CHAPTER XICONCLUSION

This volume reminds me of the mountain which gave birth to a mouse. Its length would be excusable if only it marked a step in advance in the field of psychology or physiology, or as to the question of the supernormal. As such is not the case, it is unpardonable, and nothing more is left me to do except to make clear its deficiencies in this triple aspect.

First: From the physiological point of view, it is apparent that Mlle. Smith, as is doubtless true of all mediums, presents during her visions and somnambulisms a plenitude of disturbances of motility and sensibility, from which she seems entirely free in her normal state.

But these trifling observations do not suffice to solve the neuropathological problem of mediumship, and the question still remains open as to whether that term corresponds to a special category of manifestations and to a distinct syndrome, or whether it merely constitutes a happy euphemism for various scientific denominations already in use.

To endeavor to fix the connections of mediumship with other functional affections of the nervous system, it would first be necessary to possess exact intelligence on a number of important points still enveloped in obscurity. In regard to some of these, such as the phenomena of periodicity, of meteorological and seasonal influences, of impulses, and of fatigue, etc., we have only very vague and incomplete hints. And we know almost nothing of other still more essential questions, such as the relations of equivalence and substitution between the various modalities of automatism (nocturnal visions, crepuscular states, complete trances, etc.), the effect of spiritistic exercises, and especially of that of the seances upon nutrition or denutrition (variations of temperature, of urotoxicity, etc.), which would permit the comparison of spontaneous seizures and those excited by mediumship with those of the more serious nervous affections, the phenomena of heredity, similar or reversed, etc.

Let us hope that a near future will establish some good mediums and their observers in practical conditions favorable to the elucidation of these various problems, and that the day will come when the true place of mediumship in the framework of nosology will be discovered.

Secondly: From the psychological point of view, the case of Mlle. Smith, although too complex to be reduced to a single formula, is explicablegrosso modoby some recognized principle, the successive or concurrent action of which has engendered her multiple phenomena. There is, in the first place, the influence, so often verified, of emotional shocks and of certain psychic traumatisms upon mental dissociation. Bymeans of these the birth of hypnoid states may become the germ either of secondary personalities more or less strongly marked (we have seen that the first manifestations of Leopold in the childhood of Hélène are attributable to this cause) or of somnambulistic romances, which hold the same relation towards the normal state as does that exaggeration of stories and indulgence in reveries to which so many are addicted—perhaps all of us.

We must also take into consideration the enormous suggestibility and auto-suggestibility of mediums, which render them so sensitive to all the influences of spiritistic reunions, and are so favorable to the play of those brilliant subliminal creations in which, occasionally, the doctrinal ideas of the surrounding environment are reflected together with the latent emotional tendencies of the medium herself. The development of the personality of Leopold-Cagliostro, starting from the moment at which Mlle. Smith began her seances, is easily explained in this manner, as well as the Martian dream and the previous existences of the Hindoo princess and the queen of France.

And, finally, we must note the phenomena of cryptomnesia, the awakening and setting to work of forgotten memories, which easily account for the elements of truth contained in the great preceding constructions and in the incarnations or casual visions of Mlle. Smith in the course of her seances.

But besides this general explanation how many points of detail there are which remain obscure! For example, the precise origin of Hélène’s Sanscrit, and many of her retrocognitions, for want of information concerning the thousand facts of her daily life whence the ideas which nourish her somnambulism may have been drawn! And how difficult it is to gain a correct idea of her case as a whole, on account of the crudity of our actual notions as to the constitution and organization of the human being, of our almost total ignorance of psychological ontogeny!

Without mentioning Hélène’s ephemeral incarnations (in which I have shown there is no reason far seeing anything beyond the imitations due to autosuggestion), the divers more stable personalities which manifest themselves in her hypnoid life—Leopold, Esenale, and the actors of the Martian romance, Simandini, Marie Antoinette, etc.—are only, in my opinion, as I have hinted on many occasions, the varied psychological states of Mlle. Smith herself—allotropic modifications, as it were, or phenomena of polymorphism of her personality. For no one of these personalities corresponds sufficiently with her ordinary personality by intellectual faculties, the moral character, separation of memories, to justify the hypothesis of a foreignpossession.

But the theory of psychic polymorphism is still very imperfect, and inadequate to explain the embryological shades which shine forth in Hélène’s subliminal products—the retrograde perspective which they open as to the different stages or periods of her evolution. The Martian cycle, with its unknown language, evidently betrays an eminently puerile origin and the display of an hereditary linguistic aptitude, buried under Hélène’s ordinary self; whereas the Hindoo romance denotes a moreadvanced age, and that of Marie Antoinette seems to have sprung from still more recent strata, contemporaneous with the actual normal personality of Mlle. Smith. The primitive nature and different ages of the various hypnoid lucubrations of Mlle. Smith seem to me to constitute the most interesting psychological fact of her mediumship. It tends to show that the secondary personalities are probably, in their origin, as the idea has been sometimes suggested, phenomena of reversion of the ordinary actual personality, or of momentary returns of inferior phases, long since passed, and which normally should have been absorbed in the development of the individuality, instead of breaking forth again in strange proliferations.

Thirdly: As to the supernormal, I believe I have actually found a little telekinesis and telepathy. As to lucidity and spiritistic messages, I have only encountered some brilliant reconstructions, which the hypnoid imagination, aided by latent memory, excels in fabricating in the case of mediums. I do not complain of this, since for psychology, which is not specially enamoured of the marvellous, these admirably successful imitations are also interesting and instructive on account of the light which they throw upon the inward workings of our faculties.

Of course Mlle. Smith and her friends see things in a very different light. With Hélène everything, or almost everything, is supernormal, from the reminiscences of her lives as Marie Antoinette and Simandini, to the Martian and the incarnations of Cagliostro, of Mlle. Vignier, or of thecuréof Chessenaz.

And now let us admit, hypothetically, that I have not been able to see the supernormal, which was plainly before my eyes, and that it is this blindness of mine alone which has prevented me from recognizing the real presence of Joseph Balsamo, my own mother, the Hindoo princess, etc.—or, at all events, the presence of real, disincarnate, independent spirits. It is, of course, to be regretted, but then it is I alone who will be in disgrace on the day when the truth shall be made manifest.

For, as to progress in our knowledge of things, everything is to be feared from easy credulity and obstinate dogmatism, but that progress will not be arrested or seriously retarded by possible errors, committed in good faith, through an exaggerated severity of application and a too strict observance of the principles themselves of all experimental investigation; while, on the contrary, the obstacles and the difficulties which the necessities of the method multiply along its path have always been a strong stimulant, producing new movements forward and more durable conquests based on better demonstrations.

It is better, then, to follow my advice—in the well-understood interest of and for the advancement of science, in a domain where superstition is always ready to give itself free play—it is better to err through excess of caution and strictness of method than to run the risk of being sometimes deceived; it is better to allow some interesting fact to escape for the moment, rather than to open the door to the follies of the imagination by a relaxation of necessary caution.

As to Mlle. Hélène Smith, supposing that I have failed to recognize in her phenomena which are really supernormal (which, in that case, will some day be better set forth by other observers), she will, nevertheless, accomplish more in the way of discovering the real truth, whatever it may be, in submitting herself disinterestedly to my free criticisms, than by doing as so many useless mediums have done, who, afraid of the light, in their foolish eagerness for the triumph of a cause very dear to their hearts, have shunned close investigation, and would have us rely upon their word alone.

They forget the saying of Bacon, which is ever being confirmed: “Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority.”

THE END

[1]I. e., Spirit-rapping—the faculty of obtaining responses by means of raps upon a table.[2]Glossolalia signifies the “gift of tongues,” or the ability to speak foreign languages without having consciously acquired them.[3]This term is used to designate the visions which manifest themselves at the moment of awakening from sleep immediately prior to complete awakening, and which form a pendant to the well-known, much more frequent hypnagogic hallucinations, arising in the intermediate state between sleep and waking.[4]Vision relating to the Oriental cycle; the man was the Arab sheik, the father of Simandini.[5]The following are some of these impromptu rhymes, surely up to the level of the circumstances which inspired them, but by which we ought not to judge theconsciouspoetic faculties of Mlle. Smith:To a little girl proud of her new shoes:“Marcelle est là, venez la voir,Elle a ses petits souliers noirs.”In a “culinary” discussion:“Vous détestez les omelettes,Autant que moi les côtelettes.”To a person slightly vain:“Vos richesses, ma chère amie,Ne me font point du tout envie!”[6]The confusion of sensations in the two sides of the body, as when a person locates in the right leg a touch upon the left leg.[7]See, on allochiria, P. Janet,Stigmates mentaux des hysteriques, pp. 66-71; andNevroses et idées fixes, vol. i. p. 234.[8]See Lehmann’sAberglaube und Zauberei, p. 217et seq.Stuttgart, 1898.[9]W. James, “Thought Tends to Personal Form.”Principles of Psychology, vol. i. p. 225et seq.New York, 1890.[10]Alexandre Dumas,père,Memoirs of a Physician, chap. xv.[11]The one which is found, for example, at the beginning of theVie de Joseph Balsamo, etc., translated from the Italian (3d edition, Paris, 1791), and which has been several times reproduced. Mlle. Smith has hanging over her fireplace a fine copy of this portrait.[12]See,e.g., Ferrari, Hericourt, and Richet, “Personality and Handwriting,”Revue philosophique, vol. xxi. p. 414.[13]C. Flammarion,La Planète Mars et ses conditions d’habitabilité, p. 3. Paris, 1892.[14]Compare the case of Mlle. Anna O. Brener et Frend,Studien über Hysterie, p. 19. Vienna, 1895.[15]“Do not think that in loving you as a tender brotherI shall tell you all the profound mysteries of heaven;I shall help you much, I shall open for you the way,But it is for you to seize and seek with joy;And when you shall see her released from here below,When her mobile soul shall have taken flightAnd shall soar over Mars with its brilliant tints;If you would obtain from her some light,Place your hand very gently on her pale foreheadAnd pronounce very softly the sweet name of Esenale!”[16]Allusion to the seance of November 25, 1894, at M. Lemaître’s. Seep. 1146.[17]That is to say, he died on Mars, where he had been reincarnated.[18]Allusion to seance of February 2, 1896. Seep. 154.[19]These are texts 16-20, 26, 28, 31, 34, 37-39. They are further distinguished by an asterisk.[20]A literal English translation of each text will be found immediately beneath the French equivalents of the Martian words.[21]If it is objected that the Martian lacks the essential character of a language—that is to say, a practical sanction by use; by the fact of its serving as a means of communication between living beings—I will not answer, like Mlle. Smith, that after all we know nothing about that, but will simply say that the social side of the question does not concern us here. Even if Volapük and Esperanto are not used, they are none the less languages, and the Martian has, in regard to its artificial construction, the psychological superiority of being a natural language, spontaneously created, without the conscious participation, reflective or willing, of a normal personality.[22]De Marlès’General History of India, Ancient and Modern, from the Year 2000 B. C. to our Own Times.Pp. 268-269. Paris, 1828.[23]Robert Sewell.Lists of Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of Madras.Vol i. p. 238 (1882.) Citation by M. Barth. I have not been able to consult this work.[24]Buchanan.A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, etc.3 vols. 4to. London, 1807.[25]James Rennell.Description Historique et Géographique de l’Indostan.Translated from the English. Paris, an.VIII.(1800). 3 vols., 8vo and atlas 4to.[26]Dow.History of Hindustan.Translated from the Persian of Ferishta. London, 1803. M. Michel suggests Wilks’sHistorical Sketches of the South of India(London, 1810) as having possibly served as a source of information for De Marlès. If some learned reader may discover any traces of Sivrouka antecedent to De Marlès, I shall be under great obligation to him if he will communicate the information to me.[27]It will be readily understood that this vision represents Marie Antoinette with her three children and Madame Elizabeth.[28]I have respected the orthography as well as the complete absence of punctuation of this bit of automatic writing, confining myself to marking by vertical bars its evident separation into verses of eight feet. It is written in the inclined and regular hand called that of Marie Antoinette (like that ofFig. 40), but with a pencil too pale to permit its reproduction.[29]By this is meant the bringing or conveying of material objects into a closed space—the passage of one solid body through another.[30]A small oil-portrait of my mother.

[1]I. e., Spirit-rapping—the faculty of obtaining responses by means of raps upon a table.

[2]Glossolalia signifies the “gift of tongues,” or the ability to speak foreign languages without having consciously acquired them.

[3]This term is used to designate the visions which manifest themselves at the moment of awakening from sleep immediately prior to complete awakening, and which form a pendant to the well-known, much more frequent hypnagogic hallucinations, arising in the intermediate state between sleep and waking.

[4]Vision relating to the Oriental cycle; the man was the Arab sheik, the father of Simandini.

[5]The following are some of these impromptu rhymes, surely up to the level of the circumstances which inspired them, but by which we ought not to judge theconsciouspoetic faculties of Mlle. Smith:To a little girl proud of her new shoes:“Marcelle est là, venez la voir,Elle a ses petits souliers noirs.”In a “culinary” discussion:“Vous détestez les omelettes,Autant que moi les côtelettes.”To a person slightly vain:“Vos richesses, ma chère amie,Ne me font point du tout envie!”

[5]The following are some of these impromptu rhymes, surely up to the level of the circumstances which inspired them, but by which we ought not to judge theconsciouspoetic faculties of Mlle. Smith:

To a little girl proud of her new shoes:

“Marcelle est là, venez la voir,Elle a ses petits souliers noirs.”

“Marcelle est là, venez la voir,

Elle a ses petits souliers noirs.”

In a “culinary” discussion:

“Vous détestez les omelettes,Autant que moi les côtelettes.”

“Vous détestez les omelettes,

Autant que moi les côtelettes.”

To a person slightly vain:

“Vos richesses, ma chère amie,Ne me font point du tout envie!”

“Vos richesses, ma chère amie,

Ne me font point du tout envie!”

[6]The confusion of sensations in the two sides of the body, as when a person locates in the right leg a touch upon the left leg.

[7]See, on allochiria, P. Janet,Stigmates mentaux des hysteriques, pp. 66-71; andNevroses et idées fixes, vol. i. p. 234.

[8]See Lehmann’sAberglaube und Zauberei, p. 217et seq.Stuttgart, 1898.

[9]W. James, “Thought Tends to Personal Form.”Principles of Psychology, vol. i. p. 225et seq.New York, 1890.

[10]Alexandre Dumas,père,Memoirs of a Physician, chap. xv.

[11]The one which is found, for example, at the beginning of theVie de Joseph Balsamo, etc., translated from the Italian (3d edition, Paris, 1791), and which has been several times reproduced. Mlle. Smith has hanging over her fireplace a fine copy of this portrait.

[12]See,e.g., Ferrari, Hericourt, and Richet, “Personality and Handwriting,”Revue philosophique, vol. xxi. p. 414.

[13]C. Flammarion,La Planète Mars et ses conditions d’habitabilité, p. 3. Paris, 1892.

[14]Compare the case of Mlle. Anna O. Brener et Frend,Studien über Hysterie, p. 19. Vienna, 1895.

[15]“Do not think that in loving you as a tender brotherI shall tell you all the profound mysteries of heaven;I shall help you much, I shall open for you the way,But it is for you to seize and seek with joy;And when you shall see her released from here below,When her mobile soul shall have taken flightAnd shall soar over Mars with its brilliant tints;If you would obtain from her some light,Place your hand very gently on her pale foreheadAnd pronounce very softly the sweet name of Esenale!”

[15]

“Do not think that in loving you as a tender brotherI shall tell you all the profound mysteries of heaven;I shall help you much, I shall open for you the way,But it is for you to seize and seek with joy;And when you shall see her released from here below,When her mobile soul shall have taken flightAnd shall soar over Mars with its brilliant tints;If you would obtain from her some light,Place your hand very gently on her pale foreheadAnd pronounce very softly the sweet name of Esenale!”

“Do not think that in loving you as a tender brother

I shall tell you all the profound mysteries of heaven;

I shall help you much, I shall open for you the way,

But it is for you to seize and seek with joy;

And when you shall see her released from here below,

When her mobile soul shall have taken flight

And shall soar over Mars with its brilliant tints;

If you would obtain from her some light,

Place your hand very gently on her pale forehead

And pronounce very softly the sweet name of Esenale!”

[16]Allusion to the seance of November 25, 1894, at M. Lemaître’s. Seep. 1146.

[17]That is to say, he died on Mars, where he had been reincarnated.

[18]Allusion to seance of February 2, 1896. Seep. 154.

[19]These are texts 16-20, 26, 28, 31, 34, 37-39. They are further distinguished by an asterisk.

[20]A literal English translation of each text will be found immediately beneath the French equivalents of the Martian words.

[21]If it is objected that the Martian lacks the essential character of a language—that is to say, a practical sanction by use; by the fact of its serving as a means of communication between living beings—I will not answer, like Mlle. Smith, that after all we know nothing about that, but will simply say that the social side of the question does not concern us here. Even if Volapük and Esperanto are not used, they are none the less languages, and the Martian has, in regard to its artificial construction, the psychological superiority of being a natural language, spontaneously created, without the conscious participation, reflective or willing, of a normal personality.

[22]De Marlès’General History of India, Ancient and Modern, from the Year 2000 B. C. to our Own Times.Pp. 268-269. Paris, 1828.

[23]Robert Sewell.Lists of Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of Madras.Vol i. p. 238 (1882.) Citation by M. Barth. I have not been able to consult this work.

[24]Buchanan.A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, etc.3 vols. 4to. London, 1807.

[25]James Rennell.Description Historique et Géographique de l’Indostan.Translated from the English. Paris, an.VIII.(1800). 3 vols., 8vo and atlas 4to.

[26]Dow.History of Hindustan.Translated from the Persian of Ferishta. London, 1803. M. Michel suggests Wilks’sHistorical Sketches of the South of India(London, 1810) as having possibly served as a source of information for De Marlès. If some learned reader may discover any traces of Sivrouka antecedent to De Marlès, I shall be under great obligation to him if he will communicate the information to me.

[27]It will be readily understood that this vision represents Marie Antoinette with her three children and Madame Elizabeth.

[28]I have respected the orthography as well as the complete absence of punctuation of this bit of automatic writing, confining myself to marking by vertical bars its evident separation into verses of eight feet. It is written in the inclined and regular hand called that of Marie Antoinette (like that ofFig. 40), but with a pencil too pale to permit its reproduction.

[29]By this is meant the bringing or conveying of material objects into a closed space—the passage of one solid body through another.

[30]A small oil-portrait of my mother.

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