282 - (1). Can spirits be evoked by those who are not mediums?

"Everyone can evoke spirits; and if those whom you call cannot manifest themselves physically, they are none the less near you, and hear your call."

 

2. Does a spirit always come when evoked?

"We have already told you that this depends upon the conditions in which a spirit finds himself; there are circumstances under which he may be unable to come."

 

3. What are the circumstances that may prevent a spirit from coming at our call?

"His will, in the first place; in the next, his corporeal state, if reincarnated, or, if in the wandering state, the missions with which he may be charged, or the refusal of permission to communicate.

 

"There are some spirits who can never communicate because, by their present degree of advancement, they belong to worlds still lower than the earth. Those also who are in the spheres of punishment cannot come, unless permission be granted them by a higher power, which is only done for some object of general utility. In order for a spirit to be able to communicate, he must have attained the average degree of advancement of the world to which he is called; otherwise he is unversed in the ideas of that world, and therefore has no connecting, sympathetic link with it. This is not the case with those who have missions that bring them to your world, or who are undergoing expiation in inferior worlds to which they have been temporarily exiled as punishment for wrong-doing, in your world or in worlds of similar degree; for, in such cases, they possess the ideas necessary for replying."

 

4. For what a reason is permission to communicate refused to a spirit?

"As a trial or a punishment, either for the spirit or for him by whom he is evoked."

 

5. How can spirits, dispersed as they are in space, or in different worlds, know when they are evoked at some distant point of the universe?

"They are informed of it beforehand by the familiar spirits who surround you, and who go to them, and tell them of your intention; but, in such cases, something occurs which it is difficult to explain to you, because you do not yet understand the mode of transmission of a spirit's thought. All I can tell you is, that the spirit whom you evoke, however distant he may be, receives, so to say, the impact of the thought addressed to him in your evocation, and which acts upon his consciousness like an electric shock, attracting his attention to the place from which the thought is addressed to him. He may be said to hear the thought, as you, upon the earth, hear the spoken word."

 

- Is the universal fluid the vehicle of thought, as the air is the vehicle of sound?

"Yes, with this difference, viz., that sound can only be heard within a very limited circle, while thought reaches to infinity. The spirit in space is like the traveller in the midst of a vast plain, who, suddenly hearing himself addressed by name, turns to the point from which the voice proceeds."

 

6. We know that distances are of small account with spirits; nevertheless, we are sometimes surprised to find them answering our call as promptly as though they had been close to us and awaiting our call.

"That is sometimes the case, when your evocation was premeditated; because, as we have already told you, the spirit has been made aware of your intention beforehand, and is therefore often present before your evocation has been formally made."

 

7. Is the thought of the person who evokes more or less easily heard by the spirit evoked, according to circumstances?

"Certainly; a spirit evoked under the influence of a sympathetic and benevolent sentiment is the more forcibly impressed thereby; the evocation is then like a friendly voice which he recognises; when unaccompanied by such a sentiment, it often happens that the evocation miscarries. The thought which springs forth from a well-directed evocation strikes the spirit; but a mis-directed evocation is lost in space. It is with spirits as with men; if called by one who is indifferent or antipathetic to them, they may hear, but not heed, his call."

 

8. When a spirit is evoked, does he come voluntarily, or because he is constrained to do so?

"He obeys the will of God, that is to say, the general laws which govern the universe; and moreover; 'constrained' is not the right word, for he himself judges whether it is useful to come, and, in so doing, exercises his free-will A superior spirit always comes when he is called for a useful purpose; he only refuses to answer those who evoke him as an amusement."

 

9. Can a spirit refuse to come when evoked?

"Certainly he can; where would be his free-will if he could not? Do you suppose that all the beings of the universe are at your orders? Would you consider your-self obliged to reply to every one who should pronounce your name? When I say that a spirit can refuse to come, I mean, at the demand of the evoker; for an inferior spirit may be constrained by a superior spirit to present himself."

 

10. Has the evoker any means at his disposal by which he can compel a spirit to present himself against his will?

"Not any, if he be your superior, or even your equal (I refer, here, to equality in morality), because you have no authority over such a one; but if he be your inferior in morality, you can constrain him, provided your evocation is intended to promote his welfare; for, in that case, your action will be seconded by other spirits." (279.)

 

11. Is it improper to evoke inferior spirits, and do we run any risk of placing ourselves in their power by calling them?

"They only lord it over those who allow them to do so. He who is assisted by good spirits has nothing to fear; for he dominates inferior spirits, and they cannot dominate him. But, when alone, and especially when only beginners, mediums should abstain from evocations of this sort." (278.)

 

12. Is it necessary to bring any particular state of feeling to an evocation?

"The most essential of all states of feeling, when you wish to hold converse with spirits of high degree, is seriousness and concentration of purpose. Faith in God, and the aspiration after goodness, are the most powerful of all evocations as regards superior spirits. By raising the soul towards the higher spheres, through a few moments of serious thought, before evoking, you identify yourselves with spirits of correspondingly higher degrees, and thus dispose them to come to you."

 

13. Is faith an indispensable condition of evocation?

"Faith in God is necessary; but faith will follow, if you sincerely desire to advance in knowledge and in virtue."

 

14. When men are united in a community of thought and intention, have they a greater power of attracting good spirits by evocation?

"It is when those who evoke are united by charity and good-will that the best results are obtained. Nothing hinders evocation so much as divergencies of thought and feeling on the part of those who evoke."

 

15. Is it useful for the latter to form a chain, by holding each other's hands for a few minutes, at the commencement of a sitting?

"The forming of a chain is a physical act which brings no union if such be not already in your thoughts; what is very much more useful is union of thought and purpose, in making your appeal to the higher spirits you desire to attract to your sitting.

You little know what results might thus be obtained by a company of earnest persons, free from all feeling of pride and personality, and united by mutual cordiality in a persevering effort of this kind."

 

16. Is it better to have stated days and hours for evocation?

"Yes; and, if possible, to hold your sittings in the same place; for spirits then come to you more easily and willingly. The constancy of your desire, as well as its earnestness, aids the spirits whom you call in coming to you and in communicating with you. Spirits have occupations which they cannot always quit, unpreparedly, for your personal satisfaction. I have said that it is well for the meetings to be in the same place; but you must not suppose this to be absolutely necessary, for spirits come everywhere: what I mean is, that a place selected for the purpose is preferable, because its influence favours concentration of thought on the part of those who assemble there."

 

17. Have talismans the property of attracting or repelling spirits, as some imagine?

"Your question is unnecessary, for you know that matter has no influence over spirits. Be assured that no good spirit ever inculcated any such absurdity, and that the virtue of talismans has never existed except in the imaginations of the credulous."

 

18. What are we to think of spirits who make appointments in lugubrious places and at unseasonable hours?

"That they are amusing themselves at the expense of those who listen to them.

It is always useless, and often dangerous, to conform to such suggestions useless suggestions, because you gain absolutely nothing by so doing, except being hoaxed; dangerous, not from any harm the spirits may do you, but from the effect which such assignations may have upon your own weak brains."

 

19. Are certain days and hours more propitious than others for evocation?

"No physical conditions are of any importance to spirits. To believe in the influence of days and hours is mere superstition. The most propitious time is that in which the thought of the evoker is least preoccupied with his daily affairs, and in which he enjoys the greatest calmness of mind and of body."

 

20. Is evocation agreeable or disagreeable to the spirits evoked? Do they come willingly when thus called?

"That depends upon their character and the motive of the evocation. Evocation in view of noble and useful ends, and when the evokers and surroundings are sympathetic, is agreeable to them. For some spirits, communication with men is a very great pleasure; many of them, in fact, are much pained by the abandonment in which they are left by men. But, as I have already said, all this depends on their individual character; for there are misanthropic spirits who do not like to be disturbed, and whose answers, when questioned, betray their ill-humour, especially if they are evoked by persons in whom they take no interest. A spirit has no motive for responding to the call of an evoker who is unknown to him, or with whom he is not in sympathy, especially when the call is prompted by mere curiosity should he come, it will generally be only for a short time, and he most likely will not come at all, unless he sees that some useful end will be subserved by his coming."

 

Remark - There are persons who only evoke their spirit-friends in order to ask them about tile common things of their earthly life; whether they shall buy or sell a house, whether they will make a profit by some commercial speculation, or whether such and such a transaction will turn out advantageously. Our friends and relations in the world beyond the grave only interest themselves in us in proportion to the affection that we feel for them; and if we only think of them as magicians, and to get them to advise us about our worldly affairs, they cannot feel any great sympathy for us, and we should hardly be surprised at any corresponding deficiency of good-will on their part.

 

21. Do good or bad spirits come to us most willingly when we evoke them?

"Bad spirits only come voluntarily in the hope of dominating and deceiving; they come very unwillingly when compelled to do so, and in order that they may be made to avow their faults. Under such circumstances, they would gladly keep away, like schoolboys called up to be punished; but they are sometimes constrained to come, by superior spirits, as a chastisement and means of advancement for themselves, and a lesson for the human beings who evoke them. Evocation for puerile purposes can only be wearisome to superior spirits, who either do not come at all, or soon retire.

 

"Remember that spirits do not like, any more than you do, to serve as an amusement for the curious. You have often no better purpose in evoking a spirit than to see what he will say, or to ask him particulars in relation to his earthly life, which it is not your business to pry into, and which he has no motive for confiding to you. Do you suppose that a spirit likes to be put into the witness-box and cross-questioned at your pleasure? Undeceive your selves; what a spirit would not have consented to do while on earth he will most likely decline to do as a spirit."

 

Remark - Experience shows that evocation is always agreeable to spirits, when made for serious and useful ends. The good come with pleasure to instruct us; those who suffer find relief in our sympathy; those whom we have known are gratified by our recollection of them. Frivolous spirits delight in being evoked by the frivolous, because it gives them an opportunity of amusing themselves at their expense; but they are ill at ease with more serious persons.

 

22. Is it necessary to evoke a spirit in order for him to be able to manifest himself?

"No, spirits very frequently come without being called; which proves that they come voluntarily."

 

23. When a spirit comes of his own accord, are we more certain of his identity?

"By no means; deceptive spirits frequently employ this method, in order the better to take you in."

 

24. When we evoke a spirit by our thought, does he come to us, even when there is no manifestation of his presence by writing or otherwise?

"Manifestations are attestations of the presence of a spirit; but it is your thought which attracts him."

 

25. When an inferior spirit manifests his presence, how can we oblige him to retire?

"By paying no attention to him.  But how can you expect him to go if you amuse yourselves with his follies? Inferior spirits attach themselves to those who listen to them with complacency, just as is done by foolish persons among yourselves."

 

26. Is the making of an evocation in the name of God a guarantee against the intermeddling of evil spirits?

"The name of God does not affect all perverse spirits, though a good many are restrained by it. If employed with faith and sincerity, it will always drive away some of them; and it would keep off a great many more if it were always employed with conviction, and not as a mere formality."

 

27. Can we evoke several spirits at the same time, by name?

"There is no difficulty in doing so; and if you had three or four hands to write with, three or four spirits would answer you at the same time. They do this when several mediums are present."

 

28. When several spirits are evoked at the same time, and there is only one medium present, which spirit replies?

"The one who is most in sympathy with the medium replies for all, by expressing their collective thought."

 

29. Can the same spirit, during a sitting, communicate at the same time by two different mediums?

"Just as easily as a man can dictate several letters at the same time to several amanuenses."

 

Remark - We have often known a spirit to reply, at the same time, through two mediums, to the questions addressed to him; in some cases, the answers have been given to one of the mediums in English, to the other in French, both being identical in meaning, and, sometimes, literal translations of one another.

 

Two spirits simultaneously evoked by two mediums can establish a conversation between themselves; although this mode of communication is quite unnecessary for them, since they reciprocally read each others' thoughts, they sometimes lend themselves to this experiment for our enlightenment. If both are inferior spirits, and therefore still imbued with earthly passions and ideas, they may quarrel and say hard things of one another, each reproaching the other with his faults. They have even been known, on such occasions, to hurl pencils, planchettes, etc, at one another.

 

30. Can the same spirit, when evoked simultaneously in different places, give simultaneous replies to the questions addressed to him?

"Yes, if he is an elevated spirit."

 

- In this case, does the spirit divide himself, or has he the gift of ubiquity?

"The sun is one, yet its light radiates in all directions, sending out its rays to incommensurable distances without any subdivision of itself; so it is with spirits. The thought of a spirit is like a spark which throws out its light on all sides, and may be perceived from all points of the horizon. The purer a spirit is, the farther does his thought radiate, and the more widely does it spread abroad, like the light. Inferior spirits are too material to effect this wide radiation they can only reply to one person at a time, and cannot come to you if they are answering another call elsewhere.

 

"A superior spirit, evoked at the same time in two different places, will answer both calls if both are equally serious and fervent; in the contrary case, he gives the preference to the more serious evocation."

 

Remark - It is the same with a man, who is able to transmit his thought in various directions, by signals seen from different points, without changing his place. A spirit spontaneously dictated the following communication at a meeting of the Parisian Society for Psychologic Studies, in which the question of ubiquity had been under discussion: -

 

"You have inquired, this evening, what is the difference of spirits at the different degrees of the hierarchy as regards ubiquity. You may compare us to a balloon rising gradually into the air. While the balloon keeps close to the earth, very few people can see it; in proportion as it rises, the circle of those by whom it can be seen is proportionally enlarged; and when it has attained a still greater altitude, it is visible to a vast number. So it is with us; the action of a low spirit, who is still attached to the earth, is limited to a narrow circle. As he becomes wiser and better, he rises, and can converse with a greater number of persons at once; and when lie has reached the supreme degree, he radiates in every direction, like the sun, showing himself at the same time, not only to many persons, but in many places.

CHANNING"

 

31. Can we evoke the fully-purified spirits, those who have terminated their series of incarnations?

"Yes, but they very rarely respond to your call; they communicate only with pure and sincere hearts, never with the proud and the selfish; you must therefore beware of the inferior spirits who claim to be of that degree, in order to give you a false idea of their importance."

 

32. How is it that the spirits of the most illustrious men come so familiarly and easily as they sometimes do, at the call of the most obscure evokers?

"Men judge of spirits by themselves, which is a mistake. After the death of the body, terrestrial rank no longer exists; goodness is then the only distinction among spirits, and the only superiority they recognise among men. Good spirits go everywhere where good can be done."

 

33. How soon after death can a spirit be evoked?

"You can evoke a spirit even at the very moment of death; but, as he is then in a state of confusion, he can only reply imperfectly."

 

Remark -As the duration of the state of confusion varies greatly with different persons, there can be no fixed rule in regard to the delay of evocation. It is rare, however, for a spirit not to have recovered his self-consciousness sufficiently for replying, by the end of a week or so. He may be able to reply two or three days after death; in any case the attempt may be made, but with caution and gentleness.

 

34. Would evocation, at the moment of death, be more fatiguing to a spirit than at a later period?

"In most cases it would be so; for it is like speaking to some one, whom you thereby rouse from slumber, before he is fully awake. There are persons, however, who are not annoyed by this; and to whom your call may even be useful by drawing them out of the state of confusion."

 

35. How is it that the spirit of a little child can reply to us with full intelligence, when, on earth, he had not even arrived at self-consciousness?

"The soul of an infant is a spirit confined in the swaddling-clothes of matter; but when disengaged from matter, he regains the use of his faculties as a spirit, for age has no existence for spirits. The fact that the spirit of an infant can answer you like that of an adult proves that he had lived before. Nevertheless, until he is completely disengaged from matter, he may retain some traces of the characteristics of infancy."

 

Remark. - The corporeal influence which may act, for a longer or shorter period, upon the spirit of a child, is equally observable in the case of those who have died insane. The spirit himself is not really insane; but we know that some spirits believe themselves, for a time, to be still living in their old flesh-body upon the earth; it is therefore not surprising that, in some cases, the spirit of a madman should fancy that he still feels the pressure of the malady which, during life, deprived him of the control of his intellect, and that this illusion should last until he is completely disengaged from the influence of matter. This effect varies with the causes of the mental malady; for there are some madmen who recover the lucidity of their ideas as soon as they have quitted the body.