BEWARE OF THE DECEITFUL SPIRITS!

On this subject, Franz Hartmann mentioned the following thing:

« Thus far I had been an enemy to spiritism because I had been told that all the “spiritistic” phenomena were produced by trickery and fraud.  A believer in spiritism was, to my mind, a long-haired crank with goggle eyes, who would see the products of his own diseased imagination in the shape of ghosts in every comer.

Nevertheless, my curiosity prompted me to study spiritism and there I saw the most wonderful phenomena of tangible appearances and materializations of ghosts, known as the spirits of Katie King and certain others.

I had occasion to witness the most interesting phenomena, fully materialized ghosts became my almost daily companions, fresh seaweeds were brought from the far distant ocean; I was myself levitated to the ceiling and carried through the air; in short, all the now well-known spiritual phenomena occurred under test conditions which left nothing to desire.

I was, and am of course still, a believer in these phenomena, for I cannot “unknow” that which I have actually experienced and known as well as any other fact in my daily life; but my experience with my friend Katie Wentworth had already taught me that these “spirits” were not what they claimed to be was clearly shown by the fact that, even within half an hour of that lady’s death, pretended spirits of some of the most celebrated physicians that ever lived on earth, came and made prescriptions for her and insisted that there was no danger.

And then I mention other cases:

First case

It is remarkable to what extent certain credulous people will believe even the greatest nonsense if it comes from the “other world.” A very prominent citizen of Vienna was told by the spirits that he must spend 30,000 florins for the purpose of establishing a factory for the manufacture of “planchettes,” so that the poor people might obtain them at cost price.

He would have actually done so if he had not been prevented by his family, who caused a legal guardian to be appointed for him, although in every other respect he was quite reasonable.

Second case

When Baroness R began to have spiritistic séances with some of her friends, an intelligence purporting to be the spirit of her childhood friend manifested and gave proofs of his identity by speaking and acting in the same manner as when he was alive, speaking of events that were known only to him and the Baroness;

But also this spirit now claimed to live on Mars, describing life and the supposed inhabitants of this planet!

Third case

In Hamburg I was introduced into a society of “occultists,” counting among its visitors persons of some distinction.

They had their “Masters,” which they held in great veneration, and these “Masters” produced their phenomena and gave their communications through the wife of the husband who owned the house where the circle met. This lady seemed to be in a state of chronic obsession, often lying for weeks in a state of semi-trance, during which she declared that her own spirit was absent and that the “Masters” had taken possession of her.

The most remarkable phenomena took place at that house; noises, as if cannon balls were being rolled over the wooden floor, were heard, and made the walls shake; lights appeared at night so strong as to make the neighbors believe that the house was on fire; handfuls of sand were thrown in the faces of visitors, photographs of scenery of living and dead persons, elementals and monsters were taken on plates without the use of a camera; but the most astonishing phenomenon was the almost instantaneous traveling of living people to long distances and through walls and closed windows, such as I have described in my article on “Magical Metathesis” in the Occult Review, July 1906.

What surprised me still more, was the fact that these spirits seemed to be well acquainted with the contents of Madame Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine and other books on Theosophy, which those people had never read, while on the other hand the communications received, which were held very secret and sacred, being shown to only the very select, contained the greatest vagaries, descriptions of the “realm of Pluto,” the infernal regions within the interior of the earth, and the like.

These “Masters” not only directed the “spiritual progress” of their disciples, but also their external affairs, and the disciples always acted according to the orders received. The end was that the husband of that lady first entirely neglected and finally gave up his business, and afterwards — also “by order of the Masters” — sold his house at a great sacrifice. The family were reduced to poverty and having become destitute they finally abandoned their “occult research”.

Fourth case

Some of our readers will perhaps remember that a few years ago a dozen students of Theosophy, being dissatisfied with the slow progress which they were making in becoming spiritual, formed an “inner circle” at Budapest in which they soon become witnesses of the most surprising phenomena. They had materializations and the ghosts represented themselves to be the twelve apostles, and each “apostle” accepted one of these students as his disciples.

All that had heretofore been taught by H. P. Blavatsky and the Indian Sages was now by these apostles declared to be nonsense, self sacrifice and asceticism made ridiculous, and contrary directions, enjoining strict secrecy, were given.

Finally “Jesus Christ” himself appeared in person; they were ordered to go to Madagascar and, being partly obsessed by these spooks, they actually went there, expecting “further orders.” There they lived for a while in the swamps, contrary to all the laws of hygiene, but soon one after another they fell victims to the climate. Out of the twelve seven died and the rest returned, perhaps wiser, but surely poorer men. »

(The Occult Review, excepts from various articles)

And on this last case, Franz Hartmann detailed more about it in another article:

« The unfortunate remnants of that expedition that went to Madagascar in search of divine wisdom and of which mention was made in the March number of the Occult Review, have returned, infected with malaria poison, but certainly to a certain extent wiser, if not better, men.

Their case is undoubtedly very instructive, as it goes to prove that devils may parade in the garb of angels and talk like saints.  It shows how even highly intelligent, but in metaphysical matters inexperienced, persons may be easily misled by spiritual phenomena and astral delusions.

The following account is from one of those who were fortunate enough to escape:

They were twelve persons, Austrians, Germans and Hungarians, nine men, two ladies and one child, all of them highly educated, some wealthy and one of them, Mr. B, well known in Germany as a public speaker on theosophical subjects.

They met at the house of a well-known spiritualist, Dr. R, at Budapest, who was himself clairaudient, while his wife was in possession of clairvoyant powers, and both of them seem to have had the elements necessary for the production of semi-materialized spectral forms.

Through the mediumship of those persons they received the most unctuous and high-sounding sermons, in which they were admonished that they must give up the world and devote themselves completely to the service of God.

They were informed that they had been chosen as the elect vessels for divine grace, and, being as such superior to all mundane matters and relations, they must abandon all inferior things, such as their parents and families, money and other worldly possessions, social connections, business obligations, etc., and go to a place designated hereafter, where they would be removed from the harmful influence of western civilization and where they would find no obstacles to hinder their rapid spiritual progress, but where further instructions would await them.

Moreover, these communicating spirits were not of a common kind; they revealed themselves as the twelve apostles, and each of these twelve apostles took one of those twelve seekers for wisdom under his special care and protection and accepted him as his disciple.

Mr. L thus became the favorite disciple of St. Peter, Mr. K of St. Paul, Mr. B of St. John, and so forth, and to make a climax the Lord Jesus Christ himself appeared in person and gave them special advice. All the theosophical teachings, such as are contained in the books of the ancient sages and rehearsed at the meetings of H. P. Blavatsky and her followers, were now authoritatively declared to be rubbish and trash, and the true doctrine was said to be found only within the ranks of the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church.

Incredible as it may appear, those persons who heretofore considered it to be the object of their life to spread the doctrine of liberty of thought and freedom of investigation now believed it their duty to repudiate the truths which they had already grasped, and they easily fell victims of those astral delusions, a circumstance which can only be explained by the fact that they were completely hypnotized and under the influence of a foreign will and suggestion.

Mr. K, having regained his normal state of mind, assures me that when the letters written by him at that period of time were shown to him after his return, he could not believe that he had ever written such letters himself. We may, perhaps, wonder at the power of such suggestions; but men easily believe things which they wish to be true, especially if they are supposed to come from a higher plane.

Great is the power of vanity when it takes possession of the human heart, and who would not be tickled at the prospect of being taken under the special protection of a Mahatma, an apostle, or even of the historical Christ?

Thus our friends were easily persuaded that they had been exceptionally shown the one way of salvation for their own respectable personalities, and they wanted to get all the benefits of this favor for themselves.

They were ordered to go to Madagascar, and they were only too willing to "give up their self-will” and to obey. Moreover, they received orders to keep everything very secret, the evident object being to prevent any one giving them contrary advice, or to enlighten them in regard to the nature of the influences to which they submitted.

These influences not only manifested themselves through the senses of hearing and sight; but K assures me that when he and his friends were sitting for meditation, they often distinctly felt astral hands passing through their bodies and manipulating their internal organs, kidneys and heart, as if these “apostles” intended, not only to reform their mental qualities but also remodel their physical forms.

In addition to this they were told that they were to become redeemers of the world, but that they must first become redeemed themselves, before they could redeem others, and that for this purpose they must give up all self-will and self­thought and implicitly obey the instructions received from their invisible “guides” and unknown superiors.

The following is an extract from one of the letters written by one of our deluded friends to his parents, and goes to show the trap in which they were caught by these Jesuitical influences; which are the more dangerous, because the views expressed therein are undoubtedly correct, if properly understood; while if they are misunderstood, as they naturally will be by those incapable of grasping their true meaning, they will open the door to idiocy and insanity.

"My dear parents, brothers and sisters,

“I have made up my mind to become a laborer in the vineyard of the Lord and to abandon myself entirely to the will of God for the purpose of saving my soul and to become a redeemer of others. I have found the true way.  It is the way of giving up all worldly things, all personal possessions, powers, knowledge, desires, hopes and aspirations, intentions and fears, and to surrender myself entirely to God. Do not worry about me. I am in good care. When you receive this letter I shall already be far away, and you will probably never hear of my personality,” etc.

It may be asked: If any one wishes to abandon his self-will entirely to God and trust himself entirely to His guidance, why then should he exercise his own self-will for the purpose of gratifying his selfish desire for personal advancement and spiritual superiority, or become a blind tool for waylaying spirits and unknown "masters,” whose real nature he does not know?

Can any one do the will of God, unless the will of God becomes manifest in his own heart?

Heretofore our friends had been addicted to a vegetable diet, abstained from alcoholic drinks and other pleasures; but now the "masters” told them that all asceticism was harmful, that it would be an exercise of self-will if they were to control their nature, and that they were consequently at liberty to let their nature have its own way.

It is clear that such teaching is exceedingly pernicious; for although it is true that for the purpose of obtaining true self-control we need the influence and assistance of the divine power that comes to us from our higher self, to expect that God would drive away our passions and overcome our lower nature without our consent, would be the same as expecting God to become our servant and to fulfill the duties which we are destined to accomplish ourselves.

To make the matter short, our friends arrived at Antananarivo and there they exercised their self-will by hiring a cottage, because God did not hire it for them.  Leaving, however, everything, even the care of their health, as much as possible to God, they lived in a way not at all suitable to the climate of Madagascar and soon became the victims of swamp fever.  One of the party had the good sense to escape with his wife and returned to Europe.

Mr. L died first, and Mr. B soon after followed him to the grave; Dr. R became insane and died, and his wife departed this life on board ship while returning to Europe with her child. The rest of the emigrants returned to Europe, some of them with ruined health, and, wonderful to relate, some even now, in spite of their experiences, not yet cured of their illusions. There is also no doubt that if a similar opportunity were offered again, there would be multitudes willing and anxious to go to Madagascar and be led by the nose.

The explanation of such cases seems clear to every one acquainted with the conditions existing on the superterrestrial planes. There are not only the powers of light but also the powers of darkness, endowed with intelligence and cunning for the purpose of misleading mankind. All the mystics and occultists speak of these “powers of the air” (inhabitants of the astral plane), and Lord Lytton describes some of them in his Zattoni as being possessed of extreme malice.

They are naturally opposed to the spiritual evolution of humanity, and it is not improbable that they should be highly inimical to the "theosophical movement” and try all means to ruin those who are prominently active in the spreading of theosophical teachings.

Moreover, the above cited case is by no means a solitary example. From certain sects in Russia who delight in mutilating themselves “for the greater glory of God,” down to the latest outgrowths of so-called “Christian Science,” where attempts are made to drag divine powers down and debase them for the purpose of serving material and selfish purposes, the world is full of sectarian bodies and secret societies in which intelligent and well-meaning, but in spiritual things ignorant, persons are unconsciously under the dominion of the powers of darkness and misled by astral delusions.

The door through which these powers find entrance into the human mind is personal vanity, and many of the best public speakers and leaders of progressive thought have already fallen victims to it, while others are about to follow.

The Kingdom of Heaven cannot be obtained by dragging it down to earth, we must rise up to it, if we wish to enter it; darkness cannot come into possession of light; but when the light becomes manifest, darkness must disappear. Selfishness and spirituality are incompatible, and if we desire to obtain some particular favor for ourselves, such a motive is selfish, even if we wish that the good things expected should also be shared by our friends.

Paracelsus says:

-      “He who asks of God some service for himself or his friends, loves himself or his friends better than God. He is like the peasant who loves his cow only on account of the milk he receives from her, and if he were to receive no milk he would not care for the cow.”

Where the seed of selfishness is hidden within the fruit, there putrefaction begins. "Self” cannot overcome “self”; this can only be done through the power of the Divinity in man which belongs to the real self, and the consciousness of the real self begins only where the illusion of “self” with all its selfish desires sinks into forgetfulness.

But this doctrine is difficult to understand for those who have not yet learned to distinguish within their hearts between the eternal reality and the temporal illusion of self. This may also be expressed in other words by saying:

-      "The realization of divine truth can take place within the heart and mind only by the grace and the light of God.”

Without the arising of this interior light nothing can be accomplished in a spiritual way and therefore the saintly Thomas and Kempis truly says:

-      “There is nothing real in this world except the love of God (the light of truth in the soul).”

There are numerous would-be seekers of truth, who, having obtained a glimpse of the light of wisdom, imagine themselves to be the possessors of all of it and suppose themselves to be called upon to reform the world.

Being, perhaps, in possession of eloquence, they are soon surrounded by flatterers and admiring crowds. Then enters the devil of vanity, ambition and love of power, and is followed by jealousy, envy, intolerance and sectarian quarrels, and the higher they have risen, the deeper will be their fall. »

(Occult Review, November 1907, p.254-258)