But the brain, which Ribot identifies with the personality, is a mere organ of the body, perishing with the body. Does it follow that the self perishes with bodily death? Is it really without an abiding, indwelling principle superior to, and independent of, the physical organism—in short, a soul—that would enable it to survive the final catastrophe of earthly existence? Is man soulless? Does death end personality?
Aye, those who hold with Ribot would reply. To speak of a soul is, in their view of the case, sheer mysticism, since “the ego in us is nothing more than the functional result of the arrangement for the time being of the molecules or ions of our brain matter.”
That is why, at the beginning of this chapter, I stated that, of all the labors of the modern investigators of the nature of man, none would seem to be so irreparably destructive as the blows they have dealt at the traditional conception of human personality.
Yet, when we probe a little deeper, it will be found that the damage is not so irreparable as would at first appear; nay, it will even be found that by their searching inquiries, the advocates of the brain-stuff theory have unwittingly provided stronger reasons than were at any previous time available for insisting both on the actuality of the soul and the fundamental unity and continuity of the ego.
Undeniably, it is necessary to modify the old conception in some important respects. After the discoveries that have been made as to the disintegrating effects of natural and artificially induced sleep, of disease, of sudden frights, of profound emotional shocks, of alcohol and drugs, etc., it is idle to pretend that unity and continuity are distinctive characteristics of the ordinary self of waking life. So far as that self is concerned, its instability and divisibility are now plainly evident.
What, however, if it can be shown that, equally with the secondary selves that may and so often do replace it, the primary self is only part of a larger self—a self which persists unchanged beneath all the mutations of spontaneous and experimental occurrence? In that case it will at once become clear that the situation has again changed completely, and that we are back to the traditional, the intuitive, the “common-sense” conception of personality, with the single difference that the term “self” means something broader and nobler than when we limit it to the now demonstrated unstable, and ever-changeable self of ordinary consciousness.
And it is precisely to such a view of the self that the discoveries of the modern investigators, when closely scrutinized, irresistibly impel us. If, I repeat, they have shown that what we usually look upon as the self is liable to sudden extinction, they have likewise brought to light abundant evidence to prove that there is none the less an abiding self, a self not dominated by but dominating the organism, and unaffected by any vicissitudes that may befall the organism.
To be sure, it must be said that, as yet, comparatively few of those to whom we owe this evidence are prepared to admit that such is the ultimate outcome of their efforts. All the same, the evidence is there, not simply justifying, but rendering logically necessary, the hypothesis of a continuous, unitary ego, inclusive of, and superior to, all changing selves of outward manifestation, and possessing powers thus far little utilized; but, under certain conditions, utilizable for our material, intellectual, and moral betterment.
I have, in fact, in the previous chapters presented much of the evidence supporting this view.[54] All the phenomena of subconscious mental action—as variously exhibited in telepathy, crystal vision, automatic writing and speaking, the cure of disease by wholly mental means—point unmistakably, I am persuaded, to the existence of a superior self to which the ordinary self of everyday life stands in much the same relation as does the secondary self of a hysterical patient to the ordinary, normal self of a healthy person.
Not all the faculties of the larger self—for instance, the faculty involved in telepathic action—seem to be adapted for ready employment here on earth. Which would argue, of course, for a future state in which, freed from all hampering limitations of the body, such faculties will have full manifestation.
But most assuredly, as the findings of the psychopathologists indicate plainly, some among these hidden powers are amply available for use here and now, and may be so employed as to enable the self of ordinary consciousness to become less liable to disintegration, to ward off and conquer disease, to develop mental attainments of a high order, to solve life’s varying problems with a sureness and success sadly lacking to most of us at present.
[1] In a prefatory note to the book, “An Adventure,” in which these ladies detail their experience, their publishers, Messrs. Macmillan and Company, of London, guarantee “that the authors have put down what happened to them as faithfully and accurately as was in their power.” Their good faith is also vouched for by a reviewer in The Spectator.
[2] The documents in this case are published in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xi, pp. 538-542.
[3] First published in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. x, p. 240.
[4] Detailed reports of this case are published in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. viii, pp. 214-218.
[5] Mrs. M.’s detailed account of this experience, with a corroboratory statement by Mr. M., is published in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. viii, pp. 178-179.
[6] See “Phantasms of the Living,” vol. i, pp. 194-195.
[7] I quote from Mr. Sinclair’s report to the Society for Psychical Research, and published by him in its Journal, vol. vii, p. 99.
[8] Herr Wesermann’s experiments were reported by him in the Archiv für den Thierischen Magnetismus, vol. vi, pp. 136-139.
[9] The detailed report of the results of this census will be found in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. x, pp. 25-422.
[10] Accounts of other experiments of the same type will be found in my book, “The Riddle of Personality,” pp. 140-142.
[11] The experiments of the Misses Miles and Ramsden are reported in detail in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xxi, and in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. viii. The report of the Burt-Usher experiments appears in the Annales des Sciences Psychiques, January and February, 1910.
[12] In “Phantasms of the Living,” vol. ii, pp. 377-378.
[13] Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, vol. iv, pp. 210-217.
[14] “Phantasms of the Living,” vol. i, pp. 343-344.
[15] Presidential Address to the Society for Psychical Research, January 29, 1897.
[16] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. vii, pp. 47-48.
[17] The evidence relating to this dream will be found in “Phantasms of the Living,” vol. i, pp. 381-383.
[18] The evidence relating to this case is published in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. vii, pp. 359-364.
[19] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. vii, pp. 39-41.
[20] Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research, vol. i, pp. 361-362.
[21] In the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. viii, p. 489.
[22] Of course, strictly speaking, the term “fraudulent” should not be applied to those mediums who are the victims of a peculiar form of hysteria. This is discussed in detail in the next chapter.
[23] This case is reported in detail in the Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research, vol. ii, pp. 119-138.
[24] The extent to which automatists sometimes draw on the contents of their own subconsciousness is strikingly illustrated by a case investigated by Mr. Lowes Dickinson, wherein the medium, an estimable young lady of his acquaintance, was seemingly “controlled” by the “spirit” of a noblewoman of the Middle Ages, who described the customs, manners, and personages of the country in which she claimed to have lived, in such minute detail and with such accuracy that it seemed certain this was one case at all events in which survival had been proved. Ultimately it was discovered that every fact given by the alleged spirit was contained in a little known historical novel which the medium had read, but read only once, when a very small girl. So far as conscious recollection went she had forgotten all about this book, but subconsciously she had evidently retained a marvelously exact memory of it.
[25] “After Death—What?” pp. 57-58.
[26] A detailed account of Home’s performances will be found in my book, “Historic Ghosts and Ghost-Hunters,” pp. 143-170.
[27] An excellent study of the mediumship of Stainton Moses is contained in Frank Podmore’s “Modern Spiritualism,” vol. ii, pp. 276-288.
[28] Studied in detail in my book, “Historic Ghosts and Ghost-Hunters.”
[29] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xii, pp. 58-67.
[30] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xii, pp. 101-103.
[31] I am inclined, for example, to believe that there is a large element of hysteria in the mediumship of the discredited Eusapia Paladino, once the marvel of two continents.
[32] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. viii, pp. 394-395.
[33] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xii, pp. 14-15.
[34] Quoted from the “Chapter on Dreams,” in R. L. Stevenson’s “Across the Plains.”
[35] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xi, p. 415.
[36] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xi, p. 411.
[37] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xi, pp. 418-419.
[38] Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xi, p. 416.
[39] This case and a number of other instances of forgotten terrors giving rise to disease-symptoms are discussed in detail in Doctor Janet’s “Névroses et Idées Fixes.”
[40] This case and several others similarly illustrative of the disease-creating power of emotional disturbances are discussed by Doctor Donley in “Psychotherapeutics,” a book of composite authorship.
[41] Doctor Brill has reported and discussed this case in his recently published “Psychoanalysis,” pp. 48-54.
[42] Quoted from “Psychotherapeutics: A Symposium,” p. 152.
[43] In “Névroses et Idées Fixes,” vol. i, pp. 1-68.
[44] This autobiographical account was first published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. Afterwards it was brought out in book form by Richard G. Badger, the Boston publisher, under the title, “My Life as a Dissociated Personality,” and with an introduction by Doctor Prince. It is an account well worth reading by all students of psychology.
[45] Thomas Reid’s “Essay on the Intellectual Powers of Man,” pp. 228-231 (James Walker’s edition of 1850).
[46] Boris Sidis’s “Multiple Personality,” pp. 365-368. This book, by one of the foremost American psychopathologists, should be read by all students of abnormal psychology.
[47] A collection of such cases will be found in my book, “Scientific Mental Healing,” pp. 124-155.
[48] These experiments by Doctor Bramwell were first reported by him in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. xii, pp. 176-203.
[49] “De la Suggestion dans l’État Hypnotique,” p. 29.
[50] Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. cxxii, p. 463.
[51] Dr. Liégeois’s account of his many hypnotic experiments, as given in his “De la Suggestion et du Somnambulisme dans leurs Rapports avec la Jurisprudence et la Médecine légale,” forms one of the most striking contributions to the literature of hypnotism.
[52] Ribot’s “Les Maladies de la Personalité.” Quoted from F. W. H. Myers’s translation in his “Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death,” vol. i, p. 10.
[53] “Les Altérations de la Personnalité,” p. 316.
[54] See also my book, “The Riddle of Personality,” especially pp. 69-70, 159-162.
INDEX
- Badger, R., and case of BCA, 273 n.
- Barrett, W. F., and telepathy, 64, 100.
- Barzini, Professor, and Eusapia Paladino, 173.
- BCA, case of, 265-289;
- also mentioned, 292, 295, 298.
- Bernheim, H., hypnotic experiments by, 300-301.
- Bettany, Mrs., vision seen by, 40-41.
- Binet, A., on personality, 308-309.
- Blakeway, W., telepathic experience by, 90-91.
- Boyle, Mrs., case of, 4.
- Bramwell, J. M., hypnotic experiments by, 299-300.
- Brill, A. A., and psycho-analysis, 246-254.
- Burt, F. R., telepathic experiments by, 74, 81-83.
- Cahill, B. J. S., dream creation by, 210-211.
- Carrington, H., and mediumistic frauds, 175-178.
- Clairvoyance, 102-126.
- Cleaveland, W. M., case reported by, 143-146, 148.
- Cobbe, Miss, and the subconscious, 202-203.
- Cock Lane ghost, 183.
- Corliss, I. M., trance medium, 138-141, 147.
- Cortachy Castle, Drummer of, 13-17, 47, 48.
- Crawford, Lord, and D. D. Home, 173, 199.
- Crookes, W., and telepathy, 63, 97, 98;
- and mediumistic phenomena, 181.
- Cross-correspondence, 160-170.
- Crystal-gazing, 127-131, 154-156.
- Dalrymple, Miss, and ghostly drummer, 14-15.
- Dickinson, L., case reported by, 156-157 n.
- Dissociation, 230-289.
- Donley, J. E., and cases of dissociation, 242-245, 254-257.
- Dreams, telepathic, 106-118;
- of lost objects, 121-126;
- problems solved in, 204-209;
- creative imagination in, 209-214.
- Dunraven, Lord, and D. D. Home, 173, 199.
- Eardley, Lady, case of, 39-40, 56, 57, 90.
- Eastlake, Lady, case of, 4-5.
- Entwistle, J. S. W., apparition seen by, 29-31.
- Flammarion, C., and telepathy, 63;
- and mediumistic phenomena, 181.
- Flournoy, T., and telepathy, 63.
- Forbes, Mrs., automatic writer, 160, 167-168.
- Genius, new theory of, 214-215.
- Ghosts, premonitory, 12-26;
- coincidental, 26-35;
- house-haunting, 35-38;
- experimental, 42-45;
- of inanimate objects, 49-52.
- See also Poltergeists.
- Golinski, C., telepathic dream by, 116-118.
- Goodrich-Freer, Miss, apparition seen by, 4-8;
- crystal-visions of, 127-131.
- Griffith, Mrs., telepathic dream by, 95-96.
- Gurney, E., alleged spirit messages from, 160-164, 166.
- Hallucinations, Census of, 48, 49.
- See also Dissociation, Ghosts, Hypnotism, Hysteria, Suggestion, and Telepathy.
- Hazard, Mrs., apparition seen by, 26, 27.
- Hilprecht, H. V., strange dream of, 207-209.
- Hodgson, R., alleged spirit messages from, 160, 168-169;
- hyperaesthesia of, 219-220.
- Hohenzollerns, White Lady of, 12.
- Holland, Miss, automatic writer, 160, 161-169.
- Home, D. D., trance medium, 173, 199.
- Hughes, F. S., and Shropshire poltergeist, 188-189.
- Hughes, Mrs., telepathic dream by, 94-95.
- Huse, Miss, case of, 104-106.
- Hyperaesthesia, principle of, 64-65;
- cases of, 121-126, 216-227.
- Hypnosis, characteristics of, 157, 158, 296-306;
- as aid in treating disease, 238-244, 263, 265-289.
- See also Post-hypnotic Commands, and Suggestion.
- Hyslop, J. H., telepathic experiments by, 67-69, 84;
- also mentioned, 113, 131.
- Hysteria, and poltergeists, 189-195;
- and physical phenomena of spiritism, 196 and n;
- modern theories and treatment of, 233-289.
- Jackson, E., apparition seen by, 33-35.
- James, W., and Huse case, 104-106;
- and Mrs. Piper, 149;
- also mentioned, 64, 71, 72.
- Janet, P., and modern treatment of hysteria, 236-242, 259-264;
- also mentioned, 232, 283.
- Johnson, Miss, and experiments in cross-correspondence, 162-167.
- Justine, dissociation of, 236-242.
- Lamont, Miss, and haunting of Petit Trianon, 8-12, 53-55.
- Lang, A., and crystal-gazing, 154-156.
- Langtry, J., apparition seen by, 22-26, 57.
- Liébeault, A. A., and hypnotic experiments, 300-301, 303-305.
- Liégeois, Doctor, hypnotic experiment by, 303-306.
- Lodge, O., and telepathy, 63, 100, 101;
- and Mrs. Piper, 150-153;
- and spiritistic hypothesis, 170.
- Lombroso, C., and Eusapia Paladino, 172-173, 199.
- Lumley, Mrs., case of, 49.
- M., Mrs., apparition seen by, 35-38, 55.
- Marcelle, dissociation of, 259-264, 283.
- Marks, F., telepathic experience of, 114-116.
- McKechnie, C. C., apparition seen by, 27-29.
- Miles, Miss, telepathic experiments by, 74-81.
- Mompesson ghost, 183.
- Morison, Miss, and haunting of Petit Trianon, 8-12, 53-55.
- Morselli, H., and telepathy, 64;
- and Eusapia Paladino, 173.
- Moses, W. S., experimental apparition seen by, 73-74;
- mediumship of, 182 and n.
- Muscle reading, 65.
- Myers, F. W. H., and telepathy, 100;
- alleged spirit messages from, 160, 161-163, 166-169;
- also mentioned, 308 n.
- Paladino, E., trance mediumship of, 171-173, 196 n, 199.
- Personality, cases of secondary and multiple, 259-289, 292-295;
- conflicting theories as to, 290-313.
- Petit Trianon, haunting of, 8-12, 53-55.
- Piper, Mrs., automatic writer, 149-154, 160, 168-169.
- Podmore, F., on telepathy, 100;
- and poltergeists, 190-194;
- also mentioned, 41.
- Poltergeists, 2, 182-195.
- Post-hypnotic commands, execution of, 298-306.
- Prince, M., and case of BCA, 265-289;
- hypnotic experiment by, 301-303;
- also mentioned, 52, 53, 298.
- Psychopathology, principles and methods of, 230-289.
- R., Mrs., case of, 301-303.
- Ramsden, Miss, telepathic experiments by, 74-81.
- Reeves, H. E., apparition seen by, 31-32.
- Reid, T., on personality, 291-292.
- Ribot, T., on personality, 307-308.
- Richet, C., and telepathy, 63.
- Robinson, Mrs., telepathic experience of, 113-114.
- Ruttan, Mrs., case reported by, 22-26.
- Sidgwick, H., alleged spirit messages from, 160, 168.
- Sinclair, B. F., telepathic experiment of, 42-43.
- Spiritism, statistics, 134;
- reasons for vitality of, 135-137;
- trance mediumship in, 137-143, 158-159, 171-182;
- hysteria and, 194-196.
- Stevenson, R. L., dream creation by, 211-214.
- Subconscious, the, 51-57, 64-69, 121-132, 158-159, 201-229, 232-289.
- Suggestion, in trance mediumship, 157-159, 196-197;
- in treatment of disease, 234-289;
- in experimental hypnosis, 297-306.
- Telepathy, experiments in, 42-46, 67-83, 119;
- cases of spontaneous, 58-63, 87-96, 106-118;
- and trance mediumship, 147-149, 153-156, 160-170;
- theories regarding, 84-86, 97-100.
- Thompson, Mrs., automatic writer, 160.
- Titus, Mrs., case of, 105-106.
- Tout, C. H., mediumistic experiences of, 158-159.
- Turner, G. L., case of, 49-51.
- Vaux-Royer, Mme., telepathic experiment by, 70-71.
- Verrall, Miss, automatic writer, 160, 168.
- Verrall, Mrs., automatic writer, 160, 162-169.
- Wallace, A. R., and mediumistic phenomena, 181.
- Wedgwood, Mrs., telepathic dream by, 106-108.
- Wesermann, Herr, telepathic experiment by, 43-45.
- Wesley, S., poltergeist experience of, 183.
- West, Mrs., telepathic dream by, 111-113.
- Woodds, Knocking Ghost of the, 17-22, 47.
- Wright, Miss, automatic messages by, 144-146, 148.
- Wyman, W. H., case reported by, 225-227.