earth spirit [a living woman whom Moore had met on two occasions] traveling during sleep" to momentarily speak with him. 

Moore commented about the numerous correlations or "inter-connections" to be found among his notes chronicling his many seances and consultation with diverse mediums and psychics.  Here are some examples.

Grayfeather, the control of Johnson, manifests at Mr. W. T. Stead’s country house in England, where Mrs. Wriedt is a guest, identifies himself, and assists in her circles.  Remember, this Indian is not Mrs. Wriedt’s control, and has only lately visited her seance-room at Detroit for the first time.  While in England his talk is not confined to subjects with which he is familiar in America; he gathers information from Julia and other spirits, and makes a very decent show of acquaintance with English affairs.  He also manifests through Kaiser in Detroit.

The spirit control "Uncle" refers at one of Husk’s seances to seeing me the previous day at a sitting where Williams was the medium.

John King (Sir Henry Morgan), Husk's principal control, takes charge of the physical phenomena at the séances of Mrs. Wriedt in Mr. Stead's house and greets sitters, whom he has known at Husk's circle, by name.

Abdullah, one of Craddock's controls, manifests at two of Jonson's séances in Toledo, Ohio.

Upon delineating his conclusions about his investigations of spiritism between 1904 and 1911, he affirmed: "My tale is told; the narrative of my education is finished, and a duty discharged.  In 1904 I was led to the task of investigating spiritism; in 1911 I have completed my studies, and am satisfied of its truth."  He found that similar to the human condition in our own world, differences of opinion had been conveyed by people from the next state.

Communication with those on the other side is not so simple a matter that we can expect to have all our questions answered clearly and distinctly, as if we were dealing with the dwellers in a state of consciousness that knows of only three dimensions.  Those we appeal to for information tell us frankly that they cannot reply to many queries on account of our very limited powers of comprehension.


It is quite correct to say that no visitor from the spirit world teaches that salvation can be obtained only through Christ.  They teach, universally, that man is his own savior, and can obtain happiness or suffer misery only through his own acts.  This, of itself, is evidence  in favour of the genuineness of mediums.  Undoubtedly it would be more popular, and bring more grist to the mill, if the controls and other spirits adhered to the theology of the Western Churches; but they do not, either in Protestant or Roman Catholic countries.


. . . no hope is held out to man that he can progress through any other channel than that of his own efforts.  His sins are not forgiven on account of any sacrifice of the sinless.  He reaps what he sows.  Death-bed repentance is of no avail; he cannot escape the consequences of breaking the laws of nature, and he carries with him into the next life an indelible record of all he has done in the present state of consciousness.  At the same time hope is held out to him.  If he makes reparation, where such is possible, for breaking the golden rule, and has a sincere desire to rise, he will be afforded facilities for doing so.  Every soul goes to "its own place."  No priest can avert a man's destiny; he can only avert it himself by obeying the laws of nature in this life, and doing his best in the next state to rise higher in spiritual development.


Thousands of people are deterred from relating their psychic experiences by fear of ridicule, or—what is more important—fear of the loss of their situations.  It is a sad fact that, with a few brilliant exceptions, we have all the professors of science and religion against us.  This is really very remarkable when you come to consider how, in both these domains of human activity, the workers are dealing with the unseen.


One religious faction, indeed, admits the recurrence in modern days of what it erroneously terms "miracles," but says they are the work of the devil; while the reformed churches actually declare that spirit manifestations ceased with the mission of the apostles and only lasted during the period covered by the record in that collection of unequally inspired papers called the Bible.


. . . we do indeed rise again, not, however, in our present "natural" body, but in a "spiritual" body . . . .

Henrietta 'Etta' Wriedt (1859-1942)