The Spiritualist > No.38, October 15th 1872

A F(ECOF(D Of THE
PROQREfJS Of THE gCIEjMCE /.NO ETHICS OF £PIF(ITU/0LI£M.
[REGISTEBED FOR TRANSMISSION ABROAD.]
No. 38.—(Vol. il, No. 10.)
LONDON: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1872.
FORTNIGHTLY PUBLICATION OF “THE
SPIRITUALIST.”
From this time forth The Spiritualist will he
published on the first and fifteenth of every
month. Our next number will therefore he
issued on the first of November.
THE SYSTEMATIC APPEARANCE OF SPIRITS IN
LONDON.
The readers of these pages have been informed from
time to time, during the past two years, of the progress
of the development of the medium ship of Miss Florence
Cook, aged sixteen, daughter of Mr. Henry Cook, who
resides at Hackney, and is a leading member of the
Dalston Association of Enquirers into Spiritualism.
After obtaining in great perfection such manifestations
as table manifestations, raps, direct spirit voices, float¬
ing of the body in the air, trance and clairvoyant mani¬
festations, direct spirit writing, and so on, spirit faces
began to make themselves visible in the light through
Miss Cook’s mediumship. These living faces were
formed in the dark, in a darkened room or cabinet, with
curtains over the entrance; and afterwards the faces
were pushed out through the curtains into the light for a
few seconds only at first, though now sometimes for five
minutes at a time, so as to be seen and talked to by the
observers outside. The heads have always been more
or less covered with drapery of the purest white; at
first this drapery covered not only the sides and backs
of the heads, but encroached very much upon the
cheeks, and the faces could only bear a very feeble light
for a short time. Now the faces are uncovered almost
to the ears, and they bear a strong light for a long time.
The spirits say of the light, “ It makes us feel tired.”
The intent gaze of the observers also pains them, caus¬
ing, they say, a burning sensation. Perhaps this is
ip^'k^BaSny'Wonflerful spifitu-abiEfanifestations—SiTe'h’ for
> instance 'as the playing of Mr. Crookes’s accordion imcZef
a table—take place either in darkness, or with some
screen between the eyes of the observers and the thing
manipulated.
The spirit Katie King is very much like Miss Cook,
and thiA at-first was a great source of annoyance to the
medium, though now many other spirit faces come
bearing scarcely a trace of resemblance to Miss Cook.
We say “ scarcely a trace ” because, although faces
sometimes come nearly twice as big as the face of the
medium, sometimes also with disarranged teeth, and
once with a great cut over the forehead, in all of them
there is a trace of resemblance to her, principally about
the eyes and nose. Katie says that when they begin
making these faces, they are as much like the medium
as pieces of jelly turned out of the same mould, but
they are altered afterwards. As the manifestations are
'developed she says that the faces will grow more and
more unlike that of the medium. All the faces, except
one or two special ones, are fairer in complexion than
the face of Miss Cook. Katie’s face is not always the
same. Once she put it out of the cabinet as black as
ink, and shining like patent leather ; on another occa¬
sion it had a chocolate colour. Her eyes are sometimes
grey and sometimes dark. Her head is larger than that
of Miss Cook ; Katie has more breadth of forehead.
The cabinet is simply a tall cupboard, with an open¬
ing in it about a foot square, high up, near the ceiling ;
it was minutely described, with measurements, by
Mr. Blyton in our last number, and there is no other
entrance to it than through the doors in front; this we
state decidedly, from absolute knowledge. The ob¬
servers sit in the light in front of the doors, and lock
the medium in directly she enters the cabinet. Katie
says that the faces are made of emanations tangible
enough to spirits, thrown off from the bodies of all the
members of the circle, the medium included. Next to
the medium, the most useful sitters are the servant
Mary, and Miss Edith Cook, aged five. Either Mary
or Edie is usually ordered by Katie to sit in a chair,
with her back to the cabinet, but outside the cabinet
like the rest of the sitters ; neither of them feel much
influence as the manifestations go on. Mary says the
effect is to make her feel rather hot and tired. The spirit
Katie says that although the substances in the heads
come from all the members of the circle, the life in
them, while they last, is all taken from the medium, who
is very much exhausted by the manifestations, but soon
recovers strength again.
A seance usually consists of three or four sittings,
varying perhaps from fifteen to twenty-five -minutes
each. Between these sittings Miss Cook is ordered by
Katie to walk in the cool open air of the garden ; at the
same time the doors of the seance room and cabinet are
thrown wide open, so that all may be thoroughly aired
and cooled. The medium is usually in a trance in the
cabinet while the faces appear, but not always; the
spirits have more power to produce the faces when she
is entranced; but Miss Cook does not like it, as she
very naturally wishes to see all that is going on. Sing¬
ing is demanded at times of all the members of the
circle, who also have to keep their seats unless invited
to rise; in fact, the great success is in great part due to
the fact that mortals who do not know how the faces are
made, are not allowed to impose their own conditions,
mental or physical, upon spirits who do know how to
make them, and consequently are the best judges of what
is necessary. At this point there is no harm in digress¬
ing a little to remark that although Spiritualism is un¬
doubtedly both a mental and a physical science, it is
more a mental than a physical science ; that is to say,
that( Professor Huxley with his ideas of the Bishop
Berkeley stamp, would make quicker headway in the
investigation of Spiritualism than would Professor
Tyndall. Spiritualism is a region where physics cannot
make much progress without the-aid of metaphysics..
At each successive sitting Miss Cook grows weaker,
and at last leaves the cabinet with a feeling of giddi¬
ness, and a slight swaying motion; cool air soon re¬
moves these unpleasant effects. When she wakes from
the trance in the cabinet she is usually, but not always,
leaning forward in her chair almost horizontally, and
she feels a weight on her back almost as if someone
were standing on it, but she cannot say that she has
ever distinctly felt the impression of feet. The eyes
of the spirits have often a somnambulic glassy look, and
this is a sign of weakness, of power; the glassy look
generally disappears if the members of the circle sing
well together, and are delighted with the manifesta¬
tion ; the eyes then grow brilliant and sparkling, and
begin to move more easily in their sockets ; the spirits
can then see out of them, and this they cannot always
do in the somnambulic stage.
The spirits have permitted these faces to be felt, at
first only in total darkness, but gradually with the addi¬
tion of more and more light. They were first felt in
just light enough to see them by, last Saturday week.
To get a good seance in the evening. Miss Cook should
have nothing to weary body or mind throughout the
day, and after a substantial dinner she should go. to
sleep for an hour or two. Her mother says it is more
like a trance than a sleep, and is very deep. After she
wakes up she should have nothing but a light tea before
the seance begins. Meals heavy enough to make the
medium feel sleepy are always bad before any seance.
Stimulants, such as wine, increase the power, but should
be avoided. The afternoon sleep is the most important'
thing, and other mediums have discovered .itSvVaiue.
When she wakes up her hair is- usually in a very elec¬
trical state; it will stick out considerably, and some¬
times give sparks with friction. As the hair of other
people in the house will not usually do the same at the
same time, the effect does not appear to be due to dry¬
ness of the atmosphere, or to other external causes, but
to something appertaining to the medium herself. There
would therefore appear to be a fallacy in the conclu¬
sions which Mr. Yarley once published in these pages ;
in detailing his experiments to determine whether the
human body gave off electricity, he did not say that
he tried experiments with any other human body than
his own; such experiments as were tried, were of course
so carefully done, and with such sensitive apparatus,
as to be quite conclusive in that particular case.
The electrical condition of Miss Cook’s, hair before a
seance has been so often noticed, as to leave no doubt of
the fact being a fact.
For the past two years Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Cook
have at considerable expense to themselves, given their
friends many opportunities of witnessing the various
manifestations, but recently found that they could not
possibly keep open house for all who wished to come.
Hence professional mediumship was recently contem¬
plated, with all its attendant unpleasantness, and pos¬
sibly the retardation of the speed of development of the
wonderful manifestations which have been so carefully
fostered. At this juncture a gentleman, from Didsbury,
near Manchester, stepped in, and more than protected
Mr. Cook and family against money losses in the matter.
Published on the 1st and 15th of every
Month; Price Fourpence.
so that no charge will be made to those who have the
privilege of being invited to Miss Cook’s seances, which
can only be held twice a week, because of the exhaus¬
tion of strength they cause. Already it has been found
utterly impossible to admit half the ladies and gentle¬
men who have desired to be present.; there is admission
only by invitation and by previous appointment, and it
is waste of time for strangers to call upon Mr, Cook at
his house. It is desired that the manifestations shall
be utilised more especially for scientific purposes.
By saving Miss Cook from professional mediumship,
thereby giving her greater facilities to work for the
good of the cause, the gentleman who has paid the
expenses incidental to the seances, has done much good
to the cause of both Spiritualism and science. Miss Cook
will not give seances away from her own home. Home
influences have much to do with the success of the
manifestations, and it is an established fact, that the
manifestations are always stronger than elsewhere in a
a house the medium lives in. The late Mr. Cox, of
Jermyn-street, found that this was the case with Mr.
Home. When Miss Cook’s cabinet was first made,
Katie could hot do much at the earlier sittings; she
said that there was too much of the influence of the
carpenter left in the wood-work. When it was -after¬
wards painted and varnished, the manifestations were
weakened for a day or two.
Much of the success of the manifestations depends
upon the visitors, who should join heartily in the sing¬
ing, and in every way try to promote the happiness of
the meeting. When a bad antagonistic mental influence
is present, the power is weakened, the spirit faces are
more deathlike, and show themselves for a shorter time..
None but ladies and gentlemen of honourable cha¬
racter have hitherto been admitted to the seances, hence
up to the present time there has been no trickery,
untruthfulness, or unpleasantness, on the part either of
the spirits or the mortals. Katie often permits her
face and hands to be "lelt: on condition that there shall
be no grasping or pinching, nor has anybody attempted
to break faith with her. In America the sitters have
not always been so honourable^ and within the past
year the Banner of Light has printed some of the results
of the tricks of visitors. A boy medium obtained spirit
hands, and a person present squirted some ink over the
hands ; when the boy was released from the cabinet his
hands were covered with ink, and the. youth was
denounced as an impostor then and there. But a gen¬
tleman who had once seen the boy put his hands only,
under a shawl, to get darkness, and then seen spirit
hand and arms coming out at the further end of the
shawl, was not satisfied. He tried experiments, and
found that colouring matter placed upon the spirit
hands afterwards appeared on different parts of the
body of the medium. The spirits told him not to use
poisonous colouring matters in the experiments, as it
would get into the lungs and other parts of the body of
the medium, to his injury. All these things are matters
for careful experimental investigation.
We will now give a description of some of the mani¬
festations obtained through Miss Cook’s mediumship
since the publication of our last number, and arranged
in chronological order.
September ISth.—This narrative is sent to us by a
lady who does not wish her name to be published :—
Sir,—I was present yesterday evening. Sept. 18th, at a
seance at Mr. Cook’s, of which I should like to give you a few
details.
The circle consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Cook and family, a
distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society and his wife, and
the editor of a well-known scientific journal, besides myself,
who am a personal friend of Miss Cook’s, and was staying in
the house. We sat for face manifestations. Miss Cook was,
of course, the medium, and was tied with a rope to her chair
(by spirit power) inside the cabinet, in the manner fully des¬
cribed by Mr. Blyton in your last number.
The knots being examined and approved by the members
of the circle, we all joined in singing. After some time tho
spirit Katie appeared at the opening of the cabinet, and we
had a very good view of her face under a strong light. It
was more perfect even than usual, and the head was com¬
pletely formed all round.
In due time a female face of very different aspect from
Katie’s presented itself,. It seemed unable to speak, but the
lips were opened several times, showing teeth of exceeding
whiteness and regularity. It intimated by signs that it
wished to address itself to one of the party in particular, the
Editor before mentioned, whom I will call Mr. X., but he
failed to recognise the face as that of a departed friend. The
spirit then turned towards him, and drawing aside the
drapery, showed a deep cut on the side of the temple, above
the left eye. We asked if this wound was the cause of
death. The spirit nodded assent. Still no recognition on.
the part of Mr. X. and the face disappeared. This was all