Speaker 1: How spirits materialize? Reader, have you ever attended a seance
for full form materialization? Have you ever thought you had
met your dead relatives spirit at these seances? If you
have never had the pleasure of attending a seance of
this phase, you have missed a rare treat. The writer
has assisted at many a one and will relate to
you some of the wonderful phenomena occurring at them and
the means used to produce them. There are hundreds of
materializing mediums doing business in this country who are swelling
a good sized bank account. Their business sometimes runs into
the hundreds of dollars in a single week. This phase
of mediumship is considered by the spiritualists as the highest
possible attainment, and if you are a clever full form medium,
your financial welfare is assured. Many and various are the
methods employed by the different mediums to produce this phase.
It is in Boston, New York, and San Francisco that
it has worked the finest. The full form seances most
often met with are very simply worked and easy of
performance by the medium. You are usually given a seat
and a circle of chairs about the front of a
cabinet made by hanging heavy curtains across the corner of
the room. If you are a stranger or one who
looks or acts as though he would grab the spirits,
you are seated at the farthest point from the cabinet,
or if there are two rows of seats, you will
be given a seat at the back row. I made
my way to the materializing seance at which my friends
hoped to materialize. I was admitted to the seance room
and found about twenty persons already assembled. I was seated
in the front row of chairs. The cabinet used was
a closet about six feet long and four feet wide.
The ceiling of both the room and the cabinet was
of wood. After a thorough examination had been made of
the cabinet by all those who cared to do so,
the sitters were rearranged to suit medium. There were present
now thirty five persons. The seance room was very large.
The door had been taken off the closet that served
as a cabinet, and in its stead were hung heavy curtains.
The floor of the room was carpeted with a dark carpet,
as was the cabinet. The light was furnished by a
lamp placed in a box that was fastened to the
wall some eight feet from the floor. This box had
a sliding lid in front, controlled by a cord passing
into the cabinet. By this means, the spirits could regulate
the light to suit themselves, without any movement on the
part of any of those in the seance room being necessary.
When everything was in readiness, the medium entered the cabinet,
seated himself and was tied and so secured to his
chair that it was impossible that he could have any
use of himself. He was most thoroughly secure to his chair,
and his chair nailed fast to the floor by passing
leather straps over the rounds in the side and kneeling
the ends to the floor. After it was shown to
the sitters that he was utterly helpless, the curtain was drawn.
The manager now placed an ordinary kitchen table in front
of the door of the cabinet, so that it stood
away from it about two feet. The table contained no drawing.
On the table was laid writing materials, a guitar, and
small bell. The manager seated himself close to one side
of the cabinet entrance and started a large Swiss music box.
Before it had finished the first air, the lamp was
shut entirely off, making the room achy dark. An illuminated
hand and arm was now seen to come from behind
the curtain and play an accompaniment to the music box
on the guitar. We could see plainly the movement of
the hand, arm and fingers as it manipulated the strings
of the instrument. It did not appear necessary to finger
the strings on the keyboard, although the air was in
a key that made it impossible to tune the guitar
so that an accompaniment could be performed without fingering. However,
but one hand was visible and it was picking the strings.
After the tune was finished, the hand left the instrument
and moved out into the room to the front of
the table, and from the sound we knew it was
writing on the tablet that had been placed there. The
arm was of bluish light and appeared to end just
above the elbow and to have no connection with the body.
It finished writing and seemed to float into the cabinet
near the top. The light was opened, and the manager
requested those who had tied the medium to examine his
condition and see if the ropes had been tampered with.
The examination was made and it was evident that the
fastenings were undisturbed. The communication was read aloud to those
present and contain the following quote. We are pleased to
beat so many seecerts after light and truth here this evening,
and from the conditions as we sense them, we will
have a satisfactory and pleasant seance. The way to obtain
the best results is for each person to maintain a
passive condition and take what we have to give. You
may rest assured that our best efforts will be put
forth to give you entire satisfaction. The control close quote.
The writing was exactly on the rule of the lines.
Although written in absolute darkness. The hand and arm, although luminous,
did not give out a particle of light. The arm
had been at least five feet from the cabinet opening
and seven feet from the medium. Surely it was not
he the message read. The light was again shut down,
and the music again started. Once more. A hand appeared,
and floating out to the table again began writing. Of
a sudden the hand disappeared, and after a few seconds
I was astonished to feel a hand thrusting a paper
into my top coat. Pocket. Now appeared two hands, and
they played an air on the guitar. Now came three,
then four hands were visible, bright as the day. Two
of them began writing again, and when they had finished,
two more sitters with the recipients of sheets of paper.
Soon the light was opened for an inspection of the cabinet,
which was made with the conclusion that the medium had
not moved. Those of us receiving communications were afforded an
opportunity to read them. We found them nicely written as before,
and all contained tests. After the light went out again,
more hands were seen. The table was floated about over
the heads of the circle, as was the music box,
which weighed at least fifty pounds. Another examination of the
cabinet was made, and everything found satisfactory. This time the
light was not put entirely out, but a very dim
light was allowed. The music box was again set playing,
and while yet it was played the first tune, a
tall figure robed in creamy white, with gleaming sparks in
her hair and on her head a sort of crown
issued from the cabinet. She was recognized by a gentleman present,
a spiritualist, whose spirit guide she was and who addressed
her as my queen. She stood a few seconds behind
the table, and then stepped out in the open space
between the sitters and the table. The gentleman now arose
from his seat, and standing beside her, holding her hand,
conversed in a whisper with her for some seconds. This
was most assuredly a lady if appearisons go for anything.
Her hands were quite small and were warm and lifelike,
as several including myself, can testify, having been permitted to
shake hands with her. At last she started to the cabinet,
and as she went appeared to grow shorter, until as
she disappeared between the curtains, she was not much taller
than the table. The manner now explained that the spirit
had remained out rather too long and came near dematerializing
before she reached the cabinet. Now came the spirit of
a young man dressed in a light suit of clothes,
who gave his name and said his mother was present.
She was, and had a few words of conversation with him.
When he disappeared into the cabinet. The lady said that
it was unmistakably her son, but there was something that
was not as he had been but what it was
she was unable to describe. The next spirit to present
itself was my son Eddie. He came out from the cabinet,
calling Papa, Papa. The manager asked, who is your papa,
and he replied mister Smith. All this time he stood
between the table and the cabinet, and only his head
and shoulders could be seen. The manager told him to
step out where he could be seen. When he came
round to the front of the table, it was rather dark,
but I could swear it was my son. He was
just the right size, with long flaxen hair and a
very pale face. He wore a light colored waist and
darker knee breeches and stockings, with a large black bow
at his throat, just as I remembered seeing him last
in health. While Eddie was still standing in front of
the table, a large man came out and shook him
by the hand. Eddie spoke, saying, must I go back? Grandpa?
The farm turned toward me, saying, my son, this is
a great pleasure to us, but we must not long remain,
as it is our first attempt at materializing. He turned
to go when the manager said to him, if the gentleman,
is your son, you are to give him your name.
The name of the child is Eddie. In my own
is j a smith, replied the farm. As they vanished
into the cabinet, the manager suggested that it would be
well to examine and see whether the medium had been
out or not. The cabinet was examined, and everything found satisfactory.
Spirit after spirit came from the cabinet, one or two
at a time for an hour. Some of them came
to friends, and others were controls of the medium. Many
of them were recognized by different ones of the sitters
in the room. I, for one, could swear to the
identity of my own son, Eddie, while my father was
plainly recognizable. The room was again made dark. Suddenly there
appeared on the floor in front of the table a
light about as large as a baseball. It moved about
in a circle of perhaps a foot in diameter and
grew larger. It soon lost the shape of a ball
and appeared to be a luminous cloud. Seemingly we could
see into and through it. In the course of thirty seconds,
it had become as large as a six year old child.
Still there was no definite shape, only a fleecy cloud
like mass, turning, twisting and rolling. At the end of
perhaps a minute, it was the size and shape of
an adult person. The face could not be seen, but
light luminous spots visible, as though the hairs and ears
were decorated with gems. The shape spoke and requested light.
As the light was turned on, the luminousness disappeared, and
we beheld a beautiful young lady clothed in a dazzling
white costume. Her arms and shoulders were bare, and about
her neck there was a necklace of what appeared to
be very brilliant diamonds. Her feet were encased in white
slippers with straps across the inn step in. Her ears
and hair glistened and shimmered beautiful diamonds. Her face and
arms were as alabaster, and altogether she was one of
the most beautiful women I had ever beheld. She was
recognized by a lady and gentlemen present as their daughter.
They had met her here before. They were from the
east and were wealthy. The spirit requested that they come
to her, which they did, and were each kissed and
embraced by it. They held a moment's conversation with her
and resumed their seats. When the lamp was slowly turned down.
As the light became dim, the spirit became luminous, The
face and arms disappeared, and the body became as a cloud, again,
turning and twisting and growing smaller, until it was nothing
but a small light spot on the carpet, which of
a sudden disappeared entirely. Immediately after this manifestation, an examination
of the medium and cabinet was made, and it was
certain the medium had not been away from his chair.
The light was again turned out and the music box started.
When two bright spots appeared on the carpet, one at
either end of the table. These went through the same
process of development, until when the light was turned on
there was another beautiful female spirit at one end of
the table, and a child of perhaps eight years of
age at the other. The child was recognized by a
lady present as her daughter, while the adult spirit was
recognized and rapturously greeted by a gentleman who sat near
me on my left as his darling angel Guardian. They
had quite a long conversation in which they made use
of very endearing language, each to the other. I supposed
it was the gentleman's wife. The spirits did not disappear
as the first one had, but when the light had
been turned off, the luminous shape revolved a few times,
and on two occasions assumed the garb in shape of men.
And when the light was turned on again there stood
the men with beards and men's forms. After some eight
or ten of these materializations and d materializations before our eyes,
the last couple completely disappeared. The light was again turned down,
and a luminous shape came from the cabinet, followed by others,
until seven of them stood on the floor. The light
was turned up until we could see the seven spirits.
Five were females and two males. They were of different sizes.
The curtain at the door of the cabinet had been
pulled aside, and we could see the medium sitting in
the chair in which he was bound. The farms now
filed into the cabinet again while the music box played.
After they had disappeared, the light was turned up, an
investigation made of the cabinet, and the seance was over.
Their reader is a truthful description of what can be
witnessed at the seances of mediums who are artists. None
of your bungling amateur work here. The work of such
a medium is always satisfactory, for the reason that if
a man feels sure that the medium is a fraud,
he has been so well entertained that he does not
regret the money paid for the opportunity to witness him.
This is the class of medium also, who frequently succeed
in getting large sums of money from wealthy persons they
have converted to spiritualism. Did the writer not give you
the true explanation of the matter in which these things
were produced, You would probably say it was conceived by
a very fertile imagination. If you believed that he saw
these things, you perhaps offer the preacher's explanation by saying
it is the work of the devil, or that of
the scientists by asserting that it is the mesmerist power
over your mind, or the operator has discovered an odd
force in nature, or go off on a long dissertation
on hypnotism and fourth dimension of space problems. However, it
is not the work of the devil, neither are there
any but natural laws necessary to its production. The seance
described actually occurred and was described in writing by mister
smith in the language used, although it was not printed,
and the writer was one of those who assisted in
its production. We will now proceed to explain this particular seance.
It will be remembered that the room and cabinet were
carpeted with a dark carpet, and that the ceilings were
of wood. The ceilings were decorated by being put on
in panels. The ceilings of the cabinet would not have
been like those of the room had the closet been
a part of the architect's plans of the house. It
was not, but was made by the medium. He simply
built a lath and plaster partition from the corner of
a wide chimney to the wall, thus enclosing a space
of six by four feet. The panel in the ceiling
of the closet was twenty inches square. This panel was
doctored and could be displaced, leaving an aperture large enough
for the spooks to get through with perfect ease. A
light ladder, which reached within three feet of the floor
of the cabinet, was hooked fast above and furnished the
means of getting down and up again. There were eight
persons connected with the sails described by mister Smith seven upstairs,
and the medium in the cabinet. Of course, it was
not necessary that the medium get out of his fastenings,
and the facts are that he did not. The table
was placed across the cabinet door, not to lay the
instruments on, but to be very much in the way
should anyone make a rush and grab for the materialized forms.
In case this occurred, the spooks above would close the light,
making the room perfectly dark, and the manager would do
his utmost to turn the table on end or side
with the legs out in the room. Before the grabber
could get the lay of things and get past it.
The spooks would have gone through the trap, closed it,
pulled up the ladder, and the grabber would have found
the medium writhing and groaning and bleeding from the mouth.
The bleeding was for effect and was caused by sucking
very hard on his teeth and gums. The table also
served a convenient purpose in the materialization and de materialization
through the floor. You now know where the spooks came
from in this particular house, and how they got in
and out. Now let us see how they managed the
materializations and the properties used to produce them. The trap
and ladder were practically noiseless in their operations, but the
music box made assurance doubly sure that the least sound
from the cabinet should not be heard in the seance room.
When the box began its first air, the trap door
was opened, and down the ladder came a young man
clad in a suit of black tights. He was entirely
covered with black, with the exception of his right arm,
which was bare to a point a little more than
half way from the elbow to his shoulder. The bare
arm glowed with a luminous bluish light. This condition of
things was brought about by powdering his arm with pulverized
luminous paint. If you are not told the method of
transforming the sticky paint to powder, you will not be
able to do it, and will conclude the rider was romancing.
In this case, the most essential thing to you will
be to know where you can procure this paint. The
rider has been unable to procure it anywhere except of
a devout and company of New York City. It is
put up in a package resembling six ounce jelly glasses,
and you will get six of them for five dollars
in order to reduce it to powder. Thin the contents
of one of the glo glasses with one pint of turpentine.
When it is thoroughly cut and incorporated into the turpentine,
soak strips of muslim in it and hang them out
to dry. When thoroughly dry, you can shake the powder
from the cloth. In order to powder one of your arms,
gather one of the cloths in your hands and use
it as a powder puff on your arm. You will
not be able to get all the paint out, but
the pieces will make luminous crowns, slippers, stars, and luminous
decorations for your robes. You will be under the necessity
of perfuming your robes each time they are used, for
the odor of the turpentine will always remain to a
greater or lesser degree. To illuminate a robe or costume,
the mediums always say robe. You proceed the same as
in the powdering process, except add to the pint of paint.
You will add a wine glassful of damar varnish, which
will prevent its falling or being shaken off as powder.
You are not to make the robe of muslin, but
of white netting. Every lady will know what netting is.
It is the lightest, thinnest material the writer ever sold
in a dry good store. Ten yards of it can
be put into your vest pocket. Do not scrimp the material,
but get as much of it into your robe as possible.
When he of the luminous arm steps from the cabinet
into the dark room, no part of him is visible
save the arm. He picks the strings of the instrument
with the illuminated hand and fingers the keyboard with the other.
He makes the sound of writing on the tablet and
tears off a leaf, which he conceals, and, drawing a
long black stocking over the luminous arm, places in the
pocket of the sitter a communication that has been written
upstairs in good light. This accounts for the even beautiful
writing supposed to have been done in the dark. He
covers the luminous arm so that anyone so inclined could
not locate it in arder to grab when he is
near enough. By mounting the table, that luminous hand and
arm can be made to show as though it was
floating about near the ceiling. When four hands were visible,
there were two spooks at work with two arms illuminated,
you can readily understand the forces that floated the music
box and table above the heads of the sitters, and
then explanation is useless. When the first female spirit appeared,
it was in reality a young woman dressed in a
gargious white costume without paint. Hence the light was turned
up instead of down in order that she be visible.
Rhinestones and sumatra gems being cheap, she was plentifully supplied
with diamonds. Although many of those who are the queens
are spirit guides of controls of wealthy spiritualists, fanatics wear
real diamonds the gift of their wealthy charge are King,
as they usually call him. When she started for the cabinet,
she used her hands to keep her robe from under
her feet, and as she went stooped lower and lower,
until as she disappeared in the cabinet, she went on
her hands and knees. This is what caused the appearance
of de materialization. When mister Smith's son Eddie came from
the cabinet, he was represented by a boy of about
eight years of age, the son of one of the
female spooks upstairs. He receives two dollars a night for
his services, the same as the largest spooks. He was
powdered until he was very white, a blonde wig put
over his brown hair, and dressed as most boys are
at the age mister Smith's son died. Mister Smith recognized
him by his size, his light complexion, and flaxen hair,
and the fact that he called him Papa and gave
his correct name. His father was made up from the
description given by the medium and acknowledged by mister Smith
as correct. Of course, he knew his own name, for
it was given him by the slate writer. We now
come to a part of the phenomena that all spiritualists
who have witnessed it will swear by. What is referred
to is the materializing and de materializing of the spirit
from the floor and before your eyes. In this you
see first a small light which grows larger and larger,
until there stands before you a fully formed female or
male spirit, as was described in mister Smith's experience. In
order to accomplish what he witnessed, the same spook, who
had before been recognized by a gentleman as his queen,
prepared herself in the following way, divesting herself of all clothing.
She donned a simple long chemise that reached her shoe tops.
She drew on a pair of white stockings and over
them a pair of white slippers. Into her hair and ear,
she put rhinestone diamonds, and around her neck a necklace
of the same beautiful but valueless stones. On each year
lobe and around her neck were put small spots of
the luminous powder to represent the diamonds. While it was dark,
her face was powdered and her eyebrows and eyelashes darkened,
while a dark line was drawn under each eye. She
now took a black mask that covered her head and
her robe in her hands, and went down to the cabinet.
Arriving there, she put the black mask over her head
to prevent the luminous diamonds being seen until the proper time.
She carried her robe in a black bag. Crawling from
between the curtains and under the table, she exposed on
the floor a small part of her robe. This she
shook and moved about, allowing it to escape from the
bag until it was all out. She was now from
under the table and on her knees, and it was
time the head show on the farm. So getting close
to the robe, she threw off and under the table
the black mask. The shape was now the size of
an adult. She adjusted the robe to her person and
rapped for light. As a matter of course, when any
light was made, the luminousness of robe was drowned, and
she appeared in simply a white costume. The necklace and
ear drops could now be seen, but when the light
was such as to reveal them, the loos when of
spots had disappeared, leaving the spectator to think the ones
he now saw were the ones he had seen in
the dark. The process of de materialization will now be apparent,
and the description will only tire the reader. One small
spook was all that was required, as he could be
made to represent boy or a girl as was desired
by clothing him in the garments of Edith's sex. At
the close of the seance, the full force of spooks
came into the room. After disappearing, they shinnied up the ladder,
drew it after them, closed the panel and the trap
in the floor above it, replaced the carpet and pushed
over the place a heavy bedstead, from which they took
the castors. They now carried the letter downstairs and concealed
it in the coal house as they went through it
on their way home. They will get their pay next day.
Should ever so close an examination of the cabinet be made,
you could not find anything wrong. This particular medium has
taken investigators into the cellar beneath the cabinet and the
room above it scores of times, yet nothing was discovered.
You are not always to search for the trap of
the ceiling, nor yet in the floor. A trap is
not possible in the ceiling, except a closet is used
as cabinet and the ceiling is of wood. Where this
condition of things does not exist, you must search elsewhere.
The floor is a very likely place when it cannot
be made in the ceiling. If you do not find
it there, examine the base or mop board. If it
is in the mop board, you will find upon examination
that there is a joint in it near the corner
of the cabinet. But you will find it solidly nailed,
with about four nails each side of the joint. This
appearance of extraordinary solidity will be absolute proof that it
is not solid. The nails are not what they appear,
but are only pieces about one half inch in length
and do not even go through the board. The piece
is fastened on the other side with a couple of
bolts that hold it very firmly in place. There is
a corresponding opening in the mop board in the next room,
although no attempt is made to so carefully conceal it,
as no one is ever admitted to it. Through this trap,
the spooks into the cabinet by crawling and wiggling. It
is not a very desirable trap, for the mop board
is scarcely ever wide enough to permit of a trap
that the spook could get through in a hurry. Besides,
they must assume their costumes after they get into the
cabinet or tear them to pieces. You can see how
this would make it very inconvenient. If the room is wainscotted,
the spook will have all the sea room necessary in
his trap, for it will extend from just below the
molding on the top of the wainscotting to the floor
behind the strip of quarter round. It is next to
an impossibility to detect these traps by examining in the cabinet.
They were constructed to avoid discovery, and no pain spared
to make them so absolutely perfect that not one chance
in a million is taken. The proper place to seek
for traps is in the adjoining room, upstairs, or in
the cellar. One is foolish to undertake to find a
trap by thumping the walls or floor, for if you
happen to thump one, the medium who is smart enough
to make use of a trap is also sharp enough
to make provision for its being thumped, and your sounding
method goes for nought. Bear in mind that when you
are examining the cabinet, you are seeking at the very
place that is prepared most effectively to withstand your investigations.
Do not forget the manager in your search. He or
she is never searched, or never has been up to date,
which has been the cause of many a failure to
find the properties of the medium. When the sales was
given in a room and cabinet furnished by a stranger
and skeptic, do not be deceived into a belief that
all of the sitters are strangers to the medium. There
may be one to five persons present who pay their
money the same as yourself, and who may appear to
be the most skied gyptical of anyone in the room.
They will generally be the recipients of some very elegant tests,
and weep copiously great grief fladen tears when they recognize
the beloved features of some relative. They are the most
careful of investigators, and when the medium's trap is located
in the door, jam will pound the walls and insists
on the carpet being taken up. When they will get
upon their hands and knees and make a most searching
examination of the floor. They are the closest and most
critical of the investigators, but they are very careful to
examine everywhere except where the defect is located. Because one
or two men seem to be making such a critical investigation,
do not allow that fact to prevent you making one
on your own responsibility. Wait until they have finished, and
then examine not only where they did, but more particularly
where they did not. Their examination is only for the
purpose of misleading others. Their tests are received in a
way to cause those about them to think they admit
them very unwillingly, are because they were so undeniable that
they could do nothing else. A great many will probably
deny that confederates are ever employed. They are not by
mediums who are not smooth enough to produce that which
appears so wonderful as to make a good business for them.
The writer could advise those mediums who give such rank
seances to employ a few floor workers they are easily obtained,
and see what a difference it would make in the
amount of business they will do. Get good ones those
who know human nature and know when they have said
all that is necessary. Most of them are inclined to
say too much, thus causing the ordinary man to suspect
that they are confederates.