CHAPTER IV.

VARIOUS SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS IN THE BIBLE AND CLASSIC LITERATURE.

In that highly authentic work by William Howitt, “The History of the Supernatural,” that learned and painstaking author, whose reverence for the Jewish and Christian Scriptures was extremely great, justifies his employment of that old-fashioned theological term,—now frequently superseded by the far simpler word superphysical, in the following graphic language: “The author of this work intends by the supernatural the operation of those higher and more recondite laws of God with which, being yet but most imperfectly acquainted, we either denominate their effects miraculous, or, shutting our eyes firmly, deny their existence altogether. So far from holding that what are called miracles are interruptions, or violations of the course of nature, he regards them only as the results of spiritual laws, which in their occasional action subdue, suspend, or neutralize the less powerful physical laws, just as a stronger chemical affinity subdues a weaker one, producing new combinations, but combinations strictly in accordance with the collective laws of the universe, whether understood or not understood by us. At a time when so many objections are raised to portions of the Scripture narrative, which unsettle men’s minds and haunt them with miserable forebodings, the author has thought it of the highest importance to bring into a comprehensive view the statements of the most eminent historians and philosophers of all ages and nations on the manifestations of those spiritual agencies amongst them, which we, for want of farther knowledge, term supernatural.” This extremely fertile author completely fulfilled his promise to his readers to acquaint them with well-nigh universal testimony to the reality of spiritual occurrences which have taken place, sometimes plentifully, and at other times but rarely, in every section of the globe, and though William Howitt may well be ranked among Christian apologists as well as among Bible elucidators, he was an uncompromising, though never a fanatical or unreasoning, Spiritualist. The American edition of the famous English book to which we are now alluding was published in Philadelphia in 1863, by the celebrated firm of J. B. Lippincott & Co., at a time when the British and American publics were intensely agitated over religious scepticism on the one hand and the stupendous claims of modern Spiritualists on the other. Had it not been for William Howitt’s wide and high reputation already achieved in literary circles, it is doubtful whether his explanations of Spiritualism would have excited much attention, but the name and fame of this distinguished author were unquestionably such that whatever he published was always perused thoughtfully by intelligent persons in all stations. The unique value of such a treatise is in the light it throws upon the universality of spiritual unveilings. How the claimant for exclusive revelation can derive any satisfaction from so broad a testimony we are at a loss to see, but to the student of Sacred Literature in general, rather than of a single volume, the extent of territory covered in the narrative must prove thoroughly welcome as well as enormously enlightening. Good and evil spirits are acknowledged in all records of spiritual intercommunion during modern as well as ancient days, but by “evil” is never correctly meant “hopelessly depraved,” for the unanimous testimony of all truly enlightened teachers in all climes and ages has been in complete condemnation of the hideous doctrine of endless and useless suffering and its boon companion, total depravity. These nightmares of false theology have never received support or sanction at the hands of any illuminated teachers, and it is quite safe to aver that there never was a really enlightened spiritual teacher on earth at any time who endorsed the garbled misinterpretations of Sheol, Gehenna, Tartarus, and other Hebrew and Greek terms for states of post-mortem purification, which are found either in the Bible or in the Classics. But however true the statements may be that “the door of reformation is never closed” and that “the pathway of progress lies eternally unobstructed before every human soul,”—as certain Spiritualist Societies declare that it does,—such an affirmation by no means disposes of the darker aspects of spirit-communion, though it does suggest to us a reasonable attitude to take toward those “dwellers on the threshold” who are frequently mistaken, by credulous persons, for some mighty angelic beings who are supposed to be amazingly advanced along the path of progress. We cannot curtly dismiss the doctrine of “obsession,” disagreeable though its contemplation may be, with the mere snap of a contemptuous finger, but if dark as well as bright unseen influences are around us, whether we know that such is the case or whether we are ignorant thereof, we may rest well assured that the incessant operation of the undeviating law of spiritual affinity must ever be the factor which determines the class of influences to which we yield, and this same law must inevitably at all times regulate our closest psychic intimacies. “I will fear no evil,” says the composer of the twenty-third psalm, a phrase which would be meaningless did the word “evil” convey no meaning to its employer’s mind. Good and evil are to our understanding relative, not absolute terms. Absolutely there can be no evil but relatively all discord or disease is evil, while all harmony or health is good. This concept is so entirely universal that in all lands and through all ages the demonstrated healing of the sick, through some ordinarily uncomprehended agency, has furnished satisfactory proof that the operating intelligence was of beneficent character. Among Jews and Romans alike this test was considered quite conclusive at the beginning of the Christian era, and all through the following centuries, including the present, the same idea has remained so widely prevalent that works of healing are always triumphantly referred to as evidences of the holy source whence mysterious abilities are derived. “Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?” is a question just as pertinent to-day as when propounded in the time of Jesus. Miracles of healing are only performable by magicians of the “white” variety; those of the “black” order can produce genuine manifestations of many dubious kinds; they can startle but they cannot heal, because healing being a work of harmonizing is not within the range of rites performable by those who live in discord, and as the great divide between Leucomancy and Necromancy, i. e., between light-dispensing and death-dealing magic, is that the former is always operated with benignant and the latter with malign intent, it is not very difficult to discriminate intelligently between a righteous Spiritualism and an unrighteous Sorcery. At this point many would-be Bible interpreters have appeared almost insanely blind, for even in this day we often read reports of sermons against Spiritualism displaying such crass ignorance on the part of the preacher that we know full well that nothing but blear-eyed prejudice or sheer stupidity could have allowed such utterances to pass as “gospel preaching” when we all know “gospel” is a synonym for good news and joyful tidings. It is indeed an important part of a prophetic ministry to warn the unwary against dangers which lurk in their path, often unseen and unsuspected, but there are but two ways in which such warning can be profitably given; one being to counsel the highest moral integrity and the other to recommend firm development of individuality, neither of which good purposes can possibly be served by diatribe and the hopeless confounding of things which radically differ. It must certainly be frankly admitted that there are many statements in various parts of the Hebrew Scriptures fiercely condemnatory of Babylonian magical arts as they were practiced during the Jewish Captivity, and it was almost immediately after the return of the Jews to Palestine that there arose great prophets in Israel who strongly urged upon the people an immediate recantation of their errors and an instant return to the pure monotheism which was from the very first the pride and glory of Israel. No doubt there are many passages in various portions of the Bible which can be so construed as to make it appear that every form of divination was condemned by the prophets in the name of God, but if so strained an interpretation be placed on doubtful passages, what can we say concerning Joseph and his divining cup which was found in the sack of his younger brother Benjamin, when this same Joseph was held up for admiration as a true prophet and one through whose gracious influence famine was averted in Egypt and his own brethren, despite their cruelty to him in his youth, most hospitably received and kindly treated in the time of their necessity? What can we say concerning Samuel who was not only clairaudient in childhood but grew up to be a mighty prophet, one to whom the people resorted, and never in vain, for wise direction in times of difficulty; and what indeed concerning a whole host of prophets who were all diviners in some respects but who righteously adhered to the moral law and only employed divination for honorable and praiseworthy ends. It surely needs no unusual acumen to discriminate between prophesy and witchcraft, seeing that the original of the word witch means one who exerts unholy spells with malicious purpose, a practice not entirely absent from the ranks of unscrupulous persons in the present day. No matter whether the spells worked or not, the true prophets of every age and people have entirely condemned every practice actuated by any desire to work injury upon man or beast, and they have also condemned all those highly objectionable methods resorted to in the Babylonian Empire which had for their object entering into communion with unseen beings through the arts of necromancy, which were so entirely different from all respectable Spiritualistic practices that it is manifestly unfair to in any way confound them. We hear a good deal about “malicious mesmerism,” and much else that is uncanny when the inner workings of some modern societies are divulged and one party undertakes to criminate another, and though it is a very open question how far such charges can ever be substantiated, we have a right to set our faces very decidedly against all endeavors to misuse any occult agency with which we may be familiar. Nothing can well be more weird and despicable than to endeavor to pervert telepathy or mental telegraphy to the base end of harming someone against whom we feel resentment; but on the other hand we can readily see how truly kindhearted may be the action of benevolent and conscientious people who give what they term “absent mental treatments” for the sole purpose of assisting others to gain or to recover health and to rise superior to all sorts of temptations and difficulties. The cry of danger is sure to be raised in some quarters whenever the mysterious is mentioned, and the faint-hearted are very readily alarmed at any cry of “wolf,” no matter by who that cry is raised; but we should like to inquire of those alarmists, who are always prating of real or imaginary dangers, whether they know of any domain in the whole wide field of scientific and mechanical progress in which there is no danger Let calamity-howlers and other scarecrowists be consistent and they must of necessity warn us against the use of steam, electricity, and every other appliance of civilization, and they must also veto every advance in the art of navigation, especially that of the air, because of the perils actually encountered by sailors and aviators. We have no right to suppose that we are entirely immune from danger until we have reached the height attained only by great adepts in any line of enterprise, but such elevated conditions have never been reached by cravens; only the strong and the brave are fitted to scale the heights on which now stand the triumphant heroes whose motto is ever-more Excelsior.

Alluding again to the work of William Howitt we can easily follow him in his daring assertions that miracle is “the eternal heritage of the church,” but let us always remember that the Latin word miraculum only means something wonderful because unexplained, though not inexplicable. People marvel greatly whenever they witness anything they fail to comprehend, but if they use their reason they do not therefore attribute it either to jugglery or diablerie. A great mass of testimony has recently been collected proving that works of healing similar to those described of old are now taking place among us, some of them within the pale of organized churches, but very many entirely outside of all recognized organizations. Christian Scientists and other would-be monopolists of the healing power may well point with satisfaction to their own successes, but they can have no right whatever to claim that they alone are gifted with power to heal, or that similar wonders wrought by people outside their ranks are due to “malicious magnetism” or some other scarecrow which they have trumped up in the interests of their monopoly. There are very good people within the ranks of all parties, who because of their earnestness and faith do truly accomplish wonders, but no single denomination or institution whether it be a church or a school, has a shred of evidence to support its bombastic claim if ever it attempts to prove that it alone is a repository of divine grace or healing energy. The power to heal has ever been regarded as both a divine gift and a scientific attainment, and far from these ideas being mutually exclusive they are in complete accord, the thought of a divine gift referring properly to our inward containment, and scientific skill to the results of human industry making use of the gifts latent within us. No one can read that portion of the Book of Exodus which recounts the tale of Moses and Aaron on one side, and Pharaoh’s magicians on the other, without at once discerning that the narrator considered it a self-evident proof that Moses and Aaron were under the patronage of heaven, while the emissaries of the King of Egypt received no divine sanction, because the former could and did heal the sick, while the latter with their enchantments could only add to the sufferings of afflicted men and animals. Whatever those wonders were which preceded the outgoing of Israel from Egypt, they were certainly considered by Josephus and other eminent historians as clenching the matter in favor of the Hebrews, seeing that they possessed among them prophetic leaders who could disarm all antagonism and triumph over every obstacle by supplying those credentials which were always demanded in ancient times of all who presumed to speak to the nations as divine ambassadors. We may well claim that there are phases of spiritual healing, such as the reformation of character, much more important from an ethical standpoint than even the removal of the most serious bodily distempers; but all the varied works of healing recorded in ancient and modern scriptures seem manifestly to proceed from a single central source. That beautiful modern classic, “Ben Hur,” by Lew Wallace, very clearly portrays the world-wide and age-long feeling that every divinely inspired messenger must accomplish some real good to humanity in more than one direction: and the higher the station and the greater the power of the messenger in question, the mightier must be the miracles accomplished; therefore it is quite harmonious with universal sentiment in this regard to select a case of two lepers who were healed by a Master when they placed implicit confidence in him, and thereby availed themselves of his healing potency.

All mere wonders which simply excite surprise and apparently benefit no one, carry no manifest credentials with them; they may be “wheat” or they may be “tare,” and until they have proved themselves by their effects, we have no right to judge them definitely; but whenever actual good is accomplished we are stupid indeed if we do not attribute it to a benevolent origin, and our position is equally absurd if we refuse condemnation to practices of any sort which bring disaster in their train. We must use our reason concerning miracles just as we use it in the ordinary affairs of life, judging trees by the fruit they bear, and when this test is faithfully and universally applied we shall no longer stumble blindly as of yore over approbations and prohibitions encountered in the Bible or elsewhere. It would be a very interesting story, though a very long one, to consider the full significance of all the names ascribed to the various characters in the Bible, and in other Sacred Books, with a view to ascertaining as far as possible, the esoteric bearing of these many peculiar titles, at the same time paying particular attention to the purposeful changing of names, either by enlargement of the number of syllables, or by complete alteration. The modern world is becoming greatly interested in nomenclature, and many are the classes held in London, New York, and other influential cities for the study of name values. What’s in a name? is a very serious question in the esteem of many present-day enquirers into esoteric mysteries, and when we take into account the very large amount of interest now taken in astrology among highly intelligent people, we are quite ready to actively revive all that is innocent and useful in the methods of divination practised by the Ancients. In that remarkable treatise “Art Magic” presented to students of Spiritism and Occultism by Emma Hardinge Britten, in 1870, and more recently distributed widely through the enterprise of that singularly comprehensive weekly paper, "The Progressive Thinker,” of Chicago, we read of many sorts of divination which the author regards as highly repulsive to refined feelings, though by no means unworthy of attention from the standpoint of research into the possible amount of control which highly trained ascetics may gain over their subjugated material organisms. With such harsh and repulsive methods as those practised by Hindu Fakirs and Mohammedan Dervishes do not care to deal, as their frantic rites are not the ceremonies performed by the refined Esoteric Confraternities, who studiously cultivate a love of the beautiful and the wholesome, and of naught beside. In the ancient temples of Greece and Rome, as well as of Egypt and India, there were many various arts of divination practised, ranging from the sublime to the disgusting, not indeed all at one time in any single class of temples, but at different periods, and to some extent at the same time also, by different bodies of practitioners. Just as there are many highly variant schools of religion and medicine in the leading countries of the world to-day, so was such the case in lands and ages of antiquity, and such it has continued to some extent at all times everywhere. Divination by examination of the entrails of slaughtered animals was very common in the Roman Empire, and though this was not a truly refined, it was not an altogether abominable practise, as animals were killed for food, as they are still, and after the breath has left the body there is no crime in examining the carcass; nevertheless we must always remember that the most lucid seers were vegetarians who would utterly refuse to have any part in the slaying of animals or birds and to whom contact with a corpse would be intolerable. These pure-minded and exceptionally refined Sensitives of old were the seers and seereses through whose instrumentality oracular teachings were given which won for the Schools of the Prophets, wherever such were established, a reputation for immediate contact with veritable divinities. The atrocious practices of vivisectors and other flagrant violators of natural order may bring about certain psychical results of a highly detrimental character, but never can brutal outrages on man or beast result in any other sort of consequences, in the long run, than the fate which invariably overtakes every “black magician.” That exquisite story of Parsifal, known to all music-lovers as the grandest of all modern operas, sets forth, with unmistakable lucidity, the exact distinction between the contradictory varieties of magic symbolically designated “white” and “black.” Parsifal becomes a prince among Adepts, worthy to be the Supreme Head of the Knights of the Holy Grail, only after his fierce encounter with Klingsor, which resulted in the complete destruction of a palace of necromancy. Kundry, at one time a servant of the Knights and at another time a slave to Klingsor, previous to her final deliverance by Parsifal, is a good illustration of an unbalanced sensitive, liable at any time to be swayed by a temporarily predominating influence. When as a guileless youth Parsifal goes forth with bow and arrow and thoughtlessly slays a sacred swan, he is reprimanded sharply by Gurnemanz, a guardian of a sacred enclosure, and henceforth the lad shoots no more birds. At that moment when he accepts reproof and resolves to live by a higher rule than the ordinary he has “entered the Path,” and is verily on the mystic road to eventual adepthood. We cannot too forcibly insist that the great difference between the state of the simple Medium and that of the Adept, is that the former is subject to the sway of varying external influences, while the latter has learned the art of psychic navigation and can therefore determine what influences shall or shall not sway him. Amfortas, a weak (and therefore incompetent) Leader of the Knights, must resign his office to a stronger and worthier successor. When Parsifal ascends the throne he instantly heals the wound of his afflicted predecessor by touching it with the Sacred Spear, which Amfortas had lost during an unsuccessful struggle with Klingsor, and which Parsifal had recovered at the end of an equally sharp encounter with the necromancer, a battle which ended in the complete destruction of a dangerous institution of iniquity. No story illustrates more fully than Parsifal the magical antipodes, for on the one side we find the spirit losing to the flesh and on the other the spirit triumphing over it; and again, on the one hand a vacillating woman subjugated to the ends of evil, and on the other hand that same woman rescued and strengthened and adapted henceforward to gladly serve, in perfect freedom, the cause of righteousness.

The curious story of the Witch of Endor is one of those Bible narratives which have given rise to endless controversy by reason of the highly involved nature of the narrative itself, for it is by no means clear that that extraordinary woman was an untruthful or disagreeable personage, though King Saul, by no means a model monarch, had put all women of her class under the ban of his displeasure. There is no moral lesson taught by endorsing the popular clerical view that Saul committed a great sin by consulting this woman, rather is the moral of the story to be found in the statement that neither she, nor the spirit of Samuel whom Saul invoked, could save him from the consequences of his own long-continued disobedience to divine direction. Samuel had long and often remonstrated with Saul and urged him to turn from iniquity to righteousness, but the obstinate king persistently and steadily refused to heed the prophet’s admonitions, and to such a pass had he brought his own condition by long-continued obduracy that at length it became too late for him to retrieve his fallen fortunes; thus it was all in vain that he strove to gain an interview with the departed Samuel who, great prophet though he was, had no power to save the transgressor from the accumulated consequences of his now ripe transgressions. There are crises in all histories, both personal and national, and when a harvest is ready for the sickle it is then too late to endeavor to avert the result of what has culminated in a conspicuous output. We must take the consequences, painful and bitter though they may be, just as on the other hand, when we have acted wisely and righteously, we cannot escape the blissful effects of our long-continuing harmonious activity. Up to a certain point we are all free to change our course of action, but when certain seeds have already matured and trees are already in fruit, though we may resolve that our next harvest shall be a very different one, we cannot avert the immediate doom which now confronts us. The oracles and sybils connected with all ancient temples were accustomed to warn their clients of impending catastrophes, and, if we may place any reliance on history, their warnings were often useful in helping those who consulted them to avoid continuance in a path of danger; but sometimes the consultor of the oracle arrived too late to take advantage of that benevolent seership, which when resorted to in season saved many from falling over psychic precipices. The woman at Endor (who is not a witch in the original but only a clairvoyant) told Samuel that she saw with him in spirit a form which he recognized as Samuel, but she had no power to induce this spirit to answer to her demands. That very fine drama, “The Shepherd King,” in which the highly gifted actor, Wright Lorimer, has starred so successfully, gives a version of this Biblical incident wonderfully convincing and strikingly in accordance with the purest esoteric teaching. In that superb play, the woman in her cave declares she has no power to summon Samuel, but he appears to Saul entirely of his own volition, a perfectly reasonable conclusion if we take into account the obvious fact that the prophet would be in a spiritual condition far superior to that of any possible familiar spirit who might be at the beck and call of any ancient seeress or modern medium. Moses Hull, a prominent American Spiritualist, pointed out very clearly in many of his lectures and writings that the word “witch” was only among those headings of the chapters in the King James Version of the Bible which were manufactured about 1611, nowhere in the text itself even in that particular version. Nothing can be more ridiculous than to declare that because there were laws against witchcraft three hundred years ago in England that therefore every woman accused of witcheries, regardless of place or conditions, was other than respectable. Samuel Putnam wrote a fine history of witchcraft in New England in which he proved conclusively to all fair-minded readers that at Salem, Massachusetts, and in several other places in America fanatical Puritans condemned to death, after having committed to torture, many innocent victims of their insane intolerance not many centuries ago. The original object of legislation against witchcraft may have been entirely praise-worthy, as it was evidently intended to effectually discountenance all unholy practices having for their object human injury, but we all know how very quickly well-intentioned legislation can become perverted in the hands of unreasoning bigots and other unscrupulous persons who never hesitate to attribute the foulest crimes to those who have incurred their personal displeasure. Probably there were women, and men also, in ancient days who “peeped and muttered,” and by the aid of vile incantations endeavored to bring misery upon their victims, and such there may be to-day; but wholesale condemnation of entire classes of people is always unjust and utterly irrational. ‘Wheat and cockle grow together in all fields, and it often needs far more than average insight to discriminate between them until a time of harvest; it therefore becomes us, when reviewing ancient records, and especially when dealing with events in our own day, to give the benefit of a doubt wherever uncertainty prevails. Of one thing we may rest thoroughly assured, viz., that the universe is not regulated in so insane a manner as to permit devils to lure the unwary to destruction, while angelic ministry is beyond the reach of humanity. Whatever is true of the history of Israel is equally true of other nations, and whatever could and did occur in days of old is also possible at this moment. We only learn a moral lesson when recounting the experiences of the past, if the recital thereof inspires us to heroic resolve to devote all our energies, along all the lines of our activity, to the great threefold object worthy of all noble men and women: The discovery of truth; the diffusion of truth; the application of truth to the needs of humanity. With this spiritual amulet in our possession, we carry with us a potent magnet to attract celestial forces and an efficient safeguard against all hosts of darkness.