455- The phenomena of natural somnambulism are produced spontaneously and independently of any known external cause, but among some persons gifted with a special physical organization they may be induced through the action of the magnetic agent. The state called magnetic somnambulism is no different than natural somnambulism except that it is artificially produced, whereas the other is spontaneous.
Natural somnambulism is a widely known occurrence and no one questions its reality, despite the marvelous character of its phenomena. So, why would magnetic somnambulism be any more extraordinary or irrational simply because of the fact that it is produced artificially like so many other things? It is said that charlatans have exploited it – one more reason for it not to be left in their hands. Once science finally takes full possession of it, charlatanism will have much less credit among the masses. Meanwhile, since both natural and artificial somnambulism are a fact – there is no arguing against fact – they are establishing themselves in spite of the ill will of some. This is occurring even in the realm of science, where it is entering through a multitude of side doors instead of through the front. And when it is fully established there, it will be necessary to grant it the right of citizenship.
For Spiritism, somnambulism is more than a physiological phenomenon; it is a light projected onto psychology. It is during somnambulism that the soul can be studied because that is when the soul appears incovered. One of the phenomena that characterize the soul is clairvoyance independent of the ordinary organs of sight. Those who contest this fact do so on the grounds that somnambulists do not see at all times and at the will of the experimenter, as they do with their eyes. Should we be surprised that the means being different, the effects are not the same? Would it be rational to seek identical effects when the instruments differ? The soul has its properties just as the eyes have theirs, and it is necessary to judge them in their own right and not by analogy.
The cause of clairvoyance in the magnetic somnambulist and natural somnambulist is identical: an attribute of the soul, a faculty inherent in every part of the incorporeal being existing within us, and having no limits beyond those assigned to the soul itself. Somnambulists can see every place where their soul can go, whatever the distance may be.
In the case of remote viewing, somnambulists do not see things from the place where their body is, as if they were looking through a telescope. They see them as present, as though they were actually at the place where those things exist, because, in reality, their soul is actually there. That is why their body seems non-existent and deprived of sensations until the moment in which the soul retakes possession of it. This partial separation of soul and body is an abnormal state that may last for a short or long time, but not indefinitely. This separation is what causes the fatigue that the body experiences after a certain time, especially when the soul is involved in some active pursuit.
Soul sight or spirit sight is not circumscribed and has no determined seat, which explains why somnambulists cannot assign one particular organ to it. They see because they see without knowing why or how; as spirits, sight for them does not have a specific site in the body. When they do refer to their body, sight seems to occur in the centers where the vital activity is greatest, especially in the brain, in the stomach area or in the organ which for them is the most intense point of connection between the spirit and the body.
The power of somnambulistic lucidity is not unlimited, however. Even when completely free, spirits are limited in their faculties and knowledge according to the degree of purification they have reached – even more so than when attached to and under the influence of matter. This is the reason why somnambulistic clairvoyance is neither universal nor infallible. Its infallibility should be relied on even less the more it is diverted from the purpose proposed by nature in order to be transformed into an object of curiosity and experimentation.
When the spirit of the somnambulist finds itself in the state of disengagement, it enters into communication more easily with other incarnate or discarnate spirits. This communication is established through the mutual contact of the fluids comprising their perispirits and enabling the transmission of thought, like an electric wire. Somnambulists, therefore, do not need thoughts to be articulated through words. Instead, they sense and divine them, rendering them eminently impressionable and accessible to the influences of the mental atmosphere around them. That is also why a large group of spectators – especially of on-lookers who are more or less ill-willed – essentially harms the development of their faculties, which close themselves off, so to speak, and do not unfold with full liberty as they would in more intimate or sympathetic surroundings. The presence of ill-willed or antipathetic persons produces an effect on them similar to when a hand touches a sensitive plant.51
51Sensitive plant: “A shrubby tropical American plant… having leaflets and leafstalks that fold and droop when touched” (American Heritage College Dictionary, 1979). – Tr.
Somnambulists see their own spirit and body at the same time. They are, so to speak, two beings that represent a double existence – spiritual and corporeal – blended together by the ties that unite them. Somnambulists do not always comprehend this situation, and such duality frequently makes them speak of themselves as though they were speaking of a stranger. What happens is that, in one moment, the corporeal being speaks to the spirit being, and in the next moment, it is the spirit being that speaks to the corporeal.
The spirit acquires an increase of knowledge and experience during each one of its corporeal existences. It partially forgets them during its reincarnation in dense matter, but it remembers them as a spirit. That is how certain somnambulists display knowledge superior to their degree of education and even superior to their apparent intellectual capacity. The possible intellectual and scientific underdevelopment of somnambulists in the waking state, however, does not allow one to prejudge anything about the knowledge they may reveal in the lucid state. According to the circumstances and objective they have in view, they may draw this knowledge from their own experience, from their clairvoyance of current events, or from the counsels they receive from other spirits. However, the accuracy with which they describe things depends on the degree of their spirit’s evolution.
Through the phenomena of somnambulism, whether natural or magnetically induced, Providence furnishes us undeniable evidence of the existence and independence of the soul, and enables us to witness the sublime spectacle of its emancipation. Moreover, through these phenomena it opens to us the book of our destiny. When somnambulists describe what is occurring at a distance, it is obvious that they really are seeing it, but not through the eyes of their body. They see themselves at that place after having been transported to it. There is something of themselves present there, and since that something is not their body, it can only be their soul or spirit. While humans get lost in the subtleties of an abstract and unintelligible metaphysics in pursuit of the causes of our mental existence, God routinely places in front of them and within reach the simplest and most patent means for the study of experimental psychology.
Ecstasy is the state in which the independence between the soul and body is expressed in the most sensitive way, and even becomes somewhat palpable.
In both dreams and somnambulism, the soul wanders through terrestrial worlds, whereas in ecstasy, it enters an unknown world, that of ethereal spirits, with whom it communicates, without, however, overstepping certain bounds – if it did, the soul would completely break the ties connecting it to the body. A resplendent and entirely new brilliance surrounds this soul. Harmonies unknown on earth enrapture it, an indefinable well-being permeates it, the spirit enjoys a foretaste of celestial beatitude, and it may be said that it has set one foot on the threshold of eternity.
In the state of ecstasy, the nullification of the body is almost complete. It only maintains organic life per se and it feels that the soul is connected to it by only a single thread, which with any further effort would break forever. In this state, all earthly thoughts disappear in order to give way to the pure sentiment that is the very essence of our immaterial being. Entirely enraptured by that sublime contemplation, ecstatics regard life as a momentary pause. For them, good and evil, and the crude joys and hardships of this world are no more than the futile incidents of a journey of which they feel happy to see the end.
The same thing happens with ecstatics as with somnambulists: their lucidity may be more purified or less so, and how fully they comprehend things depends on the degree to which their spirit has evolved. At times, there is more exaltation than true lucidity among ecstatics, or rather, their exaltation impairs their lucidity. That is why their revelations are frequently a mixture of truths and errors, of sublime and absurd – even ridiculous – things. Imperfect spirits often take advantage of this exaltation – always a source of frailty – in order to dominate the ecstatic who does not know how to master it. To do so, these spirits produce appearances that will keep the ecstatic attached to the ideas and prejudices of his or her waking state. This is an obstacle, but not all cases are similar. It is our responsibility to coolly judge and weigh their revelations in the balance of reason.
The emancipation of the soul sometimes even manifests in the waking state and produces the phenomenon called second sight, which gives to those possessing it the faculty of seeing, hearing and feeling beyond the limits of their normal senses. They perceive things at distance wherever their soul may extend its action, and they see, so to speak, through their ordinary sight, as a type of mirage.
At the moment in which the phenomenon of second sight is produced, the physical state is considerably modified: the eyes become somewhat hazy, looking without seeing, and the whole physiognomy reflects a type of exaltation. It is obvious that the organs of sight are not involved in this phenomenon, because the vision has been seen to persist even with the eyes shut.
This faculty seems as natural as that of normal sight for those who possess it. They consider it a normal attribute of their being and it does not seem exceptional to them. Generally, forgetfulness follows this temporary lucidity, the remembrance of which becomes more and more vague, finally disappearing like a dream.
The power of second sight ranges from a confused sensation to a clear and distinct perception of things present or absent. In its rudimentary state, it gives to some individuals tact, astuteness and a kind of sureness in their actions, which may manifest itself as an ability to evaluate, on first contact, another person’s moral standing. When this second sight is more developed, it awakens presentiments, and when developed even further, it shows events that have already happened or that are in the process of happening.
Natural and artificial somnambulism, ecstasy and second sight are no more than varieties or modifications of effects arising from the same cause. Like dreams, such phenomena belong to the natural order, and that is why they have existed throughout time. History shows us that they have been known about and even exploited since remotest antiquity and in them may be found the explanation of an infinite number of events that preconceived ideas have regarded as supernatural.
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