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Show The latest argument of those who I jellevc in spiritual manifestations In the present rime In the photographing photo-graphing of spirits with human 1 beings. There arc plenty of people who believe spirits were made visible vis-ible in the Bible times, but who doubt their existence now. Albert Meyer, an artist, who makes portraits and paintings for jcaleslastic purposes, says spirits appear today as they used to appear. ap-pear. He has photographs taken In various parts of Europe, which, he says, bears out his arguments, i His argument follows: BY ALBERT MKTKR. It is not so very long ago that it was customary for the so-called enlightened en-lightened classes to scoff and ridicule ridi-cule everything that was said or. printed about the survival of the personality after death. Every endeavor en-deavor to establish a proof thereof, every story of apparitions, of messages mes-sages received, or of communications communica-tions held with tho departed, was invariably classified as delusion of the senses, as hallucination, or simply sim-ply regarded as fraud and fake. However, the history of humanity is full of tests of strange and apparently ap-parently out of the ordinary happenings, hap-penings, and the great mass of the people, the unlearned and unsophisticated, unsophis-ticated, have never doubted that there was truth In premonition?, dreams and second sight, in palm reading, crystal gazing, ghost and fairy tales, haunted spots and spirit voices. Our Bible is full of accounts of superphysical appearances, of me-dlumshlp me-dlumshlp and psychic faculties of all kinds of clairvoyance, clair audi-' audi-' encc. dream informations, spirit writing, materialization and levtta-tion levtta-tion and healing of tho sick through the spoken word, by more touch of the hand, and with Iho help of articles as handkerchiefs or staffs used by the saints and permeated with their personal magnetism. And et, many of tho3e. who would not 5oubt these facts, related in the different dif-ferent books of the old and new testament, will not accept as truth any recurrence df such phenomena when they happen within their immediate im-mediate neighborhood, or when they are givn in a newspaper or magazine. I contend these phe- kiTHna a r a 4uat an nncal Kl a as they were in times gone by, Just is subject to the samvj unalterable laws of nature. The last few decades, however, have seen a remarkable change in the attitude of tho learned men towards to-wards occultism. Instead of ridiculing ridi-culing and blankly denying the many strange and often incredible phenomena which suddenly seem to occur almost everywhere In Europe Eu-rope and In America, the scientific , world began an eager search for the truth. The result of this was, that one by one, these scientific lefljders and seekers after truth, had to admit that something was "going "go-ing on;" that evidently a new divine dispensation was taking place, and that a new epoch was being heralded her-alded by revealing truth as old as humanity Itself, which had been lost in the utter materialization of our Western civilization. Mediums, and many people are mediumlstic without knowing it. enable disembodied, astral entities to manifest themselves in a visible, audible and tangible way, with one word, to materialize, by borrowing the necessary physical matter from the body of the medium. It would lead too far to attempt here an explanation of this highly occuk- y chemical process; suffice to say, that most all materialized phenomena of spiritualistic seances are accounted for in this manner. It is also a fact that medlumship is detrimental in different ways to the health and I W moral welfare of tho persons practicing prac-ticing it, by giving up the principles of their own bodies to astral beings, erroneously called ' spirits," mostly of an inferior kind, who by no means are always want they pretend pre-tend to be, even if they appear in the shape, and speak the language of the relative or frle id whom they seem to represent. Thy reason that these seances are held invariably in rooms, more or less obscured, has its cause in the impossibility of holding the astral and etheric forces necessary for the dcmnnstral ion together, to-gether, when exposed to the ln-ense ln-ense vibrations of either sun or other strong light. However dim the light may be, which prevails in the average seance loom, all appearing ap-pearing phantoms In their different "tages of materialization arc luminous lumin-ous enough to leave t distinct impression im-pression on the photographic plate. !ind with the help of the camera, the "unerring eye of science," such Pltlt photographs have often boen taken and printed. A very interesting experiment of similar nature has quite recently been made in London by Sir Oliver Lodge, professor of chemistry at the University of Birmingham, who succeeded in getting motion picture of an astral being, wrapping around him the dense etheric matter oozing from the medium, thereby becoming visible to the eye in the shape of a human, and able to make impressions impres-sions on the films, It is, no doubt, that phantastic pictures of similar kind can be easily imitated by any skilled photographer, who intends io produce faked spirit photographs for the purpose of creating sensation. sensa-tion. But in this as in all other cases of doubt, the student of occultism and critic in general has to clearly discriminate between tho false and the genuine, and certainly only the latter is worthy of thorough investigation. inves-tigation. And many photographers have hesitatingly admitted that they were often surprised by finding strange faces and shapes on negatives nega-tives they were developing, faces of people mostly unknown to the person to be photographed. Fear of spoiling their business and losing their customers by the suspicion of tampering with black art kept them from making known such facte, and new sittings had to be arranged to obtain pictures without "spirits." The question might arise here, why such phenomena as spirit photographs pho-tographs do not occur more frequently, fre-quently, since we are told that the densely populated astral plane or the mysterious realm of the fourth dimension is all around us, oven interpenetrating the physical part of our earth. In answer to this I would say, that most of the dlsem- bodied inhabitants of that region have lost contact with earthly affairs, af-fairs, and consequently do not care to be photographed But even In ca?p they had that intention, It would not be possible, because astral as-tral matter alone is unable to effect even the most sensitive plate or film. In order to maki the desired impression, a partial materialization must take place, rnd the astral visitor vis-itor who wants to appear on the picture with his friend must draw around him etheric matter which he borrows for this purpose from either the photographer or the sitter. But generally neither of them la aware of the pretence of an invisible invis-ible personality. WILLIAM T. STEAD AM) BOER GENERAL. However, cases have been recorded, re-corded, where, for instance, the photographer was psychic and able to see the astral visitor and eveu conversed with him mentally. The late William T. Stead, the founder of the English and Amerl- Jl Ul can Review of Reviews, and author of many celebrated books, tells us that during the Boer War. about fifteen years ago. he went to a photographer In London to have his picture taken. The photographer, a rather old gentleman, who happened hap-pened to be c lairvoyant and elair-audlent, elair-audlent, told Mr. Stead, that simultaneously simul-taneously with him entered n fierce appearing, shaggy giant, with a gun In his hand. Mr. Stead, who was very Interested in psychic phenomena phe-nomena and to a certain degreo mediumistic hlmeclf. asked the photographer to ascertain who this ntrange man was who gave his name as Pict Botha. And actually there appeared on the finished photograph pho-tograph standing behind Mr. Stead a regular Boer soldier, with a long beard, bl? gun and cartridge belt. Mr. Stead waited until the war was over and a peace delegation came to England from South Africa. Among them was Oeneral Botha, one of the heroes of that war. to whom this picture was shown. AT top Albert Meyer. Below "Spirit Photographs." Photo-graphs." Left Picture of Stead, with a spirit. Right A. P. Sinnet and a spirit. Below Egbert Mueller's "Masked Woman." ' Why that man was never in England,' En-gland,' said the Generul; "he was a near relative of mine, Piatfua Johannes Jo-hannes Botha, ;ut always called 'Plet, he was the first Boer commandant com-mandant killed In the siege of Klmherly." Mr. Stead was never aide to find out hy that particular Boer warrior war-rior was attracted by him, who so arduously worked all his life for peace. Spirit portraits appeared subsequently several times on his photographs, and one of the last ones, taken shortly before he went down with the Titanic, I am able to show here In reproduction. It shows William T. Stead In a sitting pose and a lovely female shape, standing beside him. crowning him with the wreath of immortality. Another very interesting storj la reported by a member of the London Lon-don Society of Psychical Research. A daughter of an aristocratic family, fam-ily, fiancee of an English army officer of-ficer stationed In East India, made preparations to go there with the intention of marrying him Before leaving England, however, how-ever, she decided to nave her picture pic-ture taken. Accompanied by her mother she went to one of the lead- Artist Declares I They Can, and I Presents Famed I Pictures of Stead and Sinnet With M Egbert Mueller's Masked Woman I as Argument I lng photographers. The exposure duly made, the operator retired to the dark room to devvlop the negative. nega-tive. He came back to the studio after a short while and with a serious seri-ous expression on his face asked for another sitting. Something being wrong with the first, he gave as excuse. ex-cuse. He consequently took two or three more pictures, tried different positions, but his face grew more and more grave every' time he returned re-turned from the developing room. When finally urged to state the na-turo na-turo of the trouble, he admitted that in developing the plates, there appeared above the head of the young lady the dark face of a tur-bancd tur-bancd Hindoo, with a threatening expression in his eyes and a dagger In his right hand, raised in an attitude atti-tude of aiming at her; and that he, the photographer, could in no way account for this strange phantom. This extraordinary occurrence caused the women to stno preparations prepara-tions for their planned trip to India, nnd soon investigations resulted in breaking off the engagement. ARMY OFFICER FOUND PROFLIGATE. The young army officer was found to be unworthy and a profligate. It is evident in this case, that the specter, which mav also have been a strong thought form and which appealed in the shape of a foe m this affair, acted a6 a friend Indeed, and warned of impending danger. As the photographer had to prom- 11 ise to break the ominous negative fll it became impossible to publish any I'l of those pictures. IB But, through the courtesy of a Gorman scientist. Dr. Egbert Muel- IB ler, I am enabled to produce here M a photograph of a medium, who traveled in Europe under the name 1 of "rerame masque," or the HB masked woman, although she wears no mask in this picture. When in a trance there usually appears i near her tho shape of a nun, who H pretends to have lived 1,000 years ago in Belgium. This nun. Mother HB Cordula, is ever willing to be photo- wEr. graphed together with the mecium and bears a striking facial resem- Hxj blance to her. This likeness might BBt tlonship, but it is more probable HE that in order to become visible the iSS nun draws the necessary physical WbS matter from her medium and shapes flK it similarly. This is one of the few jfl cases, where medium and mani- Smh festlng spirit allow themselves to be IniS seen at the same time, the former JMftH usually remains within the cabinet RE! while in trance-like condition. This fiBBI cabinet serves In many respects slm- Bxl liar to the darkroom of the photog- WSjZ rapher; the temporary inclusion of the strong vibrations of light la m I necessary to obtain the desired ef- W'" feet in photography as well as in M spirit demonstrations. KM''- One of our most noted occult m'--writers, who was a close friend of R. Madam Helma, Petrowna Blavatzky a--' ' and her traveling companion in I! India, A. P. Sinnet, has devoted his g noble life to the study and explore- tion of the higher laws of nature. jr I He tells us In one of his books. JH called the "Riddle of Life," that he has seen many a spirit photograph, & taken under conditions, where all suspicion of fraud was excluded. it I Being endowed with strong psychic fj powers himself, he usually attracts W antral entities, when posing before r the camera, and has kindly con- &. sented to have his latest portrait k with spirit visitors published. It Is t interesting to notice, although a reproduction never equals the orig- I inal picture in clearness, that sev- if. oral astral beings endeavored to !T appear on this photograph. It is evident that some of them were g not able to materialize sufficiently ;K and could therefore leave only weak and blurred spots of light on i the plate, while the one, standing besides Mr. Sinnet made a sharp enough impression to show distinctly distinct-ly the shape and face of a hand- -H some young man. garbed In a transparent, trans-parent, loose gown of a gauzy substance. sub-stance. llr STinnet himself admits that ha does not recognize this mart- As In 1 most cases of spirit demonstrations. the entities have a desire to show themselves and such desire keeps if them bound to the lower region of the astral world, where the magnetic mag-netic Influence of the earth is still prevalent. But for them, too. the time will come when all earthly at-tractions at-tractions are overcome, and they j will have learned to focus their thoughts entirely upon the abstract and more ideal problems, that are I awaiting them in th peace and i feliss of a long period of heavenly rest. |