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world, however, are so varied that almost any phenomenon
with which we are acquainted can be produced in several
different ways, so that it is only possible to lay down general
rules in the matter.
Apparitions or ghosts furnish a very good instance of the
remark just made, for in the loose manner in which the words
are ordinarily used they may stand for almost any inhabitant
of the astral plane. Of course psychically developed people
are constantly seeing such things, but for an ordinary person
to "see a ghost," as the common expression runs, one of two
things must happen: either that ghost must materialize, or that
person must have a temporary flash of psychic perception.
But for the fact that neither of these events is a common one,
ghosts would be met with in our streets as frequently as
living people.
Churchyard Ghosts. If the ghost is seen hovering about
a grave it is probably the etheric shell of a newly-buried
person, though it may be
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the astral body of a living man haunting in sleep the tomb of
a friend; or again, it may be a materialized thought-form
that is, an artificial elemental created by the energy with
which a man thinks of himself as present at that particular
spot. These varieties would be easily distinguishable one
from the other by any one accustomed to use astral vision,
but an unpractised person would be quite likely to call them
vaguely "ghosts."
Apparitions of the Dying. Apparitions at the time of
death are by no means uncommon, and are very often really
visits paid by the astral form of the dying man just before
what we elect to call the moment of dissolution; though here
again they are quite likely to be thought-forms called into
being by his earnest wish to see some friend once more
before he passes into an unfamiliar condition. There are
some instances in which the visit is paid just after the
moment of death instead of just before, and in such a case
the visitor is really a ghost; but for various causes this form
of apparition is far less frequent than the other.
Haunted Localities. Apparitions at the spot where some
crime was committed are usually thought-forms projected by
the criminal, who, whether living or dead, but most especially
when dead, is perpetually thinking over again and again the
circumstances of his action. Since these thoughts are
naturally specially vivid in his mind on the anniversary of the
original crime, it is often only on that occasion that the
artificial elementals which he creates are strong enough to
materialize themselves to ordinary sight a fact which account,
for the periodicity of some manifestations of this class.
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Another point in reference to such phenomena is, that
wherever any tremendous mental disturbance has taken place,
wherever overwhelming terror, pain, sorrow, hatred, or indeed
any kind of intense passion has been felt, an impression of
so very marked a character has been made upon the astral
light that a person with even the faintest glimmer of psychic
faculty cannot but be deeply impressed by it. It would need
but a slight temporary increase of sensibility to enable him to
visualize the entire scene to see the event in all its detail
apparently taking place before his eyes and in such a case
he would of course report that the place was haunted, and
that he had seen a ghost.
Indeed, people who are as yet unable to see psychically
under any circumstances are frequently very unpleasantly
impressed when visiting such places as we have mentioned.
There are many, for example, who feel uncomfortable when
passing the site of Tyburn Tree, or cannot stay in the
Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussaud's though they may
not be in the least aware that their discomfort is due to the
dreadful impressions in the astral light which surround
places and objects redolent of horror and crime, and to the
presence of the loathsome astral entities which always swarm
about such centres.
Family Ghosts. The family ghost, whom we generally
find in the stock stories of the supernatural as an appanage of
the feudal castle, may be either a thought-form or an
unusually vivid impression in the astral light, or again he may
really be an earth-bound ancestor still haunting the scenes in
which his thoughts and hopes centred during life.
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Bell-ringing, Stone-throwing, &c. Another class of
hauntings which take the form of bell-ringing, stone-
throwing, or the breaking of crockery, has already been
referred to, and is almost invariably the work of elemental
forces, either set blindly in motion by the clumsy efforts of
an ignorant person trying to attract the attention of is
surviving friends, or intentionally employed by some
childishly mischievous nature-spirit.
Fairies. The nature-spirits are also responsible for
whatever of truth there may be in all the strange fairy stories
which are so common in certain parts of the country.
Sometimes a temporary accession of clairvoyance, which is
by no means uncommon among the inhabitants of lonely
mountainous regions, enables some belated wayfarer to
watch their joyous gambols; sometimes strange tricks are
played upon some terrified victim, and a glamour is cast over
him, making him, for example, see houses and people where
he knows none really exist. And this is frequently no mere
momentary delusion, for a man will sometimes go through
quite a long series of imaginary but most striking adventures,
and then suddenly find that all his brilliant surroundings
have vanished in a moment, leaving him standing in some
lonely valley or on some wind-swept plain. On the other
hand, it is by no means safe to accept as founded on fact all
the popular legends on the subject, for the grossest
superstition is often mingled with the theories of the
peasantry about these beings, as was shown by a recent
terrible murder case in Ireland.
To the same entities must he attributed a large portion of
what are called physical phenomena at spiritualistic
seances indeed, many a seance has been given entirely by
these mischievous creatures. Such a performance might
easily include many very striking items, such as the
answering of questions and delivery of pretended messages
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by raps or tilts, the exhibition of "spirit lights," the apport of
objects from a distance, the reading of thoughts which were
in the mind of any person present, the precipitation of
writings or drawings, an and even materializations.
In fact, the nature-spirits alone, if any of them happened to
he disposed to take the trouble, could give a seance equal to
the most wonderful of which we read; for though there may
be certain phenomena which they would not find it easy to
reproduce, their marvellous power of glamour would enable
them without difficulty to persuade the entire circle that these
phenomena also had duly occurred unless, indeed, there
were present a trained observer who understood their arts
and knew how to defeat them. As a general rule, whenever
silly tricks or practical jokes are played at a seance we may
infer the presence either of low-class nature-spirits, or of
human beings who were of a sufficiently degraded type to
find pleasure in such idiotic performances during life.
Communicating Entities. As to the entities who may
"communicate" at a seance, or may obsess and speak
through an entranced medium, their name is simply legion;
there is hardly a single class among all the varied inhabitants
of the astral plane from whose ranks they may not be drawn,
though after the explanations given it will be readily
understood that the chances are very much against their
coming from a high one. A manifesting "spirit" is often
exactly what it professes to be, but often also it is nothing of
the kind; and for the ordinary sitter there is absolutely no
means of distinguishing the true from the false, since the
extent to which a being having all the resources of the astral
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