Anatomy of a Seance: A History of Spirit Communication in Central Canada 9780773571976

Citation preview

A N A T O M Y OF

A SEANCE

MCGILL-QUEEN'S STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGION

Volumes in this series have been supported by the Jackman Foundation of Toronto. SERIES TWO In memory of George Rawlyk Donald Harman Akenson, Editor I

Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal, 1640-1665 Patricia Simpson

2

Aspects of the Canadian Evangelical Experience G.A. Rawlyk, editor

3 Infinity, Faith, and Time Christian Humanism and Renaissance Literature John Spencer Hill 4 The Contribution of Presbyterianism to the Maritime provinces of Canada Charles H.H. Scobie and G.A. Rawlyk, editors 5 Labour, Love, and Prayer Female Piety in Ulster Religious Literature, 1850-1914 Andrea Ebel Brozyna 6 The Waning of the Green English-speaking Catholics and Identity in Toronto, 1887-1922 Mark G. McGowan 7 Religion and Nationality in Western Ukraine The Greek Catholic Church and the Ruthenian National Movement in Galicia, 1867-1900 John-Paul Himka 8 Good Citizens British Missionaries and Imperial States, 1870-1918 James G. Greenlee and Charles M. Johnson, editors 9 The Theology of the Oral Torah Revealing the Justice of God Jacob Neusner

10 Gentle Eminence A Life of George Bernard Cardinal Flahiff P. Wallace Platt 11 Culture, Religion, and Demographic Behaviour Catholics and Lutherans in Alsace, 1750-1870 Kevin McQuillan 12 Between Damnation and Starvation Priests and Merchants in Newfoundland Politics, 1745-1855 John P. Greene 13 Martin Luther, German Saviour German Evangelical Theological Factions and the Interpretation of Luther, 1917-1933 James M. Stayer 14 Modernity and the Dilemma of North American Anglican Identities, 1880-1950 William Katerberg 15 The Methodist Church on the Prairies, 1896-1914 George Emery 16 Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel, 1948-2000 Paul Charles Merkley 17 A Social History of the Cloister Daily Life in the Teaching Monasteries of the Old Regime Elizabeth Rapley 18 Households of Faith Family, Gender, and Community in Canada, 1760-1969 Nancy Christie, editor

19 Blood Ground Colonialism, Missions, and the Contest for Christianity in the Cape Colony and Britain, 1799-1853 Elizabeth Elbourne 20 A History of Canadian Catholics Gallicanism, Romanism, and Canadianism Terence J. Fay 21 Archbishop Stagni's Reports on the Ontario Bilingual Schools Question, 1915 John Zucchi, translator and editor 22 The Founding Moment Church, Society, and the Constructing of Trinity College William Westfall 23 The Holocaust, Israel, and Canadian Protestant Churches Haim Genizi

24 Governing Charities Church and State in Toronto's Catholic Archdiocese, 1850-1950 Paula Maurutto 25 Anglicans and the Atlantic World High Churchmen, Evangelicals, and the Quebec Connection Richard W. Vaudry 26 Evangelical Subculture in the United States and Canada Sam Reimer 27 Christians in a Secular World The Canadian Experience Kurt Bowen 28 Anatomy of a Seance A History of Spirit Communication in Central Canada Stan McMullin

SERIES ONE

G.A. Rawlyk, Editor I Small Differences Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants, 1815-1922 An International Perspective Donald Harman Akenson 2 Two Worlds The Protestant Culture of Nineteenth-Century Ontario William Westfall 3 An Evangelical Mind Nathanael Burwash and the Methodist Tradition in Canada, 1839-1918 Marguerite Van Die 4 The Devotes Women and Church in Seventeenth-Century France Elizabeth Rapley 5 The Evangelical Century College and Creed in English Canada from the Great Revival to the Great Depression Michael Gauvreau

6 The German Peasants' War and Anabaptist Community of Goods James M. Stayer 7 A World Mission Canadian Protestantism and the Quest for a New International Order, 1918-1939 Robert Wright 8 Serving the Present Age Revivalism, Progressivism, and the Methodist Tradition in Canada Phyllis D. Airhart 9 A Sensitive Independence Canadian Methodist Women Missionaries in Canada and the Orient, 1881-1925 Rosemary R. Gagan 10 God's Peoples Covenant and Land in South Africa, Israel, and Ulster Donald Harman Akenson

ii Creed and Culture The Place of English-Speaking Catholics in Canadian Society, 1750-1930 Terrence Murphy and Gerald Stortz, editors 12. Piety and Nationalism Lay Voluntary Associations and the Creation of an Irish-Catholic Community in Toronto, 1850-1895 Brian P. Clarke 13 Amazing Grace Studies in Evangelicalism in Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States George Rawlyk and Mark A. Noll, editors 14 Children of Peace W. John Mclntyre 15 A Solitary Pillar Montreal's Anglican Church and the Quiet Revolution John Marshall 16 Padres in No Man's Land Canadian Chaplains and the Great War Duff Crerar 17 Christian Ethics and Political Economy in North America A Critical Analysis of U.S. and Canadian Approaches P. Travis Kroeker

18 Pilgrims in Lotus Land Conservative Protestantism in British Columbia, 1917-1981 Robert K. Burkinshaw 19 Through Sunshine and Shadow The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Evangelicalism, and Reform in Ontario, 1874-1930 Sharon Cook 20 Church, College, and Clergy A History of Theological Education at Knox College, Toronto, 1844-1994 Brian ]. Fraser 21 The Lord's Dominion The History of Canadian Methodism Neil Semple 22 A Full-Orbed Christianity The Protestant Churches and Social Welfare in Canada, 1900-1940 Nancy Christie and Michael GauvreaU 23 Evangelism and Apostasy The Evolution and Impact of Evangelicals in Modern Mexico Kurt Bowen 24 The Chignecto Covenanters A Regional History of Reformed Presbyterianism in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 1827 to 1905 Eldon Hay 25 Methodists and Women's Education in Ontario, 1836-1925 Johanna M. Selles 2.6 Puritanism and Historical Controversy William Lamont

Anatomy of a Seance A History of Spirit Communication in Central Canada STAN M C M U L L I N

McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca

© McGill-Queen's University Press 2.004 ISBN 0-773 5-2.665-x (cloth) ISBN 0-7735-2716-8 (paper) Legal deposit second quarter 2004 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication McMullin, Stanley Edward Anatomy of a seance: a history of spirit communication in central Canada Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-2.665-x (bnd) ISBN 0-7735-2716-8 (pbk) i. Spiritualists - Canada - Biography, z. Spiritualism - Canada History. 3. Seances - Canada - History. 1. Title. BFI242.C3M32 2004

I33.9'i'o9227i

Typeset in Sabon 10/12 by Caractera inc., Quebec City

C2003-905093-9

Contents

Acknowledgments ix Introduction

xi

Illustrations

xix

1 Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance 3 2 Early Spiritualists 22 3 B.F. Austin

42

4 Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism" 63 5 Dr John King and Psychic Research

85

6 Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy 7 Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

129

8 The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre 146 9 Thomas Lacey 161 10 Glen Hamilton

180

11 Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates 12 William Lyon Mackenzie King 2,13 Conclusion 2,21 Notes 227 Bibliography Index

251

245

197

107

This page intentionally left blank

Acknowledgments

This work was made possible through the assistance of a variety of people who made available papers and audiotapes dealing with spirit communications. Colleen Gildner provided access to the papers of the Church of Divine Revelation. Mrs Abbot, working with the Smith family, gave me audiotapes of seances conducted by Thomas Lacey. Both of the above collections are now in the Dana Porter Library at the University of Waterloo, where Susan Bellingham has indexed the material. Stuart McKinnon's assistance both as a rare book librarian at the University of Waterloo and as a personal friend who kept me moving ahead on this project was essential. The librarians and staff at the Dafoe Library at the University of Manitoba were extremely helpful in introducing me to the Glen Hamilton Collection. Staff at the University of London assisted me with the Harry Price Collection, and others made my visit to the British Association for Psychic Research productive. I was made welcome on several occasions at the Marion Skidmore Library in Lily Dale, New York, and allowed to work beyond regular hours in that remarkable reading room. Above all, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wife, Christina, who has patiently traveled with me, offering much encouragement and a critical ear. Without her confidence and support this project would never have come to fruition. My daughters, Karen and Kim, continue to believe their father can do great things and treat him accordingly. Funding for this work began with a grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council. Over the years, additional seed money was contributed by SSHRC through funds administered by the University of Waterloo and Carleton University. The University of Manitoba provided a grant through the Dafoe Library fund. Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to all those individuals over the years who have been willing to share their adventures in spirit communication

x

Anatomy of a Seance

with me. Their fascinating testimonies confirmed the creativity that individual people bring to their spiritual and religious practices, a creativity that has too often been ignored by the academic community.

Introduction

I first brushed against Flora MacDonald Denison, B.F. Austin, Albert Durrant Watson, and others whose stories appear in the following pages many years ago as a graduate student, when I was interested in the Canadian influence of the American poet Walt Whitman. At that time, it was appropriate to research Whitman but spiritualists were academically suspect, and, accordingly, I ignored the movement. Some years later, in the process of organizing a research project on William Lyon Mackenzie King, the spiritualist issue surfaced once again. Given a chance to interview J.A.B. Gibson, Davidson Dunton, Charles Richie, and Paul Martin, it seemed opportune to ask about King and his rumoured exchanges with the spirits. Only Charles Richie professed to know anything about the subject, and his comments were sufficiently satiric to suggest the time had not yet arrived for a deep and penetrating inquiry. It was my discovery some ten years later of the papers of the Church of Divine Revelation that finally led me to begin the serious research that has produced this book. The sequence of events by which I came to read the seance notes, letters, and books belonging to the Church of Divine Revelation was almost as strange as the contents of the materials themselves. I quite unexpectedly discovered a copy of Trails of Truth by Jenny O'Hara Pincock in the basement of a used book dealer in Cambridge, Ontario. The book documented seances held in St Catharines beginning in 1928. Names of sitters were included in the text, although many were identified simply by initials. A check confirmed that at least one named in the text, F.J.T. Maines, was also listed in the Kitchener-Waterloo phone book. A letter was written to that address, and two months later, on a dreary January afternoon, contact was made with Colleen Gildner, the daughter of Fred and Minnie Maines. Coincidentally, her call came while I was reading Trails of Truth.

xii

Anatomy of a Seance

FJ.T. Maines, who had been dead for many years, proved to have been the minister of the Church of Divine Revelation. The phone listing was for his widow, Minnie, who had just recently died. Colleen and her husband were in the process of sorting through the house and were at a loss to know what to do with the large collection of papers, books, manuscripts, newspaper and periodical articles, letters, and memorabilia - all associated with the occult - that Fred and Minnie Maines had collected over the years. The collection included several hundred sets of seance notes, brief typescripts, and handwritten records of what transpired when the lights went down and the medium went into trance. The complete collection was transferred to the Dana Porter Library at the University of Waterloo. This material was augmented by a group in Kitchener who arrived at my office with boxes of seance notes generated by the medium Thomas Lacey. I found the third major collection of psychic materials in Winnipeg, where the University of Manitoba houses the T. Glen Hamilton Collection. Hamilton was a psychic researcher who acquired an international reputation for his work with ectoplasm, which he recorded on photographic film. Other smaller collections were located in the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library in Toronto and in the National Library and National Archives in Ottawa. Few have written about the occult in Canada.1 Ramsay Cook provided a brief chapter in his book The Regenerators, but little else existed in the way of commentary. The American folklorist Don Yoder, in speaking about the lack of attention paid to folk religion in the United States, provides some insights that apply to the lack of scholarly interest in spiritualism in Canada. The two disciplines that might have an interest in what Yoder calls "nonstandard religious phenomena in culture" are folklore and religious studies. He observes that "the teaching of religious studies in the United States has concentrated largely on the theological and institutional level, which either neglects folk practices and folk interpretations of religion as unimportant or because the discipline has too rigid a framework to include such phenomena." Yoder, with reference to E.R. Leach's Dialectic in Practical Religion (1968), applies Leach's separation of religion into two camps, "philosophical and practical religion." Philosophical religion "is the religion of the intellectual elite, by which the religion is usually judged by scholarship," the latter is the "religious principles which guide the behaviors of an ordinary churchgoer." In the field of comparative religion, "the common failure to distinguish between philosophical religion and practical religion has often led to serious misunderstanding." Turning to the discipline of folklore, Yoder suggests that the difficulty in handling "practical religion" is that folkloristic definitions

Introduction

xiii

have had little or no room for "categories in which to include religious phenomena unless it includes them under that impossible survival from the Enlightenment, the word superstition which blocks any sympathetic understanding of the belief elements in folk religion."2 While folklore has evolved newer, culture-oriented views, the discipline remains relatively undeveloped in Canada. Lack of attention can also be explained in part by the nature of the documentation. Seance notes are just that: notes. Often full of local and personal references, they tend not to excite the outsider as having profundity. Compared to contemporary mainstream religious doctrine, the spiritualists often fail to impress with their theological insights. My literary training provided me with a profound respect for the written word - for the text. Literary critics see the Book - the written and published text - as author-centred and static. The modernist literary scholar does his or her best to produce the definitive text as the basis for serious literary study. Historians also are much concerned with written records, since for the most part, print provides the basic data from the past. Quite frankly, I was about to look for more exciting texts when I had another stroke of luck that changed my approach to and understanding of seances. A group of Kitchener residents provided me with over 100,000 feet of audiotape containing records of approximately five years of seances. The tapes were made in the early 19608 by a "home circle," a group of eight to ten people who met twice a week in Kitchener, Ontario, with their medium, Thomas Lacey. Few visitors were admitted to the group, and no outsider was in charge of the tape recorder. The seances on these tapes were captured by insiders for their own use. What became clear almost immediately upon listening to the tapes was that the written record of the seance was not the essence of the event. While the content received in a seance was important - the fact that thousands of feet of tape were committed to preserving the oral record indicates this - the process by which the data arrived was of equal importance. The vocal exchange between entities and sitters drew the participants back to the circle several times a week. The seance was primarily a dramatic happening, an experiential event with old friends tuning in via the psychic party line. To listen to the range of the medium's voice as it shifted from masculine to feminine and through various shades of accent and delivery was unsettling for me on first encounter. I was the outsider, the listener, the non-participant. For the Lacey group, however, the phenomenon was totally appropriate as they easily identified each new entity as a well-known personality. Among other things, the seance was for these sitters a reaffirmation of

xiv

Anatomy of a Seance

bonds with those who had simply moved on to a higher realm beyond physical death. In many ways, the seance was another kind of social interaction very close to a family reunion. The banality of the seance notes was explained by this observation. Most family reunions would produce equally banal notes should anyone be so inclined to record them. The day-today details have much to say to the insider but offer little of interest to the stranger. The oral nature of the seance, however, complete with its family gossip, was what sitters craved. The process of confirming the continuance of family ties beyond death appeared to be at least as important as the content. I would not have understood any of this without having had the opportunity to hear the tapes. I might have been able to deduce it by attending a modern seance, but I would always be uncertain whether what I was witnessing as a guest was the straight goods or modified because of my presence as an outsider. Having decided to pursue an inquiry into the use of seances for spirit communication, I turned to the relatively new fields of folklore and popular culture studies for some guidance. Elliot Oring describes the "orientation" of folklorists: Folklorists seem to pursue reflections oi: the communal (a group or collective), the common (the everyday rather than extraordinary), the informal (in relation to the formal and institutional), the marginal (in relation to the centers of power and privilege), the personal (communication face to face), the traditional (stable over time), the aesthetic (artistic expressions), and the ideological (expressions of belief and systems of knowledge). Usually, folklorists approach the study of forms, behaviors, and events with two or more of these concepts in mind.3

Oring's list provides a fresh perspective on the issue of spiritualism. In many of the sources I have identified, the group clearly was central. The group remained for the most part an informal collection of family and close friends. While the medium was obviously essential to the success of the seance, it was only with the appropriate support of the sitters that such success was possible. Inappropriate emotions, pessimism, lack of faith, or scepticism among sitters could lead to failure, even with the guidance of the best of mediums. While spiritualists tried from time to time to institutionalize their activities, such efforts usually failed. Individual groups practised informally, free of hierarchies and organizational structures. All groups practising spirit communication were marginal to mainstream traditions. Their basic intentions for being radical were to preserve a traditional life that seemed under attack by materialism. Insofar as these people were anti-materialists, they had an ideological perspective.

Introduction

xv

Don Yoder is useful in shaping an "orientation" on spiritualism as a religion. Clearly, for most practitioners, spiritualism was more a practical religion of the "ordinary church goer" than it was a philosophical religion of the dominant elite. Its lack of hierarchy and its essential democracy, which gave all sitters equal access to the spirit world through the medium, makes it a religion of the people. Thus, it is appropriate to explore Yoder's concept of a folk religion. He provides a helpful definition: In my own conceptualization of folk religion I differentiate it from organized religion, ... popular-level religion, and sectarian religion. Folk religion exists in a complex society in relation to and in tension with the organized religion(s) of that society. Its relatively unorganized character differentiates it from organized religion ... Neither is folk religion "popular religion" ... Finally folk religion can be differentiated from sectarian religion.4

Spiritualism as a religion conforms to most of the definition given above. The only problematic question is whether spiritualism is an "organized religion." It is true that there are spiritualist churches, but the evidence indicates that a large majority of followers of spirit communication practised it outside of formal congregations. Other commentators in England and the United States have opted for dividing those who evoke the spirits into two camps: those who seek religious insight into the afterlife and those who seek secular, scientific understanding of psychic phenomena. From the perspective of this study, such a division is artificial. Those who claimed to have only scientific interest in the seance usually revealed in their private moments an equally compelling theological desire to seek knowledge of the mystery of death. Likewise, those who belonged to formal spiritualist churches or organized their own family circles did so because their pragmatic natures pulled them to a religion that offered concrete evidence grounded in sight, scent, touch, taste, and sound. The phenomena of the seance affirmed a "scientific" religion, but what is central to all of these people is their use of the seance itself. Furthermore, regardless of what drew individuals to seance, the form and ritual for either camp remained remarkably similar. The following pages are a sampling of the historical narrative, encompassing a wide variety of events and personalities over a century of time, within which the seance is a central institution. This book chronicles one hundred years of spiritualism in central Canada, beginning with the experiences of the Canadian-born Fox sisters in Hydesville, New York in 1848 and concluding with an examination of the work of Dr T. Glen Hamilton and his associates in

xvi

Anatomy of a Seance

Winnipeg, which culminated in the publication of Intention and Survival in 1942.. A full-fledged history of Canadian spiritualism needs to be written, but this text does not pretend to be that history. The narrative is structured by sources that for the most part have been identified and located in Ontario and Manitoba. As the following chapters show, there was a significant amount of interaction among spiritualists in these two provinces. While practitioners in other areas such as British Columbia and Atlantic Canada demonstrated interest in spirit communication, they do not seem to have had much interaction with the network in central Canada discussed here. Spirit communication, both as a religious exercise and as a scientific endeavour, grew out of the nineteenth-century dialogue between science and religion. Chapter i sets forth the nature of this debate within established Protestant theology and explores how radical groups such as Swedenborgians and Unitarians contributed to the debate. Chapter 2. begins the examination of central Canadian spiritualism, which arrived in Ontario with visits from New York State by the Fox sisters to Belleville, where they conducted sessions with Susanna and John Dunbar Moodie in the early 18505. In Ontario in the last half of the nineteenth century, spirit communication continued to interest those caught up in the theological issues raised by science and its manifestation, materialism. People like the Moodies formed literary and scientific societies to discuss and explore issues of the day. The democratic effect of frontier living, often harsh in its physical and spiritual environments, allowed for a broad liberal range of thought as amateur theologians and scientists struggled to make sense out of Darwinian thought and Christian fundamentalism. Chapters 3 and 4 deal with figures such as B.F. Austin and other devout Christians who chose not to surrender to a dogmatic theology with little or no room for open inquiry. Ontario residents met with visiting American mediums or traveled to American spiritualist summer camps like Lily Dale, New York for their psychic experiences, returning to form home circles to cultivate their own psychic abilities. The established churches made use of the Vagrancy Act to control "witchcraft" and spirit communication, making the public expression of radical ideas fraught with social peril. Chapter 5 looks at Presbyterians after the turn of the twentieth century, such as Flora MacDonald Denlson and Dr John King, who, ill at ease with their traditional church doctrine, explored the seance room as either an extension of or an alternative to their childhood training. In chapter 6 we see that the outbreak of World War One was a major event in the history of spiritualism everywhere. Psychic researchers like Albert Abbott and Albert Durrant Watson used the spirit world

Introduction

xvii

to explain the loss of husbands, lovers, and sons on the battlefields of Europe and made spirit communication an attractive way of dealing with grief. While there was a remarkable increase in the use of seances during the war years, there was also an increase in the number of fraudulent mediums preying upon distraught relatives. By the 19305, spiritualism was being practised by sophisticated people working with regular sitters in circles organized within individual homes. In addition, people such as Jenny O'Hara Pincock and Fred and Minnie Maines, described in chapters 7 and 8, were attempting to structure formal religious churches to encompass the teachings of the seance room. Such activities could be evolved from traditional Protestant rituals, as was the case for the Church of Divine Revelation in St Catharines, or could move into a rarer atmosphere, drawing upon ancient teachings received from Tibetan spirit guides. While there was still a dependency upon American mediums and venues such as Lily Dale, there were also more Canadians exercising their psychic abilities. The Thomas Lacey group in Kitchener/Waterloo, discussed in chapter 9, demonstrates the evolution of such a group. While many came to the seance room to affirm an afterlife and thus sustain their Christian beliefs, others used the seance room as a laboratory to explore psychic phenomena. Chapters 10 and n examine the work of T. Glen Hamilton, whose psychic research attracted attention in North America and in Europe. A final word on my own position on this material. None of my other research has raised so consistently the question about my own belief in the subject matter. In the following pages the practitioners of spirit communication tell the tale in their own words as much as possible. This may have produced a book with more quotation than is usual; however, I want their voices on the record. Those whose words are quoted in this study obviously believed in what they were doing and in the results that they achieved. In the realm of religious study, there is no ultimate proof of the faith of the believers except for their sincere statement that they do indeed believe. Spiritualism was and remains a marginal movement. However, in 1995, surveys tell us that fully forty per cent of the Canadian population believe that we have contact with the spirit world and twenty-five per cent accept that communication with the dead is possible.5 While this study concludes with the work of Glen Hamilton in the 19408, it should be noted that spirit communication retains its attraction and continues to serve Canadians as an alternative religion. The movement thus deserves objective reporting and analysis of its history.

This page intentionally left blank

Catherine, Margaret, and Ann Fox, the founders of modern spiritualism, in Hydesville, New York, 1848

The Old Fox Cottage at its Hydesville, New York, site before it was moved to Lily Dale, New York, where it eventually burned to the ground.

Flora MacDonald Denison in Indian costume, n.d. (c. 19005). Photo: Hurbert E. Simpson, Toronto; courtesy of Stuart McKinnon.

B.F. Austin was an important figure in the spiritualist movement both in Canada and the United States.

Richard Maurice Bucke was one of Walt Whitman's literary executors and a pioneer in the study of mysticism.

Alexander McLachlan.

From McLachlan's Poetical Works (Toronto: Briggs, 1900.)

Physician, author, and psychic researcher, John S. King wrote Dawn of the Awakened Mind.

Known as "The Human-Psychic-Telephone," Maude Venice Gates worked as a medium with Dr John S. King.

Albert Durrant Watson was a physician, poet, Methodist, and psychic researcher in Toronto, where he released his book The Twentieth Plane in 1917.

Hypatia, the "Neoplatonic Philosopher," was John S. King's spirit guide. This portrait was made by spirit artists for King.

Hypatia's second written message to John S. King. Blank slates were bound together with a piece of chalk between them and taken into seance. Writing was present when the slates were opened after the seance.

Cartheuser seance.

Maines Collection, GA&4, 8.3, 12., University of Waterloo

.William Cartheuser in seance with the Maines family. n, University of Waterloo.

Maines Collection, GA&4, 8.3,

Cartheuser seance. Maines Collection, GA64, 8.3, 13, University of Waterloo

Cartheuser seance.

Maines Collection, GA64, 8.3, 14, University of Waterloo

These Services present an opportunity to hear one of America's most outstanding speakers on Psychic Science and Modem Thought. DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY. Announcement for the Third Anniversary Services of the Church of Divine Revelation. Courtesy Stan McMullin

Jenny O'Hara Pincock was a moving force behind the Church of Divine Revelation in St Catharines, Ontario. Courtesy the Gildner family

Spirit photograph of Dr Anderson, spirit guide for the Church of Divine Revelation, St Catharines, Ontario. Courtesy Stan McMullin

Thomas Lacey was a long-established medium in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario.

Spirit art drawn in a seance in Waterloo, Ontario, with Thomas Lacey as medium. Courtesy Stan McMullin

The "Lucy" teleplasm of 10 March 1930. Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba, PC 12., Box 9, Group vn, 2.8c

The "Katie King" minature face of 12, November 1930. Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba, PC 12, Box 10, Group IX, 3x6

W.L. Mackenzie King with his dog Pat i, Etta Wreidt, and Joan Patteson, at Kingsmere, Quebec, c. 19 3 5-40

Diagram showing seance room arrangement for Mary M experiments. Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba, PC iz, Box 9, Telekinesis 6

Arrangement of Cameras. Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba, PC iz, Box 9, Telekinesis 5

Teleplasm of 2,7 June 193X5 bearing a likeness to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba, PC 12., Box 10, Group vin, 486

A N A T O M Y OF

A SEANCE

This page intentionally left blank

I

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

The practice of spirit communication has generally been examined from two distinct perspectives or classifications: religious and scientific. Groups encountering the phenomena for some spiritual or emotional end, especially if they described their collectivity as a "church," have been measured against a paradigm of religion. If the group or individual described the use of spirit communication for a scientific end, the results were measured against the established definitions of science. As a result, historians such as R. Laurence Moore in the United States and Janet Oppenheim in England have treated each group as separate from the other. I am less inclined to see a difference between the two, particularly when examining the use of the seance by both groups. At least in Canada, there is little to distinguish a seance held by Dr Glen Hamilton, Canada's leading psychic researcher in the 19305, from those held by Jenny O'Hara Pincock on behalf of the Church of Divine Revelation in St Catharines during the same period. Pincock argued for a religion that used scientific method while Hamilton argued for a science that could examine religious concepts such as the existence of an afterlife. The question is how did these people define the terms "religion" and "science"? Certainly, the religious process is at work in a spiritualist church insofar as the practitioners are seekers of truth about the spiritual nature of man and the universe. Likewise, the psychic researcher is "scientific" to the degree that evidence is gathered and evaluated against a scientific model. Much beyond this, the established definitions of scientific materialism and doctrinal theology do not easily apply to the mindset of the psychic explorer. The most fundamental difficulty in trying to sort out the cultural significance of psychic practitioners regardless of whether they worked from the religious or the scientific side lies with the fact that they tried to define their activity within the terms of a science that was materialistic and

4

Anatomy of a Seance

reductionist. In truth, their occult subject matter was part of a much older paradigm that was antithetical to scientific method. To begin to understand what was happening, one must acknowledge the older occult model, and downplay the scientific materialist model, which cannot accommodate the occult regardless of how much the occultists wished it could. All religions and sciences evolve new forms out of the old ones. By the mid-nineteenth century, there was increasing anxiety among religious people to accommodate the emerging scientific theories of the day within the existing religious paradigm. It is useful in understanding the various manifestations of spiritualism to rehearse the debates that occupied concerned Christians in the years before the Fox Sisters heard their first raps in Hydesville, New York in 1848. For those who found the established churches unresponsive to their needs, new forms of religious expression evolved. In the nineteenth and on into the twentieth century, science was perceived to be a major threat, imposing materialism upon the world and undermining the most cherished religious beliefs. According to British historian Janet Oppenheim, "it was the fond hope of the British spiritualists that, through their faith, the constructive aspects of the scientific method might be harnessed to the search for philosophical or religious meaning in human existence, thereby mitigating the destructive impact of science. If the validity of spiritualist phenomena could be proven in acceptable scientific fashion, then science could become once again, as in past centuries, the defender and not the challenger of faith."1 Such a vision of science had been a theme within Presbyterian Calvinism, which came from Scotland to Nova Scotia in the late zyoos. Thomas McCulloch, the first great principal of Dalhousie University in Halifax, took that position as early as 1838. His earlier work had been at Pictou Academy, where he had developed a vision of liberal education that would become a major force in defining the role of science in institutions such as Dalhousie, the University of New Brunswick, McGill, and Queen's. Central to McCulloch's views was a strong belief in the idea of progress. Two lectures by McCulloch are useful in establishing his view of the relationship between scientific education and scriptural revelation. In 1818, he gave a talk at the opening of a building constructed to house classes in Pictou Academy: the lecture concerned the nature and uses of a liberal education. In 182.1, he delivered a lecture to the first theological class at Pictou Academy, to students who had passed through the liberal arts program of the Academy and were preparing for the Presbyterian ministry.

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

5

According to McCulloch, a liberal education leads to the fulfilment of providential designs since it has as its end "the improvement of man in intelligence and moral principle, as the basis of his subsequent duty and happiness." McCulloch is insistent that we always consider the individual as part of society: "We must consider him as he exists in society, having property, social relations, and an interest in the general prosperity: And we must view society itself, merely as a link in the chain of existence, and equally connected with the past and with future ages."2 McCulloch's "chain of existence" metaphor is not simply linear and static like the Elizabethan conception but rather possesses both a vertical and a horizontal dimension. The upward movement of civilization is accompanied by an expanding horizontal development of social complexity. The accumulation of knowledge and the increasing complexity that accumulation brings with it require that men learn to systemize their study. Thus "the object of education is not merely knowledge but science."3 Gladys Bryson, speaking about the eighteenth century, notes that "the century really preferred to speak of philosophy instead of science, and approved a procedure of using the word 'philosophical' rather than the word 'scientific.' The term 'science,' therefore, was assigned a meaning different from the accepted meaning today: "If we read [the European thinkers] correctly, the conclusion is inescapable that they thought of science as made up of systematic bodies of knowledge, characterized particularly by the lucidity and simplicity of the organizing principles. Attention was not so much directed to finding out how things actually work as it was to classifying observations under some already accepted principle of explanation."4 Bryson defines what the eighteenth-century mind meant when the term "science" was applied to the study of man: "The writers of the century sought to weld together their observations with what they called general principles. The effort was to systematize, to order, to present in methodological form the diverse phenomena, to sink the particular into the general. These general principles they called laws of nature, and they said the laws were inferences from experience."5 By "science," then, McCulloch is referring to technique rather than subject matter: he is concerned with the process of categorization and definition, which can lead to the formulation of "an abstract truth or principal ... These principles," he says, "are the primary objects of science, which, in its various parts, constitutes the materials of a learned education."6 The second aspect of the "utility" of education - instruction in moral principles - has by far the more important implications. McCulloch is careful to place the value of education not upon the accumulation of

6

Anatomy of a Seance

knowledge but in the moral rewards such activities have for the human condition. Man, he believes, is a creature of habit and as such is susceptible to the improper application of his native intelligence. The intellect that is not focused upon "useful purpose" will find less desirable interests to occupy it. Proper studies will allow the natural curiosity of man to function in such a way that his intellect expands, creating habitual attention to duty. Thus liberal education has always as its goal the achievement of "excellence both in corporeal and mental exertions," and it "directly communicates the knowledge of moral principles."7 McCulloch's optimism about the progressive improvement of civilization is thus based on his hopes for a continued application of liberal education. He speaks of the "surprising rapidity with which the arts of life have of late years advanced towards perfection." The advance is attributed to the final realization of the "subserviency of science to art." "Science" here is clearly understood by McCulloch to mean the process or technique of isolating "general principles" that underlie "every avocation in life." Thus science is subservient to the arts because science simply makes manifest the patterns of human endeavour; the endeavour itself always takes precedence. Isolating the "general principles" merely makes that endeavour more productive. With the realization that "scientific" examination is indeed the handmaiden of the arts, real progress is possible: "Correct views upon this point have at length produced an extensive enlargement of the bounds of science, and a corresponding abridgement of human labour. Men of science, by investigating the principles which regulate art, have illustrated the influence of knowledge upon mechanical operations, and communicated to the arts of life a degree of perfection of which they had not been previously conceived to be susceptible."8 The "men of science" are not identified in this essay, but it is clear from McCulloch's lecture notes that he paid homage in his classes to such leading thinkers as Thomas Reid, John Locke, Dugald Stewart, and David Hume. When McCulloch turns to religion, especially to the training of clergy, we find that scientific training and religious knowledge are capable of interaction: "Sustaining the character of students, you must attend to religion as a scientific pursuit; and be assured, that, till you know it in its systematic arrangements, you can neither be well qualified to instruct the ignorant nor to edify the intelligent."9 It is in this desire to search for systematic arrangement in theology that McCulloch is able to resolve the problem of relating scientific endeavour and scriptural revelation. Science is a tool by which the rational mind can discover God's mysteries - at least those mysteries that God has designed that man should comprehend. Religion is thus best studied

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

7

by the same techniques one would apply to any body of knowledge. The scientific study of religion reveals "leading principles, which constitute the basis of human improvement and happiness."10 The light of nature, however, is inferior to the light of the scriptures. Nature is a worthy study simply because "in religion, and in natural things, the arrangements of the Deity are similar."11 The analogy between the revealed truth of scripture and the natural order confirms God's glory. Ultimately, McCulloch states, "you will recollect that the path of the church has been the path of progressive illumination."12 Contemporary man enjoys superior modes of instruction and improved techniques for systemizing knowledge. Familiarity with the historical development of Christianity, with the ancient cultures and their languages, and with the progressive accomplishment of prophecy will provide the contemporary cleric with insights that were too subtle for the Fathers of the early church to fathom. What we have in McCulloch's theological writings is a central belief in a progressive movement in human history. Such ideas are not radical within the context of European thought, since progressive theology had been debated since early in the seventeenth century.13 McCulloch, however, appears to be the first serious theologian to advance such theories in Nova Scotia. His vision of scientific technique as the handmaiden of religious inquiry is quite workable in the early years of the nineteenth century, since Darwin's theories had not yet raised the issues that would cause science to appear as the enemy of scriptural revelation. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the scientific examination of the world was largely directed to the controlling idea of a chain of being. Categorization of the individual components of the visible world into a hierarchy that ultimately ended with the Deity did not threaten the sovereignty of that Deity. Gladys Bryson observes that "this worldview was so satisfying that it did not push investigation into the right channels for a discovery of evolution."14 One might add that there were many who, even when evolution found its way onto the stage, chose to hold with the established vision of science as a helpmate of religion. One of McCulloch's most illustrious students, William Dawson, was one such person. He was born in Pictou in i8zo, became a devout Presbyterian, and passed through McCulloch's charge as a student of the Pictou Seminary. It was McCulloch who introduced him to the formal study of geology.15 Upon graduation from Pictou in 1839, he attended the University of Edinburgh for a year, then returned to Nova Scotia. In 1.841, he met Sir Charles Lyle, who was visiting Pictou to examine coal fields. Dawson made a lasting acquaintance with that

8

Anatomy of a Seance

eminent geologist, who aided his career when Dawson returned to Edinburgh in 1846 for further study. When Dawson returned to Nova Scotia, he became Joseph Howe's choice to serve as superintendent of education. Dawson wrote a number of texts on geology and agriculture for use in the system he designed, as well as organizing the first teacher's college in the province, later, he was to help reorganize the University of New Brunswick before going to McGill University, where he served for thirty-seven years as principal, shaping that institution's philosophy of education. Some indication of how strongly the religious teachings of McCulloch may have influenced Dawson is indicated by his response to Darwinism. He refused to agree with Darwin, and he wrote "a long succession of books and articles, in which he endeavoured to prove that variation of species was contrary not only to the Sacred Word, but to the record of the rocks as well."16 One sees in Dawson's rejection of Darwin a practical demonstration of Thomas McCulloch's theories as published in his last book, Calvinism: The Doctrine of the Scriptures: "Christianity demands absolute submission to the veracity of God in his word; and therefore, respecting those topics which he has not been pleased to elucidate, man must walk in faith ... The argument a priori ought not to be employed for the purpose of accommodating the word of God to the preconceived notions of man."17 The actual degree of influence that McCulloch had on Dawson has not been documented. There is reason, however, to feel that McCulloch was the kind of teacher who inspired his students to emulate his vision. If McCulloch influenced Dawson, he inspired a man who influenced the educational history of Canada. The fact that Dawson reflects a view of natural and revealed theology that agrees in principle with McCulloch's view points out the significance of McCulloch's earlier ideas on this subject. The desire to synthesize religion and science continued to dominate Canadian thought well into the twentieth century. Thus McCulloch must be considered as an early thinker within mainstream Canadian thought. He modeled Dalhousie after the University of Glasgow, and the Scottish inheritance was guaranteed by the fact that the professorships at Dalhousie were all granted to Scots in the early days. Thomas McCulloch, Alex Romans, and James Mclntosh, the last two being "Old Kirk" clergymen, held the first chairs. Thomas McCulloch junior followed his father to Dalhousie. The Reverend James Ross, a Pictou graduate with a degree from Edinburgh, became Dalhousie's second principal. These men infused the Scottish educational system into the fabric of Dalhousie. Principal Ross taught George M. Grant, the famous principal of Queen's University, before he went: to the University of Glasgow.

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

9

The writings of Thomas McCulloch show us a view of science and religion that was sustained by some of those who pursued psychic research and spirit communication later in the century. However, it must be emphasized that Presbyterianism also made a clear distinction between the elect, who had no need of science because they had experienced God's regenerating power, and the fallen, who did need science in order to appreciate God's social plan. Thus two groups of people exist in society, the elect and the fallen. By Calvinist belief, membership in these groups is preordained and no action of any kind may alter membership. Both groups begin life with unformed knowledge and character. All men possess reason by which they may, through a proper understanding of leading principles, learn to perceive their visible world as an ordered and divinely inspired metaphor for the glory of God. The two camps are separated by the fact that the elect are blessed with progressive sanctification that reveals absolutely the glory of God to the heart. God's grace directs the saint toward proper and moral action. The unregenerate, while never receiving sanctification, may, if properly directed by analogy, be led by the elect to appreciate the justice of the scheme of things. All people are capable of reason, and the fallen may be led to an appreciation of the cosmic plan by appreciating the rational order of their visible universe. They may, McCulloch says, "be brought not far from the kingdom of God." They will practise Christian values, not because by so doing they will ever gain entrance to Heaven but because those values are defining the only rational mode of behaviour. The elect are traditionally expected to avoid the snares of the fallen order of nature by "subverting the control which they have conceded to nature." They must "acquire the habits of the household of faith." This demand raises a problem for the Calvinist, like McCulloch, who is fascinated by the natural order. How can the saint, who must reject the natural order, turn to that order as a field of investigation? A.S.P. Woodhouse speaks of two concepts involved in resolving the saint's interaction with the natural order. The dichotomous view of the world demands that the "principle of segregation" be applied in the consideration of the natural world. That is, the evidences of the natural world are not to be associated with "the written law of scripture." However, "the principle of analogy" does allow the pattern revealed through examination of the natural world to "take its place as the fundamental law for the state not less certainly than does the law of Christ as the fundamental law for the church."18 Since the visible world is created to celebrate the glory of God, exercises that reveal the logical and unified plan of nature amplify God's grandeur. The point of the exercise is always the praise of God, never the desire to acquire knowledge for the sake of knowledge.

io

Anatomy of a Seance

The individual saint receives glimpses of his election not by anything man can offer but only through the passive acceptance of the Holy Spirit. Thus no directions are needed to insure that the troubled spirit is relieved. Only the fallen require science to give them, through reason, an understanding of God's grandeur. However, science will never take these people to the ultimate awareness that only the elect and God experience through regeneration. The saints conducted inquiries into the processes of the natural world in order to construct analogies between the subjectively experienced truth of God's majesty, known through sanctification, and the rational pattern of the visible universe. As long as scripture and revelation provide the ultimate test of the validity of the analogy, the saint can justify his scientific interest since its aim is always to illuminate God's grandeur. Analogies that met with confirmation through revelation could aid the saint in his desire to instruct the fallen in the justice and ultimate benevolence of God. The spiritualists following in the tracks of the Calvinists wished to keep science as subservient to religion, to keep science from undermining the spiritual realm by its increasingly materialistic search for the natural laws that define life. Paradoxically, in seeking to hold onto the deductive approach of church thinkers such as McCulloch and Dawson, the spiritualists were also placing themselves within the body of people known in established Presbyterianism as the fallen, people who while they could justifiably use science to understand God could never expect to achieve union with the Christian God of Calvin. Thus, as will be demonstrated, Presbyterians like Flora MacDonald Denison and John King had little option but to abandon organized religion. Scottish-based liberal education stressed the practical and the utilitarian. Colonies were in rapid growth and the human labour supply was always behind demand, making applied science and technology highly desirable. Technology manifested in the widespread use of the steam engine both on land and water. Interest focused upon the natural sciences where the amateur could participate in studies of geology, flora, and fauna. It was well into the second half of the nineteenth century before science acquired a body of professional practitioners even in Europe. In Upper Canada, professional scientists were civil servants working for the Geological Survey or the Toronto Magnetic Observatory, which, erected in 1840, was the first scientific institution in Upper Canada. Along with national institutions such as the Botanical Society of Canada (1860) and the Entomological Society of Canada (1863) were regional organizations and local societies where self-taught amateurs still outnumbered the professionally trained. In Montreal, the Natural History Society of Montreal published the Canadian Naturalist and Geologist beginning in the 18505. In Toronto,

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

n

the Canadian Institute published the Canadian Journal of Industry, Science, and Art. At the local level, groups of like-minded amateurs gathered to form literary and scientific societies and circles. The Mechanics' Institutes assumed the responsibility of providing some basic understanding of science and technology for the working class. These institutions often blended science, literature, and social roles in their various functions: Cheap editions of scientific works and biographies of heroes of science enjoyed impressive sales throughout North America. In university towns scientific societies for students and the general public provided yet another outlet for the popularization and diffusion of science, itself a branch of useful knowledge. The entry of science into popular Canadian culture on so broad a front inevitably introduced considerable debate on the relations between science and religion, one of the staple items of nineteenth-century controversy.19

Given this penchant for gathering in groups to investigate natural phenomena, the popularity of a home circle of friends organized to explore psychic phenomena does not seem so unusual. In the nineteenth century, spiritualists would hold with the old established belief that science was the handmaiden of religion, but reject the ideas of hell, damnation, and predestination. Their attitude towards science would have connections with traditional Puritan thought but their use of the seance and mediumship would move them into new and, for the established churches, dangerous areas of inquiry. They would build upon the idea of progressive sanctification, believing in the upward trajectory of the human soul, but abandon the covenant of limited atonement. It was not only Presbyterian thought that displays elements successfully integrated into modern spiritualist ideas. The Catholic Church had a long-standing acceptance of spirits and spirit communication. The sensationalism generated by the publications of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Oliver Lodge, W.J. Crawford, and Emile Boirac20 during the First World War led the Roman Catholic Church to speak out on the use of occult practice. Dean W.R. Harris published Essays in Occultism, Spiritism and Demonology in 1919. In his preface, he states unequivocally that Catholics have always accepted the reality of occult phenomena: "Planchette and Ouija board answers and automatic writing are facts of every-day experience, but that these responses, materializations, spirit communications and the like, are messages from the dead, Catholic psychology denies." The Catholic view is that "the phenomena are produced and controlled by fallen angels, spirits of evil, and that so far from being communications from the dead, they

iz

Anatomy of a Seance

are actually malign manifestations of diabolic force. They also contend that these phenomena are manifestations of demoniac spirits with whom the Catholic Church forbids all those who listen to her voice to hold intercourse. " ZI Spiritualists accepted, like traditional Catholics, the existence of the spirit realm. Unlike Catholics, however, they advanced a view that there were good spirits who offered much to those who made contact with them. They continued to accept the Catholic view that there were also evil spirits and took appropriate measures to protect themselves from their influence in seance. As will become evident in later chapters, spiritualists did evolve "a system of belief and practice that overlaps with that of official religion." In some ways, the seance was analogous to the old evangelical camp meetings held by the Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians in the nineteenth century. The revivalist preacher spoke best "when the spirit moved him." He became a "medium" for the Holy Spirit, and speaking in tongues while in trance was not uncommon. Those in the camp meeting cared less for the theology than they did for the charismatic process itself. The seance has this same attraction without the high emotionalism of the camp meeting. While some belief practices of Canadian spiritualists can be traced to the established Protestant and Catholic religions in Canada, the movement was also influenced in Upper Canada by the remarkable activities that took place among residents of New York State in the nineteenth century. Cross-border transfers of traditional and popular culture have been the norm between central Canada and the northern United States since the time of the American Revolution. By 1812, four-fifths of all settlers in what is now the province of Ontario were of American origin. Of that group only one-fifth were United Empire Loyalists. Americans settled north of the border out of an appreciation for good land and entrepreneurial opportunity as often as they did for political reasons. On the other hand, Canadians were moving into the United States to live in ever increasing numbers after i85O. 2Z Within Ontario, as David Moorman observed, there has been little solid research on these early American immigrants. He gives a possible explanation for this neglect: "As Canadians we have a traditional antipathy towards our southern cousins that dates back at least to the War of 1812.. We, after all, still most commonly define ourselves negatively as not American. In the historiography of Upper Canada, in particular, a consistent theme has been the rejection of American ways. This has led to a strong emphasis on the distinction between Upper Canadians and Americans."23 The idea that Canadians moving south of the border might have had an impact on American culture remains equally unexplored. Americans

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

13

rarely single out other nationalities working within their cultural milieu, and Canadians as a North American subculture are inclined to see Canadians who move south as selling out to the dominant culture. Some evidence of transfer between New York State and Ontario can be found in the area of traditional religion. Major Canadian denominations such as the Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Baptists sustained close links with American counterparts. Less mainstream religious groups and cults also moved across the border, especially in the New York/Ontario region. For the most part, the more radical Americans exported their views to Canada. However, Whitney Cross briefy mentions radical Canadian ministers who practised in New York State in the 18505 such as James Boyle and Horatio Foote.24 Western New York was styled "the burned over district" because of its multiplicity of new religious groups in the period between 1800 and 1850. Subject to outbursts of revivalism, these groups often practised evangelical emotionalism, setting fire to the spirits of those who came to their meetings. These groups included, among others, Universalists, Christian Scientists, Mormons, Seventh-day Adventists, Shakers, Millerites, and spiritualists. Many of these groups established congregations in present-day Ontario. Nandor Fodor, a British psychic researcher, observed that the great Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg "was in a sense the first spiritualist."25 Swedenborg began his excursion into spirit communication in April 1754. He "was the first to explain that death means no immediate change, that the spirit world is a counterpart of this world below, that it is ruled by laws which ensure definite progress and that our conditions in the Beyond are determined by the life we live here."26 Swedenborg communicated with the dead of this and other worlds. He did not, however, advocate the practice for others, and spirit communication was not an accepted part of the New Jerusalem Church. On the other hand, his writings were read by both spiritualists and theosophists and his name is mentioned often as a spirit guide in seance notes.27 What was significant for many about Swedenborgianism was its attention to both the mystical and the scientific. John Noyes elaborates: The Bible and revivals had made men hungry for something more than social reconstruction. Swedenborg's offer of a new heaven as well as a new earth, met the demand magnificently ... The scientific were charmed, because he was primarily a man of science, and seemed to reduce the universe to scientific order. The mystics were charmed because he led them boldly into all the mysteries of intuition and invisible worlds. The Unitarians liked him, because, while he declared Christ to be Jehovah himself, he displaced the orthodox

14

Anatomy of a Seance

ideas of Son ship and tripersonality ... Even the infidels liked him, because he discarded about half the Bible.z8

When he died in London in 1772., Swedenborg left a monumental theology behind but no congregations. Sixteen years after his death, the first Swedenborgian church was organized at Great Eastcheap. In 1792, the movement gained its first North American congregation in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Others followed in Cincinnati, Boston, and New York. The Reverend G. Field tells us that the first "organic society of the New Church in Canada was formed at Berlin [Kitchener], Canada West, in i854-"9 Affiliation with the General Convention of the New Church of America was arranged in 1857. The Berlin church traces its roots back to 1833 when it was founded by Christian Enslin, a German immigrant. An Englishman, the Rev. John Harbin, became the church's first pastor. The German connection was reasserted in 1857 with the appointment of the Rev. F.W. Tuerk, a native of Eberfeld Prussia, who continued in the position until 1901.3° While Swedenborgians were found in other parts of Canada West, Waterloo County remained the strongest centre. By 1877, the Berlin church had 208 adult members and "the largest and best house of worship in that town."31 One of the distinguishing features of the Waterloo County Swedenborgians was that they were for the most part Germans by origin. This ethnic background, coupled with an upbringing within the Lutheran Church, may have something to do with the success of the movement within Waterloo County. The KitchenerWaterloo area would be an important centre for spiritualism, as later chapters will show. While no direct links can yet be forged between the Swedenborgians and the spiritualists, there would seem to be an affinity in the area for spirit communication over the years. In the 18405, North Americans were seeking a religious experience that placed more emphasis upon individual choice and less dependence upon the older orthodox dogma of the established religions. One such alternative religion was Unitarianism, which, like Swedenborgianism, arrived in Canada from the United States. The first Unitarian Church in British North America was dedicated on Sunday, n May 1845 by Ezra S. Gannett.32 Gannett's discourse at that dedication explained that Unitarians, like Universalists and later spiritualists and theosophists, shunned extensive codes and dogmas: "They have no accepted creed which I may quote, no formalities of faith nor symbolical books which they recognize as containing the only accredited exposition of their views, and no ecclesiastical body from which such an exposition might emanate." The focus for the Unitarian was "the right and duty of personal inquiry,

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

15

which are the elementary principles of their religious state, [precluding] any attempt to utter other than private persuasions or the impressions which a wide and careful observation may have given."33 He also outlined beliefs that could be ascribed to a Unitarian. Central was a belief "in God, as the Supreme, Perfect, and Infinite Being, Lord of heaven and earth, Author of all life, Source of every blessing, Searcher of hearts, and Judge of men."34 They believed in "the requisitions of duty," that is, the obligation to live righteously, in mercy; that Jesus came to earth "on a special mission;" that "man is a free and responsible being" capable of progression from vice to virtue. Society as well as the individual requires regeneration. They held with a belief in "human immortality, and a righteous retribution after death." They believed in the validity of "the Old and New Testaments as containing the authentic records of God's wonderful and gracious ways."35 Understanding of scripture was through "the devote exercise of ... reason, through which alone we are capable of receiving a communication from Heaven."36 The Unitarians denied the dogma of trinitarianism. In their reading of the Bible, they did "not meet with a line or a word which represents Christ as sharing supreme deity with the Father ... We say with all confidence that the doctrine of the Trinity is either unintelligible or self-contradictory, and that in either case it cannot be a subject of revelation."37 They differed from the Calvinists or Congregationalists by their rejection of the covenant of man's total depravity, believing that all people have the opportunity to achieve atonement. They rejected the doctrine of Roman Catholic infallibility of the Church on earth, choosing to submit only to God. Baptist dependence on Church ordinances was rejected and the Methodist inclination for "fervor in religion" was seen as problematic. "We do not believe that God takes the soul by storm." The Universalists, while sharing the Unitarian view of Christ, were singled out by Gannett because of their doctrine of retribution, which "entails no consequences after death, while all who adopt this name find the peculiar glory of the Gospel in the promise of a final restoration of all men to virtue and happiness."38 Such a view was thought to be "unphilosophical and unscriptural."39 Ultimately, the goal of the Unitarian was the emulation of Christ: "The only true and complete man is he who bears the closest possible resemblance to Christ."40 Unitarians were open-minded about religious issues. Their liberalism was sometimes challenged for being too broad in scope and they rarely proselytized, expecting each individual to sort out his or her own views on the religious life. In the nineteenth century, people like Susanna and John Moodie, Alexander McLachlan, and Catherine Parr Traill were striving to place

16

Anatomy of a Seance

the communications of the seance room within a Christian context. God's truth came when He chose to deliver it, and it was intuitive and instantaneous in its arrival. By the mid-nineteenth century, science appeared to reverse the process, with man patiently assembling the pieces of the puzzle, which was ultimately resolved into meaning through an inductive process. It was inevitable that the conclusions of man's scientific investigations would conflict with the divine revelation of God and his Biblical word. Before Darwin, it was generally accepted by Christians that when science conflicted with scripture, scripture was always correct. At best, science provided an analogy to be used to demonstrate the rational structuring of the universe to those who had not experienced the ultimate and blinding truth of spiritual regeneration. In the broadest sense, the conflict between science and religion was a matter of active investigation by man versus the passive awaiting of God's revelation. Spiritualism placed a foot in each camp. Spirits could be seen as God's emissaries bringing new revelation to man, but bringing that revelation in a manner that, at least in theory, could be scientifically measured, tested, and validated. When spiritism took on a theological form and became spiritualism, it was described as the only scientific religion. In an article written for the Chambers Encyclopedia (1892), the celebrated British scientist and evolutionist Alfred Russel Wallace described spiritualism in the following terms: "Spiritualism is a science based solely on facts; it is neither speculative nor fanciful. On facts and facts alone, open to the whole world through an extensive and probably unlimited system of mediumship, it builds up a substantial psychology on the ground of strictest logical induction."41 Spiritualism was and is still seen by many of those who practise it as a scientific religion. Thus, it attracted to it pragmatic personalities who were generally unwilling to accept dogma on faith alone. Spiritualists were more likely to want confirmation of the physical senses when it came to religious proof. They went to seances to hear voices, smell perfume, feel cool breezes, and receive messages that could be evaluated as authentic. Ramsay Cook argues that as the nineteenth century wore on, there was a shift from traditional Christian conversion, centred primarily upon the individual, toward a much more socially responsive vision of a regenerated Christian society. This "social salvation," rather than producing a millennium, ironically advanced the secularization of Canadian culture. For Cook, however, spiritualism had little or no socially responsive vision, being primarily "sentimentalized supernaturalism."42 Despite this view, spiritualism attracted a high percentage of welleducated people, many holding university degrees and practising the

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

17

professions in days before such education was widespread. For such people, education had undermined old faiths. Their acquaintance with scientific teaching produced a desire to find a scientific resolution of theological issues such as the existence of life after death. The development of "higher criticism" of the Bible in the Victorian period suggested that it could be appropriate to use reason to validate religion. They also subscribed to a liberal democratic vision for society that emphasized the individual's right to seek his or her own religious light. Cook is no doubt correct in his view that the secularization of the conversion process led to collective social action. Spiritualists were rejecting the secularization of society and striving to hold onto a vision of spirituality while at the same time accepting the progressive insights of science and technology. One could well argue that the spiritualists were simply ahead of their time. Contemporary Canada has become much less focused upon social action and much more concerned with individual freedom. Most spiritualists of the early twentieth century might well have welcomed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the early years of spiritualist activity in Canada, as in other countries, straying away from religious orthodoxy was accomplished at a price. The official religions had the sanction not only of theology but also of the law. That spiritualists were viewed with suspicion and on occasion persecuted for their beliefs is clear from a study of the press. By the turn of the century, spirit mediumship was often viewed by the press in the same category as palmistry, fortune-telling, conjuring and witchcraft. Fortune-telling was illegal and those practising were charged in Canada under the Witchcraft section of the Vagrancy Act. British law was transferred to the Canadian statutes officially in 1892.. Before this time, no section in the Canadian Criminal Code specifically dealt with witchcraft; however, it was supposed that the British Witchcraft Act supra was in force in Ontario. Section 308 of the act stated that anyone "who fraudulently (a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration, (b) undertakes to tell fortunes, or (c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science, to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found" is guilty of an offense punishable on summary conviction. Tremeer's Annotated Code expounds upon the meaning of witchcraft: "What was aimed at, as shown by the language of the statute itself, was that ignorant persons should not be deluded or defrauded by the pretense to exercise or use any kind of conjuration. The word 'conjuration' means traffic with spirits, and the words 'any kind of show clearly that the conjuration is not limited to the holding of conversation with evil or wicked spirits." Tremeer also indicates clearly that

18

Anatomy of a Seance

the British Vagrancy Act of 1824, Imp., c.85 declares that every person "pretending or possessing to tell fortunes, or use any subtle craft, means or device, by palmistry or otherwise, to deceive and impose on any of His Majesty's subjects shall be deemed to be a vagrant." Tremeer is also enlightening on the application of the section to seances: "Pretending, as at an ordinary spiritualist seance, to be able to receive messages from invisible agents and the spirits of the dead is within the words 'by palmistry or otherwise' in s.4 of the Imperial Vagrancy Act, ... [Mediumship] is clearly an occult or crafty science within the meaning of s.308, and under this branch of the section accused's bona-fide belief in the possession of powers claimed is irrelevant. The word 'pretend' is not limited here to the making of a false profession in the sense that the person making the profession does so knowing it is false."43 In 1899, Toronto police rounded up those in the city who were telling fortunes, and a number of practising mediums were included in the group that was brought before the magistrate in Police Court on 17 January 1899. The proceedings attracted a large crowd of citizens. Mr Duvernet, the lawyer for William R. Colby, who had been visited by Staff Inspector Archibald, asked the policeman to define witchcraft but the judge ruled the question out of order. Next, the lawyer representing the Crown was asked, "Why are you persecuting spiritualists more than any other religious bodies?"; again, the judge, obviously unwilling to allow the suggestion that any group was being persecuted, disallowed the question. Colby may have been an itinerant medium, since he operated from the Grand Union Hotel. A collection had been taken at the door to the seance room to collect funds to pay for Colby's board. Later, Police Constable Chapman visited the defendant for a private sitting that cost him two dollars, which was refunded at the end of the session since the spirits disdained to answer Chapman's questions. The second defendant was a Mrs Virginia Barrett, who resided at 14 Walton Street in Toronto. Police Constable Irwin went to her residence and requested a spirit message, for which he paid fifty cents. A third defendant, Hugo Campbell, who resided at 414 Yonge Street, practised phrenology and palmistry. Police constables Thompson and Chapman had their palms read for the sum of one dollar. The court was told this was a cut-rate for such a reading. Another lady, Sara Hawell of 64 Edward Street, was committed to trial for practising palmistry. Mrs Whiddin, the matron at No. i Police Station, had her fortune told by cards at 121 Bleeker Street. The matron was told that "she would be twice married and her first husband would die in October. If he didn't die in October, Mrs Whidden could return and

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

19

get her money back." Edward J. O'Brien, who resided on Jarvis Street, was another palmist arrested by constables Thompson and Chapman: "Thompson was told that he had never traveled much, whereas the officer had been twice around the world." Jane Nicholls of 18 Gould Street told Constable Chapman "that he had trouble coming up before him. She saw a lot of men and women and a court room and a big lawsuit." The Globe reporter could not help but comment that "this part of her prediction is apparently coming true." All of the above individuals were committed for trial with bail being allowed. The charges were all laid under the criminal code.44 In November 1899, another fortune-telling case arrived in the dock of the Police Court. Carmine Sarlo and his wife, Carolina, and son, Vincenzo, were charged with practising witchcraft. They appear to have been itinerants recently arrived in Toronto from Chicago. They had handed out hundreds of circulars of different kinds with particular attention to Toronto's Italian community. The advertising proclaimed their willingness to "discover all diseases, to name the remedies, to restore lost love, to give proper caution against wicked companions, to read minds in any portion of the world, to foretell the duration of life, to impart information regarding lotteries, and in general to do the wonderful and mysterious." The parents pleaded guilty. The judge told them that if they refunded money to all of their victims, he would deal leniently with them. What we learn from this case is that the jail term limit for being found guilty of practising witchcraft was one year.45 Clearly, since mediumship was on occasion viewed as a form of fortune-telling, there was some risk in practising the gift for money from strangers, some of whom might turn out to be undercover police constables. Overall, at the turn of the century the unsavoury fringe activities that were spawned by spirit communication were sufficient to have the Christian Guardian proclaim that "In Canada spiritualism has seasons of revival and decline. On the whole it makes no solid progress. It is flighty, local and disappointing." The Guardian writer went on to quote from the Michigan Christian Advocate, which expressed views that were shared by Torontonians: "The traveling mediums and speakers are embarrassed by frequent exposures of fraud and the public distrust which follows from it. Spiritualist literature is yet a disturbing factor, and the various camp-meetings held exert considerable influence, but the movement as a whole has probably seen its most prosperous days. Its work has been harmful both to the individual and to society. We have yet to know a man or woman who has been made better by it. While claiming to be spiritual, it is a blight upon spirituality,

io

Anatomy of a Seance

and its trend is more for the upbuilding of the kingdom of Satan than of God."46 In April 1900, a correspondent from Toronto wrote to the 1Sunflower, a spiritualist newspaper published in Lily Dale, New York, asking that articles on spiritualism printed in the Sunflower1 be sent to Judge McDougall and to Hartley Dewart, the crown attorney in Toronto. From the rest of the letter it is clear that spiritualist workers Mr and Mrs Marcotte and Mrs Nichols had been arrested under the terms of the Vagrancy Act. Of the judge and the crown attorney, the correspondent says: "There is much persecution of believers in Toronto recently and for the second time our esteemed friends and co-workers Mr and Mrs Marcotte and Mrs Nichols - with others - have to submit to the disgrace of standing in a public police court for so-called trial; which simply means a triumph of ignorant men, who happen to be in power ... These men know nothing of this truth, but call it 'fortune telling, witchcraft,' etc. and act under a law made in the reign of the Georges, centuries old."47 As late as 1930, a deputation led by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle met in England with the home secretary, Mr J.R. Coynes, to plead for the redrafting of clauses of the Vagrancy Act that had been used as a deterrent against psychic investigation and the general practice of spiritualism. Members of the delegation represented a broad range of psychic activities. No mediums participated directly, but their concerns were covered by Conan Doyle and his delegation. Doyle summed up the threat posed to mediums by the Vagrancy Act: "Now the Spiritualists of this country labour under material disabilities which are hindering investigation and restricting the religious freedom of the King's subjects. Under the Witchcraft Act, 1735, and the Vagrancy Act of 1824, mediums are liable to prosecution and are frequently prosecuted and convicted."48 The Doyle group did not try to convince the government of the validity of spirit communication. For the scientific community, Doyle argued, there is a need to use mediums in order to carry on valid scientific inquiry. Mediums, he claimed, were "scientific apparatus" necessary for psychic research. On the other hand, there were also six hundred spiritualist churches in England, all of which depended upon mediums for their religious function of bringing messages confirming the existence of an afterlife. Doyle stressed the fact that mediums were born with their psychic gifts. Despite the intensity of their plea, the committee made no serious impact upon the lawmakers. Clearly, it was not always wise to announce an interest in spirit communication. As a result, it is difficult to know exactly how many Canadians were active in their involvement in spirit communication. Census figures give us some guidance. We can discover how many

Science and Religion: The Quest for Balance

2.1

Canadians were willing to declare themselves as spiritualists; it is fair to assume many more attended, at least on a casual basis, church services, public seances, or private readings. In 1901, the first time that spiritualism was formally listed as a category on the census, 616 people so declared themselves. This number rose during the following thirty years until it stood at 2,263. By 1941, the reported numbers had dropped back to 1,940. The majority of declared spiritualists were in Ontario, followed by British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec. Few declared spiritualists were registered in Atlantic Canada, Saskatchewan, or the North. In the period between 1921 and 1981, women gradually increased their majority status in the movement: in 1921, there were 100 women for every 97 men; by 1981, there were 100 women for every 67 men. The census also shows that interest in spiritualism was urban rather than rural.49 The narrative that follows reflects to a great degree this demographic distribution in Canada. Most of our inquiry focuses upon researchers in Ontario and Manitoba. In this chapter, I have attempted to describe the environment in which Canadian spiritualists had to function. It was a society dominated by established Protestant and Catholic churches, but where traditional beliefs were challenged by a variety of sects and cults, such as Unitarianism, Swedenborgianism, Universalism, Quakerism, and Shakerism, which arrived in Upper Canada from the northern United States. Spiritualism is a religion that draws from the established religions and, in turn, influences the establishment. Spiritualists were actively engaged in the debate over science and religion. They held with traditional spiritual values while striving to locate a role for science that would not lead to materialism. Their modernist stance was undercut by their failure to follow the established religions down the road to increasing secularization. However, in striving to define a wholistic vision that unified science and religion they may well have simply been ahead of their time.

1

Early Spiritualists

Spirit communication as a separate phenomenon manifested in Ontario in the early 18505, shortly after its appearance in New York State. Traditionally, North American spiritualists give credit to two sisters, Kate and Margaret Fox, for instigating the movement. In 1848, they and an older sister worked out a code of raps for communicating with spirits who had made their presence known at the Fox cabin in Hydesville, New York State. The ability to communicate with spirits created sensational and sometimes turbulent careers as mediums for the two sisters. The phenomena of "table rapping" or "table turning" spread across the United States, Canada, and Europe during the next ten years. Up until 1848, the Fox family had been living in the area around Belleville, Canada West,1 and Elizabeth Ousterhout, the oldest Fox sister, had married and remained in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Her famous sisters visited her in 1854 and again in 1855, attracting interest in the occult in the towns of Consecon and Bloomfield.2 Among those who participated in seances with Kate Fox were Susanna Moodie and her husband, John Dunbar Moodie, an English couple who came to Upper Canada in the 18405. Susanna Moodie wrote nonfiction, novels, and poetry and is justly celebrated as one of Canada's best colonial authors. The Moodies had several encounters with Kate Fox during her visits to Belleville, Ontario, which were described in letters to the English publisher Richard Bentley and in a spiritualist album now located in the National Library of Canada. In the summer of 1855, Kate Fox and her cousin called on the Moodies, who expressed interest in hearing the famous raps associated with the young woman. Kate asked the spirits if they were willing to speak to the Moodies and received three raps indicating a positive response. On this occasion, the demonstration followed three lines of development: first, Kate Fox asked Susanna to write down a list of

Early Spiritualists

2.3

"dead and living friends." After the list was created without Kate's observance, Susanna ran a pen along the list. The spirits rapped three times for every living friend and five times for each dead one. All were correctly designated. The second test dealt with a departed friend of Susanna's with whom she had made a pact that whoever died first would strive to make contact with the living friend. Susanna asked in writing: "why did you not keep your promise," and was rewarded with the reply that the departed friend had often tried to make her presence known. To complete this test, the spirits spelled out the name of this friend for Susanna, leading her to state, "Perhaps no one but myself on the whole American continent knew that such a person had ever existed."3 The third demonstration had to do with raps, which were experienced in various places. Susanna felt them under her hand on the table and on the door. They moved to the garden and the phenomenon continued under her feet. Other evidence occurring during this visit included knocks from the piano and the correct identification of birth and death dates of Mr Moodie's mother, which were engraved in a mourning ring that Mr Moodie wore.4 Susanna found her sessions with Kate Fox unsettling: "She is certainly a witch, for you cannot help looking into the dreamy depths of those sweet violet eyes till you feel magnetized by them ... I do not believe that the raps are produced by spirits that have been of this world, but I cannot believe that she, with her pure spiritual face is capable of deceiving."5 After a detailed description of the seance, Susanna summed up her reaction: "Can such a thing as witchcraft really exist? Or possession by evil spirits? I am bewildered and know not what to answer."6 Despite the questions that were raised, Kate Fox did not convince the sceptical Mrs Moodie that spirit communication was behind the strange rapping that occurred in seance. However, Susanna continued her investigations and was impressed by the physical manifestations she witnessed with a Scottish woman named Mary Williamson, "who was a very powerful Medium. I have seen a large heavy English dining table," she tells us, "rise in air repeatedly, without contact, have seen the leaf of the said table, rise in air repeatedly, without contact, have seen the leaf of the said table, fly up, and strike the snuffers out of my husband's hand, and put out the candles, have heard drums play, martial tunes where no instrument of the kind was to be found for miles, have been touched by unseen hands, and witnessed many curious phenomenon, which it is needless to my purpose, here to enumerate." All of the above experiences, which Susanna could not fault on fraudulent grounds, still left her unconvinced.

24

Anatomy of a Seance

Nevertheless, by 1858 Susanna was writing to Bentley, about the messages received through Mrs Williamson, that "it is a mystery, strange, solemn and beautiful, and which I now believe, contains nothing more nor less than a new revelation from God to man. Not doing away with the old dispensation, but confirming it in every particular."7 Susanna's judgment that she was encountering a "new revelation from God to man" defines a response to spirit communication that would become central to those who were trying to reconcile the seance room with established Christian dogma. She saw the "messages" as not only "new revelation" but as revelation that confirmed the existing Christian vision and expanded peoples' knowledge about God. While communicating through a medium was effective, Mrs Moodie chose to explore her own mediumistic abilities. Her husband, Dunbar, designed a machine to assist in this venture that she described as "a very ingenious sort of Spiritoscope, a board running upon two smooth brass rods with an index that pointed to the alphabet."8 In designing such a machine, Dunbar provided a way of receiving messages from the other side without the need for an elaborate code of raps. Using the spiritoscope, Susanna Moodie was able to receive messages as was her sister, Catherine Parr Traill, also an author of significant reputation. Mrs Moodie told Richard Bentley that Mrs Traill "is a powerful Medium for these communications, and gets them in foreign languages." She also acknowledged that communing with spirits had a dark side as well when she observed that Mrs Traill's spirits "often abuse, and call her very ugly names." By 1857, the Moodies were sufficiently involved in psychic activity for Dunbar Moody to consider visiting Judge J.W. Edmonds in New York City, who in 1851 had organized what Mrs Hardinge Britten claimed was the "first organic society" dedicated to spiritualism.9 Ann Braude, speaking about spiritualism in the United States, makes useful observations about why women were attracted to mediumship that seem applicable to both Susanna and Catherine: Braude points out that the American women's rights movement also began in northern New York State in 1848, and began a fascinating interaction with spiritualism: "The two movements intertwined continually as they spread throughout the country. Not all feminists were Spiritualists, but all Spiritualists advocated women's rights, and women were in fact equal to men within spiritualist practice, polity, and ideology."10 The prominence of women within spiritualism resulted from a staunchly individualistic form of religious practice. Feminist scholars have found that women have been able to exercise leadership where religious authority derives from direct, individual spiritual contact of experience rather than from office, position, or training. Spiritualism

Early Spiritualists

2,5

produced an extreme case of these conditions, offering a unique opportunity for women to assume leadership. The movement viewed the individual as the ultimate vehicle of truth.11 In the case of Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Traill we have two British gentlewomen who came with their husbands to Upper Canada to secure a fortune that was denied them in England. For immigrant women of the middle and upper class, the frontier, in a perverse way, was a liberating experience. Moodie had spent seven years on a pioneer homestead near Peterborough, Ontario, working beside her soldier husband to eke out a living. Women were forced to do things no proper English lady could have imagined back home, including mundane chores such as milking cows, running the farm while one's husband was off defending the crown during the 1837 rebellion, fighting forest fires, and dealing with First Nations peoples and the crass Yankees who abused your hospitality. It was Susanna who took things in hand and moved the family to Belleville after obtaining a patronage position as sheriff of Hastings Country for her husband. There, she created a small world of British civility. American settlers in the bush had abused her family and the Moodies initially had little use for their leveling tendencies. However, like most immigrants to the new land, they found themselves democratized by the frontier out of sheer necessity. Their explorations of spirit communication with Kate Fox reveal a degree of social risk in the rigid religious milieu of 18508 Belleville. Their interactions with the spirits were in the name of scientific curiosity about Christian afterlife and direct revelation. Their desire to sustain their British Anglican faith in the face of rational thought and higher criticism was answered by the process of personal mediumship. Spirit communication fed their need for subjective religious experience, while the evidence that came through from the other side allowed for scientific confirmation of the subjective experience. Likewise, the leveling tendencies of the Canadian frontier fed by American immigrants produced a paradoxical situation for the couple. Self-reliance became a necessity for survival, and women as well as men were able to assume increasing independence of action in the colony. Susanna and Catherine had been democratized in spite of themselves, and the appeal of spirit communication, "a staunchly individualistic form of religious practice," speaks to this modification. Susanna acknowledged reading "Judge Edmonds' strange book on the Spirit rappings." This was Spiritualism, published in 1853, and of it she said, "There are some beautiful things in it, and some too absurd for a maniac with his eyes open to credit."12 However, on zz January 1856, she wrote to Richard Bentley that she still remained "no friend

2.6

Anatomy of a Seance

of spiritualism," although she was finding much that was wonderful in a book edited by Gov. Tallmadge, The Healing of the Nations. She tells Bentley that she has learned how to generate rapping noises "with my great toes, ankles, wrist joints and elbows. I found this out by accident. A girl, who has lived servant with me several years, tried it also, and she exceeds me in the loudness of these noises. Which so perfectly resembles those produced by Mediums, that it has greatly surprised me."13 Her moment of final conversion came about while she was alone: I suddenly laid my right hand upon the table, and feeling very angry in my own mind at all spiritualists, I said tauntingly, enough, "If there be any truth in this doctrine, let the so called spirits move my hand against my will off this table, and lay it down in my lap!" You would have laughed to have seen the determined energy, with which I held my hand down to the table, expecting the moon, that was then shining in the room, to leave her bright path in the heavens as soon, as that my hand should be lifted from the table. You may therefore guess my surprise, not to say, terror, when my hand became paralyzed, and fingers were slowly wrenched up from the table, and the whole hand lifted and laid down in my lap. Not dropped nor jerked suddenly, but brought forward, as if held in a strong grasp and placed there/4 On 30 June 1857, Susanna also received instruction about how to deal with spirit communication: Do not too readily give credence to all that mediums tell you. They are often deceived by their own thoughts mingled with the thoughts of the spirit that communicates. Only receive what looks like truth. All great truths are simple. The Circle, the most sublime symbol of Eternity, which is one name for God, is the most simple of forms, yet it is a problem which philosophers cannot solve. Such is God. All can behold his perfect beauty and the harmony that exists in his works, which life unites in the unbroken Circle of divine wisdom. Trust implicitly to Him. It is easy to gain communications from his spirit, as from souls that have been stained with sins of Earth. Pray for this divine influence and it will not be withheld. It can neither lead astray nor deceive, for God is truth.15 On this date, Dunbar Moodie was in New York City, apparently visiting with spiritualists, including Judge Edmonds. It is easy for the modern reader to forget that direct voice mediumship was not the norm in the early days of the movement. Spirits provided knocks in a prescribed code to "yes" or "no" questions or waited to hear the correct letter said aloud before giving a knock. This

Early Spiritualists

2.7

was a laborious process and speaks to the determination of the sitters in working through a session. Very early in his explorations of spiritualism, Dunbar Moodie began to experiment with various kinds of mechanical devices that he hoped would facilitate the speed of communication, "the process of tipping a table for each letter indicated being exceedingly tedious and liable to the suspicion of deception."16 Most of the machines that he describes seem to be designed to work in a way not dissimilar from the ouija boards still found in stores today. A planchette or small platform was created to move over another surface that contained an alphabet. One such invention placed small wheels on the planchette, which facilitated its movement over the letters. This gadget worked as long as the hands of two people were upon the platform. Other machines require some effort to visualize from their descriptions: "This machine is simply an upright stand, with a spiral brass spring in the center, and with a transverse handle sliding over it, and placed horizontally, for the hands of the medium to rest upon. On the top of the stand is placed a dial, with letters of the alphabet. A string is tied to the upper end of the spiral spring, and then passes over a pulley which carries a hand to point to the letters, and the other end is tied to the cross handle."17 This invention, along with another simpler contrivance that mounted five-inch wheels on a planchette, did not produce any results from the spirits. Part of Moodie's inspiration to make use of technology in the seance room came from reading Spiritualism Scientifically Demonstrated, published by Dr Hare, a professor of chemistry at the University of Philadelphia who described in detail and illustrated with engravings his own inventions for the seance room.18 Moodie strove for careful experimentation. He attempted "to comply with all known conditions, and in doing so, to be sure about facts."19 He became aware quite early that there was nothing predictable about spirit communication, noting that "I have seen too much of the Spirits to believe that we can command or control them. On the contrary, I have often found that we were perfectly powerless in obtaining even some of the common physical manifestations, when in order to convince skeptics, we were most anxious to obtain them."20 Dunbar Moodie visited mediums in Toronto and New York City in his continuing quest for information. Like many other people who appear in this book, at least one of the Moodies' motives for seeking spirit communication was to resolve the death of a close family member. In 1844, the Moodies lost a five-year-old son in a drowning accident, when he was fishing with his older brothers from a wharf in the Bay of Quinte. The seances in Belleville had failed to obtain any

28

Anatomy of a Seance

communication from this child. A visit to Toronto led to a seance on 2.9 November 1856 with Mrs Swain, described by Dunbar as "a tipping and writing medium." Mrs Swain appears to have been one of the best-known Canadian mediums of her time. Emma Hardinge Britten, who toured central Canada and recorded her trip in her book Modern American Spiritualism, published in 1870, described Mrs Swain as "one of the most powerful physical mediums of the day" who "has for many years been producing irresistible conviction of spirit communion upon the minds of hundreds who have attended her seances."21 Hardinge Britten quotes from an article in The Spiritual Telegraph dated 14 October 1856, which describes how a locked piano "played and levitated" during one of Mrs Swain's seances.22 This article, coming out a month in advance of Moodie's Toronto visit, could well have introduced him to her work. Moodie described sitting at a square table with a friend, the medium, her husband, and another male sitter unknown to him. The procedure was that a sitter expecting a message would take the card that contained the alphabet and decipher the message from the table raps. The stranger took the card, but the message that came was not for him but rather for Dunbar Moodie: "My dear father, I am here, talk to me." Moodie took the card and the message continued: "Don't you remember when I went down into the water? I am your little boy ... Tell my dear mother that I am often with her." The message was signed off as from "Johny." Moodie confirmed the validity of the message by observing that the spelling of the name was correct. He proceeded to question the spirit, asking about the nature of his drowning.23 Mrs Swain was also capable of automatic writing. "Mrs Swain grasps the pen in her left hand, just: as a stone-mason handles his chisel, and the writing is performed by a spasmodic action of the whole arm, which spreads the writing over the whole page, occasionally tearing it with the point of the pencil. When other Spirits communicate through Mrs Swain, she writes quietly in the usual manner, with the right hand."24 On this occasion, Mrs Swain's spirit guide was Native American named Jim Black, who infornned Dunbar that one of his children would become a writing medium. Automatic writing had the advantage of considerably increasing the speed with which a message was received. Dunbar, working from an idea from Germany reported in an American spiritualist publication, designed a planchette with three legs that could be moved over paper. He replaced one of the legs with a "pointed pencil" that could be moved across the paper leaving a mark. He then worked with Mrs D., a medium in Belleville, to acquire written messages. Initially, only circles and spirals were transmitted. Upon hearing that the spirit who

Early Spiritualists

2,9

was in contact did not write, Dunbar proceeded to train the spirit in literacy. Once instructed, written messages were received. Having made contact with his son in Toronto, Dunbar and Susanna continue to communicate with him using Mrs D. Within a year, Dunbar and Susanna were considering the formation of a spiritual circle. They were advised by a spirit purporting to be a Methodist minister and relative of Mrs D. that Dunbar was evolving as a medium, a development that Dunbar actively craved. The spirit warned against bad spirits and then went on to discuss the divinity of Christ. It was the view of the corresponding spirit that Christ was not the equal to God but rather "a mere man, born of a human father and mother."25 The spirit also told Dunbar that he was right in thinking that the Bible was not totally inspired by God. In the summer of 18 5 6, Dunbar visited New York City. He renewed his acquaintance with Kate and Margaret Fox, both of whom were practising as rapping mediums in that city. A seance was organized with nine sitters and he observed a variety of physical manifestations. Moodie saw the spirits working to convince sitters "of the immortality of the soul, and a life of endless progression hereafter."26 They also had a role for him, which was announced in a seance in New York City with Mr J.B. Conklin as medium. On this occasion, Dunbar's mother manifested and told him that his new calling would be "healing in every form."17 He was told that he would cure people by touch. Other spirit messages had given him the same news and had stressed the importance of proper diet. He remained sceptical about this new vocation, but was able to treat a case of "hereditary gout in the knee of his sister-in-law by passing his hands over the afflicted area." After this he went on to be successful beyond his "most sanguine expectations," curing rheumatism, neuralgia, bilious and nervous headache, and inflammation of the lungs. John Dunbar Moodie gives us a model of the nineteenth-century amateur scientist. Like all good scientists, he wished to have his research published and to that end he sent correspondence to Professor Gregory, a professor of chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, and to Charles Partridge, editor and publisher of the Spiritual Telegraph in New York City.z8 Moodie wrote to the professor because he had read his book, Letters to a Candid Enquirer, on Animal Magnetism, which was published in Edinburgh and London in 1851. In his letter, Moodie expressed his belief that there was "a strong analogy that is observable" between his experience and that of Gregory. "I can not help thinking that this similarity is attributable to a common origin."2'9 His goal clearly marked him in his own mind as a scientific investigator: "Not professing

30

Anatomy of a Seance

to possess more than a very limited amount of scientific knowledge, I am anxious to communicate the fruits of my own limited experience, in order to contribute in some degree to the formation of a rational and intelligible theory of the manifestations."30 It is Moodie's conjecture that the phenomena of spiritualism is a natural evolution beginning with the discovery of "the properties of the magnet," which led to investigations of "'animal magnetism' or 'clairvoyance,' and 'clairvoyance' to 'Spiritualism.'"31 The belief that the phenomena of spiritualism evolved from magnetic energy is mirrored in Moodie's reading of why the world is in need of the revelations of spiritualism. In his letter to Charles Partridge, written on 2.9 January 1859, he sets out his views on the history of and teachings of spiritualism. He describes the early days of Christianity, days when "science had made but little progress," as a time when "Spiritualism, with its accompanying miracles, was received by all Christians, as well as all Jews, with unswerving faith. This faith might be blind and unreasoning but it was faith." 32 All people, regardless of rank or education, responded to the world through their senses. Without reason and philosophy, the early Church fell heir to a view that miracles were supernatural. Much superstition developed within the pre-Reformation Catholic Church. The Reformation, driven by the need to reform, erred by rejecting both superstition and spirituality: "From the time of the Reformation this loss of spirituality has been progressive in the wrong direction, until in the natural course of our retrogression, we would, no doubt, have ended in infidelity, had not reason and philosophy come to our aid, and taught us that there is a God."33 The time is right, in Moodie's view, for a new Reformation in religion. The sources for this reform lie with the folk, with the residual belief systems that have remained with the common people: "The 'ghosts' and 'haunted houses' of the present day are still to be recognized as the traditional Spiritualism of a former age, still cherished by the peasantry of Europe, and localized from father to son around certain old castles and domiciles, to which they adhere with a tenacity that defies the inroads of modern science and skepticism."34 The "more educated classes and the men of science, may sneer at the vulgar cruelty of the people, but can they utterly destroy their superstitions without destroying ultimately the belief in the immortality of the soul, of which spiritual appearances are the very best evidence which we possess?"35 To make his point that spiritualism had been struggling for recognition he proceeds to chronicle the emanations of spirit contact over the last century, beginning with the persecutions of witches. He then speaks of Samuel Wesley's experience in the parsonagehouse at Epworth in 1716 and Dr Johnson's experience with the Cock

Early Spiritualists

31

Lane Ghost in 1762, which had many similarities to the Wesley phenomena. Moodie identifies the life and work of Emanuel Swedenborg, noting that "the remarkable general agreement of the intelligence from the Spirit-world received through Swedenborg, with the spiritual communications received through various mediums of the present day who have never seen his writings, or heard anything about them, deserves especial notice."36 Mesmer provides the next link, beginning in 1766. "Mesmerism, with its farther development, clairvoyance, merges so imperceptibly into Spiritualism, that it is impossible to determine the exact boundary lines between them."37 Moodie cites manifestations at the turn of the century associated with the Seeress of Prevorst in Germany that are in line with the Rochester Rappings of the Fox sisters in 1848. It is no accident, in Moodie's estimate, that spiritualism manifested in the United States. A liberal country without an established church, it has allowed its citizens to "freely use the reason which God has given them."38 This unfettered inquiry led to scepticism and disbelief in divine revelation and immortality of the soul, but "men doubt, or disbelieve, in order that they may investigate for themselves, with the aid of their own natural reason; and human reason, which is our only guide as to what we should believe, never fails to bring us to the truth at last ... The advent of the Spirit-rappings and communications through the Fox girls at Hydesville, near Rochester, was therefore hailed with boundless curiosity and joy by the first believers."39 Moodie acknowledges that spirit communication is a reality in his mind. Thus, for Dunbar Moodie, the Upper Canadian frontier, with its proximity to the United States, created an environment where the questing man, armed with reason and a liberal vision, could seek for his own religious beliefs. Britain could "claim little more than reflected rays of Spiritualism; our condition was not a very receptive one, from various causes, on spiritual subjects. No country in the world could compare with the United States in this respect."40 The National Archives house another interesting record of early Canadian spirit communication. "The Meteorological and Autobiographical Journal of Marcus Gunn" records the experiences of Gunn, a Scotsman, who emigrated to New Brunswick in i82.8.41 He later moved to Pictou, Nova Scotia, and finally ended up on a farm twenty miles from London, Ontario, where he was a founding member of "the Spiritualistic-Harmonial Association of London, Canada West." He acted as secretary of the group from April to August of 1862.. Marcus Gunn developed the habit of writing a paragraph each day in which

32.

Anatomy of a Seance

he summarized the day's events and the weather. His commentary on spiritualism is incorporated into this record of daily family activities such as hoeing potatoes, finding lost cows, or bringing in the hay. He was a feisty, radical Scot who, according to an entry in his diary, weighed in at 118 pounds. His journal records the reality of the fear of sickness and death that permeated everyday life. Death being so constantly a threat, a belief in the afterlife was imperative to any kind of peace of mind. Mortality was a daily issue, not a crisis reserved for the old. The evidence in Gunn's journal indicates that he was not involved in spiritualism as part of any scientific quest. For him, the seance provided time with departed family and friends, confirmation of their survival of death, and continuing intercourse with them as an extended family. His religious affiliation was with the Universalist Church. The first mention of spiritualism occurs on 19 December 1852, when he comments on an item in the London Free Press that describes the animation of a pine table by "animal magnetism" under the hands of six or eight people who sat around the table with their palms flat on its surface. Over his life, Gunn had lost a wife and two sons. In January 1854, he writes, "Oh Lord God Almighty give me some tangible evidence of the immortality of my beloved ones removed from my sight. I need it, oh Lord!" Two days later, on 2,9 January 1854, he "went with Mr Marsh to a professed medium of correspondence with departed spirits and saw phenomena of table motion and had affected responses with my beloved boys gone." His initiation to the seance was followed by his subscription to The Spiritual Telegraph and to the Universalist Trumpet. Earlier reading had included M. Cousin's Metaphysics and works on the history and doctrines of Gnosticism. He became familiar with spiritualist books and the writings of Judge Edmonds and Dr Dextad and the work of Andrew Jackson Davis. By March 1854 his oldest deceased son, James, began to communicate through automatic writing, with his stepmother, Gunn's second wife, acting as medium. Records of Gunn's communications with his sons were kept in a separate journal entitled "Record of Intercourse with Members of our Family Who Passed From This Life - The First Condition of Existence," which recorded events between 13 March 1854 and 24 June 1854. The communications were transmitted through a combination of automatic writing and a planchette spelling out words. The family and the spirits agreed to meet twice daily, at 9am and 8pm. Some seances were conducted at the homes of friends. Eventually, his first wife and mother of two of his sons came through. Although several tests were tried that produced convincing evidence, the spirits dissuaded such activity and concentrated on

Early Spiritualists

33

conversations about the love they had among them and the goodness of God and the happiness of the afterlife. Mr Hiram Sheneck acted as a medium on some occasions. Other female members of the family manifested psychic ability and assumed the medium's function. One might infer, based upon his rejection of astrology as "not sufficiently rational for me" (18 April 1955), that Gunn felt that spirit communication was a rational process. In May 1855, the Gunns lost a twenty-two-month-old daughter. The child's spirit communicated with the family almost immediately. Whenever her spirit was present, she rocked the stand with the same motion that she had rocked herself in her cradle. Letters in the collection indicate that two of Gunn's daughters who had moved to the United States were also in communication with their departed brothers and mother. The entry from 1855 describes a typical seance: During about an hour of the forenoon we sat at the stand and had the delightful comfort of interviews with our darling spirit members - our beloved James C indicated his presence by the left hand of his sister Emlie Jean responding by tipping with her forefinger - I asked him about his sisters in Providence RI and obtained favorable replies. His little sister medium was weak - this being her first development. At the same time dear Catherine's hand was occupied by our beloved Baby Jessie Helen - indicated her presence and visit by rocking like her cradle - Before retiring she embraced her mother's breast and face - also mine and her sister's Isabella - with us now the gloomy ideas of Death are gone!

Marcus Gunn was well read, and he corresponded with Robert Owen in England. Owen was a socialist and philanthropist who was responsible for the Factory Act of 1819. The fact that other intellectuals of his day such as Sir David Brewster also were willing to accept spiritualism confirmed the validity of his own rational choice. Education had led him to question his Scottish religious heritage and replace it with Universalist theology. Spiritualism, for him, was not so much another religion as it was a logical extension of the freedom he had already found in Universalism. It provided him with that which he craved most, reintegration with departed family members. His Universalist faith confirmed that all would be reunited at the end of time, regardless of their performance on earth: spiritualism simply allowed him to begin enjoying that reunion in his own lifetime. Another colonial who turned to spiritualism was Alfred Cridge, who published a book about spiritualism in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in i854. 42 He styled himself as a "writing medium" who

34

Anatomy of a Seance

saw spiritualism as a movement designed to reform Christianity. It was his contention that the Bible was a continuous chronicle of spirit manifestation, superior to such communications found in other religions. He felt that those who denounced spiritualism were also denouncing Christianity. He mentioned mediumistic activity in both Yarmouth and Halifax in 1854. In Halifax, the medium Mrs J. Johnston channeled the spirit of Sir John Franklin, who explained the fate of his expedition. Cridge was careful to advise sitters to "not believe all you get from spirits, as like men, they are of all shades of mental and moral development." Cridge, like John Moodie, documented his own mediumship, reporting on the communications that he received from the Rev. William Wishart of St John, New Brunswick.43 We have a brief but intriguing glimpse of another functioning family circle, reported by the Scottish-Canadian poet Alexander McLachlan. McLachlan arrived in Canada as a young man in 1841 and spent time farming in Canada West. Later in life he would practise as a tailor and serve as a lecturer and emigration agent for the Canadian government. He read and appreciated the writing of Swedenborg, and eventually became committed to spiritualism.44 In a letter to a friend written in November 1882., McLachlan describes the untimely death of a favourite son, John, who died "repeating a verse of his father's poetry." The boy, realizing that he was about to die, promised his brother, Malcolm, that he would return from "the other side." McLachlan describes what happened next: One hour after his departure while sitting in company with his brother ... and a friend they formed a circle and in a few minutes John appeared free and unfettered by this weight of mortality and told them not to sorrow for him. Since then he has returned almost every day and Malcolm describes him as a perfectly pure and beautiful spirit arrayed in robes of transcendent loveliness, and who says that the only thing that prevents him from being perfectly happy is seeing the grief and lamentation in which we are all plunged at home. He tells Malcolm that my Mother and a host of friends were all assembled to welcome him on his entrance to spirit life.45

McLachlan went on to note that this description of John's return "would appear as very silly to this skeptical age. But I know them to be facts. They are to me a glorious revelation which I would not exchange for all the crowns and Kingdoms of this world." Another letter to the same friend, written in 1883, states that "but for the comfort and assurance which I derive from Spiritualism I think I would go daft a' the gither."46

Early Spiritualists

35

What is clear from his poetry is that McLachlan believed in life after death "on a higher and holier sphere, / Where the mystery of sorrow, the meaning of pain, / And death's mighty mission's made clear."47 For McLachlan and others, spirit communication confirmed their Christian beliefs; there was a heaven awaiting men and women. Some, however, like Flora MacDonald Denison, could not live with the restrictive role placed upon women by the established churches. Raised in a traditional Presbyterian home, Flora rejected her family traditions in favour of a full-blown radical feminist vision. Flora MacDonald Denison, the sixth child in a family of eight, was born in 1867, north of Bridgewater (now Actinolite, Ontario). Her father, George Merrill, came from a well-established family in the town of Picton, Prince Edward County, not far from the stamping ground of the Fox sisters and the Moodies. His brother, Edwards Merrill, became a judge in the same town. George Merrill taught at Picton Grammar School but left the position to speculate in mining with disastrous results. The family ended up in Belleville, where George's fortune continued to fail under the pressures of unemployment and alcoholism. Flora attended school in Belleville and then moved to Picton to attend the Collegiate Institute while living with an aunt and uncle. After an unsuccessful trial as a school teacher she moved to Toronto, studying at a commercial school before taking a job with an insurance company. Next came a move to Michigan, where she had relatives and where she found office work.48 Her career as a journalist began in Detroit and there she also married Howard Denison in August 1892. Howard, like her father, proved to be an unreliable provider. A son, Merrill, was born in 1893 m Detroit. Shortly after, the Denisons moved to Toronto, where Flora ended up managing a custom dress shop for the Robert Simpson Company between the years 1898 and 1905. In these years, she also contributed to Saturday Night magazine. By 1906, she was secretary of the Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Association, and the same year she went to Copenhagen as the official Canadian delegate to the Third World Conference of the International Suffrage Alliance. She was forced to resign from the Canadian Suffrage Association because of her radical views. She moved for a time to Napanee, returning to her job as a dressmaker to generate funds for Merrill's education in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. She bought the Bon Echo Inn on Mazinaw Lake, Ontario, in 1910 with funds she had realized in a real estate deal with her husband, but in 1916, she moved for a period to the United States to work with the New York State Women's Suffrage campaign.49 Her interest in socialism led to a serious commitment in 1918, when she helped

36

Anatomy of a Seance

organize the Social Reconstruction Group of the Toronto Theosophical Society as honorary president, and a year later she became a speaker for the Canadian Labour Party.50 She died on 2.3 May 1921 and was cremated in Buffalo, New York, and her ashes were scattered at Bon Echo. By the mid-i88os, she had experienced her first encounter with spirit communication when she viewed a materialization of her older, deceased sister, Mary Edwards Merrill, who had died when Flora was thirteen years old. Mary was no ordinary sister and her psychic abilities, mathematical mind, and strange death no doubt contributed to Flora's lifelong interest in the occult world. Information about Mary is very sketchy indeed, coming from two sources: newspapers of the day and from a novel based closely upon her life written by Flora and published some twenty years after Mary's death.51 Mary Edwards Merrill was born in Picton in May 1858. According to local Belleville newspapers, her death occurred on 7 April 1889, but strangely enough, there is no official record of her death nor any grave site yet discovered for her body.52 Cyril Greenland has been able to confirm through research in the press of the day that Mary's life does have some biographical similarities with Flora's fictional character. Mary's name appears in the 1874 calendar for Alexandra College, which was organized to educate women within Albert College in Belleville. Mary Merrill made a presentation at her convocation on 20 June 1876 on "The Press," and she "took the highest honours in Mathematics."53 Benjamin Fish Austin, who would later publish Flora's novel about Mary, was also a student at Albert College.54 He is responsible for the publication of a brief memoir by Flora recalling her first vision of Mary after her death.55 Four years after graduating, at the age of twenty-two, Mary Merrill died a strange death that was recorded in the local Belleville press. She was found at 9:30 in the morning in her bed with no pulse and was declared dead by Dr B.S. Willson. An inquest convened by 4:00 pm on the same day ruled that Mary had "died in a convulsion caused by a previous state of debility." The body was placed in a cool room, where it was later examined by Dr Thomas E. Allen, a homeopathic physician. Dr Allen found the body to be warm and proceeded to apply treatment to revive the young woman. By 11:00, he thought that "he could discern a faint pulsation of the heart."56 Others witnessed the existence of a heartbeat. Improvement continued overnight with the body temperature slowly rising. If alive, Mary was clearly in a coma. Two new physicians were summoned and they examined the patient in the early afternoon, declaring that she was indeed alive with a body temperature of 70 degrees. But things turned for the worse and by seven that

Early Spiritualists

37

evening, Mary had died and signs of rapid decomposition of the body followed. There was much discussion about the case, but no resolution. Thirteen when Mary died, Flora finished her education and taught school for several years but found the occupation disagreeable. She looked for alternative work but was failing to succeed in this. On the night Mary first appeared to her, she had gone to bed at seven with a cold, much discouraged about life in general and asking for "the why of it all. To what end were we so unhappy here." She describes what happened next: I looked up, being attracted by a light, apparently on the opposite wall, for on this side of the room there was no window or door. The light began to take form, and presently it was as bright as, and much resembled the round light thrown on a white sheet for stereoptican views ... Presently Mary appeared in the centre of the light. Her long, blond hair was like scintillating threads of irridiscent gold. Her face was beautifully happy, her eyes radiant, her form enveloped in a gauzy drapery that was exquisitely graceful. I was not at all nervous, and as I still looked she stepped down from the wall, glided, rather than walked, passed the foot of my bed, and came up nearer the head of it and stood beside me. I did not speak, and felt as though she were so ethereal I might have put my hand through her form.

The apparition then presented "a series of pictures ... all significant of scenes in our home life." Finally, Flora herself appeared in the pictures: I saw ahead of me work and endeavor - but success. I felt strong and well as I looked, and the world instead of being the hated habitation of a crushed life, became a vast field wherein to endeavor and accomplish - to learn - and finally to know, and as the picture faded I turned to Mary. She smiled, and instead of returning to the wall to disappear, faded where she stood. A quiet peace I had not known for many days took possession of me, but I got up, dressed, and went to tell of my experience.57

The following day, Flora walked to a nearby creek and took a seat on a fallen tree trunk that spanned the water. While pondering what she could do with her life, she was presented with a second set of pictures, this time projected on the surface of the still waters of the stream. "I shall not describe them in detail, but will say they were prophetic of the future, and out of the half dozen pictures shown me four have already materialized in my life."58 The two experiences confirmed for Flora that "Mary was still living, and, under certain conditions, was able to make herself visible. It also proved ... that happenings can be prophesied years before." From that

38

Anatomy of a Seance

time forward, Flora retained an interest in "Psychics and Psychic Phenomena, the study of which has not only proved most entertaining and instructive, but also taught me to master physical conditions in myself and others, and instead of being beaten by the material world I have been enabled to use it for my further psychic development as well as physical welfare."59 Flora had difficulty generally with established religion and particularly with Presbyterianism, as is evident in her comments contained in an undated suffrage speach: "The Church with its doctrine of the total depravity of the human race founded upon its assertion of the inherent wickedness of woman has built up a false morality, a mock modesty, a sneaking hypocrisy. It has murdered innocence ... The teaching of the Church is at the bottom of women's slavery."60 She met B.F. Austin, her sister's old classmate, at the spiritualist summmer camp at Lily Dale, New York.61 Austin had just gone through a battle with the Methodist Church, which is described in the next chapter, and had dedicated his energy to the spiritualist cause both as a clergyman and a publisher. One of his publishing projects would be Flora's novel, Mary Melville, the Psychic, which he published in 1900. The novel has been described by Ramsay Cook as "romantic and sentimental." However, Cook goes on to point out that as "a document in the religious and intellectual history of nineteenth-century Canada Mary Melville, the Psychic is filled, appropriately, with revelations."62 If the description of the death in the novel and as reported in the Belleville newspaper is accurate, one might say that Mary died in a manner not dissimilar to that described in esoteric literature as failing to return to her body during a period of astral projection or "soul travel." During her short life, Mary had been telekinetic as well as psychic, causing chairs and tables to move about the house without any apparent effort. The novel documents Flora's rejection of the stiff Scottish Presbyterianism that had been her legacy. By 1903, Flora was radical about most aspects of women's lives. She had advanced views on divorce, family structure, birth control, sex, and working women. After 1903, she was involved in the Canadian Suffrage Association, acting as president from 1911 until 1914, when, as described earlier, she was ousted for having views too radical for the middle-class women who were seeking the vote but not a major reordering of family, religious, or social life. The Canadian Suffrage Association was following a strategy similar to that advocated in the United States, which was calculated to keep the suffrage coalition focused on the vote by making compromises on other radical issues facing women. Ann Braude elaborates on the American scene: "Religion was probably the issue that could most easily have destroyed the nineteenth-century suffrage coalition.

Early Spiritualists

39

Suffragists' refusal to extend their critique of inequality: "to include institutional Christianity won them their largest organizational ally, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union ... Spiritualist women's rights advocates, in contrast, persisted in pressing the full array of antebellum demands, including the condemnation of Christianity as inherently hierarchical and therefore oppressive to women."63 Flora could not restrict her radical vision to the one cause of suffrage. Her antagonism to organized religion was too strong to abandon. In 1916, Flora moved briefly to New York State and took a position working with the New York Women's Suffrage Campaign as an organizer and speaker. It is Deborah Gorham's opinion that Flora was exceptional in her radicalism: Denison was one of the very few Canadians who extended this revolt against respectability to the structure of the family and conventional sexual morality. She was not as outspoken in public or as free in her private life as the Englishwoman Annie Besant or the American Victoria Woodhull. But it was more difficult to flout convention in Toronto than it was in New York or London, and within the limitations of her own life, Denison was attempting the same kind of revolt.64 Throughout her life, Flora maintained a strong acceptance of American culture, with a particular interest in the work of Walt Whitman, whom she saw as celebrating an androgynous society.65 At Mazinaw Lake in Lennox and Addington County, she created a mecca for radical thinkers in the period from 1914 until her death in 192.1. Her Mazinaw Inn was an impressive Victorian structure on the shores of a lake that had long association among First Nations People as a sacred site. The three-hundred-foot high cliff that occupies the far shore from the hotel site are painted with ancient Algonkian pictographs. Here, she attracted a wide variety of people who shared her interest in things such as spiritualism, theosophy, the poetry of Whitman, art, social and socialist thought, and women's rights. After her death, members of the Group of Seven painted posters for her son, Merrill, in return for free room and board, making a significant contribution to the evolution of commercial art in Ontario.66 Merrill would become important in the development of radio drama for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and as a writer of business history. It cannot go unobserved that Bon Echo imitates to a significant degree the geographical and architectural setting of Lily Dale, New York. That small community in northern New York State has been, and remains, a major focus for spirit communication and healing in North America, and it is described in more detail in chapter 4. Almost from its beginning, in 1877, Lily Dale attracted Canadians, especially from points in southern Ontario. Features of the summer program included an annual Canadian Day as well as a Women's Day.

40

Anatomy of a Seance

A long-time Lily Dale associate remembers Women's Day: "We made a lot of Women's Days at Lily Dale ... we met the speakers at the train with the band playing. The carriage trimmed in ferns and yellow ribbons and with all ceremony possible escorted them in state to the Leolyn Hotel." The community attracted illustrious guests: "Susan B. Anthony came there for years to speak for suffrage, along with other brilliant women, among them Anna Howard Shaw, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Helen Campbell, May Wright Sewell, Emily Howland, Lucy Stone, Lucy and Mary Anthony and many others."67 Flora not only visited Lily Dale and met many of the leading women's rights advocates, she also spoke herself on various Canadian Days and hosted women such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman at Bon Echo. She also served as summer librarian at the Marion Skidmore Library on at least one occasion. Lily Dale was a place for radical expression, and women figured prominently both as speakers and visitors. When Flora bought the Mazinaw Inn, there appears to have been more than a little influence of Lily Dale in the plan. However, her interests transcended spiritualism to include a wide range of radical ideas. The work of American poet Walt Whitman was central to her vision and she created the Whitman Club of Bon Echo some time after 1914. Of that institution, we will hear more of later. The people in this chapter who accepted spiritualism in some form in the nineteenth century were educated, literate, and creative individuals. John Dunbar Moodie, Marcus Gunn, Alexander McLachlan, and Flora MacDonald Denison were all of Scottish origin and educated in the Presbyterian tradition described in chapter i. They asked questions and put faith in their reason to sort out their religious beliefs. They read broadly and came to their own conclusions. Women such as Susanna Moodie and her sister, Catherine Parr Traill, are perhaps even more remarkable, given the state of women's rights at mid-century. They were able to take advantage of the colonial milieu to probe religious values in ways that might have been more complicated back in England. Flora MacDonald Denison carried the implicit radicalism of the two earlier women into the world of activism, helping to change the role assigned to women in permanent and significant ways. Underlying the concerns of these early spiritualists was an inherent acceptance of individual rights and freedoms, especially in the area of religious belief. The democratic nature of the colonial frontier gave them the freedom to exercise this freedom. In choosing to explore spiritualism, they were participating in a movement that was very much structured by its origins in the United States. As John Dunbar Moodie pointed out, a nation without a state religion is much more

Early Spiritualists

41

open to exploring new theological truths. In identifying the early responsiveness of Canadians to spiritualism, we are also identifying the power of American egalitarianism to penetrate the Canadian psyche. But, as is evident in the next chapter, public adherence to radical ideas could prove complicated in conservative Canada.

3

B.F. Austin

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, spirit communication in Ontario was practised for the most part out of the sight of mainstream Christian congregations. Catholics were told to shun all spirits, for fear of demonic possession. Protestants were cautious and conducted their explorations in home circles or visited American spiritualist summer camps while continuing to attend Sunday services. In this chapter, we examine the reaction of the Methodist Church of Canada to a challenge by one of its honoured clergymen, who proclaimed his right to seek the truth about psychic phenomena through scientific inquiry. B.F. Austin would describe the resulting debate as a battle between modernism and entrenched conservatism. Ultimately, that conservatism would win the day. B.F. Austin is clearly a forgotten man in the annuls of Canadian church history. His obscurity was insured in June 1899, when the London Conference of the Methodist Church found him guilty on three charges of heresy and expelled him from the clergy. The issue underlying his trial was whether or not the Methodist Church could entertain a committed spiritualist and psychic researcher within its clerical ranks. Dr Austin spoke for close to three hours defending his belief in spiritualism. He cited in his defence the best scientific evidence of his day and drew upon Biblical evidence to support his belief that one could both be a Methodist and practise spirit communication. While some members of the Conference were sympathetic, the majority found his views too radical for Methodism. Austin resigned from the Church and moved to the United States, where he became a lifelong worker in the spiritualist movement. His life and work touched many Canadians, including Flora MacDonald Denison and Jenny O'Hara Pincock. Benjamin Fish Austin was born in Brighton, Upper Canada, on 21 September 1850. He attended public school in that town, and at

B.E Austin

43

the age of sixteen he became a teacher. During the next four years he added preaching to his activities. He attended Albert College in Belleville, Ontario, taking his B.A. in 1877 with first class honours in Oriental Languages and Literature. His degree in Divinity was completed at Victoria College in Cobourg in 1881. Austin's academic career was capped in 1896, when he delivered the Baccalaureate sermon at Victoria College and received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity. The Methodist Church viewed Austin as a promising young man. In 1881, he was moved from Prescott, his first charge, to the Metropolitan Church in Ottawa. A short time later he married Frances Amanda Connell of Prescott, and the couple moved to St Thomas, where Austin became the first principal of Alma College. His career as principal received the approval of the young women students, but he was less successful in pleasing the College Board of Management. While he built up Alma's student enrolment, he was less successful in raising the funds to pay for expanded facilities. In 1893, the financial problems reached a crisis, with faculty suffering a twenty per cent cut in salary.1 His difficulties in administrating Alma College were no doubt complicated by his other major interest: publishing. At Victoria College he had been joint editor with Professor Foster of The Temperance Union. In 1878, he published twelve sermons under the title Popular Sins of the Times. Another collection of sermons prepared by Methodist clergy of the Quinte Conference was edited by Austin in 1879 and published as The Methodist Episcopal Pulpit. These early publications had assisted in making his credentials attractive to the Board of Management. After his appointment at Alma, his publishing ventures became somewhat less conventional. He demonstrated an interest in the higher criticism of the Bible by making and patenting a model of the Holy Land that was based upon "the most recent surveys of the Palestine." He also published "The History of the Jesuits," a pamphlet inspired by the Jesuit Estates agitation. A small book, Rational Memory Training, was followed by his most successful publishing venture, a book called Woman: Her Character, Culture and Calling (1890), which contained articles by Austin and others under his general editorship. While Austin's supporters claimed that these works had large sales, the historian of Alma College does not agree, stating that the books were not popular, the printing costs were prohibitive, and the financial strain of the publishing venture ultimately contributed to Austin's removal as principal of the College.2' While he was having his problems with fundraising for both the College and his private publishing ventures, his life was devastated by the death of his two-year-old daughter, Kathleen.

44

Anatomy of a Seance

Unsure of his own judgment, Austin felt a leave of absence from Alma was in order. He requested a furlough from the Board of Management, with his resignation offered as the alternative. The Board accepted his resignation in 1897, ending sixteen years of service to the College. Dr Austin's life to this point was quite conventional. A capable man who was moved to a position of responsibility that demanded skills beyond his ability, he might have slipped back into the ranks of Methodist ministers who worked diligently with their congregations. However, between 1897 and 1904, when Austin left Canada for the United States, his career took a radical swing. After his resignation from Alma College, Austin was left without a station at his own request for the years 1897-98. During this time, he wrote and published Glimpses of the Unseen. The subtitle of the work indicates its contents: "A Study of Dreams, Premonitions, Prayers, and Remarkable Answers, Hypnotism, Spiritualism, Telepathy, Apparitions, Peculiar Mental and Spiritual Experiences, Unexplained Psychical Phenomena."3 The book attempted to examine a wide range of psychic phenomena and to offer the most current "scientific" theories emanating from the British Association of Psychical Research and from American researchers. Austin's own words best describe his attraction to the occult: My views ... are the result of years of study and investigation. I became interested in the study of psychology through teaching it in classwork at Alma College, and after five or six years I came to believe not that the current theory regarding spiritualism was correct, but that underneath all the deception and artifices practiced throughout the country under the name of spiritualism there was a great deal of natural phenomena. As Principal of Alma College, I became specifically interested in investigating mental sciences both theoretically and experimentally. I read the works of scientists like Sir William Crooks, Alfred Russel Wallace, Zollner and others, who have been making long and patient researches into this object, and finally became convinced that telepathy and clairvoyance were positive facts, and that there were many phenomena that were not explained even by them. The question of the origin of these phenomena then arose. One theory held by a great many people in the church is that it is all deviltry; then there is Carpenter's theory of mental cerebration, and the other theory that the phenomena are caused by the spirits of the dead. Investigation and study convinced me that the last was the only theory to fit the case. I was led up gradually to a firm conviction in this truth.4

An "In Memorium" number of Reason magazine, published by Austin's daughter after his death in 1933, adds the cryptic note that "the subject of spiritualism ... had been thrust upon his attention by certain psychic

B.F. Austin

45

developments among the college students and by the inquiries put to him by students who were eager to know the truth."5 Austin himself, writing in 1932,, said that Alma College had "many bright minds full of inquiry and desire for the truth, and questions about religion, telepathy, prophecy, inspiration and the after life were frequent. Quite a few students were from Spiritualist families and I learned that a number of our Methodist ministers were interested in Spiritualism."6 No information has been found to confirm psychic activities among the Alma students; however, if such was the case, the Board of Management's decision to accept Austin's resignation instead of agreeing to a leave of absence may well have been influenced by a concern over his interest in the occult. One of the few personal experiences narrated by Austin is found in Glimpses of the Unseen. The event took place in Detroit in the spring of 1894, when Austin found himself waiting for a train to get back to St Thomas after delivering a lecture to the Ohio State Sunday School Convention. He noticed reports that a celebrated mind reader was in the city and decided to investigate the man. Austin had tried professional mind readers before but had never struck one who could convince him that the performance was the result of true psychic ability. On this occasion, the demonstration was unsatisfactory; however, the mind reader, later identified as W.E. Cole, referred him to a lady residing in Detroit whom he was sure could give a convincing reading. Austin found her to be a slender woman of medium height "with a thoughtful, pale face, which carried an air of devotion constantly." The lady, identified only as Mrs C R, agreed to demonstrate her skills and went into trance. Austin summarized the result: "Sir, I perceive you surrounded by a great crowd of young people ... Your work is laborious and you and your comrades are carrying heavy burdens. You seem to me like a company of men in a field with ropes over your shoulders, all striving to draw a stone-boat well filled with stones. The burden is heavy and will continue, but gradually lightening with coming years. (We had been, and were then, laboring under heavy debt, and her prediction as to gradual lightening of the load upon us seems justified by subsequent events) ... You have been a term of years in your present position, coming from the east, where you were located near a great river. ("We spent our three years preceding my college appointment at Prescott on the St Lawrence)."7

Austin was somewhat impressed with the reading. He could not fault any of her pronouncements, but he desired more conclusive evidence of her abilities. He asked her to give the names of his colleagues at his place of employment. The lady explained that she was clairvoyant, not

46

Anatomy of a Seance

clairaudient, that is, she saw visions of things and did not normally hear such things as names. She did not admit to a lack of sound with her visions, just to an inability to "distinguish the sounds from each other." She made a concentrated effort to give Austin his required information: For some little time she was silent; a look of most intent earnestness over her face. Her whole being seemed to resolve itself into hearing, so intently did she seem to listen. The stillness was death-like and oppressive, when all at once, with a sudden spring as if she would leap from her seat, she cried out loudly: Professor W I can't get the rest of the name. He is a professor and his name begins with W. I was astonished, and yet fully convinced of the fact of mind-reading from that hour, for Professor Warner had been my intimate colaborer for fifteen years. I never saw Mrs C R before or since.8

It might be added that Professor Warner had also been a classmate of Austin's at Albert College. At the time of the reading, he was vice principal of Alma College. The prediction that Austin's labours would lighten was fulfilled when Warner took over his job as principal three years later after the Board accepted Austin's resignation. By 1898, Austin had committed himself completely to a belief in the occult sciences. That commitment was founded upon extensive reading in the literature of the subject and upon his personal exposure to psychic phenomena. It is quite possible that he was originally drawn to the occult as a result of the death of his infant daughter. Certainly, many people faced with the sudden loss of a loved one turned to spiritualism to reassure themselves of life after death. This possibility is given some credence by another personal narrative in Glimpses of the Unseen: "Some months after the 'Reaper' had gathered the fairest flower in our home garden, who seemed to us the brightest, most beautiful, most loving child God ever gave to an earthly home, our Kathleen of two and one-half years, it was a frequent subject of conversation between my wife and myself why we never dreamed of her, and the desire was frequently expressed by my wife, and as often felt by myself that we might once again behold her, if only in a dream."9 Finally, Austin's desire to view his daughter in a dream was answered. The dream saw Austin and an unidentified friend riding in a boat along a winding river that "stretched like a silk ribbon between green and flowery banks, in a land of groves and forests." The landscape becomes increasingly more lovely. Birds appear to be the only inhabitants of the paradise they move through. The boat is beached and the dreamer leaps to the shore to better view the glories of the vision. His attention is immediately drawn to "a small, bright object, glowing with

B.F. Austin

47

innumerable colours." The object is about twenty feet up in the branches of a tree. The dreamer climbs the tree, recklessly, drawing closer to the object, which lies "placidly upon a limb, its bright little eyes watching me and its gauze-like wings extended over its body and vibrating gently." Austin continues the narrative: I was now beside it - hands seizing the two limbs on either side, my face within a few inches of the creature and gazing with such mingled delight and admiration upon it as no words can express. I began at once a most passionate questioning as to its name and nature, and poured forth in language that seemed, till then, beyond me, my love and devotion. Then occurred a strange transformation. For while swaying in the tree top and uttering the most impassioned language to this bright and beautiful creature of my dream, suddenly the gauze-like wings extended, lengthening and widening before my vision until they seemed large enough to cover an adult human body; and, with a tremulous, curling motion the wings lifted themselves up into a vapour and disappeared, and beneath them was a face and form of a maiden that appeared half child and half woman, so perfectly were the child-like features blended with the womanly face, and over that face and form there was a radiant beauty such as only imagination can paint, and that once in a lifetime. Face to face were we, her long locks of golden hair glittering in the sunshine and streaming in the breeze, her figure one over which the artist, and sculptor and poet might dream a lifetime away; and her voice - I heard it at last - and the music of it will follow me to the last hour of life ... I should fail utterly to give the reader the faintest description of the bliss of that moment by any attempted description. And it was but a moment - for instantly the tree broke and I found myself on the ground again, and the vision departed.10

The above passage is tinged with erotic overtones perhaps unexpected in a father's description of a daughter. However, it was often the case that spiritualists describing the "other side" did so in highly sensuous imagery. Death was an escape from the flesh: afterlife offered a feast for the senses that was meant to be ethereal rather than carnal. This is not to say that there was no transference of suppressed sexuality upon the spiritual realms, as will be evident in cases yet to be discussed. Austin also dealt with this dream in a long lyrical poem called "A Dream: A Transformation: A Recognition." In the poem, the childwoman whispers her name. We have records of three psychic demonstrations that Austin observed probably in 1901. He reported them in his Toronto magazine, The Sermon, and the British journal Light reported on them in January 1902,. Austin met with a slate-writing medium named Fred Evans in New York. The seance is described at some length:

48

Anatomy of a Seance

Mr Evans and I took seats on the opposite sides of a narrow, plain, wooden table. After examining carefully a number of slates, Mr Evans and I held two slates between our hands for a few minutes - then another pair and another till we had magnetized some five pairs of slates. As each pair was magnetized they were placed in pairs one above the other on the narrow table before us, or thrown upon the floor at our feet, one pair upon the floor being completely on my side of the table and quite beyond reach of Mr Evans. When the slates were thus placed Mr Evans and I engaged for about twenty minutes in conversation. As I sat facing Mr Evans throughout and within a few feet of him, it was impossible for him to even touch the slates much less write upon an inner surface of any of them, without my knowledge. At the end of the sitting we found seven of the slates written full, in various handwritings and colours, among them the two on the floor on my side of the table, with letters addressed to myself, wife, and children." Austin affirmed that the contents of the messages on the slates "were all in harmony with each other and with facts." He admitted being puzzled about one letter that was attributed to "Aunt Elizabeth," a relative on his wife's side; however, upon his return home, his wife confirmed both the aunt and the "language and thought" of the message. The other two sittings were both held in Philadelphia, one given by Mrs Wilcox from California and the other by Hugh R. Moore, who was known for his "psychography" mediumship. Mrs Wilcox performed some escape demonstrations. After having her wrists bound around rungs of chairs a curtain was dropped and then lifted to reveal her arms free of the chair but still secured with the rope. The sitting moved on to include the materialization of spirits. Austin described the process: A white-robed visitor emerges from the cabinet - comes to you - with a whispered command to follow - takes you by both hands and leads you into the cabinet. There you are bidden to feel the medium's body and her tied wrists, and standing beside her you are tapped simultaneously by spirit hands from head to foot, apparently by a dozen or more at a time. Then you are led by the spirit form outside and in front of the cabinet, and while the form stands beside you in sight of the circle, and addresses you, made to kneel down and reach behind the curtain to satisfy yourself that the medium is still sitting entranced in her chair. Several forms were visible at one and the same time.12 Hugh R. Moore worked with slates and 5 X 1 0 sheets of paper that were glossy white on one side and dark on the other, "the kind of paper often used on hat and collar boxes." Austin placed about fifty sheets on the top of a slate. After the medium had charged another

B.F. Austin

49

plate with power, it was placed on top of the fifty sheets and the resulting sandwich of plates and sheets was secured with a band. Austin and the medium both held the packaged slates and sheets "for about five minutes," during which time "a powerful vibration was felt through the slates. After the band was removed and the sheets of paper examined, it was found that about twenty-five of the sheets contained writing in a white precipitation upon the dark glossy sides." Austin was completely satisfied with the contents of the letters, which named relatives and friends and contained messages from them to living members of his family. The medium's guide also supplied information about life in the spirit world. In addition, there were some specimens "of writing in Ancient Syriac and Cashmere tongues and the translation; and one writing purporting to be a specimen of the oldest known human language (untranslated)."13 Another early seance was described by Austin in Reason. It took place at Lily Dale on Tuesday evening, 19 July 1904. Austin was accompanied by his two daughters, Beatrice and Alma. There were four other sitters, all American, and the medium, William L. BamBam, with his manager, Charles H. Farrar. Austin describes the seance: The room was lighted sufficiently to see and recognize clearly each person present. The medium sat in front of his cabinet and was securely tied about the ankles to his chair, his wrists tied to his knees and his sleeves sewed fast to his trousers in such a way as to prevent all movements of the limbs not discoverable by the sitters. Almost immediately after the seance began hands of various sizes and characteristics penetrated the curtains, three, four and even five and six at a time, and began handing out flowers in great profusion. Four to six hands appeared at the same time. In one case as many as nine carnations were handed out by one of these hands, one baby hand appeared and presented two white roses to a father present, another hand from which the middle finger was missing appeared for Dr Ford; this was not recognized until the next day, when Dr Ford recal'd that a certain friend of his had lost a finger in the war; they had been comrades years before in the army and stood side by side in battle when the finger was shot off. Other planes of mediumship were manifested and every sitter was convinced that neither Mr BamBam, his manager, nor any confederate had any dishonest part in the demonstration.14

There appears to have been a number of factors contributing to Austin's conversion to spiritualism and his other occult interests: his daughter's death, psychic manifestations that he witnessed, and his increasing academic interest in the study of psychology. Glimpses of

50

Anatomy of a Seance

the Unseen was published in 1898. While it does contain some of Austin's personal encounters with the occult, it is essentially a very objective, well-researched compendium on parapsychology. The book appears to have caused little stir upon publication and today copies of the book are extremely rare. It was inevitable that Austin's acceptance of spiritualism, which was apparently concurrent with the publication of the book, would bring him into confrontation with those in the Methodist Church who viewed such activity as highly suspect, if not the work of the devil. The event precipitating the confrontation took place on 8 January 1899. Austin preached a guest sermon in the Parkdale Methodist Church in Toronto. His text was chosen from Proverbs xxiii:z3: "Buy the Truth and sell it not." The sermon opened with a general argument that "all truth is sacred and divine. There is not a truth in heaven or hell but is sacred and pure and desirable for man to know."15 He then went on to give some reasons why man is hindered in his search for truth. Indifference was discussed and the belief that "certain men are ordained of heaven to seek truth for all mankind" rejected in favour of individual search. Finally, Austin dealt with "the mistaken notion that all spiritual truth was given to the world in one complete system nearly 2000 years ago."16 He elaborated "a theory of progressive revelation, a continuous divine stream of truth and inspiration to humanity in every age and clime, and limited only by the capacity of the race to receive it."17 Having established his case for the value of universal truth and progressive revelation, Austin turned to "the attitude of the church toward new truth." He expressed his concern that the contemporary Church is not open to new truth: "church leaders are afraid new truth may disturb theological beliefs, and so fight shy of it and often sneer at it and denounce it and then afterwards embrace it." He gave examples in the areas of astronomy and evolutionary theory, then turned to the "new truth in philosophy and psychic research." His observations were prophetic: "The scientific truths of telepathy, clairvoyance, soul flight, psychometry and prophecy are well established by incontrovertible evidence, yet to mention them in certain church circles is to ostracize yourself." The sermon concluded with a plea for the value of new revelation: "We must learn the laws that govern our spiritual nature. We must develop our spiritual faculties so that we can see and hear and realize spiritual things." His final words were millennial in vision: "Angels will become our companions. Heaven will become so low and narrow that the inhabitants may pass to and fro at will. And then shall inspiration be the birthright of every one thus spiritually educated."18

B.F. Austin

51

The congregation of Parkdale Methodist Church may have been a bit shocked by their visiting preacher, but if so, they did not record their concern. The reaction to Dr Austin's remarks came from the Reverend A.H. Going of Port Stanley, who was not present when the sermon was delivered. Upon hearing about it, perhaps through a member of the congregation, the Reverend Going wrote to Austin asking him to withdraw the sermon. Austin replied that there "was nothing in the sermon he was willing to retract."19 On i April 1899, Austin received notice from the Reverend C.T. Scott, chairman of the St Thomas District of Methodist Church, that he was charged by the Reverend Going with four counts of heresy originating from the sermon preached at the Parkdale church. A preliminary trial was held on 15 May 1899 in Aylmer, Ontario. Austin was not present at the preliminary trial but defended himself in a written statement to C.T. Scott. He answered each of the four charges in turn, stating that as far as he was concerned, there was nothing in the sermon that was "either (a) untrue, or (b) un-Methodistic or (c) un-scriptural." He quite rightly pointed out that he was under a serious disadvantage, since the Reverend Going had filed nothing with his charges "in way of a specification and argument to show the connection between quotations and charges." He noted that any connection "is by no means apparent to a reader of the complaint."2'0 The first three charges were easily dismissed by Austin. The fourth charge, "upholding the fraudulent system of Spiritualism contrary to the teachings of the Methodist Church," was, of course, the real issue, and the final trial at the London Conference was focused upon it. Austin stated resolutely that he had no connection with "fraudulent Spiritualism." He attempted to define true spiritualism in scriptural terms observing that "Paul, Stephen, John of Patmos and a multitude since their time have had experiences implying their entry (even while in the flesh) into the spirit realms. And who can, with Bible in hand, deny the heavenly inhabitants enter our mortal sphere?"21 In concluding his defence against charge four, he gave the Committee a lesson on the differences between spiritualism and clairvoyance. Obviously, Austin could not at this time deny his belief in the validity of spiritualistic phenomena. In closing his remarks, he stated that he would, if the Committee found it necessary, defend his views on Spiritualism at the annual Conference. The Committee dismissed one charge, but held that the remaining three had been proved. He was suspended from preaching until the Conference." It is significant that none of the people involved with Austin's trial had actually heard the sermon. The judgments were made after reading

52.

Anatomy of a Seance

the published synopsis. Austin, however, was willing to take his chances and have the case decided on its merits. After the hearing in Aylmer, the sermon in question suddenly became of interest to the press. The first Canadian paper to publish a text of the sermon was the Winnipeg Free Press. This is largely explained by the fact that Austin was visiting in Winnipeg at the time. The Toronto Globe did not print the sermon until 3 June, by which time Austin had been removed from the Methodist Church by the London Conference. In the U.S., the sermon became something of a sensation after it was published in the spiritualist paper Light of Truth, which was published in Columbus, Ohio. The sermon had been sent to Ohio by Emerson J. MacRobert, a friend of Austin's and a practising spiritualist whose testimony of faith was later published by Austin in his book What Converted Me to Spiritualism.^ When the annual Meeting of the London Conference met in Windsor in June, Austin was well prepared to defend himself. He had, however, changed his line of defence. Rather than focus upon the particular quotations from his sermon that had been cited by the Reverend Going as evidence of his heresy, Austin decided to deal with the issue of spiritualism. He felt that what was at stake was his "Protestant birthright" to "private interpretation of the Scriptures." He did not see himself as charged with "a denial of revelation, with a rejection of the Scripture or with atheistic or infidel notions." It was, he said, "a question of opinions and Biblical interpretation."24 His address to the London Conference took over three hours to deliver. He quite rightly spent some time early in the address establishing the fact that 1899 was part of "a period of transition." Older views of the world were constantly being challenged by the revelations of science. Things were changing rapidly and old beliefs were giving away to new vision. The Methodist Church, Austin suggested, was also caught in a battle between conservative and liberal points of view: In recent years we have had a Drummond teaching Evolution; a Lyman Abbott proclaiming his belief in spirit return; a Minot Savage declaring his acceptance of the main teachings of Spiritualism; a Talmage in a recent sermon on "Occupation in Heaven" affirming that the departed saints not only came back to this sphere, but also take a more interested and active part in the reforms of the age than they did in the flesh; a Workman as Professor in Victoria University announcing as a result of his special and prolonged study of Oriental literature, views of Messianic Prophecy so advanced that the "Conscript Fathers" of the Church are astounded:: a George Robertson Smith writing an article on the Bible for the Encyclopaedia Britannica so divergent from orthodox views of the past days that he is tried for heresy and acquitted; a Canon

B.F. Austin

53

Farrar preaching his doctrine of Eternal Hope and a Macdonell of Toronto, repeating that doctrine to a Canadian audience.15

Austin went on to mention that higher criticism, in the hands of such divines as Dr George Adam Smith of Glasgow and Professor J.W.A. Stewart of Rochester University, was dealing with issues that were radical in their treatment of scripture and evolution. He declared that the search for truth was the responsibility of every man. "I claim, then as a minister, it is not only my right but a sacred duty to investigate and find out all that can be known about the marvelous psychic powers of humanity."26 Austin saw the age as a "time that every thing that can be shaken, be removed that the things that cannot be shaken may remain."2'7 He makes reference to the wellestablished fact that John Wesley himself had experienced psychic phenomena and had accepted spirit return as the "only possible explanation of the genuine phenomena."28 He ended the first half of his statement by stating his position: "My position on Psychic Research and Modern Spiritualism is virtually the same as that of Dr Minot Savage of Boston, Dr Lyman Abott, and Joseph Cook - viz., that the phenomena found in modern psychic research is absolutely genuine. The interpretation is to-day the only question among investigators."29 The remaining thirty-six pages of his published defence were dedicated to an explication of the current research into psychic phenomena. He began by establishing his own range of experience with psychic events, claiming to have witnessed everything he cited with the exception of "the passage of matter through matter, the levitations of the human body and the production of flowers."30 (He had yet to visit the medium William L. BamBam.) He went on to give testimony to his own exploration of the field: In the quiet home circle, where no preparation had been made and no one anticipated a visit; in the room where all ingress and egress was positively barred and no confederate could be lurking; with the medium of continental reputation and with the medium unknown outside the limits of her home circle; under conditions rendering the production of the phenomena on the part of the medium or by one in the circle, a physical impossibility; in Toronto, Rochester, Detroit, Buffalo, Chicago, New York, under a great variety of circumstances and with full opportunity of investigation before, during and after the seances; with people to whom I was an utter stranger and with people well known; under conditions of my own imposing and with single desire to know the truth and that only, I have seen again and again this phenomena produced, heard these voices from the angel world, caught their living words of instruction and inspiration fresh from angelic lips seen their forms materializing and dematerializing like a cloud vanishing from sight, held them by the

54

Anatomy of a Seance

hand and have felt their hands in benediction on my head, and have learned to know and trust and love those inhabitants of the spirit world, individually even as I know and trust and love friends in the flesh.31

His personal testimony was followed by descriptions of the work of Sir William Crooks, Alfred Russel Wallace, Judge Edmonds, and others. In summarizing explanations for the phenomena, Austin suggested three possibilities: Satanic agency, unconscious cerebration, and spiritual agency.32 Austin dispatches the question of Satanic agency by commenting upon the "spirituality, beauty, Constance and inherent divinity of many of these spirit messages." To credit such matter to Satan was, in his view, blasphemy.33 Turning to unconscious cerebration and the activity of the unconscious mind, he cited the work of Thomson Jay Hudson, who believed that humans had two minds: the objective mind and the subjective mind. The subjective mind is unconscious and governed by suggestion. It can "easily come into contact with other minds" and is able to move "even heavy objects" and exert force "in the physical realm." Austin dismissed such a theory as being unable to account for all of the phenomena he has witnessed. While it may have explained some psychic phenomena such as telekinesis, it did not cover the fact that information received in seance was known only to the one who was now dead and communicating. Even if telepathy was acknowledged, Austin believed, there was still a body of received information known only to those who were dead. He was left with no alternative but to accept the theory of spiritual agency.34 Having accepted spirit communication as the only explanation for all of the phenomena he had witnessed, Austin turned to the question as to whether spirit communication challenged the teaching of the Methodist Church. He established that the family of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, was "a family of prophets" demonstrating "a large vein of mediurnistic power." Wesley, according to "good historic data [,] ... was a medium." The evidence for this claim, Austin noted, was provided in a publication entitled News From The Invisible World, published in London in 1844. Austin was quick to point out that "very much of the teaching of modern Spiritualists is opposed to Methodist teaching"; however, "belief in the possibility or actuality of spirit communication is perfectly compatible with our theology."35 For Austin, the London meeting was an opportunity to deal with the fundamental issue facing Canadian Methodists: "whether a man can hold the views I hold and be a Methodist." He told the Conference that he was willing to be a test case.

B.F. Austin

55

In concluding, Austin turned to the Bible to deal with examples of spirit communication, clairvoyance, faith healing, prophetic dreams, and materializations. "The Scriptures nowhere teach," he said, "that the marvelous gifts and graces of apostolic times, and the performance of what is called miracle should be confined to any particular age or country."36 The occurrence of such phenomena in modern times provided "a line of evidence that demonstrates the truth of these remarkable occupancies of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which occupancies, as we all know, form the great stumbling block to the acceptance of the Bible on the part of a large portion of the scientific world."37 Spirit communication, once acknowledged with the principles of religion, "furnishes the nearest possible approach to a scientific demonstration of the soul's immortality." It was his hope that Methodism could show itself to be liberal in its treatment of scientific inquiry. Such was not the case, and Benjamin Austin was found guilty of heresy by the London Conference. 302 ministers out of 303 voted against him; one abstained.38 He was interviewed by the Globe at his home in Toronto following the trial: If I had elected to leave the Conference in ignorance of just where I stood on the subject of Spiritualism ... I would have been in the church to-day. The sermon in question did not touch on this doctrine, but as I was charged with teaching it, I thought it only fair to defend my own views on it, and against the advice of my friends I addressed the Conference. I did not wish to be in the Church and hold views which were contrary to its teachings, and I decided that if the church was not broad enough or liberal enough to let me in I wanted to be out of it. While I valued my standing in the church, I value my liberty much more.39

Austin withdrew from the Methodist Church and became a full-time apologist for spiritualism. In March 1900, he took the Globe to task for an editorial that appeared on 24 February 1900, which, in Austin's eyes, was "a skilfully drawn caricature rather than a fair representation of a subject in which thousands of Globe readers take a very deep interest." The paper, he went on, represented spiritualism "as a public delusion, resting mainly on fraud and quackery." He set out why the Globe's editorial "was forty years behind the times": [Spiritualism] recognizes an "infinite intelligence," a moral government of the world, rewards and punishments based on natural law, and its ethical teaching through its inspired speakers and prophets places the strongest emphasis on purity of thought and life, love of truth charity and benevolence, and especially on progress in knowledge and virtue, insisting that men daily should "make

56

Anatomy of a Seance

stepping stones of their dead selves to nobler things." It accepts all demonstrated truth and insists on man's living in harmony with the law. If religion be intended to promote man's progress and to comfort him amidst life's sorrows, brighten his hopes and give him a rational knowledge of his future, spiritualism is a religion. No religion offers more consolation or teaches a nobler optimism.40

His experience at the hands of the Methodists would mark him for life insofar as he would never again accept any narrow sectarian orthodoxy. Writing in his magazine Reason more than thirty years later at the age of eighty, he commented that "happy ... is the church which is tolerant and patient with its prophets and which seeks to catch the nobler visions of truth from the lips of its inspired teachers. And alas, for the church that goes heresy-hunting and represses the spiritual inspiration of its leaders, cutting off and excommunicating its prophets, and thus committing ecclesiastical suicide."41 The failure of the traditional denominations to pay heed to spiritualism led to the emergence of new systems of thought: "The modern Theosophical Movement and Christian Science were born out of Spiritualism, both Mrs Eddy and Madame Blavatsky being mediums, and historically are children of Spiritualism."42 After his excommunication from the Methodist Church, Austin spent several years working on publication projects associated with spiritualism. In 1904, he moved to Rochester, New York, where his daughters attended university. There, he became associated with one of two spiritualist groups. By 1906, this group, under Austin's leadership, had acquired a Congregationalist church. Recommissioned as the Plymouth Church, it was cited in 1932 as the finest spiritualist congregation in the United States. From that pulpit, he acquired a reputation as a speaker and writer, with his sermons appearing regularly in the local press. He remained at Plymouth until 1911. Publishing continued to interest Austin. Reason magazine began its life in 1901 and ran until 1934 as a quarterly publication. In 1926, it was joined by the Austin Pulpit Quarterly. Each issue of this journal carried two lectures given in the Church of Revelation in Los Angeles, presumably by Austin, who was a regular speaker at this church, and digests of material on spiritualism from foreign publications.43 Over his lifetime, he authored an additional twenty-seven pamphlets on various topics in support of spiritualism.44 The heart of his publishing enterprise were plates for the work of Andrew Jackson Davis. The set comprised twenty-seven volumes.45 During his stay in New York state, he was offered the principalship of William Smith College, a new institution founded by an elderly

B.F. Austin

57

bachelor millionaire nurseryman living in Geneva, New York. The College was to be exclusively for women and was non-sectarian, although Smith was a confirmed spiritualist who requested that voluntary research in psychic phenomena be encouraged. It seems clear that Austin's work at Alma College made him a sound candidate for this position. Other than for an undated and unsourced newspaper clipping giving the notice of the College's founding, no other information is available about this endeavour or about Austin's role as its founding principal. In 1911, Austin traveled to California on one of his regular lecture tours and decided to remain in the west. He was ordained by sanction to the Spiritualist Ministry by the National Spiritualist Association in 1914. In the remaining years of his life he "served as pastor for or lectured in nearly every church in the state of California."46 In his last years he became the regular Sunday evening lecturer at the Church of Revelation and was a regular speaker at Mae M. Taylor's church in Hollywood. Austin also appears to have given regular summer lecture tours. Reason magazine gives us his itinerary for the summer of 192,6. The Texas State Spiritualist Association invited him to deliver two addresses in San Antonio at their annual convention. Austin remained in the city "for three additional days ... holding classes and giving a stereopticon exhibition."47 He moved on, spending a week each in the cities of Galveston, Houston, Dallas, Taylor, and El Paso, giving lectures and holding classes. Attendance at his sessions ranged from 50 to 500 people. Overall, he tells us, "there is much fine territory in Texas for spiritualistic missionary work and half a dozen promising fields for Spiritualist Church organization."48 An announcement in the Austin Pulpit for June 1928 also gives evidence of his activities. He lists himself as the editor of Reason and teacher of New Thought - New Theology and Spiritual Science. His itinerary for the month of July included lectures at a spiritualist church in Phoenix, Arizona, an annual camp meeting in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and at the Winfield Spiritualist Camp Association in Winfield, Kansas.49 In September 1930, Austin visited St Catharines, St Thomas, and Toronto, Ontario. He officiated at the laying of the corner stone of a new building at Alma College where he had been principal for fifteen years, visited old friends in Toronto and gave two lectures in St Catharines to inaugurate the new Church of Divine Revelation, which was established by Jenny Pincock with Fred Maines as its first minister.50 Austin viewed the spiritualist project as a modern force in conflict with fundamentalism. The old churches practised fundamentalism, which he defined as "a collection of dogmas considered by orthodox

58

Anatomy of a Seance

churchmen specially important to faith in, and the perpetuation of, the Christian religion." He identified nine such dogmas in an address read to the national Spiritualist Association Convention held in Los Angeles in September 1924: 1. The Bible as the "Word of God"; 2. The Fall of Man and the consequent depravity of human nature; 3. The utter inadequacy of the teachings of Nature and human experience as a guide to right conduct and to peace and happiness, and hence necessity of a divine revelation; 4. The dogma of the Vicarious atonement through the suffering and death of Jesus for the sins of the world; 5. A final and general judgment fixing the eternal doom of mankind; 6. The Trinity of Three Persons in one Godhead; 7. Miracles as suspensions or abrogations of natural law, or irruptions of Nature's order; 8. Miraculous answer to prayer; 9. Conversion as an instantaneous transformation of human character - a divine act by which the sinner is changed into a saint, and becomes a child of God and an heir of Heaven.

Spiritualism, in contrast, is a modern belief system: Modernism, or Liberal religion, as it is sometimes called, stands squarely opposed to each of these postulates of Fundamentalism. From reason and human experience it refutes them as the product of the human mind in the days of past ignorance and barbarism. It regards them as utterly unsuited to the needs of humanity in this more advanced and scientific age. It looks upon them as the product of the childhood of the race, before the birth of modern science, or the higher moral consciousness of the age, and as much out of place in modern thought as the wooden plow and the old stage coach are in our life today. The New Theology is but another name for Modernism. It recognizes religion as a natural product of human nature. Modernism and the New Theology both admit great ethical values in early religions and in the numerous Bibles of our day, and urge their followers "To seek the Truth where ever found on Christian or on Pagan ground." They teach God as an Infinite Intelligence, immanent in nature - not a personality. In the sixty-six books of the Bible they find along with fable, myth, legend, many errors, some impossible stories, much food for serious thought and study and much aid in the building of character. But from the standpoint of reason this collection of books known as our Bible, is no infallibility and has no authority save the truth it contains. They rank it among the other Bibles that other religions have produced. Our Bible may be, probably is superior to all other Bibles, but is primus inter pares,

B.F. Austin

59

first among equals. It is not in a category of infallibility by itself. All liberal religions, including Spiritualism, deny the fall of man, repudiate vicarious atonement, and a final general judgment, throw overboard the doctrine of the Trinity, and miracles, and are favorable toward what is known as the Wider Hope for humanity, which implies universal salvation.51

"Spiritualism," Austin stated, "comes into the world unfettered by any alliance with creeds or dogmas. It was born of the love and wisdom of the Spirit Spheres. Its foundations are the facts and principles of Nature and the teachings of human experience. It is absolutely free to accept all demonstrated or demonstrable truth in religions of the past or the new religions of today." There appeared to be no doubt in Austin's mind that the modern spiritualist movement would win out over fundamental religions: "Evolution and Spiritualism will soon rid the world of this great menace to intellectual liberty and free men from all superstition and supernaturalism leaving a free course for the teachings of Nature and of life." Austin felt that evolution had produced "a higher moral consciousness, a stricter sense of justice, a keener sense of right and truth, because evolution has done its work upon the moral sense of man and, therefore, it has become impossible for men today to accept the absurdities, the crudities, the injustices, the immorality often taught in the religions of the past." 5Z Austin's two quarterly publications, Reason and the Austin Pulpit, contained much valuable information about the thought and practice of spirit communication. In 1919, he wrote in about the most fundamental phenomena in spiritualism, spirit messages. He explained to his readers that "many so-called spirit messages are a mixture of telepathic communications from the sitter or the circle and the outpourings of the subconscious mind of the medium, and furnish no proof whatsoever of originating in some discarnate mind."53 Even then, authentic messages, he tells us, "are in subject matter and expression almost destitute of value so far as instruction, inspiration, comfort or practical help are concerned." He set out three elements that have significance for spirit messages: "the original idea or thought projected from the spirit friend; the modifying influence of the medium's brain and expression, and the modifying influence of the sitter or circle or environment."54 A variety of reasons, he claimed, explain the low calibre of messages. "The sitters may dominate the conditions of the circle and render it difficult for the lofty thought and exalted sentiment and teaching to find expression in the low vibration of the circle." Or it may be that the communicating intelligence is "on too low a plane intellectually or spiritually to transmit a spiritualizing message." Mediums also may "be unfitted intellectually or morally or instrumentally as a channel

60

Anatomy of a Seance

for communications of an exalted character. Whatever the cause, the general tone of spirit messages is such that they often fail to attract and very frequently they repel enquirers who drop into the seance or the circle."55 Austin also discussed, in the same article, the justifiable reasons for seeking messages from the spirit world: "Spirit messages have a threefold purpose in regard to human life; a demonstration of the continuity of life; the consolation of the sorrowing, and the furnishing of instruction, inspiration and practical help in the upbuilding of exalted character." He admitted, however, that "nearly all the messages of the average seance and circle are made to run along lines of temporal interest, pleasure, profit and selfish interests, rather than spiritual growth and unfoldment." The spirit world seems to support this perversion of the prime goals and "prophecies are given out and pledges of aid made which, alas, too often fail of fulfillment." Austin believed that "advice on law, medicine, mining stocks, love, marriage and divorce, the finding of lost articles or animals" are concerns "for experts and counsellors here upon the earth plane and not for departed friends, many of whom were entirely ignorant on these lines when on earth and have not qualified since." He ends his article by telling his readers that "Spiritualists should use the spirit messages for spiritual instruction, inspiration and comfort and teach their followers to use their own reason and judgment on material affairs." 56 An area of contention between spiritualists and orthodox Christians was the question of whether the Bible was a "completed" revelation from God and thus infallible or whether it was simply an inspired text, a bible among bibles. Austin engaged in a debate with Dr R.A. Torry of the Bible Institute over this question and the arguments were published in Reason Quarterly. The orthodox belief of most churches that the Bible was "completed," composing "the closed canon of revelation," was in direct conflict with the idea that spirit communication provided new insights to humans. Spiritualism was firmly lodged in the idea of progress, of expanding knowledge and evolutionary development.57 Austin's early association of evolutionary principles with mysticism may have been influenced by the work of Richard Maurice Bucke, whose book Cosmic Consciousness appeared at the turn of the century. Austin may have met Bucke, who lived fifteen miles away, in London, when Austin was in St Thomas, and he was aware of Bucke's interest in researching psychic events (he describes one of Bucke's investigations in Glimpses of the Unseen). He established his familiarity with Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness by publishing quotations from the book in Reason Quarterly.58

B.E Austin

61

In 1930, Austin wrote in Reason about the spiritualist summer camps and his love for the lecture circuit: While living in Toronto and Rochester, N.Y. for ten years I regularly toured these Camps and delighted in the Class Work and public ministrations. Since removal to Los Angeles the distance and expenditure of time and money necessary to reach the Eastern Camps and demands upon my time and strength in book publishing, have practically closed my Camp work till this present season. This year, however, the calls for Camp Work were too insistent to be ignored and I determined to go "Tenting on the Old Camp Grounds" and accordingly accepted engagements at Lily Dale, Wonewoc, Miss. Valley Camp, Etna, Lake Brady and Ashley Camps, a few days at Indianapolis and a week in Pittsburgh. My trip covered over 10,000 miles, five Camps and three cities and included over 50 lectures and lessons ... The work of teaching and preaching Spiritualism is the most delightful work in the world.59

B.F. Austin died in California on zz January 1933. After cremation, his ashes were returned to St Thomas for interment in the family plot. His daughter Beatrice had worked with him as an associate editor for Reason magazine; she predeceased her father in 1921.6o Alma, his younger daughter, took over the publication business, but could not resurrect it from the debt that finally ended Austin Publishing. On a sad note, although her father's spirit manifested to others, she herself was unable to make contact with his spirit. Austin left Canada to build a career as a significant player in the spiritualist movement in the U.S. Cast out of his pulpit in Canada, he carried his beliefs south to a society that was more open and responsive to radical thinking. In examining his life, it becomes obvious that Canadians interested in spiritualism kept tabs on his career in the U.S. Flora MacDonald Denison had him publish her novel, Mary Melville, the Psychic, described in the previous chapter. Jenny O'Hara Pincock, whose story is yet to be told, subscribed to Reason magazine, published her book Trails of Truth through Austin Publishing, and invited Austin to consecrate her new spiritualist church in St Catharines. Yet, Austin appears to have rarely returned to Canada. Was it that he had difficulty dealing with the society that had refused to hear his plea for understanding? Or was it because there was little to visit in Canada in the way of spiritualist institutions? Whatever the reason, he provides us with a fascinating study of the radical Canadian who moves south to seek an environment more open to radical thought. He viewed spiritualism as a modernist project, one that was thoroughly supported by

6^

Anatomy of a Seance

contemporary science and reason. He began his journey hoping that spirit exploration could be incorporated within the established Methodist Church. His removal from that Church did not eliminate his belief in Christianity, and his propaganda for spiritualism never rejected his basic belief in the Christ of the New Testament. He did, however, reject much of the dogma that defined established Christian theology. In the next chapter, we turn to one of Austin's most useful publications, What Converted Me To Spiritualism, for a glimpse into the motives that drew Canadians from a variety of backgrounds to the seance room.

4

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism" In the last half of the nineteenth century most people followed the lead of the Moodies and Gunns and conducted their explorations of spiritualism with small groups of friends and relatives within the confines of private homes rather than in the public forums chosen by B.F. Austin. Initial contact with spiritualism probably came through reading newspapers and books, most of which were imported from the United States or which contained reprints of articles from American journals. Those with a keen interest in psychic matters but lacking a group within which to experiment were drawn to a variety of summer camps, which started to appear by the end of the nineteenth century. The larger centres such as Toronto and London received visiting mediums who gave public demonstrations as well as holding private sittings for small groups or individual citizens. The so-called "home circle" was clearly the backbone of the spiritualist movement. It allowed psychic explorers to identify and develop mediumistic abilities among a selected group of people often linked by kinship or friendship. In many ways, this was the safest route in a time when, as has been described, such activity could still be punished under the Vagrancy Act. Such groups, however, have left sparse records of their activities. Ottawa, Mrs Hardinge Britten observed, had a "little band of spiritualists" who had identified mediumistic ability within their own group since they were "too remote to secure the services of traveling lecturers and media."1 Britten herself was a propagandist for the spiritualist cause and published descriptions of how to set up a home circle in 1868: It consists of six friends, half of whom are male, half female, and one person male or female indifferent who is an already developed medium. One of the gentlemen present has a magnetic power, and rather a positive will. A second

64

Anatomy of a Seance

is good, gentle and kind - stout in persona and very healthful, but not remarkable for intellect. The third is small, acute, observing - enthusiastic and disposed to literature. One of the ladies is very quiet, gentle, positive, of fair complexion and matronly healthful organism. The second active, shrewd, inquisitive, and dark haired. The third a writer or musician and a very sensitive not strong in frame, yet not sickly. These persons are friends, and always in harmonious relation with each other. They each love Spiritualism, and are candid seekers of truth. They have special opinions, but except the two gentlemen, no. i and no. 3, and the lady no. 3, have no marked and positive characters. These last three feel that "they do not know everything" and are desirous to learn, they seek the spirit circle for instruction, the others chiefly from love of Spiritualism. They meet once a week, at eight in the evening - lock the door and neither admit others or answer knocks. They always retain the same places at the same table; close their sittings at ten exactly, and commence to open the meeting with a sweet hymn, or spiritual song. They converse pleasantly, asking for their spirit friends when they meet - never seek for anything special to themselves except they first state their wishes to all the circle, and obtain their consent - knowing that a strong though unexpressed wish or feeling on the part of one member of the circle will become a sharp positive angle of magnetism, which will obstruct and perhaps neutralize the rest of the phenomena. They never, if possible, absent themselves from the circle, regarding it as a high and sacred privilege to commune with spirit friends. They never introduce strangers at the circle, unless the spirits desire it, or leave is first asked and obtained of the circle and the spirits.* If you lived in southern Ontario and were close enough to the American border it was possible for initial exposure to spiritualist ideas to occur through visits to American mediums in cities such as New York, Boston, or Buffalo, or through visits to spiritualist summer camps such as Lily Dale in northern New York State, or others at Onset Bay, Massachusetts, and in Ohio at Lake Bradley. Lily Dale was first founded in 1879 on the shores of Cassadaga Lake, in western New York. Groups had been meeting in the area as early as 1855, when the Religious Society of Free Thinkers met at Laona, New York. This group transformed into the Laona Free Association and in 1871 began holding summer picnics in the woods near the present Lily Dale site. In 1877 the group planned a five-day camp meeting, which was successful enough to be duplicated the next year as well. In 1879, the group formed the Cassadaga Lake Free Association and applied to the State of New York for recognition as a corporate body so that real estate could be purchased for a permanent spiritualist summer camp. The land was purchased and subdivided into

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

65

lots that were leased for development. A hotel was built in time for the 1880 summer season. By 1903, there were 2.15 cottages on the site, and 40 families lived there year round. Lily Dale would acquire all of the accoutrements of a village: a post office, fire department, hotels, a cafeteria. A variety of sites including a large auditorium were set up for spirit communication. Eventually, it acquired its own public school and a library. Lily Dale began its long association with women's issues in 1891, when Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton decided that the Chautauqua Institution was unsuitable for meetings and brought their group to Lake Cassadaga. Anthony remained a faithful visitor over the years, as did many of the leading suffrage workers in the U.S. Women's day was celebrated every year, as was Canadian Day. From its early beginnings, Canadians were to be found at Lily Dale. References to seances held at Lily Dale in the pages to come demonstrate the attraction of this small cottage community devoted to the exploration of spiritualism. Lily Dale still functions as a mecca for spiritualists, and still features a Canadian Weekend in its summer calendar of events. The Lily Dale Assembly screened the various mediums who visited the camp and only those who met with the approval of the selection committee were allowed to give readings and conduct seances. Over the last one hundred years, Lily Dale has entertained most of the world's leading mediums.3 Eventually, a second camp was opened in Cassadaga, Florida during the winter months. For spiritualists in Canada, visits to sit with established mediums in Toronto or New York were common, as the case of John Dunbar Moodie indicates. Leading American mediums such as Mrs Effie Moss, Mrs Etta Wriedt, and the Bangs sisters held sessions in various Canadian cities. Sometimes the press would show interest in these visits, and on occasion, a balanced report would be printed, which no doubt drew potential sitters. Such was the case with the arrival of the first medium to make use of speaking trumpets in Toronto. The event was reported in the Globe of 2,0 April 1898. In these seances, sheet-metal trumpets in the shape of megaphones were used to amplify spirit voices. Some trumpets were decorated with fluorescent paint, making them visible in the dark. In most trumpet seances, the trumpets levitated and danced about the room, stopping in front of the sitter who was to receive a message. The reporter acknowledged that trumpet seances might well be found in other cities but that the phenomenon was new to Toronto. On this occasion the seances were presented by Mrs "Wright," who came from Buffalo. It is very likely that the reporter misspelled the medium's name. Mrs Wriedt, from Detroit, was

66

Anatomy of a Seance

one of the more famous American mediums of the day. Her spirit guide was known as "Dr Sharp," as was the guide identified in this seance. The Globe reporter, Phillips Thompson, described this seance in unusual detail and seems to have maintained an open-minded view. He stated that his report was given "without formulating any theories or expressing any opinion for or against spiritualism simply to give a faithful account of the latest type of spiritualistic seance, considering that, as a latter-day belief, which is influencing the lives and convictions of a large and increasing body, the matter is from every point of view worthy of more attention than it has received." The medium held her seances in private Toronto homes to avoid publicity, preferring to focus more upon securing "harmonious gatherings among spiritualists and friendly inquirers than to convince opponents." About twenty-four people attended the seance reported by the newspaper. Each sitter paid fifty cents admission. Women sitters were in the majority. All sat in a circle with "the medium, a very slender, sprightly-looking lady with a distinctively American accent, being in a central position on one side." The room was reduced to complete darkness. It is clear from the lack of security imposed upon the medium that these sessions were being held for the converted: it was usual, as will be evident in later descriptions, for the medium to be secured in various ways designed to insure no fraudulent behaviour occurred. It is worth quoting the description of Mrs Wriedt's seance at some length, since she was one of the most popular American mediums in Canada. In the 19305, her sitters included Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The proceedings began by the saying of the Lord's Prayer, in which all were requested to join, followed by the singing of "God Save the Queen," according to the direction of the medium's principal control, "Dr Sharp," who has special liking for the national anthem. Then the trumpet, a tin instrument some three feet in length, which had previously been placed in the centre of the circle, was apparently picked up and Dr Sharp began speaking in loud, distinct tones so as to be clearly heard by all in the room. He addressed several of those present personally by name, exchanging the usual commonplace greetings and inquiries after friends, just as anyone in the flesh might have done on dropping in of an evening at a social gathering. Then some of the party began asking for medical advice, and the doctor in some instances specified simple remedies, but in most cases refused to prescribe. One inquirer was advised to consult a well-known lady practitioner. The style of his remarks conveyed the impression of a brusque, hearty, off-hand sort of person of a rather sarcastic temperament. He soon relinquished the trumpet in favour of a succession of voices having

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

67

individual communications to make to different members of the circle. Most of these spoke in low whispers, so that it was often difficult to hear them intelligibly. The medium exhorted the circle in such cases to answer the voices and ask them to repeat their message again and again until they got them correctly. "Speaking to the spirits strengthens them," she explained. With every new arrival the trumpet, judging from the directions of the sound was moved from one quarter to another. Sometimes it seemed to be near the floor and again high above the heads of the company, and went from one end of the room to the other, generally approaching close to the person specially interested in the messages. Spirits of all ages, both sexes and every degree of kinship were recognized by their friends, and a series of family conversations ensued dealing, as the case might be, either with mundane conditions of the doings of those still in the flesh or the state and surroundings of those who had joined the majority. The most singular feature to a non-spiritualist or one not accustomed to the views of the cult, was the perfectly cool, calm, matter-of-fact demeanor of those who evidently fully believed that they were holding intercourse with the departed. It was just as though the unseen voice belonged to a member of the family who had been temporarily absent on a visit and exchanged the usual greetings and questionings on his return. Advice and opinions were sometimes asked as to contemplated movements and business affairs, mutual friends were inquired after by name, and domestic incidents and events and personal peculiarities alluded to as they would be in such meetings in ordinary life. In only two cases did the persons addressed appear to show any excitement or deep emotion, one being that of an elderly Scotch woman who was somewhat agitated on recognizing her brother, whose voice still retained a slight trace of his native Doric. There was an Indian spirit, one of the medium's regular band, named "White Wolf," who now and then interrupted the regular order of proceedings by an unexpected and stentorian "Ugh!" calculated to startle the timid. Whenever there was a lull in the communications the medium requested singing, and a hymn tune was started, usually followed by increase of power on the part of the invisible forces. It was announced that Emma Abbott would sing to the accompaniment of a violinist who formed one of the circle. "When the Swallows Homeward Fly" and "Home Sweet Home" were given, a powerful voice rendering the air through the trumpet. The manifest difficulties in the way of materializing a voice and singing through such an instrument may well disarm criticism and silence any censorious comparisons between her powers in life and her present capabilities. At intervals lights were seen by those in the circle who had attained some degree of psychic development, while the uninitiated strained their eyes in the vain endeavor to catch any spark of radiance that might relieve the intense darkness. The writer saw one faint light which flashed in an instant straight

68

Anatomy of a Seance

downwards from the ceiling and disappeared. Others declared they beheld shadowy spirit forms. The seance, after lasting fully three hours, was closed by a general all-round talk from Dr Sharp, who was again plied with medical questions and applications for advice, and everybody appeared well satisfied.4

Such descriptions are valuable for their insights into the actual workings of a seance. The order of events described above is usual in most seances, and the broad mix of age, gender, and class demonstrates their general appeal. The use of Christian material such as the Lord's Prayer and hymns along with more secular music is also typical. And the presence of a First Nations person acting as a spirit guide is ubiquitous in seances. There is little doubt that such a report would increase the attendance at the next spiritualist event. What cannot be deduced easily from such material are the motives of the sitters who participated. To gain an understanding of why individuals were converted to spiritualism, we will examine a collection of personal testimonials that was assembled by B.F. Austin at the turn of the century and published as a book called What Converted Me to Spiritualism.5 The text contains narratives from both Canadians and Americans, but our focus will be on the Canadians. Emerson J. MacRobert was born near Bryanston in Middlesex County, Ontario. He received training in Toronto in 1880 and assumed a position as a teacher in London, Ontario, later becoming a principal of Rodney Public School in Elgin County. He left teaching to sell insurance in the London area. His wife died thirteen days after giving birth to a son less than a year after their marriage. That child died eight years later. His first contact with spirit communication came in 1892. when at the encouragement of a friend he went to a seance held by a Mr Church. He tells us that the seance was "what was known as a dark seance with independent voices and physical manifestations" (141). His first reaction to Mr Church was to see him as "a mind reader and ventriloquist." However, he and his friend decided to investigate further. He describes another seance: There were about fifteen in the room including the medium. We first tied the medium in his chair, then fastened the chair to the floor and put a string through a button hole of every person present. I held one end of the string while my friend Dr C - held the other end and some wonderful manifestations took place. Instruments were played upon and chairs thrown around the room. An old College mate of mine came to me and said he died suddenly. No other person present ever heard of or had seen him. On making enquiry the next day I found that Dr J - had died just as he had described, giving day and date.

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

69

When we turned on the lights we found the medium still tied and everything in the same condition as when we shut off the gas. (141-2)

Despite the apparent success of this evening, their delight with Mr Church paled after some months. MacRobert tells us that "the medium got the worse of liquor one day and we caught him faking. We at once accused him of doing the whole thing. A Newspaper controversy started. I wrote a number of very vindictive letters against Spiritualism which were published in the daily press." In August 1893, MacRobert and his friend set out to expose some mediums at Lake Bradley, Ohio, the site of a spiritualist camp meeting. They selected a "full-form, in-the-light, materializing seance which was to be held that evening by Mrs Effie Moss." The two friends entered at different times and sat separately. The seance started with the singing of a well-known hymn, which was followed by the materialization of a small child who walked out of the medium's cabinet. The child was "Lilly Gray," the cabinet's controlling spirit. MacRobert's friend, then he himself was confronted with materializations. MacRobert describes his visitor: I had no doubt whatever as to the spirit being my wife, her make up was perfect. She never looked more natural. I went up to her, she took me by the hand placing her arm around my neck, embracing me saying, "I am pleased to meet you, dear husband." I said, "You're not my wife. I do not know you, I live in Chicago." She quickly answered, saying, "I am your wife. Your name is Emerson J. MacRobert? You live at 507 Queen's Ave., London, Ont. You and your friend, Dr C - came here to expose the mediums. I am your wife, was married to you in 1881, during the time you taught school at Rodney. My name was Elizabeth Kennedy Gawley. I passed to spirit life on Sunday evening, July 25th, 1882, my baby being only thirteen days old. He is now with me here. (143)

MacRobert agreed to see his deceased son and the apparition fetched him from the cabinet. More evidence was given by the spirit of his wife. MacRobert was thoroughly convinced of the validity of the experience: "I have talked to her hundreds of times since then. I have had portraits of her painted while she stood in materialized form ... I have had her photographed under similar conditions while she stood beside me with my spirit son on the opposite side" (144). MacRobert came to seance to identify fraud and instead encountered his wife and child. Once he was convinced this had happened, he became a convert to the cause. He continued to be a worker in the movement, befriending B.E Austin and getting to know Dr John King,

70

Anatomy of a Seance

a prominent researcher who is the subject of the next chapter, and who came to London during the time of the first exposure of Mr Church. Mr J.C. Smith was also born in London, Ontario, and was raised in the Methodist Church. He recalled that "even as a child" he longed "for a glimpse, if possible, of the other side of the veil, that [he] might know that life really existed beyond the grave" (169). After hearing from a friend about spirit communication, Smith began to read spiritualist texts by such authors as T. Gales Foster (Unanswerable Logic) and Samuel Watson (Religion of Spiritualism). Watson was at one time president of a Methodist Episcopal college. He also wrote The Clock Struck Four. Smith recalled a very early seance that he attended. "It took place in the home of a friend who like myself had become deeply interested in the subject." The group "formed a circle of about a dozen people, all of whom were earnestly seeking to learn the truth." To insure that truth did prevail, Smith wrote, "the medium ... was placed, at his own request, under test conditions of the most absolute character. Those having charge of that work, not satisfied with tying and sealing the subject, also fastened with nails his clothing to the floor, as well as the chair upon which he sat. The lights were lowered, and immediately beautiful music began to play upon several instruments provided, in perfect time and harmony. Hands caressed us affectionately, and whispered words of love and greeting were spoken to nearly all present by those we know were no longer of earth." Smith gave a detailed description of what happened next: "Those claiming to be guides of the medium addressed us in words of wisdom upon themes of a most elevating character, and many messages were written upon sheets of paper we had prepared. To all of our senses excepting that of sight was presented evidence of the presence of intelligences other than of ordinary human character. We raised the lights to find the medium still secured just as before the manifestations occurred" (171). Although this early seance produced strong evidence in favour of spirit communication, Smith was not yet satisfied and traveled to a spiritual camp in Ohio, probably Lake Bradley. There, unknown to anyone, he engaged a Dr Mansfield for a sitting. The medium practised slate writing. Smith, who had brought his own slates with him from London, wrote his name and date on the frames: The medium then requested me to tie them together with my handkerchief and then button them under my coat. He then reached across the table at which we were sitting and took my hand, when I immediately heard the sound of writing upon the slates, closely buttoned against my chest. He then told me to unbutton my coat and open and examine my slates. I found then within a

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

71

message in the hand-writing of a very dear friend. The message contained references to members of my own household a hundred miles away and was signed with the writer's own signature in full. These are the simple facts which to me at least contain sufficient evidence of the existence of spiritual beings whom we know as father and mother, brother and sister, or perhaps, a precious son or daughter, ever hovering around us, seeking to aid and comfort us whose work on earth is not yet finished, and whom we shall meet again in that realm of peace and joy where sorrows come not. (172.)

Dr James Baxter moved to Chatham, Ontario, after attending classes at Harvard University in the 18705. It was while he was in Boston that he had his first experiences with spirit communication. In 1870, his landlady's daughter committed suicide. A month or so after this event the landlady was summoned to seance by a medium living nearby who claimed to have a message for the mother from the deceased daughter. Baxter advised the landlady not to go, suggesting that the medium was "a fake," and he volunteered to go in the mother's place: I went, and found a room with about fifty or sixty persons present, took a seat quietly in their midst and awaited developments. By and by a lady of 45 accompanied by her husband entered and took a seat on the dais, became controlled and gave messages to several, mostly unimportant and altogether trivial it seemed to me. Then she arose, walked down the aisle with closed eyes and placing her hand on my shoulder said, "I wish to speak to you, follow me." I did so and she led me into the adjoining room, and shutting the door, turned and said "You are from the provinces, your father had so many children, you have a brother in New York studying medicine" and she gave me many details of the manner of her death and things that had transpired before, many of which I was at the time ignorant of, and which I afterwards verified. I was not at this time a Spiritualist. (107)

His next interaction with a medium occurred ten years later, in 1880. While visiting his brother, they debated the question of the immortality of the soul. The brother did not accept life after death. Four weeks later the non-believer was himself dead. Baxter received a visit from a friend and medium who visited him at his office. The medium "suddenly became controlled and placing his hand on my shoulder ... said 'Jim, I am glad to be able to meet you again'" (108). Subsequent questioning of the entity confirmed in Baxter's mind that he had indeed been in communication with his deceased brother, who now, obviously, accepted the immortality of the soul. Joseph Barker resided in Kincardine, Ontario. His initial interest in spirit communication was piqued in 1892 by a visit of about three months

72.

Anatomy of a Seance

to Kincardine by Professor Gustin from Ingersoll, who styled himself a magnetic healer. Barker took away from Gustin's office Dr Samuel Watson's book The Clock Struck Four, which both he and his wife read. Three years after this, on 6 August 1893, they received their first invitation to attend a seance. Four days later, the couple visited the medium, Miss Maggie Pollock, who lived with her parents in Blyth in "a comfortable farmhouse." After having breakfast with the family, they retired to the sitting room and assumed assigned seats: Miss Pollock inquired if I would oblige her with some article which had been handled freely by me. Seeing a spectacle case showing itself in the outside pocket of my coat she said that would do, and same was placed in her hands with the spectacles enclosed therein. In a few moments this medium passed into the trance condition and quickly began to describe the appearance of a spirit which the medium declared stood near to my right shoulder. It was, the medium declared, the spirit of a man of medium height and seemed to have passed from the mortal not long before, and he gave to her an indication that it was a stomach trouble, inflammation, which was the direct cause of his passing to the spirit world. "And now," said the medium, "I see something very strange. He holds in one hand a pair of spectacles and points the same at you, Mr Barker. Perhaps you will understand the meaning of it." I said, "Yes, it is George Wilkinson, who comes with this test to assure me beyond a doubt of the reality of spirit communication." I noticed that the moment mention was made by me of the name George Wilkinson, the medium acted as though she received a sudden shock from an electric battery. (93-4)

Barker explained that ten months previous to this sitting, he had been in Meriden, Connecticut, to visit his sister, whose husband, George Wilkinson, had died some five weeks earlier. The widow had given Barker her dead husband's spectacles during that visit, the same spectacles that had attracted the entity's interest in the sitting. For Barker, this sitting "fully satisfied [him] of the reality of spirit return and made a convert of [him]." Both he and his wife had additional seances with Miss Pollock, and he wrote that he regretted not discovering spirit communication until he was "nearly seventy years of age" (94). John Lawrence lived in Collingwood. Most of his early experiences with spiritualism were through the psychic abilities of his wife. She fell into trance on several occasions, viewing dead people, and on one occasion, became an instrument for "some foreign intelligence" that used Mrs Lawrence to play the piano "with a dexterity and variety of touch the most marvelous and beautiful imaginable." His comments on what drew him to the "New Theology" are the most compelling in his testimony:

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

73

After seriously and conscientiously considering the doctrines and dogmas of the Old Theology I find that they are founded largely on Paganistic legend, allegory, folk lore and the most glaring irrationalisms of the childhood of the world, when reason, man's great endowment, which constitutes him a man, was apparently thrown to the wind. If a modern scientist with his keen, rational mind intellect and analytical methods were to adopt such an erratic haphazard system in science as men do in theology, his labors for the benefit of humanity would become useless. Imagine, if you can, the Supreme rational intelligence of the universe, who directs the untold planetary systems in their course according to fixed law and harmony, and who created man in his image mentally ... expecting man to accept legend as literal history, fable as fact, or self-evident contradictions with the puerile apology, "that we are not supposed to understand all things, there is enough given us that we can understand." (66)

In this case, Lawrence is clearly rejecting dogma for the evidence of his senses. Unlike Dunbar Moodie in chapter z, he does not hold with elements of folk religion or with the threat of materialism. Reason rules and science requires demonstrable proof. George Dawson lived in Montreal. In 1884, while still a practising Anglican, Dawson suffered the loss of a close family member, which forced him to deal with his belief in immortality of the spirit. His reading of Christian belief left him unsatisfied and he "turned, therefore, from revelation, so-called, and took up the divine book of nature to see if [he] could learn anything from its pages regarding the nature and destiny of man" (109). He had already explored "mesmerism, mind reading, clairvoyance, telepathy and kindred subjects." Now he turned to the spiritualist writings of Col. Olcott, Rev. Samuel Watson, Rev. Stainton Moses, Sir William Crookes, Alfred Russel Wallace, S.C. Hall, Emma Hardinge Britten, Judge Edmonds, Epes Sargent, and Moses Hull. These writers were able to bring him to accept spirit communication without having experienced a seance. His first exposure to the phenomena of spiritualism occurred in the summer of 1887, when he visited a spiritualist camp meeting at Onset Bay. He kept his visit a secret and assumed another name while at the camp. He attended a sitting under the supervision of Mrs Pennell, who was a clairvoyant and trance medium: "I was not five minutes in her presence when she, or rather her spirit guide speaking through her, addressed me by my name George, and told me that I was not the only George in the family, which as perfectly true. She then gave me messages from the children of mine who had passed to spirit life some years previous. She described these children accurately, giving names, ages, color of hair, color of eyes, and mentioned incidents in lives that

74

Anatomy of a Seance

no stranger could possibly know anything about unless the knowledge were procured through occult or spiritual sources" (no). Dawson visited the Onset Bay camp meeting again in 1894 and had a sitting with Mr Green, a spirit photographer. The photograph obtained at this sitting contained an image that Dawson felt was of his deceased daughter, but he admitted that he had no "absolute proof as the picture was not distinct enough for positive recognition." His next recorded seance occurred at Lily Dale in 1897. He was accompanied on this occasion by his wife and sister-in-law. They attended a sitting with the trumpet medium Mrs Etta Wriedt that was very evidential, with six or seven spirits coming to speak. One of these spirits was the small girl whose picture had materialized in the Green seance at Onset Bay. Dawson describes what happened when he asked the small spirit about the photograph: "Daisy," said I, "do you know anything about a photograph that I had taken at Onset some years ago?" "Indeed I do," said she, "for I am on it." ... "what part of it are you on?" "Right on you," she replied. I then asked, "Where about on me?" In answer to this inquiry I was touched by the end of the trumpet on the left shoulder right on the spot corresponding with the position of the child's face on the photograph. What better proof could any reasonable person require? (in)

Other evidence from the child spirit included a description of her accidental death. C.F. Broadhurst of Arnprior, Ontario, provided some links between the role of the medium and the evangelical preacher. His first experience with the occult occurred in Clowstop, England. He dreamed that he would preach at Clowstop church. He attended the service and the regular minister had not arrived twenty minutes after the usual time for service. Broadhurst assumed the pulpit: "All went well until I gave the same text I had used in my dream (the conversion of St Paul). That was all I remembered. I felt as though I were floating. When I came to myself I saw by my watch I had been speaking three quarters of an hour, but knew nothing that was said. I went home greatly mystified. I have had the same experience many times since." (119). Broadhurst came to Canada in 1893. He avoided spiritualism because he supposed it to be the work of the devil. In 1900, he had a visit one night from a man who appeared at the end of his bed in a shining light. "The hair was dark, his eyes blue, and he was standing like a statue. He had purple pants, but the rest of the body was nude. I did not speak - I could not. He gradually passed away" (119). He employed the services of a Mr M -, a miner, who was also a medium

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

75

who used automatic writing on a slate while in trance. When asked about the nocturnal visitor, the message on the slate gave the name Theodore Brown, West Bromich, and the information that he had been a minister. Mrs Broadhurst recalled the name from their past. Broadhurst later had a long talk with Brown during a seance with Mrs Etta Wriedt. The gentleman from Arnprior also described one of several out-of-body experiences, or "soul nights." Broadhurst experienced his first contact with the occult without wishing for it and then sought explanations. Mediums provided him with that insight. However, he continued to demonstrate psychic activity in his own life. John Stubbs resided in King, Ontario. He was drawn to spiritualism sometime in the 18705 when he was still a practising Methodist. Like others, his first exposure to the movement was through studying texts. His first experience with a medium was "with a deaf and dumb clairvoyant" who pointed out his future wife and predicted her death in ten years. He did indeed marry the woman and she did die ten years following the sitting. He describes the progress of a home circle: A half a dozen of us, honest, and earnest inquirers after truth, met together, sat three times a week regularly and punctually, had to commence with the alphabet of Spiritualism - table rapping. After six months, we obtained higher manifestations, such as the moving of solid bodies without contact, direct spirit-writings, playing of instruments untouched by us, spirit lights, or spiritluminosity, the trance condition, with visions of spirit life, the production of fruit and flowers, substances taken from one room to the other, and the development of the sitters into various kinds of mediums. When we met in those harmonious circles of ours, it appeared as if the room was filled with a divine or spiritual afflatus. One member, a Methodist, said, "I would not miss one of these circles; 'tis like a little heaven below." (15)

Stubbs' wife developed mediumistic abilities and the couple was able to commune with a seven-year-old son who had died. Stubbs wrote that "spiritualism came to [him] like an oasis in the desert plains of human life," and described the value of spiritualism as a religion: "Spiritualism affirms and proves that there is no death, 'tis but a birth into the life divine. It also proves that life is progressive, both in this world and the other ... The religious phase of Spiritualism is worthy of consideration. It is not a religious belief so much as a religion of practice - of equity and justice. It is essentially humanitarian" (16). Stubbs gives credibility to the concept of philosophical versus practical religion. Spiritualism was very individualistic and each seeker stayed with the process as long as his or her own individual needs were being met.

j6

Anatomy of a Seance

Mrs Sarah Webber and her husband had traveled to Lake Bradley spiritualist camp in 1883 to sit in seance with Mrs Effie Moss. Other mediums were visited over the years, including Moses Hull. Mrs Webber tells us, however, that during this time she "was still in the church, but I saw so many errors there that I was very far from being comfortable and was constantly criticizing what I heard there. Orthodoxy was going fast and Spiritualism had not taken root then. I suffered more than tongue can tell for about four years, until the light broke in" (29). In 1890, she was forty-seven years old and a patient in Guelph hospital, suffering from typhoid fever: "During that time, I was visited by a lady, now in spirit life, who opened up to me the truth of spirit return." In 1894, Mrs Webber and her husband visited the spiritualist camp at Lily Dale and again sat with Mrs Effie Moss: "A dear young girl, whom I knew before she passed out of the body, appeared and spoke to me of her mother. She said she had accompanied me to the camp. Before I had time to write and tell her mother, she came through that grand and good medium, Henderson of Toronto, and told her mother, who was present, that she had materialized to a dear friend from Guelph at Camp. This to me was a great test from the spirit world" (30). In 1898, Mrs Webber was once again at Lily Dale, this time to sit with the famous Bangs sisters, and she received "an independent spirit writing given in a sealed envelope between slates, which was more than marvelous to me and I cherish it much." She also sat with J. Clegg Wright and with "Spirit Artist Campbell." It was Campbell's work that was "the climax which entirely broke down all prejudice and incredulity that still lingered in my mind, and established indisputably the eternal truth of Spiritualism." She was back at Lily Dale in 1900 to sit with J.C. White. At this sitting, she received messages from eight departed friends including her brother, who had died just three weeks earlier: "I could not tell why I was not convulsed with grief at the departure from this life of my dear brother, but can only say thus far that the beautiful philosophy of Spiritualism was the comforter, so that sorrow was out of the question when I knew he was with the dear ones gone before" (30). Mrs John Henderson, mentioned by Mrs Webber, was one of a very few well-known trance mediums who lived in Toronto. At the age of seventy-eight she provided B.E Austin with a statement for his book: Since childhood I have been more or less clairvoyant, clairaudient and deeply impressional. I have lived in Toronto since I was eight years old, and have had the great joy of giving my services as Trance medium to our own house circle

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

77

of friends and inquirers - generally several times per week - for over 40 years. During that time hundreds of teachers, clergymen, professional and business men, have visited our home and professed to find instruction, encouragement, inspiration, in the messages that came through my lips, from unseen friends. A large number have thus become firm believers in spirit return. Laterly [sic] my life has been lived seemingly in two realms, and rather more in the spiritual than in the earth realm. My friends in spirit life come to me at all hours of the day and night. I-meet them in my house as I pass from one room to another, up and down the stairs, hear their voices and often sense their presence when I do not see or hear them. Frequently when unaware of their presence they join in conversation by answering some remark I have made. (31)

Mrs Henderson's first experience occurred about 1850. She had a vision of her husband, who was in London, England, while in the company of his Toronto business partner: "We took note of the day and hour and allowing for the difference in time, found my vision was absolutely correct. I also saw him at the day and hour his ship arrived in port. This was also verified" (31). In addition to clairvoyance, Mrs Henderson also frequently experienced out-of-body experiences or "soul flights." She had prophetic insights as well, predicting that she would marry John Henderson. Mrs I.E. Campbell of Toronto became interested in spiritualism in 1891. She was, at the time, a member of the Presbyterian Church, which regarded "the name and doctrines of Spiritualism with abhorrence." She wrote of her involvement with spirit return that "it came to me; I did not seek it; evidently there has been a mediumistic strain in our family for generations back." Her sister Grace died of consumption in Buffalo. Her dying words were: "Here's Grandma, and there's the baby (sister); they've come for me." Some weeks later four people were assembled in the same house. Mrs Campbell's sister "began to act strangely and to manifest some agitation of manner." The agitated state passed and the sister began to address the other three: "Don't be afraid," said she, but in a voice strangely like that of sister Grace. "You are going to understand soon one of the most wonderful facts of the world." By this time she had taken on the expression of face and exhibited the manner and voice of sister Grace, showing all the symptoms of the illness from which that sister had suffered. "I am Grace whom you thought you buried in the grave-yard," continued she. "When I passed out of the body I floated up to the ceiling of the room, saw the four of you weeping, saw my own body lying on the bed, saw all that was done about the burial, went to the funeral myself and saw my own body buried. You thought I was out of

78

Anatomy of a Seance

my mind when I said that Grandma was here and baby also. I was not. They did come for me ... Don't weep for me," she said, "for I should rather weep for you, since you are still to pass through death and I have conquered it." (13)

The sister remained in trance and her spirit sister Grace continued to give information to Mrs Campbell about a male friend who was at that moment drinking liquor with friends in a Detroit hotel. The information was confirmed. Mrs Campbell's sister continued to display mediumistic abilities. She channeled for a friend of the family who, unknown to the group, had died while visiting Denver, Colorado. The death was confirmed in a letter that arrived the following day. On this particular evening, "some fifteen or twenty different intelligences controlled my sister's body and spoke to us and gave us strong and satisfying evidence in some cases of their identity." My sister went into the trance condition at 8 p.m. and did not come out of it till after 12 o'clock, talking constantly for four hours. When she recovered consciousness we said to her: "You have been entranced for hours." "Nothing of the kind," she declared. We all testified and pointed to the hands of the clock, but she thought we had moved them from some practical joke, and she could not be persuaded that her organism had been used to voice the thoughts of the spirit world. (14)

The sister continued to demonstrate psychic abilities, including clairvoyance. She also received messages in French and German. Mrs Campbell gives some indication that she herself developed clairvoyant and clairaudient powers, which gave her abundant reasons for accepting the reality of spirit return and communication. Mrs George Oliver moved from New Jersey to Toronto, where she continued her connection with the Presbyterian Church. When she married, she followed her husband into the Baptist Church. Her exposure to spirit communication happened in New York City in 1893 while visiting her father. The family were spiritualists and they brought out a ouija board, which was operated by Mrs Oliver's niece. Mrs Oliver received communication from her seven-year-old daughter, who had died six weeks previously: "Things were said to me which I knew were not within the knowledge of anyone present but myself." The spirit child also provided the information that "Mamma, you can do this too." The next day, Mrs Oliver visited a New York City medium and once again had contact with her young daughter. Upon returning to Toronto, Mrs Oliver "purchased the only available Ouija Board" she could find in the city. Not knowing that the board could be operated

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

79

by a single person, she left the board unused for a year. Then, one Sunday, she received a strong impression to try the ouija board: I went one Sunday afternoon to my room, locked the door and unwrapped the board. Placing my hands upon it I found it moved rapidly and gave me message after message for 2. i/z hours. These messages were clear and definite, giving names, dates, &., of people I knew and of some who passed away in my youth and whose names I had not thought of for years. Of these intelligences I would ask: "Tell me some one else who is present that I used to know," and message after message came which I knew or afterwards verified as correct. This was in '94. I still thought it might be sinful - especially on Sunday. (47-8)

Shortly after this experience, Mrs Oliver was joined on the board by her husband. Their deceased daughter, Bessie, remained as their spirit guide. One evening Mrs Oliver remained at the board after her husband went to bed, and she had her first clairaudient experience: "I heard my little Bessie laugh." The event caused her some discomfort, since her husband, upon hearing of the event, "thought I was surely losing my senses." She craved "assistance, instruction and guidance in exploring this unknown world," but, she wrote, "I had no one to go to - was groping in the dark I did not know what clairvoyance or clairaudience was and had to get all my information from the board": I carried out the directions given through the board as best I could. I was told that if I would sit for a certain length of time I should get clairaudience. So I began regular sittings for development and not more than six months afterwards I got clairaudience but was not entranced. As the new views grew upon us we lost faith gradually in the old theology, though still retaining our connection with the church. Soon after I heard Mrs Prior, and this was my first and most pleasant introduction to the spiritual philosophy. A peculiarity of my first clairaudient experience wherein I heard speaking was the fact that the voice came apparently from my own stomach and was only heard by me when exhaling my breath. It was a man's voice, deep and clear, and the message was, "I have come at last." (48)

Mr Oliver, she tells us, "was soon after elected chairman of the new society in Toronto." This was apparently a spiritualist group and membership caused problems for the Olivers with their church. They withdrew from the Baptist congregation. A.R. McDonald was president of the Toronto Spiritualist Association in 1902. McDonald's wife was the first to attend a sitting, visiting

8o

Anatomy of a Seance

a trumpet medium in Toronto. McDonald's first experience was in Detroit with W.E. Cole, a medium who, as we saw in chapter 3, did not impress B.R Austin when he visited him. McDonald wrote: "During the seance my name was called through the trumpet. I asked who was speaking. The spirit gave name and relationship, also named my children who were with her, and sent a message to my wife, calling her by her Christian name" (123). In Toronto, the first phenomena he witnessed was table rapping. The knocks spelled out messages from immediate family members. His first "public message was given by Mrs Kates" in Toronto at what appears to have been a public event. His wife developed an ability to write inspirational poetry even though she had never shown any aptitude or even any admiration for verse. The gift lasted less than a year. McDonald's next venture was "a trumpet seance, held in [his] home by Mrs Wriedt. [At this seance] Miss Emma Abbott joined in a hymn then being sung. At my request, she gave her name and also sang several selections ... Many striking and convincing physical phenomena occurred in the same seance." McDonald also visited Lily Dale: I selected and washed three slates, which never left my sight or possession, and in a few minutes I had answers to four questions by spirit friends, whom I called upon, all in bright daylight, the sun shining into the room at the time. One by Lloyd, written in boyish capital letters in red crayon. When in earth life he delighted to write with a red or blue lead pencil and invariably made capitals. The other messages were by common slate pencil, the slates being tied together all the time, and held by the writer. These slates can be seen at my house today. (124)

Victor Wyldes, from Toronto, admited to having been "from infancy ... an inspirational medium, clairvoyant and pyschometerist." He underwent a period of profound scepticism at the age of seventeen that lasted for three years. He had made a pact with a friend "that whoever died first should return in spirit to the other, if after all there should be a spirit world, and power and permission to return granted." The friend died first and "fifteen minutes after his transition in England" he materialized for Wyldes. This event led him back to the orthodox church and finally on to spiritualism: "For upwards of twenty years I have been an avowed Spiritualist and medium, and for more than fifteen years a public lecturer and test medium for the cause throughout the British Islands and the Eastern States of America, and during the past twelve months in the Queen City of the Canadian Dominion, Toronto" (182,).

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

81

Nathan E. Nash was raised a Baptist. His first experience with spirit communication took place in Providence, Rhode Island, with a materializing medium, Mrs Allan. He was a stranger among about forty sitters. A form materialized that claimed to be his brother William, who went on to describe several experiences they had shared in the past. Another spirit claiming to be Miss Lizzie Hatch, daughter of Banker Hatch of New York, materialized and promised that she would materialize again in New York City. True to her prediction, she materialized a week later at a seance that Nash attended with Miss Carrie Sawyer as medium. Miss Hatch materialized a third time at a seance with Mrs Williams and during this sitting an arrangement was made to have Nash visit the home of Miss Hatch's father. There he viewed a picture of the spirit taken during her lifetime. Nash "recognized it at once as the likeness of the girl who had on several occasions distinctly manifested herself" to him. (133) Miss Hatch came through to Hatch in "a dozen or more American cities through a variety of mediums. He concluded that "she often comes now to my own circles at Mrs Henderson's, 125 Oxford St.,[Toronto] and has come to me through Mrs Wriedt's mediumship and sung for me with the 'Unknown'." Nash "developed several phases of mediumship" himself, and had "a slight measure of clairvoyance and clairaudience." He had several "phases of physical phenomena." He was successful with slate-writing but turned more to trumpet seances. "The speaking and singing in my circles have been on many occasions remarkable. Levitation of heavy objects often occurs in the circles" (134). A.W. Sparling first attended a seance in Toronto held by Mrs Etta Wriedt at 25 Walton Street. After the services were opened with singing of such hymns as "Shall We Gather at the River?' "Sweet Hour of Prayer," "There Are Angels Hovering Round," "Nearer My God to Thee," &c., I came to the conclusion that these Spiritualists were not as godless and as closely leagued with the devil as they were represented to be. The Medium suggested that we sing her guide's (Dr Sharp) favorite piece, "God Save the Queen," so it appeared that in spirit life they still retained their loyalty to country and to Queen. This was sung, and during the singing of it another voice joined in, which seemed to be at different times in various parts of the room and above our heads, and on its conclusion a strong male voice bid the medium, "Good evening," and spoke to each one with great courtesy, stating that each one's friends were there and desirous of talking with them, also requesting that we act as ladies and gentlemen and exercise the same reverence as we would if we were in any church. The medium being seated next to me, I, as soon as the circle was formed and the light

82

Anatomy of a Seance

turned off, took hold of her dress and placed my foot in front of her, so that if she should attempt to leave her seat I would be aware of it, and also if she should be a ventriloquist I could detect it. I may say that as far as the medium was concerned during the whole of the seance I had her under test conditions satisfactory to me, and the results proved that she was perfectly honest and took no part in the manifestations that occurred. Our children and friends came and gave their names and identified themselves so completely, telling of circumstances and things that were only known to ourselves, and bringing messages of love, comfort, cheer, hope and encouragement, proving their continuity of life and interest in us, and the fact of spirit return. (105-6) Sparling attended other seances where slates were used. Elizabeth and May Bangs generated spirit portraits in Chicago. When the Bangs sisters came to Toronto, he had a "spirit portrait of [his mother] and two of [his] children" generated in seance with the Sisters. Mr S. Godbold was raised a Methodist but around the age of thirty, he began to question dogma. He attended a series of lectures given by W.E. Meyers at Richmond Hall in Toronto on the subject of spiritualism and was much impressed. The following summer he visited the camp meeting at Lily Dale, where he attended more lectures and purchased books. He "finally became fully convinced of the truthfulness of its philosophy and cast in [his] lot with the Toronto Spiritualist Association. Shortly after this [he] was chosen President of the Association, and served in that capacity one and a half years." Up to this time I had never seen any of the phenomena connected with Spiritualism, but I had not long to wait. Mrs Wriedt the well-known trumpet medium, paid Toronto a visit, and I availed myself of an invitation by a friend to a seance to be held at her house on a Sunday evening. After the friends had assembled (nearly all strangers to me) we seated ourselves in a circle. We repeated the Lord's Prayer in unison; then after singing a hymn and waiting in silence a few moments, to my great amazement a voice low, sweet and musical addressed me as, "Brother." This purported to be the spirit of my sister, who had passed into spirit life about 18 years previously. This voice and I conversed for some time about friends she had known when in earth life. She also related incidents connected with my father and mother and other members of the family, which I am positive none of the friends assembled could possibly have known, and which had taken place many years before, some of which I had almost forgotten, among which was a parting injunction in which she told me to continue "scattering seeds of kindness," knowing this to have been one of her favorite songs when in earth life, I requested her to sing it if she could, and immediately, upon one of the friends leading off, she joined in. (156)

Individual Seekers: "What Converted Me to Spiritualism"

83

Later, Godbold would visit Lily Dale and sit with a trumpet medium. He asked to speak with an uncle George, a man in life noted for being a bit on the wild side and capable of taking a drink or two. The family had some concerns about whether George had made it to heaven or not. The uncle came through and told Godbold to "tell your mother that her brother George is not in hell." W.H. Evans of Toronto was raised within the English Church catechism. He was attracted to spiritualism sometime in the 18708 "at the time when the Davenport Brothers were astonishing the world. Having witnessed their manifestations through different mediums and listened to some of the most inspiring discourses through trance speakers I became interested in the writings of Andrew Jackson Davis, whose books on the spiritual philosophy were indeed a revelation" (39). Evans was also impressed by the scientific work of Alfred Russel Wallace, William Crookes and other scientists. Unlike many others, Evans decided to explore spirit communication "without a professional medium." His commentary gives us some insight into the workings of a "home circle." There were about a dozen people in his group: Acting upon the suggestion we sat around a small parlor table that was in the room, resting our hands lightly on the top, when almost immediately it showed signs of animation by moving about in a restless manner. A message was spelled out by the table as follows: "Meet often. Admit no one. Be firm, Do right and I will be with you -S-B-." ... We could not command what we desired, but simply had to take what came. Sometimes we could not prevent the table from moving, could not hold it quiet; it has been laid down on the floor and held there that our united strength for a time was unable to raise it up, and exhibiting other eccentricities that would seem to preclude the possible theory that it was our subjective minds or unconscious muscular action causing these manifestations. (39-40)

The Austin collection of personal testimonials gives us a broad spectrum of individual testimony about the involvement of some Canadians in the spiritualist movement at the close of the nineteenth century. While there are a few Canadian mediums, such as Mrs Henderson, many more are American, with Mrs Etta Wriedt of Detroit being a favourite who regularly included Toronto in her tours. The border made little difference to those among the population of Ontario interested in spiritualism, and they traveled to the U.S. to expand their psychic experiences. These Canadians for the most part practised their spirit communication outside of their professed religions. Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists on Sunday, they extended their religious lives in seance

84

Anatomy of a Seance

through the week. In many cases, the dichotomy was between what was called old and new religion. Spiritualism was modern. The mainstream congregations had little patience or understanding of the seance, as confirmed by B.F. Austin's experience with the Methodist Church discussed in the last chapter. Spiritualists could hold their old religious views while seeking progressive insights in seance. These seekers were educated people capable of selecting their own evidence from experience, and from their often extensive reading. The above testimonies do raise the question as to why so few mediums of Canadian origin seem to have declared themselves at the turn of the century. It is obvious that some Canadians did develop mediumistic powers; however, they kept them out of the public gaze and within the confines of the home circle, correctly fearing, one suspects, the wrath of the establishment. Their fears were substantiated by Austin's excommunication. In the next chapter, we focus exclusively upon the career of a Canadian worker in the spiritualist movement who spent much of his adult life in exploration of psychic phenomena. Dr John King of Toronto has left us with a fascinating record of one man's search for the existence of the afterlife.

5

Dr John King and Psychic Research

Secular exploration of paranormal events extends back into the nineteenth century, when it was given credence by the creation of the British Association for Psychical Research in i88z. A similar body appeared in the United States in 1885. Psychical research was accorded scientific validity by the appointment of Sir William Crookes to the presidency of the British body from 1896 to 1899. Other prominent scientists such as Sir Oliver Lodge and Alfred Russel Wallace also made psychic inquiry more respectable. In Canada, psychic experimentation under controlled conditions seems to have been much more appealing to medical doctors than to scientists. When these medical men were able to interest university faculty, the professors who joined in their work were also more likely to come from a humanistic or social science background than from a scientific discipline. Of these early investigators, Dr John Sumpter King, who was a prime mover in the Canadian Society for Psychical Research, has left us the most complete record of a life devoted to psychic inquiry. King was born in Georgetown, Ontario, in 1843, OI" United Empire Loyalist stock on his mother's side. He graduated from the University of Toronto in medicine in 1876 and was granted an honorary degree of M.D. by that university in 1889. For thirty-five years he was the surgeon at the Mercer Reformatory. He gained some public notice as a member for three years of the editorial board of the Toronto Globe during the time of George Brown. When he died at the age of seventy-eight, the Toronto newspapers spoke of him as "one of the best known physicians in Toronto."1 King also wrote Dawn of the Awakened Mind, a record of psychic research conducted in the years 1911 and 1912. The book was published in New York by James A. McCann and appeared in 192,0 shortly before King's death in February 192,1.

86

Anatomy of a Seance

A number of Canadian doctors preceded King in demonstrating a interest in psychic research, although none left extensive records of their work. Perhaps the most illustrious of the early physician/researchers was Dr Richard Maurice Bucke, the founder of the School of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario,1 whose work I examine in more detail in the next chapter in connection with Walt Whitman. Bucke was a pioneer psychologist working with the mentally ill and is best remembered for his book Cosmic Consciousness, which studied the evolution of the human mind. The book's fame is derived from the fact that it was one of the earliest attempts to use the youthful discipline of psychology to explain the phenomenon of mysticism. Bucke's premise that the mind was evolving from a state of self-consciousness to a higher level of cosmic consciousness established a position that could easily be extended to explain supernatural phenomena such as clairvoyance, telekinesis, and mediumship. Bucke initially intended to include several chapters in his book dealing with such topics as hypnotism, miracles, and spirit communication. In the years preceding his accidental death in 1902, Bucke turned his attention to occult matters, collecting case studies of precognition. While he did not publish any material on the subject, B.F. Austin, did present one of Bucke's case studies in his book Glimpses of the Unseen. As we saw in chapter 3, Austin was a teacher and student of psychology and an avid reader of the papers of the British Association for Psychical Research, and his interest in spiritualism was enough to get him removed from the Methodist Church in 1899. Neither Bucke nor Austin could be described as formal psychic researchers; rather, they were collectors and recorders of occult occurrences. Dr John E. Hett, a physician in Kitchener, Ontario, wrote a letter to Dr Glen Hamilton in 1931 to congratulate him on his appearance before the Academy of Medicine in Toronto to speak about psychic research. Dr Hamilton was by far Canada's most highly regarded psychic investigator, and we will examine his work in detail later on. In his letter to Hamilton, Hett claims to have visited Dr SchrenckNotzing, who was famous for his photography of spiritual phenomena in his laboratory in Munich: "He generally had a half a dozen cameras arranged in about 3/4 of a circle to take the pictures at the proper moment from different angles." Hett told Hamilton that he had been "an investigator of Psychic Phenomena since 1892" and claimed that he had "met some of the finest mediums in the world - and have enjoyed the close friendship of Mrs Etta Wriedt the finest Trumpet medium in the world for over thirty years."3 Dr John E. Hett was the son of German immigrants from Hessen. He took his degree in medicine at the University of Toronto in 1891 and

Dr John King and Psychic Research

87

began practising in Kitchener with an office on King Street East. He moved to Windsor in December 1947. It was in the 19505 that he became associated with Camp Chesterfield, a spiritualist facility that celebrated its centennial in 1986 and remains the headquarters for the Indiana Association of Spiritualists. On the premises at Camp Chesterfield is found the J.E. Hett Memorial Art Gallery and Museum. This museum features the spirit portraits of the Bangs sisters. Another wing of the museum/ gallery displays spiritual artwork in general, while a third area is reserved for the history of Camp Chesterfield and the spiritualist movement.4 Hett is also remembered in Kitchener for having his name pulled from the list of practising Ontario physicians on two occasions - in 1937 and again in 19 5 z. In 1937, the punishment came because he refused to provide the formula for a serum he had invented to treat cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and peptic ulcers. Once the formula was given to a special committee of the Ontario Legislature for testing he was reinstated. The formula was found to be harmless but of no particular value.5 Hett's letterhead carries the notation "The Ontario Society for Psychic Research" and states that the society is incorporated under the laws of Ontario. The address is listed as 40 King Street East, probably Hett's residence and medical office. He seems to have kept a close eye on occult happenings in Canada. He wrote to Jenny O'Hara Pincock to order a second copy of Trails of Truth after purchasing a first copy from her at Lily Dale. Hett wrote that he was very pleased to see that people allowed their names to be listed in Trails of Truth.6 Unfortunately, no records of psychic research have surfaced nor any details to justify Dr Hett's claim to be a researcher. One of the first secular research groups in Canada was created in 1908 by Dr John King.7 The Canadian Society for Psychical Research was incorporated "to investigate all supernormal subjects and record the results, publishing proceedings, reports, and discussions." The group appears to have functioned until it lost its charter in 1916 for not exercising its corporate power.8 Along with John King, Dr J. Simpson Bach and Dr William Edward Hamill also served on the board of directors of the Society.9 In November 1915, this group had conducted seances at a Rosedale home in Toronto and made contact with an entity called "Dr Sharp," the spirit guide of Mrs Etta Wriedt, the American medium described earlier. She was at that time traveling in England. King wished to confirm that it was indeed Dr Sharp who came through in Rosedale. Vice Admiral Usborne Moore, an Englishman involved in psychic research, took the issue into seance with Mrs Wriedt in England, and it was confirmed that messages in Toronto were indeed from Dr Sharp.10 The group also arranged a series of seances on behalf of the W.T. Stead Bureau Committee, the results of

88

Anatomy of a Seance

which were published in a pamphlet entitled The Voice of the Spirit, written by Herbert G. Paull. The medium for these seances was the Rev. Hugh Gordon Burroughs of Chicago, a trumpet medium and trance lecturer who had, according to Mrs E.A. Calvert, president of the Progressive Research Club of Toronto, gained entry to the highest social and intellectual circles in that city. These sittings made contact with various famous people, including Queen Victoria, William E. Gladstone, and Margaret Fuller. A British reviewer of The Voices of the Spirit, writing in the periodical Light, felt that the messages of "some of the characters are life-like and natural in their modes of expressions, while others seem to reflect in some curious fashion the conditions of the circle, their phrases and sentiments suggesting an echo of the mentality of the sitters or some of them."11 In his book Dawn of the Awakened Mind, Dr John King describes himself as a man with "at least a fair share of common sense, intelligence, and discernment." Of his religious convictions, he states that he has "never professed, nor laid claim ... to being very devote or holy; but have always entertained a respectful, though not unquestioning attitude towards the orthodoxies of the church in which I was reared (Presbyterian)." He claims to have "never recognized any inclination to materialism."" King's early life with his Presbyterian preacher-father left him with reason to fear rather than love religion. In Dawn of the Awakened Mind, he describes a confrontation with the spirit of his father in a seance in 1913 and speaks about his life as a young teenager: You spoke so frequently about the devil and hell and everlasting punishment with torment, that I, who otherwise was considered a brave boy, was really afraid to be out alone on a dark night lest the devil would catch me, and take me away to that dreaded burning lake of fire and brimstone, a place of neverending torture, if I failed to go to church every Sunday morning and night, and to Sunday school in the afternoon, no matter how much I needed rest on Sunday; or if I failed to memorize a certain set lesson in the Bible or Testament assigned me by you. All such teaching made me fear rather than love God. (399)

It appears that King, while holding with "the orthodoxies of the church," had personal reasons for seeking a more moderate view of religion. Like many we have already heard from, he did not seek an alternative religion in spiritualism but rather an extended view of the cosmos that could be incorporated into his more traditional training as a Presbyterian.

Dr John King and Psychic Research

89

King went to Washington D.C. in 1894 and met Dr B.L.W. Theodore Hansmann, "who had at one time been not only a medical advisor to the late President Abraham Lincoln, but likewise a personal friend" (6). Hansmann questioned King on spiritism and invited him to a seance with the "materializing" medium Mrs Mary A. Keeler. King required no persuasion to accept, styling himself an "initiate neophyte" (7). He saw apparitions, heard voices, and identified the forms of men, women, and children. However, "as the room was rather dimly lighted, and as the circle was a large one, and I at the greatest distance from the medium, and as I could not distinguish their features plainly, nor identify their individuality, from where I viewed them, to me it was not conclusively convincing of anything, but it, however, determined my future course should a similar opportunity present itself" (8). Shortly after his return to Toronto, he learned that the American medium Effie Moss was planning a visit to London, Ontario. As we have seen in previous chapters, London was a centre for spiritualism. Marcus Gunn had become a founding member of the SpiritualisticHarmonial Association of London in 1862,. Emerson J. MacRobert, who hosted Mrs Moss, was included in B.F. Austin's collection What Converted Me to Spiritualism and was described in the previous chapter. King decided to pursue his curiosity about "the phenomena of socalled materialization" and about proving "the truth or falsehood of the claim that there is at this day, as well as in Bible history times, possibility of spirit communication by return of spirits to earth clothed in spiritual or transient and visible bodies" (8). Four seances were held during a week in December 1894: three at the home of MacRobert, now the chairman of the London School Board, and the fourth in a new empty house: "One of the four seances was designated a typewriting seance" (9). Mrs Effie Moss was a self-designated "materializing medium or materialization medium." King provides details on the seance room and cabinet. The first seance had about a dozen men and women and three little girls present besides the medium: The chairs were placed in horseshoe form, so that the toe of the shoe would come under the light ... while the open end of the horseshoe exactly corresponded to the open cabinet on both the north and south end of the latter. The cabinet was closed by the two curtains hanging from the pole in such a way that they were even with the eastern wall of the back parlour or temporized seance room, and met at the centre of the pole. All through the seance the lamp continued burning on the western wall of the room, so at all times there was light enough for any of the sitters to pick out from their seat any man or woman in the circle; and if acquainted could distinguish one friend

90

Anatomy of a Seance

from another. All chairs in the horseshoe circle were side by side and touching, and occupied by sitters, so that no person could ordinarily pass between any two sitters in the circle, and the doors leading into the front and back parlors were locked ... The conductor or manager of the seance was rather above the average size of man, and was acting very much in the capacity of a church usher, with this difference, that he summoned individual sitters to rise and meet the forms that expressed a desire to meet them, and to make announcements of the names of spirit forms, and names of sitters wanted. (10-13) The spirits materialized and appeared to have substance: they could be touched. One spirit was "a fraternity man" who took King aside after he had "designated my status in the brotherhood" (16). The spirit proved that he knew the secret signs of the fraternity. Other spirits were a Native Indian girl, a spirit guide called Lily, who reappeared to King eighteen years later, a local well-known citizen, a South London Methodist Church minister, and an actress from Brooklyn. King also describes the manifestation of a spirit, Egyptia, who became one of his own spirit guides: I noticed a light upon the carpet, phosphorescent in appearance, about the size of a Z5~cent piece or English shilling, which soon became more extensive, and apparently rose as a vapor from which evolved curling flame like white and purple light, until suddenly it took on tangible form, and developed what all the sitters agreed upon, as being beyond doubt a beautiful young woman, clad in draperies of creamy white, bearing supported or suspended above her head a purple ball of light, which however, seemed physically separate from any connection with the head; and which illumined the entire room, and simultaneously the air was impregnated with odor of a most delicate and agreeable perfume, resembling nothing I had ever before inhaled. All over the draperies and coverings of this apparition were small star-spangles as if they were most brilliant electric star lights [She materializes in the flesh but does not stay long] ... her departure was as if she had dissolved into mist or white smoke, and was drawn downwards and absorbed into the carpet. (18-19) His mother also materialized, and King provides a good deal of information about this spirit, giving the various signs that confirmed that she was indeed his mother. The next seance took place several days later. Twenty-seven people attended, and King's father materialized. The last seance in the series was interrupted in some way and apparently became a media event: "At the foregoing seance circumstances occurred which have been ventilated in the press and in court, namely, the creation of a disturbance to break up the seance." When the seance was broken up, "the mischief-makers

Dr John King and Psychic Research

91

were protected while the so-called nefarious manager was sentenced to prison or else pay a fine of $100.00 with costs, in order to be free, with advice to leave the country" (z6). No confirmation of these events has been undertaken. The third seance in this set, conducted in 1894, was held in an empty house under the jurisdiction of the London Spiritual Society. The members of this group "were well known citizens of good repute" (27). This seance proved to be the most powerful. Here King's mother materialized and "walked with [him] around the entire circle of sitters, shaking hands or speaking with each and every one of those present in the circle." King explains that "the room was well lighted, so well that we could read a newspaper, or tell the time by our watch" (28). A second woman materialized and explained how spirits were able to materialize cloth. For King, however, the most startling materialization was the reappearance of the spirit whose "form and appearance was like that of an Egyptian lady of rank, and her name was spoken by herself as Egyptia." He describes her in some detail: Her features were pleasing and intellectual, and she was about my own height, but medium build, and was clad in the peculiarly created draperies. She was again covered with bright stars glittering like large diamonds or small electric lights. She placed her hands upon my head, and said she had been with me as my guardian spirit from the moment of my birth, and would again appear to and commune with me in the future ... I may add that when she dematerialized at this the final seance, she disappeared into the curtains separating the two rooms, as would white smoke or steam. (30)

An additional event took place that involved a typewriter. Eight or ten sitters were in a room divided by a three-foot-high partition. Hands and wrists reached through the partition and tossed articles to the sitters. Then the hands moved to the typewriter and proceeded to type messages for the sitters. All of this occurred in a well-lit room. The messages were produced at rapid speed. King received a typed message from his father, who had been a Presbyterian minister at Pelham, Lincoln County, and at Barton in Wentworth County in Ontario. King concluded his notes on the 1894 seances with a statement of his belief: "I. am compelled to admit the existence of the phenomena of materialization; and many other apparently psychic manifestations. I cannot deny their existence, if I am to depend upon my ordinary physical senses, and I have no proof that any one of my senses is unreliable" (34). He felt that the fact that others also shared his experience, that he had taken time to examine the seance room for signs

9 2.

Anatomy of a Seance

of fraud, and that there were events that could not be explained except by reference to psychic sources were sufficient reasons for his belief. After 1894, there is a lapse of about eleven years before the narrative of King's association with psychic phenomena is resumed in detail. It is clear that his adventures in London had generated a good deal of interest in Toronto, interest that in his absence was directed to his wife, May. He returned to find her distraught, having been assailed by phone calls and by letters from acquaintances, as well as by news reporters. "And some among all of them, of course were most desirous of knowing, if I were really 'going insane' ... The press reporters also wanted all they could get for news, or for sensational reading, from one who was so well known as a professional man, and as a former newspaper man." The uproar took a toll on May: "Nights without sleep, and days without food, and the threatened loss of my prestige and our means of livelihood, well-nigh wrecked her physical and mental health at that time; and seemingly created a chronic uneasiness, and want of confidence for a time; but an extended recess in the research work resulted in the bringing about of a period of calm and contentment" (74). It was not until August 1905 that King, with the agreement of his wife, once again ventured into a seance room. This time it was at Lily Dale. Two years later, in 1907, both John and May returned to Lily Dale "to attend several seances with a party of a dozen of our relatives and friends" (74). During two separate seances, May King saw and talked with two entities, Egyptia, who had manifested to John in London in 1894, and Hypatia, who had declared herself as John's guide in August of 1905 (175). A year later, in 1908, John King was elected president of the newly chartered Canadian Association for Psychical Research with the full blessing of his wife, who became a full member as well. On Saturday, 6 May 1911, King had a sitting with Mrs Ripley in Toronto. The spirit intelligence Hypatia was channeled through Mrs Ripley and accepted a request from King to participate in a transatlantic experiment also involving W.T. Stead, the editor of Review of Reviews and a well-known psychic explorer living in London, England, and Mrs Etta Wriedt, the trumpet medium from Detroit. Mrs Wriedt had written to King telling him of a planned trip to England where she was to engage in some seances at Julia's Bureau, London, with Stead. King's plan was to use Hypatia, who would from this time on become his dominant guide, to channel a message from Toronto to Mrs Wriedt in London. King would send a copy of his message by mail to Stead for comparison with the message received by Mrs Wriedt. In the letter to Stead requesting his participation in this experiment King writes that he has known Mrs Wriedt for many years. It is his

Dr John King and Psychic Research

93

experience that she is "an honest psychic." King suggested the terms of reference for the experiment, recommending that Stead use "a circle of three or four harmonious friends including yourself" for the test seance (38). On Sunday, 4 June 1911, between 10 and n am, King sat in Toronto with his medium, Mrs Ripley, and Hypatia established contact but reported that the conditions were not right for the experiment to proceed. On the 17 June a letter arrived for King from Stead. Stead confirmed that he had received a message from Hypatia that contained a reference to King by name. Stead included a complete record of the seance and requested a second attempt at transatlantic communication. On 18 June, the process was instigated again. Results were partly successful, with Hypatia making contact with Stead and giving some evidential information about King but not yet transmitting the message that King had mailed to Stead in the sealed envelope. On z July, King once again sat with Mrs Ripley in Toronto and communed with Hypatia, who accepted the responsibility of delivering a message to Stead. However, Mrs Wriedt had left England to return to America and King was forced to wait until another medium working with Stead was able to receive the message from Hypatia. The opportunity never arrived. W.T. Stead perished in 1912., aboard the Titanic. King shifted his experiments to North America. He had Hypatia deliver a message to a friend who was visiting in Toledo, Ohio. The message came though successfully and the friend was able to describe the materialized form of Hypatia. King also investigated the phenomenon of hypnotism. Originally called mesmerism after Mesmer, the first person to activate its powers, hypnotism has always had an association with mediumship because of the similar nature of the trances each generates. In Dawn of the Awakened Mind, King explains that the public did not look with pleasure upon physicians who delved into such mysteries: "I found that not only strangers, but acquaintances, friends and relations were alike in their attitude towards me; and each and all, including my professional brethren, continued heaping further and greater manifestations of disapproval upon me. Suggestions were not infrequent that I was showing some indications of a disordered mind, due to my proclivities for 'ghost hunting'" (55). Despite the public abuse, King was unambiguous about the benefits of spiritualism: It must needs be to me and to others a solace and a comfort, and enhance my personal happiness during my remaining years, to know I can reunite with those loved ones who have passed out of the, physical body, and into higher, purer, nobler realms where they claim they have found themselves in a more perfect condition of being, with environment and occupation best suited to

94

Anatomy of a Seance

their several existences; where harmony and progression are stated to be of Heaven's eternal laws, and can and do, with favorable conditions existing, commune with me: and we will be enabled, each one of us, eventually to fulfil the future mission of our continued existence as a unit ego, in the great illimitable universe. (60)

Regardless of his commitment to psychic research, his most basic need was and remained religious in nature. Like many attracted to psychic study, King used the invention of the telegraph and telephone to illustrate how progress was changing the world. His was an appeal for liberal acceptance of research even when it threatened established pillars of society such as religion. "I am one," he said, who is "convinced we are at the beginning of a New Era, when spiritual knowledge will prevail, and spiritual power and influence will reign supreme; then error and false belief will give place to knowledge" (64-5). His need to confirm the existence of the afterlife was made tragically necessary with the death of his wife on 29 September 1911. She was forty-seven years old and had been ill on and off over the last four years of her life. Both of the Kings had accepted the validity of spirit communication and had discussed how each could provide appropriate evidence of survival after death. It was agreed that if he died first he would return and address her in seance using the pet name "Babe," which was only used in private moments between the two. She, on the other hand, would return and address him using the nickname "Johnnie," which also was not used in public. If either was able to materialize, they agreed to use acts as well as words to communicate. John King arranged a sitting with Mrs Ripley and contacted Hypatia, who told him that he must travel to Detroit to work with Mrs Wriedt. In preparation for his book, he wrote to her for biographical details and received the following note: "I never had a photo taken since I was a little girl; and as to my life being printed, I don't really care for it. Let people remember me as they knew me" (80). She did acknowledge that she was born in New York State, lived a long time in Ohio, and then moved to Detroit, Michigan. Along with a visit to Mrs Wriedt, King was also to visit Toledo, Ohio, and sit with J.B. Jonson. J.B. Jonson was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1854, the son of an English immigrant who came to the United States in 1851. The Jonsons claimed distinguished lineage from Ben Jonson on one side and Thomas Payne on the other. His parents boarded with spiritualists upon their arrival in Akron and attended a seance the night before J.B. was born. His introduction to psychic phenomena began at the age of seven. By the age of eighteen, he had attended his first seance and by 1876, he was

Dr John King and Psychic Research

95

advancing into trance control. He moved to Springfield, Ohio, and formed a spiritualist circle that was able to achieve physical manifestations. In 1880, he moved to Toledo and his mediumship evolved with the use of trumpets. After some time working with a home circle, he came out as a public medium about 1901 (114-15). Seven seances in all were conducted in November 1911; four were trumpet seances with Mrs Wriedt and the remaining three were materializing seances held with Jonson. In the first seance in Detroit, after several other entities spoke, May King came through: "Johnnie!" "oh Johnnie!" "My dear Johnnie!" "It's I!" "It's May!" "It's your Babe!" "I am not dead I'm alive" (83). The contact lasted for about fifteen minutes and John King was certain that the evidence presented confirmed that his wife's identity had survived death. A second seance affirmed this belief. He then traveled to Toledo and sat with a circle of six people who met with J.B. Jonson as the Sunflower Class. Here May materialized in a most convincing fashion, "with that joyful 'welcome home' look on her countenance, that had oft times greeted me in her home and mine, in days gone by, slapped me on my left shoulder with her right hand, put her right arm around my neck, pressed her left cheek against mine, and said, you will come here oftener than you used to, now, won't you?" (94). The apparition was a bit shorter than King thought his wife should be, but otherwise appeared authentic. Another spirit materialized claiming to be his and May's daughter, May Donna, who had died at birth. King confirmed that indeed the couple had lost a child. On 19 November 1911, King held a seance back in Detroit with Mrs Wriedt that he claimed was "one of the most important, if not absolutely the most relatively important, of all the seances I have ever attended in my life up to the present time" (133). His spirit daughter materialized, as did his first wife, Martha E. King, who had been dead for about thirty-seven years. May, his second wife, joined Martha and John. Both wives, he tells us, were "harmonious"(134). King learned that he had been chosen by the spirit world to take on a mission. This sense of mission, of being selected to carry a message to the world about the survival of the spirit has powerful implications for those so selected. Various spirit guides told King that his "life was to be a new one, and still active I would be; for special work, in spirit spheres, was planning for me. From records which I now possess, I must select and gather more, and print a book. Then other books to follow this there'll be; and other work for me to do, of which I must be close, and much would be done for me" (135). Shortly after, on 2.7 November, Mrs Wriedt traveled to Toronto and held a seance that seems to have been under the auspices of the

96

Anatomy of a Seance

Canadian Society of Psychical Research. Members of the group attending this seance included the Rev. Canon William Walsh, who had conducted May King's funeral service, and Herbert G. Paull, who served as secretary of the CSPR. Others named include John King, Professor E.B. Shuttleworth, and Mrs Coleman. The seance was held in an attic with twenty-five sitters. Notes were taken by Paull and by Walsh. PaulPs notes are perfunctory concerning the identities of the spirits, which included May Donna King and May King. King quotes Walsh's notes, which relate that the seance was held in complete darkness. Walsh recounted his experience: Now I was quietly startled by just a perceptible touch of the trumpet on my left eyebrow. At the instant there was suggested to my mind that it was done caressingly. From the trumpet, seemingly, in the centre of the circle, and pointing towards me, came a strong whisper repeating my name. Then I said: "Who is it?" VOICE: May. Then a voice, full, cultured, and clear, and which at once recalled to me the voice of Mrs King, said: "Canon, I want to thank you for your kindness in coming and offering up a prayer before the casket was closed that day."(137)

The canon was "so interested, excited, and thrilled by the recognition of Mrs King's familiar and kindly voice" that he was unable to concentrate on the rest of the seance. May King, on occasion, materialized for others besides her husband. John G. Bain and his wife Katie, friends of the family, traveled from Toronto to Toledo for a seance with J.B. Jonson, and May King materialized with a message for John, which they delivered. King's approach to evidence was quite basic: "Unless a man is bereft of reason, he can identify a relative or friend, or anyone whom he previously knew, by the aid of one or other of his senses, and usually by two of them, such as sight and observation, by hearing the voice, and the conversation, noting its intonation, and mode of inflection; and by knowing his previous habits, and any peculiarity; or from a knowledge of his personal history, or by enquiry, in brief though changing physically as the years roll by, he never loses his personal identity" (140-1). King was absolutely convinced by the seven seances held with Mrs Wriedt and Mr Jonson in November 1911 that he had made contact with his dead wife, May. King next explored automatic writing through the mediumship of Miss Maud Venice Gates, whom King named "the human-psychic telephone." Miss Gates was born and raised in New York State. At

Dr John King and Psychic Research

97

the time of King's work with her, she lived in Lily Dale. At various times, she worked as a registered nurse, a teacher, a manager, a genealogist, and a writer. Her first experience with automatic writing came in 1892 using a ouija board. Shortly after she discovered an ability to produce automatic writing just by sitting quietly with a pencil in her hand. What she styled as automatic speaking began in 1905, when her "vocal cords talked an eloquent speech, that I had never heard" (154). Her early experience with mediumship was at first thought to be the result of mercury poisoning, but the voices persevered, telling her she was chosen to be a medium. What made her mediumship unique was that her written communications were expressed in rhyming sentences. King also felt that her "conscious and subconscious minds, act independent of each other, without clashing or confusion" (155). At times, she claimed to be able to heal people psychically, and she also could speak in several languages that she did not understand. King received messages from Stead, Frederick Myers, the British psychologist and psychic researcher, and his wife May, among others, while working with Miss Gates. All of the correspondents communicated in rhymed sentences. King's relationship with his spirit guide, Hypatia, is worth some examination. This entity claimed to be a neoplatonic philosopher who had been born in 370 A.D. and murdered in 415 A.D. This makes her forty-five years of age at her death. Coincidentally, May King died at the age of forty-seven. On iz April 1912., King sat in seance with the Bangs sisters in Chicago who facilitated the production of spirit portraits of W.T. Stead and Hypstia. Her portrait was executed in ten minutes "in natural colours, about three-quarters life size" (166). King claims her to be costumed identically to how she appeared in a seance with Mr Jonson six days later. King tells us in his book that Hypatia had visited the Bangs sisters before he wrote to them and had secured the production of the portraits, which were simply delivered to him when he arrived in Chicago. He had not expected the guide's portrait. The spirit portrait, which is reproduced in Dawn of the Awakened Mind, shows a very beautiful woman in profile. Her hair is short and in a fashion that would not be out of place in 1912. She wears a dress that suggests Greece or Rome. May King's portrait was also published. Certainly Hypatia was the more attractive of the two. Hypatia made her first contact with King in 1905, when May King was still alive and showing no interest in spirit communication. It was Hypatia who told King that May would become interested and travel with him to Lily Dale. This trip occured two years later, and the beautiful spirit guide met the doubting wife. King describes the meeting:

98

Anatomy of a Seance

At each seance Hypatia presented herself, and centered her interest chiefly on May. On the first occasion she entered in creamy white vesture, her head, neck, chest and arms bearing apparently diamond bedecked jewels and ornaments, a golden bracelet on her wrist, while on her feet were sandals; and she moved gracefully across the room to where my wife and I sat in the circle, and placing her hand on my shoulder spoke to me; ... I arose and she led me to the centre of the room, where May was invited to join us; and while May was engaged by Hypatia in conversation, she at first was acutely critical in matter of detail, such as feeling of muscles and gauging her solidarity, and that of her jewels and ornaments, and noting closely the color of her hair and eyes and the movements of the mouth while speaking, as well as appreciating the reality of the hands and fingers as they were placed one on each cheek, and listened to the persuasive words she spoke: "I am glad you are here, dear May; I am your husband's guide, and I will act as guide to you" (170).

It took several more seances, "but in the end May began to comprehend and finally acknowledge that she had seen and been talking to an angel visitor." King observed that over the remaining four years of May's life, "she freely joined me in psychical investigations, and became acquainted with Hypatia" (171). One can only wonder about the strange dynamics of a menage-a-trois that has as one of its participants a beautiful spirit entity. No commentary remains as to what May really thought about the situation. However, when she died, it was Hypatia who reconstituted the menage by assisting May's spirit in manifesting before her husband. In the scope of things, May's spirit was clearly beholden to Hypatia and showed deference in seance. Hypatia held the centre stage as the facilitator and source of knowledge and insight about psychic phenomena. As King notes, "Hypatia, the angelic visitor, was the means, by materializing her transient body and using speech of convincing my late wife that she, Hypatia, is my spirit guide; and her persuasive manner and capabilities made a convert of her, and thereby a coworker instead of an opponent of my attitude on psychic matters" (169). Once in the spirit life, May was no longer a co-worker; Hypatia became dominant. King speaks about the range of powers exercised by his spirit guide: [This intelligence] has manifested for years past by voice through trumpets in various places, in the presence of different psychics; also by independent voice in the air whether trumpet was present or not; through the vocal organs of entranced mediums; appeared to view in a semitransparent or etherealized formation; and while materialized and gowned as a lady held refined converse with me, or sang songs of her own creation, by using the vocal organs of such

Dr John King and Psychic Research

99

transient body; and many times by utilizing the hand and pen of an entranced psychic communicated information and instruction - some of general character, some of a specific personal and confidential nature. (167-8)

King affirms his unqualified trust in the entity: "Her power appears to be almost unlimited; her wisdom acknowledged also; and she will measure up to any mind which questions her ability. I accept her in full confidence as teacher, helper and guide to me; and have no doubt that she is the one she claims to be, the one who died a martyr to principle, at Alexandria, A.D. 415" (182,). To be chosen by such an exalted spirit is indeed to be singled out for specialness. King gave the spirit full credit for his book and for the ideas expressed in it. The concept of spirit guide may be misplaced, since in all fairness it was King who was the agent for the spirit and not the other way around. In seance, Hypatia told King, "I love you and your work, and everywhere I can I will aid you to aid your fellowman ... I will also be with you your life-time through, and after death has set you free, I still your guardian will be" (2,02-3). King asked her to explain why he has been chosen by the spirit world: You are the one I have selected in this age, because old credal prejudices, to many advanced thinkers are inadequate to their soul needs; and to you I have now reached from my advanced spirit plane, and am endeavoring to use you as an instrument to aid me in supplying this earth soul need. I have planned to use you, as an instrument, to aid me and others like me, in our present attempt to supply this soul hunger, or thirst after knowledge ... Your work is endorsed by me, and by the spirit world about me, as a stepping stone on the way to more advanced thought, and knowledge. It is, I believe, needed in this age. You were selected because you are capable, or adapted to the work of compiling and collecting, and presenting the truth, as gained by you along the way of your experiences. You have proper personal education, and position to command the respect of those who may differ from your judgments, and conclusions. (207-8)

Clearly the mission was defined in powerful terms that fit into the concept of Presbyterian stewardship. King had been called to be God's handyman. Hypatia was also able to introduce King to entities styling themselves as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, continuing the ego building process. The Plato entity ascribed to modernism: I idealized the human life, and made the soul of man to be superior, or of lasting quality; but what it was, and where it went, I could not tell as well as

zoo

Anatomy of a Seance

you; and so I listen here today, and much approve of what to you is plain. The working of the lower brain was to me not apparent, so I could not teach what I had not the power to know. We did not know the power of one living mind over another in my day (hypnotic). That study is as modern new, and is there well described by you. (2,10; this came through Miss Gates - note the rhyming)

Plato, when asked by King about the ideas to be expressed in his book, replied that "I can endorse them all as true, and wonder at your power to do so well, regarding what is hard to encompass true, so reader shall think as you do" (2,13). This affirmation from the great philosopher is to give credence to the belief that John King is a chosen man. King clearly spells out his belief that hypnotism is the power at work in the transmission of spirit thought to the medium. He saw Plato as controlling Maud Gates, the medium, through hypnotic power of suggestion working through her subjective mind to produce the written transcription of his thought. We also learn in the Plato exchange that King has had out-of-body experiences. Plato explained the process as an exchange over distance employing "Marconi-like conditions" that "existed between yourself and your anatomy" (2,16). Stead remained an important entity in King's psychic explorations. While they never met, the two had corresponded before Stead's untimely death aboard the Titanic. King claimed to have had communication from Stead 38 hours and 2.5 minutes after his drowning. Additional messages arrived through various channels: "In the case of Wm T. Stead, he utilized psychics of seven distinct phases; and communicated with me through fourteen different instruments or mediums; the evidence through all of whom harmonizes, and one part the other corroborates: and predictions made through one instrument found fulfillment through another. The last door that I opened for him to communicate with me was the independent slate-writing door; and he came to me through it, three times in two days" (2,77). King lists the fourteen mediums who were used by Stead. All, with the exception of a Mrs C. Smith, who is listed as living in Toronto, have addresses in the United States: A i. z. 3.

Automatic-Writers Miss Maud Venice Gates - Lily Dale, N.Y. Mrs Arnold - Scarboro on the Hudson, N.Y. Mrs Jennie Crossley - St Louis, Mo.

B Materializing and Physical Mediums 4. J.B. Jonson - Toledo, Ohio 5. Mrs Harry Wells - Toledo, Ohio

Dr John King and Psychic Research C 6. 7. 8.

101

Trumpet Mediums - for spirit speaking and singing Mrs Bartholomew - Lily Dale, N.Y. and Lake Helen, Fla Dell Herrick - Lily Dale, N.Y. and Boston, Mass. Hugh Gordon Burroughs - Chicago, 111.

D Spirit Painting 9. Bangs Sisters - Chicago, 111. E Clairaudience 10. Dr U.S. Grant Deaton - Toledo, Ohio F 11. 12.. 13.

Trance Speakers Mrs Inez Wagner - Los Angeles, Cal. Mrs Maggie Turner - Lily Dale, N.Y. Mrs C. Smith - Toronto, Ontario.

G Independent Slate-Writing 14. Pierre L.O.A. Keeler - Lily Dale, N.Y. and Washington, D.C.

King did not visit all of these mediums in person. On some occasions, Stead came through in a seance without King in the circle and requested that he be informed of the visit and given a report of the happenings and messages. Such was the case with the seance held with Mrs Inez Wagner in Los Angeles on 2.0 December 1912. The reporter of this seance was B.F. Austin, who sat with Mrs Wagner at the People's Church. It appears that King had written a letter to Austin at his Rochester address. Austin took the letter with him to California, where he opened the envelope and placed the correspondence in the hands of the medium. The medium was able to confirm that the letter had to do with Stead and his guide, Julia. Austin then read the letter and was "surprised and delighted" to find "many if not all the points touched on, and answered" (2,71). A typical seance for King could be a busy evening. He describes one that occurred on 3 August 1912.: This is the order in which each spirit caller spoke with me, viz.: i. Gray Feather, z. May, 3. May Donna, 4. Hypatia, 5. Electra, 6. Brother David, 7. Father, 8. Revd Dr Parker, 9. Wm T. Stead, 10. A nephew, Jesse, n. Prof. James of Harvard, 12. Dr Richard Hodgson, 13. Gottlieb Hoose, 14. Emperor Wilhelm of Germany, 15. Sir John A. Macdonald and 16. Bismarck, and I received them all alone. (320)

We can glean a little detail about the J.B. Jonson seances. King tells us that he took with him a paid stenographer to take transcripts and

ioz

Anatomy of a Seance

that he paid for her admission to the seance, indicating that Jonson charged admission. King also tells us that it was not unusual for some in a circle to be favoured with more than average visits by entities known to them. His stenographer attended four Jonson seances and did not receive any spirit visitors. In contrast, King received "no less than eight at one sitting ... and usually from four to six each time" (355). King's last seance with J.B. Jonson took place on 2.6 December 1912. Both husband and wife had been ill and the evening originally scheduled for the 22,nd had been canceled. King tells us that Jonson was seeking a new occupation. The strain of "holding seances which are without a doubt a very heavy drain upon his physical and nervous vitality, and will undoubtedly shorten his life" (366). In the last days of December 1912., King, working with Maud Gates, the automatic writer, concluded the research for the book. He summoned the various spirits who had assisted and asked for confirmation of the book's contents. Discussion included such things as whether it was useful to publish Stead's picture obtained from the Bangs sisters when Stead's family could see little or no resemblance. Stead said to publish. The question of including a reference to a visitation by Queen Victoria was debated, and it was agreed that since Victoria had acknowledged her interest in psychic matters such publication was not out of line in an increasingly liberal world. John King also claimed to be able to achieve out-of-body experiences: "I have also learned among other matters of psychical interest to myself ... that by strong concentration of mind, and exercise of will power, I can withdraw myself from my physical body, at a given fixed time, and thereupon present in my astral body, at a place I desire to reach, and be recognized there; though apparently debarred, or at least am unable to exercise connected and detailed memory of what I saw and heard during my presence in my astral body; and this psychic demonstration has been verified verbally, in writing, and in a printed book, after its accomplishment" (412.). He went public with this information at St George's Hall, Toronto, on Sunday, 2.8 November 1915, announcing that he would travel out of body to a seance to be held somewhere in the city. He claimed that the experiment was successful, that he appeared to a circle of seven sitters under the mediumship of Hugh Gordon Burroughs, a trumpet psychic. The experiment was reported in Herbert G. Paull's book The Voice of the Spirit. King also cited a wide variety of visitations he had made to seances in New York State, Kansas City, and Toledo. However, like dreams that fade on awakening, his memories of these events would slip away. He felt this was so because his spirit guides, who facilitated the astral travel, were concerned about his "seeing, hearing and remembering too much, in

Dr John King and Psychic Research

103

case that I might not wish to return to body; and they would encounter difficulty in inducing me to do so" (416-17). In summarizing his views of the afterlife, King made the following observations: Spirits known to me in their earth life, after they have passed to spirit realms, on their return affirm that each and all must work out their own redemption in the spirit spheres. Each and everyone who reach there have to undergo a schooling, and work their way to secure merited attainment. CHRIST (the Nazarene). He exemplified in his earth life the true soul personality, which man by his motives, desires and acts should establish. He, like all other men, emanated from spirit Infinite; and to the realm of spirit returned, after an earthly physical experience, and is still seen by other spirits from different spheres; and continues his good work while going from one sphere to another, exemplifying duty and teaching others ... GOD OR "DEITY" is unknowable, for not one among all the spirits who have communed with me, acknowledge the existence of a personal God; while the more exalted ones define God as Spirit Infinite, Omnific, Omnipresent and Omniscient - All, and in all - thus constituting the universe as a whole. (419-20)

The final word of the formal text is given not by King but by his guide, Hypatia, who clearly takes credit for the work: "I have written this truth through you, my dear instrument; and have manifested my presence, through many mediums of different phases, and in many different places, in order to demonstrate this truth ... I the leader of the band around this physician, who has written this book, send you, through him my earnest prayer that all the darkness of ignorance shall fade eternally away" (42,1—2,). The book was considered to be ready for publication by the end of 1912.; however, it did not see release until i9zz. The years between 1912. and King's death in 1922. are covered to some degree by an "addenda," which concerns itself with "independent slate writing." The slate messages were obtained in 1917 through the assistance of L.O.A. Keeler, a medium who King tells us "is generally acknowledged to be America's best in that phase or class" of psychic work (423). Keeler worked from his home in Lily Dale. The work began with King selecting a list of twenty spirits for the test. Next, on Tuesday, 2,1 August, he wrote a request asking for Hypatia's assistance in producing responses in the form of greetings from each of the designated spirits and concluding with their signed signatures. The letter was left on his desk for Hypatia to read. He arrived in Lily Dale for the seances on 2,4 August and proceeded to interview Keeler. King requested three sittings but met with some

iO4

Anatomy of a Seance

reservations on the part of the medium, who told King that he was "expecting more than you are likely to get." He went on to explain that King "may not receive any message at all, and [he] could not guarantee anything." Keeler said that "it is probable that those you are expecting will not write; while others unexpected may come and write instead. In any event, it is equally probable that one sitting only will prove sufficient for all who will write for you" (4x9). A first sitting was set for Sunday, 2.6 August. King describes the seance: On the south side of the table sat the medium while I was accorded the empty chair on the north side; and thus we faced each other, with an ordinary table between us, on one end of which was a stack of slates, which he claimed had been magnetized. The time occupied for a sitting is usually half an hour, more or less, for which a fee of $2.00 is exacted; and all slates written on are paid for at the rate of ten cents each and are carried away by the sitters. The slates on the table were all of the same size and apparently new, and unwritten upon ... In a small dish adjacent to the slates were the nibs or points of soft and light colored slate pencils, each about one quarter inch long, and softer in grade than the slates; and are for use by the spirit writers ... Mr Keeler directed me to "clean a couple of slates, and then examine them" (43i).

King did so, insuring to his satisfaction that the slates were clean and unmarked. The names of the original twenty spirits, now augmented with an additional three, were each on a separate sheet of paper. King had prepared these sheets in Toronto. The medium was willing to accept the prepared sheets and they were scattered on the table, folded once. The slates were placed together, facing each other with a writing nib in between, and secured with a rubber band. After a long interval, finally the sound of writing was heard on a slate. Keeler told King to grab the slates and hold them tight together to avoid allowing light to enter. One slate would fill and the pack was turned over, allowing the top slate to become the bottom one, which in turn was written upon. In five minutes, five slates had been pronounced full, each by a concluding tap. When the slates were examined, there were ten signatures from the list of twenty requested. Two more sittings were booked for the next afternoon. Before he could attend the Monday sittings, King had to use some of his spirit guides to eliminate some indigestion. For this, the guides worked through an amateur medium, a Pennsylvania farmer. At the next sitting with Keeler, an additional eight spirits whose names were on the sheets sent messages or signatures through the slates, which on this occasion were simply held together with no rubber bands.

Dr John King and Psychic Research

105

One of the spirits who communicated was John King's son, Herbie, who died on 14 November 1916 in his fiftieth year. He was, King tells us, held back in the world because of epilepsy. It is clear that father and son had parted ways on the issue of psychic research: "He also believed that I his own father was losing my reason, which he considered was good evidence of insanity, without any doubt in his mind, and which he sincerely deplored; and as evidence of that condition, often referred to my attitude regarding spiritual philosophy, together with the accounts that I gave of seeing, hearing and conversing with the spirits of those who had once been men on earth as we are today" (445). The son, who came through on a variety of occasions after the first slate-writing message, admitted the error of his thinking and was brought into the fold with May King and May Donna King, completing the unification of John King's earthly family in the spirit world. It is, of course, tempting to write Dr John King off as a misguided eccentric with an obsessive interest in the occult. And in one sense that is clearly what he was. On the other hand, Dr King held a responsible position in Toronto society all of his life and managed to stay out of major trouble, even though members of his family thought him somewhat deranged. He is a fine example of the questing layman seeking his own truth through his own use of reason. King was probably not unique in this way but simply different insofar as he took the time to record and publish his life. And we can learn some things from his record. First of all, it is remarkably clear that if he is typical in his interest in the occult, then there were few resources available in central Canada for the proper exploration of spiritualism. Almost all of his mediums are American, and he traveled extensively to Lily Dale and Toledo to attend seances. Those mediums he used, Mrs Moss, Etta Wriedt, and J.B. Jonson, were established psychic workers. While he styled himself a psychic researcher, it is quite clear that he was in no way working within a serious scientific mode. His basic test of the evidence was confirmation by his five senses. Truth be told, he was a quester for proof of survival after death. In some strange way, his own family became much more manageable on the other side than it was in real life. As I noted above, when his rebellious son manifested in seance and accepted the reality of spirit survival, King's family was finally intact. It is tempting to analyse the relationship that King developed with his various spirit guides, particularly Hypatia. There is more than a little repressed sexuality at work here, but probably that investigation would be pointless to our current discussion. The selection of King by powerful entities to bring knowledge to the world about the certainty of eternal life gave his life meaning and focus. A marginal Presbyterian by his own admission, he did achieve election of a kind,

106

Anatomy of a Seance

and he certainly received a calling to stewardship in his role as instrument for the transmission of truth from the other side. What is also evident in the experience of Dr King is that he suffered, at least in his own eyes, a good deal of rejection by both his community and his family because of his public declaration of belief in spirit return. B.F. Austin demonstrated the inflexibility of the Methodist Church in responding to psychic research. King demonstrated that it was no less easy to deviate from social convention in Toronto in the period leading up to the First World War. In the next chapter we examine the impact that war had upon spiritualism.

6 Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

Canadians came to the seance room for a wide variety of reasons. Some came with firm Christian values looking for a religious experience that could objectify their faith. Some came to hear wisdom from ancient sources through their mediums. Others came with pure scientific curiosity seeking to understand the psychic nature of the human race. Whatever the reason declared for communication with the spirit world, a common need among most was a desire to know what lay beyond the grave. This desire became acute in the case of the sudden death of a close family member. At no time in Canadian history was death such an obvious presence as during the years of the First World War. When England declared war in 1914, Canada was automatically at war as well. Within weeks, volunteers were ready to sail for England under the command of the minister of Militia, Sam Hughs. By 1915, 330,000 men were in the uniform of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, taking part over the next three years in major battles at Ypres, St Eloi, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaelle, and Amiens. The battle of Vimy Ridge alone saw 16,000 Canadians either killed or wounded out of a total force of zo,ooo men. Canada's final body count for the war was over 60,000 soldiers, with thousands more wounded and psychologically damaged. Nor did the home front escape death and destruction. More than i,600 Nova Scotians died in 1917 when the munitions ship Mont Blanc exploded in Halifax harbour, devastating the city. As a final and terrible irony of war, returning troops brought Spanish influenza with them from Europe, which killed an additional 50,000 people in Canada in 1918-19. The weapons of war had taken the youth of the nation; the Spanish flu perversely selected the young and healthy of both sexes within the country.

io8

Anatomy of a Seance

Over a hundred thousand deaths, most of them violent, in the space of five years among a population that was scarcely eight million left its impact upon society. It was within this context that spiritualism gained its greatest momentum in Canada as hundreds of bereft people eagerly sought confirmation that their dearly departed were safe "on the other side." The demand for communication with departed spirits was met by a motley band of "mediums" who often promised more than they delivered. These practitioners came and went with little notice from the press except when they ended up before a judge. And the law could lean upon those who pretended to exercise witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, conjuration, or fortune-telling. The law clearly forbade the use of occult practices or "crafty science" to discover "where or in what manner any goods and chattels supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found." Communication with the spirits of soldiers killed in battle gained a good deal of credibility in the eyes of many when Sir Oliver Lodge, a world-famous British physicist, published Raymond, or Life and Death in 1919. Lodge's research into psychic phenomena had begun in 1883, and over the years he had worked with such famous mediums as Eusapia Paladino and Mrs Leonore Piper. His son, Raymond, was killed in action while fighting with the South Lancashire Regiment in France. Eleven days after his death, Raymond contacted his mother, Lady Lodge, while she participated in a sitting with Mrs Gladys Osbourne Leonard. Her first contact was affirmed through a series of cross-correspondences from other mediums. Sir Oliver documented the messages received from his son and published a book designed to assure other grieving parents that there was life after death. The first section of the work was a very personal profile of Raymond, set out "to engender a friendly feeling towards the writer of the letters."1 The second part dealt with the direct communications. Here Lodge's motive was clearly to alleviate pain and suffering for other people who had lost men in the war by showing them that "communication across the gulf is possible." The final section of Raymond was expository and designed to educate readers by demonstrating that spirit communication was "a genuine branch of psychological science. "z Raymond was an immediate success and legitimized for many the use of the seance room for confirming life after death. In 1918, Dr Albert Durrant Watson, a long-established Toronto physician, and Professor Albert Abbott, a respected member of the faculty of the University of Toronto, released a book called The Twentieth Plane: A Cosmic Revelation. The book claimed to contain direct spirit communications from such notables as Jesus, Plato, Samuel Taylor

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

109

Coleridge, William Wordsworth, William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Carlysle, Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and Richard Maurice Bucke. It became an overnight sensation in Toronto and across Canada. Albert Durrant Watson was born in Dixie in Peel County, Canada West, in 1859. A devout Methodist, he was considered by many to be one of the Church's leading laymen. He acted as the secretary of the Social Service Department and was a delegate to the General Methodist Conference for sixteen years. In addition to his medical and church work, Watson was one of the more popular poets and essayists of his time. His cohort in psychic research, Professor Albert Abbott, was the chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. The Philosophy Department was also the home for Psychology and Abbott had an interest in both disciplines. He held a Ph.D. in Philosophy from a German university. During the war years, he had been actively employed in organizational work for various government agencies, all of whom recognized him as a very efficient executive.3 His psychological training had taken him to some meetings of the Psychical Research Society in 1914, but at that time, he had found nothing to excite his interest. Abbott stressed that his attraction to psychic phenomena was purely scientific and he rejected out of hand such terms as "spirits" or "spiritualist" as applying to himself.4 Watson and Abbott gave "the twentieth plane" investigations credibility through their respected roles in the Toronto community, and the local press, which up until this time had generally ignored mediums and seances, gave the book front page attention. The central figure in the "twentieth plane" communications was Louis Benjamin, a young Jewish medium who was a commercial traveler for J. Stevens and Company, makers of surgical instruments. Born in Chicago, the son of American Jewish parents who traced their roots back to Russia and England, he and his family moved to Toronto in 1892, when he was six years old. The Benjamin clan claimed some minor history of occult happenings prior to Louis' emergence as a medium at the age of thirty-two.5 His maternal grandfather was described as a very religious Jew with a dose of Russian mysticism. The old man was said to have an unerring sense of who could be trusted in business. Another uncle, Joe Weber, had demonstrated some psychic ability. His specialty was to be led out of a room blindfolded while those who remained stuck a pin in a wall. When Joe was brought back, still blindfolded, he would take the pin and walk to the wall, placing the pin in the exact hole where it had been stuck.

no

Anatomy of a Seance

Louis had experienced precognition at the age of twelve while visiting Milwaukee with his mother. He recalled sharing a room with another boy. While looking from the bedroom window he saw a human arm materialize against the moon. The arm moved through the air and knocked seven times on the window before him. His mother heard him scream and arrived in time to find him in a near faint. Seven days later, according to family tradition, the young boy who had shared the room with Louis died. Another incident occurred in 1913, when Louis was living in Montreal. One evening while reading a book in his library he observed strong light of a peculiar colour reflecting on his page. Turning about he saw a pink ball of fire. Emanating from the ball came a voice that he recognized as belonging to Dr Watson saying, "I wish you to drop in and see me." A day later a letter arrived from Watson containing these exact words. Benjamin's association with Watson was one of long standing, dating back over twenty years to a time when Watson was honorary president of the Boys' Club at the West End Toronto YMCA. Louis went on to become a member of Watson's Methodist Bible class, acting as the group's secretary. Watson saw their relationship as close, and Louis Benjamin viewed the doctor as a mentor. In 1918, when the events precipitating the "twentieth plane" phenomena began, Louis was living with his wife and children at a duplex at 21 Lumbervale Avenue, Toronto. The family occupied the upper apartment, which overlooked extensive lumber yards and railway tracks. Mrs Benjamin had encountered her first ouija board at her mother's house on a Sunday sometime in 1917. Her mother had borrowed the board to amuse the family but Mrs Benjamin had little success in making it work. Shortly after, she had purchased a ouija board, which she and Louis used mostly for entertainment. Popular tradition has it that the ouija board obtained its name from a combination of the oui for yes in French and the German fa for yes. Esoteric lore traces the use of such a means of communicating with the spirits back to Pythagoras at about 540 B.C. The board usually has a polished surface upon which the alphabet has been printed. Two people rest their hands lightly on a tripod, which moves of its own accord over an alphabet printed on the board and stops with its apex pointing to letters to spell out messages. The tripod could have a pencil inserted through it, which would produce a line on a paper as the tripod moved across the board. In this case, it was called a planchette and the communication was a form of automatic writing.6 As we saw earlier, John Dunbar Moodie constructed and used instruments similar to ouija boards as early as the 18505.

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

in

On some occasions, the Benjamins did obtain interesting results. A message informing them that the furnace was too hot prevented a fire in their house. Messages became much more serious in mid-January 1918, when contact was made with a dead girlfriend of Mrs Benjamin: "Her words were so beautiful that Louis and I thought something had happened." Later, the same spirit instructed them to telephone Albert Durrant Watson "to arrange a meeting to receive a wonderful message." The meeting was arranged with the Watsons for 20 January. The session was held in Dr Watson's medical examining room. The doctor, somewhat sceptical and rather tired from a long day, stretched out on his couch. The Benjamins operated the ouija board. The first message spelled out was from Dr John Potts, a deceased friend of Watson's. The second message came from a spirit styling himself "Sir Walter Scott." He requested that the "Sir" be dropped. The third message came from Watson's deceased mother, who made reference to his poetry and mentioned that Shelley was with her. The final message was from Abraham Lincoln. Watson's initial scepticism gave way to fascination with Benjamin's communications. Watson was then president of the Canadian Association for Psychical Research and therefore no novice in the area of occult happenings. Watson and Abbott began regular seance sittings with Louis Benjamin. In a typical seance, the group sat in a room containing a lamp covered with a pink paper shade, which always provided at least some illumination.7 The group never met in total darkness, and later, in 1919, they would sometimes meet in full light. Music was often played on the victrola to start a session, with the work of Heiffetz being used on occasion. The chime of bells was also favoured. Benjamin would take his place in the centre of a circle, which, in 1918, rarely exceeded ten people. Benjamin's wife or another woman sat opposite him with the board resting on their knees. The principle of having a woman work with a male medium was thought to produce a better polarity of energy. Benjamin would place his hands on the tripod, take a very deep breath and lose consciousness, never remembering what happened next. His last inhalation before trance often brought with it a sense of warmth and a hint of an odour. He also reported feeling a cool breeze move over his hands. Once he was in trance with eyes closed, the tripod began to move, always at high speed, with Benjamin calling out the letters, which were taken down by the designated stenographer for the evening. The medium's body showed no rigidity and reacted with the same involuntary movements associated with relaxed conversation. His face remained serene with no dramatic expressions.

ii2

Anatomy of a Seance

The normal format was a question and answer procedure. Once the spirits communicating from the "twentieth plane" of consciousness had signed on, Dr Watson would usually take charge of the questioning. Dr Abbott also interrogated on occasion, and questions from other members of the circle were allowed. When a session ended, Dr Watson would hold the medium's hands until he had returned to full consciousness. Benjamin consistently claimed to suffer no exhaustion or lassitude from his trance work. He was also consistent in denying any knowledge of what he had said or done while in trance. There might be several sessions in an evening with the medium coming out of trance to rest. Most trance periods seem to have lasted from thirty to forty minutes. During the breaks, music was played on the victrola and sometimes a change in the female partner on the ouija board took place. Later in 1918, at the suggestion of the spirits, Benjamin tried direct voice mediumship and eventually this more convenient mode of communication replaced the ouija board. In this case, Benjamin's voice became the channel through which information was transmitted. In addition, the group experimented with automatic writing, but nothing of significance seems to have been transmitted in this manner. Louis Benjamin and his wife modified their ouja board as time passed. To improve the movement of the tripod and eliminate squeaking, boracic acid was sprinkled on the board. Later, a plate of glass was placed over it. Eventually the board and its printed alphabet were abandoned completely, and Benjamin simply used the plate glass and tripod, calling out the letters, which he claimed to know from long practice with the board. Sitters at the Benjamin seances were given distinctive names by the spirits with whom they communicated. This practice was, it would appear, tied in with the wholistic perception the spirits possessed of the earth-bound. Spirits in the "twentieth plane" viewed seance sitters in a way that transcended that view the sitters had of themselves or others around them. They possessed auras that were always visible to the spirits and astral bodies that could leave the physical and journey to higher planes. Personal aura colours were tied in with an elaborate system of character analysis. Ralph Waldo Emerson was credited with having had a white aura. He alone, in North American history, was said to have achieved such a high state of spiritual awareness. The spirits believed that when they made contact with sitters through the medium, they did so because of the power of the group to utilize the psychic energy of the medium and link it with the lesser but essential power of the group. The regular sitters were bonded with the spirit guides by being awarded special names. This use of affectionate

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

113

or humorous nicknames derived from a reading of their auras, and to be so named was to acquire "specialness" within the group as the distinctive quality of the sitter through such names as "Purity" or "Scholar Girl" was acknowledged. This synecdoche - the using of a part of the whole - was a feature of other seance groups as well. There is no doubt that "specialness" was an important aspect of the seance where important spiritual information was being revealed. To be singled out to receive knowledge that had not been released to the general population marked the sitter with importance. In such a way, the spirits acquired disciples. The disciples were then asked to disseminate the received knowledge. The material received at the Benjamin seances was published at the request of a publication committee on the "twentieth plane" composed of the spirits of Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Robert G. Ingersoll. This eminent group established a set of topic headings for the book. It seems likely that the outline came sometime after the communications began in January, since the various chapters are not extended dictations on a single theme but rather a potpourri of messages from a number of different settings. Thus the published material has no chronological order. Watson did, however, provide each quotation with the date of its reception, so it is possible, using scissors and tape, to reassemble the material in the order it was received. The advantage in doing this is that it gives a better idea of the evolution of the phenomena. Watson himself believed that a major turning point in the communications occurred on 17 March 1918. An examination of the eight seances that fell before that date indicates that they were for the most part concerned with descriptions of the "twentieth plane" in materialistic terms. After this date, the transmissions became more abstract and philosophical. It should be kept in mind that while the messages purported to come from the spirit world, Watson edited the material to conform to the outline suggested by the publication committee on the other side. One of the charges that would be leveled against the book was that while the spirit messages were recorded verbatim, the questions asked to elicit information were not always fully reported. Concern was expressed about the leading nature of questions, which Watson admitted were often shortened in their published form. Watson was also responsible for the commentary, which runs throughout the book in bold typeface. At least forty-five seances can be identified as contributing to the messages cited in the book. While approximately fifty spirit personalities manifested in seances, only fourteen are cited as having come through on more than one occasion. Watson's mother, Mary Youle Watson, was present most often, followed by Dorothy Wordsworth,

ii4

Anatomy of a Seance

William Taylor Coleridge, Elbert Hubbard, Abraham Lincoln, Hartley Coleridge and William Wordsworth. Each of these entities visited the group at least eight or more times. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Robert Ingersoll came at least four times and Jesus came through on three occasions. Watson's father, William Shakespeare, and Spinoza each appeared at least twice. Among the first personalities to communicate during the premier seance on 2.0 January 1918 was Watson's mother, who became the dominant spirit guide for the proceedings. She acted as the facilitator for the "twentieth plane" entities, arranging for the appearances of the other forty-five or so spirits who eventually communicated through Benjamin's mediumship. Mary Watson indicated that after her own death she had spent a year in sleep. Upon awakening among strangers she required several lessons before she could be convinced that she had "passed over." She then spent her time "reading and nursing." She described the night of the "twentieth plane" as "soft pink twilight" and explained that sleep was not essential. The food of the plane was chemicals, which were absorbed in some unspecified fashion. Watson's questions during the first seance indicate an interest in the fate of another young friend who had died. Mother Watson, as she quickly became known, explained that he "is upstairs, as it were" and not on her plane. Watson then inquired whether his mother had seen Waldo, his son who was a soldier fighting in France. Mother Watson assured her son that she saw Waldo "when he prays." Watson's need to keep in contact with his soldier-son brings echoes of Sir Oliver Lodge's book, Raymond. This observation is supported by the dedication in The Twentieth Plane, which states that "this work is dedicated to the heroes of the war - those of the battle-field and those also of the fireside - to all who gave nobly to the cause of truth." And that truth is that "There is no death."8 The first seance indicated a strong drive on Watson's part to see the "twentieth plane" as a Christian place. Mother Watson was asked if she had met Jesus. "Only through his influence," she replies. When the Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott makes his first and only appearance he is asked, "Who is God?" to which he replies: "All are expressions of all. All are the same substance. I represent God in substance. So do you, but I am more intense through physical death." To the question about the existence of a personal devil, Scott replies in the negative, stating that "evil is misdirected energy."9 The final visitor to the first seance was the American writer and publisher Elbert Hubbard, who had operated his Roycroft Press in East Aurora, New York, near Buffalo. Hubbard went down with the Lusitania when it was sunk on 7 May 1915 by a German submarine. Hubbard would become the

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

115

war correspondent for the "twentieth plane." He assured Watson that silent prayer was the way to end the war and that such prayer was nearly strong enough to do the job. Hubbard, we learn, met Mother Watson at a lecture given by Shelley on the "twentieth plane." This first seance convinced Watson to proceed with the communications. In it, he was reunited with his much beloved dead mother, who assured him she could view his soldier son when he prayed in France. In its beginnings, then, the seance was very much focused around the family, with mother and son reunited. Mother Watson's ability to monitor the activity of her soldier grandson in France was an obvious asset for the family circle. While superficially the "twentieth plane" might seem to conform to Christian patterns, it does not demonstrate orthodoxy. The afterlife here does not lead to direct contact with God. The planes of consciousness are such that God resides somewhere far above the "twentieth plane." It appears that our actions are monitored not by God but by our immediate ancestors who have moved up through the planes of consciousness. In some ways, social and ethical control may well be more effective if one knows that one is under the direct superintendence of the spirits of mother and father, watching from a higher plane. Of equal significance is the rejection of the devil and thus of hell. With hell dispatched and God far distanced from even the more saintly spirits like Mother Watson, we are clearly moving away from orthodox Methodism. How Watson, committed Methodist that he was, reconciled these revelations with his Christian religious beliefs remains unclear: The next seance, on zy January 1918, continued to expand upon the material nature of the "twentieth plane." The recorded visitors were Mother Watson, Elbert Hubbard, and the British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Hubbard describes himself as a man of letters able to "think an article into existence by concentration." He explains that the spirit "lives forever with self-consciousness" and that the progress of the spirit is evolutionary. Hubbard holds with his belief that the war will end within six months because Germany will defeat herself. He answers questions about the League of Nations and opines that "the abolition of competition" is the best way to sort out the world's civilizations. Mother Watson enters and describes a recently diseased friend of Watson as walking in "the valley of burning chaff," adding later that people have "to thaw out in the valley" when they bring too many non-essentials with them from physical life. We learn that Lord Byron, the English poet, is also in the valley. When Shelley signs on, Watson shows little tact and immediately asks him whether he has seen Keats. Showing humility, Shelley replies: "No. He is far above me." Four stanzas of Shelley's poem "Adonais" are read by Watson, much

n6

Anatomy of a Seance

to Shelley's pleasure. We learn from the poet that the physical eye changes its colour while one thinks. Finally, Shelley is asked to describe his death by drowning. He does so, then cites the Encyclopaedia Britannica as a source for confirming the validity of his narrative. On 10 February, the spirit communicators once again included Mother Watson and introduced Abraham Lincoln, William Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy, and Robert Ingersoll. Ingersoll's presence indicates that the "twentieth plane" was home to celebrated agnostics as well as confirmed Christians. Ingersol was a famous American "free thinker" who often attacked religious "superstition" from a rationalistic stance in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The sitters are told that after his death in 1899, he arrived on the "twentieth plane" to become principal of a college with Emerson, Lincoln, and Thomas Carlyle as his faculty. The curriculum has Ingersoll teaching rhetoric, Emerson lecturing on religion, Carlyle on logic, while Lincoln handles simply "wisdom." One of the requests made by the "twentieth plane" committee was that a series of poems by Watson be included in the book publication. One of the topics was to be a poem on Lincoln. On 10 February, Lincoln was asked by Watson to describe "the big thing" he was to say in the poem. Lincoln informs Watson that he should write a monologue with Lincoln speaking to Ann Rutledge. Although Watson wrote a number of poetic monologues about famous people, no poem about Lincoln appears to have made it into print. Dorothy Wordsworth provided more detail about the material nature of "the twentieth plane." While it has the same number of languages as the earth plane, they are all combined through thought and "thought essence." There is no rain, snow, or frost to disturb the perpetual "pale pink twilight." Plants acquire their moisture from "dews." While the "twentieth plane" has sun, moon, and stars, heat and cold are controlled by thought. Medicines and water are available. Elbert Hubbard's message gives the additional information that "the 'twentieth plane' is about 500 miles above the earth plane." He also indicates that the earth is the fifth plane. Ingersoll describes the housing on the "twentieth plane" as having no doors. Intruders are kept out with a wish. While sleep was said to be unnecessary, Ingersoll says four hours of sleep are usual. People on the plane "never cry, we weep. The difference: we shed no tears."10 There are no jails, since the few delinquents are cured. Nobody smokes tobacco. In all likelihood, the seances themselves would have passed unnoticed if they had not been cast in a book and offered to a war-shattered citizenry of Toronto that was ripe for confirmation that death was an illusion. The fact that the book was published over the names of Dr Albert Durrant Watson and Professor Albert Abbott, two very

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

117

distinguished Torontonians, brought the local press to bear upon the "twentieth plane" phenomena. And it was the book's high media profile that brought it to the attention of Professor James Mavor, an eminent economic historian at the University of Toronto who had been born and educated in Scotland. Earlier, in England, Mavor had become interested in theosophy and spiritualism.11 He dropped his involvement with spiritualism but maintained an interest in psychic phenomena as a branch of abnormal psychology. In 1897, he became interested in the case of Miss Jane Bell, who claimed to be clairaudient, with the ability to hear voices. The woman, who had been diagnosed as mentally unbalanced, had gone to some lengths to establish her sanity and justify her belief in spirit communication. Mavor sent a description of her case to Sir Oliver Lodge for comment. Lodge found the woman's spiritualist experiences "too vague and undisciplined" to be of interest.12 Mavor appears to have given up his interest in the occult in the years that followed. However, when The Twentieth Plane became a media sensation, Mavor felt obliged to respond to it, feeling that its contents were being accepted without any scientific testing. He was especially concerned because he saw the book as creating an environment where fraudulent mediums could exploit people who had lost men on the European battlefields. As a result, Mavor challenged Watson and Abbott to a test seance in which Mavor would provide a set of his own questions to be answered by the spirits. He also wrote to a number of his acquaintances in England asking for their responses to The Twentieth Plane. He had known William Morris and wrote to his widow. He also was a friend of Coleridge's son, Gilbert, and he had been a close friend of the late W.T. Stead, the British journalist and spiritualist who had corresponded with Dr John King. His British contacts all agreed that The Twentieth Plane material did not seem to be authentic.13 The test seance took some time to set up since Louis Benjamin, the medium, was very hesitant to have anything to do with Mavor even though Watson and Abbott were agreeable. The test was finally held at Mavor's home. The results led him to publicly disclaim the validity of The Twentieth Plane communications and privately to prepare a confession to be signed by Louis Benjamin stating that he was a fraudulent medium who had found most of the Twentieth Plane material in the Encyclopaedia Britannica.14 Despite the public criticism, Watson, Abbott, and Benjamin continued with their work and received a visit from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who found their work interesting but not evidential enough to be of value to him. The Twentieth Plane offered a vision of life after death that, given the strains and stresses of the world in 1918, must have been very

n8

Anatomy of a Seance

attractive, especially to those who had lost sons and lovers on the battlefields of Europe. It did not cast this message in a strong religious frame of reference, although the context was clearly Christian. Watson, like Dr John King, appears to have been singled out by the spirit world to receive a message for mankind. The Twentieth Plane, like Dawn of the Awakened Mind, was dictated from the spirit world and only edited by Watson. One minor but significant difference was that Louis Benjamin was a Canadian medium, although he was born in the United States. The Benjamin sittings were conducted in a pseudoscientific way. Watson, the medical doctor was assisted by Abbott, the psychologist philosopher. Regardless of the professed aim of the work, their seances retained a pattern similar to those conducted for religious reasons. Watson appears to have had no trouble maintaining his Methodism and accepting his new spirit revelation, although, after the Mavor challenge, one church did ask him to give up a Sunday school class. There is some indication that the Mavor challenge caused Watson to give more thought to his work. In 1919, he issued an American edition of The Twentieth Plane through George W. Jacobs publishers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This edition, released after the Mavor challenge, contained a preface not issued in the first edition and also featured a modified chapter called "Intention." In the preface, Watson does not back away from the events contained in the text, but he does broaden the way in which the information should be approached. Acknowledging that there may be a variety of explanations such as mind-transference, Watson still maintains faith in the transmissions because of the idiosyncratic styles in which each message was couched. None of the sitters, including the medium, Louis Benjamin, were capable in his estimation of writing such varied prose in such a rapid fashion. Watson states that his "position in relation to spirit communication is this: It is a fact, and has always been. It includes necromancy, the communication with familiar spirits of low planes in ancient and modern times. It includes also the glorious communication with exalted ones."15 He goes on, however, to suggest some new guidelines for the seance room. He stresses that "no one should seek to converse with deceased relatives." Should deceased relatives come through unsummoned by a sitter, the event is to be welcomed. His belief, however, is that the proper role of the sitter is to seek "communion with God." Watson distances himself from those who call themselves "spiritualists," seeing such people as seeking spirit communication rather than religious experience.

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

119

He also disavows the use of the ouija board, which offers "no comfort and little satisfaction."16 While his own seances reported in The Twentieth Plane were collected by the use of the board, he says in 1919 that such usage has "long since ceased ... in our circle."17 Watson concludes his 1919 preface by stating that he "entered this experience as a sceptic, and even now, do not claim that the messages are authentic." The intelligences who reported through the medium claimed authenticity; his job was to receive and report "accurately and sincerely."18 Americans reading the 1919 edition are asked to base their reactions to the book purely upon the substance of the text, without attacking either the medium or the sitters who facilitated the transmission of the messages. In 1920, a sequel, Birth Through Death, was published in Canada. This report continued to present the revelations of the "twentieth plane" entities. In his introduction, Watson was once again explicit in separating spirit communication conducted for spiritual growth from spiritualism, which he continued to define as a limited exchange between relatives and their departed family members. The spirit committee that oversaw the publication of Watson's two books were all Americans. Among those who manifested, the appearance of the poet Walt Whitman was of significant interest to a group of central Canadians, including the Canadian suffrage leader Flora MacDonald Denison, who had created the Whitman Club of Bon Echo. In her desire to speak with Whitman, Flora turned to Albert Durrant Watson, who along with his psychic research also shared an interest in Whitman and poetry. Watson was a poet for whom Lome Pierce, the editor of the Ryerson Press, expressed great admiration.19 A.E.S. Smythe, in his inaugural address to the Whitman Fellowship of Toronto in 1916, gave credit for the advancement of Whitman's Canadian reputation to "Dr A.D. Watson's poem 'Whitman' in his book Love and the Universe.'"2'0 The poem is a monologue that suggests that Whitman underwent a mystical experience, a conjecture often put forth but never authenticated. Watson also published another poem, "Walt Whitman," in number five of Sunset of Bon Echo, a journal published by Denison. And of course Whitman was a member of the publication committee of spirits who assisted with The Twentieth Plane. Watson's book led Denison to observe: "I had felt that a message in The Twentieth Plane was so significant of Whitman, that I longed for an evening where Whitman might converse freely with me about the work I am doing to propagate his Democratic Ideals." As a result, she arranged a session with Watson in Toronto and they "easily and pleasantly

ixo

Anatomy of a Seance

conversed with that Great Companion and some of his associates on the 'twentieth plane.'"" The conversation lasted for more than an hour. To end, they called up Lincoln, Emerson, Bryant, Ingersoll, and Richard Maurice Bucke to comment on Whitman, all of whom praised the poet. In order to understand Watson's final resolution of his encounters with spiritualism, it is useful to digress briefly and examine the significance of Bucke and Whitman in central Canada. Whitman's poetry, Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness," and Madam Blavatsky's theosophy all came to bear upon A.D. Watson in 192,3, leading him to a modified view of mediumship and spiritualism in his last book. Two of Whitman's many admirers had significant connections with the Canadian reputation of the poet. Richard Maurice Bucke and Horace Traubel were both literary executors of Whitman. Bucke was born in Methwald, England, in 1837, a descendant on his father's side of Sir Robert Walpole, first earl of Oxford. In 1838, his family moved to Canada and settled near London, Ontario. Both parents died before Bucke reached his sixteenth birthday, and he set off on his own to see America. After a series of hair-raising adventures in the western United States, he returned to Canada, entered McGill Medical School, and took his M.D. degree. Bucke explained in his own words how he came to know Leaves of Grass. He writes in the third person: At the age of thirty, he fell in with Leaves of Grass and at once saw that it contained, in greater measure than any book so far found, what he had so long been looking for. He read Leaves eagerly, even passionately, but for several years derived little from them. At last light broke and there was revealed to him (as far perhaps as such things can be revealed) at least some of the meanings."

In 1873, while in England, Bucke underwent a mystical experience after spending an evening with friends reading "Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Browning, and especially Whitman."23 Upon his return to Canada, Bucke traveled to Camden, New Jersey, and met Whitman. The poet had a profound effect upon Bucke. In the summer of 1880, Whitman reciprocated by spending four months with Bucke in London, Ontario. They made a summer voyage down the St Lawrence River as far as the Saguenay River, then up the Saguenay to Chicoutimi and Ha Ha Bay. A strong friendship developed between the two men, and Bucke received permission to write what proved to be the only authorized biography ever written about Whitman. The poet himself wrote the first twenty-four pages.

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

121

In 1901, Bucke published Cosmic Consciousness. In this book Bucke devoted chapters to the great men of history whom he believed to have achieved "cosmic consciousness"; he placed Whitman at the apex of conscious development, surpassing such notables as Aristotle and Jesus. The book was and remains successful: it has never been out of print. Although its impact on Canadian readers is hard to assess, references to it occur in the papers and books of both spiritualists and theosophists. B.F. Austin was clearly aware of Bucke's work, as was Flora MacDonald Denison and Albert Durrant Watson. Horace Traubel, an American who was a close friend and also a literary executor of Whitman, often visited the many friends he had made in Canada. One of those friends was Denison, who was one of the major figures behind the Toronto Whitman Fellowship as well as organizing the Whitman Club of Bon Echo. As was mentioned in an earlier chapter, Denison's Bon Echo Inn at Mazinaw Lake became a mecca for a large number of Whitman devotees. The Whitman Club of Bon Echo was organized at some time after 1910 and before 1916. Merrill Denison, Flora's son, stated that "it was an entirely informal organization in which membership came largely from occlusion and no record of which exists."24 It is possible to trace some of the members through a small magazine called The Sunset of Bon Echo, which was published by Mrs Denison and which became an organ for the club members as well as a promotional device for the inn. Subscriptions were a dollar a year and it was "published every so often ... according to [their] bank balance." Anyone who did not get a dollar's worth was confidently promised a free trip to Europe. Issue number four provided the following information about joining the Whitman Club: "Announce yourself by letter or in person. Pay what you want to and we will put you on our wire for health and wisdom."25 Merrill Denison states that his mother's admiration of the "Good Grey Poet" was unbounded, to such an extent as to amount to sheer idolatry of Whitman as prophet, philosopher, sage, and poet.26 Like Bucke and Traubel before her, she created a cult around Whitman. In 1923, Albert Durrant Watson, working with Margaret Lawrence, the young woman called the "Scholar Girl" in The Twentieth Plane, published Mediums and Mystics: A Study in Spiritual Laws and Psychic Forces through Ryerson Press. This book provides the philosophical basis for Watson's use of spirit communication. Much of what he says suggests that his experiences with Louis Benjamin and the "twentieth plane" phenomena had led him to reconsider how mediumship should be employed. The book picks up on ideas expressed in the preface of the American edition of The Twentieth Plane and expands them in such a way as to distance the Watson group from formal

122

Anatomy of a Seance

spiritualism. Overall, his vision reflects the mysticism of Bucke's cosmic consciousness. He had shifted from being a receptor of communication to an actively committed mystical explorer. Watson and Lawrence begin their study by carefully defining their terms. While they believe that the word "spiritualism" if used properly "signifies the antithesis of materialism," they are forced to abandon the term because popular usage has led people to apply the word to "the mediumistic practice with all its associated experience." This process should be properly called "spirits," which implies a spiritquest. In the place of the word "spiritualist," the two authors use the term, "mystic." A spiritist "frequents the seance-circle, the mystic seeks the closet of prayer. The former is mediate - employs mediums; the latter is immediate - seeks communion with the All-Consciousness within, where the heavenly Kingdom is."27 It is their belief that "all mediate approach to the heavens is unsatisfactory, involving dangers too serious to ignore" (8). This would appear to be a rejection of the "twentieth plane" work, which was, by their own definition, mediate. However, rather than a rejection, it stands as a recognition that mediumistic activity is a stepping stone to a higher mystical awareness. Watson and Lawrence divide consciousness into three levels reminiscent of Bucke's views in Cosmic Consciousness. The first level is called "lower consciousness" and has two levels or fields: inorganic and biological. The inorganic is associated with crystal forces, radioactive forces and attractions, the microcosm. The biological deals with simple consciousness, instinct, and operates at the level of the ant and the bee. The middle range is called "working consciousness." It corresponds to the colour spectrum and encompasses "the objective mind of Hudson. The supraliminal self of Myers. The field of self-consciousness. Reflective power. The field of reason. Induction. The intellectual process. The conceptual field." The last range is "higher consciousness," which is described in two fields: the psychic field and the spiritual field. The psychic field is the "mediumistic realm." It deals with "Trance, materialization, apportments, psychic photographic extras, automatic writing, ouijary, telekinesis, clairvoyance, clairaudience, dreams, hypnotism, telepathy." Finally, the spiritual field is concerned with "the higher affinities. The macrocosm. Genius. Art in its most developed and cultured forms. Mysticism. Discernment of causality. Immediate perception of reality. The imagination, intuition" (12,). They raise Gustave Geley's view that "the whole Universe is engaged ... in a mighty anabasis from the unconscious to the conscious." If such is the case, "The medium reports the higher planes; the mystic communes with them; the genius collaborates with them" (13). The authors see the issue of individual identity as the primary area for

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

123

questioning: "'what is the full content of personality?' 'What is the source of our consciousness, and how is it individuated and why?' 'What is its individual duration and its destiny?' 'Is personality an eternal attribute of the individual consciousness?' The answers will not come from the intellect. They will rise immediately by axiomatic inference out of the developed consciousness, because of our immediate derivation from the All-Consciousness" (14). The authors view the 192,05 as evidence of a world in its "adolescence." "Humanity is building already a better order of social and political life. We see foreshadowed everywhere a higher human regime. The citizens of a new age are rising to new planes of consciousness and cherishing finer ideals. The race vivified by a marvelous regeneration is forsaking its formalism and ceasing to worship its creeds ... A renewed race beholds its vanguard marching in order, and the soul with vision realizes in spirit and in life that a new morning has dawned in the springtime of the world" (15). In the second chapter, on "Psychic and Normal Interaction," they examine the importance of mediumistic activity. Admitting that "the operations of the psychic seem capricious and weird" they still state that "we must not permit the negative testimony of the inexperienced and prejudiced to override the positive word of a thousand competent witnesses. These phenomena do take place. To explain them is the task of research today" (16-17). After stressing that a circle must have the right blend of individual energies, they describe how a seance works: The seance-circle is the battery, the medium is the switch, and, to some extent, also the transformer. But he is also a part of the battery. He can search his own consciousness and thence recall all that he has ever known. There is little doubt that we have in the medium and the seance-circle the true source of most of the so-called messages received through the lips of the medium. That no single member of the circle knew the fact communicated is not necessarily subversive of this conclusion. If two premises are necessary to form a basis of a certain conclusion, and one member of the circle knows the first of these, while another knows the other, we may be sure the medium will soon know the conclusion though no other member of the circle be aware of it. To the psychic in trance, deduction is his native breath. (18-19)

While mind reading is central to their explanation of the seance process, the question of spirit communication must also be addressed. The authors readily accept that mediums may on occasion "like the authors of many ancient documents, sometimes attribute their utterances - unconsciously perhaps, to eminent authorities so as to gain a higher approval of their own work." Having acknowledged all of the possible

124

Anatomy of a Seance

explanations for spirit communication, Watson and Lawrence still have the view that "every careful investigator of long experience has, we think, received through mediums, information which neither the medium, nor the investigator, nor any other soul on earth could possibly have possessed. Events are stated in some cases before they take place, and the details are given in harmony with the facts as reported after their occurrence" (20). They identify two possible but conflicting explanations of such phenomena: "there is the possibility that discarnate intelligences do exist and do communicate in line with the thinking of Camille Flammarion, or there is the possibility that individuals achieve an evolved state similar to Richard Maurice Bucke's cosmic consciousness and attain first hand experience directly without the assistance of discarnate personalities." Watson and Lawrence are attracted to the Bucke position with its acknowledgment that "the physical and the spiritual are incommensurable, therefore the reason cannot finally prove any of the great spiritual foundations such as that of the continuity of life, the existence of a Supreme Being, and the reality of the spiritual world" (22). Cosmic consciousness does not explain the problem of premonition. However, the authors point out that knowledge of the future is of doubtful value in any case (23). They also point out that communication with the dead does not mean that the spirit has changed much from its former self in life: "physical death can make the soul neither good nor great, wise nor omniscient." Drawing upon their own experience, they tell of people who, believing that they were communicating with loved ones, found the nature of their messages remarkably altered from profound to obscene and profane. Such cases may be explained by the impersonation of one spirit by another. Mediums themselves may have a psychic gift without displaying an evolved spirituality: "He may talk like an angel and act like a demon ... Only in the act of prayer or spiritual meditation do we of the earth reveal ourselves to those who are dwelling on higher planes. This is spiritual tuning in. Deception is almost impossible in the heaven planes" (24). It is the recommendation of Watson and Lawrence "to eliminate the medium from all but scientific research" (25). They expand on this notion: "Psychic research is not a fit playground for the unscientific mind. It should be closed to all but the psychologist, for only the carefully trained are capable of probing to advantage the mediumistic action. Unfortunately, psychicism is, for the most part, really spirits. Spirits, in itself, is only one interpretation of a great mass of psychological phenomena." They next turn their attention to ouijary, the use of the ouija board to communicate with disincarnate spirits. Those who use the board

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

125

"congratulate themselves on being in touch with the unseen sources of eternal wisdom without resorting to a medium ... The ouija has become the temple of the slightly mediumistic soul. Few who manipulate the planchette understand that some amount of psychic control is necessary for this exercise" (2,8-9). The authors believe that women are more susceptible to ouija than men. Over time, practitioners move towards trance states. "Trance is a deliberate throwing of the whole being into a state of complete passivity ... A thorough trance medium is a psychic expert. He knows the rules, and is able to cast off the encroaching psychic power when he does not care to surrender himself to its sway. Ouija users are generally psychic amateurs, and seldom understand the laws of psychic invitation and dismissal." A lack of knowledge and skill can lead to situations where ouijary can lead to mental aberration in the practitioner (29). At best, dependence on the board leads to the suspension of careful and vigorous individual thinking in favour of the message from the other side. There is no substitute for personal understanding. Perhaps this concern for the use of ouija suggests a guarded rejection of the work of their old friend Louis Benjamin, who, of course, used ouijary in his mediumship. Psychic practice can be dangerous in terms of aesthetic principles: Form is of the essence of life and art, because the earth is a plane of expression. What we believe we must live, in order that others may know we believe it. What we think we must say, that others may join with us in the thought. As a race we struggle up from the inarticulate to perfect utterance. Genius gives to thought its most finished setting. The mind grows by reading a master's flawless presentation of a subject, even though his idea may not be new, and may often have been latent in the imagination of others. On the plane of expression, thought cannot dwell apart from form, and form must not be divorced from the impulse towards perfection. This is an esoteric as well as an aesthetic law, and the soul that turns to ouijary for inspiration violates the spirit of the law. (31-2.)

The text turns to an examination of mediumship, outlining the various difficulties one can experience when dealing with such people. They exhibit tendencies such as "asking interminable questions" (36), projecting a quality of undefined mistrust upon others, and draining sitters of energy. The medium may be guilty of "immeasurable conceit" (37) and, if challenged, can become a formidable enemy. Perhaps the most challenging reality of "psychism" is that it has a tendency "towards the personal. That of religion, as we understand it, is distinctly towards the social and universal" (38). "The tendency toward the personal, even in the scientific investigation of psychism, is almost

iz6

Anatomy of a Seance

compelling. Most tests are necessarily personal. We cannot check up the knowledge of a communicating intelligence unless we possess ourselves of the absolute facts under discussion. Few of us know anything with positive authority beyond the interests of our own lives. The mediumistic method is unfortunate because it can prove almost nothing but what can be explained otherwise, and it provides the strongest incentive to be personal" (39). Watson and Lawrence are also dubious about the belief that mediums do not remember what transpires while they are in trance. "Consciousness is, in all probability, never fully suspended in a living being." This leads them to the observation that "no spiritual disrobing should ever be done in the presence of an entranced medium. If the medium could maintain his assertion of oblivion during trance, and uphold it by his silence, he might build for himself a numerous clientele who need the spiritual solace of the confessional. But he cannot do this as a rule, for his ego inflation gets the better of his subtlety. He can seldom resist permanently the temptation to exhibit to others his seance scalps" (41). Having detailed the flawed nature of mediumship, the two authors still hold that the true medium is to be cherished: He that sees what others do not see, hears what others do not hear, and feels what others do not feel, should not despair, despite all we have said of the dangers and defections of mediums. The psychic is a mystic in the making. All his gifts should be consecrated reverently to the service of humanity. He should put his sensitive nature at the disposal of his higher consciousness, realizing that he has been called to minister to the children of light. (41-2,)

Having critiqued the medium, the writers turn to a discussion of the successful seance. They dismiss the large public trance address as unworthy of serious study, opting instead for the "small group of persons intent on the exploration of the trance mystery." Here again is a veiled rejection of the "twentieth plane" seances, which were often conducted in public with large audiences. The success of the circle depends upon the character of the sitters as much as upon the medium. "In the seance room the veils are off ... Because of this disrobing of personality the character of each individual present stands out with clear definition" (44). The overall quality of the sitting will be measured by the overall quality of the collective group. "Intellectual power always measures, more or less accurately, the result of the medium's effort" (45). All should demonstrate faith and harmony. The authors draw upon John Henry Newman's observation in "The Apologia" that the sum of the spiritual egos in a room generated the power to form a new spirit. The conception is founded upon the philosophical fact that the thought

Albert Durrant Watson: The Twentieth-plane Controversy

127

of a number of persons in a room is equal to something other than the sum of that of its members. Applying this hypothesis to mediumistic action, one is confronted with an interesting possibility. The medium may be one who can sense the group soul, and, by entering the trance condition, reproduce its group-thought in word communication. It has seemed to us again and again, as we observed how seances failed because the compounded soul of the group was of low caliber, that such a theory was a probable solution of many psychic mysteries. (46-7)

The final chapter attempts to describe the realm of universal consciousness. Central to this discussion is the view that all is part of the natural order: "In the evolutionary march we shall come into higher fields of realization by processes which transcend reason, as miracle transcends physical law. As the supernatural is neither unnatural, nor higher than natural, so spiritual realization - the mystical faculty - is not irrational nor super-rational, but a more direct route to a vaster result in higher fields of experience" (49). Most people use deduction, the method of lower consciousness, to understand their world. In contrast the mystic or genius "proceeds by roads of Universal Consciousness and is the thing it perceives ... The mystic realizes his identity with the All-Consciousness. The genius molds the truth into eternal forms whose beauty beckons the human heart and leads it into fuller vision, and identity with the truth" (50). The significance of individual existence is discussed: If the supreme purpose of our individual existence is, as we believe, the multiplication of the God Consciousness by bringing many souls into it, then the rise of the unconscious into the conscious, and the passing from lower stages of consciousness into higher stages, is in itself evidence of the infinite number and duration of such stages of consciousness. The law of continuity supports such a verdict. Matter itself is indestructible. Consciousness is clothing matter in new forms of being and giving to it successive and varied expression. (53)

The evidence of the age indicated to the authors that "the age of light is come. Everywhere, life is wonder-crammed. Knowledge is taking definite contours in new systems of thought ... We are convinced that all values of present psychic activity will be found in ultimate expression in mystical communion and spiritual illumination" (57). It is clear that this progressive vision is modernism in conflict with fundamentalism. "In the conflict between modernist and fundamentalist it is easy to prophesy who will win. Progress is a law of eternity." In the short term, the side that "gives fullest recognition to the mystical and spiritual claims of the human heart and acknowledges the necessity for some form of communion with the whole family in heaven and earth"

iz8

Anatomy of a Seance

will have the advantage. Interest in psychic events by the masses is clear evidence that people "are beginning to feel the suffocation of materialism" (59). The unsatisfactory usage of mediums and spirits will eventually give way to true individual progression to the universal consciousness. "Our race is beginning dimly to be aware of its own spirit. It is learning that neither law nor infallibility can satisfy the human heart. We are coming into that city where God Himself shall be our Light" (60). Albert Durrant Watson was, by the end of his career, a somewhat hesitant psychic explorer. From his various published commentaries it is clear that he wished to distance himself from the label of spiritualist. He projects an image of a man singled out for the reception of truths from a universal consciousness but he defined his role to be only that of the recorder and reporter of the phenomena that Louis Benjamin manifested. One cannot help but conclude that his clash with James Mavor in the press of the day caused him at least some discomfort. No doubt he listened to some of his friends who suggested that he watch his public image. Watson was not alone in his rejection of the smoke and mirrors that sometimes accompanied the seance. His personality was more in tune with individual mysticism than it was with the home circle. But like B.F. Austin and others, he saw the phenomena of parapsychology as evidence of a new order. He saw the individual who rejected the old established theologies in favour of self-discovered truth as a modern thinker. Modernism was progressive; it abandoned the old social, religious, and political conventions when they failed to provide effective ways of living in a changing world. Unlike others who turned to the occult for guidance, Watson was not driven by the need to reconcile science and religion. His route led him away from science and into the realm of philosophy and mysticism. Spiritualism was but a first stage on the long road to personal self-consciousness.

7

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

Jenny O'Hara Pincock dedicated much of her mature life to the exploration of spiritualism. There were three overlapping areas of endeavour in that career. She gained prominence with the publication of her book Trails of Truth, which documents a series of seances conducted in and around the St Catharines area between 6 September 1928 and 2,3 June 1929. In October 1930, Jenny, her family, and friends created a distinctive spiritualist church that welcomed public participation in St Catharines bearing the name of the Church of Divine Revelation. And finally, she was responsible for a healing circle, which shared membership with the Church's congregation and was called the Radiant Healing Centre. A periodical, Progression, documented the work of this last group. Central to all of these activities was a medium from Orange, New Jersey, named William Cartheuser. Jenny Helena Florence O'Hara was born in Madoc, Ontario, in 1892. Her roots were Irish, and her great-grandfather had been one of the early settlers in north Hastings County, where he was known in his day as the Squire. Jenny moved to Whitby, Ontario, in 1908, to study music at the Ontario Ladies College with J.W.F. Harrison. Her education continued at the Royal Conservatory of Music, where she obtained her LTCM T On 18 April 1912 she performed on the piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music Hall in the closing concert of the season, where her performance was ranked "among the most brilliant ... heard this season."2 She continued to give public performances, some of which were associated with reform issues of the day, as in 1915, when she performed for the Political Equality Club accompanied by a speaker on women's rights.3 On 15 June of that same year, she married Robert Newton Pincock in Des Moines, Iowa.4 Her new husband was an osteopath, the son

130

Anatomy of a Seance

of a Newfoundland clergyman. In 19x7, a friend of Newton Pincock, with a degree in engineering from the University of Toronto, introduced both Jenny and Newton to their first seance.5 Jenny had her first seance with the medium William Cartheuser, who she was to work earth closely over the next eight years, in September 192,7. On 2,0 October 1927, very early in her association with spirit communication, Jenny Pincock wrote to "Dear Everybody" and provided a set of guidelines for conducting a seance. The family group had completed a very successful seance, it appears, and everyone was convinced of the validity of the exercise. Jenny drew from the commentary of a spirit guide called Margie Duncan, who had died at the age of fourteen, and from articles in Light magazine from England. She provided the following instructions: A circle should consist of three or more people earnestly devoted to the cause. It should be about evenly divided, male and female. A set night and hour should rigidly be kept. Angels in heaven should not be kept waiting on us. 2. Different people have different experiences in their development. The rule is many months of patient waiting - maybe years ... Cartheuser sat in a developing circle 7 years with a good medium seven years alone, before he received the slightest individual hint. Then his horn was knocked over twice at his bed side - (after he had put it back again). Then it was 3 mos. after that before anything else happened. 3. A seance must take place in complete darkness ... 4. Once or twice a week is often enough - never less than once. If nothing happens by the.time an hour is past, break up the sitting. Two hours is usually long enough for a good sitting, as much power is needed ... 5. Adverse Vibrations ruin a sitting, [ill health and bad thinking, doubt and criticism] 6. All sittings, Margie says should start with the Lord's prayer & 2.3rd psalm. That gets good spirit vibrations, for sad to say, there are evil ones also. 7. [S]it as Margie & Mrs R. taught us in our wonderful seances with them. We have a 3 legged table. 3 is yes, 2, doubtful, i (or no- tap at all) is no. We found out first if we were sitting in the proper order, for sometimes that makes a diff. [sic] After you find out, always keep that place. A bowl of water, flowers if you have them (Margie told us not to bust our pocket books buying them!) a couple of sun flowers in room (I don't know why, Margie told us to) and the trumpet on the floor beside the bowl. We get spirit lights (I haven't seen them myself but the others have) in our circle already. Cold drafts are the sign of the power coming out of you & we get them. We have great fun talking to everybody by the table rapping. Real individuality shows in the taps, some quick, others nearly - [?] and some very heavy & strong. However the seances are getting monotonous but we must expect that. Some night unexpectedly we hope to get a tap on the trumpet or see it, in the air, ...

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

131

By the way sit alone if you can't get anyone to sit with you in a seance. It will take longer ... but it means progression. As there are many various forms of mediumship it is best to sit with two ... or more. For Once we go in a trance alone, it wouldn't be safe. Always say Lord's prayer first. All kinds of spirits flock to a medium[;] tone must be well controlled. Too large a circle is troublesome to handle. Rigid attendance and rules being hard to insist.6

One interesting aspect of the above letter is that Jenny's circle, which was clearly attempting to manifest mediumship among the group members, was employing a pattern well established by the Moodies as early as 1854. The group waited for the development of psychic phenomena in the form of table levitation or raps. Physical manifestations came before actual communications. From this evidence it is clear that the home circle ritual remained relatively unchanged over the eighty years from the original Hydesville rappings. Some time in 192,7, Newton Pincock was stricken with a serious illness. In his search for a cure, he contacted the Guild of Spiritual Healing in England,7 which was involved in psychic healing under the direction of a spirit guide called "Dr Lascelles," who was considered capable of healing with thought waves over distance. No cure was forthcoming and Newton died in May of 192.8. Shortly after, Jenny, like many other Canadians before her, visited the spiritualist camp at Lily Dale. Here she met William Cartheuser again and arranged a sitting.8 If Jenny had been interested in spirit communication before this, the results of the seance were sufficient to convert Jenny to a lifelong belief in its veracity. Her first hope was to develop her own mediumistic abilities, but this was discouraged by the British Guild, which told her that such work would require "much suffering."9 She invited William Cartheuser to become the medium for her home circle in St Catharines, which included her sister, Minnie Maines, and her brother-in-law, Fred Maines. Jenny's husband, Newton, was a frequent spirit communicator at the Pincock/Maines seances. In addition, Jenny often spoke with her two "spirit" children, who had died from miscarriages. The two children were introduced to her in 1928 as Bobby and Jane. Jane in particular became an important spirit guide in later seances.10 Among those who participated in the home circle seances with William Cartheuser were the poets EJ. Pratt and W.W.E. Ross and their wives. Both men were superior modernist poets. It does not appear that Pratt became a consistent "sitter" and there is no evidence he accepted spiritualism. He did remain a firm friend of Jenny Pincock for all of his life. Newton Pincock had been from the same part of Newfoundland as Pratt, and they had been classmates together at the University of Toronto.

132.

Anatomy of a Seance

W.W.E. Ross, however, was firmly committed to spiritualism and worked hard to confirm the authenticity of messages he received in seance. Ross's attraction to occultism became something of an obsession later in his life, and may have contributed to a period of psychiatric treatment. Like Flora MacDonald Denison (and many others), Jenny maintained an ongoing connection with Lily Dale. The family members made pilgrimages to the village each summer, and Jenny, like Flora, served as the librarian for several seasons. Jenny and Flora also shared a commitment to nature. Flora developed her wilderness hotel at Bon Echo on Mazinaw Lake while Jenny eventually retired to her ancestral home, O'Hara's Mill, near Madoc. While Flora's haunt became an Ontario provincial park, Jenny's retreat was deeded to the local Moira River Conservation Authority, which has established a museum in her old house. The two women did not share similar views on feminism. Flora was a true rebel and American-styled feminist. She subscribed to a belief in the natural rights of women at all levels of human experience. Jenny was much more conservative in her views about society. Her focus was centred on the importance of the family and traditional values. For her, the seance room allowed families to remain unified beyond the grave. In particular, mediumship allowed her to sustain her relationship with her beloved husband and her unborn children. Jenny's feminism, such as it was, was what has been called "social" or maternal feminism, a feminism that made women guardians of the race. William Cartheuser's spirit guide, known as Dr Anderson, suggested that Jenny collect the minutes of the seances and publish the results under the title Trails of Truth, which she did in 1930, releasing the book through the Austin Press of Los Angeles, California. Jenny Pincock's friendship with B.F. Austin is demonstrated in a report of a seance that she and Austin experienced together in 1930 at Lily Dale. The sitting took place at the summer home of William Cartheuser on the 12th of July. Austin published an article in his magazine, Reason, which included Jenny's verbatim report of the message given to them by Dr Anderson. Jenny inquired of Dr Anderson whether she had known her husband in a previous existence as a spirit. The guide replied in the affirmative: "Yes, you knew Newton here. You did not know me."11 In the same article, Austin wrote a brief piece on Jenny and her Church. He related the story of Jenny's introduction to the idea of spirit communication, and told of her introduction to Cartheuser, who, Austin says, "was then and is still serving the Psychical Research Society of New York City." He mentions his work with the Church of Divine Revelation's "Spiritualist."12

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

133

Austin goes on to explain that Cartheuser "came to St Catharines, Hamilton and Gait and gave a series of twenty-five seances, conducted under the direction of a Spirit Guide, Dr John Anderson, whose ripe earth experience had been perfected by 100 years residence in the Spirit World." These seances, Austin points out, are reported in Trails of Truth, which had been reviewed in the previous number of Reason. The reviewer, likely Austin, praised the book: "It ranks easily with the very best and strongest of all evidential books on Spiritualism. It will be classed with that historic and classical work by Sir Wm Crookes, Researches; with Proof Palpable, of Immortality by Epes Sargent and with Zollner's Transcendental Physics. Eighty years of Spiritualistic publication has produced nothing better."13 A final note tells readers that they can order copies from Austin while he is on tour or they can write to him at the Reason Office, 4522. St. Charles Place, Los Angeles, Cal., or they can write to Jenny O'Hara Pincock, 78 Oak Street, Gait, Ontario, Canada. While the seances contained in Trails of Truth had been collected from the group who later created the Church of Divine Revelation, it is clear from the format of the book that its main purpose was to provide evidence of the existence of life after death in such a way that rational readers could not refute. This evidence was presented under three classifications: "Communications Concerning things Since Spirit Passed Over," "Communications Concerning Things Before Spirit Passed Over," and "The Future of Unexpected Events Foretold."14 Sixty-eight individuals allowed their names or initials to be listed as witnesses of the seance phenomena. Two, later identified as E.J. Pratt and his wife, were listed simply as Mrs X B.A. and Dr X Ph.d, M.A. The group was for the most part solidly middle class. There were nurses and lawyers, judges and educators. Husbands and wives came together. They were engaged in a thoroughly modernist enterprise that saw "so-called miracles evolve into natural laws." Their investigations revealed to them that when intellect pushed back "ignorance and superstition ... it is then that the supernormal becomes the normal; the super-natural the natural" (12,). For these sitters, the key to psychic phenomena was ectoplasm: Ectoplasm the invisible, ectoplasm the intangible, has created and will create, a more terrific uproar in orthodox theology than has ever reverberated down the halls of time. Man himself has been found to be the battery within which ectoplasm is enclosed. The delicacy of this substance is such that, after its materialization, it may not be handled without incurring grave danger of permanent injury to the human medium. Like the radio, it picks up voices from beyond the vibrations of the human senses but unlike the radio, the

134

Anatomy of a Seance

broadcast comes from a world which is tuned to rarer vibrations than our own, stepped down, or transformed, to us through ether by the agency of this ectoplasmic substance. The operators, too, belong to an etherized world whose "sending stations" are far beyond our present conception. (16)

Jenny Pincock stated that "it is the purpose of this book to prove the identity of these operators, these intelligences who commune with us; to seek their purpose and to ascertain the ultimate outcome of an Open Door to Worlds Invisible" (17). She described the medium as a "human radio," a "superlatively sensitive instrument," and outlined the conditions that produced a good seance: [A] successful direct-voice seance depends upon various things: atmospheric conditions, the health of the instrument and sitters (for the latter are unconscious contributors to the power), and the attitude of the instrument toward the sitters, or toward anything which may contribute to his mental unrest, whether it be physical pain, sorrow, or distrust. And now we come to a difficult explanation of a condition which may make or mar a direct-voice seance. Granting all other laws have been met, there is one which, if not complied with, may cause complete paralysis of every manifestation. This is true also in other phases of mediumship. Thought waves are real; their actual existence is as true as the invisible waves of sound and light, even though man has not yet discovered an instrument delicate enough to record their effect in the ether [parenthesis in original]. And upon the hypothesis that "thoughts are things" hangs many a scientific failure or success in psychic science. Intolerant doubt or cynical attitude, born of ignorance or prejudice, has as nullifying an effect on the ectoplasmic flow, and expression of the invisible entities, as the dungeon stone wall on sunlight. Too, an over-tense attitude on the part of a wellmeaning sitter may, and usually does, destroy the connecting forces ... A trip to a medium of any kind is, more or less, a test of the intelligence of the seeker. For unless the messages purporting to come through from the Other Side possess irrefutable personal evidence - not altogether generalities - no intelligent person would desire to return. One should always enter a seance room with an open mind, sincerely seeking the truth. It is unfair to preconceive anything. To relax and expect nothing are priceless qualities in a sitter. Above all things, a sitter should not ask for tests. The tension created by a demand can rarely be overcome ... The revelations of spirit return must grow upon the infallible foundation of evidence. Evidence dispels falsehoods and reveals eternal verities. Evidence creates new principles and proves old powers. Some say, "Spirit-return is spurious, there is no evidence." Others say, "Evidence destroyeth faith." But St Paul said, "Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [Thess. 5:19, 2,0, 2.1] (22-4)

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

135

Jenny Pincock is completely in line with the thinking of Albert Durrant Watson on the question of seeking answers to questions. The seance is not designed for fortune telling: sitters were there to receive insight from the spirits, not to solicit information to meet personal needs. Unlike Watson, however, she does believe wholeheartedly in the contact with family and friends through the seance. There were ten seances with Cartheuser before the first one recorded in Trails of Truth on 6 September 1928. Jenny describes the first of the St Catharines seances held on that day: The lights were extinguished, and we waited perhaps twenty-five minutes before the usual physical manifestations. During this time strong, silent, cool breezes were prevalent. The terrific speed of the trumpets (one with a luminous band so that we might follow its movements), swept the room with the sound as of a mighty rushing wind. But no matter how interesting physical manifestations may be, they ever shall be kept in the background in these accounts. Personal experience, and the teachings of the magnificent soul "Dr Anderson," and invisible, spirit-teacher of the human instrument, are the goals toward which we steadfastly fix our eyes as we report these moments. (30)

Jenny describes the first time that the spirit of her husband comes through in a public sitting: I had dreaded talking with him before so many. Privacy, of course, would be out of the question. What could we say to satisfy each other - and how precious each moment! But as always he rose to the occasion. He discussed practical problems which had confronted me in my own home. He proved beyond doubt that he knew all I had been doing and thinking ... We talked matters over as if he were in the body. It was all so natural. To prove that he overheard even the passing insignificant things, he repeated the words I had used the night before to a caller. It was simply that I had not approved of her hair! He said, "I tell you these things to make you realize I am near you always." (33-4)

Other spirits came through and often the messages dealt with the trivia of daily life, chosen to provide evidence. "Our sitting was occasionally interspersed with song. The luminous trumpet conducted 'Abide with Me' in slow, beautiful curves, with definite, intelligent appreciation of tempo. At the same time Arthur materialized and played the violin softly. I accompanied on the piano." (40) EJ. Pratt and his wife, Vi, attended their first seance with Jenny on ii September 1928 at 47 Church Street in St Catharines. Jenny described the Pratts as "intelligently sympathetic." They had been

136

Anatomy of a Seance

reading works by William Crookes, Oliver Lodge, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Dr Geley: "They had been tremendously impressed, also, with Mr Dennis Bradley's two books Towards the Stars and The Wisdom of the Gods." (66) She explained that Pratt asked to be listed in the book as Dr X, deeming it "advisable to remain incognito" (67). In the seance, Newton Pincock greeted Pratt with "Codfish!" Clearly, however, Pratt was at the seance to contact his mother. He greeted her spirit with "hello Old Socks." The spirit voice responded with "Hallow Old Boots!" Pratt later "explained that this was one point he had privately decided should be the great test, should a voice manifest, purporting to be his mother. It had, he said, been their usual morning greeting. It carried great conviction" (68). Both Pratts received messages from a variety of relatives. Mrs Pratt provided a written record of her remembrances of the seance to Jenny for publication in Trails of Truth. This and many other of the St Catharines seances demonstrate how much the content of the seance is focused upon the mundane exchanges and events that make up typical domestic life. Jenny's concern about having her communications with her husband made public is quite understandable. She craved intimacy, and public seance is not an ideal site for personal expressions of intimacy. Exchanges like that between E.J. Pratt and his mother are again slightly embarrassing for the observer and maudlin under most circumstances. However, such is the stuff of daily existence. For the sitters, such commonplace exchange is the most concrete of evidence. For the academic researcher, the apparent banality of the content clouds serious attention to the fact that the process at work here is important in the lives of intelligent and aware Canadians such as E.J. Pratt, W.W.E. Ross, and others. The St Catharines group, perhaps more than any group yet discussed, celebrated the family and its preservation through time and beyond. Not all of the sittings described in Trails of Truth took place in St Catharines. On the iyth of September, Jenny attended a seance with William Cartheuser at Lily Dale. One other sitter, Grace E. Aylesworth, who had had no previous experience with spiritualism, also participated (81). The seance of 2,6 November 192,8 was limited to Jenny and her sister's family: Fred, Minnie, and their daughter, Colleen. This group often had sittings with Cartheuser separately from the rest of the group. The process was as follows: Cartheuser arrived from the U.S. and was given a light lunch. The seance started within the hour of his arrival. The group recited the Lord's Prayer and the twenty-third Psalm. Jenny moved to the piano and played softly. The first evidence of spirit presence occurred when a pencil was dropped but returned to

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

137

her hand by an attending spirit. Next, Jenny's husband manifested and sang to her piano accompaniment. The words to the song were his creation and Jenny spoke of them as glowing "with intense love messages." Newton's singing led to "an immediate abandonment of all restraint. It stirred the depths of [the sitter's] souls. A serenity filled the place which a few minutes before, held relentless silences of yearning and hunger." Newton was next joined by Jane, the spirit of Newton and Jenny's miscarried daughter: "Jane's radiant little voice joined her daddy's and I played on - trying to imagine, trying to conceive, trying to be big enough, intelligent enough, strong enough, spiritual enough to grasp the significance of that fleeting moment. My sweetheart was beside me - singing. I felt the touch of his vanished hand; I heard the voice that was still. Our angel baby, whom neither of us had ever seen on this earth, sang with us. It was a heavenly triangle indeed, a trinity of love made possible through Merciful Compassion." Colleen Maines, a young child at this time, engaged in conversation with Jane. Jane provided "evidence" that she had been observing the family at their daily activities (92-3). Dr Anderson, the spirit guide and teacher associated with William Cartheuser, came through. He used the analogy that just as a radio is required to receive the vibrations of radio transmissions, a medium is necessary to tune into the vibrations of the spirit world (95-6). He responded to questions about the divinity of Christ, explaining that there is no sense to the title "the only begotten Son of God ... God is no man" (96). After Anderson's teachings, Newton returned to sing his favourite hymn, with Jenny once again at the piano. John Maines, Fred's deceased brother, manifested, and a brief discussion on free will occurred, with its existence assured. More music followed, this time with Newton and Jane singing to Jenny's piano accompaniment. The performance was accompanied by physical phenomena: "At the time their two voices were singing the trumpets were whizzing at lightening speed. Three different horns touched us at the same time" (98). Jenny's father visited and provided many points of evidence in terms of observations about activities of the family. A spirit called Jim Sayres, known only to Fred, came next, and spoke in a strong voice for a first experience (100). Next, Jenny's mother manifested and provided evidence. Bright Moon, Jenny's Native Indian guide, was the next visitor. Jenny asked him, "Why do so many have guides from your race?," to which he answers: "Me know how to help you draw earth vibrations" (102). Newton returned followed by the manifestation of flowers given to each sitter by invisible hands. Fred Maines' mother was the next visitor, and she proceeded to give some idea of life on the other side: she gardens; she speaks to her flowers and they speak back; she attends

138

Anatomy of a Seance

classes on "thoughts, their differences and qualities; the continuity of spirit and the immortality of the soul. We study too about the different realms of ether" (104). Fred Maines received a visit from a Native Indian guide called Tall Pine, who provided evidence. Dr Anderson and Jane revisited and the seance concluded at 6.10. In all, it appears to have run for about two-and-a-half hours. From the above narrative, it is clear that the seance provided Jenny with a good deal of personal support. In most ways it operated as a family reunion, confirming the strong bonds of kinship. The variety of personal spirit guides was an affirmation of continuing love from higher realms in daily life. There was much here that was supportive and very little indeed that spoke of hell and damnation. Given the attention paid to evidence provided by spirits commenting on the daily activities of the sitters, there is, first of all, a certain level of social and moral control at work, since one might well think twice before doing something inappropriate, knowing that it might become part of a spirit report in the next seance. Also, the sitting group becomes somewhat caught up in the daily lives of the other sitters since each sitter is likely to have his or her daily activity as the subject of a seance report. The intimate and emotional nature of some of the exchanges required a strong sense of trust among the sitters. No doubt this tended to build the bond among the sitters as long as such reports were not confrontational. Along with the physical phenomena and the personal messages, there was usually a teaching of some kind given to the group. The spirits advised the Pincock sitters that there was a need to understand that people who murder - or who have been murdered - often carried with them a strong desire for revenge or a desire to promote more death when they got to the spirit side. Thus, capital punishment only incited more mayhem as these bad spirits influenced people to kill (in). Thus, it would be much better if those involved in crimes as either victim or perpetrator were counseled. Hypnotism was seen by the spirits as a powerful form of therapy for the rehabilitation of criminals who would otherwise have the potential to be bad spirits after death. Such therapy would aid in assisting in the identification and rejection of the influence of evil spirits. While the family was important on the earth plane and often formed a basis for the seance circle where sitters were in contact with departed family members, the spirits advised the Pincock group that in the spirit plane families are not reunited: "Progression would be retarded if they did." As with other seances, the Cartheuser seances often heard from a number of spirits speaking at the same time: "On one occasion Mr and Mrs Maines and I heard five different entities speak simulta-

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

139

neously. There had been a good natured argument as to who should manifest next, while two already held the floor" (nz). Some brief biographical information was provided by Dr Anderson, the spirit guide. We learn that his full name is John Berry Anderson and that he "graduated very late in the Seventeen Hundreds from Pittsburgh University" (117). He then went to Columbia University in New York City. During the seance of 28 November 192.8, Jenny received "an osteopathic treatment exactly as he [her husband] was accustomed to give me in life. I have been to many osteopathic physicians, but none have this particular technique which he always used in my case. Not a soul in the room could have done it" (12,4). EJ. Pratt's wife, Vi, attended this seance, desiring information about two aborted children. The spirit child Jane told her that they were present: one was about three and the other five (12.5). The group was told that the Bible is "not infallible" and that divorce is appropriate (12.7). Partners with several mates gravitate in the spirit world to the one they loved most. A seance held on 29 November 1928, in Hamilton, produced a humorous episode in which Uncle Bob, an eccentric farmer, came through for the first time and experienced great difficulty with the ectoplasmic suit necessary for communication (135-6). Dr Anderson explained that seances "mean strenuous work for us. There are fifty of us here tonight, two chemists, several doctors and other teachers and helpers - fifty of us to help one man to talk!)" (138). Each seance attracted a horde of spirits seeking to communicate with loved ones back on the earth plane. "They say, 'if only we could have one word with our loved-ones!' When they see the bright light above the gate, they come by the thousands, and ask for mother, father, son or daughter. We put up a sign outside, 'It is the home of Mrs Smith, in Hamilton.' They read and turn away with sadness and say, 'If only it were on my mother's door, so I could go in and talk.' There are so few gates - and they are so hard to reach. It takes fifty to one hundred people on This Side to protect the door, and keep it clean and holy. The door is the instrument [the medium]. Wherever he goes, we place a sign outside of the house to tell them who may enter" (138-9). On 30 November the medium was once again in St Catharines, meeting with a new group, of whom many were new sitters. Jenny described the physical phenomena present at each seance: "The luminous trumpet impressively drifted about, at times scraping the ceiling from corner to corner. Little reference to these physical phenomena will be made throughout these accounts. They are always prevalent. We have been given to understand, by our spirit loved-ones, that the vibrations created by the speed of the trumpets are essential to the

140

Anatomy of a Seance

invisible workers. Such phenomena also prove of great assistance in relaxing the mental tenseness of the sitters." A spirit used the radio analogy again: the radio signal is always there but you need the receiver to hear it. The medium is the receiver (141-2). At a seance held on the next day, additional comment on physical manifestations was made: "Physical manifestations are interesting, but not conclusive. They are as far removed from the evidence of personal survival as a juggler's trick from the harmonies of a Beethoven symphony. Personal evidence crumbles to atoms the impenetrable curtain of death; it calms the cries of orthodox humanity; it beautifies a befogged belief; it crushes cruel deeds; it attunes the soul to subliminal influences from a higher and nobler existence; it illuminates the invisible; it purifies our purposes. Personal evidence is a key which proving itself, unlocks a door wherein unfold greater vistas to the humble seeker of truth" (156). Dr Anderson, echoing sentiments given by Dunbar Moodie in the 18505, called Spiritualism "the bulwark of Christianity; this is the rock-bottom foundation of the early Christian church itself. It is for this your Christ was crucified (154). The seance held on 5 December 1928 was one of the most powerful events in Jenny's life. The sitting was limited to Jenny and Mr F.E. Hetherington, and it took place between 12:30 and 3:30 pm at 47 Church Street in St Catharines. Publication of what was to become Trails of Truth was promoted by the Other Side: "Quite a lengthy discussion followed on ways and means pertaining to the writing and publishing of this book" (226). Jenny's spirit child, Jane, then reminded Jenny that she "heard Daddy in your pillow last night." Jane then continued: "Don't you remember being with him in spirit?" Jenny replied that she did not remember and then reports on Jane's revelation: The most beautiful revelation of the entire seance, to me, came with Jane's descriptions of my reunion with my husband each night. I wish I might repeat it - as I heard it from her child-wise lips. Sometimes I think these were moments too sacred, too overwhelmingly spiritual, to be ever lived again. I do not think Mr Hetherington objects to this much being told. It left us broken of all reserve in the vain effort to seek relief from the ecstasy of it - the knowledge that the Great Infinite Lover had made such provision for His Own. For, if the spirits of bereaved ones here are so refreshed each night, it is little wonder we learn to bear up under the weight of longing and despair, even though these experiences are not registered on the material brain. "Jane, dear," I cried, "how I wish I could remember these re-unions in the spirit!" "You must know," she piped reassuringly, "that there is a purpose for all the laws that God has created." (230-1)

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

141

On at least one other occasion, Jenny spoke of astral projection. However, this revelation that she nightly reunited with Newton in spirit form was powerful news to her. There is a gap of over two months in the seance record between 5 December and 10 March. Internal evidence in the seance notes indicates that no activity had occurred during this time: "Though we say it is long since we have met - still we have met. Because there has been no instrument here to convey the message through the ether to the moral ear, does not signify we are not present. It is as if you had gone into the wilderness without the radio - no music, no voices" (236). The group's seances in December had apparently attracted negative attention from the local clergy. Jenny noted that "no mention had been made to the medium, or to Dr Anderson, about the sermons which had been preached in the city since the series of seances in December, nor of my dissociation with my former church. But Dr Anderson was aware of it all" (2,37). A protesting clergyman from Jenny's former church had been invited to attend a seance, but had not come. Two seances were reported for 10 March 192.9. The second, held in the evening, acknowledged that it had been three months since the group had heard from Dr Anderson (245). The seance of 13 March 192,9 provided some information about the cosmology of the spirit world: There are seven spheres, or seven heavens. It is very difficult to express things as they are, because there are no words existing in your language to express it. We try to explain it with your own words. There is the astral plane. After that there are seven spheres. They are invisible to each other. On the first sphere they live and are happy, conduct prayer and attend churches. Invisible forces come down from a higher sphere and teach them ... When your cycle is complete on the first sphere, you go into a sleep and pass into the second. There are some on the first sphere who are called mediums, who can go into the second and third spheres and return. Progression Over There depends solely on desire ... There is no space. It is a condition of vibration. Some people can not grasp this. If you tell them it is a plane they visualize it as a different country ... The heavenly spheres are round about the earth, and as we travel upon these spheres it is a whirlpool. The earth is within that. We are around it, and can watch the earth go round. (z93~5)

A seance held on 17 March I9Z9 was "a family sitting. With the exception of a brother-in-law, my sisters and their husbands were all present. It was a gala day. A stranger could have no interest in the thousand and one intimacies that occurred, when the families on both

142,

Anatomy of a Seance

sides of the veil were reunited after a long and (we had thought) hopeless separation. We were alive to unspeakable joy; we were dead to criticism, doubt or sorrow. Evidence poured through that memory lives, that loved-ones hover ever about us, and the dead never die" (298-9). The emphasis here is upon the survival of memory and thus of individual identity. The sitting held on 18 March was complicated by the presence of some sitters who made the seance difficult: It was inevitable that there should be many desirous of an opportunity of attending these seances who had had no experience, had read little, but seemed actuated by sincerity. It required, on the part of those responsible, a firm diplomacy to refuse people who might cause adverse conditions through lack of preparation. For a sitter should possess sincere motives, an average intelligence, and that rare and invaluable gift called - common sense. We found it necessary, in this last seance of the series to "mix" people rather indiscriminately. Time did not permit otherwise. A reserved atmosphere was very apparent, bordering on tenseness most of the time. There should have been at least two eliminations. It was not a happy combination. (336-7)

During this seance, Dr Anderson came through and spoke about the role of vibration: "We work upon the magnetism of you sitters, but especially upon the vibration of the instrument, whom you call the medium. We use him as a transmitter." He continued: "Vibrations are things. Thoughts are things. Prove it by many experiences in your own lives; if you will, by the radio, the violet ray, and music. There is music in this room at this moment which you cannot hear. And you understand the reason, in this age - you have no instrument. So too, your optic nerves do not vibrate fast enough to visualize us. If they did you could see us about your homes" (345-6). Jenny commented on the voice of Dr Anderson: "Perhaps I have not stressed as I might, the quality of the voice of this great soul. It possesses characteristics lacking in any human voice I have ever heard. There is in it the intimate sympathy of an old friend; you dare to disclose the deepest secrets of your soul, and you meet with a loving understanding. Christ has seemed much nearer to me since I have listened to our Dr Anderson" (350-1). Jenny also described a light phenomenon that accompanied her recording of notes: "The spirit magnetism of which I have previously spoken, flashed strongly from my note book this night as I wrote. Different sitters inquired about the bright, broad flashes they saw coming from my direction. I mention it for what it may be worth to those who scientifically investigate this delicate phenomenon" (351).

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

143

The morning after this seance, William Cartheuser was giving a private seance for one of the regulars, Mr Hetherington. A telephone call came through for the medium and Jenny answered. It was from Buffalo, New York, and the caller wished to speak to Cartheuser. The voice of Dr Anderson came through and spoke loudly enough that the lady in Buffalo could hear. A message concerning their daughter was delivered. Jenny says: "I was torn between the wonder of it all and the humour of the situation. I tried to imagine just how this would strike an unbeliever! For Buffalo, over the long distance Bell Telephone system, had paged Heaven!"(352). On 19 March 192.9 Jane speaks of Hell: "Hell is not a place, it is a condition. We minister to them in their spirit of remorse, and help them fight. Their remorse is what we call hell. It is mental suffering." Dr Anderson makes the observation that the seance on this occasion is free of "doubt vibrations ... Doubt vibrations are to us like dirty water in the atmosphere. They are a repelling force" (360). The last seance recorded in Trails of Truth occurred on 2,3 June 192.9. On this occasion, Dr Anderson provided a long explanation of the "journey of the soul." The spirit has passed through thousands of levels of evolution beginning with existence in rocks, minerals, and vegetation. Each evolutionary cycle is followed by a period in the spirit realm before returning to the next cycle. "And there you had all your faculties; there you waited a certain term of your etheric cycle before you entered upon a new cycle of earth - a new material earth form." While the spirit is involved in physical material, the spirit is selfaware: "You were fully aware of your possibilities ... you were conscious of your own personality and of the great Ultimate Love, that prompted these soul progressions ... You were also fully conscious of the Great Plan of the Soul while in that state of spirituality between cycles. There you had your faculties." While within the earth cycle, however, "all other experiences of the spirit were obscured. Your expression was also clouded, as well as your sight" (388). This earthbound activity was described in more detail: "I want you to understand that spirit does not dwell within that mineral: it lives around it. The electricity - the magnetic vibrations - pass through your spirit and cause this condition, sensation, or experience within yourself" (389). The sitters were told that they were now in their last evolutionary cycle: "This is your last experience on earth" (390). Dr Anderson described the events following death when the spiritual plane is entered: You first come in touch with your loved ones. They tell you what to do. Soon a desire comes to you to accomplish something, and before you realize the law of attraction (which is an unseen agency), you are drawn to those who like

144

Anatomy of a Seance

you are engaged in that very thing - to those who are like you. They are working, and you will work with them. No work is unpleasant. After a varying time a desire comes to you to visit those on earth. You are attracted to them through your love for each other, through their sorrow, joys and hopes. Drunkards and evil-doers are attracted to their old haunts by this same law. There are always a few who desire to return to earth in the body. Their efforts sometimes result in an obsession of an earthly body. They rob some soul of his freedom; and unless those obsessed are strong enough to cast the intruding spirit off, and regain their freedom, they often pass over before their proper time. Christ cast out these spirits from the insane in His day. On the astral plane, souls struggle for their existence very much as you do on earth. But they also come in touch with other forces. And for this reason reincarnation is unnecessary, after one has reached the state of man. The spirit can gain the experience it needs in this astral plane, and may progress from there.

Dr Anderson went on to describe the various planes: On the Journey of the Soul you pass from the Astral to the First plane. The latter is a great garden, with homes about five miles apart (by your mileage); homes surrounded by trees and many beautiful flowers. It is a hilly country, of brooks, vineyards and lakes - lakes of quiet, unruffled surfaces. There are no stores, no business transactions or such things. The buildings are not of wood, nor of tile, nor of mineral, but of some substance that you have brought with you from the earth - thought substance ... In the first five spheres all return to earth, off and on, to inspire and assist those who have been left behind. They bring new inventions to you - new machinery, so that your lives may be made easier. All these things on your earth today have been brought to you from one of the first five planes. Through the channels of inspiration you have reproduced them into earthly goods ... (392) On the seventh sphere you will reunite with your partner, your soul-mate, in such a way that I have no words to express it. You will be reunited as one, and be sent forth upon new planets, and there made God over such. For you are Gods in the making. God is making gods out of each and all of you. The less desire you show, the slower your progression. But no matter how slow you are, some day you will all reach that goal. (391-3)

Dr Anderson reasserted this view of godhood: "God cannot punish His own likeness. Within yourself you must know that your trespasses return to you. Do not blame God. Blame yourself. You are a god within your own being! All the qualifications and powers that God has, are potentially within each soul of earth. But you must seek them to find

Jenny O'Hara Pincock: Trails of Truth

145

them; you must reveal them to use them" (395). Trails of Truth ends with a benediction from Dr Anderson: "God is merciful - there is no hell. God is spiritual - there is no revenge. And ever through the journey ings of a soul His love goeth forth, whether it be to murderer or angel. God, the Eternal Spirit, foresaketh no spirit, no matter how humble. For God - is - LOVE" (396). While such statements about godhood are infrequent in Trails of Truth, they link the Cartheuser group with the view that man seeks godhood, essentially a form of Gnostic belief that has haunted Christianity from its earliest days, and which became increasingly attractive to spiritualists like Jenny Pincock and others. Trails of Truth was favourably reviewed in the spiritualist press in both England and the United States. In Canada there was little in the way of journals devoted to the occult, and the mainstream press tended to avoid such contentious subject matter. The comments to Jenny contained in a letter from William Arthur Deacon, the literary editor of the Mail and Empire in Toronto, were perhaps typical of other reviewers: While I personally am absolutely neutral on the subject of spiritualism, it is one of the subjects that I avoid in selecting books for review. A large number of people have strong opinions for or against it; and no matter what is said a great many people on both sides of the question take offence ... I do appreciate your offer of a copy, and that you thought of me. But I also hope you appreciate my diffidence and will understand that my policy is not due to any personal hostility; but from long experience with book review departments I am satisfied that introduction of the subject of spiritualism would merely stir up a hornet's nest, which I am just ungentlemanly enough to wish to leave to be dealt with by you, who have both knowledge and an interest in inculcating a curiosity about the matter.15

Deacon was no stranger to radical ideas. He was a devotee of Walt Whitman and a friend of others who challenged the official culture. For Deacon to deny spiritualism a hearing in the press indicates that there remained, even in 192.8, a strong negative attitude about spirit communication. In the next chapter, we examine the nature of that debate when the clergy of the official religions turned their attention to the Church of Divine Revelation.

8

The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre

Our examination of spiritualism has focused upon individuals questing for alternative insights into the meaning of life and death. Most wanted a more modern theology that accepted science and reason over dogma, and most were dissatisfied with the way in which the traditional denominations handled ideas like spirit return. By the late 19205 it was possible to challenge the established churches by creating new congregations that made spirit communication a central tenent in their belief system. The first attempt to institutionalize spiritualist churches on a national scale occurred in 1892 when Canadian spiritualist congregations joined the National Spiritualist Association of the United States and the Dominion of Canada. A distinctive and separate Canadian organization, the Canadian Spiritualist Association was created in 1900 with B.F. Austin of Toronto as its first president. This association was challenged by a second body, the Spiritualist National Union of Canada, which also worked out of Toronto. Various congregations organized themselves for worship within formalized spiritualist churches but not all of them affiliated with a formal organization. The Church of Divine Revelation, which is the focus of this chapter, existed as an independent church; however, the church library carried manuals from the National Spiritualist Association, and it is likely that their order of service and ritual was inspired by this body. In addition to worship, this group also moved into divine healing and established links with spiritualists all over North America. The church was able to function for several years, but once again, the community closed ranks and controversy ranged in St Catharines over the issue of spirit communication. The first formal advertisement for the Church of Divine Revelation appeared in the St Catharines Standard on 5 October 1930, and its first public services were held on the following Sunday, 12, October at

The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre 147

the Oddfellows' Temple, 2,6 James Street, at n am and 7 pm.1 B.F. Austin was invited to St Catharines to officiate at the opening ceremonies for the church, and ordained Fred Maines by a laying on of hands during the same visit. By 9 November, the Church was also announcing a "lycium" or children's service at 10:15 am. Services were not held during the months of July and August.1 The regular sitters at the Church's seances were people from the middle class of St Catharines. There was a judge, several lawyers, a nurse, and a school inspector among the group. While women may have been dominant in terms of numbers, many married couples attended together. Attendance at church services would have averaged about twenty-eight to thirty people each Sunday. William Cartheuser visited the congregation every three months and held both religious services and extensive sittings for Jenny and her family and friends. Jenny quite often visited the Cartheuser family for extended periods in Orange, New Jersey. There is, at the moment, no information about the New Jersey aspect of her life. Jenny states that, while she and her family discussed the religious and philosophical issues of the day, they did so "in no spirit of conscious rebellion."3 The congregation of the Church of Divine Revelation sought active confirmation of the existence of the afterlife. Seances and message services held by the Church focused upon evidential communications from friends and relatives on the other side. If the established churches had been open to their work, they would no doubt have remained within the orthodox Christian fold. However, as will be evident in this chapter, the United Church was not prepared to accept spirit communication in 19 z 8 and the development of a new church seemed essential. Controversy was frequently found between the spiritualists and the established churches in St Catharines. The Reverend J.A. Tuer, from the pulpit of First United Church in St Catharines, challenged spiritualists to invite him to a seance during his Sunday service on 8 February 1931. His sermon was an attack on the phenomena of the seance, which he felt could all be explained "psychologically."4 It was clear that the target of his attack was the Church of Divine Revelation, since he expressed a desire to sit with William Cartheuser. Later that week, F.E. Hetherington, a leading member of the Church of Divine Revelation and a lawyer, wrote a letter to the editor of the Standard suggesting that the Rev. Tuer, who had read Trails of Truth, could easily have arranged a seance invitation if he so wished. It was Mr Hetherington's view that the minister had issued a challenge that he was sure would not be accepted and one that he would have refused to accept had it been offered.

148

Anatomy of a Seance

Other correspondents took up pens. Lloyd H. Werden's letter to the editor defended spiritualism. For this writer, "the real 'eternal dual' as Doyle says, is between materialism on the one hand and the spiritual view of the universe on the other." Werden felt that there was a "large and elevating literature which has grown up around the subject of spiritualism" and that the Rev. Tuer had not "fairly represented" this literature in the quotations he used in his sermon.5 The Church of Divine Revelation had appointed Fred Maines as its pastor. Fred was originally ordained as a minister in the United Church of Canada, and the United Church wasted little time in suspending him from the ministry. A meeting held in Belleville on 19 February 1931 found him guilty "of undertaking to serve as a minister in a church or charge in the Niagara presbytery which was not formed with the consent of a presbytery of the United Church of Canada."6 The St Catharines Standard appears to have been deluged with letters "on spiritualism, atheism and other isms" and published a notice on 28 March 1932. reminding correspondents writing to the editor "that in the future all such letters will be withheld from publication." After declaring that the paper simply did not have space to handle the controversy, the editor went on to state that "religious controversy is seldom good for community welfare although the right of every individual to hold any religious or sectarian view he may desire is fully accorded."7 Despite the journalistic uproar, the Church of Divine Revelation survived its first year and an anniversary service was celebrated with a visit by Dr Alexander Mclvor-Tyndall, a scientist, author, and lecturer from London, England. William Cartheuser was also a guest. On Sunday, n March 1934 the members of the Church held an open forum at 3pm in the Oddfellows' Hall to discuss the topic, "What is Mediumship?" The event was so successful that other open forums were held on other Sunday afternoons.8 Such exposure spread the fires of religious controversy, on occasion to other churches. At least some members of Gait, Ontario, congregations did not take kindly to the idea of one of their ministers, the Reverend S.M. Roadhouse, investigating spirit communication. The reverend was compelled to use the same defence used by B.F. Austin thirty years earlier when he contested his excommunication from the Methodist Church for exploring psychic events: "I claim that as a free citizen I have the God-given right, equal to that of any other man, to carefully investigate with an open, unbiased and critical mind, any subject whatsoever that appeals to my interest, and, as a Christian minister, it is not only my right, but my duty to investigate all subjects which have a bearing upon vital things and in which any of my people are concerned." Roadhouse's comments

The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre 149

were made after rumours were spread that he and other members of the United Church congregation in Gait had been investigating spiritualism. The Reverend Roadhouse declared himself to be in agreement with the Canadian expatriate Robert Norwood, who was described as "the poet, priest and prophet, pastor of St Bartholomew's church in New York City."9 Norwood is quoted as saying that "in Canada they say I am a heretic ... But what I'm really trying to accomplish in my work as rector of St Bartholomew's is to re-establish the basic truths of Christianity that have been buried so long under a veil of fictions and dogmas having little or nothing to with the teachings of Christ." Norwood wanted to reach out to young people "who have grown up in this new age of scientific knowledge, uncovering of mysteries, skepticism, denial of all dogmatic forms of religion." He sought a "fundamental Christianity, based on the teachings of Jesus, which freely permits of questioning, skepticism and experimentalizing." Not all of Mr Roadhouse's congregation were opposed to this view, and the Gait Recorder noted that "many members of the church warmly shook the pastor's hand and assured him of their loyalty." The Rev. Roadhouse stated that spiritualism was not a religion and affirmed his Church faith. "I am through with this investigating, but I'm not sorry I went into it." He quoted Dr John McNeil, formerly of Walmer Road Baptist Church in Toronto: "There appeared to be three beliefs in regard to the future life: Science says - there may be a future life, there is nothing to prevent it; philosophy says - there ought to be a future life, everything points to it; religion says - there is a future life."10 The voice of evangelism could be opposed to spiritualism. On 31 January 1932, the evangelist O.D. Cardey spoke on the topic "Spiritualism Under the X-Ray" in the King George Theatre in St Catharines. He told a packed house that spiritualism was "one of the greatest deceptions today" and argued that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was the first medium and that it represented Satan.11 In February 1932., Cardey spoke again, this time on the topic "Where Are the Dead?," at the Arcadia Ball Room in St Catharines. His view of the Resurrection was that "the dead are resting in their graves, in an unconscious sleep, and cannot measure time. Their minds have ceased to function, and their memories have passed away. Centuries may roll away but on the resurrection morning it will seem to them as, but the twinkling of an eye."12 Canon C.E. Riley of St George's Church in St Catharines spoke on "Where are the Dead" on 29 February 1932.. The canon was reported to have said that "the departed enjoy a sphere of activity fully as great as our own," and also that "they pray for us continually as a great cloud of witnesses." F.E. Hetherington wrote to the editor of the

150

Anatomy of a Seance

Standard that "It may be premature to congratulate Canon Riley on his conversion to spiritualism, but he seems to have taken the first steps."13 Hetherington's remarks brought a return letter from "Bible Student," who stated that Canon Riley or any other clergyman could reach appropriate conclusions by close attention to scripture and dependence upon enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. He (or she) then condemned spiritualism: The fact is, that spiritualism has given us no assured new light on these questions, its agents have again and again been exposed as fraudulent, and most of its communications are trivial and worthless. It gained a certain vogue after the great war when many people were anxious for comfort concerning their loved ones from whom they were so rudely separated. But all that is assuredly known concerning the future or heavenly life is given in the scriptures, and there is nothing to be gained by applying to wizards, familiar spirits, and mediums but costly deceptions.14

Hetherington responded to this letter by suggesting a comparison of his knowledge "of the Bible, with [Bible Student's] knowledge of the literature and facts of spiritualism and psychic research would be all in my favour."15 A good deal of ink was also spilled when a report out of New York City was published that claimed that an Italian medium, Nino Pecararo, had declared that his seances were all fraudulent. Pecararo had claimed to be the medium who had convinced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of the validity of spirit communication. Hetherington continued to defend the spiritualists with letters to the Toronto Globe.*6 A seance held at the Church of Divine Revelation on 6 April 1931 and reported in the seance notes made it quite clear how much influence was exerted upon the sitters by Cartheuser's spirit guide, Dr Anderson. By this time, the Church had caught the attention of other churches in Gait and St Catharines. Dr Anderson congratulated F.E. Hetherington for having the nerve to attack Mr Tuer and attempt to awaken him. So far, that minister has become a bit frightened ... I also congratulate Minnie Maines for having the superb nerve to get in touch with that man Taylor of Gait, forcing from him an apology ... The next thing for you to do is to publish all that correspondence in the Gait papers. ("Everything?") Everything. You are not through, are you? Show him up! Prove to the public what dumbheads these so-called leaders of Orthodoxy are ... I know Fred Maines doesn't like what I say. Right now he is sitting there shivering! (Dr Anderson laughed.) But why in the name of logic shouldn't this be done? ... They will see, at last

The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre 151 the brainlessness of your persecutors, their destructiveness, their murderings ... Friends I know of what I speak. I see you publishing that correspondence in the future. That church in Gait will have more trouble. Taylor will pass it on to someone else. I wouldn't let anybody step on my toes.

In addition Dr Anderson made suggestions about sitters, about the number of study groups, and about who should lead these groups: "Attract intellectual people only. It will be much better for your church."17 The uncharacteristically vengeful tone of Dr Anderson's message reflects a tendancy for spirits to view the seance as their domain and responsibility, which will be explored in a later chapter. The Church offered members a library of psychic books. Minnie Maines explained in a note handwritten on a newspaper clipping that "the impetus for the formation of a psychic library afterward known as 'The Library of Psychic Research'" was a sermon preached by the Reverend J.A. Pue-Gilchrist at First United Church in St Catharines on Z5 January 192.9. In the article, Pue-Gilchrist expressed the view that the acceptance of spiritualism was contradictory to modern science and mechanics. Some phenomena was indeed difficult to explain; however, psychology held possible explanations. The cleric was willing to accept the existence of "mental telegraphy" or mind reading to explain messages. Physical phenomena could well have natural explanations and did not need to be credited to the supernatural. The reverend turned to the Bible, noting that it "warns us against spiritualism 'familiar spirits' are referred to time and again as something to be avoided."18 The spiritualists felt a need to educate themselves on current thought about the occult. The meeting called to discuss the creation of the library took place on 4 February 192.9. Fifty-one dollars was raised and between then and November 1929, "sixty-eight books were purchased. Mrs Pincock's mantel self" was the initial book case. Jenny Pincock and F.E. Hetherington were appointed as joint librarians. After November, Jenny moved to Gait and Mrs Hetherington became the librarian until October 1930. When Fred and Minnie Maines moved to 47 Church Street, the books were transferred to their house. The collection resided there from October 1930 until i January 1935. By 1935, the collection had grown to include 196 books and there was a reserve of $177 for the purchase of new materials. Books were purchased from suppliers in England and in the U.S. The collection was open for use on Tuesdays and Fridays from 2 to 4 and from 7 to 8 pm.19 While controversy continued to surround those who practised spiritualism in a public manner, it is generally true that in St Catharines at least, the spiritualist camp had adequate resources in its membership

152,

Anatomy of a Seance

to hold its own in debate. Figures such as RE. Hetherington were welleducated, respected citizens and business people who knew how to handle themselves in the daily press. The library provided the resources needed to keep the debate intellectually focused. The members of the Church of Divine Revelation now turned themselves to another field of endeavour. Jenny Pincock had been drawn to psychic resources during the last illness of her husband, Newton. She had consulted psychic healers and applied their advice but to no avail. Little is mentioned about her interest in psychic healing in Trails of Truth, although there are comments from the spirit side pertaining to health from time to time. Beginning in November 1932, Jenny published a small quarterly magazine called Progression, which was the organ of a spin-off group from the Church of Divine Revelation called the Radiant Healing Centre. She described this centre as having grown out of "a tremendous interest in psychic subjects [in St Catharines], second to none, perhaps, on this continent or throughout the world."20 William Cartheuser is given full credit for this situation. The correspondence and personal contacts that resulted from the promotion and sale of Trails of Truth no doubt contributed to the membership of the Radiant Healing Centre, which, Jenny wrote in Progression, "has an enrollment of absent members extending into widely scattered states and provinces, and includes an auxiliary organization in Springfield Mass."21 The spirit guide communicating through William Cartheuser to provide lectures for publication in Progression was called LIGHT. Membership in the centre brought with it the requirement to practice "daily withdrawal into the Silence, and a twice monthly concentration (simultaneous with the meeting of the Mother Centre)."" Membership cost one dollar, which included a subscription to Progression "as well as ... any helpful instructions that may arise during the year in the Mother Centre."23 The Radiant Healing Centre was under the instruction of William Cartheuser's spirit guide, Dr Anderson, who founded it on "the evening of January 6, 1932,, in St Catharines." However, the spirit dictated certain rules about what was to be divulged: "Names of Invisible Teachers are never given. A name is a natural substance or material expression. It stands for you, and you have difficulty in mentally reaching beyond it. Thought stops at substance at the mention of a name. For that reason, also, all members in possession of names of members of the R.H.C. are asked to destroy the list immediately."24 Extending the idea that negative thoughts are destructive, "names of 'diseases' are never mentioned. Persons must be visualized in perfection at all times." Dr Anderson provided the following instructions: "The

The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre 153

'Mother' Circle is the gathering point for the healing light of all members. The Invisible Helpers are fully aware of those who need help and upon whom you are concentrating. They will do their part according to your strength and faith. SEND FORTH your healing light to, and your visualization of, the one upon whom you in particular are concentrating. Then will your thought reach afar, in health, love and peace. Start your concentration promptly. Then forget about time. NO thoughts of 'time' can enter into true concentration." The following rules were provided to new members of the centre: "LOVE is the force that radiates all Healing and Light." Members must concentrate for five minutes each day in "a quiet, darkened room. Just pull the blinds down, so that thoughts of objective things about the room do not intrude upon your concentrated thought." "Visualize when concentrating. Visualize every word, every thought. Send forth healing rays to the soul (and body) asking for help by visualizing this person, and by visualizing, also, healing rays radiating through yourself out to their appointed destination." Each member was to hold the card containing the name of the person desiring healing. An Invisible Teacher was assigned to each candidate. Members were also instructed to be humble. Speaking about this activity could inspire negative thoughts, which would accumulate strength and cause problems. Prayers that were to be said were to be memorized. Days for concentration on behalf of the Mother Circle were the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time. The actual service for becoming a formal member of the healing circle began with a hymn written by Jenny Pincock. Next a prayer was said, which was the same each time and was memorized by all members. After prayer came the "vibration of names." "Each member in turn 'vibrates' his own name through the atmosphere once only, the class declaring in unison: '- is now a member of the RADIANT HEALING CENTRE from which radiates great force of healing to all those who seek health.'" Those who were new members but absent from the Mother Circle had their names and addresses read aloud. Next another hymn was sung. Then there was a declaration given three times that stated that "I am a Light that radiates HEALTH," followed with a memorized prayer. Visualization of persons requiring healing ended the service: Visualize little Buddy Smith lying in the middle of this room on a cot. His body is perfect in shape. His arms and hands and feet are normal. Every limb moves in rhythm. Strength pours through his little body. No more does he twist or turn his arms, his legs or his wrists. But straight as a die he raises his little limbs in rhythm of nature's law. He walks erect, with strength in his

154

Anatomy of a Seance

spine, and all the way down to his heels. Creator of body and soul of this child, send forth Thy light wherein perfection of mind and body dwells! (Pause) It penetrates through little Buddy Smith - through all the limbs, the bones. He sits erect. His arms lift in rhythm. He raises himself to his feet, (pause between each picture to assist visualization of every member of the class). He presses the ground upon which he steps. In health he walketh the floor. Here, at last, through the breath of God who is Perfection, Buddy now is healed. And ever shall be. He shall grow to manhood as straight as a tree, and be a joy to his mother and father. This is our command, our prayer, oh Lord! So shall it be - Amen.Z5

Three minutes of silence, then a prayer, followed by the reading of a poem by Dr Anderson concluded the service. Membership lists indicate along with Canadians a small but diverse American membership. Each number of Progression carried a lecture by the spirit guide LIGHT and other inspirational pieces written by members of the Centre. Jenny edited the magazine and from time to time provided poetry signed with her pseudonym, "Jane Lear," the maiden name of her grandmother. The contents were directed to the "millions of hungry hearts [who] yearn for this truth of Immortality, unhampered by dogma and creed."26 The essential teaching was that thought is the driving force of the universe. We are what -we think we are: pure thoughts bring pure results. In terms of disease this has specific application: You can actually recreate yourselves by denying disease exists. Never admit a disease condition willingly, or encourage others to speak of theirs. Pain is real because you, a spirit, do not know how to drive it out. You follow the easiest thought-course, the course of least resistance. I repeat, never admit a thought of disease, for there the subconscious mind comes into play. It is highly sensitive, and accepts it. If you have not faith that this can be done, then grow it subconsciously. You can deaden pain by faith. Repeat the law frequently to yourselves, and to others. "According to your faith shall you be healed."27

Three elements must be combined: love, will, and concentration.28 Together they produce radiation; sent out into the world thoughts can "return, reinforced perhaps a thousandfold."29 The Radiant Healing Centre became a collector and generator of positive thought radiation: "You, as members of the Radiant Healing Centre, absent or present in body, are tonight united in thought through a silent concentration of healing. You have sent these thoughts forth upon their missions of mercy. Already you have created a dynamic, healing light. Many times have your thoughts returned to

The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre 155

this Mother Centre, to be recharged with greater energy. You have established a permanent, radiant healing ray that will never cease to function."30 The view held of the human body was that there are millions of cells within this body of yours, each a living, separate entity. Every cell is the material habitation of a lower form of life. Millions of them are invisible. It is their duty to respond to your Will. Your body is a universe, and you are its God.31 Your Will radiates a magnetic influence upon every dweller therein and they, in turn, are meant to be helpers, constructors and guardians. But if, through neglect, your Will is weak, what happens? If you have been permeating these entities with thoughts of fear, of distress, or of hatred, what must happen? Naturally, things go wrong. 'Disease' steps in. These cells have grown formless, shapeless, and may even cease to function. You do not realize this, of course. Learn to intelligently control every cell in your body. Love will do it, through concentration.3z Never forget that you are made in the image of God, that your spirit is pure and undefiled. You, a spirit, can kill any germ that has been allowed entry into your temple. For a few years only, has this body been loaned to you. Why let it be master?33

The St Catharines group ran several circles using William Cartheuser, as well as the Church of Divine Revelation and later the Radiant Healing Centre. During the seance of 5 January 1932 sitters were told to select one group and remain with it. Because of the tendency for some to move around, the St Catharines group was bound by a by-law: "All those belonging to these classes must be members of the church and attend church at least once a month. It will help the church and yourself, and protect the class, when the class is under the auspices of the church ... Through this we will have steady members, which the Church needs if it is to continue protecting the classes and meetings that go on from week to week. The Church actually protects these classes and meetings. Otherwise they would be open for anybody to cause trouble. Therefore we must be grateful to the Church and help it grow."34 A circle meeting held at 3 Geneva Street, St Catharines, on 5 October 1931 dealt with the mission of the sitters: "You are here to learn to control yourselves and to become masters over things and to allow things to become masters over you. You are Gods in the making. The law of cause and effect comes into play. All things you cause will bring their effects unto your selves - create things about you in such a way that they will cause nothing but happiness and rejoicing. Then you

156

Anatomy of a Seance

will realize that you have gained a wonderful creative force that will beautify all things and make a new world about you called paradise."35 On 6 May 1931, Dr Anderson once again stressed that "your body is made up of millions of cells that are living entities, and that you are God over them. When you pass on you will realize that you have been ruler to millions of intelligence of which you never dreamed, and whose duty it was to serve you." 36 It was the teaching of the spirit guide called LIGHT that the human condition was dualistic. There was the "body of the flesh" and "the astral, or etheric body." Each of these two bodies was served by three minds. The "earth mind" and the "astral mind" each have conscious, subconscious, and superconscious levels of activity. Information from the non-earthly "astral mind" is made available to the "earth mind" "by means of a rapidly vibrating liquid which permeates every cell of their material brain." 37 While access to astral thought is available to all, "no incarnate or discarnate intelligence has a right at any time to dominate this radio of yours. God's greatest gift to you is your own free will. Exercise it wisely then, for you are constantly attracting or repelling messages from many sources; broadcasts which you, as a human being, would be unable to receive were it not for your radio set, the human mind." It is within sleep that most interaction with the astral plane occurs. While the earth body is sleeping, the astral body is "living an active life within the realities of the etheric." The astral body remains connected to the earth body by a cord "analogous to the umbilical cord on the infant."38 Severing this cord means that the connection between the two bodies is permanently lost. Activity on the astral plane during sleep is usually very pleasant, following the "eternal law of attraction." "Parted lovers renew their caresses each night, the child is with its mother, the artist with higher teachers absorbing inspiration from the very source that prompts his expressions on earth."39 This view of life means that spirits may well be either those who have died or the astral bodies of those still living but astral projecting during sleep. One is reminded of the experience of Dr John King, described in an earlier chapter, who claimed that he "soul traveled" to various seances in Toronto. The message also affirms the information Jenny received from her spirit child, Jane, about her reunions nightly with her husband. The entity tells readers of Progression to "purify your minds each night ... cast aside all troubles and tears ... and cry with a smile 'I arn off.' Then as the shadows of the night fold themselves softly about, you will fly swiftly to those loved ones who are already reaching out to you. They will be there serenely waiting for that moment when you slip over the border into the land

The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre 157

of peace. They will be there each night indeed, until the last night has flown and that day of eternity dawns which will unite you with them forevermore. "4° In some sense this vision of astral projection into higher realms by the living to visit with the dead seems in conflict with the image of thousands of spirits mourning their inability to make contact with the living. No commentary on this situation is provided. By August of 1935, Jenny Pincock's name as editor of Progression had been replaced by that of RE. Hetherington. In the published list of officers, Jenny's name was also absent. Those in charge included Ivan H. Hare and Jean E. Tye, established members of the Church and William Cartheuser was still listed as the medium. Jenny held her last seance with William Cartheuser in 1935. The break with the medium was spoken about several years later in a letter to him. Jenny stated that he no longer reflected a "passive" mind in his mediumship. She "had hoped," she said, "that her silence would convey this ... more eloquently than words."41 In a previous letter to Cartheuser, she had informed him that "it would not be fair to raise your hopes that ever again I might wish a sitting. I feel I never shall." She sent him and his family best wishes but ended with the following warning: "I know your mediumship can be superlative if at all times in its exercise you will a passive mind. The finest mediumship in the world without this is worse than nothing. A passive mind is the keystone, both in mediumistic development & in its subsequent responsibility to God and Man. That is the way God saw fit to make us. Wise is the medium who guards the treasure."42 Jenny's conviction to stay clear of Cartheuser was still in place five years later, when her feelings were described in some detail in a 1944 letter that she wrote from her Madoc retreat to Mr Remmers, a Californian medium and author: I have not had a meeting with Mr Cartheuser since I left St Catharines in 1935. That following summer, and in 1936, while I was librarian in Lily Dale, I had many occasions to try to warn him of this law and of the terrible consequences of it. But he was money crazy. So magnificent was his work that people were willing to spoil him. I had no money of my own to do this; but I had always been in rather a unique position whereby many of my friends had. I noticed first his messages becoming coloured just to suit the minds of people with whom he wished to gain favour. I remonstrated with him; he became most insolent and resentful of my sincerest efforts. Rather than spoil his MAGNIFICENT GOD-GIVEN GIFT in the eyes of others, and hoping with all my being this was just a phase through which he was passing, I broke away from him, but blessed him, and never in any way have hurt him by word or

158

Anatomy of a Seance

deed, nor stood in his light, nor blocking his continuing in the former expression of his gift. Remember, all this interference was thought-projection on his part, interfering with the true expression of the spirits speaking through him ... I do not think any of his mighty Band of unselfish souls will ever leave him. Rather, do I think they would take him out of the world first. For if they left such a magnificently endowed medium, forces of low ideals would pick him up and use him, impersonating the older teachers .... What has been proven can never be unproven. His wonderful gift has brought untold blessings to humanity. If, for money, he prefers to cater to his wealthy sitters he will gradually lose his mediumship of conviction. But not one iota of the great tests he has given can be disregarded for all that. The truth can not be undermined by any passing falsity. The last I heard of William's work he was still the same fine medium, bringing unbelievable tests, to NEW SITTERS. (And after all that is the final test.) But as he began to know them better, and if the pickings were good, the colourations began. Most mediums succumb to this at last. Some only temporarily ... My last summer as librarian at the Dale I confided my 'troubles' with William to Mr Grimshaw ... He was one of the original directors of the N.S.A. ... If William Cartheuser wishes to turn his mediumship into a money-making game no one will deny him in heaven or on earth. Gradually he will just deny himself - what? His own mediumship. So Mr Grimshaw helped me to see. There will be a gradually falling away of those magnificent tests for which he became famous, and more of "William Cartheuser's thought." You and I cannot do a thing about it.43

W.W.E. Ross's connection with Jenny Pincock and the Church of Divine Revelation is documented in correspondence that begins in April 1932 and runs through 12 September 1935, when Jenny wrote to Ross to explain that her work in St Catharines was finished: It was an absolute impossibility for me personally to carry on any longer. This was clearly understood by those in St Catharines who could have made it possible for me to continue PROGRESSION and its glorious work; who could see first-hand what I was going through to get out even the last copy. I used to think I understood human nature, but I am learning daily more and more. I think we are prone to expect too much from people - just because we have caught the light from afar. For many months in the past I would not believe that they could not see it too, and so clung to the work (as did Mr and Mrs Maines) until it had to be relinquished. We kept up an optimistic and smiling exterior at all times, for well we knew that the vast majority would have helped us if they could ... My summer in Lily Dale has clarified my vision and fortified my determination to carry on though not through the old channels. Mrs

The Church of Divine Revelation and the Radiant Healing Centre 159 Maines has taken it very hard; in fact was in bed sometime after going to Kitchener. I think she is growing wiser to the situation and happier in the plans for the future.44

In 1953, a correspondent signing off as "Hope" wrote from St Catharines to "Dear Ones" and gave information about Cartheuser: Wm has been in town I think about two months and he stays at the place on Church St. because it is heated and no rent. Well I went to see him about two months ago and I felt worse when I came away than when I went to see him. He told Miss Jones that I paid him a visit but that I lectured him all the time. I simply told him the truth and sometimes it hurts. I told him that no one was interested in family affairs and did not want to hear them, they were only interested in knowing their loved ones still lived. I told him he was like the dog in the manger. I would like to go to a group and have Dr Anderson give us a lecture on some thought, but not to hear about Wm. He was moaning about it not being like it used to be for sittings which is his own fault and I told him that he neither went by what Dr Anderson taught, and he certainly didn't try and live the teachings. Live and learn. What a long time it takes for some people to wake up ... Oh yes, Wm needed money so bad but he came back from a few days in the states with a new car (oh Boy) He has to have a set of teeth and I understand that Fred [Maines] gave him a cheque for a few hundred to get them but he made it out in favour of the dentist and of course that was wrong he should have given it to Wm and let him carry on.45

The loss of a medium was the most devastating experience a group of spiritualists could face. Without the medium, the conduit to the other side, no communication was possible. While shifting to a new medium was possible, there was no assurance that the same contacts would be available. Since the St Catharines group believed that the seance was a way of receiving wisdom from beyond through the active participation of a spirit guide such as Dr Anderson, the loss of the spirit guide disrupted the teaching seen as essential to the group. The loss of faith in the work of William Cartheuser ended Jenny O'Hara Pincock's active use of mediums and seances. Jenny Pincock retained her belief in the "great truth" and kept up her spiritualist writing in the form of poetry, using the pen name "Jane Lear" when she published in the Toronto newspapers. In 1937, she moved to Kitchener, where Minnie and Fred Maines had set up a business. Jenny left southwestern Ontario in 1942., when she purchased her grandfather's old home in the northern part of Hastings County near

160

Anatomy of a Seance

the village of Madoc. James O'Hara, Jenny's grandfather, had built a mill on property near his parents and moved there with his bride, Jane Lear, from Prince Edward County. Jenny returned to the old homestead and proceeded to collect furnishings and artifacts.46 The mill on the property was purchased by the Moira River Conservation Authority and converted to a museum in 1954, and the house and other buildings were added to the conservation area in 1965.47 Jenny died in 1948 or 1949, remaining involved in painting, writing, and the teaching of music until the end. In 1949, her book of quite competent poetry, complete with a preface by EJ. Pratt, was published posthumously under the title Hidden Springs. Women like Jenny Pincock were attracted to spiritualism because it gave them access to immediate, subjective religious experience without interceders. It was a truly democratic religion, one that could be practised in small home circles. Its message for the most part emphasized the value of the family as the central institution in society. It allowed families to remain intact even after the calamity of death. The moral force of deceased family members keeping close watch on the activities of the living had a much greater impact on the living than did the concept of a vengeful Calvinist God. Spiritualism stressed equality and improvement for both men and women. Hell became an obsolete conception as all aspired to higher levels of awareness both on this side and the other side of the veil. Drawing upon the trappings of the United Church, these people strove to modernize old, established religious beliefs.

9

Thomas Lacey

While groups such as the Church of Divine Revelation emulated the established churches by committing to a formal order of service and regularized rituals modeled on the main stream denominations, they saw themselves as a vanguard of new thought on old subjects, pushing the traditional religions to open their eyes to new revelation. In this chapter we turn to a group that largely ignored the established churches in its search for insight. The Lacey group in Kitchener-Waterloo expanded their seance work beyond communion with passed friends and relatives to include psychic experiments and communication with pre-Christian guides. Unfettered by Christian dogma, the Lacey group was free to evolve their own world-view, which came to share much with the Theosophists, White Brotherhood, and Rosicrusians. Their vision moved much more directly towards Gnosticism. The medium who directed this group for over thirty years was Thomas Lacey, born in Glossop, Derbyshire, England. He appears to have immigrated to Canada as a young man. An early notice of his mediumship in Canada was published in the British periodical The Two Worlds in June 1931, and he was noticed as a medium at the spiritualist summer camp at Lily Dale in 1932.. Lacey demonstrated ability as a trumpet medium. Sitters in his seances experienced materializations and automatic writing and drawing, phenomena not too dissimilar to those demonstrated by William Cartheuser. Thomas's brother, Walter Lacey, who died at a young age, acted as the doorkeeper and spirit guide when Tom was in trance. Lacey had groups in Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo.1 The earliest records of seances begin in 1931, and are somewhat sparse compared to the records that cover from 1932 to well into the 19608, when the group began taping their seances on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. While this group is the most enduring and has left the most detailed accounts of any yet studied, time limits us to their work in the 19305.

i6z

Anatomy of a Seance

The 1931 seances suggest a casting about for focus, but at the same time reflect a medium well grounded in his psychic abilities. Seances held in 1931 took place at a variety of houses in Kitchener with the Boyanoskys, the Sheldons, the Smiths and the Steiss's all hosting. Eventually, a dedicated seance room would be constructed at the Sheldon home. The earliest seance record describes a meeting held on 6 June 1931. In a typical Canadian fashion, the seance began with the spirits discussing the weather. Atmospheric conditions seemed to cause difficulty with psychic reception, but the sitters could assist by "giving their best thoughts and thus providing helpful vibrations to enable the spirit entities to manifest with the least amount of borrowed Psychic power."1 The discussion then turned to the issue of insanity, which the group was told was the result of spirit possession. A proper linking of medical assistance with mediumistic guidance could "be made instrumental in ridding the patient of the offending Spirit. By this process instead of one there would be two souls saved. The Earth bound spirit would be shown the light and go on its way rejoicing and progress into higher realms while the one who had been pronounced insane could, with the help of the Spirit Guides, avoid the pitfalls which had brought such disastrous results."3 Before ending this seance, Walter Lacey explained the need for a closing prayer: "This enables the Guides to withdraw peacefully from the Medium and forms a barrier against the invasion of Earth-bound and malicious influences when the power of resistance is at its lowest ebb." Unlike most other home circles, which used the singing of hymns or other forms of music to begin a seance, this group, at least in 1931, used conversation to get the session started.4 The Lord's Prayer was used to open seances.5 Later, the group would use organ music, often played by Otto Smith, as an opening format. On 18 July 1931, the group installed a typewriter in the circle to receive spirit messages.6 Under the guidance of Walter Lacey a twelveline poem was typed in eight seconds. The group was informed that "there will be no 'Coming of the Lord' 'Nonsense,' Christ is here now, It is not necessary for him to come again." This seance appears to have been remarkable for the range of materializations that occurred. The principal spirit teacher for the Kitchener group was Abudha Khan, who provided details about his time in the earth plane during a seance held on 19 July 1931: "He was brought up in the Eastern Temples of the Himalaya Mountains ranging back more than eight hundred years ago. He was very intimate with the teachings of Jesus, who he said was a remarkable personality and had a great intuition."7 On 12 September 1931, the group met at 27 Hohner Avenue in Kitchener. On this evening a photographic experiment was conducted:

Thomas Lacey

163

"Two cameras had been placed on an elevated spot in one corner of the room and pointed towards the centre of the circle. It was expected that a signal would be given when the light should be flashed for a picture. The illuminated trumpet was seen moving over toward the cameras. Walter, the spirit guide, said that Mr Stead was examining them to see if everything was in order." Stead was assisted by "C.D.," later identified as Conan Doyle: "Mr Stead and I have been working and have had good results. That is not our only line of endeavour ... I feel you should at least have partial success tonight but I do not want to give you too much of a sense of expectancy ... After several more personal messages and the experiment with the camera, the meeting closed in the usual manner."8 No record exists to indicate whether the cameras were successful in capturing useful images.9 The seance held on 2,8 November 1931 heard their Hindu guide, Abudha Khan, express grave concern about India's future.10 His worry was that the conflict between Hindus and Muslims and among other various creeds in India would overrule a compromise based upon law and order "irrespective of religious belief." On 17 December, the question of sex in the afterlife was raised by a female spirit named Grace Darling: "I had always been very interested in a certain young man, and I think the pleasures I had missed in the earth sphere were made tenfold on our meeting in Spirit. Some people think romance is dead, that there is nothing to take the place of carnal pleasures, but there is a beauty more pronounced in love in the spirit land that is above any physical experience of love."11 In describing the spirit realm, this spirit affirmed that "we have everything you have on the earth plane, everything, with music that makes Life beautiful."12 Another spirit, a jovial Irishman named Mike, even confirmed that spirits "have our smokes. I like the old clay pipe."13 The spirits visiting the Lacey home circle reflected a sympathy for socialism. During a seance held on 2. April 1932., the Hindu spoke about Russia's rejection of organized religion: The people of to-day are searching for the truth. Because of Truth I see the doors of every Country barred against its influence. Out of those ashes will blaze a fire, a Spiritual fire which will light the whole World. It is perhaps not evident at present but I believe with all scientific investigation carried on to-day that religion is not forgotten. Russia is doing what every other country has failed to do. She is building on a firm foundation and that takes labour." On those occasions when physical phenomena manifested, rather remarkable materializations occurred. One evening saw a demonstration of clog dancing by spirit forces. Sitters began to sing "She's a lassie," during which time a spirit friend began to manipulate the

164

Anatomy of a Seance

materialized clogs on the table louder and louder until the sound was almost deafening. This was kept up for about ten minutes, during which time several appropriate songs were sung by the sitters. During the same evening Walter announced that owing to the very strong power in the circle and the harmonious vibrations emanating from the sitters the guides would make a special demonstration. This proved to be in the form of materialized hands and arms touching the various sitters. All were asked to hold their hands palm downwards on their knees. During the next half-hour the sitters had an experience that they stated would be always remembered as an outstanding demonstration of spirit power. A large number of hands materialized at one time, as no less than from five to six sitters could count from two to three hands touching them simultaneously. The continued flow of talk by the sitters to their various spirit friends seemed to augment the materializing power to such an extent that one young mother's spirit baby materialized on her lap and, caressing her mother, remained for some time. The various trumpets were moved about the room at the same time, some touching the ceiling. This was followed by materializing lights floating about. Next the table was discovered to have been moved across the centre of the room, although weighted with a typewriter. There was no sound during the movement.14 In the Lacey collection a set of notes secured in a three-ring binder recount seances that occurred between 7 April and 17 December 1932,. It seems probable that they were seen as the basis for a book manuscript. On 30 April, a spirit informed the group that "I am sure a lead which we are making in producing to the World this book will be a helping hand to those who are less fortunate and perhaps stimulate a progressive spirit into the minds of other mediums." One goal in this enterprise was to counter commercialism, "which is so rampant in modern mediumship."15 The group continued as a home circle with eight or ten individuals meeting regularly on Peppier Street, Waterloo, or at a Frederick Street address in the city of Kitchener. The notes for the seance of 9 April 1932 indicates that special space for the group had been created at the Peppier Street address of Mr and Mrs E.W. Sheldon: "This seance was the first to be held by the circle in the new seance room. This room has been specially prepared and set aside for communion with higher intelligences and for advancement of spiritual knowledge among the sojourners of the Earth plane."16 Seances began promptly at nine pm. Thomas Lacey was a versatile medium who generated a variety of phenomena in any single seance. A voice trumpet was usually present for some spirits but others made

Thomas Lacey

165

use of the medium's voice. A prayer opened the evening and hymns and other music were frequently used. Communication often started with automatic writing followed by physical materializations. The spirits manifesting included a mix of famous people including Arthur Conan Doyle, W.T. Stead, David Livingstone, the Reverend Vale Owen, and others. The medium's deceased brother, Walter, organized the seance from the spirit world. Spirits spoke in various languages including German, French, and Italian.17 The usual first speaker of the evening listed in the seance minutes was called "The Hindu" or "Abudha Khan" or "Budha Khan," the implication being that all of these names applied to the same spirit. He usually gave a teaching. Doyle or Stead followed with information about the afterlife, and then came a series of family friends and relations. A large contingent of aboriginal spirits provided psychic healing. Teachings often focused upon clearing up confusion about the other side or about questions raised on the earth plane. On the evening of i May 1932. W.T. Stead cleared up the issue about contradictions in various spiritualist publications: "It is interesting to see again that you are taking notes. In this way there is no doubt that one would glean a new insight in the workings of the infinite because each seance room and through each medium there is an individuality in the messages brought through. There are as many individual experiences in the Spirit World as there are individuals on the earth plane and one finds this very confusing when reading various books. In fact, they are very conflicting in their experiences in the Spirit World, proving again that one carries his identity and individuality into the new life."18 On 2.8 May Stead commented that "there is a movement in one of the cities of Ontario to get our friend here ordained and take upon himself the pastor of a church." Stead advised against such a move "because it would be the means of materializing something which we are trying to spiritualize."19 By 15 August, the group was experimenting with light in the seance room. A light bulb covered in red paper was used. The spirits gave guidance about the placing of the light and announced the potential for materializations in the seance room: "The red light is too near the centre of the room, should be somewhere in the corner, I think you will have materialization. We have been working at it for a long time. This is not for the public unless special permission is given to some friends who do not come for curiosity only."10 Physical phenomena occurred quite frequently. Flowers were whisked away to the spirit side and returned at the end of the seance. The speaking trumpet often took flight: "Trumpet on table begins vibrating until it finally falls off. Table now begins to rock and move

166

Anatomy of a Seance

about in the light. None of the sitters are touching the table. Trumpet now moves while entity sings independent of the medium."21 Another occasion saw similar phenomena: "Raps were heard, chairs were moved, the table was moved around till the trumpet fell over. A dog was heard lapping water from the glass."22 On 27 August, materialization occurred: "Although there had been no fruit of any kind in the room about one dozen plums were brought in by the dematerialization method and passed to various sitters."23 Other physical phenomena included the transfiguration of the medium's appearance. Mr Stead "speaks through medium who stands up behind table while addressing the sitters. The medium's face took on the features of Mr Stead, while a beard could be seen forming which the entity stroked in a natural manner."24 Later in the same seance, a Hindu, Abdulla Bay, used the medium and during "the manifestation, the turban could be noticed very distinctly on the head of the medium."15 Other entities followed and Lacey's physical appearance transfigured each time. During this same seance "Attention is ... drawn to a cloud of ectoplasm which seemed to come out of the medium's left hand, drift towards and then beneath the table after which the table was moved without anything but the ectoplasm coming in contact with it. Ectoplasm again returns into medium's hand."26 After this time, seances were held in either total darkness or in red light. The entities desired to be seen, but the process of materialization in red light took much more power to accomplish and as a result, communication suffered to some degree. To improve on the generation of energy, the group created a cabinet for the seance of 24 September: "This was the second of a series of seances held in red light, the medium sitting apart from the circle within a cabinet formed by stretching a black curtain across the one end of the room." The materializations were constructed by the spirit guides out of ectoplasm. On this evening, credit was given to "those strong forces of power given to us from your North American Indians." One such spirit, Blue Snake, "appeared allowing various sitters to touch his big brawny muscles. He touched some giving healing power."27 The spirits told the sitters that "we are not going to extend the circle much in the near future, if at all. Mr Stead will control that, we have learned by experience." On 8 October, the usual "scribe," Ott6 Smith, was off visiting Lily Dale and Mr Havens provided the seance minutes. He affirmed the usual sequence of events. The group met at nine in the evening on Peppier Street. Thomas Lacey placed the sitters in "their respective positions" and then entered the cabinet. The evening began with music followed by physical phenomena. Initially "a light appeared over the top of the curtain. This was like a halo followed by bright flashes of

Thomas Lacey

167

light from the right of the cabinet as would be produced by heavy gun fire. This was a very novel feature."28 Walter, the gatekeeper, was the first entity to speak, and the group learned that Walter "had much to do in preparing, dressing and instructing our loved ones." Clearly, he acted like a stage manager. The next phenomenon saw "lights ... carried around the room and at the ceiling, where also forms seemed to be building. This was away from and at the top and centre of the curtain." The Hindu guide spoke and then was followed by a young girl spirit called Violet who, Mr Haven tells us, "provided a remarkable demonstration of proof in spirit communion, here we have a little child no taller than the height of a small table coming out in view of all sitters, touching, and talking to them, the medium in the cabinet being a man 36 years of age and weighing one hundred and sixty pounds, truly a remarkable demonstration equal only to many others of a like character." W.T. Stead followed and moved about the room shaking hands with the sitters: "This was indeed accomplished and was a wonderful manifestation of Spirit Power, the hand so solid and firm with a loving grip." Other spirits manifesting included the muscular Indian, Blue Snake, and a priest who chanted in Latin. Relatives of the sitters also brought brief greetings. Walter concluded the evening: He graciously wished all Good-Night and withdrew, not before, however, returning from the man to the sweet young boy as we knew him. The very tone of voice being entirely different, this being a wonder in itself. Other friends from the cabinet called Good-Night to their loved ones. To Mrs Laing, Good Night sis, this being easily recognized as her brother Roy who had passed into spirit. Also a Good Night to Mrs Sheldon from her Mother, and Good Night Charlie and Sis to Mrs and Mr Matthews, and Good Night to Mrs Dudley from her father. The seance closed with the usual Lord's Prayer.

A postscript added to the seance notes states that "it is also very important to state that during the seance at one period an Indian drew aside the curtain at the entrance of the cabinet disclosing the form of the medium, Mr T. Lacey in an attitude of sweet repose very unconcerned with Worldly Affairs."29 By 5 November, the group had been experimenting with sittings held in subdued red light for a number of weeks. "The light was placed in a box covered with red tissue paper and fastened to the wall at the far end of the room. We all felt that the new arrangement would be conductive to improved manifestations." The seance order was music, followed by opening prayer, followed by Walter and physical phenomena. On this occasion, the Hindu spirit requested that the red light be shaded a bit more and "another sheet of tissue paper is placed over

168

Anatomy of a Seance

light."30 It is on this occasion that an Egyptian spirit materialized and sketched the head of an Egyptian woman. The sketch was later reproduced in the British periodical Light in February 1933. It became clear in this seance that spirits "find it more difficult to converse with [sitters] while materialized."31 The spirits tended to walk around outside the cabinet in materialized form but returned to the cabinet in order to speak. Often, as on 5 November, more than one spirit voice was heard at the same time: on that night evidently three entities took part in the discussion. Walter tried to show an entity how simple it was to materialize."3Z Things seemed to have got quite congested at times. While one female spirit was busy in materialized form, "giving treatments moving about the circle other entities were conversing behind the curtain, in the cabinet."33 On 10 December, the group began to test "an electrical contrivance" suggested by one of the sitters. This appears to have been a springloaded pressure switch, which was attached to Thomas Lacey's chair to guarantee that he remained in the chair through the whole seance. At first reading, this would seem to be a commitment to removing any doubts about the validity of their seance phenomena by imposing checks and balances upon their medium. However, a closer reading indicates that the group had no misgivings about Tom Lacey's honesty. The pressure switch was designed to allow "the sitters to distinguish between transfiguration and materialization." In cases of transfiguration, the medium took on the attributes of the spirit who was speaking to the group. Lacey's face and body posture would change as would the timbre of his voice. In cases of materialization, a separate embodiment of the spirit form took place. Since both events often happened inside the medium's cabinet, "it was impossible for the sitters to definitely distinguish at all times which form of materialization was taking place." The solution was to have "the contrivance ... attached to the chair and connected to a small red light at the far end of the room." This light would be shown while the medium was reclining in his chair. When the weight of the medium was removed from the seat the light would go out. In this way the sitters could tell at all times whether or not the medium was in his reclining position. Such a position indicated that materialization was happening. When he rose to his feet, transfiguration was occurring. In addition to the new switch, the group was informed by a new entity that "we might later make some experiments with a bell box."34 At this seance, the spirit guide provided- some information about how spirits see those in the earth plane. "You are living in a world constantly bombarded by good and evil thoughts and it is for your own choosing which of those you are going to entertain."35 He went on: "To many in the land of spirit you are nothing

Thomas Lacey

169

more than a series of coloured lights as you sit in the circle, and yet each of those lights has a more significant meaning than the physical form itself, because it is the aura of the identity that is visible to them."36 Experiments with materialization progressed, and at this seance, the Hindu spirit both materialized outside of the cabinet among the sitters and dematerialized before them: "Entity disappears without returning to cabinet. The form vanished slowly as if through the floor before our eyes in the centre of the circle."37 In 1933, Mr Otto Smith of the Kitchener group wrote to the British spiritualist weekly Two Worlds to describe Lacey's most recent work as a medium capable of materialization phenomena. The seance described took place at 2,9 Peppier Street in Waterloo: "During the evening many forms, both male and female, adults and children, stepped out of the cabinet and walked about the room, conversing with the sitters." The major phenomenon for the evening saw the materialization of an Egyptian dressed in flowing robes and speaking an ancient language. Walter Lacey provided interpretation. The visitor claimed to have been a person of prominence who lived 1,500 years B.C. His body had been exhumed at Luxor, much to his displeasure. Mr Smith described what happened next: The Egyptian stepped out from the cabinet carrying a pencil and piece of paper, and walked over to the table where the reporter was sitting. There was a subdued red light attached to the wall. He held the paper in front of the light to show that it was bare, with the exception of the initials of one of the sitters. These initials had been placed upon the sheet before the commencement of the seance. One member of the circle happened to have a stopwatch, which he had been using in his work. He was surprised when the Egyptian asked him to take it out of his pocket and register the time it would take to make a drawing on the paper. At a given signal the Egyptian commenced. He manipulated the pencil with great rapidity. In an incredibly short space of time he had finished the drawing, and handed it to the reporter. It had taken four and four-tenth seconds!

Mr Smith informed the readers of Two Worlds that the Lacey seances were conducted every Saturday evening with a very regular group of sitters. He described several occasions when "two materialized forms have emerged from the cabinet simultaneously and held conversations, while at the same time one of the guides was heard giving instructions behind the cabinet curtains." Mr Smith explained that "Mr Lacey receives sufficient remuneration from his work as a mechanic to avoid commercializing his gifts, and says that he will continue to rely on this

170

Anatomy of a Seance

as his exclusive competence."38 Mr Smith provided readers of Two Worlds with a second report about the Lacey seances in June 1933: The principal speaker at our seances is Abuddah Khan, a Hindu Master, who claims to have lived on the earth plane some eight hundred years ago. We have verbatim reports of about one hundred of his lectures. Mr W.T. Stead has taken a fatherly interest in the circle from the very beginning, and manifests practically at every seance, always giving kind words of advice relative to furthering the work undertaken by the members of the circle. The Rev. Vale Owen has given us many experiences since his passing, stating that many of his ideas regarding the life in the spirit over world were completely transformed. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle appeared soon after his transition, but for a long time asked us to withhold his name, outlining the reasons for his request. Several sitters who heard him while he was in the body recognized his voice while the information received, leaves no doubt in our minds as to his identity. David Livingstone has given us some graphic accounts of some of his experiences in the wilds of Africa. His description of a native burial ceremony was very interesting and gave us an insight into the interpretation of some of their strange rites. His Scotch accent is very pronounced during manifestations. Archdeacon Colley has imparted information to the writer on various occasions in "Masonic code." The medium, not being a member of the Masonic fraternity of course, could not interpret the messages. The Archdeacon often closes the seance with fitting and beautifully expressed words of prayer. Thomas Alva Edison manifests frequently. He claims he is still quite weak, but hopes soon to be able "to get down to brass tacks," as he said at a recent seance. He has given us some remarkable predictions as to science and invention in the near future, and has promised us a series of lectures as soon as he has gained sufficient strength. He predicted automobiles without engines in the not distant future, and outlined to us how this would come about. Maskelyne manifests very frequently, and along with his co-worker, Paul Devine (former chemist), has charge of physical manifestations. He says that although he usually remains in the background, we can depend on his cooperation in all our endeavors. All our experiences have been carefully recorded, and at present are being compiled suitably for publication at such time as it is deemed advisable by our spirit friends.39

On occasion, Thomas Lacey expressed views on the events of the day as a correspondent in the local press. A "Point of View" article on capital punishment illustrates how a belief in spiritualism led to a

Thomas Lacey

171

liberal view on this issue. Lacey, believing as he did in life after death, stated his view that "the hangman's noose or the electric chair do not obliterate the lowly desires of a fiend to kill. They merely give freedom to that personality to perpetuate those desires, unhampered by either time, place or space ... From the astral world he is able to reach earth vibrations, and continue to follow his evil designs by influencing weak willed people of earth, who will intuitively execute his desires through the exertion of this all-powerful, all-impelling hypnotic influence."40 The best way to handle murderers is incarceration, allowing them time to modify and reform their thinking about crime. Lacey became newsworthy again in 1936, when he participated in a live broadcast of one of his seances over the radio station CKCL in Toronto. Two Worlds reported this event as the first broadcast of a seance in Canadian history. The event was described in some detail: "Mr Maurice Rapkin described the proceedings, while the microphone picked up what was claimed were the voices of Thomas A. Edison and many other departed souls from the seance-room at the headquarters of the White Brotherhood. Mr Lacey was the medium. The following day the telephones were humming all day at the Station, as interested listeners inquired whether it was a real seance. Mr Lacey received over three hundred letters as a result of the broadcast, and only one of them expressed either doubt or criticism."41 Sometime in late 1934 or early 1935, the Lacey circle changed its direction, or at least its spiritual affiliation. By mid-1935, the group was describing itself as a lodge of the White Brotherhood. The principal spirit guide became a White Brother called Amari; Abudha Khan, the Hindu guide, disappeared from the scene. Psychic healing, which had been conducted throughout the seances by aboriginal healers, continued to be part of the circle's activity, but a new figure, Dr Johnson, was now responsible for healing. In a seance held on 21 October 1935, the group received some history of the White Brotherhood from the spirits. In the 14th century the first expression of the Brotherhood was brought to Robert Bacon and the first lodge was formed at the time. And since that particular time the first branch has spread and grown into what is today the Rosicruscian Society. This one particular branch is a lower branch belonging to a lower consciousness of the White Brotherhood. There are twelve such branches expressing themselves in different parts of the world ... These twelve various bodies eventually merge into one jurisdiction and that jurisdiction is the greater White Brotherhood of the noble souls who have in their time acted as mediators between higher intellect and the physical expression of human consciousness. This assembly of brothers, or rather this lodge of the brotherhood which you

172.

Anatomy of a Seance

are attached to is one of these intermediate lodges which you have found it possible at a great expense to graduate from.42

There are other descriptions of this occult group, one of which appears in The Story and Teaching of The White Brotherhood^ a book published in 1939 and owned by Otto Smith, who purchased it at Lily Dale. According to Smith's book, the White Brotherhood appeared as a lodge first in France and then in England and Scotland in the 192.05. The British spirit guide was known as White Eagle and he described the White Brotherhood as "a band of spiritual beings, gathered in the invisible, and drawing closer to the earth. These unseen Brethren numbered many great and wise - saint and seer, angel and arch-angel. At the head, Grand Master of their mighty Lodge, was no less than the Christ Himself."43 The Lacey group continued to see the teachings of the White Brotherhood from within a Christian context, and communications from the Brothers emphasized that their membership contained Christ as a Lodge Master, suggesting that the British lodge was a model for the Canadian one. Such a reading is strengthened by the fact that one of the key spirit guides for both the British White Brotherhood and the Lacey circle was Conan Doyle. Doyle's message to the British was that spirit communication with departed relatives and friends was a useful beginning in the quest for truth. However, Doyle instructed the lodge to allow the spirits of friends and relatives to move on after initial contact into their new lives in spirit. Doyle suggested that the ideal was to move beyond simple seance communication and strive for a raised consciousness, a new "Sphere of Communication," which was "a place or condition where mortal and spirit could and should be able to meet."44 The group was told on 16 October 1934 that "there are in all seven distinct phases of manifestation governing the ego, or the individuality of each person." These stages of development seem to indicate a progressive movement of the ego from the completely physical to the totally spiritual, suggesting a state similar in nature to Conan Doyle's "Sphere of Communication." The spirit guide elaborated: i. There is that first composite substance that is necessary for the formation of the physical in its manifestations. 2,. Then there is that which conforms and is the intermediary between the physical and the spiritual, the astral which is more or less a shroud, a wraith that manifests between the perception of the physical and the perception of the spiritual. 3. [The astral] governs and controls those contacts between the metaphysical and that of the physical and that is the indwelling place of the astral brain.

Thomas Lacey

173

4. There is the vital essence, that which is a direct manifestation of the contributing forces of the creative the intellectual the orderly creative manifestation, that which gives life to the physical expression. 5. The human soul is one that is an individual thinker. He is able to differentiate, he becomes a master of choice. No longer is he a slave to ordinary desires that are necessitated by the lower order of the animal kingdom. He becomes creative and one with God. 6. The spiritual soul, that which belongs to the higher order of susceptibility that which vibrates with the higher pulsations of the immortal. 7. The spirit in all its purity. Spirit, that which is away from all things material, spirit that becomes one and in tune with God and the infinite.45

The Lacey circle's message about the White Brotherhood also included the suggestion that their lodge was a part of the Rosicrucians. There is much speculation about the historical origins of this secret society. It is said to have been founded by Christian Rosenkreuz in the fifteenth century. Other sources claim the movement started in Germany between 1614 and 1616. Twentieth-century groups alleging to have connections to the original society have little in the way of proof. There is some evidence that the modern groups sprang from the fringes of Freemasonry, which has a degree called the Rose Cross. In England, Robert Wentworth organized a society in Anglia in 1866 calling itself the English Societas Rosicrusiana. Three members of the Anglia group were involved with the organization in 1888 of another secret society, the Golden Dawn, which made use of Rosicrucian ritual. Other versions of Rosicrucianism were found in France and Germany.46 In the United States, Max Heindel, a Danish astrologer, re-established the secret society in i^zo, working with lecture material written by Rudolf Steiner. He founded the modern fraternal organization with headquarters at the Rosicrucian Temple located south of Los Angeles in California and additional branches in New York and Pennsylvania. These groups were interested in magic and ritual more than with spirit communication or the development of cosmic consciousness, and it seems unlikely that the Lacey group had any serious understanding of what the Rosicrucian connection really meant. They were much closer to the teachings of theosophy and of the White Brotherhood Lodges in England. There was some disagreement with local theosophists who, it appears, also claimed direct contact with the White Brotherhood. Many spiritualists, including Flora MacDonald Denison, Albert Durrant Watson, and others, had been attracted to theosophy since the two movements shared much in common. While the term "theosophy" had a venerable

174

Anatomy of a Seance

and ancient history, it was given specific focus in the 18705 by the work of Madame Blavatsky, who founded her movement in New York City in 1875. There is little doubt that spiritualists had paved the way for Blavatsky's success. In England, the U.S., and Canada theosophy recruited from the spiritualist ranks. As Janet Oppenheim points out, the theosophists had some points of contention with spiritualists: The greatest clash arose over that most fundamental of spiritualist beliefs the reality of communication with identifiable spirits of deceased people. Spiritualism was, of course, predicated on the proposition that, after death, a person's spirit could remain in close touch with the living and could relay messages to them with the help of a medium. Theosophical denial of this principle, and denunciation of seance practices, seemed to many spiritualists an attempt to cut out the very heart of their practice. In short, theosophists expected no good to come from seances, and much evil. They boasted that the spiritualism that they endorsed was something far grander than slate writing, table tilting, or rappings on furniture. Its purpose was not contact with the dead, but "the cultivation of the inner life and the systematic sacrifice of the lower instincts of our nature to the higher law."47 Such views were not a problem for Flora MacDonald Denison and other spiritualists who had rejected the dogma of established churches. The theosophist view fitted in with that of Richard Maurice Bucke and Albert Durrant Watson. Oppenheim explains: Theosophists went even further than non-Christian spiritualists in their zeal to eliminate all vestiges of priesthood, all notions that only certain people, specially endowed or prepared, could mediate between humanity and the eternal world. Spiritualists, after all, needed mediums to communicate with the spirit world; each Theosophist, by contrast, was imbued with the conviction that his own Higher Self was the divine spirit, or God within him, in the theosophical sense of the Deity as "the mysterious power of evolution and involution, the omnipresent, omnipotent, and even omniscient creative potentiality."48 She also provides useful commentary on why theosophy was compelling as a belief system: One of the most attractive aspects of theosophy was that it offered much the same promise of special protection and care as has always figured among Christianity's most appealing elements. In the place of Christ's guardianship and intercession (as well as those of the saints, in the case of Roman Catholicism),

Thomas Lacey

175

theosophy offered the Mahatmas, the so-called "White Lodge" or "Great White Brotherhood," who took particular interest in theosophists and showed deep concern for their welfare ... These occult Brothers ... were not deities, but rather "men of great learning, ... and still greater holiness of life." They were men who, having passed through numerous reincarnations, had attained a state of being where the physical body ceased to restrict their movements ... What was particularly encouraging about the Theosophical Masters - far more so than anything that Christianity had to offer - was the suggestion that each diligent student of the Masters' wisdom might, in lives to come, progress toward their lofty status.49

Theosophy claimed to be scientific in its inquiries. Blavatsky's first book, Isis Unveiled, was subtitled A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology. Her later book, The Secret Doctrine, was subtitled The Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy. Oppenheim explains that "when Blavatsky spoke of nature's laws, with which Theosophists were supposed to become intimately familiar, she harked back to a neo-Platonic comprehension of scientific inquiry. For her, as for other occultists of the late nineteenth century, the scientist's role was still to explore connections, or correspondences, between the diverse parts of the universe, and the universe, in Blavatsky's gospel, was thoroughly permeated by spirit as a creative, causative agent."50 Spiritualists put more faith on science than did the theosophists. Science was a major influence that threatened to impose materialism upon the world and undermine the most cherished religious beliefs. "It was the fond hope of the British spiritualists that, through their faith, the constructive aspects of the scientific method might be harnessed to the search for philosophical or religious meaning in human existence, thereby mitigating the destructive impact of science. If the validity of spiritualist phenomena could be proven in acceptable scientific fashion, then science could become once again, as in past centuries, the defender and not the challenger of faith." 51 The Theosophical Society of Canada was created by Albert E. Smythe in Toronto in 1891. Smythe was an Irish immigrant, but his lodge was set up "as an autonomous lodge under charter from the American Society in New York."52 From this beginning, the movement expanded to include about twenty lodges and a thousand members by the 19305. Michelle Lacombe has identified practicing theosophists in the academic and scientific community, the suffrage movement, the literary world, the dramatic community, the visual arts, and politics. The group promoted public lectures on a wide variety of topics that

176

Anatomy of a Seance

were open to the public and attracted listeners especially in the years between 1920 and 1930.53 Just as in England, those attracted to theosophy were often also active spiritualists. There was a basic disagreement among Canadian theosophists about whether spiritualism was appropriate for theosophists. In the December 1922 and January and February 1923 numbers of The Canadian Theosophist magazine we find Smythe's critique of spiritualism. The central debate was about the role that the writings of Madame Blavatsky, especially The Secret Doctrine, should play. Smythe believed that followers should spend their time in close study of the texts. Others, however, believed it was appropriate to seek out psychic connections with the adepts in order to receive new teachings. Blavatsky herself directed that followers should not use psychic sources but rather work with her published ideas. Those who objected to this limitation charged that members had to accept the infallibility of Blavatsky. Smythe, who supported the text as the only source, rejected the idea of infallibility, arguing that if a member accepted that Blavatsky was infallible, then by extension of the logic, the member must also be infallible. "We can depend upon the multiplication table, but not on all who use it. Similarly with The Secret Doctrine.""54 His view of the psychic process was that "the gravest warnings have always been given regarding all such investigations, as the astral plane is admittedly the home of error and delusion ... Sex, sacerdotalism, sectionalism, sectarianism, selfishness in all its forms, and self-aggrandisement are the tokens and witnesses of all psychic revelations. Does it draw people together by its study and discipline? We may credit it to the Ancient Wisdom. Does it separate them and set them at enmity? We may be sure it belongs to the psychic realm." 55 Since "the principle of Universal Brotherhood" is viewed as the "sole basis of the Society"56 any activity that promotes dissension is to be shunned. The goal is "to furnish the materials for a needed universal religious philosophy; one impregnable to scientific assault, because itself the finality of absolute science, and a religion that is indeed worthy of the name, since it includes the relations of man physical to man psychical, or the two that is above and below them."57 While Smythe could be alarmed about diverging doctrine, at the same time, he believed that "the Theosophical Society has no dogma and no creed."58 In his eyes, it was democratic, with all adherents able to interpret their own meanings. It was also essential that true theosophy could only be practiced "by rising to the spiritual plane where the Masters are, and not by attempting to draw them down to ours" which is what happens in seance.59

Thomas Lacey

177

The Lacey spirit guide, Amari dealt with the challenge from the theosophists: The truths and the Essential expressions conveyed and used by the adherents of Theosophy are very good. I have no criticism to make in any respect as to their logical ideas and aspirations of that field of great knowledge. But I do not condone that this knowledge of the spiritual world must only begin through individual effort ... They who are supposedly a tolerant body and one with no limitations express a very narrow viewpoint when it comes to the manifestation of that in which they so readily believe ... It is the joint efforts of the brotherhood that allows them to give to the world the knowledge that they have access to, rather than the individual effort and contact with the spiritual world. Their theories do not hold water. They deviate from the very views to which they aspire ... There is much Theosophy contained in the elemental truths of spiritualism and occult science.60 There is clearly some disagreement between the views of theosophists and the Lacey circle spirits; however, it is mostly focused upon the issue of individual versus collective progress. There is in both groups a strong commitment to achieving a rarefied state where communion with the spiritual occurs. The following message from Amari, the Lacey guide from the White Brotherhood, would not likely offend the theosophists. It does give us an insight into the question of how the Lacey communications handled the concept of religion: It would be very hard to define whether the activity that is taking place tonight was the expression of religion or whether it was the science of a natural law ... For as soon as your consciousness loses all religious obligations it gains freedom to escape from the errors that have been the means of retarding progression, down through the ages of time. [The aim is] to develop mentality and conscious civilization that will not need to go through many more cycles of physical expression in order to reach that step whereby the physical body, the physical expression is eliminated ... One cannot say for one moment that organized religion has been beneficial for the progression of science and intellect. It has always shown closed doors to education and progress.61 The Lacey group, now ensconced as a Lodge of the White Brotherhood, were moving away from any direct ties with orthodox Christianity. Ultimately, even the term "religion" was considered outdated: One does not like to call the science of life, religion. Religion seems to be a thing of the past. We are not dealing today with allegory but with realities.

178

Anatomy of a Seance

We are dealing today with facts, demonstrable facts and you people who converge together are adding greatly to this consciousness that is vibrating unseen and unheard in the cosmic realms of activity, influencing minds, intellectual minds that are filled to receive this thought that vibrates from your Sanctuary.6z

In earlier chapters we saw a Gnostic strain of thought begin to emerge in the commentaries of Dr John King, Albert Durrant Watson, and even in the later records of Jenny Pincock. The quest for knowledge about the afterlife achieved by communicating with the spirits of dead friends or relatives was shifting to the courting of universal consciousness through association with adepts or masters on higher planes of awareness. The desire was to achieve cosmic awareness in this life, to become a master, to become god-like. The Lacey spirits promised that such a transition would occur in the near future: "That in a few years to come you will go on that upward flight and there turn back and view the fruit of your labours. There is not one here tonight who will not have that glorious experience of this greater consciousness."63 Inherent in this vision is the notion that the initiate can, by exercising his or her consciousness, escape time and space, which "alone are the greatest obstacles to progression of cosmic intellect that you must, of necessity, experience in the physical plane." In reality, the initiate has had, consciously or unconsciously, "that experience regularly ... Then time and space does not mean anything at all to the student of the occult. It is an illusion." The goal is to achieve presence on the "metaphysical plane," where one "can actually experience those past expressions [of time and space] by a mere attitude and direction of thought." From this plane, "they can also project that thought into the future and they can live and have their being in what would be in the physical plane the future and yet the whole of those experiences, however they might present themselves relative to the physical plane, are all one grand expression of the reality of the present."64 Such a future is described as a spiritual Utopia: "there would be no limitation to the possibilities of the furthering of international peace and the furthering of that spiritual Utopia of which we have so often spoken ... It is coming."65 This is indeed a powerful vision, especially when the message of this occasion is apparently delivered by the spirit of Jesus himself. But this Jesus is not the New Testament Christian deity: "You have the Master's spirit, you are not Christians; that is wrong. I am not Christ, I am Jesus, the Master."66 The Master gave more information about the new order in seances that followed: "I can still feel the bony hand of an antiquated priesthood clutching tenaciously at the slowly developing

Thomas Lacey

179

spiritual consciousness of humanity."67 "Man, by fashioning his own advancement, by deviating thousands of years ago into the industrial and mechanical channels has created for himself a world of superficiality. [Man's] mind and consciousness has been a slave of environment, he has deviated ignorantly from his true and noble course."68 "Man, in his upward climb to mental reality would now have reached this individual possibility but for his deviation to physical and mundane needs and must now necessarily evolve through the cycle of a mechanical age. It would be hopeless to extricate the human mind from this swirling vortex of a mechanical and material consciousness ... Ultimately Man will aspire to free himself from the imperfections caused by his early transgressions. Succeeding, he will evolve to perfection. This then will be Utopia, and Man's final release from physical bondage."69 This Utopian vision, then, sees the eradication of the mundane, physical world altogether as all people achieve a state of higher consciousness: "The time is coming when millions of people will never die ... for by their development and mental qualities they too like the Master will be able to pass over without leaving any trace of the atomic structure of his physical body and become etheric being."70 The Lacey group sustained itself for another thirty years. As an effective home circle it offered its members a consistent alternative to organized religion. Thomas Lacey appears to have maintained his integrity as a medium throughout his whole career, and the volume of spirit transmissions that he left behind in both print or audiotape is massive. A detailed study of this material, especially the audiotapes, must wait for another day. While the Lacey circle was working through its White Brotherhood insights in Kitchener-Waterloo, another group of psychic adventurers were active in Winnipeg. Beginning with Stead, Arthur Conan Doyle, and David Livingstone, the same spirit guides that had assisted the Lacey circle, this group moved into the realm of psychic research, using photography to capture ectoplasm, that elusive substance that facilitated spirit communication.

10

Glen Hamilton

The various personalities and groups that have been examined to this point all gave at least some lip service to the idea of spirit communication as providing scientific proof of the afterlife. Few, however, could be credited with using scientific method in their approach to the phenomena of the seance. Most were fundamentally driven by the spirit, by their need to experience proof of the survival of death. Controls that were instigated were to avoid fraud as much as to establish the veracity of the seance messages. When the seance room became questionable, as for Jenny Pincock and Albert Durrant Watson, the institution was abandoned but not the search for spirituality. Watson moved into mysticism, while Pincock practised her own brand of selfrealization. In the balancing of religious belief with scientific method, it would appear that the subjective world of religiosity was dominant for most of these psychic searchers. In this chapter, we examine the work of a dedicated Presbyterian who became internationally recognized for his scientific inquiries in the realm of the supernatural. The papers of Dr T. Glen Hamilton dealing with his psychic research, housed at the Elizabeth Dafoe Library at the University of Manitoba, are one of the richest resources of their kind in Canada. Hamilton made his mark in Winnipeg as a highly respected medical doctor and member of the faculty of medicine at the University of Manitoba. He also served as a member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly. Other honours included the presidency of the Manitoba Medical Association and membership on the executive council of the Canadian Medical Association. Glen Hamilton did not live to see the manuscript record of his research on teleplasm brought to the press. His wife, Lillian Hamilton, who had been a co-worker throughout as a psychic researcher, and his son, James D. Hamilton, edited his addresses and articles and

Glen Hamilton

181

published Intention and Survival: Psychical Research Studies and the Bearing of Intentional Actions by Trance Personalities on the Problem of Human Survival in 1942. The book, limited to a press run of three thousand copies because of the wartime restrictions on paper, was illustrated with photographs of seances and teleplasmic phenomena. Demand for the book continued over time and in 1977, Hamilton's daughter, Margaret Lillian Hamilton Bach, edited a second edition, which was published in England by Regency Press. This edition contained a new introduction offering additional information on Hamilton's life and work as a psychic researcher. Hamilton also published articles in a variety of newspapers and periodicals in North America and Europe during his lifetime. T. Glen Hamilton was born in 1873 m Agincourt, Ontario. His family was homesteading in Saskatchewan about 1885. According to family tradition, Hamilton showed little interest in occult matters in his early life. However, one day at the age of seventeen, shortly after the death of his father, while he "was herding cattle in a field on the bank of the Saskatchewan River ... He heard a voice - seemingly in his head - saying to him several times 'Get an education!' He claimed 'it gave him a feeling of euphoria which lasted about three days.'"1 To fulfill this need for schooling, the family sold out in Saskatchewan and moved to Winnipeg, where three sons became physicians, another entered the law, and the oldest became an electrical inspector. Glen taught school to earn money for medical school, which he finished in 1903, setting up a practice in Louise Bridge, now Elmwood, a suburb of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Three years later, he married Lillian and began a family that included four children, among them a pair of twin boys of whom one died of influenza in 1919. His daughter recalled the impact of this death upon her father: When little Arthur died at the age of three years and three months, Dad's grief was profound. This happened when I was a little girl of nine; I can remember being in wonderment as I watched my father cry. I was too young to understand the sorrow of losing a little one ... I remember finding a note written by my mother about Arthur's passing. In it she said that she had read Myers' great book Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death. She found Myers' statement of his own personal belief so profound and so deep and so assured, that her own grief was assuaged by this knowledge, when Arthur was taken from us. Of my two parents she was the stronger, and she was the one to whom father turned for strength in his deep sorrow. I think at this time he asked the question "Does my child survive?" he wasn't sure; and he wasn't sure for a long time.1

182

Anatomy of a Seance

Margaret Hamilton recalled that her father's only interest in the world of parapsychology had been reading the work of W.T. Stead while at university.3 The events that led to Hamilton's lifelong work as a psychic researcher began in St Louis, Missouri, on Tuesday, 8 July 1913, when Mrs Pearl Curran and her friend Emily Grant Hutchings received the following message while working with a ouija board: "Many moons ago I lived, Again I come - Patience Worth my name."4 The Patience Worth entity claimed to be a seventeenth-century Englishwoman. Using Pearl Curran, this spirit would, over the next twenty-five years, dictate "almost four million words, seven full-length books, thousands of poems ranging from a few lines in length to hundreds, uncounted numbers of epigrams and aphorisms, short stories, a few plays, and thousands of pages of witty, trenchant conversation with the hundreds of guests who came to call on her."5 One of those guests in 1918 was W.T. Allison, professor of English at the University of Manitoba. Allison held an M.A. in English from Yale as well as a Doctor of Divinity degree. While staunchly denying any commitment to spiritualism, Allison was nevertheless overwhelmed with the literary quality of the Patience Worth material. Upon returning to Winnipeg, he passed on his enthusiasm for his discovery to Glen Hamilton, one of his close friends. Hamilton would not go public for the first five years of his psychic research. The notoriety of The Twentieth Plane controversy in Toronto in 1919 may well have contributed to Hamilton's desire to keep his early work on psychic phenomena out of the public eye. He worked with a few colleagues including Dr Ross Mitchell, Dr Gordon Chown, Dr Bruce Chown, Dr Adamson, Dr A.M. Campbell, and Dr A.R. Winram.6 It is unlikely that any of these established medical men would have welcomed publicity that might have harmed their professional reputations. Hamilton's daughter, Margaret Bach, gives some insight on her father's desire for privacy in his work: You will recall that spiritualism was rampant following the tragedy of World War I. Many people were seeking reassurances that their beloved boys who had given their lives in this war, were continuing in some other sort of existence. But unfortunately, a movement of this kind is very open to fraudulent behavior. Since my father was very much a man of integrity, who had served his community well through his Church, his medical work, and through his committee work as a member of the Medical Association, he valued highly this reputation for integrity and honesty. When he chanced to discover that the little lady, Mrs Poole, ... did have some gifts for these mysterious raps which manifested in

Glen Hamilton

183

her presence, and for table movements, which occurred when she put her hands on the table, he was curious enough to investigate. But it was done very, very quietly. Were his activities in this field to become known at that time, people would probably have said "Dr Hamilton's gone 'bonkers'!" "He's lost his cool" or "Oh, yes, he's mourning the loss of his child." This was not the case. He accepted Arthur's death; and in time we all became accustomed to the loss of a beloved little brother and a beloved little son.7

The major weakness in the use of trance mediums working in seance was the inability to exercise strict control over the medium. The charges that Albert Durrant Watson's medium, Louis Benjamin, had gained all his information from the Encyclopaedia Britannica illustrated this danger. As well, the use of a medium who charged for services also raised questions about credibility, as was witnessed in the case of William Cartheuser. Ultimately, there can be no truly scientific control over human nature. In setting up his group, however, Hamilton took the most reliable approach to mediumship: he developed his own home circle. Since in a home circle, the number of participants was limited, no money exchanged hands for mediumship, and everyone knew each other, as a result the chances of fraud were low. In choosing to create his own group mediumship, Hamilton avoided the notoriety that attached itself to researchers who worked with celebrity mediums. In England, Sir William Crookes' decision to work with Florence Cook caused considerable controversy in the 18705 as did a Harvard University group's decision to work with Margery Crandon in Boston in the 19205. Hamilton's mediums had no public image in the early years of his work, and even when his research became public, he disguised their identity, referring to them only as Elizabeth M., Mary M., Mercedes, and Ewan. Hamilton set aside a room for his seances within his own home. He described the space: "Our experimental room is a small one, nine feet six inches by twelve feet six inches, situated on the second floor of the writer's home, and reserved for this purpose only. Its two windows, which open to the outside about fifteen feet above the ground, are securely boarded over. Its one door of entry opens into an outside hallway at the end opposite the windows. The furniture consists of a deal table, wooden chairs and a wooden cabinet."8 The room was lit with "a single ruby photographic lamp attached to an electric cord. There is also one red ceiling light controlled by a switch attached to the writer's chair." The wooden cabinet was "a three-sided enclosure made of white-wood panels five-eighths of an inch thick, glued together. It is six feet high, thirty inches deep and forty-two inches

184

Anatomy of a Seance

wide. It is open at the top. No curtains are used at the front. The cabinet is firmly screwed to the floor."9 Equipment used in the experiment room included various kinds of cameras including two stereoscopic models. A bell-box "very similar in construction to the Scientific American bell-box employed in the Margery experiments" was also installed. Rigid controls were imposed on the use of this space: it was always locked between seances, the door was bolted from the inside during seance, and no one was allowed in the room except for seances. The medium and sitters were checked carefully for any materials before they entered seance. Initially, the red light was used to get people settled and then the light was switched off and the seances were held in complete darkness. Sitters sat with hands "joined in chain formation" with those sitters on either side of the medium responsible for securing the medium's hands. Reports were made during the seance about the security of the medium and about any movements. At various times during the seances, the mediums were examined while their hands were still held by the other sitters.10 Music was employed with the sitters singing or listening to records on a gramophone. Any guests were seated outside of the circle at the back of the room.11 This security and the seance format were consistent with seance practice by any of the groups described in previous chapters. While the desired results of a seance might change with the circle, the seance process remained largely the same over the years. Hamilton quite carefully selected the area of physical phenomena as his area of public research. In scientific terms, physical phenomena were more desirable to investigate. They were also the first phenomena to occur in the development of most circles. Hamilton's first series of seances were conducted with Mrs Elizabeth Poole, a practical nurse who was particularly good with young mothers and new babies. She would be referred to as "Elizabeth M" in all of Glen Hamilton's published papers and in his book, Intention and Survival. She was described as a little Scottish lady, "almost a dwarf, and weighing about 120 pounds."11 She was born in central Scotland but raised by her grandmother in County Ayr, in the Lowland or Border area of Scotland. Margaret Bach tells us about Mrs Poole's early experiences, and about Hamilton's first seance: Apparently, she had what is called "the gift of second sight," for as a child (she told us) she could see people in the home, thinking everyone could see them. When she would question her mother, she was told "I don't see anybody! There you are again, my little witch, seeing these strangers in this room. You're just like your grandmother. You're a witch!" As you know, the Celtic people are highly psychic, and the gifts of clairvoyance and clairaudience are inherited.

Glen Hamilton

185

So Mrs Poole grew up knowing she had this gift which she didn't understand. She was called "fey" a Celtic word meaning "psychic" ... We did not know that she had this gift until we had a chance sitting in our home in 19x0. Present were Mr Court, executive secretary of the M.M.A. [Manitoba Medical Association], his daughter and Mrs Poole; all three had dropped in for an informal visit. Mr Court mentioned "table-tipping," which he said was apparently a popular parlour game in London at that time. This was the first time we had ever heard of it. Curious to try it, Mother put out the living room lights, cleared a small table, and my parents and the two guests sat around it, with only the light from the fire burning in the grate. Presently the table began to move, and then to tilt up on two legs. Dad said: "Now what do we do?" Court replied that it was customary to repeat the letters of the alphabet, and that the table would stop on the wanted letters. In a few short minutes this was signaled: "READ PLATO BOOK X ALLEGORY VERY TRUE READ LODGE TRUST HIS RELIGIOUS SENSE MYERS HERE." Nobody knew anything of Plato except Mr Court, who thought there was an allegory in Book X, but wasn't sure. We knew that Lodge and Myers were in the forefront of the British investigators. This strange communication really grabbed my father's interest. But he was much too busy to do any investigating then. It was my mother who thought that little Mrs Poole might have some undeveloped psychic ability; and so she arranged for weekly hour-long periods - just the two ladies. For nearly six months, nothing unusual happened. Then one night the table upended on two legs, and Mother couldn't push it back to the floor. Some unseen force was holding it in this tilted position. She called Dad and asked him to try ... Dad estimated that he had to exert about 50 pounds of pressure to do it ... I think mother was a very important factor. I called her the X factor ... I think that she had a genuine psychic potential. In her notes of these early Poole sittings she comments on how tired and exhausted she would feel after they had sat together for less than an hour/ 3 As we read earlier, Margaret thought that her mother had gained assistance in dealing with young Arthur's death by reading Myers' book on Human Personality. She studied it thoroughly, and commented that it was Myers' statement of his positive belief in the continuity of human personality that enabled her to face Arthur's death with great inner strength and conviction. "Of my two parents she was the stronger."14 Yet Margaret, when she was interviewed in 1980, could not agree to the idea that there was any lack in the Hamilton's Presbyterian Church experience. On the other hand, the two major clerics who held appointments in Winnipeg during this time both participated in the sittings with Mrs Poole. Dr McLachlan and Dr Freeman attended many of the early sittings. Margaret Bach was firm in her belief that her father was a "scientist seeking knowledge of these mysterious forces.

186

Anatomy of a Seance

He was not yet ready to accept the possible implications that lay behind the demonstrations of these forces. Not until 1930 or '31 did he even begin to consider the spiritistic hypothesis as being the only one that would satisfactorily explain all the happenings that we were ultimately to witness."15 Margaret Hamilton Bach describes a typical seance with Mrs Poole: We were encouraged through these communications to maintain a pleasant atmosphere, one of warmth and affection and not too much expectancy. If you became too expectant, you became a bit high-strung and nervous, and this very quality of nervousness inhibited rather than helped the production of these manifestations. So we went in, and to begin each session we'd sing a couple of well known and loved hymns, such as "Unto the Hills" and "Lead Kindly Light." The singing helped to create an atmosphere of gentle quiet, peace, conducive of calm. Sometimes an amusing message would be tapped out by means of raps on the table, and then we would have a quiet little chuckle. The behavior was natural and normal, what you would expect with a group of interesting friends chatting about something in the living room.16 In 192.3, after the first part of the seance had been given over to table movements, Mrs Poole took on the trance state. She was almost illiterate; yet in the trance-state she would see pictures projected on the blank wall of her mind. Then her hand would be activated by some unknown power, and would write in a blind sort of fashion. We kept a clipboard and numbered sheets of foolscap and pencils ready for these communications. The details of her "pictures" and the details revealed in the writings pertained to the lives and writings of two main communicators, one claiming to be Robert Louis Stevenson, the other David Livingston. But interpolated into these writings were answers to questions my father put to these unseen intelligences. He asked "Why are you doing this? Why are you giving us these manifestations? The answers "To enlighten you" ... "In the interests of humanity" ... "To show that there is no death." These were written in the complete darkness of the seance room, since white light was found to be destructive to the creation of this mysterious force, and we did not know what had been written until the seance was concluded, and the dim red light turned on to let the group members leave the room/ 7 The Hamilton group conducted 388 seances with Elizabeth M between the years 192.3 to 192.7. During these seances, the R.L. Stevenson entity manifested 470 times, the David Livingstone entity came through on 218 occasions, W.T. Stead manifested 2,12, times, while Camille Flammarion came through on 77 occasions.18 Hamilton spent a good deal of time classifying the nature of Elizabeth's trance, isolating four fundamental stages. In the first stage, the medium moved from

Glen Hamilton

187

normal consciousness towards the initial onset of trance. Once the shift to a trance state began, it took about another four or five minutes for the medium to sink to the depths of a full trance state. During this pre-trance period the medium experienced an excitement period due to "various parathesias such as a sense of electrification of the hair, or a cobwebby sensation of the face. She objectifies these sensations and tries to remove them by blowing with the mouth and making brushing movements with her hands." As she slipped deeper into trance, clairvoyance and clairaudience manifested and initial visual and auditory awareness of spirit entities occurred. The entities tried to get the medium's attention. At this point, the seance was able to proceed. The medium was now experiencing "psycho-motor retardation," with a cessation of movement of her limbs. Arms and legs "take on a waxy flexibility or a cataleptic rigidity." Elizabeth lost all control over her muscles and had to be supported in her chair. "Her skin is found to be anaesthetic, pulse and respiration are below normal."19 Now in full deep trance, Elizabeth became the medium for the trance personalities and visions. She experienced "motor automatism," or automatic writing. In the early months this phenomenon saw her hand slapping while she called out letters of the alphabet. Later, her hand produced writing on paper, and on occasion she used trance-speech. The third stage in the process saw Elizabeth move up towards consciousness, stopping just short of full awareness. This reversed the earlier states she had experienced going into trance. In the post-trance state "she describes the vision which she has seen during her trance sleep ... Once the medium has related her experiences she quickly returns to full consciousness and in a short time completely forgets her trance memories ... Complete amnesia was always found in connection with the automatism and this indicates that the medium has very completely blocked off from normal sense perception during the depths of her trance because the automatisms and in particular the hand slapping - were extremely vigorous."20 It was Hamilton's belief that the trance state was very similar to a hypnotic state, a view shared by Dr John King, as discussed in chapter 5. Working from this belief in hypnosis, Hamilton suggested a theory that viewed the psychic entity as akin to the hypnotist placing the medium in trance so that she could "telepathically receive and reproduce the ideas of the communicator."21 W.T. Stead was the first entity to manifest through the mediumship of Elizabeth M. His first visit was on n September 192.1, when he communicated through raps. His visits to the group became more focused in July of 192,6, when "he began to assume the role of teacher, giving many and varied instructions regarding the 'work.'" It was Stead

188

Anatomy of a Seance

who "appeared to be greatly interested in 'spirit' photographs, and to this end, acting under the control's guidance, several months were passed in experimentation in the fall of 1926. We failed however, the camera plates gave no indication of influence either from internal or external causes. The matter was abandoned."" Elizabeth M. generated a good deal of telekinetic phenomena that was focused upon the movement of a twelve-and-a-half pound table. Among those who witnessed the antics of this piece of furniture was Mr J. Malcolm Bird, who had for a time edited the Scientific American, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who described his seance with the Hamiltons in his book Our Second American Adventure: The circle, which contained ten persons, including my wife and myself, placed their hands, or one hand, each upon a small table, part of which was illuminated by phosphorous, so as to give some light. It was violently agitated and this process was described as 'charging it.' It was then pushed into a small cabinet with an opening in front. Out the table came clattering again entirely on its own, with no sitter touching it. I stood by the slit in the curtain in subdued red light and I watched the table within. One moment it was quiescent. A moment later it was like a restless dog in a kennel, springing, tossing, beating up against the supports and finally bounding out with a velocity which caused me to get quickly out of the way.2-3 Margaret Bach summarized the work done between 192.3 and 1928: From April 1923 to December 1928 there were 1,210 separate trance periods. Sixteen minor trance controls claimed to be deceased relatives or persons known locally. Four major controls claimed to be persons of fame: Robert Louis Stevensone, the distinguished Scottish man of letters; David Livingston, the noted missionary-explorer; W.T. Stead, English editor and psychic investigator; Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and investigator of psychic events. In late 1928 appeared a fifth, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Baptist clergyman and evangelist. It must be emphasized here that no one in the experimental group had any prior knowledge of those claiming to communicate; no one was interested in any one of these communicators; no one was a student of Stevenson's literary works; no one adhered to the Baptist communion; we knew only such facts of Livingston's African explorations as were common public knowledge.24 The 470 transmissions from the R.L. Stevenson entity were carefully analysed by the Hamiltons. Each transmission "consisted of two parts - the vision and the script."25 Mrs Poole transmitted the script by

Glen Hamilton

189

pounding with her hand on letters. This text was followed by a description of a visual image, which Mrs Poole received in the form of a "pantomime" illustrating the message of the text with references to Stevenson's past or to his literary work. The entity directed both the transmission of the text and the generation of the vision. In the pantomime, there was what Hamilton referred to as "a puppet which was the image of himself as a young boy or as a child. "z6 On some occasions, this puppet represented not Stevenson the author but a character in one of his poems or novels, such as Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island. The medium apparently could not distinguish between puppets that were Stevenson himself and those that were creative constructs: "The medium herself was like a volitionless observer at these subtle playlets but in many cases the scene seems to have been very real to her and she seemed to share in the emotion of the situation."27 The pantomimes were subtle in construction, exhibiting "humour, irony, a play on words (charades), and other forms of vision-craft." Over the more than four hundred seances there was no duplication of scene unless the transmitted text was different. It was the belief of the sitters that the spirit was "an intelligent and consciously planning entity of some sort, aware of the past of R.L. Stevenson and himself possessing a decidedly literary outlook."18 All of the Stevenson biographical and literary references given in the scripts and visions were tracked down by the group. Some were easily located and explicated: one reference took two years to locate/9 The entity styling itself David Livingstone made its first appearance in 192.5, after Elizabeth Poole's mediumship was well established. The two hundred or so transmissions followed the same pattern established with R.L. Stevenson, but the material received was more mundane and "lacked the poetical and artistic garnishings which characterized the Stevenson work." Both the Stevenson and the Livingstone entities could come through in a single seance, which led the Hamilton group to feel that "the assumption that the two trance personalities and the medium were three separate psychological entities" was strengthened.30 W.T. Stead's entity played a facilitating role during the Stevenson/ Livingstone seances. Seldom giving much in the way of biographical information, Stead took responsibility for setting up the project. He "shaped the general policies by which these alleged discarnates attempted to demonstrate their reality. He it was who requested Stevenson and Livingstone to present their memories in such a way that they would indicate the continuance of human personality."31 This entity gave advice on how to operate the seances and it was he who, when Mary M. began to produce teleplasmic phenomena, advised the group to shift the seance work to that area with the blessing of the Stevenson

190

Anatomy of a Seance

and Livingstone entities, since there might be a way to record, measure, and identify the processes. In later work, Hamilton made use of Mrs Mary Marshall, who was invited to join the group in 192.5 because it was "suspected that she had psychic faculties worth investigating." Her attendance was limited to "ten or twelve" visits over the next three years. In January 1928, she became a regular member and her mediumship became significant to the group.31 Mrs Marshall is referred to as Mary M. in Hamilton's various publications. With her arrival, the Poole work took second place to materializations. Mary M. worked in tandem with a guide called "Walter," who was certainly one of Canada's most intriguing spirits. Margaret Bach described this most unruly entity: He is the master mind behind the 1928-1934 experiments with the medium Mary M. whose talents, combined with those of Mrs Poole, gave rise to a group mediumship. Their psychic abilities united in some way we did not understand to produce the amazing manifestations of materializations, the Shining Garment, and the hair and the veil that are in the photographs of the files for 1932-33. Later on Walter was the Driving force which resulted in the production of a miniature teleplasmic likeness of my father's face, in 1939. Only my mother, Mrs Marshall, and three close friends were present when that happened.33

"Walter" claimed to have been Walter Stinson, the brother of Margery Crandon of Boston. He had been killed in a train accident but had returned to act as Margery's spirit guide. This sharing of spirit guides was not uncommon: we may recall that Dr John King, in Toronto, had received messages from "Dr Sharp," Etta Wriedt's spirit guide, while she was visiting England. Hamilton had established a relationship with Margery and her husband, Dr L.R.G. Crandon, who was professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School. The two doctors would eventually exchange correspondence and visit each other. Correspondence was about teleplasm.34 In July of 192.0, it appears that Dr and Mrs Bruce Chown from the Hamilton group traveled to Boston to meet the Crandons bearing a letter of introduction from Glen Hamilton.35 The two groups discussed a joint venture in cross-referencing seances in Boston, Winnipeg, and London, which will be discussed in the next chapter. In 1930, "Walter" was active in the Winnipeg seances but Glen Hamilton was still not willing to claim that there was scientific proof verifying the control's claim to be Margery's brother. However, in his own mind he seems to believe this was indeed the case: "I am bound to admit that our Winnipeg Walter resembles in many ways, in

Glen Hamilton

191

character, vocabulary, in mannerisms, methods of work and types of phenomena produced, the Boston Walter as I know him through being present at various Margery seances: eight in 192.5, three in 192.6, and four in i9z8. He also displays some differences from the MargeryWalter personality."36 There is no question that Walter was a spirit with both personality and attitude: H.A.V. Green, one of the regular sitters with the Hamiltons, describes Walter's creation of nicknames for members in the group: Presumably for a reason of his own, "Walter" bestowed nicknames on each of the group. Dr T.G. Hamilton was always "Old Ham," Dr James A. Hamilton became "Hamish," mispronounced as "Ham-ish," Elizabeth M. became "Ellen" or when "Walter" was in romantic humour, "Ellen of the Rosebuds," Mary M. was "Dawn" and Susan M. "Mercedes." One of the men "Walter" called "Suntan," another "Victor" and a third "Ewan," pronounced "E-wan." The reasons, if any, for some of these names have never been clear.37

The use of pet names for sitters had occurred in the "twentieth plane" seances of Albert Durrant Watson discussed in chapter 6. As we saw then, such naming confers significance on the sitter and in turn gives the spirit guide authority by having the power to confer names. The Marshall seances could be more disconcerting than the earlier ones. On two occasions Mrs Marshall, while in the trance state, was invaded by what was viewed as an evil influence. The entities who were in charge were concerned, saying "'Bring Mrs Marshall out of her trance immediately and leave your room quickly and do not turn on the light yet, just the red light.' Like an insane person who has a bad epileptic seizure, she became very violent and physically almost uncontrollable. You could sense the evil. It took three men to subdue her." 38 The physical phenomena chosen for study was ectoplasm, or as Hamilton called it, teleplasm, which showed for the first time in August 19x8. Ectoplasm is defined in the Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science as follows: "(from the Greek ektos and plasma: exteriorized substance). A mysterious protoplasmic substance streaming out of the body of mediums by the manipulation of which, either by the subconscious self or by discarnate intelligences, phenomena of a super-physical order, including partial and complete materializations, are produced." 39 In esoteric lore, references to this mysterious material go back to about i63O.4° By focusing upon ectoplasm, or teleplasm, the Hamilton group joined a small group of educated researchers including people like Professor Charles Richet, Madam Bisson, Dr Baron Von SchrenckNotzing, Dr Gustave Geley, and Dr W.J. Crawford.

192.

Anatomy of a Seance

Charles Richet's research was conducted in Algiers in 1905 and 1906 with the medium Eva C. Ectoplasm forming in Eva's presence could manifest as formless or take on the shape of ringers, hands, or faces. Around 1910, Eva C. moved to Paris, where Schrenck-Notzing and Madam Bisson continued to pursue the phenomena. They added the use of flash photography to record the ectoplasm and in so doing confirmed Richet's work. In 1915, Dr W.J. Crawford, working in Belfast, joined the quest to photograph ectoplasm and released his photographs of the substance on the person of a young girl medium. Dr Gustave Geley, who was director of the Paris Metaphysic Institute and a practicing psychologist, worked with Eva C. with positive results. In 192.0 Geley transferred his experimentation to Franck Kluski, a Polish medium. In North America, Dr Crandon of Boston, working with Dr Mark Richardson, was able to record teleplasmic phenomena through the agency of his wife, Margery. In Canada, Dr William Creighton of Winnipeg photographed "a strange mass falling from the mouth of the entranced medium - a Mrs Y" on 2,0 March 19x7 with six sitters pfesent. He used three cameras, which were tripped simultaneously.41 In selecting his area of research, Hamilton was following the lead of well-respected European researchers. He had found a niche for himself that was about as safe as any psychic topic could be. As a byproduct of the seance, ectoplasm was a less controversial focus for research than was proving life after death. His methodology began with the selection of photographic film as his recording medium. A bank of cameras was used to photograph seances. Most used 5 X 7 plates. Two were capable of producing three-dimensional or "stereoscopic" prints. One had a wide angle lens and another used a quartz lens. Light was produced by both magnesium flash powder and later by flashbulb. The seance room on the second floor of the Hamilton's house continued to be a site for the seances. Cameras were set up, and the room was equipped with chairs, a table, and a red ceiling light. The room remained locked between experiments. "Fortunately my father had a great deal of mechanical skill, he was an excellent amateur photographer, with his own dark room, where he did all his own developing, enlarging and printing. Everything was under his control."42 The seances themselves revealed an interesting stereotypical pattern in their content and operation. Regardless of the fact that Hamilton did an excellent job of establishing physical controls over the actual event, what went on inside the seance room imitated seances held in

Glen Hamilton

193

dozens of other places without such strict controls. Ultimately, of course, there is an element of absurdity about a seance, and the Hamilton sessions reflect this absurdity as much as any. Walter, the controlling spirit guide, preferred the song "Jingle Bells" to the hymns usually sung at seances. When the psychic energy was waning, Walter would demand that the group sing loudly. The visual image of these illustrious citizens of Winnipeg singing "Jingle Bells" at the top of their voices in the middle of a hot summer day to keep the forces of good strong against the evil spirits striving to disrupt the seance does have a strong element of the grotesque about it. At the same time, the fact that such eminent figures would submit to such a bullying from a disincarnate spirit does indicate a level of solid belief in what was happening. Initially, Hamilton tried to establish control over the nature of his experiments in the seance room, ignoring the spirit guides who manifested. Cameras were fired at random periods in an attempt to capture the illusive teleplasm on film. The random process did not produce results. Hamilton then faulted his own scientific control over his work by teaming up with Walter, who proceeded to design and run the experiments from the other side. Walter was a pushy spirit, demanding that his sitters follow his instructions to the letter. The seance note for 4 June 1928 provides an example of Walter in action: Mrs Marshall remarks that both Black Hawk and Walter are present. Group sings. The bell gives a jingle. MM, in trance, becomes violently upset, makes fighting movements and gasps out: "Upset all my work! Upset all my work! He did! That Indian devil! Send him away!" He gasps again, less violently but still under stress of great emotion: "My work! oh, my work!" TGH: "Who did it, Walter?" W-MM: "Scareface. He laughed, the devil! the devil! ... he has gone!" We have some conversation with Stead & Black Hawk regarding the accident, and the sitting closes.43

The passage indicates that from the first attempt to photograph psychic phenomena, Walter was running the show. The phenomena of ectoplasm, which could only be seen in photographs, rarely manifested in popular spiritualist circles and offered little to the average sitter. Jenny Pincock's St Catharines circle acknowledged the importance of ectoplasm in their seances with William Cartheuser, but there is no record of them actually viewing the substance.

194

Anatomy of a Seance

In Intention and Survival, Hamilton reviewed the significant body of data available on ectoplasm: It is known that it issues mainly from the medium's eyes, ears, nose and mouth; that in its initial state it may either be vaporous or solid; that the former usually quickly condenses to form the latter which can take on various aspects: some may be quite amorphous or shapeless, some may show a semi-organization which is purposive - for example, pseudopods which form hand simulacra capable of picking up objects; and still others may show a progressive differentiation until they appear as niature biological faces, fingers and hands."44

The case for keeping the focus of the investigation carefully within scientific boundaries was enhanced by the fact that ectoplasm was a substance of some kind; however, the circumstances under which this substance materialized raised problems. Ectoplasm was best produced in complete darkness; it disintegrated when exposed to light. This of course gave the medium ample scope for fraudulent behaviour. However, this difficulty was to some degree alleviated by the discovery made by Richet, Geley, and Crandon in turn that red light did not affect the material. Furthermore, the light produced by photographic flash did not disrupt the material, and thus the camera could be used to capture permanent images of the substance. One central concern that kept this research from achieving true scientific status remained. Ecotoplasm was generated by mediums in trance who were under the direct control of spirit guides, that is, entities who claimed to be the personalities of individuals who had survived death. The experiments were designed and executed not by the researchers but by the spirit control. As Hamilton noted, such a situation "makes the whole enquiry particularly distasteful to many."45 While Hamilton was without a doubt Canada's most famous psychic researcher, he was not unique in his desire to explore scientifically the question of human survival of death. However, like almost all psychic researchers, his objectivity was at least questionable on a few counts. One of the most fundamental issues lies with his perception of spirit forces as either good or evil. That such a perception was ingrained in the good Presbyterian Scot is clear from comments made by his daughter as she recalled his early work in 1918. He and his minister at King Memorial Church, the Rev. D.N. McLachlan, were experimenting with mental telepathy.46 Margaret Bach describes what happened: One night when father was busy planning a phrase to transmit to Rev. McLachlan's mind, suddenly his own mind was impregnated with a voice

Glen Hamilton

195

which said "Your work will be known to the outermost ends of the world, and your wife will be greatly favoured among women because she will be your chief assistant." This so alarmed my father that he became emotionally upset. He had a very strong nervous reaction; he literally thought it was the work of the devil. He took ill for three days, thinking that he was being invaded by an evil entity of some kind. Both he and Rev. McLachlan were very upset.48 His bias for data from "good" spirits and fear of "bad" spirits underlines his comments on the selection of spirit guides or "controls": I have already on various occasions committed myself to the statement that the only explanation satisfactory for psychical phenomena is "survival," and if this is true it is equally true that survival of evil as well as good is proven and in this work we find contacts with evil are readily made. In fact, one has to be constantly on guard against evil and for good just as in everyday life. One has to choose the company he keeps and cultivates ... In research work, therefore, one should exercise the greatest care to choose only and to tolerate only such controls as are desirable, and to oppose as resolutely and watchfully the undesirable.48 In terms of science, selecting data on criteria of "goodness" or "badness" as defined in Christian terms certainly biases the results. Psychic researchers had all accepted the existence of genuine phenomena that could not be explained, and they also agreed that the only way to seek understanding was through scientific methods. Two general avenues of thought existed: one was to view the phenomena as biological, that is, while it was supernormal, it was in some way connected with the powers of the medium; the second was that the phenomena was a result of influence from entities who had survived death. Neither explanation met with much support in the broader community. Hamilton knew that he was risking his reputation by participating in such research: It is a matter of deep pride with me that my own researches have not suffered from such indignities largely because many of my medical colleagues have accepted my experiments as attempts to get at the truth by genuinely experimental methods, regardless of the somewhat unusual nature of these things. It was no small occasion in my life when I first spoke of my earlier work to the Winnipeg Medical Society in 192.6. I did not know whether or not I would have a shred of professional prestige left when I was through. As matters turned out my audience on that occasion doubted neither my sanity nor my sincerity and listened with tolerance and well-balanced skepticism.49

196

Anatomy of a Seance

Ultimately, Hamilton accepted the "spiritistic hypothesis." In the conclusion to Intention and Survival the editor, J.D. Hamilton, speaks about the inevitable clash between science and religion. He acknowledges the fact that Dr Hamilton's research ultimately was conducted within the belief "that psychic fields are self-determinant and shape their own ends."50 In other words, no serious study of the paranormal can take place without the co-operation of spirit entities. Hamilton was willing to accept the fact that this situation does force the experimenter into the position of a technician rather than a scientist who has full control of his field of operations. It is true, too, that he must accept the almost inevitable semi-religious tone and practices which the trance intelligences adopt. But what matter? The results achieved by co-operation with the trance entities enormously outweigh the disadvantages of having to introduce, perhaps, the semi-religious practice of hymn-singing and having to accept upon occasion, some trance personalities who give a definite religious bias to their statements regarding their own state of existence. To those who are not interested in the religious upshot of the inquiry, these matters can be politely and diplomatically ignored."51

Hamilton's mixing of religion and science echoes the work of Thomas McCulloch discussed in chapter i. McCulloch, the staunch Presbyterian theologian/scientist who accepted Calvinistic regeneration as the ultimate form of revelation, saw science as the handmaiden of religion. The nineteenth-century concept of science as analogy revealing God's divine pattern to the unregenerated citizens of Nova Scotia allowed McCulloch to pursue his scientific inquiry because he avowed that whenever science contradicted God's word, science was always wrong. McCulloch's career indicates that the lure of science often clouded the orthodox religious vision of this astute cleric. Refusing to acknowledge the contradictions between religion and science may well be the Presbyterian disease. Hamilton, always the practicing Presbyterian, accepted the fact that no scientific evidence could truly be found to support the theory of human survival of death; however, he continued to work with psychic phenomena within the scientific model. In practical terms, this meant that his public face was scientific while his private life accepted on faith the existence of spirit return. Like McCulloch, however, he did not come to grips with the inherent contradictions existing between religious dogma and scientific method. In the next chapter, we follow the Hamiltons and their friends into the realm of international psychic research.

II

Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates Glen Hamilton was undoubtedly Canada's best-known psychic explorer. His status within his community, coupled with his careful avoidance of any public controversy, made his work popular not only in Canada but also in Europe and the United States. Among the famous people who became aware of Hamilton's work was Arthur Conan Doyle's widow, Jean, who wrote to the group's medium, Mary Marshall, on 21 November 1932 telling her that the group was "doing splendid work" and expressing her wish that she "could have a sitting" with them.1 CROSS-REFERENCED SEANCES

Hamilton's international reputation led to other contacts with people interested in psychic research. In one such joint venture just before Hamilton's death in 1935, the Winnipeg group seems to have worked with Ivan Cook and his wife, Grace, a medium and trance lecturer in England, on a two-way test of spirit communication. The British psychic researcher Nandor Fodor also got involved in the management of this series of seances.2" No single and complete record has been found to explain how these experiments in cross-referencing were accomplished. The following inconclusive description has been pieced together from incomplete correspondence that was either guarded in tone or assumed prior knowledge of what had been planned. The most coherent report of the origin of the cross-referenced seances is provided by Ivan Cook in a letter written to Nandor Fodor on 26 March 1935, where he describes a startling event that had happened two years before. Fodor had written to Cook, apparently asking for a statement "that outside possibly what was printed in the

198

Anatomy of a Seance

psychic press you had no knowledge, either by correspondence with someone in Canada, or talks with someone here who had been in such correspondence, of the affairs of the Hamilton circle (this for the record."3 Ivan Cook responded: On receipt of your letter of last week asking for confirmation of the fact that we had no recent contact with the Glen Hamilton Circle (which letter crossed mine containing this confirmation) I think it advisable to tell you exactly how this cross-correspondence arose, and give fuller details than my [first] letter contained. The matter commenced as follows: shortly after the conclusion of the series of messages from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which were subsequently published in December 1935, Sir Arthur manifested in a Circle at Burstow and gave a communication which puzzled us, a series of details which concerned the happenings at a circle unknown. As the name of the town of Winnipeg was mentioned on the chance that the group might be the Hamilton Group this message was sent there, and brought a letter in reply stating that the message proved "the most amazingly successful cross-correspondence test of his (Dr Hamilton's) experience." This message was received on March roth, 1933, and the important point about is that it was inspired and commenced from the other side by Sir Arthur - that the conception and initiation of the work was due to the beyond and not to any human agency. And that this work was in pursuance and fulfillment of a pledge of Sir Arthur's to give ample proof of his connection with the group which received the messages published in "THY KINGDOM COME" as well as with the Hamilton Group, which had then recently obtained a remarkable picture of Sir Arthur. (It now remains to be seen how closely he can establish his present connection with both groups during the present series of messages.) How to detail how slight was the contact at this time between Dr Hamilton and the medium. During Dr Hamilton's visit to London in 1932, he had a sitting with this medium, she unaware of the identity of her sitter until after the sitting, and no conversation taking place about the work at Winnipeg. She and I subsequently met Dr Hamilton at the Crotian Hall for a few minutes before his return home. No other contact of any sort took place previous to the reception of the message of March roth, 1933. A week or two later another message was received apparently concerning a Mr Hayward, who had been associated with the work in Winnipeg. This was posted, but Mr Hayward's reply went astray, and when I wrote again Mr Hayward could not recall the contents of his letter. We had no further communication with Dr Hayward until Armistice Day 1934, when we met him for a few minutes at a public gathering, but did not discuss anything in connection with Dr Hamilton or the work at Winnipeg. So much for Mr Hayward's connection with the matter.

Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates

199

In July 1934, two members of Dr Hamilton's Group came to London. At Dr Hamilton's suggestion we met them for a few minutes at the M.S.A. one night following a trance address. The conversation was purely general, both parties refraining from any discussion which might prejudice further crosscorrespondences. As you know, the less the medium knows the easier it is for matter to come through unprejudiced. The foregoing outlines all our connection with the work of the Hamilton Group. As I told you in a former letter we rarely read the psychic press so are unaware of any contributions of Dr Hamilton's to its literature. Our main interest in this cross-correspondence is that it gives Sir Arthur the opportunity to fulfill his pledge. Those in the beyond have laboured for a very long time to build up again the requisite conditions for the continuation of this cross-correspondence, and we are glad at last to be able to cooperate. There is no reason why other sittings for this purpose should not be held and so obtain irrefutable proof. I trust this long recital has not proved wearisome. It seems necessary to put you in possession of the full facts of the case, and perhaps it would be well to send a copy of this letter to Dr Hamilton so that he also can check dates and other details. With thanks for your cooperation, and best wishes.4

This simultaneous appearance by Conan Doyle seems to have inspired Hamilton and the Cooks to try to replicate the experience, and it seems to have worked two years later, on iz February 1935. The notes of the 12, February 1935 sittings have survived in the Archives of the British Association for Psychic Research. These minutes record that an entity styling itself as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made contact in seances held simultaneously at Burstow Manor, Horley, and at the Hamilton seance room in Winnipeg. Nandor Fodor was one of seven sitters with Grace Cook serving as medium. A number of cross references struck the Hamiltons as significant. Point 12. reports Grace Cook as saying that "there has been a certain amount of disappointment through Victor but they will find it was all for the best." The Hamiltons' commentary on this rather vague statement is to see it as "an excellent summing up of an unusual situation - couldn't be better - a splendid piece of cross evidence. (So precise is the supernormal knowledge displayed here of a personal and delicate situation that in the event of your making this public I would like to ask that you replace the name Victor by the name Andrew."5 Glen Hamilton wrote to Fodor on 5 March, expressing delight in the seance of 12 February. He told Fodor that a full set of notes on the 12. February seance would be sent by mail and agreed to cooperate with seances on the i4th and zoth of March, to be held at 3pm.6 A

200

Anatomy of a Seance

second letter sent four days later was also positive, saying that "taken all together it is to us a very impressive performance indeed - and the evidence is still coming in (at sittings subsequent to that of the i2.th) of which I shall inform you later."7 In January 1935, Dr Hamilton had contracted a serious case of influenza that stressed his heart.8 By i April, he had suffered a severe heart attack, which was reported to Nandor Fodor in a letter written by Mrs Hamilton. She told the English researcher that her husband was "making splendid progress toward regaining, if not full health, partial health which we hope will enable him to resume his consultation practice at least. In the meantime he is beginning to look forward to having more time perhaps to devote to writing and correspondence, regarding the subject we are both so interested in, namely, the scientific aspect of psychical research and its bearing on the question of survival." Lillian explained that there had been little or no interaction with anyone in England. It was also reported that "Our mediums too are 'in the dark' [with regard to the cross-referenced seances]. We tell them nothing either in regard to what they say when in trance or what you have reported to us. All they have to go on is what they may see clairvoyantly, when normal or near normal, or what they may 'sense,' subconsciously and remember dimly when awake. The less mediums know the more conclusive the results we find. It has been a most interesting series of experiments and when the 'grain' is all sifted will, I think, prove to be valuable from many angles."9 Unfortunately Fodor was less impressed with the results of the test seances. On i April he, too, was writing a letter, back to the Hamiltons about the 14 March seances, having apparently received the notes that revealed the extent of cross references. What he says about this sitting is largely true of the earlier izth February session as well: I am disappointed with your notes of the March i4th sitting. The whole experiment seems to be one-sided, the medium getting information about your circle but unable to convey things from this side. I am afraid that this weakens the case considerably. How can we answer the objection that someone acquainted with your circle is in correspondence with the Medium? It appears that the revelations do not concern simultaneous happenings at all. At best, one could only plead for the medium's clairvoyance, or telepathic faculties in getting in touch with your circle. And a failure on the part of your mediums to do the same. From the Perriman experiment I expect nothing. In confidence, I am not convinced that her controls are independent entities. It would be a great surprise to me if the message sent through her would get through. The only thing to do seems to go on if the Cooke's are willing and see if something simultaneous may not be forthcoming.10

Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates

201

Lillian wrote again to Fodor on 6 April. She and her husband had been going over notes sent to them from England. There apparently had been a simultaneous sitting with Mrs Cook in England scheduled for 2.0 February that was canceled because of the medium being ill. Norman, a medium in the Hamilton circle, had sensed that there had been problems with the sitting in England. In fact so strong were Norman's impressions on February lyth that Mrs Cook was not well, and that there would be some interference with the sitting of Feb. zoth, that he carried the impression over into normal consciousness and spoke of the possibility frequently. Whether there was anything in this of course we could not guess and as you know we went ahead with the sitting as if no such prediction had been made. Then when Mercedes' control claimed to see Mrs Cook, alone sitting, we felt surely that someone had blundered. We had not dared to expect that it would all unfold so splendidly as it has. Excepting on this one point, Mrs Cook's indisposition, our mediums and sitters are still ignorant of what is going on with you.

This letter ends with the comment that "Dr Hamilton is still improving and will himself write you in a few days regarding your proposed plan of publication."11 In fact Glen Hamilton died the next day, 7 April 1935. His death appears to have ended any further experimentation with the English circle. The Hamilton family occupied a position of status and respectability in Winnipeg and beyond, and it is clear that Glen Hamilton feared that his decision to conduct psychic research could have a detrimental impact on his professional and private life. Thus, throughout his career and in the years after his death, the family has been consistent in maintaining the belief that his "investigations were of a purely scientific character. " IZ Dr W.T. Allison is quoted as saying that "Dr Hamilton was not a spiritualist. He did not even like to be called a spiritualist. He was a loyal member of the Christian Church."13 His daughter wrote in a similar vein about her father: "Here was a man of integrity and honesty, known and trusted, who served his city in many capacities, who had displayed sound judgment and scientific acumen. Once he had entered upon this hazardous undertaking, his staunch personal courage had enabled him to brave the storms of adverse criticism and incredulity which had arisen at first in some uninformed quarters. Before his proven honesty in public service, before his demonstrated scientific ability and professional standing, prejudice and disbelief broke down."14 When Hamilton addressed the British Medical Association, which met in Winnipeg from the 26th to the 29th of August 1930, he was very careful to set out his scientific objectives for the 408 delegates who attended a luncheon at which he spoke:

2-oz

Anatomy of a Seance

Why did we enter on these researches? We were not impelled by any motives of sentiment; we were not stimulated by religious beliefs derived from any sect whatsoever; rather, the dominant impulse was one of intense and compelling curiosity to know the facts of psychical manifestations from one's self. To satisfy this urge in a scientific manner, only those results could be considered that might be observed under as "watertight" conditions as possible. To this end, the scientific method has been applied throughout; rigorous control, repeated observations and experiments, and accurate full records, which include both verbatim notes and photographs.15

This persistent restatement of commitment to scientific inquiry made by Hamilton and his family was effective as is evidenced by tributes made after his death. Stanley deBrath, editor of the British Psychic Science Quarterly, stated that Hamilton's "researches were characterized by exceptional scientific ability and most careful elimination of all possibilities of error ... His work in psychic research will endure. It was so thorough and scientific in its method that it must remain a standard work in the records." F. Bligh Bond, editor with the American Society for Psychic Research, saw Hamilton as a doctor "demonstrating the truth as to the reality of psychical phenomena with entire disregard of any self-interested motive."16 It is clear from the record that psychic phenomena occurred in the Hamilton laboratory. It is also clear that Hamilton and his group took every precaution to insure that these phenomena were not the result of fraudulent behaviour. In the final analysis, however, there was no scientific explanation forthcoming to account for the phenomena. The repeatable experiment so essential to the establishment of a theory of science was never achieved. In addition, once Hamilton went public about his research it was difficult to keep his mediums exclusive to his work. He wrote to Dr Crandon in Boston about his problem in January 1933Our work in Winnipeg is still at odds and ends partly through the intrusion of parties who have over-balanced our group and apparently made successes almost impossible from the photographic standpoint and partly because we have been worried since some of our popular addresses have "violently interested" certain parties and they have attempted to buy and to coerce mediumistic members in our group into sittings of their own. This has resulted in fatiguing mediums and contaminating them by contacts outside and has also created somewhat of disruption and unrest which is very hard to overcome since we are not as free to deal with and to control the actions of people in the manner you are so fortunately able to do, to say nothing of the splendid co-operation you otherwise enjoy.

Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates

203

We have, nevertheless, six or seven mediums of the deep trance type who have done marvelous work and to whom we look for splendid co-operation in the future. If we could but get our members reduced without creating hard feelings.17

However, despite this difficulty, Hamilton did accept the hypothesis of human survival after death. It would appear that, in the final instance, he demonstrated the same personal need to know about death that was found in the more subjective spiritualists who formed churches rather than scientific laboratories. Both effectively worked from a dogmatic acceptance of the reality of the phenomena they experienced. In his chapter in Intention and Survival on "The Spiritistic Hypothesis" Hamilton states that "admitting first the reality of the phenomena there is little difficulty in placing it into its correct setting."18 The second edition of the book, edited by his daughter, makes this acceptance more emphatic: "We admit the reality of the phenomena. Once this is accepted, there is little difficulty in placing them in their correct setting."19 Hamilton provides the logical progression by which his group has established an hypothesis to explain the "spiritistic" origins of teleplasm: The burden of the argument for the spiritistic hypothesis will take the following lines: It will first be shown that psychical phenomena of teleplasm must be considered as being psychological rather than biological. Secondly, it will be demonstrated that the trance personalities had the characteristics of conscious and rational intelligences. The single assumption that all rational intelligence must be predicated on learning and experience will be made. If the understanding which the trance personalities had of teleplasm exceeds that of any known living intelligence, then it follows that the trance intelligence could not have arisen from a living agency. It is therefore necessary to postulate a non-living intelligence. This is the spiritistic hypothesis.10 THE SMALL GROUP

In addition to the formal, research-focused seances, the Hamiltons conducted another set of seances referred to as "the small group."21 The medium for these events was John McDonald. The group ran weekly from 1929 until 1935 and was very much a Hamilton family group with Mrs Hamilton and their daughter Margaret as key members. McDonald was a medium who did not go into deep trance: "I seemed to stand aside. I felt as if I were hearing and seeing from the far end of a tunnel. I could hear myself speaking, but I had no control over what I said."" The medium delivered spoken messages from

204

Anatomy of a Seance

Robert Louis Stevenson, Sterge (Claude Debussy) and others. There was considerable cross referencing to material received in the "large" group. References are also found to the work of Dr Crandon in Boston and to groups working in England. Arthur Hamilton, the twin boy who died at three years, came through. Other figures, like Frederick Myers and the magician Houdini, manifested. Robert Louis Stevenson provided a considerable amount of material, especially on how to write successfully. This family circle, separate from the public eye, suggests that the need to commune with the spirit world had become part of the Harmltons' lives. The Hamiltons did manage to escape serious critical attention from their community. How did they accomplish this? First of all, Hamilton's "scientific" presentations were more often than not presented to medical groups. He addressed the British Medical Association, the Canadian Medical Association, and the Manitoba Medical Association.12 His public presentations were brought to a climax on 29 February 1932 when he gave a public address at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Medical training in the period before 1910 in North America was often not "scientific" in its curriculum. Most medical historians use 1920 as the date after which scientific training became an established part of the medical curriculum. In 1908, Abraham Flexner, working for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and N.P. Cowell, representing the American Medical Association's Council on Medical Education, spent two years visiting every medical school in Canada and the U.S. Flexner's report, Medical Education in the United States and Canada (1910), established that North American medical training was substandard to European training.24 To Flexner, "scientific medicine" encompassed two concepts. One was the recognition that physics, chemistry, and biology provided the intellectual foundation of modern medicine. Physical laws, not metaphysical principles, explained the normal and abnormal workings of the human organism. The second - and more important to Flexner - was the recognition that scientific method applied to practice as well as research.25 Eleven of the physicians I have discussed thus far in this book received their medical training before 1920, most before 1910. As a result, they were more likely to be "meta-physicians" than scientific researchers. Hamilton was a doctor talking to doctors, and one wise enough not to get bogged down in the question of life after death before he had established acceptance of the photographic evidence of physical psychic phenomena. The photograph has strong persuasive powers; there is still the belief that the camera doesn't lie. Hamilton could demonstrate strict control over his cameras and over the development

Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates

zo5

of his films.26 Thus the choice of photographic evidence produced under the watchful eyes of other doctors and lawyers was persuasive. Doctors also have always been viewed with a certain awe by the general public. Their word was and is generally trusted. After Glen Hamilton's death^ a seance was held to contact his spirit. Margaret Hamilton described the event: The night of my father's funeral we had a seance in Dr Allison's study, where my father appeared. He was seen clairvoyantly by two young men. They both said he looked perfectly natural, and said he was standing behind me in front of one of the book-cases with which Dr Allison's study was lined. I left my chair and knelt before one of these young men, who seemed to be under control - in a trance state. It seemed to be my father, for suddenly he started to sob. I suppose this was an emotional reaction, because of Dad dying so suddenly - none of us expected him to die; in fact, we were told he was getting better. His death was due to a sudden heart seizure. Then the sobbing lessened, and he seemed to gain control of himself, and recover his poise. Next the young medium (presumably under my father's influence) did something which was totally evidential to me: he leaned forward and gently patted my cheek. My father was not a demonstrative person, but his feelings ran deep. He never kissed me or embraced me, but whenever I had done something good at school, or won a scholarship, or played well at a concert, he would show his approval by patting me gently on the cheek. There was a very close bond between us, and to me this gentle patting of my cheek was proof. Nobody else in that room knew of this.27

The Hamilton group continued to function for some time after Hamilton's death. W.R. Wood reported in 1937 that "the Hamilton Circle is still active ... Its 'work' is being followed up with keen interest and with very good reason to hope for results equaling the best of the days when T.G.H. was here in the flesh. Here he certainly still is in the spirit - advising, directing, consulting and planning out the successive stages, but, above all, delighting us with himself from evening to evening. "i8 In 1957, Margaret Hamilton Bach prepared a series of articles for Psychic News in England. The thirteen pieces were collected in a booklet as well as circulated to daily papers in Canada. The Toronto Star published the series in the spring of I958. 29 The series reviewed the T. Glen Hamilton work but also reported on the continuation of the group under the leadership of his wife, Lillian. This work was described as having three distinct phases: 1935 to 1941, 1942. to 1944, and a third set that overlapped the second and ran from August 1943 until April 1944. The medium continued to be Mary M. ("Dawn").

zo6

Anatomy of a Seance

Lillian's report shows more interest in the nature of the afterlife. Descriptions of the other side mirror those found in other sources such as Watson's The Twentieth Plane and Birth Through Death. Commentaries were transmitted through automatic writing. A script received on 3 April 1931, while Hamilton was still alive, indicates that there was another side of this activity that linked the proceedings more with traditional spiritualists. The message, attributed to an anonymous source, describes housing on the other side: I found a place, or perhaps better expressed, a home prepared for me. Let me try to describe it. The building was constructed of a variety of materials and covered with beautiful vines on every side. Flowers of the richest hues bloomed perpetually. The rivers and waterfalls are like crystal streams. No artist can paint or pen do justice to the glories of the spirit world. My home is in a valley of sunshine and joy.3°

The ethical teaching from the other side also duplicates those received by more traditional spiritualists. The Hamiltons were told to live a life on earth that will become the basis for life on the other side: "I have (met) many who are dissatisfied with their surroundings, and they have to admit they are just what they have earned. If you wish for happiness in the life to come, be honest, just, charitable and Christ-like in the earthly or rudimentary state of being."31 Another aspect of the afterlife is emphasized; the reunion with those who have gone before: "I awoke in the arms of my living mother and our own dear children and our friends who had made the heavenly journey before me, and oh! the joy of the meeting! If only I could describe the beauty of everything!"32 It would seem obvious that Lillian's focus was different from that of her husband. Following Glen's death in 1935, the sittings produced some interesting transmissions of poetry in Gaelic that were found to be parts of a poem published in Scotland. There was the reception of a sketch of "Jesus with supplicants," which was drawn by Mary M. in complete darkness, and other phenomena including a return by Robert Louis Stevenson. While those with clairvoyance often reported seeing Glen Hamilton in the seance room, it was not until 2,2. May 1939 that he was able to make a significant return. In that month, a teleplasm was generated under the direction of the entity Walter that showed a face quite similar in appearance to that of Hamilton. Walter was dissatisfied with the effort, claiming - as he had at other times - that the sitters had not followed directions to the letter. The likeness was close enough for Lillian, however, who called it "unmistakable." 33 Between August 1943 and April 1944, Mary M., working on her own, received a series

Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates

2,07

of transmissions signed T.G. that were felt to emanate from the spirit of Hamilton. These communications speak mostly about things on the other side. Mary M. is told to "take certain precautions to protect herself against those who press around us,"34 echoing the old Hamilton who worried about good and evil. He speaks about meeting most of the researchers whom he had admired in life but now are with him in afterlife, and describes an organization who call themselves "the Teachers." While Hamilton returned to the earth plane as a spirit, visiting the war zone (the Second World War now having commenced), he showed little interest in conducting experiments from the spirit plane. In some ways, he sounds like the old "Raymond" of Sir Oliver Lodge days in World War I: "What a difference it would make to countless thousands of bereaved persons if they could only realize that their heroic fathers, husbands, sons are no more dead than when they lived at home with them! All their interests and sympathies remain, and when they are not on the battle-fields performing deeds of mercy, they are in their former homes endeavoring to console the mourners and lift the veil which hides them from physical view."35 Interest in Hamilton's work among the general public continues. A third edition of Intention and Survival was released in 1980. Other doctors such as Albert Durrant Watson had depended upon the transmission of "mental" phenomena in the form of utterances purporting to be from famous but dead people. Tests of this material were conducted by literary or philosophical experts who debated the validity of a passage from a spirit claiming to be Plato or Coleridge. While Hamilton's commitment to survival was based on similar material from an entity called Robert Louis Stevenson, he did not make this material the central thrust of his public work. Spirit communication in the modern period still maintained its roots in an arcane tradition much older than modern science. Medicine also has its arcane roots stretching back to the shaman traditions. That doctors trained at the turn of the twentieth century should find an attraction to the occult is perhaps not surprising. By the 19305 it would be psychology that took over the scientific study of the paranormal. J.B. Rhine's experiments at Duke University would establish methodology for handling research in extrasensory perception. Interestingly enough, Rhine provided one of the few negative comments on the work of Glen Hamilton. In terms of basic scientific control, Hamilton's work was open to serious attack. He allowed concepts of good and evil to shape his data. He allowed the control of his experiments to pass over to the spirit guide within the world that was the subject of his research. This is not unlike allowing rats to design their own maze in a psychology experiment.

2.o8

Anatomy of a Seance

He ultimately could not establish the authenticity of his medium's performance and, most problematical of all, he did not produce the repeatable experiment that science requires to validate natural laws. However, despite this, his work attracted a wide range of response from well-educated people. That he practiced bad science does not remove the fundamental fact that there were phenomena occurring in the Hamilton seances. An English visitor to the Hamilton seances was Bligh Bond, the first editor of Psychic Science and after 192.6, editor of the Journal of the American Society for Psychic Research. Bond described the high drama of a Hamilton circle seance: As the guest of Dr Hamilton I had the advantage of attending several sittings at his home. There I witnessed the striking phenomenon of three subjects simultaneously in trance and their respective "controls" carrying on an animated conversation - in fact, a debate - in terms so foreign to the normal personality of the subjects that they inevitably brought the common-sense conclusion that these were independent personalities. It was vastly amusing and instructive to listen to the characteristic tones of Walter Stinson forcefully upholding colonial views and principles in argument with John King the Elizabethan buccaneer captain who in a rich Tudor brogue maintained the superiority of British thought and institutions. The argument indeed became at one moment so heated that one of the contestants started forward as though to pummel his adversary, and it needed the gentle voice of Katie King, emanating from a third of the entranced subjects, to restore harmony. Call this, if you will, a subconscious dramatization: it was at least unpremeditated and had all the marks of being spontaneous and actuated by genuine emotion.36

It should be noted that the spirit called Katie King was first associated with Sir William Crookes' investigations with the medium Florence Cook. The spirit called John King was thought to be the persona for Sir Henry Morgan. Morgan was a notorious pirate and buccaneer; his spirit, however, seems to have been involved with extensive psychic manifestations all through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. James Leigh, writing in Light in 1933, claimed that "if he was not the actual instigator of the great wave of physical phenomena which swept across America eighty years ago, ushering Spiritualism into the world, he was at least the principal leader of it. There was scarcely a physical medium of note whose seances he did not frequent, and by many he was claimed as their personal control."37 One wonders how Hamilton, with his admonition about avoiding evil spirits, was able to accept the bloody pirate's spirit as an acceptable guide.

Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates

209

The range of psychic phenomena that occurred during seances conducted by the Hamiltons was very broad, including the production of apports, objects that are materialized by spirits. The first of these physical manifestations is described by E.A.S. Hayward, an Englishman writing about a North American trip that included a sitting in Winnipeg in 192.9: It happened to be held on the anniversary of the passing of our daughter, and was specially noteworthy as being the first occasion on which the Circle received an apport. None of those present was aware of the fact that the day had any special significance to us. The apport consisted of a sweet-pea, which was given to my wife by desire of our daughter. Although careful search was made, none other like it in colour was discovered in the house.38

The Winnipeg group was remarkable for the educational background of its members. In closing, some attention will be paid to these sitters. Harry A.V. Green Harry A.V. Green was educated at Edinburgh University in law and emigrated to Canada in 1913. He joined the law department of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Green was interested in drama and founded the Winnipeg Little Theatre as well as winning the Canadian Drama Award for his plays and stories. Like Glen Hamilton, he was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Winnipeg. He died on 9 June 1979 at the age of ninety-two in Vancouver. He joined the circle as an observer but shortly after his first visit, he began to develop his own psychic ability, which caused him unease. In the Hamilton records he is known first as "X" and later as "Ewan." When in trance, Green or "Ewan" channeled for the spirit controls John King and Walter. It was not an easy experience. A note in the Hamilton papers states that "the psychological struggle between the 'Ewan' subconscious mind, and the Walter mind and the John King intelligence continued for many months. It was a most interesting phenomenon to observe."39 Green wrote an account of the Mary M. seances for Light that was published in April 192.9, less than a year after Green first joined the Hamilton circle. He wrote that the Elizabeth M. seances, which predate Mary M.'s work, were under the supervision of W.T. Stead. Green noted that Hamilton had been trying to photograph Stead and the other entities, Robert L. Stevenson, David Livingstone, and C.H. Spurgeon,

zi o

Anatomy of a Seance

but had achieved no success at all. When Mary M. joined the group new phenomena were observed. Mary could "speak in different tongues including Hindustani and other East Indian languages" of which she had no knowledge. It was Mary who advanced the communications from Walter, who had made himself known to Elizabeth. Walter was slow to reveal his identity as Walter Stinson, the deceased brother of Margery Crandon. He used direct voice to communicate and instigated a bell-ringing experiment.40 His next area of activity was in the production of ectoplasm and the production of a bright light, which "is a brightly glowing patch about the size of half a walnut which moves about and is visible to all present." Green commented that Walter saw himself as a psychic "mechanic" brought in by the Stead group to assist in the photographing of teleplasm. Walter told the group that the other spirits "have had all the background prepared for many years. They just couldn't get a mechanic." Green notes as well that in a grouping of five faces obtained, Arthur Hamilton, the deceased son of the Hamiltons' materialized.41 Hugh A. Reed Another figure who worked closely with Glen Hamilton was Hugh A. Reed. Reed was born in 1879 in Darlington, England, and educated at St Peter's College, Westminster. He trained as a telephonic engineer and emigrated to Canada in March 1904, where he was employed by the Manitoba Government Telephone System in 1905. In 1907, he moved to Vancouver but returned to Winnipeg in 1912 and in 1913 was appointed special engineer, traffic superintendent for both Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba. In late 1921, he joined the Hamilton circle. His work with Hamilton was concerned with equipment to record the phenomena. He constructed instruments to amplify and record "raps" and he was central to designing the photoflash system used to photograph the teleplasm. He was considered to be Hamilton's assistant and worked with him to develop photographic plates following the seances. A likeness of his dead brother, H.P. Reed of Russell, Manitoba, was found in the last teleplasm obtained by the group on 28 February 1940. Reed died in his sleep on n March 1942..^ Isaac Pitblado One of the more celebrated members of the Hamilton circle was Isaac Pitblado. His father was the Reverend Charles Bruce Pitblado, a pioneer

Glen Hamilton: Friends and Associates

2,11

Presbyterian minister who opened St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Winnipeg in 1881 and was a padre in the Saskatchewan Rebellion of 1885. Isaac was born in Gleneleg, Nova Scotia, on 15 March 1867 and educated at Dalhousie University before taking degrees in law at the University of Manitoba. He was called to the bar in 1890 and became a Q.C. in 1909. He became a senior member of Pitblado, Hoskin, Grundy Bennest and Drummond-Hay, and he served as a director of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and Mutual Life Assurance Company of Canada. He was a vice president of the Canadian Bar Association and president of the Law Society of Manitoba. Pitblado was much involved in parliamentary inquiries and royal commissions. He contributed to the "building of the existing freight rate structure of the west and of Canada."43 He was a leader in the movement that created the United Church of Canada in 192.5 by uniting Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, and local Union Churches. Dr Bruce Chown Dr Bruce Chown was medical director of the Children's Hospital, Winnipeg. Chown was the winner of the J.A. Gairdner Foundation award of $25,000 in 1968. He was professor of pediatrics and director of the Rh Laboratory at the University of Manitoba. He was a specialist on human blood groups and did work on the diagnosis treatment and prevention of heolytic diseases of the newborn. Chown received an honorary degree from the University of Saskatechwan in 1970. Chown continued to do psychic research after Hamilton's death, working in the fall of 1935 with the medium Mary Marshall. He was able to obtain two more manifestations of amorphous teleplasm. Other group members were less well known but reflect community status in terms of profession and education. Dr William Creighton was another physician.44 Mr W.B. Cooper was a departmental head of a large and well-known insurance and bond house. Miss Ada Turner was a university graduate and teacher of English in a technical high school, and Mr W.D. Hobbs was a civil engineer and town planning engineer employed by the city of Winnipeg.45 While the published accounts of the Hamilton group focus upon descriptions of teleplasm and the evidence of the seance, it is clear that the spirit guides functioned much in the same way at a Hamilton seance as they did at most seances held for personal goals. A note describing a seance held on iz September 19x8 indicates that Walter gave the standard view of the afterlife as a place where you progress: "The higher you progress in the spirit world the greater your knowledge."

2.iz

Anatomy of a Seance

Walter described himself as "a soul who is traveling and trying to help those on the material plane. You are all guarded and watched by some one in the spirit world."46 In 1944, the seances came to an end. Glen Hamilton, once again working with W.T. Stead from the other side, concluded the communications by stressing that they were disappointed that the circle members had done nothing with his writings. "He [Stead] wants my notes published before people have forgotten me as their friend."47 The final communication came from W.T. Stead, who, years earlier in January 1923, had admonished Hamilton to "go on with your work." The connection was brought to an end with a benediction from Stead: "May a race of men and women arise in this generation of whom it can be said 'They brought us in touch with our loved ones.' These will be the people who can say, with David Livingstone, 'I never made a sacrifice!'"48 The Hamilton circle achieved remarkable phenomena over the years, and no other group of Canadians was able to publish as much about their work. The Winnipeg circle was composed of well-educated, socially prominent and committed researchers. They managed to maintain their professional integrity without attracting the negative reactions that marked earlier spiritualist investigations in cities like Toronto. Perhaps by the inter-war period Canadian society had mellowed in its response to alternative points of view; perhaps Winnipeg was a more liberal city and more open to experimentation. Whatever the case, the Hamiltons and their friends gave psychic research some standing in the community. It must be reasserted, however, that in conducting their research the group managed to practice sleight-of-hand in their handling of religion and science. To paraphrase the poet F.R. Scott, they did their best not to let their "on the one hand" know what "the other hand" was doing. Some may see this as intellectual dishonesty; however, if it is, then there is a long tradition in Canada of such thinking when it comes to religion and science. Of course, F.R. Scott's reference to compartmentalized thinking was in reference to William Lyon Mackenzie King. It was not likely that Scott was aware that Mr King was very much interested in spirit communication: few in Canada were until after his death. In our last chapter, we examine how a prime minister of Canada juggled his interest in the occult with his public life as a politician.

12

William Lyon Mackenzie King

In August 1933, the prime minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King, visited the Hamiltons. King is probably Canada's most celebrated occultist, and no history of spiritualism in Canada can overlook his involvement. He first came to power as prime minister of a Liberal government in 192,1 and remained there until his defeat by the Conservatives in 1930. He was back in power in 1935 and continued as prime minister until his retirement in 1948. Mention of the spirits made most of King's parliamentary advisers extremely uncomfortable and few have ever spoken in detail about the subject. In more recent times, those professional biographers who have dealt with his life have been hampered by restrictions on his papers. In 1977, the executors of the King estate took the unfortunate route of burning King's spiritualist notebooks. King's remaining collection of clippings and letters on and about the occult were pulled from public circulation until the year 2001.1 All of this material may now be viewed at the Archives or accessed on the internet. Robert Keyserlingk's review of King's occult activity is perhaps the most sympathetic study yet done. He felt that C.P. Stacey emerged from his study of King "offended by the subject of spiritualism." Stacey, he says, "judged this spiritualism to be marginal to an understanding of the public figure."2 Reginald Whitaker also failed to resolve the public and private King in his 1976 Canadian Forum article.3 The subject was raised once again in Joy E. Esberey's 1980 publication, Knight of the Holy Spirit: A Study of William Lyon Mackenzie King, where the author makes use of Freudian analysis with less than insightful results in resolving King's attraction to spiritualism.4 King's interest in occult matters preceded his interest in spirit communication. Synchronicity, especially in relationship to hands on the clock, attracted his attention as early as 1918.5 In 192,5, he met Mrs L.

zi4

Anatomy of a Seance

Beaney in Kingston, who told his fortune for him. King styled this meeting as "one of the most remarkable - if not the most remarkable interview I have ever had."6 After a confirmation of a vision that the fortune teller had of King, he said he could "never not believe in spiritualism so-called."7 While not all of her pronouncements on the future came to pass, King remained in touch with Mrs Beaney. King met Sir Oliver Lodge in 192.6 while attending the Imperial Conference in London. The meeting took place one afternoon at the home of Lord and Lady Grey. There is little record of what was discussed; however, King told Sir Oliver about his sittings with Mrs Beaney. Sir Oliver told King that the messages occurred because of both Mrs Beaney's powers and "also ... your own faith; both are needed."8 In 1933, King wrote to Lodge thanking him for an autograph and inscription in his autobiography, Past Years. We learn that he had acquired a copy of Sir Oliver's book Evolution and Creation and had it autographed in 1926. King was flattered by Sir Oliver's inscription, which indicated that their time together had been remembered by Sir Oliver.9 By 1933, King had moved along in his interest in spiritualism. He told Sir Oliver that he has "come to know Mrs Etta Wriedt very well. I see her occasionally. She has spoken with much enthusiasm of your kindness to her, and on one of the occasions when I visited her in her home, she showed me a cello which you had presented to her. Though past seventy, Mrs Wriedt continues to be fairly active in her own home. She lives very quietly and sees only a few friends. To me she is one of the most remarkable persons I have ever had the privilege of meeting."10 King was back in England in 1936 but was too pressed for time to renew his acquaintance with Sir Oliver. Upon his return to Ottawa, he wrote the Englishman, expressing his sadness at not being able to visit. We do learn, however, that Miss Mercey Phillamore, secretary of the London Spiritualist Alliance, had been instructed to get Lodge's autograph in his latest book, My Philosophy, which King had purchased while in London. King mentions that he had met with Miss Louise Lind-af-hageby, who was president of the L.S.A. and the Quest Club, a theosophist organization. Lodge had inscribed My Philosophy and sent it to Ottawa accompanied by two other volumes of his work, Beyond Physics and The Reality Of a Spiritual World, also inscribed. King wrote Sir Oliver that "I feel so deep an interest in the subjects on which you have written that were it not so obviously my duty to continue in public life, I could gladly abandon what may remain of opportunity in that field, and give the remaining years of my life - if years they are to be - to a continuous study of your writings ... Perhaps you will allow me to say that in an

William Lyon Mackenzie King

215

endeavour to be of service in this field, I have found in your researches and your philosophy, a support and inspiration which it would be quite impossible for me to attempt to acknowledge."11 Fred Archer, writing in the London Psychic News, quoted the duchess of Hamilton, a well-known British spiritualist, on her acquaintance with King. The duchess had given King the names of several mediums when he was in England, including that of Mrs Osborne Leonard. The duchess described King's use of mediumship: "Mackenzie King's method of obtaining guidance was to consult several mediums whom he has found trustworthy, and then - bearing in mind messages can be slightly colored in passing through the purest channels - to distill from their combined information the essence he felt to be really true and helpful."12 In 1939, King made use of the British medium Hester Dowden. Keyserlingk tells us that Mrs Dowden "had given [King] a very special spiritual guide the long-dead priest-king and German Knight Templar, Johannes."13 Overall, Keyserlingk does a good job of showing how King used his interest in occult issues in his daily life. However, he does not use the term "spiritualist" in a precise way. For this author, King's interest in Wagnerian legend counts for as much as a seance, and there is no discussion of King's choice of mediums. We learn nothing about his relationship with Etta Wriedt, Glen Hamilton, or Homer Watson. King's first seance appears to have taken place in 1932, in Brockville, Ontario, where he was visiting the Fulford family. The medium in attendance was Etta Wriedt. Four seances were conducted in Brockville, and then Mrs Fulford and Mrs Wriedt were invited to lunch in Ottawa with Mackenzie King and Joan Patteson.14 There followed seances at which King's mother, his brother Max, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, among others, manifested. Mrs Wriedt returned from Detroit later in the year meeting King at Kingsmere, his summer home in the Gatineau hills. King's diary records his wonder at the phenomena: There can be no doubt whatever that the persons I have been talking with were the loved ones & others I have known and who have passed away. It was the spirits of the departed. There is no other way on earth of accounting for what we have all experienced this week. Just because it is so self-evident, it seems hard to believe. It is like those who had Christ with them in His day. Because it was all so simple, so natural, they would not believe & sought to destroy. I know whereof I speak, that nothing but the presence [of] those who had departed this life, but not this world, or vice versa could account for the week's experiences.15

2i6

Anatomy of a Seance

More visits occurred in 1933, with both King going to Detroit and Mrs Wriedt coming to Ottawa. It was in August 1933 that King traveled west and spent an afternoon with Glen Hamilton at his home. 1933 was also the year that King discovered that he could commune with the spirits without the use of a medium. At a small dinner party on 13 November 1933, attended by A.G. Doughy, the Dominion archivist, and his wife and Madame Pouliot, the group tried their hand at table rapping with great success. Later, when Joan Patteson returned from a trip with her husband to the United States, she and King set out to establish contact through the table. They became very adept at using the raps to communicate. King described an evening of table rapping that took place on Joan Patteson's birthday: "After dinner we spent most of the evening in the sun room with the little table serving as the means of communication with those beyond. They came trooping in with their love and birthday greetings. Joan's family & mine, many friends, members of prlt. & others ... It was a truly amazing evening."16 While Joan Patteson was his prime partner, he did work the table with others, including Julia Grant17 and Homer Watson, whom he visited in the spring of I934. 18 When King used the spirits to predict the future, things did not work out well. On a variety of occasions, such questions were given wrong answers. King gave some indication that he understood that seances were not for fortune telling or predicting the future, but apparently he could not resist asking for such information. However, after a major failure in prediction, King wrote that "as to the table, I think it well to use it sparingly, and as dear mother said to let God send who will, not for us to call those we want. I think it brings both truth & error."19 In September 1939, he once again expressed understanding that fortune telling is not the role of the seance: "I felt I should perhaps not have sought to use the table to discover the course of events. I had a feeling at the time that it was a sort of betrayal of faith so to do."20 Overall, King rarely asked for the future. Mostly he sought the solace of interacting with his departed family and friends. Stacey sums up the situation in a useful way: "As throughout his life, Mackenzie King in his spiritualistic period was a worried and insecure individual seeking for support. It was support, strength, not advice, that he asked for and received from the spirits. Mainly, he wanted approval, and by a strange coincidence that was what he usually got. The spirits did not, in general, tell him what to do; they told him that what he had done, or what he had decided to do, was right. Thus they sent him on his way with confidence renewed."21 Though requests for help are fairly commonly recorded in the diary or in King's notes of seances, there are remarkably few requests for

William Lyon Mackenzie King

217

advice. Mrs Hester Dowden was the daughter of the Shakespearean scholar Edward Dowden. She communicated through a ouija board with the assistance of her Egyptian spirit guide, Eyen. Her career extended over forty years in cities such as Paris, London, and Dublin. As a medium, she also practiced automatic writing. Dowden worked with another medium, Geraldine Cummins, who has left us a memoir of her activities with both Mrs Dowden and Mackenzie King. In Unseen Adventures, she provides an appendix entitled "Reminiscences of A British Commonwealth Statesman," which appears to be the prime minister of Canada. The "Statesman" wished to remain anonymous both with the medium and in any records, and no year is provided in the memoir. Cummins refers to him as "Mr S." An initial request for anonymity is not unusual, since it is designed to take away any advance preparation by the medium. Mr S arrived at 25 Jubilee Place, London, for a sitting on Saturday, 2,2 November and gave Cummins no information about his vocation. She took her place at a table with her assistant, Miss Gibbes, nearby. She describes the process that followed: "Shading my eyes with my left hand, as my right hand began to move across the foolscap sheet of paper, I gradually went into a deep trance. Then, as Miss Gibbes informed me afterwards, our visitor took her place beside me. He read and removed the foolscap sheets as they were rapidly filled with writing, occasionally addressing a remark to the alleged communicators. After the termination of the sitting, which lasted for over an hour, Cummins rested then met with Mr S, who informed her of his role as a Commonwealth statesman. He also told her that the results of the automatic writing were "amazing."2Z Mr S impressed Cummins and her assistant: "In a very few minutes, Miss Gibbes and I were not merely captivated by his charm, we were deeply impressed by his wisdom and by a sense of his rare spiritual integrity. Only two or three times in my life have I been so impressed by a personality, and I have met a number of well-known people." The visitor spoke of "the late Lady B ... who had, he stated, written a message to him that afternoon. She was the first to interest him in psychical research." He explained that his first sittings had been with Mrs Wriedt and commented on the focus of one of those sittings: "The will," he said, "of a friend of mine could not be found. She mentioned its exact place - in a drawer in a chest of drawers in a house in France. There, later, it was discovered." Geraldine Cummins was impressed with the way in which her visitor assessed psychic evidence: "I was struck by his realistic and critical analysis of evidence presented by other psychic experiments. He was far too intelligent to be credulous, and his observations on the subject were to me very instructive." Mr S left after an hour of talk for a weekend at Chequers, taking with him

2.18

Anatomy of a Seance

autographed copies of Cummins' books, They Survive, Travelers in Eternity, and The Road to Immortality, all of which he claimed to have read. As he donned his coat, Geraldine Cummins "received a very unpleasant impression that he would soon become an invalid. She "felt [she] should try and warn him."Z3 The warning came in the suggestion that Mr S consider taking a vacation of at least six months. It was clear that Mr S's love of political life would never allow this to happen. Two years passed before the medium once again received Mr S for a reading, which was arranged through the mediary, Miss E., who had arranged the first sitting as well. This time, however, Cummins and Gibbes went to the sitter's hotel on a Saturday afternoon. She found marked changes in the appearance of Mr S, who now seemed "worn out - the invalid I had foreseen." This sitting lasted about fifty minutes, producing many sheets of rapidly penned messages. At this sitting, a warning about potential troubles in Asia was received. "Mr S seemed puzzled and a little shaken by this part of the communication. He then said that he made it a rule to ignore advice thus given: he trusted solely to his own and his advisors' judgment." Writing with the hindsight of the 19505, Cummins could not help editorializing that "in view of the later success of the Communists in China, and the removal of American troops from Korea, followed by the Korean war, it now seems regrettable that, in this instance, the hint was disregarded." Of more importance to this study is the clear statement by Mr S that prophetic utterings were not, at least on this occasion, the focus of his use of spirit communication. This adds additional support to the view that King did understand the inappropriateness of fortune-telling. However, we learn at the same time that this sitting provided advice "about his health and how to live in the future. "M Cummins gives us no record of King's response to this information. Here again, however, the advice was unsolicited and thus acceptable since it came voluntarily from the other side. Mr S requested that another sitting be arranged for the following Thursday. Affairs intervened and no further sittings with Geraldine Cummins were held. In her memoirs, she sums up Mr S's qualifications in the psychic area: "He was an experienced investigator; he had in hours of leisure studied psychical research over a period of some years. Even his bitterest political critics have, since his death, stated that he was very clever and astute. A newspaper has described him as 'one of the great statesmen of our time.' A man with such a record is no credulous fool."25 It was Blair Neatby's conclusion that King "knew he could not rely on the information he received but even this was not important. What he wanted most of all was some contact with those who had been close to him, some assurance that they still watched over him and still

William Lyon Mackenzie King

219

loved him. It was not political advice he wanted but some sign of the presence of the departed." 26 Neatby's final summation was that "Mackenzie King ... found the reassurance he needed in the almost daily signs of the presence of loving spirits. It was almost paradoxical that this faith in the occult, which some might have interpreted as evidence of emotional instability, gave King the stability to cope with the strains and stresses of a long political career."17 King's visit to Glen Hamilton gives us a brief view of a complicated and successful public figure setting aside the nation's work for a few hours of discussion with a fellow traveler on a subject dear to his heart. King had written to Hamilton requesting the visit: "I have been promising myself for many years past the pleasure of seeing something of the work of which you gave an account before the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and shall be pleased if you can spare me a little of your time on Sunday the zoth."28 Margaret Hamilton recalled that "Father picked up Mr King at the Fort Gary Hotel, and brought him to our home for Sunday lunch. We had no other guests, just our family. The two men spent all afternoon sitting in our living room. Dad brought out photo after photo and King asked question after question. He appeared to be absolutely fascinated by the measures that were taken, and by the things that were revealed. He was particularly impressed by some of the trance communications from Robert Louis Stevenson ... He never took part in a seance. He was our guest for that Sunday."29 Upon returning to Laurier House, King took time to pen a letter of thanks to the Hamiltons.30 King continued to follow Hamilton's work through materials which Hamilton sent to him in Ottawa.31 Upon hearing about Hamilton's death, King wrote to Mrs Hamilton from the Sea Islands, Georgia, asking Lillian to "let me know a little more of the circumstances of the Doctor's death. I shall be interested, too, in knowing something of your own experiences at and since that time ... If it is not placing too great a strain upon you, do please send me a line or two, and tell me of the things which you know I shall wish to hear."32 In his circuitous way, King was, of course, wondering if Glen Hamilton would be able to get a message to his widow from the spirit side. Mackenzie King's political life meant that he had to keep his interest in the occult largely invisible from the general public. As a result, he did not join organized groups, preferring to participate in private interviews with mediums and experimenters. He had a very close group of friends who shared his interest in spirit communication and he worked to develop his own psychic powers, thus relieving himself of the danger of public exposure that the use of professional mediums could bring. He was likely pleased, too, to have evidence of his own psychic powers.

2.2.O

Anatomy of a Seance

While he kept his interests private, there is little doubt that those around him were aware of his interests. It speaks to the nature of Canadian society during King's parliamentary career that the media did not choose to make this side of King's life public. Such would not likely be the case today.

Conclusion

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the advances of science and technology had spawned an increasingly materialistic society in both Europe and North America. The United States, with its laissez-faire approach to religion generated by its egalitarian liberalism, offered no state-sanctioned church to set the moral and spiritual tone for the republic. Such democratic individualism was liberating and at the same time highly charged with anxiety. The dislocation of frontier life and the American Civil War both contributed to a need for some form of religious belief and the established Christian churches did not meet the need for many. In striving to fill the spiritual vacuum of the age, many turned to new cults, sects, and prophets for personal guidance. Unitarianism, Universalism, Swedenborgianism, and, later, spiritualism and theosophy shunned extensive codes and dogmas and emphasized the primacy of the individual soul. Central Canada, with its long tradition of cultural interaction with the United States, provided a more conservative but no less anxious body of people open to alternative responses to the dehumanizing aspects of scientific materialism. For many, spiritualism was the ideal union of science and religion. In the nineteenth century, the spiritualists, like the Calvinists, wished to keep science as the handmaiden of religion, to keep science from undermining the spiritual realm by its increasingly materialistic search for the natural laws that define life. Spiritualists at the same time rejected the ideas of hell, damnation, and predestination, choosing to follow the Darwinist view of an evolving universe. Their attitude towards science would have connections with traditional Puritan thought but their use of the seance and mediumship would move them into new and, for the established churches, dangerous areas of inquiry. They would build upon the idea of progressive sanctification, believing in the upward trajectory of the human soul, but abandon the covenant of limited atonement.

222

Anatomy of a Seance

By the turn of the century, the nature of religious debate between the established denominations and alternative movements like spiritualism and theosophy had become for people such B.R Austin and others a dialogue between modernism and fundamentalism. Austin viewed spiritualism as a modernist project that was thoroughly supported by contemporary science and reason while in conflict with the rigid dogmas of orthodox churchmen. He began his journey hoping that spirit exploration could be incorporated within the established Methodist Church. His removal from that Church did not eliminate his fundamental belief in Christianity, and his propaganda for spiritualism never rejected his basic belief in the Christ of the New Testament. He did, however, reject much of the dogma that defines established Christian theology such as the fall of man, vicarious atonement, a final general judgment, the doctrine of the Trinity, and miracles. He based his new theology upon universal salvation. Like many before and after him, he carried his beliefs south to an American society that was more open and responsive to radical thinking. While his career took him to California, Austin remained something of a mentor for Canadian spiritualists. Clearly, Canadian spiritualists were much influenced by the American spiritualist movement. The border was largely invisible to those among the population of Ontario expressing an interest in spiritualism. The availability of American resources may explain why so few mediums of Canadian origin declared themselves. It is obvious that some Canadians did develop mediumistic powers; however, they kept them for the most part at home and within the confines of their home circle. No doubt the more conservative nature of the established churches in Canada made public support of spiritualism somewhat dangerous. When spirits made contact with sitters through the medium, they did so because of the power of the group to utilize the psychic energy of the medium and link it with the lesser but essential power of the group. Inappropriate emotions, pessimism, lack of faith, or scepticism among sitters could lead to failure even with the guidance of the best of mediums. Regular sitters were bonded with the spirit guides by being awarded special names. The seances examined in this study were almost always oral events. The proper understanding of the event requires analysis of a complex series of verbal exchanges. Notes were made and transcribed by the sitters but the event was in some ways very similar to performance rituals. The pure threatricality of the seance has been obscured because of the fervent need for those who were publishing reports to focus upon the teaching while downplaying the physical phenomena. We saw this in the notes of Jenny Pincock, for instance. But theatrical the

Conclusion

2x3

seances were. For one thing, music was almost always a part of the seance, and the program over an evening featured all manner of phenomena from smells and sounds to visual and physical materializations. Above all, the seance was a very interactive process. The idea of transactional exchange among members and between members and the spirits is useful as well as a mode of analysis. For instance, committed sitters did not come to seance to receive predictions of their futures. Sitters came to accept whatever the spirits felt was beneficial for them to hear. Fortune-telling was not a major expectation among committed spiritualists. The trance medium provided the channel by which information was passed on from previous generations to the present. One reason why mediums sometimes resigned from their work was because they remembered nothing about their experience while in trance. For them, the evening was a blank. Within the realm of folklore, the raconteur or singer is, in a sense, a medium through which the voice of the collective group is heard. The past is brought to the present. Each performance is subtly or markedly different from the last depending on a variety of social variants, audience, mood, and circumstances. Any consideration of listener/reader response and interpretation in turn makes the organic and continually changing meaning of either written or oral art even more elusive of fixed interpretation. In psychic research the major hurdle blocking researchers from receiving the approval of the scientific community is that there are to date no repeatable experiments. In a very real sense, the same is true of performance art. Don Yoder's division of religious activity, described in the introduction, is useful again here. He distinguished between "philosophical" activity (intellectual elites studying theology) and "practical" activity (the use made of spirituality by average citizens). Intellectual activity is more inclined to the rational, favouring the repeatable experiment; the practical is much less concerned with system and more concerned with process. Thus one needs to analyse the social function of the seance within family and community contexts, and to escape from a narrow reading of the seance notes, separating them from the social environment that produced them. There is a subversive element in popular culture. That is, "insiders" protect that which is seen to have strong traditional value, especially when the dominant culture appears to either ignore such values or has clearly abandoned them. Reasons for the dominant culture's failure to celebrate traditional values may be political, social, economic, ethnic, or class-based. Spiritualists saw themselves as practicing the only truly scientific religion, a religion based upon pragmatic evidence supplied in seance that could be validated, measured, and confirmed by scientific

224

Anatomy of a Seance

analysis. At the same time, the spiritualists were committed to the traditional extended family. Seance communication allowed this tight family structure to survive even the calamity of death. The dominant culture is essentially concerned with maintaining its status quo while popular culture is concerned with acquiring status and power for its ideas. Dominant culture is actually an "insider" culture, or minority culture, that has acquired power and status. Rather than continue to explore and develop it's basic premises, that culture becomes more concerned with defending its power base. Popular culture is subversive insofar as it is driven by the belief that the traditional values celebrated by the marginal group would, in the best of all possible worlds, be the dominant values of all right-thinking people. Given that twentieth-century mainstream culture in North America was committed to scientific materialism, spiritualists, with their anti-materialistic view of things, were clearly a marginal group. While most orthodox religions should be anti-materialistic by definition, the spiritualists saw them as having been seduced by the products of a technological society. In turn, the scientific community, some members of the academic community, and mainstream religious groups viewed the spiritualist movement as subversive to the dominant culture, going so far as to persecute its adherents under criminal laws as practitioners of witchcraft or under theological law as heretics. Marginal groups tend to be experiential, non-teleological, and little concerned with historical interpretations and much concerned with traditional values. The seance was the core institution common to the various marginalized groups committed to spirit communication regardless of their individual beliefs. Regardless of why people communicated with the spirit world, they all used the seance and mediumship as the fundamental process for making contact with the dead. The seance "sitters" experienced their medium slipping into trance and providing a channel for a wide range of spirit visitors. To listen to a medium in trance as gifted as was Thomas Lacey or William Cartheusur, even on audiotape, is a remarkable experience. A variety of voices, each with its own intonation, accent, modulation, vocabulary, and gender, flow effortlessly. Even on tape, the result is high drama. All of this suggests to me that the study of text is a limited path to understanding the seance room. Ultimately, it was the process itself that drew people as much as the message. Just as the old Calvinists believed in progressive revelation, so the seance room was a place of ongoing revelation. Little point was gained in setting down elaborate notes of any single week's messages since the next installment would supersede the last in its new revelation.

Conclusion

225

The established religions, which depend upon the Prophet - Jesus, Mohammad, the Buddha - developed after the prophet departed life on earth. For the most part, the great prophets were oral in their teachings, not literate. They left no text in their own hands. The theology that developed around their lives was handled by remaining disciples who codified the teachings - St Paul seeking a normalizing of the message of Christ. Thus the dogma developed and eventually the intellectualizing and production of theology or scripture occurred. With spiritualism, the message is ongoing. There is no end to the prophetic utterance: it is pure process. The prophet is already dead if you will, but immortal. Thus the group is continually drawn to the next utterance, never seeing an end to revelation, which goes on week after week in seance. There is little or no time for the summation of the message because the message is always incomplete. In many ways, there is no need for a message since the spirits prophesy a new order, change, or Utopia within time. There is an inevitability in the message, which absolves the listeners from the need to proselytize and codify the philosophy to any great degree. This explains the lack of consistent theological content to the movement. It remained essentially experiential rather than intellectual and rational. Certainly the spirits spoke in rational terms, but it was an oral process, a process of teaching and lecturing rather than writing and reflecting. As we have seen in a number of cases, when books were written they were "dictated" by the spirits, not written by the disciples. The medium, however, was both the channel to revelation and the weak point in the scientific religion. The medium can easily practice deception, and as a result, the seance has always been viewed by the majority of the public as highly suspect. This also has inhibited serious academic study of a movement that has had more than its share of notoriety in the past. In many ways, the current interest in virtual reality made popular by science fiction writers such as William Gibson has much in common with the vision of nineteenth and early twentieth century spiritualists. The idea of disincarnate existence outside of physical flesh was essential to spiritualism. Out-of-body experiences allowed even the living to escape the flesh and move to other sites. In Gibson's science fiction world, the realm of fleshless existence in the cyberspace of the computer memory bank - the matrix - is one into which "console jockeys" can "jack," becoming in the process disembodied entities who have, in Gibson's words, escaped the meat. Flatlining is the term used for someone who has spent too much time in cyberspace, and out-of-body experiences also carry with them the danger of flatlining. The connection between the spiritual and the scientific is also part of spiritualism,

2,2.6

Anatomy of a Seance

often viewed as a scientific religion by its practitioners. In Gibson's world, there is a blending of the machine and the human. The computer has transcended the religious or spiritual component in spiritualism and allowed science and technology to take on the responsibility for human projection into altered states. In many ways, the science fiction writing of William Gibson and others is in direct lineage with the spiritualist subculture. It is also clear that the process of spirit communication has been appropriated by popular culture: Hollywood movies have taken the seance and the medium into the realm of popular entertainment. Spiritualism holds fascination as a movement that demonstrates the power of culture to redesign religious impulses to meet idiosyncratic needs. Its vague formal theology and emphasis upon performance ritual and process demands new modes of analysis to understand how it functions as an alternative view of life and death. Perhaps this work will provide some direction for such study. If nothing else has been achieved here, I hope that the reader may have a better appreciation of the integrity of individual practitioners of spiritualism. Those whose lives have been discussed demonstrate an ability to construct a world view that meets their particular needs. While readers may reject the approach chosen, all true seekers must appreciate the ingenuity and vitality of the quest.

Notes

INTRODUCTION

1 Ramsay Cook has a chapter dealing with Flora MacDonald Denison and B.E Austin in his book The Regenerators. Carl Ballstadt, Elizabeth Hopkins, and Michael Peterman have published the letters of Susanna and John Moodie in two volumes, Letters of A Lifetime and Letters of Love and Duty. Charlotte Gray gives brief mention of Susanna Moodie's interest in spiritualism in Sisters in the Wilderness. Walter J. Meyer Zu Erpen and Joy Lowe published "The Canadian Spiritualist Movement and Sources for its Study." 2 Yoder, Discovering American Folklife, 70-2. 3 Oring, "On the Concepts of Folklore," 17-18. 4 Yoder, Discovering American Folklife, 76. 5 Bibby, The Bibby Report, 132. CHAPTER

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Oppenheim, The Other World, 200. McCulloch, Liberal Education, 6. Ibid., 10. Bryson, Man and Society, 17. Ibid., 23. McCulloch, Liberal Education, 18. Ibid. Ibid., 22-3. McCulloch, A Lecture Delivered, 204. Ibid., 205. Ibid., 207. Ibid., 209.

ONE

2.2,8

Notes to pages 7-13

13 For extended commentary on the development of progressive theology in European thought see Tuveson, Millennium and Utopia. 14 Bryson, Man and Society, 58. 15 Dawson, Fifty Years, 34-6. 16 Macintosh, "Some Nova Scotian Scientists," 207. 17 McCulloch, Calvinism, vi-vii. 18 Woodhouse, "Introduction" to Puritanism and Liberty, 92. 19 Levere and Jarrell, A Curious Field Book, 16-17. 20 Conan Doyle is best known for his Sherlock Holmes books, which contain no references to spiritualism. He did, however, publish a number of books and articles on the subject, including The New Revelation (1918), The Vital Message (1919), Wanderings of a Spiritualist (1922), and The History of Spiritualism (1926). Sir Oliver Lodge was a world-famous physicist. His research in psychic matters dates from 1883. Over the years he worked with famous mediums such as Eusapia Paladino and Mrs Piper. His book Raymond, or Life and Death (1916) dealt with messages from his son, who had been killed in the trenches. The book's impact on Canada is discussed in chapter 6. WJ. Crawford was a lecturer in mechanical engineering at Queen's University, Belfast. He investigated telekinetic phenomena between 1917 and 1920. He published his research in The Reality of Psychic Phenomena (1916), Experiments in Psychic Science (1919), and Psychic Structures in the Golighter Circle (1920). Emile Boirac was rector of the Dijon Academy in France. Several of his studies of psychic research were translated into English. Among his wartime publications were Psychology of the Future (London, 1918), Psychic Science (London, 1918), and Our Hidden Forces (New York, 1917), which won the Emden Prize, bestowed by the French Academy of Sciences. 21 Harris, Essays in Occultism, ii, iii-iv. Harris came to Toronto from Ireland in 1847 and was educated at St Michael's College. He served for a long time as rector of St Michael's Cathedral and later became head of St John's Industrial School, also in Toronto. See "Fears For Christianity," Toronto Star, i February 1919. 22 By 1850, those born in the U.S. living in Canada numbered 63,000 or 13.5 per cent of the population. On the other hand, there were 147,711 Canadian-born living in the U.S., comprising 6.6 per cent of that country's population. By 1920, the U.S. contained 1,138,174 Canadian-born, and Canada had received 374,022 from the U.S. Source: United States Bureau of the Census. 23 Moorman, "Where are the English," 66. 24 Cross, The Burned Over District. James Boyle started out a Methodist but ended up with connections to Swedenborgianism and Andrew Jackson Davies (190). Horatio Foote was an itinerant minister from

2,29

25 2.6 27

28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49

Notes to pages 13-22 Kingston who worked with Charles Grandison Finney in New York State (194). Fodor, Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science, 373. Ibid., 374. Whitney Cross observes that "Mesmerism led to Swedenborgianism, and Swedenborgianism to Spiritualism, not because of the degree of intrinsic relationship between the three propositions but because of the assumptions according to which American adherents understood them" (342). Essentially, these assumptions dealt with an application of "science" to religion. John H. Noyes, History of American Socialisms (Philadelphia 1870), quoted by Cross, The Burned Over District, 343. Field, Memoirs Incidents & Reminiscences, 277. "Centenary, New Church Swedenborgian 1842-1942." Field, Memoirs Incidents &t Reminiscences, 277. Gannett, The Faith of the Unitarian Church. Ibid., 7. Ibid., 8. Ibid., 10. Ibid., ii. Ibid., 25 Ibid., 33. Ibid., 34. Ibid., 36. Wallace, "Spiritualism," Chambers Encyclopaedia 9:646. Wallace attributes this definition to the London Spiritual Magazine. Cook, The Regenerators, 84. Tremeer's Annotated Criminal Code, ref. Imperial Vagrancy Act 1877, 13-14. "Spirit Jugglers and Fortune Tellers in Court," Toronto Globe, 18 January 1899, 5. "Gold - Chickens Combinations in Fortune Teller's Prescription," Toronto Globe, 25 November 1899. "Spiritualism," Christian Guardian 69 no. 29 (20 July 1898). Cara, The Sunflower (i April i9oo):5. Oaten,"Religious Persecution." See Meyer Zu Erpen and Lowe, "The Canadian Spiritual Movement," 77. CHAPTER TWO

1 "Moodie Family Spiritualism Album," Patrick Hamilton Ewing Collection, Box 5, National Library of Canada. 2 Ballstadt et al., Letters of a Lifetime, 119.

230 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12. 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Notes to pages 2,3-31 Ibid., 158. Ibid., 159. Ibid., 157. Ibid., 159. Ibid., 179. Ibid., 180. The "Moodie Family Spiritualism Album" contains descriptions of a number of instruments John designed to facilitate spirit communication. The use of technology is indicative of the link forged early between spirit communicators and science. Ballstadt et al., Letters of a Lifetime, 182. For more information on J.W. Edmonds, see Nelson, Spiritualism and Society, 8. Braude, Radical Spirits, 3. Ibid., 6. Ballstadt et al., Letters of a Lifetime, 151. Ibid., 164. Ibid., 179-80. Ibid., 181. Ballstadt et al., Love and Duty, 232.. Ibid., 233. Robert Hare, Experimental Investigation of Spirit Manifestations, Demonstrating the Existence of Spirits and Their Communion with Mortals (New York: 1855). Ballstadt et al., Love and Duty, 234. Ibid., 235. Hardinge, Modern American Spiritualism, 459. Ibid., 463. Ballstadt et al., Love and Duty, 236. Ibid., 247. Ibid., 237. Ibid., 251. Ibid., 259. Ibid., 210-11. Ibid., 225. Ibid., 225. Ibid., 226. Ibid., 270. Ibid., 272. Ibid., 273. Ibid., 272. Ibid., 274. Ibid., 274-5. Ibid., 276.

231

Notes to pages 31-44

39 Ibid., 277. 40 Ibid., 276. 41 "The Meteorological and Autobiographical Journal of Marcus Gunn," National Archives of Canada, MG 2,4 142, Vol 4. 42 Cridge, Epitome of Spirit Intercourse. 43 Ibid., 106-8. 44 Dewart, "Biographical Sketch," 27. 45 McLachlan, "Letters to James Gow Esq.," 10 November 1882. Alexander McLachlan Papers, Archives. 46 Ibid., 15 January 1883. 47 Dewart, "Biographical Sketch," 27. 48 Gorham, "Flora MacDonald Denison," 49-50. 49 Ibid., 68. 50 Ibid., 69. 51 Denison, Mary Melville, the Psychic. 52 See Greenland, "Mary Edwards Merrill," 81-92. 53 The Daily Ontario, 14 July 1876, quoted by Greenland, "Mary Edwards Merrill," 87. 54 Greenland, "Mary Edwards Merrill," 87. 55 MacDonald, "The Vision of Mary," 95. 56 Greenland, "Mary Edwards Merrill," 90. 57 MacDonald, "The Vision of Mary," 95. 58 Ibid., 96. 59 Ibid., 95. 60 Gorham, "Flora MacDonald Denison," 48. 61 Flora MacDonald Denison Papers, "Flora to Wid," 16 October 1918. 62 Cook, The Regenerators, 79. 63 Braude, Radical Spirits, 200. 64 Gorham, "Flora MacDonald Denison," 68. 65 See McMullin, "Walt Whitman's Influence In Canada," 361-8. 66 See Stacey and McMullin, Massanoga. 67 The Lake Beneath the Rocks, 68. CHAPTER THREE

1 Board of Management Minutes, Alma College, United Church Archives, Alma File, Box i. 2 Edwin Wesley Edwards, "The History of Alma College," United Church Archives, Alma File. 3 B.F. Austin, Glimpses of the Unseen (Toronto and Brantford: BradleyGarretson 1898). 4 "Dr. Austin's Side," Toronto Globe, 3 June 1899, 3.

232.

Notes to pages 45-53

5 Howard, "Benjamin Fish Austin," 6-7. 6 B.R Austin, The National Spiritualist (April 1932.), quoted in "In Memorium" The National Spiritualist (i March 1933): 6. 7 Austin, Glimpses of the Unseen, 2,70-1. In an article written in 1932, Austin identified the two mediums. The male medium was Billy Cole, or W.E. Cole, and the woman was Marion Carpenter. Carpenter remained a friend throughout Austin's life and officiated at his funeral. See "In Memorium," The National Spiritualist (i March 1933): 6. 8 Austin, Glimpses of the Unseen, 2,72. 9 Ibid., 40. 10 Ibid., 41. 11 Light (18 January 1902.). 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 14 Reason 28, no. 5 (February, March, April 1932): 56. 15 Synopsis of the Heresy Sermon, 9. 16 Ibid., lo-n. 17 Ibid., ii. 18 Ibid., 12. 19 Ibid., 3. 20 Ibid., 5. 21 Ibid., 6. 22 The Aylmer meeting of the St Thomas District that found Austin guilty on three counts was made up of the following clerics: George Buggin, M. Griffin, John Veale, T.C. Sanderson, S.G. Staples, with C. Taggart Scott as Chair. The charges were as follows: 1. Falsehood and error and sin have their brief rule in God's universe but are destined to end & which is contrary to Scriptural doctrine of Eternal Punishment. 2. Questioning the proper Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and disparaging the character of the Atonement. 3. Statements contrary to the doctrine of Finality of Revelation through Jesus Christ. 4. Upholding the fraudulent system of Spiritualism, contrary to the teachings of the Methodist Church. 23 See chapter 4, p. 69 for MacRobert's conversion experience. 24 Synopsis of the Heresy Sermon, 16. 25 Ibid., 18. 26 Ibid., 19. 27 Ibid., 21. 28 Ibid., 20. 29 Ibid., 23. 30 Ibid., 24.

233 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Notes to pages 54-64 Ibid., 24-5. Ibid., 47. Ibid., 48. Ibid., 49. Ibid., 51. Ibid., 53. Ibid., 55. "In Memorium," The National Spiritualist (i March 1933): 6. "Dr. Austin's Side," Toronto Globe, 3 June 1899, 30. B.F. Austin, "Rev. B.F. Austin Discusses a Recent Article in the Globe, Calls it Unjust," Toronto Globe, Saturday, 17 March 1900. B.F. Austin, Reason 27, no. 4 (November 1930): 4. Synopsis of the Heresy Sermon, 6. "Announcement," The Austin Pulpit, i, no. 5 (15 December 1927): 16. "In Memorium," The National Spiritualist (i March 1933): 6. Reason, 29, no. 4 (February 1933): 31. Alma Austin was forced to sell the plates to pay bills after the death of her father. "In Memorium," The National Spiritualist (i March 1933): 6. Reason 23, no. 4 (November 1926): 64. A stereopticon was a tridimensional projection viewed through a unit held up to the eyes. Ibid. "Summer Lecture Course," The Austin Pulpit i, no. 7 (15 June 1928): 15. "Dr Austin Former Canadian," St Catharines Standard (3 September I 93°); "Present Day Religion," St Catharines Standard (9 September 1930). Austin, Fundamentalism, n.p. Ibid. B.F. Austin, "Spirit Messages," Reason 16, no. 4 (August 1919): 44. Ibid., 44. Ibid., 44-5. Ibid., 45. B.F. Austin, "Torrey-Austin Debate: Is the Bible the Word of God?" Reason 16, no. 4 (August 1919): 5-16. "Five Hundred Lessons for Higher Attainment," Reason 16, no. 4 (August 1919): 69-71. B.F. Austin, "Spiritualist Summer Camps," Reason 28, no. 4 (Nov., Dec., Jan., 1930-31): 36-7. Howard, "Benjamin F. Austin," 2-8. CHAPTER FOUR

1 Hardinge, Modern American Spiritualism, 459. 2 Hardinge [Britten], Rules for the Formation, 6.

234

Notes to pages 65-108

3 Only informal histories of Lily Dale exist. See Vogt and Lajudice, Lily Dale Proud Beginnings, and The Lake Beneath The Rocks (no author). 4 Phillips Thompson, "Trumpet Seances," Toronto Globe, 20 April 1898, 4. 5 B.F. Austin, What Converted Me To Spiritualism (Toronto: Austin 1900). Further page references to this book are provided in parentheses in the text. CHAPTER FIVE

1 Toronto Daily Star, 14 February 1921, 4, and Toronto Globe, 15 February 1921, 10. 2 See Rechnitzer, R.M. Bucke. 3 Letter from Dr J.E. Hett to Dr T. Glen Hamilton, 15 march 1931, Glen Hamilton Papers, Mss 14 Box 16, F no. i. 4 Idessa Zimmerman, "J.E. Hett, Spiritualist," newspaper clipping, unsourced in the Kitchener Public Library. 5 "Hett Formula Released," Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 25 July 1939, and "Obituary," Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 25 September 1956. 6 Dr Hett to Jenny Pincock, n.d., in the Pincock/Maines Collection, University of Waterloo. In that letter Hett mentions his friendships with Admiral [Usborne?] Moore and with Mrs Etta Wriedt. 7 The Charter of the Canadian Society for Psychical Research was published by Herbert G. Paull, the secretary of the society, in The Voice of the Spirit. It sets forth its purpose as follows: "For the investigation and research of alleged telepathy, hypnotism, mesmerism, hallucination, premonitions, dowsing, double and multiple personality visions, apparitions, phantasms of the living, clairvoyance, clairaudience, materialization, etherealization, automatic writing, subliminal consciousness, psychometry and all kindred Bibliological, astrological, psychological and psychical subjects; and for the examination of every possible hypothesis of their interpretation; and for the collection of material bearing on the history of these subjects" (6). 8 The loss of Charter was reported by Dr King to the British periodical Light (4 November 1916): 359. 9 Paull, The Voice of the Spirit, 6. 10 See details in Vice-Admiral Usborne Moore's report, "The Direct Voice A Correlation," published in Light (10 July 1915): 331. 11 Light (5 August 1916): 253. 12 King, Dawn of the Awakened Mind, 2. Further page references to this book are provided in parentheses in the text. CHAPTER SIX

1 Lodge, Raymond, vii. 2 Ibid., viii.

235

Notes to pages 109-22

3 Information on Albert Abbott can be found in "Obituary," Toronto Globe, 7 August 1934 and in "Obituary," Toronto Mail, 7 August 1934, Box 01, file 07, University of Toronto Archives. 4 "Dr Abbott of Philosophy Department Holds Communication with Spirit World," Varsity, 17 January 1919. 5 Details about Louis Benjamin can be found primarily in "Benjamin Discusses His 'Psychic Powers,'" Toronto Star, 8 January 1919 and "Benjamin's Life Story, 'Medium' Tells Career," Toronto Star, ii January 1919. 6 Fodor, Encyclopeadia of Psychic Science, 270. 7 "Torontonians Claim They Speak With Spirits of Twentieth Plane," Toronto Star, j January 1919. 8 Watson, "Dedication," The Twentieth Plane, 5. 9 Watson, The Twentieth Plane, 213. 10 Ibid., 18 11 James Mavor, letter to Gilbert Coleridge: "Like you, I took an interest in Spiritualism years ago and for the same reasons as you dropped it" i March 1919). James Mavor Papers, MS Coll 119, Box 61. 12 James Mavor to Jane Bell Irving, 16 June 1897, James Mavor Papers. 13 Gilbert Coleridge wrote to Mavor to give his opinion as to whether the Samuel Taylor Coleridge transmissions in The Twentieth Plane sounded authentic: "as a descendent and disciple of my revered ancestor I should say that brain had deteriorated sadly ..." Gilbert Coleridge to Mavor, 4 March 1919, James Mavor Papers. 14 The confession remains unsigned in the James Mavor Papers. 15 Watson, The Twentieth Plane (1919), 20. 16 Ibid., 21. 17 Ibid., 22. 18 Ibid., 25. 19 See Pierce, Albert Durrant Watson. 20 A.E.S. Smythe, "Inaugural Address to the Toronto Whitman Fellowship," Sunset of Eon Echo, i, 3, 9. Also published in the Toronto Sunday World, in Smythe's column "Crusts and Crumbs," 4 June 1916. 21 Sunset of Bon Echo i, no. 6:1; Vol. i, no. 5:1; Vol. i, no. 5:13. 22 Bucke, Cosmic Consciousness, 9. 23 This experience was quoted by William James in The Varieties of Religious Experience (New York: Mentor 1958), 306. James called Cosmic Consciousness "a highly interesting book." 24 Merrill Denison, letter to the author, 30 December 1967. 25 Sunset of Eon Echo i, no. 4, inside back cover. 26 Merrill Denison, letter to the author, 30 December 1967. 27 Watson and Lawrence, Mediums and Mystics, 9. Further page references to this book are provided in parentheses in the text.

2.36

Notes to pages 129-49 CHAPTER SEVEN

1 Letter from J.W.F. Harrison, 31 December 1913, Pincock/Maines Collection. 2 "Crochets and Quavers," Toronto Sunday World, 28 April 1912. 3 Political Equality Club Canadian Program, in the Pincock/Maines Collection. 4 "Wedding Invitation," Pincock/Maines Collection. 5 Pincock, Trails of Truth, 2.6. 6 Jenny Pincock, letter to "Everybody," 20 October 192,7, Pincock/Maines Collection. 7 Letter to Newton Pincock from T.S. Sharp, Guild of Spiritual Healing, 16 May 192.8, Pincock/Maines Collection. 8 Seance notes, September 192,7, Pincock/Maines Collection. 9 Letter to Jenny Pincock from T.S. Sharp, Guild of Spiritual Healing, 15 October 192,8, Pincock/Maines Collection. 10 Seance notes, 12 August 192.8, Pincock/Maines Collection. 11 Jenny O'Hara Pincock, "We Heard a Voice," Reason 27, no. 4 (November/ December/January 1930-31): 49. 12 Reason 27, no. 4 (November/December/January 1930-31): 35. 13 B.F. Austin, "The Trails of Truth," Reason 27, no. 3 (August/September/ October 1930): 31. 14 Pincock, Trails of Truth, "Chart of Evidence." Further page references to this book are provided in parentheses in the text. 15 Letter from W.A. Deacon to Jenny Pincock, 28 October 1930, Pincock/ Maines Collection. CHAPTER EIGHT

1 St Catharines Standard, 12 October 1930. 2 St Catharines Standard, 27 June 1931. 3 Letter to Mr Remmers from Jenny Pincock, 5 April 1944, Pincock/ Maines Collection. 4 "Challenge to Spiritualists," St Catharines Standard, 9 February 1931. 5 "Rev, Tuer and Spiritualism," undated press clipping, St Catharines Standard, Pincock/Maines Collection. 6 "Rev. Maines is Suspended from U.C. Ministry," Gait Reporter, 24 February 1931. 7 St Catharines Standard, 28 March 1932. 8 St Catharines Standard, 12 March 1934. 9 Gait Reporter, 15 September 1930. 10 "Task of all Churches is to go Forward with Message of Evangelism," undated, unsourced newspaper article, Pincock/Maines Collection.

237

Notes to pages 149-58

11 Newspaper clipping, Pincock/Maines Collection. 12 "Dead Rest in their Graves," newspaper clipping, 22 February 1932., Pincock/Maines Collection. 13 F.E. Hetherington, "Spiritualism and the Pulpit," letter to the editor, 3 March 1932,, Press clipping St Catharines Standard in Pincock/Maines Collection. 14 Bible Student, "Spiritualism and the Pulpit," St Catharines Standard, 16 March 1932. 15 F.E. Hetherington, "Replies to Bible Student," St Catharines Standard, 28 March 1932. 16 Typescript copy, 13 April 1931, Pincock/Maines Collection. 17 Seance notes, 6 April 1931, p. 4, Pincock/Maines Collection. 18 "Good Thing To Avoid," St Catharines Standard, 25 January 1929? 19 Jenny Pincock, "history of the library," note in the Pincock/Maines collection. 20 Progression i, no. 3. 21 The reference to the Massachusetts group vanishes from the journal after this number. 22 Progression i, no. 1:3. 23 Progression i, no. 1:3-4. 24 Typescript in Pincock/Maines Collection. 25 Typescript in Pincock/Maines Collection. 26 "Healing and Self-Unfoldment," by LIGHT, Progression i no. 1:5. 27 Progression i, no. 1:12-13. 28 Progression i, no. 1:13. 29 Progression i, no. 1:14. 30 Progression i, no. 1:15. 31 Progression i, no. 1:14. 32 Progression i, no. 1:15. 33 Progression i, no. 1:15. 34 Seance notes, 5 January 1932, 18-19, Pincock/Maines Collection. 35 Seance notes, 5 October 1931, 8, Pincock/Maines Collection. 36 Seance notes, 6 May 1931, 5-6, Pincock/Maines Collection. 37 Progression 3, no. 9:6. 38 Progression 3, no. 9:7. 39 Progression 3, no. 9:11. 40 Progression 3, no. 9:14. 41 Letter to William Cartheuser from Jenny Pincock, 13 July 1939, Pincock/Maines Collection. 42 Jenny Pincock to William Cartheuser, Foxboro, Ontario, 3 July 1939. Handwritten copy, Pincock/Maines Collection. 43 Jenny O'Hara Pincock, letter to Mr Remmers, typescript copy in the Pincock/Maines Collection.

238

Notes to pages 159-66

44 Jenny O'Hara Pfncock to Mr and Mrs Ross, written at Hideaway Cottage, Moira Lake, Madoc, Ontario, 12 September 1935. Typescript in the Pincock/Maines Collection. 45 Letter from Hope to Dear Ones, St Catharines, n November 1953, Pincock/Maines Collection. 46 Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 2 May 1942. 47 Belleville Intelligencer, 7 August 1993, n. CHAPTER

NINE

1 Information used in this chapter comes from the papers of Otto Smith, a longtime member of the Thomas Lacey seance group in Kitchener. The material is now located in the Rare Books Department of the University of Waterloo. These papers are almost all seance notes. There is little or no documentation on Thomas Lacey himself, other than for the occasional notice published in the periodical press. The material will be referred to simply as the Lacey Papers. 2 Typescript, 6 June 1931, Lacey Papers. 3 Ibid. 4 "After a few minutes conversation by the sitters, a method generally followed by the circle instead of singing, the Medium went into deep trance." Typescript, 6 June 1931, Lacey Papers, i. 5 Typescript, 2,6 April 1931, Lacey Papers. 6 Typescript, 18 July 1931, Lacey papers, 2. 7 Typescript, 19 July 1931, Lacey Papers. 8 Typescript, 12 September 1931, Lacey Papers, 3-4. 9 There are a number of parallels between the Lacey circle and the circle formed in Winnipeg by Dr Glen Hamilton examined in chapters 10 and 11. Both groups were assisted on the spirit plane by W.T. Stead and Conan Doyle and both experimented with spirit photography. 10 Typescript, 28 November 1931, Lacey Papers, 2. 11 Typescript, 17 December 1932, Lacey Papers, 4. 12 Typescript, 17 December 1932, Lacey Papers, 4. 13 Typescript, 17 December 1932, Lacey Papers, 5. 14 Typescript, 17 December 1932, Lacey Papers, 3-4. 15 Typescript, Lacey Papers, 5. 16 Typescript, 9 April 1932, Lacey Papers, i. 17 Typescript, 6 August 1932, Lacey Papers, i. 18 Typescript, 21 May 1931, Lacey Papers, 2. 19 Typescript, 28 May 1932, Lacey Papers. 20 Typescript, 15 August 1932, Lacey Papers, 6. 21 Typescript, Lacey Papers. 22 Typescript, 27 August 1932, Lacey Papers, 2.

2.39 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57

Notes to pages 166-76 Typescript, 27 August 1932,, Lacey Papers, 3. Typescript, 27 August 1932, Lacey Papers, 4. "Transfiguration," typescript, 27 August 1932., 6. Typescript, 27 August, 1932, 8. Typescript, 24 September 1932., Lacey Papers, i. Typescript, 8 October 1932, Lacey Papers, i. Typescript, 8 October 1932, Lacey Papers, 8. Typescript, 5 November 1932., Lacey Papers, i. Typescript, 5 November 1932, Lacey Papers, 3. Typescript, 5 November 193X5 Lacey Papers, 4. Typescript, 5 November 1932, Lacey Papers, 5. Typescript, 10 December 1932, Lacey Papers, i. Typescript, 10 December 1932,, Lacey Papers, 2. Typescript, 10 December 1932., Lacey Papers, 5. Typescript, 10 December 1932,, Lacey Papers, 6. O.G. Smith, "Canadian Medium's startling Phenomena," Two Worlds 46, no. 2 (3 February 1933): 358. O.G. Smith, "Canadian's Remarkable Seances," Two Worlds 46, no. 2378 (23 June 1933): 486. Thomas Lacey, "Point of View," newspaper clipping, unsourced, in the Lacey Papers. "Canada Broadcasts," Two Worlds 49, no. 2,52,5 (17 April 1936). Seance notes, no. 2 scrapbook, "Occult or Psychic Science," 21 October 1935, Lacey Papers. White Brotherhood, The Story and Teaching, 17. Ibid., 23. Seance notes no. 2 scrapbook, Hamilton, 16 October 1934, Lacey Papers. See "Rosicrucians," Encyclopedia of the Unexplained, ed. Richard Cavendish (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1974), 215-18. "More about the Theosophists: An Interview with Mdme. Blavatsky," Pall Mall Gazette 39, pt. 2 (26 April 1884)14, quoted in Oppenheim, The Other World, 164. Oppenheim, The Other World, 167-8. Ibid., 184-5. Ibid., 193. Ibid., 200. Lacombe/'Theosophy and the Canadian Idealist Tradition," 102. Ibid., 103. Smythe, After Forty-Eight Years, 3. Ibid., 4. Ibid., 16. Ibid., 23.

240 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70

Notes to pages 176-88 Ibid., 15. Ibid., 14. Scrapbook, 29th July 1935, Lacey Papers. Scrapbook no. 2, 30 September 1935, Lacey Papers. "Changing Consciousness," Scrapbook, 31 July 1935, Lacey Papers. Scrapbook, 19 August 1935, Lacey Papers. "Different Phases of Life," 28 August 1935, Hespeler, Ont. Scrapbook no. i, Lacey Papers. Scrapbook, 19 December 1935, Lacey Papers. Scrapbook, 30 December 1935, Lacey Papers, apparently from Jesus. "Amarai" Scrapbook, 10 February 1936, Lacey Papers. Scrapbook, 10 February 1936, Lacey Papers. Scrapbook, 24 February 1936, Lacey Papers. "Resurrection," Scrapbook, 16 March 1936, Lacey Papers. CHAPTER TEN

1 Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, 4. 2 Ibid., 6-7. Frederick William Henry Myers was a British psychic researcher who wrote Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death, which was published after his death in 1903. 3 Ibid., 2. 4 Irving Litvag, Singer in the Shadows: The Strange Story of Patience Worth (New York: Macmillan 1972), p. 18. 5 Litvag, 18-19. 6 Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, u. 7 Ibid., 10-11. 8 Hamilton, "Teleplasmic Phenomena," 186. 9 Ibid., 186. 10 Ibid., 187. 11 Ibid., 188. 12 Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, n. 13 Ibid., 16-18. 14 Ibid., 6 15 Ibid., 19. 16 Ibid., 16. 17 Ibid., 15. 18 Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1942), 236. 19 Ibid., 238. 20 Ibid., 242-4. 21 Ibid., 246. See Hamilton's article in the American journal for Psychical Research 25, no. 9 (September 1931) for a report on Elizabeth M. 22 Hamilton, "Teleplasmic Phenomena," 198-9.

241 23 24 25 2.6 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

47 48 49 50 51

Notes to pages 188-97 "Reality of Psychic Force," Light 55, no. 2818 (10 January 1935). Hamilton, "Introduction," to Intention and Survival (1977), xix. Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1942), 251. Ibid., 254. Ibid., 255. Ibid., 256. Ibid., 278. Ibid., 283-4. Ibid., 284. Ibid., 26. Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, 27. See L.R.G. Crandon to Hamilton, 16 October 1930 and L.R.G. Crandon to Glen, 26 May 1933, Hamilton Papers. Dr Crandon's famous medium wife, who went by the name "Margery," was originally Mina Stinson,who was born in Picton,Ontario. "Famed Medium Ontario-born 'Margery' Dies," Toronto Globe and Mail, 3 November 1941. See letter of 20 July 1933 from Hamilton to Crandon, Hamilton Papers. Hamilton, "Teleplasmic Phenomena," 185. H.A.V. Green, "A Remarkable Materialization," Psychic Science, Quarterly Transactions of the British Association for Psychic Research. (April 1936), 28. Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, 16. Fodor, Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science, 113. Ibid. Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1942), 7. Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, n. Seance note, 4 June 1928, Hamilton Papers. Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1942), 8-9. Ibid., 10. Dr McLachlan was later transferred to Toronto after Church Union in 1925 to become head of the Evangelical Service of the United Church of Canada. See Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, 5. Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, 5. Glen Hamilton, "Lecture Notes," Hamilton Papers. Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1942), 16. Ibid., 288-9. Ibid., 289-90. CHAPTER ELEVEN

i Jean Conan Doyle to Mrs Marshall, 21 November 1932, Hamilton Papers.

2,42-

Notes to pages 197-203

2 Letter from Glen Hamilton to Nandor Fodor, 9 March 1935, Hamilton Papers. Ivan Cook wrote to Nandor Fodor on 13 December 1934, suggesting that he "saw no reason why the same sort of thing should not be established with Dr Crandon's Boston Group, if the spirit operators agreed ... While we may make arrangements with the Crandon group they may find that having two points of contact across the water may tend to 'cross wires,' and in which case one would be eliminated" (Ivan Cook, letter to Nandor Fodor, 13 Dec. 1934, Archives, British Association for Psychic Research). The Crandon connection does not seem to have been developed. 3 Ivan Cook, letter to Nandor Fodor, 26 March 1935, Archives, British Association for Psychic Research. 4 Ivan Cook to Nandor Fodor, 26 March 1935, Archives, British Association for Psychic Research. 5 "Notes of a Sitting for Cross Correspondence Between the Controls of Mrs Grace Cook and the Circle of Dr Glen Hamilton held on February 12th, 1935 at Burstow Manor, Horley, at 9pm in the presence of seven sitters," Archives, British Association for Psychic Research. 6 Glen Hamilton, letter to Nandor Fodor, 5 March 1935, Hamilton Papers. 7 T. Glen Hamilton, letter to Nandor Fodor, 9 March 1935, Archives, British Association for Psychic Research. 8 "Highlights in the life of T. Glen Hamilton, M.D.," in the Hamilton Collection. 9 Lillian Hamilton, letter to Dr Nandor Fodor, i April 1935, Archives, British Association for Psychic Research. 10 Nandor Fodor, letter to Glen Hamilton, i April 1935, typescript copy in Archives, British Association for Psychic Research. 11 Lillian Hamilton, letter to Dr Nandor Fodor, 6 April 1935, Archives, British Association for Psychic Research. 12 Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1977), xxviii. 13 Ibid., xxix. 14 Ibid., xxiii. 15 Hamilton, "Teleplasmic Phenomena," 180. 16 Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1977), xxxi. 17 Hamilton, letter to L.R.G. Crandon, 17 January 1933, Hamilton Papers. 18 Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1942), 226. 19 Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1977), 152:. 20 Hamilton, Intention and Survival (1942), 152. 21 Hamilton Papers, Mss 14, box n, Folder 2. 22 Ibid.

243

Notes to pages 204-11

23 Glen Hamilton spoke to the British Medical Association on 27 August 1930, when it met in Winnipeg. 24 Flexner, Medical Education, 320. Flexner found Manitoba Medical School - Hamilton's alma mater - to be competently served by science courses from the University of Manitoba by 1909. Hamilton had graduated in 1903. 25 Ludmerer, Learning to Heal, 174. Ludmerer believes that a shift to more scientific medical education took place before the Flexner report in a number of American Institutions. 26 Hamilton consulted with the Eastman Kodak Company, offering them a chance to co-sponsor his research. See letter to Dr Mees, Eastman Kodak Labs, Rochester, N.Y., 17 October 1931, Hamilton Papers, Box 16, Folder 2. 27 Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, 25. 28 "Winnipeg Circle Still Active," Light 62, no. 2922 (7 January 1937): 9. 29 M.L.H. handwritten comment in "Remarkable Experiments Conducted in Winnipeg," n.p. n.d., Hamilton Collection. 30 Ibid., 8. 31 Ibid., 10. 32 Ibid., ii. 33 Ibid., 26. 34 Ibid., 28. 35 Ibid., 32. 36 Bligh Bond, typescript in the Hamilton Collection, 2-3. Probably this is a copy of an obituary, perhaps published in the American Society for Psychical Research. Journal? 37 James Leigh, Light 56, no. 2394 (13 October 1933). 38 E.A.S. Hayward,"A Visit to Dr. Glen Hamilton," Light 49, no. 2544 (12 October 1929): 488. 39 "Note on Mr Harry A.V. Green, Co-worker with Dr T. Glen Hamilton," Hamilton Papers. See also "Obituary," Winnipeg Free Press, 9 June 1979. 40 V. Green, "Mary M. Seances," Light (27 April 1929). 41 V. Green, "A Short Account of the 'Mary M.' Photographs," Light (4 May 1929). 42 "Note on Hugh A. Reed, Associated with Dr T. Glen Hamilton as a co-worker in the experiments concerning psychic phenomena, 19211934," Hamilton Papers. 43 "Mr Pitblado," Winnipeg Free Press, 24 February 1950. 44 Margaret Hamilton, "'Prepare' Rapped Out Started Seances," Toronto Daily Star, 21 April 1958. 45 Dr D.A. Hamilton, Hamilton Papers, Box n, Mss 14, Folder i.

244

Notes to pages 212-19

46 Seance note, 12 September 1928, Hamilton Papers. 47 T. Glen Hamilton Seance note, April 1944, 33-4, Hamilton Papers. 48 W.T. Stead Seance note, April 1944, 35, Hamilton Papers. CHAPTER TWELVE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 X 9 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Keyserlingk, "Mackenzie King's Spiritualism," 28. Ibid., 29. Whitaker, "Mackenzie King," u. Esberey, Knight of the Holy Spirit. Stacey, A Very Double Life, 161. Ibid., 163. Ibid., 164. "Memorandum," quoted by Stacey, A Very Double Life, 164. W.L.M.K., Letter to Sir Oliver Lodge, 7 December 1933, Sir Oliver Lodge's Correspondence, British Society for Psychic Research. Ibid. Letter from W.L.M.K. to Sir Oliver Lodge, 20 November 1936, Oliver Lodge Correspondence, British Society for Psychic Research. Fred Archer, "Mackenzie King Sought Spirit Aid," London Psychic News, reprinted in the Toronto Telegram, 21 October 1950. Keyserlingk, "Mackenzie King's Spiritualism," 34. Stacey, A Very Double Life, 168. Ibid., 169 (26, 27, 28, 29 June 1932). 27 Nov. 1933, Stacey, A Very Double Life, 172. King traveled to Detroit to visit Mrs Wriedt on 25, 30 September, i October. This happened in Washington in 1935. Stacey, A Very Double Life, 134. Stacey, A Very Double Life, 174. 5~6 July 1934. Stacey, A Very Double Life, 180. 4 September 1939. Stacey, A Very Double Life, 192. Stacey, A Very Double Life, 199. Cummins, Unseen'Adventures., 177. Ibid., 178. Ibid., 179. Ibid., 181. Neatby, William Lyon Mackenzie King, 3:76. Ibid., 79. W.L.M.K. to T. Glen Hamilton, 7 August 1933, Hamilton Papers. Bach, "Interview," Hamilton Papers, 24. W.L.M.K. to T. Glen Hamilton, 27 August 1933, Hamilton Papers. W.L.M.K. to T. Glen Hamilton, 29 September 1933, Hamilton Papers. W.L.M.K. to Mrs Hamilton, 26 November 1936, Hamilton Papers.

Bibliography

ARCHIVAL SOURCES

Alma College Papers, United Church Archives, Toronto, Ontario Archives, Robarts Library, University of Toronto Archives of the British Association for Psychic Research, London, England Flora MacDonald Denison Papers, Thomas Fisher Rare Books, Robarts Library, University of Toronto Thomas Glendening Hamilton Collection, MSS 14 Archives and Special Collections, Elizabeth Dafoe Library, University of Manitoba - Margaret Hamilton Bach, "Interview," 26 November 1980. Thomas Lacey Papers, Rare Books, Dana Porter Library, University of Waterloo James Mavor Papers, Thomas Fisher Rare Books, Robarts Library, MS Coll 119, Box 61 University of Toronto Alexander McLachlan Papers, Archives, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario "The Meteorological and Autobiographical Journal of Marcus Gunn." National Archives of Canada, MG 24 142 Vol. 4 "Moodie Family Spiritualism Album," Patrick Hamilton Ewing Collection, Box 5. National Library of Canada Pincock/Maines Collection, Rare Books, Dana Porter Library, University of Waterloo Harry Price Collection, University of London Library, London, England BOOKS AND

PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Austin, B.F. Glimpses of the Unseen. Toronto and Brantford: Bradley-Garretson 1898 - What Converted Me to Spiritualism. Toronto: Austin Publishing 1900 - The A.B.C. of Spiritualism. Los Angeles: Austin Publishing 1920 - Fundamentalism. Los Angeles: Austin Publishing 1924

Z4 6

Anatomy of a Seance

Ballstadt, Carl, Elizabeth Hopkins, and Michael Peterman, eds. Letters of a Lifetime. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1985 Ballstadt, Carl, Michael Peterman, and Elizabeth Hopkins. "'A Glorious Madness': Susanna Moodie and the Spiritualist Movement." Journal of Canadian Studies 17 (i98z-83):88-ioi - Letters of Love and Duty. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1993 Barrow, Logic. Independent Spirits: Spiritualism and English Plebeians, 18501910. London and New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1986 Bibby, Reginald W. The Bibby Report: Social Trends Canadian Style. Toronto: Stoddard 1995 Bjorling, Joel. Channeling: A Bibliographic Exploration. New York and London: Garland 199 z Bloom, Harold. The American Religion. New York, London, Toronto: Simon and Schuster 1991 Braude, Ann. Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in NineteenthCentury America. Boston: Beacon Press 1989 Bryson, Gladys. Man and Society: The Scottish Inquiry of the Eighteenth Century. New York: Kelly 1968 Bucke, R.M. Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind. New York: Citadel Press 1970 "Canada Broadcasts." The Two Worlds 49, no. 2,52,5 (Friday 17 April 1936) "Centenary, New Church Swedenborgian i84z-i94z." Kitchener: Church of the Good Shepherd 1942, Chown, Alice A. The Stairway. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1988 Cook, Ramsay. "Spiritualism, Science of the Earthly Paradise," Canadian Historical Review 65 (March 1984): 4-2.7 - The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Later Victorian English Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1985 Crabtree, Adam. Multiple Man: Explorations in Possession and Multiple Personalities. Toronto: Collins 1985 Cridge, Alfred. Epitome of Spirit Intercourse; Condensed View of Spiritualism in its Scriptural, Historical, Actual and Scientific Aspects. Boston: Bela Marsh 1854 Cross, Whitney R. The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800-1850. 1950. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press 19 8 z Cummins, Geraldine. Unseen Adventures. London: Rider 1951 Curry, Ian. You Cannot Die: The Incredible Findings of A Century of Research on Death. Toronto: Sumerville House 1993 Dawson, William. Fifty Years of Work in Canada. London: Ballantyne, Hanson 1901 Denison, Flora MacDonald. Mary Melville, the Psychic. Toronto: Austin Publishing, 1900

Bibliography

247

Dewart, E.H. "Biographical Sketch." The Poetical Works of Alexander McLachlan. Toronto: Briggs 1900 Esberey, Joy E. Knight of the Holy Spirit: A Study of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1980 Encyclopedia of the Unexplained ed. Richard Cavendish. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1974 Field, Rev. G. Memoirs Incidents & Reminiscences of the Early History of the New Church. Toronto, 1879. Reprinted New York: AMS Press 1971 Fisher, Joe. Hungry Ghosts: An Investigation into Channelling and the Spirit World. Toronto: Doubleday 1990 Flexner, Abraham. Medical Education in the United States and Canada. New York: Arno Press and New York Times 1972. Fodor, Nandor. "MacKenzie King's Search for Survival." Between Two Worlds. West Nyack: Parker 1964 - Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science, n.p.: University Books 1969 Gannett, Ezra. The Faith of the Unitarian Church Explained, Justified, and Distinguished. Boston: Wm. Crosby and H.P. Nichols 1845 Gorham, Deborah. "Flora MacDonald Denison: Canadian Feminist." In A Not Unreasonable Claim: Women and Reform in Canada iSSos-iyzos, ed. Linda Kealey. Toronto: The Women's Press 1979 Gray, Charlotte. Sisters in the Wilderness: The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Traill. Toronto: Viking 1999 Greenland, Cyril. "Mary Edwards Merrill 1858-1880 'The Psychic'." Ontario History 68, no. 2, (June 1976): 81-92 Hamilton Glen. "Teleplasmic Phenomena in Winnipeg." Psychic Science, Quarterly Transactions of the British Association for Psychic Research 8 (October 192.9). - Intention and Survival, Psychical Research Studies and the Bearing of Intentional Actions by Trance Personalities on the Problem of Human Survival, ed. J.D. Hamilton. Toronto: Macmillan 1942, - Intention and Survival, Psychical Research Studies and the Bearing of Intentional Actions by Trance Personalities on the Problem of Human Survival. 2nd ed. Ed. Margaret Lillian Hamilton. London: Regency Press 1977 Hardinge, Emma. Modern American Spiritualism. New York: Hardinge 1870 Hardinge [Britten], Emma. Rules for the Formation and Conduct of Spirit Circles. Glasgow: James McGeachy 1868 Harris, Dean W.R. Essays in Occultism, Spiritism, and Demonology. Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart 1919 Howard, Rev. Lee E. "Benjamin Fish Austin - In Memoriam." Reason 29 (February 1933): 6-7 James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Mentor 1958 Keyserlingk, Robert H. "Mackenzie King's Spiritualism and his View of Hitler in 1939." Journal of Canadian Studies 20, no. 4 (Winter 1985-86): 26-44

248

Anatomy of a Seance

King, John S. Dawn of the Awakened Mind. New York: James A. McCann 1920 Klimo, Jon. Channeling: Investigations on Receiving Information From Paranormal Sources. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher 1987 Lacombe, Michele. "Theosophy and the Canadian Idealist Tradition: A Preliminary Exploration." Journal of Canadian Studies 17 no. 2 (Summer 1982): 100-18 - "Songs of the Open Road: Bon Echo, Urban Utopians and the Cult of Nature." Journal of Canadian Studies 33, no. 2 (Summer 1998):!52-67. The Lake Beneath the Rocks: The Life and Legends of Lily Dale 187919751. n -P- : Bme Ox I979 Levere, Trevor H. and Richard A. Jarrell, eds. A Curious Field Book: Science and Society in Canadian History. Toronto: Oxford University Press 1974 Litvag, Irving. Singer in the Shadows: The Strange Story of Patience Worth. New York: Macmillan 1972 Lodge, Sir Oliver. Raymond Or Life and Death. New York: Doran 1916 Ludmerer, Kenneth. Learning to Heal. New York: Basic Books 1985 MacDonald, Flora. "The Vision of Mary." In B.F. Austin, What Converted Me to Spiritualism. Toronto: Austin Publishing Macintosh, EC. "Some Nova Scotian Scientists." Dalhousie Review 10 (July 1930): 199-213 McCulloch, Thomas. The Nature and Uses of a Liberal Education Illustrated. Halifax: Holland 1819 - Calvinism: The Doctrine of the Scriptures. Glasgow: Collins 1848 - A Lecture Delivered at the Opening of the First Theological Class in Pictou Academy. Reprinted by William McCulloch in The Life of Thomas McCulloch. Pictou: n.p. 1920 McMullin, S.E. "Walt Whitman's Influence in Canada." Dalhousie Review 49 no. 3 (Autumn 1969): 361-8 - "In Search of the Liberal Mind: Thomas McCulloch and the Impulse to Action." Journal of Canadian Studies 23, nos i & 2 (Spring/Summer 1988): 68-85. Meyer Zu Erpen, Walter J. and Joy Lowe. "The Canadian Spiritualist Movement and Sources for its Study." Archivaria 30 (Summer 1990): 71-84 Moore, R. Laurence. In Search of White Crows: Spiritualism, Parapsychology, and American Culture. New York: Oxford University Press 1977 Moorman, David T. "Where are the English and the Americans in the Historiography of Upper Canada?" Ontario History 88, no. i (March 1996): 66 National Spiritualist Association. Spiritualist Manual. 3rd ed. Chicago: Printing Products Corp 1925 Neatby, H. Blair. William Lyon Mackenzie King, vol 3, 193 2-193 9: The Prism of Unity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1976 Nelson, Geoffrey K. Spiritualism and Society. New York: Schocken Books 1969

Bibliography

2.49

Oaten, Ernest. "Religious Persecution in the Twentieth Century. The Great Disabilities Which Spiritualists Suffer." The Two Worlds 46, no. 2, 884 (4 August 1933) Oppenheim, Janet. The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1985 Oring, Elliot. "On the Concepts of Folklore." In Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An Introduction, ed. Elliot Oring. Logan: Utah State University Press 1986 Owen, Alex. The Darkened Room: Women, Power and Spiritualism in Late Victorian England. London: Virago Press 1989 Paull, Herbert G. The Voice of the Spirit, Being a Record of Six Occult Seances of the W.T. Stead Bureau Committee, 1915. [Toronto]: Canadian Society for Psychical Research 1915 Pierce, Lome. Albert Durrant Watson: An Appraisal. Toronto: n.p. 1923. Pincock, Jenny O'Hara. Trails of Truth. Los Angeles: Austin Publishing 1930 - Hidden Springs: A Narrative Poem of Old Upper Canada and Other Poems. n.p.: private publication, 1950. Permutt, Cyril. Photographing the Spirit World: Images from Beyond the Spectrum. Wellingborough: Aquarian Press 1988 Rechnitzer, Peter. R.M. Bucke: Journey to Cosmic Consciousness. Markham: Fitzhenry and Whiteside 1994 Robbins, Rossell Hope. "The Rochester Rappings." The Dalhousie Review 2, no. 45 (Summer 1965): 153-64 Ross, Colin A. The Osiris Complex, Case Studies in Multiple Personality Disorder. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1994 Smith, O.G. "Canadian's Remarkable Seances." The Two Worlds 46, no. 2, 378, (Friday, 23 June 1933): 485-6 Smythe, A.E.S. After Forty-Eight Years: Some Reflections on Theosophy in Canada 1922-1923. n.p.: n.p. n.d. Snow's Annotated Criminal Code. D.R.H. Heather, Toronto: Carswell 1979 "Spiritualism." Christian Guardian 69, no. 29 (20 July 29 1898) The Sunflower, Lily Dale, New York Stacey, C.P. A Very Double Life: The Private World of Mackenzie King. Laurentian Library, Toronto: Macmillan 1976 Stacey, Robert and Stan McMullin. Massanoga: The Art of Bon Echo. The Archives of Canadian Art. Ottawa: Penumbra Press 1998 Statutes of Canada 1892. Dawson, Ottawa: Queen's Printer 1892 Statutes of Canada 1953-54. Ed. Edmond Cloutier, Ottawa: Queen's Printer Statutes Revised [England]. 3rd ed. 1235-1770. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office 1950 Synopsis of the Heresy Sermon. The Heresy Trial of Rev. B.F. Austin. Toronto: Sermon Publishing n.d. Tremeer's Annotated Criminal Code. 6th ed. Ed. Leonard J. Ryan. Toronto: Carswell 1964

2.50

Anatomy of a Seance

Tuveson, Ernest Lee. Millennium and Utopia: A Study in the Background of the Idea of Progress. New York: Harper 1965 Vogt, Paula M. and Joyce Lajudice. Lily Dale Proud Beginnings, n.p.: n.p. 1984 Waldo-Schwaratz, Paul. Art and the Occult. New York: George Braziller 1975 Wallace, Alfred Russel. "Spiritualism." Chambers Encyclopaedia. London, Edinburgh: William and Robert Chambers 1904 Watson, Albert Durrant. Twentieth Plane, A Cosmic Revelation. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart 1918 - Birth Through Death, Ethics of the Twentieth Plane. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart 1920 Watson, Albert Durrant and Margaret Lawrence. Mediums and Mystics, A Study in Spiritual Laws and Psychic Forces. Toronto: Ryerson 1923 Whitaker, Reginald. "Mackenzie King and the Dominion of the Dead." Canadian Forum (February 1976): n White Brotherhood. The Story and Teaching of the White Brotherhood. London: White Eagle Lodge 1939 Woodhouse, A.S.P. Puritanism and Liberty. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1951 Yoder, Don. Studies in Ethnic, Religious, and Regional Culture. Ann Arbor/ London: U.M.I. Research Press 1990

Index

Abbott, Albert, 108, 109 Abdulla Bay, 166 Aboriginal spirits, 165, 166, 171; Black Hawk, 193; Blue Snake, 166, 167; Bright Moon, 37; Tall Pine, 138 Abudha Khan, 162, 163, 170, 171 afterlife, 103, 117-18, i33> 137, !47> 165; nature of, 206, 2.07, in. See also future life, life after death Albert College, 36, 43 Allison, W.T., 182, 201, . 205 Alma College, 43-4 Amari, 171, 177 American Society for Psychical Research, 202 analogy, science as, 10, 16 Anderson, John Berry: biography of, 139; and Christianity, 140; defence of spiritualism, 150; on God, 144-5, 156; on group membership, 151; Radiant Healing Centre, 152; as spirit guide, 132, 133, 138, 141, 154, 159; and telephone, 143; and vibration, 137, 142

apports, 209 Archer, Fred, 215 astral bodies, 112, 156 astral mind, 156 astral plane, 156, 176 astral world, 171 astral projection, 141. See also out-of-body experiences, soul travel attraction, law of, 143-4 audiotape, 179, 224 auras, 112, 113, 168 Austin, B.F.: and attraction to the occult, 44; biography of, 42-4; and Canadian Spiritualist Association, 146; dream of his daughter, 46-7; and heresy sermon and withdrawal from Methodism, 50-5; and Jenny Pincock, 132-3; and John King, 101; and lecture tours, 57, iii; and Lily Dale, 38; and ordination of Fred Maines, 147; and modernism, 222; and new order, 128; and R.M. Bucke, 86 Austin Press, 132 Austin Pulpit Quarterly, 56, 59 automatic writing: Elizabeth M., 187;

Hester Dowden, 217; Maude Gates, 97; Thomas Lacey, 161 Bach, J. Simpson, 87 Bach, Margaret. See Hamilton, Margaret Lillian Baker, Joseph, 71 Bain, John G., 96 BamBam, William L., 49 Bangs Sisters (Elizabeth and May): spirit writing, 76; spirit portraits, 82, 87, 102 Baptists, 78, 79, 81, 83, 188 Beaney, L., 214 bell box, 168, 184 Bell, Jane, 117 Belleville, and Susanna Moodie, 25, 148 Benjamin, Louis: biography, 109-10; and Britannica, 183; and ouijary, 125; and test seance, 117, 118, 128 Bentley, Richard, 24, 25 Beyond Physics, 214 Bible: and infallibility, 139, 150, 151; and spirit communications, 55 Bird, J. Malcolm, 188 Birth Through Death, 119, 206

2 5 2-

Bisson, Madam, 191, 192 Blake, William, 109 Blavatsky, Madam: medium, 56; and science, 175; theosophy, 120, 174; writings of, 176 body, physical, 155, 156; and dualism of, 156 Bon Echo Inn, 35, 39, 132 Boston, 71, 183, 190, 191, 202 British Association for the Advancement of Science, 219 British Association for Psychical Research, 85, 86, 199 British Psychic Science Quarterly, 202 British Medical Association, 204 Britten, Emma Hardinge, 28, 63, 73 Browning, Robert, 120 Bucke, R.M.: and B.F. Austin, 60; Cosmic Consciousness, 86, 120, 120; and theosophy, 174 Burroughs, Rev. Hugh, 88, 102 cabinet seances, 166, 168; description of, 183-4 California, and spiritualist churches, 57 Calvinism, 196 Calvinists, 221, 224 cameras, 184, 192, 193 Camp Chesterfield, 87 camp meetings, and spiritualism, 12 Canadian Medical Association, 180, 204 Canadian Suffrage Association, 38-9 Canadian Society for Psychical Research, 86, 87-8, 92, 96, in

Inde? Canadian Spiritualist Association, 146 Canadian Theosophist, 176 Cardey, O.D., 149 Carlysle, Thomas, 109, 116 carnal pleasures, 163 Cartheuser, William, 129, 130; and Dr Anderson, 150, 157; and gnosticism, 145; and healing, 152; home circle, I I 3 > T 55; and Lily Dale, 136-7; and New Jersey, 147, 148; and phenomena, 161; rejected, 157-9, 183; and telephone, 143; Trails of Truth, 132, !33> !55> *93 Catholic Church, and spirits, ii Census, and declared spiritualists, 21 Christ, 142, 162, 172 Christian Guardian, 19 Christianity, 149, 161, 172, 178, 195 Church of Revelation (Los Angeles), 56 Church of Divine Revelation: and B.F. Austin, 57, 129, 132, 133; and congregation of, 146, 147; and established churches, 161; and Fred Maines, 148; and psychic healing, 15 2-3; and public reaction to, 150-1; and W.W.E. Ross, 158 clairaudience, 79, 81, 117, 187 clairvoyance, 78, 81, 187, 200, 205, 206 clog dancing, 163 Cole, WE., 45, 80 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 109, 114, 207 Colley, Archdeacon, 170 commercialism, 164

competition, and abolition of, 115 Conklin, J.B., 29 consciousness: evolved state of, 124; and God, 127; of humanity, 179, 181, 201; individual duration of, 123; levels of, 122, 127; and religious obligation, 178; source of, 123; universal, 127, 128, 178 continuity, law of, 127 Cook, Florence, 208, 183 Cook, Grace, 197, 199, 201 Cook, Ivan, 187, 198, 199, 200 Cook, Ramsay: and social salvation, 16; and sentimentalized supernaturalism, 16 Cooper, W.B., 211 Cosmic Consciousness, 86, 120, 121, 173; premonition of, 124. See also Bucke, R.M. cosmology, 141 Crandon, L.R.G., 190, 192, 194, 204, Crandon, Margery, 183, 184, 190, 191, 210 Crawford, W.J., 191, 192, 202 Creighton, William, 192, 211 Cridge, Alfred, 33-4 Crookes, Sir William, 73, 83; and the British Association for Psychical Research, 85, 133, 136; and Florence Cook, 183; and Katie King, 208 Cross, Whitney, 13 cross-border transfers, 13 cross-correspondence, 118, 198 cross-reference, 190, 197; and Glen Hamilton, 198-9, 200 Curran, Pearl, 181

Index Darwin, Charles: theories of, 7; and scripture, 16 Davenport Brothers, 83 Davis, Andrew Jackson, 32, 56, 83 "Dawn,"191. See also Mary Marshall Dawn of the Awakened Mind, 118 Dawson, William, 7-8 Deacon, William Arthur, 145 Debussy, Claude, 204 dematerialization, 166 Denison, Flora MacDonald, 35-40, 132, 173, 174; and Bon Echo Inn, 121; and Mary Merrill, 36; suffrage, 35; and Walt Whitman, 119 Denison, Merrill, 121 Devil, and rejection of, "5 discarnate intelligence, 124 disease, 154 disincranate existence, 225 Dr Johnson, 171 Dr "X," 133, 136. See also EJ. Pratt dogma, 58, 149, 222, 225 Dowden, Hester, 215, 217 Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: conversion of, 136, 150; materialism, 148; Our Second American Adventure, 188; spirit guide, 163, 70, 172, 198, 199; and the twentieth plane, 117; and Vagrancy Act, 20; Duchess of Hamilton, 215 East Aurora, 114 ectoplasm, 133-4, 139, 16 6; description of, 194; definition of, 191, 192 Eddy, Mary Baker, 56 Edison, Thomas Alva, 170, 171

Edmonds, Judge J.W., 24, 2-5. 32.> 73 education, liberal, 5, 10; utility of, 5 "Egyptia," 91, 92 Elizabeth M. See Elizabeth Poole Elizabeth Dafoe Library, 180 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 109, 112, 113, 114, 116 English Societas Rosicrusiana, 173 epilepsy, 191 eroticism, 47, 105 ether, 138 evangelism, 149. Evans, Fred, 47-8 Evans, W.H.S, 83 evidence, 217 evil: and capital punishment, 171; influence of, 191; and misdirected energy, 114; and science, 207; and spirits, 193, 194, 195, 208 evolution: and spiritualism, 59, 115; and new planes of consciousness, 123; and evolved states, 124; and universal consciousness, 127; and creation, 214 "Ewan," 183. extrasensory perception, 207 family: and values, 132, 160; and domestic life, 136, 141-2; extended, 224 feminism, and Jennie Pincock and Flora MacDonald Denison, 132 First United Church (St Catharines), 147, 151 Flammarion, Camille, and discarnate intelligence, 124, 186, 188 flatlining, 225

z53 flowers, 137, 165 Fodor, Nandor: and Swedenborg, 13; and Glen Hamilton seances, 197, 199; and correspondence, 200, 20i folklore, xii, xiv, 223 fortune telling, 17; and the law, 18-19; and W.L.M. King, 218 Foster, T. Gales, 70 Fox, Kate, and Susanna Moodie, 22-3 fraud, 180, 183, 194, 202 Freemasonry, 173 Freudian analysis, 213 free will, 137, 156 Fundamentalism, 127 future life, three beliefs, 149. See also afterlife, future life, life after death Gait, 133, 148, 149, 150, J5 1 Gait Recorder, 149 Gates, Maud Venice, 96, 100, 102 Geley, Gustave, 122, 136, 191, 192, 194 George, W. Jacobs, 118 Gibbes, Miss, 217, 218 Glimpses of the Unseen, 44, 45 Gnosticism, 32., 144, 145, 161, 178; and Gods in the making, 155 God, and consciousness, 127; and identity of, 114, 137; and infinity, 173; and laws, 140; lies within, 144, 156; is love, 145; and science, 196 Golden Dawn, 173 Green, Harry A.V., 191, 209-10. See also "X" and "Ewan" Guild of Spiritual Healing, 131 Gunn, Marcus, 31-3, 89

254 Hamilton, 133, 139, 161 Hamilton, Arthur, 181, 185, 2,04, 210 Hamilton, Lillian: and Intention and Survival, 180-1; and Nandor Fodor, zoo, 201; and the small group, zo3, 206; and W.L.M. King, 219 Hamilton, Margaret Lillian (Bach): contacting Glen Hamilton, 205; Intention and Survival, 181; and Glen Hamilton, i8z, 185, 188, 194; and Mrs Poole, 184-5; and small group, zo3; and W.L.M. King, zi9 Hamilton, T. Glen, 86, 180, 190, 197; and death of, zoi; and ill health, zoo; and spirit return, zo5; and W.L.M. King, 2.15, zi6, 219 Harvard University, 183, 190 Hayward, E.A.S., 198, zo9 Henderson, Mrs John, 76, 81, 83 Hell, rejection of, 115, 138, 145, 160, zzi; a condition, 143 health, 153 Hetherington, F.E.: and Church of Divine Revelation, 140, 143; and letters of, 147, 149-50; as librarian, 151, 152; and Progression, 157 Hett, John, 86-7 Hidden Springs, 160 Higher Criticism, 17 Hindu, and Muslims, 163; and Abdulla Bay, 166, 167, 169;and Abuddah Khan, 170, 171

Index home circle: alternative to, 179, zzz; creation of, 63-4; drama of, zo8; energies of IZ3; and family, 115, zo4, 160, 164; in Hamilton, 198, zoo, 205, ziz; healing, iz9; materialization at, 169; mother, 153, 155; seance, iz3; workings of, 83, i6z, 188 Hubbard, Elbert, 114-15 Hudson, Thomson J., 54 Hull, Moses, 73, 76 Human Personality and Survival of Bodily Death, 181 Hydesville rappings, 131 hymns, i6z, 165, 186, 193 Hypatia, 92, 93, 97-9, 103 hypnotism, 93, 100, 138, 187; and Hypnotic, 171. See also Mesmer Indiana Association of Spiritualists, 87 Ingersoll, Robert G., 113, 114, 116, izo Intention and Survival, 181; and ectoplasm, 194; and Elizabeth M., 184; and the spiritistic hypothesis, 196, zo3; and third edition, ZO7 intuition, i6z insanity, i6z his Unveiled, 175 Jane, as spirit child, 131, 137, 138, 139; reunion message, 140 Jane Lear, 154, 159 Jesus, 108, 114, izi; and divinity of, 137; as Christ, i4z, 149, i6z; as Master, 178, 206, zz5 Jonson, J.B., 94-5, 96, 97, loi-z, 105

journal of the American Society for Psychic Research, zo8 Julia's Bureau, 9Z Keyserlingk, Robert, zi3, 215 Keats, John, 115, 120 King George Theatre, 149 King, John [spirit guide], 208 King, John Sumpter: biography, 85, 117; and Dr Sharp, 190; and Gnosticism, 178; and hypnotism, 187; and soul travel, 156; King, Katie, 208 King, May, 9z; and conversion to spiritualism, 105; death of, 94; and materialization of, 95, 96, 97, 98 King, William Lyon Mackenzie, ziz, zi3; diary, zi5, zi6; use of mediums, zi5, 217, 219 Kluski, Franck, 192 Knight of the Holy Spirit, 213 Lacey group, 161, 163, 177, 179 Lacey, Thomas, 161, 166, 168, 171, 179 Lacey, Walter, 161, i6z, 163, 165 Lake Bradley, 69, 70, 76 Laurier House, zi9 Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, zi5 Lawrence, John, 7Z Lawrence, Margaret, izi Leonard, Gladys Osbourne, 215 liberal education, 5 liberal religion, 58 Library of Psychic Research, 151 life after death, 204. See also afterlife, future life

Index Light, as spirit guide, 152, 154, 156 Light, 208, 2.09 Lily Dale: and Canada Day 39; and Effie Moss, 76; history of, 64-5; and Jenny Pincock, 87, 132., 157, 158; and lectures, 82; and L.O.A. Keeler, 103; and Maud Gates, 97; and Otto Smith, 166, 172; and seances, 74, 80, 83, 92, 105; and Thomas Lacey, 161; and women's day, 40, 65; and William Cartheuser, 131, 136, 157, !58 Lincoln, Abraham, 89; and the twentieth plane, 109, 113, 114, 116; and the Denison seance, 120 Livingstone, David: and Africa, 170; Mary M. seances, 190; and Poole seances, 186, 189; as spirit guide, 165, 170, 188, 212 Lodge, Sir Oliver, 85; and E.J. Pratt, 136, 207; and James Mavor, 117; and W.L.M. King, 214; and Raymomd, 108, 207, 114; London Spiritual Society, 91 Love and the Universe, 119 McCulloch, Thomas, 4, 196 Mclvor-Tyndall, Alexander, 148 McLachlan, Alexander, 34-5 McNeil, John, 149 MacRobert, Emerson J., 52, 68-70, 84 Madoc, 129, 132, 157, 160 magic, 173

Mahatmas, 175 Mail and Empire, 145 Maines, Fred: and the Church of Divine Revelation, xii, 131; and Dr Anderson, 150, 159; and family circle, 136, 138; and ordination of, 147, 148 Maines, Minnie: and defending spiritualism, 150; family circle, 131, 136; and Library, 151; and rejection of Cartheuser, 159 manifestation, phases of, 172 Marshall, Mary: and Bruce Chown, 211; and concealed identity, 183; and evil, 191; and foreign languages, 210; and Glen Hamilton group, 190; and Jean Conan Doyle, 197; and Lillian Hamilton group, 205; and solo work, 206-7; and teleplasm, 189; and Walter, 193 Mary M. See Mary Marshall materialism, xiv; and consciousness, 179; and rejection of, 128; scientific, 221, 224; and spiritualism, 122, 148; and the twentieth plane, 113 materialization: and Louis Benjamin, no; and ectoplasm, 194; and Pincock seances, 137; and Lacey seances, 163, 164, 165, 166, 169; and Hamilton seances, 190, 223; and transfiguration, 168 Mavor, James, 117, 128 Mazinaw Lake, 121, 132 medicine, scientific, 204, 206

2-55 mediums, Canadian, 84, 118; and dangers, 126; and direct voice, 112; and eminent authorities, 123; and evolved spirituality, 124; fraudulent, 117; and group soul, 127; and higher mystical awareness, 122; as human radios, 134; and scientific research, 124; and specialness, 126; as radio receivers, 137; security, 184; used by John King, 100-1 Mediums and Mystics, 121 mediumship, group, 190; loss of, 159, 225; various difficulties of, 125-6 Merrill, Mary Edwards, 36-7 Mesmer, 31 messages: idiosyncratic styles of, 118; individuality of, 165; low caliber of, 59; and mundane exchanges, 136; not for advice, 60; rhyming, 97; simultaneous, 138; metaphysicians, 204 metaphysical plane, 178 Methodism: and Bible class, no; and conservatism, 42; and John Stubbs, 75; and spiritualism, 83, 84, 86, 118, 148, 222; and A.D. Watson, 109, 115 Meyers, WE., 82 mind reading, 123, 151 mind transference, 118 Mr "S," 217, 218. See also Mackenzie King modernism: and fundamentalism, 127, 222; and liberal religion, 58-9; and the Plato

Index

z56

entity, 99; and progress, 128 Moodie, Susanna: and Belleville, 25; and final conversion, 26; and Kate Fox, 22-3; and Richard Bentley, 24, 25 Moodie, John Dunbar: on evolution, 30; and Fox sisters, 29; and history of spiritualism, 30; and mechanical devices, 27; Swedenborg and Mesmer, 31, 73, 140; and Toronto mediums, 2.7 Moore, Hugh R., 48-9 moral control, 138 Morgan, Sir Henry, 208 Morris, William, 117 Moss, Effie, 69, 76, 89, 105 motor automatism. See automatic writing murderers, 138, 171 music, 163, 184, 223 My Philosophy, 214 Myers, Frederick, 97, 181, 185, 204 mystical experience, 120, 121, 127, 128, 180 National Spiritualist Association of the United States and Canada, 147 necromancy, 118 Newman, John Henry, 126 nicknames, 113, 191 Norwood, Robert, 149 Oddfellows Temple, 147, 148 O'Hara, James, 160 O'Hara's Mill, 132 Onset Bay, 73, 74 Olcott, Colonel, 73 Oliver, Mrs George, 78-9 Ontario Ladies College, 129 Ontario Society for Psychical Research, 87

Oppenheim, Janet, 174 Ouija board, 78, 97; and Hester Dowden, 217; history of, no; and Louis Benjamin, in, 112; and rejection of, 119, 124-5; Our Second American Adventure, 188; and Patience Worth, 182 out-of-body experiences, 77, 100, 102, 225. See also astral projection, soul travel Owen, Reverend Vale, 165, 170 Paladino, Eusapia, 108 parapsychology, 128 Paris Metaphysic Institute, 192 Partridge, Charles, 29, 30 Past Years, 214 Patteson, Joan, 215, 216 Paull, Herbert G., 88, 96, IO2.

Pecararo, Nino, 150 phosphorous, 188 photography, 162, 181; photoflash, 210, 219; photographic evidence, 205; and spirit, 190, 191, 194, 202, 204 physical phenomena: apports, 209; ectoplasm, 191; lights, 166-7; Maskelyne, 170; and natural explanation of, 151; and public research, 184, 202; role in seances, 139-40; theatricality of, 222. See also materialization Pincock, Jenny O'Hara: and areas of endeavour, 129; biography, 139, 140; and ectoplasm, 193, 222; family circle, 147; Gnosticism, 145, 178; healing, 152; and

J.E. Hett, 87; and hymns, 153; library, 151; Progression, 154; rejection of Cartheuser, 157; reunion with husband, 140; spirit guide Jane, 156; W.W.E. Ross, 158 Pincock, Robert Newton, 129, 135, 136, 137, 152 Pitblado, Isaac, 210-11 Pitblado, Reverend Charles Bruce, 210 Plato, 99, 100, 108, 185, 206 Pool, Elizabeth, biography, 184-5, and the David Livingstone entity, 189; demotion of, 190; and trance stages, 186-7; and telekinesis, 188; and typical seance, 186 popular culture, 224, 226 Pouliot, Madame, 216 Pratt, E.J., 131, 133, 135, 136, 160 prayer, 162, 165 precognition, no predestination, 221 premonition, 124 Presbyterian, Church, 77, 78, 83, 88, 91; and Flora MacDonald Denison, 38; and stewardship, 99; and John King, 105; and Glen Hamilton, 180, 185, 194-5, I 96 progress: and improvement of civilization, 6; and vision, 127, 128, 211 progression, 138, 172, 177; and cosmic intellect, 178 Progression, 129, 152; contents of, 154, 156; editorship of, 157, 158 Progressive Research Club, 88

Index progressive revelation, and theory of, 50, 60, 22,4 progressive sanctification, the elect and fallen, 9-10, 221 psychic healing, 97, 152, 165, 166, 171 Psychic News, 205, 215 psychic power, 162, 204; and phenomena, 219, 222

psychic research; and doctors, 85, 86-7; and John King, 105; and Glen Hamilton, 181, 194, 197, 202; psychological phenomena, 124, 147, 151, 203; and psychology, 207; and science, 223, 124 Psychical Research Society, 109, 195 Psychic Science, 208 Psychic Science, Encyclopaedia of, 191 Psychical Research Society of New York City, 132 Queen Victoria, 102 Quest Club, 214 Radiant Healing Centre, 129, 152, 153, 155; membership in, 155 radio, 137, 140, 156, 171 Raymond, or Life and Death, 108, 207 Reality of a Spiritualist World, 214 Reason, 44, 56, 59, 132, 133 reason, 10 red light, as ceiling light, 183, 192; and ectoplasm, 194; in seances, 165, 166, 167; to settle sitters, 184, 186, 191; as signal, 168 religion: democratic, xii, 160; and natural law,

177; old and new, 84; versus science, 3-4; and science, 196, 212; scientific, xv; scientific study, 6 repeatable experiment, 202, 208, 223 reputation, 195, 201 Researches: With Proof Palpable, 133 Resurrection, 149 reunion, 140 rhyming messages, 97 Richet, Charles, 191, 192 Riley, Canon, C.E., 149, 150 Ripley, Mrs, 92, 93 ritual, 173 Road to Immortality, 218 Rosicrusians, 161, 171, 173 Ross, W.W.E., 131, 132, 136, 158 Roycroft Press, 114 Russia, 163 St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 211 St Bartholomew's Church, 149 St Catharines Standard, 146, 147, 148, 150 St Paul, 225 Sargent, Epes, 73, 133 sanctification, progressive, 9-10 Satan, 149 Sawyer, Carrie, 81 Schrenck-Notzing, Dr, 86, 192 science: as analogy, 196; and criteria for, 195; definition of, 5; dialogue with religion, xvi, 128, 147; and ectoplasm, 194; handmaid of religion, 11; and invention, 170; and method, 180, 204; objectives of, 201-2; and religion, 196, 221;

2-57 and repeatable experiment, 202, 208, 223; and scientific religion, 223, 226; and spiritualism, 151; and theosophy, 175 science fiction, 225, 226 Scientific American, 184, 188 Scott, F.R., 212 Scott, Sir Walter, 114 seance: absurdity of, 193; attracting spirits, 139; Cartheuser seance, 136-7; character of sitters, 126; difficult sitters, 142; direct voice, 134; as family reunion, xiv; fraud, 150; and guidelines, 118, 130; and Hamilton seances, 18 6; and mind reading, 123; mundane nature of, xiii; order of events, 68, 167; public seances, 126; small group, 203; strain on mediums, 102; test seance, 117; typewriter seance, 89, 91 seance room, 164, 183, 192 second sight, 184 Secret Doctrine, 175, 176 self-consciousness, 115 sex, 163 Shakespeare, William, 114 Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 114, 115, 120 simultaneous materializations, 169 slate writing, 80, 81, 100, 103-4 Smith, Otto, 162, 166, 169, 170, 172 Smythe, Albert E., 175, 176 socialism, 163 song, 135, 137 soul, 143, 144 soul mate, 144

Index

z58 soul travel, 156. See also astral projection, outof-body experiences Sparling, A.W., 81 "specialness," 99, 100, 113, 222

spirits: classifications of, T 33> I 38, 144; impersonation of, 124 spirit magnetism, 142 spirit possession, 162 spiritistic hypothesis, 196, 203 spiritualism: benefits of, 93; definition of, 12.1, 221; dogma, 59; and Evolution, 59; and the law, 17; modern, 58-9; practicality of, xy; revelation, 16, 118; as sentimentalized supernaturalism, 16 spiritualists: not studied, xii; summer camps, 61; unorganized, xiv Spiritualist churches, 146 spiritual agency, 54 Spiritualistic-Harmonial Association, 31, 89 Spiritualist National Union of Canada, 146 Spiritoscope, 24 Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, 188 stewardship, 99, 106 Steiner, Rudolf, 173 Stevenson, Robert Louis: and puppets, 189; as spirit guide, 186, 188, 204, 207; and W.L.M. King, 219 Stead, W.T.: and Glen Hamilton seances, 182, 186, 187, 188, 189, 212; and James Mavor, 117; and John King, 92-3; and Lacey seances, 163, 165, 166, 167, 170; as spirit guide, 101, 102; and spirit portrait, 97, 102

Stacey, C.P., 213, 216 Stinson, Walter: as spirit guide, 190-1, 208, 210, 211-12; and seance management, 193, 206 Sunflower, 20 survival after death, 105, 107 Sunset of Bon Echo, 119, 121 Swedenborg, Emanuel, I3-I4, 34 synchronicity, 213 tables: and movement, 188, 216; levitation of, 131; and raps, 166, 186; and tipping, 185 teachers, 207 teachings, 165 telekinesis, 188 teleplasm, 189; on film, 193, 210, 211; origins of, 203; and teleplasmic likeness, 190, 206 telepathy, 187 theology, new, 72—3 Theosophical Society of Canada, 175, 176 Theosophy: and Blavatsky, 120, 173-4; belief system of, 174-5, I76; and James Mavor, 117; and spiritualists, 177, 222

thought, 154; and good and evil, 168; new, 161, 162; and projection, 158; and radiation, 154 Toronto Spiritualist Association, 79, 80, 82, 146 Traill, Catherine Parr, 24, 25 Trails of Truth, 129, 140 trance stages, 186-7; deep, 203 transcendant physics, 133 transfiguration, of medium, 166, 168

Traubel, Horace, 120, 121 Travelers in Eternity, 218 Tremeer's Annotated Code: and seances, 18; and witchcraft, 17 trumpet seances, 65, 135, 137, 164, 165-6 trust, among sitters, 138 Twentieth Plane, 109, 112, 114; Christian patterns, 115; earth plane, 117; intention, 118; languages on, 116; and materialism, 116; and spirit committee, 119, 121, 182, 191, 206 Twentieth Plane, U.S. ed, 118, 121 Two Worlds, 161, 169, 170, 171 unconscious cerebration, 54 Unitarian Church, 14-15 United Church, 147, 148, 149, 160 Universalism, 33, 222 Universal brotherhood, 176 vibrations: and spirit communications, 137, 142, 143, 153, 178; and spirit manifestation, 162, 171 Vagrancy Act. See fortune-telling visualization, 153, 154, 164 Voice of the Spirit, 88 Wallace, Alfred Russel, 73, 83, 86; and scientific religion, 16 Walsh, Reverend Canon William, 96 Watson, Albert Durrant: biography, 108-9, I2-8; and gnosticism, 178, 191; and Mediums and

Index Mystics, 12,1; and pet names, 2,07; and Whitman poems, 119; and Theosophy, 173 Watson, Mary Youle, 113, 114, 116 Watson, Samuel, 70, 72, 73 White Brotherhood: history of, 171-3, and Theosophy, 177 Whitman Club of Bon Echo, 40, 119, 121 Whitman Fellowship of Toronto, 119, 121 Whitman, Walt, 39, 86, 109, 113, 145;

Canadian reputation of, 119; trip to Canada by, 120; and Mrs Denison, 121 White Eagle, 172 Wesley, John, 54 Wilcox, Mrs, 48 will, 155 William Smith College, 56-7 Williamson, Mary, and Susanna Moodie, 23 witchcraft, 108, 224 Women's Christian Temperance Union, 39 women's rights, 129

2-59 World War One, impact on spiritualism, 150, 182 Wordsworth, Dorothy, 113, 116 Wordsworth, William, 109, 114, 120 Worth, Patience, 182 Wriedt, Mrs Etta: biography, 94; Julia's Bureau, 92-3; 190; as medium, 74, 75, 86, 87; and W.L.M. King, 214, 215, 216, 217; Toronto seances, 65, 80, 81, 82, 83