1942
Jan 2 - Dec 6
January 2, 1942.
The veil is rending,
And the Voices of the day!
Are heard across the
Voices of the dark.
How natural and sane is Life Beyond! Yet bereavement is painful; death in the prime of life is tragic. The premature loss of an earthly existence is a great deprivation. Yet without sacrifice there is no remission; the sacrifice is their glory, honor, and patent of nobility.
January 19, 1942.
From Tennyson's poem "The Ring"
Youth who have given their lives in the cause of freedom in the last and in the present war.
"...Which is more essential - spirit or body? Is spirit permanent and the body transitory? Is the body the important thing and the soul and mind mere ephemera?
Oliver Lodge
January, 1942.
One word only: we are in the hands of God. Death enobles and glorifies the whole human race.
Oliver Lodge
January, 1942.
The future of the human race is at stake but the magnificent response that comes to us from every side reassures us fully on the issue ... a question no longer of fighting our fellow-men but rather of fighting the more powerful and cruel of the great mysterious enemies that nature holds in reserve against us.
W. T. Stead.
January 31, 1942
[Letter from J. D. Hamilton to Miss Elliott.]
"Quite recently an offer was made ... by Mr. J. G. Cross of Port Arthur ... substantial contribution towards publication ... conversations with mother ... over five hundred dollars ...
"Money ... used in Canada ... cannot go to the States.
"What is your opinion? ... Can we? ... Should we? ... would MacMillans of Canada be interested ... let me have your thoughts...
"... at last hit upon a good title ... A RECITAL OF FACT ...
"Have you heard that Margaret and Jim are moving to London? Jim is going to the factory on war work.
P.S. Can't you do something about this plebiscite?
February 27, 1942
[Part of letter from Ellen Elliott under MacMillan letterhead to Lillian Hamilton.]
"I went into all of this very thoroughly with T. G., who asked me to write you just as fully and frankly as I had explained it to him. Hugh had apparently talked to him much along the same lines; and he could tell me, before I could tell him, the difficulties in the way of our House assuming the financial risk. As a matter of fact we are having to go along very slowly with our Canadian commitments, because there is quite a trick to financing a publishing house these days. Hugh said, and rather sadly, I thought, that he wished he were back at the desk, for knowing what he does now he realizes the importance of the book,
"But neither of them was by any means discouraged and told me to tell you not to be discouraged, for they knew it would one day be published.
"T. G. was in fine shape and told me to be sure to give you his dear love.
"Throughout my conversation with T. G., Walter was on hand, tapping rapidly first on one wall and then on the other.
"Sister Lucy brought Mercedes. The week before Mercedes had been brought but was still sleeping. This week, however, she was awake, and while not able to speak directly to me, she asked me, through Sister Lucy, to send you her love and to assure you that she is happy and satisfied, although still very weak. Sister Lucy said it would be a long time before she would be able to communicate clearly, even though she knew how to do so, and had actually been living on the other side for many months before she passed over. Apparently that long illness had effects which we cannot understand. Mercedes told me (through Sister Lucy, of course) that she remembers me very well, indeed, not just because I had visited her that once, but because during her illness the "guide" had often brought her to my sittings for strength. And then she THANKED ME FOR MY CONTINUOUS THOUGHTS DIRECTED TO HER FOR HER RELEASE. And then Dinah described her as giving me some flowers. When I asked Dinah what they were, she replied, "There are some little white ones - the stems are not long - and they are like little pure white stars. And there are some little pink round things - like buds - like wee rosebuds." I thought that was rather good, because of course Alma didn't know that I had taken Mercedes flowers. Dinah also described a guide with Mercedes. He was bright and shiny like my White Brother (who, incidentally, I have discovered is Abraham), and he was wearing a long purple robe and a tall, straight hat "with gold things on it". And in his hand he carried a long horn. Perhaps you can understand who this person was. He has never visited us before but Dinah insisted that he was a guide of Mercedes and had been with her all her life. Does this answer the question you put in your lovely letter to me of February 12th?
"I have not yet thanked you for that letter, nor for the amazing records you sent me a few days later. I'm not going to try to answer either of these tonight: for it is very late and I am dictating at home before I go to bed; but in a few days I shall hope to have an hour when I can sit down and chat away to you like mad. I have been terribly busy lately, and worried too, with my work, and with Mother's health, but I shall hope within the next little while to have a few spare moments to do the things I like to do, and want to do: that is, write to you about our "friends".
"Well this is all for the present. The going has been pretty hard lately, but there will always be a bright spot in my life while I have the companionship of my pals, and a dear friend like you to share them with.
"I hope you are quite well - T. G. wants you to take good care of yourself."
March 18, 1942
"The unknown regions exist close to us. Let us follow one of our loved ones who has just died in the terrestrial life but who revives in another life, no less distinct and actual than the one from which he has disappeared. To what sphere will he ascend? In what circumstances and conditions will he pursue his evolution? What shall his environment be in the strange world he is entering?
"As we have only eyes of flesh with which to see the invisible, and only our own narrow, pre-conceived ideas with which to see these things, it is not to be wondered at that we have strange contorted ideas of what is taking place ..."
W. T. Stead
W. T. Stead
"Your world is not as hopeless as you think. You
have far more Divine Attributes than you can imagine. But your world is starved for love. If there were more love where hate and mistrust and indifference are, the earth would become the stepping stone to heaven.
"I have said this before but it cannot be said too often."
March, 1942.
"... Time passes for all on this earthly plane of
abode. Soon like the snow before the sun you will all melt away from the earth. After a while you will realize that at last you have come into an inheritance, and you and your own people who have traveled before you will find, not death, but an everlasting life which grows more beautiful as you progress."
March, 1942
"You must not forget that the soul is the most important thing. You must realize that some men and women in this generation have lost their souls, and this is the awful truth. You must not go back to the old-fashioned idea of losing one's soul in hell when you lay aside this earthly body; but if your soul is lost you must find it before you can make progress. What is clear to me is the indifference one sees, the misunderstanding that the soul is the real self that lives forever. It is only through the soul that you can communicate with the spiritual world...There is no chance of saving it unless you give yourselves time to think on these things that are timeless; that transcend time; that exist when time will be no more. If you think on these things you will give time to the search; you must become more and more spiritual."
March, 1942.
"If there be one thing absolute in the realm of
human sensation it is suffering. It is the instrument that clears the soul's path."
March, 1942.
"In the Absolute, human separations mean little.
That which is really ourselves is the ardor of the soul."
March, 1942.
"God's arms are around the
Undying dead who serve him.
Torments seek in vain to touch them through;
Because the blind fools take their
passing to be in pain.
Death rages, but does not reign.
Life is still noble, truly."
March, 1942.
"There is something that increases rather than diminishes on this side, and that is the desire to learn. We have so much to learn and such facilities!
"We shall never be able to say we know everything about this world, for the marvelous wisdom of our loving heavenly Father-God is past finding out. When we reach what we think the ultimate there is a new vista of the new and more marvelous and glorious things the like of which we have never seen! We pass through and gaze beyond: New, invisible, marvelous world into which we take the first step with timidity like a child taking its first step."
April 7, 1942
"... Blessed is he who will hear the hymn of peace; but blessed is he who already divines it in the tumult, and realizes when the prophet has gone. He who has foreknown its coming has gleaned an abundance of joy on earth.
"If there is one thing absolute in the realm of human sensation, it is suffering. It is the instrument that clears the soul's path. In the absolute, human separation means little. That which is really ourselves is the ardor of the soul. God's arms are around the undying dead who serve Him. Torments seek in vain to touch them. Death rages but does not reign. Life is still noble, truly!"
W. T. Stead.
April 9, 1942
"Until the newly arrived has studied the subtleties and difficulties of communication for himself or herself, and learned how to manipulate and overcome them, he or she will not be able to transmit anything in the way of writing or giving of longer messages. Much depends on the conditions ..."
H. G.
April 14, 1942
"... Before entering the new life, the new spirit has a period of sleep which varies in its length, sometimes hardly necessary at all! At other times the sleep may be extended over many weeks or months. The length of time is regulated by the amount of trouble or mental pre-occupation of the life just closed. Children need no such an interval.
"When I think of the ideas I had when on the earthly plane, and the life I am now living, I marvel at the hopeless inadequacy of my convictions(?). The reality is so much greater than you could ever imagine. It is a new life - the nature of which you could never understand. Just imagine yourself a caterpillar on a cabbage leaf. Some one says to the caterpillar that things will be better for it later on. But what does that mean to the caterpillar? After a short time the caterpillar becomes a butterfly. How can this butterfly explain it to the caterpillar?" *
H. G.
[* This was found to be a condensed and changed excerpt taken from a communication received by W. T. Stead in his life, and said to be from his deceased son William Stead, Jr., who died in 1910. This can be found in Miss Estelle Stead's book MY FATHER. Like R. L. Stevenson and Mrs. Poole, W. T. S. occasionally changes some former words and quotes, to show that he remembers these things, and that he can re-arrange them at will. In other words, that he is a consciously communicating entity. H. G. is said to write with him: that is, they pool their mental resources in some way to produce these mental phenomena. Stead's famous "Julia" also claims to be one of the intelligences back of these transmissions.]
April 16, 1942
"... There is something that increases rather than diminishes on this side, and that is our desire to learn. We have so much to learn, and such facilities! We shall never be able to say we know everything about the world: for the marvelous wisdom of our loving heavenly Father God is past finding out. When we reach what we think the ultimate, then there is a new vista of more marvelous and glorious things, the like of which we have never seen! We pass through and stand and gaze beyond. New! Invisible! A marvelous world into which we take our first step, like a child taking it first step, timidly ...."
W .T .S.
April 16, 1942
"... I would say this, which must be apparent to man however much they deplore it: Christianity must change or perish!"
R. L. S.
April 16, 1942
" ... When we see beyond the veil we will understand and we will know why things that we plan do not turn out as we would wish. Tears come to our eyes when we should smile, because we are too much concerned with this world. When we want the sunshine we get the rain ..."
R. L. S." *
[* This is very similar in style to some of the poetical efforts of R. L. S. by way of the J. MacDonald mediumship.]
April 22, 1942
"... She was dressed in a pearl-colored gossamer gown. Her wings had the tint of the rainbow. Her hair was like winter sunshine - pale and mellow and misty. And her eyes were the color of the flowers of which she was the guardian.
"Birds flew around her as she came through the wood. She came light-footed down the path, singing soft and low. On the other side of the path, stretched away under the trees, tall green stalks rose above the moss clustered around their stems. The spirits dipped their heads as the angle passed, and called for the others to follow ..."
R. L. S. *
[* The script was written in a handwriting identical with hand-writing of R. L. S./Poole. of the 1926-27 period of the Poole mediumship. It showed the same hurried nervous arm and hand movements. An interesting indication of the autonomy of this intelligence.]
April, 1942.
"I would say this which must be apparent to many, however much they deplore it; Christianity must change or must perish. That is the law of life: change or perish.
"When we see beyond the veil we will understand and we will know why things which we planned do not always turn out as we would have them. When we want sunshine we get the rain and tears come to our eyes when we should smile."
The Script of December 1942
"Mind is the basis of Material reality.
"Dr. Hamilton claims that psychical research and mysticism both confirm the findings of intuition and science, and that mind may express itself further through the conscious or the subconscious which are one in point and purpose."
"I know science can only tell of structure, but structure is the result of progress. The material must be constructed out of something, which can best be described as primordial mind. The world is constructed of mind; mind in its turn expresses itself through form, and this is the meaning of individual existence."
[Footnote - The Lodge communicator seems to imply that mind may express itself in new forms after death. This was a theory already advanced by Dr. Gustave Geley, which grew partly out of his study of the teleplasmic materializations occurring with the medium Eva C., in Paris, and which he elucidated in his book "FROM THE UNCONSCIOUS TO THE CONSCIOUS." The materialization phenomena of Eva C. appeared to resemble closely the materializations studied by Dr. Hamilton with Dawn.]
The Incontrovertible Fact
"Psychic Science tells us that memory persists for a longer or shorter period of what we call time, all this a matter of psychic observation. It must be taken on trust by those who have not investigated. It is an incontrovertible fact: not only is human survival a proven fact but it follows that immortality is the only logical explanation of life.
"How sad it is that so many are strangers to the facts of spiritual science! How important for every one to have a knowledge of the truth!
'The Veil is rending,
and the voices of the Day
Are heard across the voices of the Dark.'
"The spirit forces have demonstrated that communion between the two worlds is like the rising of the sun; the spirit people have opened the gates! Their full message is yet to be revealed!
[Footnote - From Tennyson's poem, "The Ring" and quoted by Lodge in his book "REASON AND BELIEF" published in 1910.]
"But we have seen the coming of the dawn! We have caught a gleam from the Land Beyond! Presently the Sun will rise! 'Commune for the love of communion, and the things which love can dictate,and circumstance will permit, shall be added thereto.'"
The 'H. G.' Scripts of 1942
"... One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and death shall be no more; Death, Thou shalt die! ..."
John Donne, in "Death, Be Not Proud."
The Great Gift
"... Nothing with which you are familiar on your side is more generally misunderstood than death. Of all the gifts which our dear loving heavenly Father has bestowed upon us, it is the best. It is the crowning proof of His Divine Love. Death is but a rebirth into another life, where, for those who seek good, there is a broader, freer life than the one which they have left behind. There is a great hope for development in a life where you obtain a deeper realization of the great love of our Father God. It is joy unspeakable in serving! And how real it is! And what joy it is to come back and find our loved ones, and although unseen by them, to help them carry on, and to fill their minds with the thoughts of the fuller life beyond the grave where there are hosts of ministering angels who help you to find your place! My dear friends, make no mistake! The grave is not the last word, and thank God it is not!"
Angel Ministry
"... But what of all those who are being hurled over by the awful conflict that is going on at the present time? Some may well ask. Our loving Father never planned that any should go on before they had lived the full life. I can tell you of what I have been privileged to witness. Sometimes I have been transported to the battlefields, and there with others, and hosts of angels caring for the wounded and dying, have seen the angels bearing away those who had been killed - not their mangled corpses, but their spirits, untouched by shot or shell ..."
(Signed) "H. G."
"We need a religious revival to take place, but which Church would profit most by a revival? The churches are being pushed into darkness and despair even while the great Spiritual Light of the World is burning for them. In ordinary times men's spiritual knowledge generally comes to them through sickness or grief - those things (which) shut out the breeze and clamor of passing events and open the heart and ears to the silent forces which really control their being. Now this great sickness, this sickness of the war, converts thousands daily. One can hardly find a man who does not feel the silent forces around him.
"The Churches have lost the knowledge of the meaning of death and the conditions beyond. It is a spiritual illumination that the Church needs today, a great Pentecostal outpouring, galvanizing its orthodoxy into an exuberant life, and opening its eyes to the New Life! ..."
The Nature of the New Life.
"... Before entering into the new life the new spirit has a period of sleep which varies in its length, sometimes hardly necessary at all; at other times this sleep may extend over many weeks and even months. The length of time is regulated by the amount of trouble or mental pre-occupation of the life. Many remain in slumber for many years. Children need no such interval.
"Death does not transform us into a saint or a sinner. We awaken to consciousness with the same ideas firmly fixed in mind. To all intents and purposes we are just as we were on the earth plane. They (the survived) have the same impulses and desires produced by the mental activities as before.'
"The most wonderful things that come to you here are when you find your friends, and when (you discover) the difference between what you thought of yourself and what is the real self. It certainly gives a new meaning to the old adage 'Judge not' for the real self is built up by the use we make of the mind, not the use we make of the body.
"Thoughts have a much greater reality than you imagine."
[Footnote:- The Dawn script is a paraphrase of p. 47, 'The Soul After Death' from "After Death" - Letters From Julia", Doran, N.Y., 1914.]
[Compare with the last line, p. 47, and the first 3 lines, p. 48, of 'How We Are Judged' from "After Death - Letters From Julia".]
[See p. 48, first sentence, para. 2; Julia uses the singular 'thought, etc.,'; the Dawn-script uses the plural.]
"... I find it hard to explain how we spend our time. Of course you know that we do not count time as you do on earth. We never get tired and we never sleep. We have nothing to tire us of the physical nature. We do not need to eat or drink; these things are only needful for the material body.' Spirits pray and they 'die' in their new sphere before entering another. There is much music and pleasure. There are no rich or poor. Spirits live in families and in communities; married people do not necessarily meet again but those who truly love each other do meet again. There is no darkness. 'There is peace, love and joy, beauty everywhere. Love is the secret! God our Father is love! When you are lost in love you are in heaven with those who are found of God' ..."
Mediumship
"Well, the answer is a very simple one. Mediums are peculiarly constituted individuals. They possess that peculiar quality or make-up which enables them to perceive or receive messages from the Other World, while this is lacking in most people. A great medium is certainly as great as a great artist or a great poet. Their genius runs to psychical sensitiveness in the same way that genius runs to poetry or art. And the ability to communicate may be just as rare. Not every one who wishes to send messages from our side, even assuming that they continue to persist and long passionately to do so, can transmit his message through a psychic or medium. The ability to impart messages in this manner is just as rare a gift as mediumship (is) on your side; and only when two kindred souls get into touch with one another under the most advantageous circumstance, can clear messages come to you from this side. This explains why more messages have not been sent ..."
[Footnote:- These sentences of the Dawn-script were later found to be part of Paragraph 2 - 'The Life Beyond' , on Page 46 of 'After Death, Letters From Julia'.]
Intercommunication - A Very Complex Process
"...There are many difficulties which must be taken into account: cosmic difficulties; the difficulty of controlling the brain, the nervous system, of the medium, of influencing the mind of the medium; the tendency of the medium to lapse into a dreamy confused mental state while being controlled. Sufficient to say that there are great difficulties, so great indeed that many cannot overcome them at all, and only certain individuals, in certain conditions, succeed in overcoming them completely and in forcing a message through to their loved ones. Until the newly arrived has studied the subtleties and difficulties of communication (for himself or herself) and learned how to manipulate and overcome them, he or she will not be able to transmit anything in the way of writing or giving a longer message. Many here use short telegraphic message, and even here seemingly find it difficult to realize and grasp the intricate processes. Musc depends on the conditions ..."
Some Criticisms Answered
"... We are told that the messages coming through are contradictory, and that others give no information, and that others again are unreliable. If people took the trouble to stop and study human nature they would understand how contradictory humans are upon many points. Take, for instance, if each one were to write a story of their life on this earth, how contradictory they would be. The life of one would flow smoothly and without worry; the life of another would be a recital of hardships, frustration, and struggle against circumstances. Some live in the country, others live in the city, some underground in mines, others fly in the air. Yet there are basic principles to which all lives conform: we all have to eat, to breathe, to drink, sleep, and clothe ourselves; to make friendships, experience disagreements, to travel, to pass through storm and sunshine. It is very much the same on this side. We start here from the exact point of mental and spiritual development (at) which we left off when we made the change. One passes on after a long and tedious illness in which the sense of pain and weakness (had) gradually grown on the mind; another is struck down in the prime of life. One passes out of this life in the fullness of youth; another lives to old age when long life and worry upon earth had made him tired and weary of physical existence. Every one, when he or she passes over, is like a patient in a hospital; each one is attended separately.
"There are many people who tell you that our facts are not true. Others again tell you that it is forbidden ground and that you have no right to see into the Beyond and that it should be left alone, that our Father God has given us no powers at all which are under any circumstances to be used. But the very fact that you posses the powers to see, hear, and write, makes it your bounden duty to develop (these powers). It is true that these powers, like any other powers, may be abused if we lose our sense of reason. But I repeat that the possession of them is strong reason why it is lawful that they be used.
"Some folks discountenance communication upon the grounds that it hinders the advancement of the departed.
"There has never been any evidence of this. The spirits are entirely to the contrary, and they have been helped and strengthened by the touch of those whom they love.
"I should like to add a few practical words. Enormous new developments, the greatest in the history of mankind (are beginning). How are you going to use them? You are bound, I think, to state your own belief, especially to those who are in trouble. Having stated it you should not force it but leave it to higher wisdom than your own. When the call comes for help it may come from some one who has lost a loved one and wants to re-establish a connection. Be careful not to overdo this. Having got in touch, be moderate in your demands. Do not be satisfied with anything short of the best. Having got this, wait for a short period, when both will be united again.
"When I think of the ideas I had when on this earthly plane, and the life I am now living, I marvel at their hopeless inadequacy. The reality is so much greater than ever you could imagine! It is a New Life, the nature of which you could never fully understand."
[Footnote:- Compare with page 59, The Law of Spiritual Growth; and Spirit Communication not harmful to Spirits; and page 60, the Lesson of the Incarnation, from "After Death, Letters From Julia" was later found to be a condensation of part of a message from W. T. Stead's dead son, William Jr., received in Stead's own automatic writing in 1911. We later found this message quoted in full by Miss Estelle Stead in her book 'My Father", published in 1913 by Heinemann. See Chapter 25, pages 285 and 286 of Miss Stead's book. Need I add that this very obscure reference was quite unknown to all of us in Winnipeg, and was not verified until after prolonged and extensive research.]
"Now, dear friends, I feel somewhat sad within me at the thought that this may be the last time that I may have the opportunity of communication with you. My friends, I thank my medium for giving me the opportunity to use her. I will be back with you some other time. Some one else will take my place and I hope he will find conditions as good as I have found them. Good-bye, and may the blessing of our Father God be with you and your work ..."
(Signed) " Henry Gratton."
[Footnote:- This was later found to be a condensation of the first sentence of the first paragraph on page 144 of "After Death, Letters From Julia". and prove it for yourselves! ...]
A VISION OF THE CHRIST
In this short script, received early in 1942 while dawn was in an exceptionally profound trance-sleep, Stead introduced the communicator, Mary Lodge, by a few lines of writing in which he said he could write all day and all night telling of the wonders of the New State in which he was now dwelling. Then he asked Mary lodge to write for herself, which apparently she did: for, when the script was studied following the seance, the handwriting itself had changed, and the more complex phraseology associated with Stead had given place to a simple narrative style similar to that of the Mary Lodge message of April 3, 1933, when she told of her glorious welcome into the Land where there is No Death.
Now, nine years later, she describes her awakening after the period of restorative sleep is over, that period of rest following death which had already been recounted by two of our earlier narrators, H. G. and W. T. Stead.
And she also relates in a simple but deeply moving fashion, her vision of the Christ, calling to mind the words of John in the Book of Revelation:
"... And I turned to see the Voice that spake with me. And being turned I saw ... One like unto the son of Man ... And His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength ..."
The Mary Lodge script of 1942 is in the form of a letter:
A VISION OF THE CHRIST
"... Dear friends:
When I awoke from my long sleep I found myself in a garden I had never seen before. It was very beautiful and I was well content. Then I heard a Voice speak to me and I turned to see who it was that spoke to me. The Voice said: "I am He Whom you served. I am your Savior and I will prepare a place for you. Then I saw a very bright light; it was so bright that I could not look at it. Then many of our loved ones came to me. Raymond came but did not touch me. Then there was a loud burst of music and I knew I had passed to the Inner Life.
But that was a long time ago. I have much to tell you of the life out here. I will come again when I have the opportunity ..."
(Signed) Mary Lodge.
In Mrs. Hamilton's files was found a letter written by Mary Lodge many years ago to her cousin Miss Brodie of Winnipeg. In this letter we find the same simple straightforward style of writing which characterized both the 1933 and the 1942 trance messages. This letter is now quoted:
A VISION OF THE CHRIST
Birmingham
"... My Dear Cousin:
"It was such a pleasure to me to receive your pretty photograph and I have been a long time writing to thank you, as when it came I was ill with bronchitis, and when I got up I went away for a change and have been very little at home since. But it stands on my mantel where I like to see it. I went some little time ago to see cousin Eva and Emily who live at Guildford in Surrey, a long way from here ...
"My husband and I and two daughters are going to Australia in July and expect to be back about the middle of October. We are going to the British Association of which he is at present the President ... I hope you are all well.
"With my best wishes to you and thanks for the photograph.
"Your affectionate cousin,
Mary Lodge."
Surely it is not stretching credulity too far to express the opinion that through these two letters - one from the incarnate Mary Lodge, and other through Dawn - there breathes the same spirit of a simple kindly loving personality; and thus it is not very difficult to believe that this Mary was for a moment privileged to see her master in a garden, and to recognize Him as the One Whom she had loved and served.
Simple and brief as this script is, it does indeed form an impressive revelatory phenomenon.
April, 1942
(paraphrased from "Letters from Julia".)
Christ
"Now let us look at the light which we get from our spirit guides. There are many higher spirits with our loved ones. Call them angels and you are in touch with old-time religion.
"High above all these is a Greater Spirit, and His special care is the earth-plane. He came down upon the earth to live as his brothers and sisters lived; was crucified and was placed in the earth; and after three days came back again and appeared to His friends and assured the world that there was no death - only a great new life.
"But we must prove ourselves worthy to receive His gift of love which is eternal life."
W. T. Stead.
May 6, 1942
"... Death does not transform us into a saint or a sinner. We awaken to consciousness with the same ideas firmly fixed in the mind. To all intents and purposes we are just as we were on the earth plane ...
H. G.
May 6, 1942
"... Days, weeks, months, are as nothing to spirits who are concerned with sensations and events ... I have many startling revelations to make, but think it may be helpful for you to know how life appears to us now ...
Unsigned.*
[* This is unsigned. I am struck by the fact that this conception of time in the secondary state of existence was T. G's in life. Many times he spoke to me of it. L. H.]
May 22, 1942
[Letter from Arthur J. Russell - Minneapolis - to Mrs. Hamilton:]
I am sending you a number of names of those interested in the subject of the forthcoming book which, I hope, may be useful.
It is so common a criticism of "messages" that they are of no value or are foolish and inconsequential, that I trust a small section of the book will be given to a number of sensible and reasonable messages. Such, for example, as that given by Robert Dale Owen in his "The Debatable Land". It was supposed to come from a New York doctor, " ... earnest Spiritualist and excellent man," who had died the year before.
It read:
"I am little changed. My knowledge of the spirit-world is not so great as you would suppose. I am sure of the things I once hoped for. I have found my beloved friends in Heaven, and I know that I live in immortality.
A. D. Wilson
"Not much, if you will," comments Mr. Owen, "Yet if it be true, how immeasurable its importance!"
"I shall look forward to the appearance of your son's book with the greatest eagerness."
May 23, 1942
"... You have a good writing medium. I hope she will keep on giving her hand for this good work. I hope to have another one soon. Love, love, love! This is the first and last word! ..."
W. T. S.
[The below may be out of chronological order.]
May, 1942.
"When you read your Bible with the knowledge which you have, you will have a deeper conviction that the teachings of Christ were lost in many respects to the early Christian church when you read of so many references to phenomenon with which you are familiar.
"The unknown regions exist quite close to us. Indeed it would be strange if the space between us be empty and deserted and the inhabitants of the earth be the only form through which life could manifest. Its inhabitants are human beings and their new bodies are called "boundary transformation", particularly certain pure creations without which none could penetrate into the peaceful happy regions which they call home, and it is because of these spirit-guides being totally different that it is possible to co-exist without even knowing each other except under extraordinary circumstances. Between you and the astral plane there is no distance in space. And it is because of this that you are able to communicate with these mysterious regions.
(Unsigned but in the writing of H. G.)
June 10, 1942
"... The loss of the physical body is of no effect on the intellectual and moral value of the deceased; and it is by reason of this permanence of being that there is found quite a variety of character among those whom we call dead, The fact that thousands of years have not been sufficient for man to understand ... (writing breaks off)
... then goes on ...
"... Death does not modify in any way the psychic stated of the man whose terrestrial career had just closed. Death brings its stores of knowledge, its planes of activity, and it rests with the individual ..."
W. T. Stead."
"... The spirit friends have their life much a s it was on the material plane. They visit with friends who have the same desires ..."
W. T. S."
June 18, 1942
"... This life is but a fragment of our existence, a fragment which, by itself, has no meaning. Its meaning is rooted in an eternal past, and carried on in an eternal future. We are on the top of a high step, with many steps yet to climb. What we call dying is only going on to a higher step ..."
R. L . Stevenson.
June 20, 1942
"... Many more philosophic minds than mine have thought over the subject of spirit return; and many scientific brains have turned their thought to its phenomenal aspects .. I feel that I should like to help in this regard.
"It seems to be a delusion with many people that death ends all. Many arguments are still going on, on this subject. Many people regard Spiritualism as a vulgar delusion of the uneducated. I myself thought that when on the earth plane; but since making the change I have found out very differently.
"Spirits pray and "die" in their new sphere before entering another. There is much music and pleasure. There are not rich or poor. Spirits live in families and in communities. Married people do not necessarily meet again, but those who truly love each other do meet again.
"Stand by! Be at attention! It is the message, not the signs. A new revelation seems to be in the course of delivery to the human race! ..."
H. G.
"... Death to the progressive soul is ... a glorious promotion, a stepping to a higher grade of All Good, a change to a grand and better world.
"Not one to be voluntarily sought; not one to be gained by suicide, for that step would defeat the desired end by enmeshing the spirit in a web of earthly conditions; but one to be gracefully accepted when Nature works her will with the worn-out body.
"More later ...
W. T. Stead.
"The loss of the physical body is of no effect on the intellectual and moral of the deceased; and it is by reason of this permanence of the being that there is found quite a variety of character among those whom we call dead. Therefore, do not let us ignore the fact that death does not modify in any way the psychic state of the man whose terrestrial career has just closed. Death brings its stores of knowledge, its planes of activity to every being and it rests with the individual."
June, 1942.
"Man is more than the body; he is body plus
something else. We know that the body is but a dwelling place, a house for the immortal soul. Our Master made it clear that He considered the spiritual life to be the thing of importance. What I say is that the soul has divine powers but you must find your soul and develop its divine potencies. It is through the soul you obtain inspiration. The soul alone communicates with the whole world."
July 8, 1942
[Letter from Mark W. Richardson - Newton Center - Massachusetts to Mrs. Hamilton:]
[There is a note at the top of the page: This letter will give you some idea as to the bickering and quarreling that have gone on in the A. S. P. R. over Margery - a long sordid story in which we had no interest.]
Moral: KEEP AWAY FROM SOCIETIES UNLESS YOU DOMINATE THEM .]
October 8, 1942
[Letter from Mr. Julian. G. Cross to Miss Ellen Elliott:]
"I delayed writing to you until I had read the book, which you kindly forwarded to me to read. This took some time, as I have been rather busy lately. I was very much pleased with the job, and I am sure it is just about what Dr. Hamilton himself would have liked. J. D. did an excellent job in arranging the text. In this connection J. D. had some difficulties to overcome. Both Mrs. Hamilton and myself insisted that the spiritual part of it had to be emphasized. J. D., on the other hand, regardless of his personal beliefs, had to be very cautious in advancing such a theory. As a scientist, he had to sustain any such belief with indubitable facts, and even this would not be enough for the critical and skeptic type of reader we hoped to reach with the book. J. D. overcame these difficulties very cleverly. He did not place undue emphasis on the survival theory, but by emphasizing the impossibility of any other way that this phenomenon could be brought about, he left the reader with the impression that the spirit theory was the only explanation. They could accept this or not. I think the title of the book is very good also, and J. D. always keeps before us the idea of "Intention" throughout the text. If we accept the idea of intention, we have to accept survival also.
"Intention and Survival" will not only be a great contribution to psychic literature, but it will be a great contribution to science as well. We are all very proud, I am sure, to be identified with this work in any way. And much credit goes to yourself, also, who labored so unceasingly to have the book a success. Another star in your crown; and I am sure, my dear Ellen, you have quite a number.
"I have written Mrs. Hamilton that we would be very pleased to have you and herself visit us here any time after October 15th., after Thanksgiving Day. You can decided which date will be most convenient for you. With best regards,
Very truly yours,
Julian Cross."
[On the back of the above letter is a handwritten notation as follows: Mr. Julian Cross was a civil and mining engineer who discovered the Eldorado Mine. He became very wealthy.
He had a genuine interest in all aspects of Parapsychology.
He was a close friend of Miss Ellen Elliott during the 1930's and 1940's, and it was his financial assistance which made possible the first printing of "INTENTION AND SURVIVAL" in 1942.]
[Miss Elliott was acting Head of MacMillans of Canada during the years of World War II (when the then President, Hugh Eayrs, was dying of cancer.)]
She assisted my mother and my brother Jim in preparing the MSS and helped make the book a reality in 1942. In November, 1942, she came to Winnipeg to arrange a large reception at one of the hotels to launch the book.
Margaret L. Hamilton.]
(May, 1974)
[I met Ellen in 1935 and we became very close friends - she died suddenly in 1978 of a silent coronary]
The script of October 22, 1942
On the afternoon of October 22, 1942, Dawn brought to the Hamilton home a sheet of paper bearing what appeared to be two verses in a curious and unrecognizable script which she said she had written while in a state of light trance which had come over her briefly as she was writing a letter that forenoon in her own home.
A few days later, we showed this paper to a friend, Mr. W. A., Wither, who suggested that it might be Gaelic. At our request, acting on this possibility, he took it to a Mr. James T. Mitchell, a well-known Gaelic authority and student of Scottish literature then living in Winnipeg. (See note 1, below.) Finding that it was indeed Gaelic, Mr. Mitchell kindly sent us his free translation, which was as follows.
The Skylark
The early rising housewife.
When the plains are dark.
Sees the East with grandeur
Put on its purple hue.
Before the sun of the Firmaments
Leaps forth in full flame.
Her morning song is tuned.
Ere I could see her trend.
Ascending and ascending,
Singing as she soars,
Singing as she is climbing.
On gentle wing and swift
Ever onward bound:
With flights of ease
And with a voice subdued,
Like a revolving star,
Serving, ever serving.
(Signed) Peter Campbell
But who was Peter Campbell? We did not know. Our translator informed us that a Gaelic poet of that name had at one time lived in the Outer Hebrides; Mr. Mitchell had not heard of his death, and said that if he were still living he would now be quite an old man. But he was unable to say whether or not Peter Campbell was the author of the two verses.
There the matters stood, and it was not until two years later that Mr. J. D. Young, an Edinburgh gentleman now living in Winnipeg, came to our aid; under the pen-name of "Canadian Scott" he wrote to the Edinburgh Journal "Weekly Scotsman."
In the issue of August 19, 1944, an answer to his questions appeared in the inquiry column:
Gaelic Poem Authorship
Discover Verses
Through the kindness of Mr. Young and Mr. MacDhuggall this little book now lies before us; and in it we discover that the two verses written by Dawn in trance are the third and 10th of the poem "The Skylark." Considering the intricacies and difficulties involved
[Pages 18 and 19 of the booklet]
[The left sheet contains the handwritten poem "The Skylark" in Gaelic - with a note in the upper right: - written by Dawn in trance October 22, 1942]
in writing this ancient and now little-known tongue, the mistakes in spelling and in markings in the Dawn-script are remarkably few, so Mr. Mitchell informs us.
More recently (January, 1945) we learned from Mr. Campbell's cousin, who had come to live in Winnipeg, that the poet, a schoolmaster who have been greatly respected for his scholarship and beloved for his saintlycharacter, had died on August 22, 1942, that is, two months before the manifestation through Dawn! This gentleman was amazed to discover this quotation from the poem through a medium in Winnipeg, for he himself did not possess a copy of the "Skylark," nor was it widely known even on the islands of the Outer Hebrides.
Thus, once more, through the adaptation of poetry to phenomenal ends did our communicators give evidence not only for individual survival, but more subtle evidence that service to man and service to God are one -- a service to be rendered in a spirit of joy --
Ascending and ascending
Singing as she soars,
serving, ever serving.
Lillian M. Hamilton
Winnipeg, 1950.
Note: J. T. Mitchell was elected President of the Gaelic Society of Canada in 1945. When he died in March, 1950, among other things, the Winnipeg Free Press of March 10 had this to say of his career:
"James T. Mitchell, who died Wednesday at the age of 85, was a man of talent both as a writer and a speaker... his range of knowledge was wide ... he worked with rare devotion on behalf of the city's various Scottish societies and at one time or another held executive offices in all of them..."
[ Photo of original gaelic script written by Dawn ( Elizabeth Poole ) in trance ]
[ Photo ]
[ Photo ]
[ Photo ]
October, 1942
Main Psychical Findings Summed Up
There is not a civilized country in the world today which has not some organization for the investigation of psychic phenomena, or the propagation of the teachings of the spirit world
Ancient spiritualism has always been with us, for in every age and amongst every nation spirit return has been manifested in some form or other. Visions, dreams, premonitions, apports, apparitions, voices, warnings, inspiration, have been the common lot of certain people throughout all time. Our Bibles are full of such happenings, for our Father God is no respecter of persons. By many they are looked upon as miracles.
The work of the English Society for Psychical Research is well know the world over. The chief interest of this society for a number of years has been a detailed study of (the) automatic writings of certain mediums such as Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. Piper, Mrs. Holland and many others. Direct personal evidence has been studied known as cross-correspondence.
In educated circles in Russia spiritualistic phenomena have been carefully and scientifically studied. Many noblemen spent many years studying them; for instance, Count S., and Count Alexander Akasakoff. Much has been contributed by these people and there are many more. These people carefully studied and carried out some very curious experiments with a medium called Sam B ... long since over here.
Almost every country in Europe has its experiments, real scientific work in psychic trails. From, Munich Baron von Schrenck-Notzing, who was also a physician, has left behind him many wonderful evidences.
[Footnotes:- Mrs. Piper, Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Holland were the main sensitives concerned in many of the cross-correspondence phenomena which gave evidence for the survival of F. W. H. Myers, Lodge's friend and noted researcher. Reference to their work will be found in Lodge's book "Survival", and in his autobiography "Past Years", and in the records of the English Psychical Research Society - all, of course, outside the knowledge of the automatist in her waking state.
Asterisks denote writing so blurred as to be undecipherable. The editor has been unable to confirm the fact that a medium by the name of Sam B. was know to Russian investigators.]
MIND THE BASIS OF MATERIAL REALITY
"I know science can only tell of structure, but structure is the result of progress. The material must be constructed out of something, which can best be described as primordial mind. The world is constructed of mind ; mind in its turn expresses itself through form and this is the meaning of individual existence. Doctor (Hamilton) claims that psychical research and mysticism both confirm the findings and intuitions of science; and that mind may express itself further through the conscious or subconscious which are one in point and purpose.
[Footnotes:- A kindly reference to the book "Intention and Survival" and to the work of the editor, J. D. Hamilton. B.Sc. M.A.]
"In agreement with Sir James Jeans who writes (In 'The Mysterious Universe') "The Universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine ... through substantial matter resolving itself into a creation and manifestation of mind."
The communicator seems to imply that mind may express itself in new forms after death, an hypothesis already advanced by Dr. Gustave Geley in his book "From the Unconscious to the Conscious", growing partly out of his study of teleplasmic materialization very similar to those studied by Dr. Hamilton.
October, 1942.
Lodge
"There is not a civilized country in the world today which has not some organization for the investigation of psychic phenomena, or the propagation of the teachings of the spirit world. Ancient Spiritualism has always been with us, for in every age and amongst every nation spirit return has been manifested in some form or other. Visions, dreams, premonitions, apports, apparitions, voices, warnings, inspiration, have been the common lot of certain people throughout all time. Our Bibles are full of such happenings, for our Father God is no respecter of persons. By many they are looked upon as miracles. The spirit forces have demonstrated that the communion between the two worlds is like the rising of the sun. The spirit-people have opened the gates. Their full message is yet to be revealed, But we have seen the coming of the dawn; we have caught a gleam of the Land Beyond. Presently, the sun will rise.
(Signed) O. L.
November 12, 1942.
The Raymond War Prophecy
This envelope contains:
1. Various relevant newspaper clippings.
2. The original Script and Envelope.
3. Statement signed by Mr. Wither, and J. F. Campbell, K.C.
4. Article on the Raymond War Prophecy written by Lillian Hamilton (Mrs. T. Glen Hamilton) and published in
Psychic Science, July, 1944.
Notes on the Or Raymond Prophecy
First incident:
At noon, November 12, 1942, Mrs. M. Marshall (Dawn) gave L. H. a sealed envelope. On it was drawn a cross and written these words:
"To be opened after August 24, 1943."
She said that she had, the night before, felt impelled to get out of bed and write. She seemed to pass into trance, wakened to see that her hand had written a script - and that this script was signed by the name "Raymond Lodge". She said she did not try to read the message and that she could hear the invisible communicator say "Place this message in an envelope, seal it, and on the outside write - "Not to be opened until after August 24, 1943."
These instructions, she said, she followed.
Second incident:
L. H. took charge of this envelope and on December 20, 1942, asked Mr. Wither to seal this envelope a second time, which he did, his report on this point is as follows:
December 6, 1942
[Letter from an unidentified writer to Dr. Chown (Bruce?)]
"Thank you for your letter of December 1 in reply to my letter of November 25 in which I raised the question of the evidence of flatness in the face miniatures.
"During the interval of our correspondence, the Toronto publication 'Saturday Night' of December 5 has carried a review of Intention and Survival. In this review the question of flatness is brought up.
"I quote:
"The point to which I want to draw attention is the fact that the source of illumination of these heads is not the same as the source of illumination for the medium and the teleplasm.
"I may be unreasonably incredulous and I admit that I should find it difficult to believe that something exuded from the medium which was capable of assuming an approximation to the shape and coloring of the head of Raymond Lodge in three dimensions; but that is nothing to the difficulty I find in believing that something exuding from the medium is capable of assuming, on a flat surface, the lighting and shading of a photographic record of the face of Raymond Lodge, as it was at a given moment in time and a given point in space which are not the moment and point of the teleplasm.
"As you know, I agree with the facts brought forward in this comment. The shadow lighting on the miniature faces do not agree with the lighting on the medium. Were is not for other incontestable evidence I should be strongly inclined to agree with the implications expressed in the opinion of the second paragraph:
"In the case of the Raymond face the shadows in the inner angles of the eyes are not in agreement with the fact that the medium's eye areas are under full illumination.
"The second Doyle teleplasm shows similar features. The illumination is thrown full on the medium's eyes, still the Doyle miniature possesses heavy 'shadows' in the angles of the eyes. Further, views secured from the extreme left and the extreme right of the medium (see the stereo photos) show the face to be foreshortened in a manner which can only be due to the fact that the face itself lacks elevations and is plane. The photographs are a projection of this plane upon the plane of the camera.
"The Katie teleplasm on the back of the cabinet wall is also to be judged flat. The view secured by the wide angle lens camera and also by one of the stereo cameras (to mention two) show a shadow cast by the medium's shoulder on the back of her chair. The angle of this shadow is in agreement with the known position of the illuminant in the upper part of the cupboard doorway (Plate I). However, the shadow on the left side of the Katie chin would place the illuminant of the face, if real, at about the center of the ceiling of the room. The face must therefore be flat.
"Viewing this face stereoscopically without reference to these lower shadows, the face looks deceivingly three dimensional. There is no question, too, but that the hair about the face is actually three dimensional.
"It has already been recognized that the small 'boy Spurgeon' face in the second Doyle is a copy of a photograph known to have been secured during his life. It is, however, too much to agree with Saturday Night's commentator that all these face miniatures possess photographic originals as his italicized statement implies ...
"Both supporters and critics of the phenomena will agree, I think, that the modus operandi whereby the teleplasms were produced cannot remain other than an open question. The disagreement in the shadow, real and seeming, proves only that the faces are flat; nothing else.
"On the question of credulity it comes down to whether or not the observers and scrutineers were capable of making mature and bona fide statements of opinion regarding the facts of the environment of the seance laboratory and the condition and state of control of the medium, etc. In view of the agreement between multiple and independent judgment by men of unimpugned character I am satisfied that their recorded and attested statements do represent conditions as they actually were at the time.
"You will understand, I think, why I have written rather more fully and more formally than I would have to in an ordinary letter to you. By the way, I fully expect to be in Winnipeg for Christmas. I will arrive on Monday 21, leaving on Saturday the 26th.
