If the phenomena we are considering had been limited only to the movement of objects, they would have remained within the domain of the physical sciences – as we have stated – but that is not what happened. They were destined to place us on the trail of events of a strange order. It was soon discovered (we do not know at whose initiative) that the impulse given to the objects was not simply the product of some blind mechanical force; rather, an intelligent cause was behind in the movement. This opened the way to an entirely new field of observation – the veil could be lifted on many mysteries. Was there actually an intelligent power involved, however? If so, what was it? What was its nature? What was its origin? Was it superior to humankind? Such were the other questions that derived from the first.
The first intelligent manifestations occurred by means of tables that moved and struck the floor with one leg a certain number of times, thereby responding to the question asked, according to what had been agreed on as to the number that would indicate either “yes” or “no”. Even here there was nothing very convincing for the skeptics, since it could have been seen as a chance effect. Later, however, more highly developed responses were received using the letters of the alphabet. By striking the floor a certain number of times for each letter, the table formed words and sentences in response to the questions. The correctness of the responses and their congruence with the question caused astonishment. When asked about its nature, the mysterious being who gave the responses declared that it was a spirit; it stated its name and furnished other sorts of information. This should be seen as a highly important occurrence. No one individual in particular had ever even thought of spirits as a way to explain the phenomenon; instead, it was the phenomenon itself that revealed the term. Hypotheses are frequently formed in the physical sciences to serve as a basis for reasoning, but that did not happen in this case.
Communicating in this manner, however, was wearisome and inconvenient. One of these invisible beings – and this is also a noteworthy occurrence – suggested another. This particular spirit advised fitting a pencil to a small basket or other object.
When placed on a sheet of paper, the basket was moved by the same hidden power that had turned the tables. However, instead of a simple regular movement, the pencil wrote by itself, forming words, sentences and entire discourses of many pages dealing with the deepest questions of philosophy, morality, metaphysics, psychology, etc., and as quickly as though written by hand.
This suggestion was given in America, France and several other countries simultaneously. Here are the terms in which it was given in Paris on June 10, 1853 to one of the most fervent disciples of the Doctrine, who, for many years – since 1849 – had been occupied with the evocation of spirits: “Go into the next room and get that little basket; attach a pencil to it and then place it on a sheet of paper with your fingers on the rim.” This was done and after a few moments the basket began to move and the pencil legibly wrote this sentence: “I expressly forbid you to tell anyone what I have just told you; the next time I write, I will write better.”
Since the object to which the pencil is fitted is merely an instrument, its nature and form do not matter; the most convenient means was sought for, and it was thus that many individuals began to use a planchette.8
The basket or planchette will not move, however, except under the influence of certain persons gifted with a special ability. These are called mediums, that is, intermediaries between spirits and humans. The conditions that produce this ability are linked both to physical and moral causes that are still imperfectly understood. Mediums are of all ages, of both sexes and of all degrees of intellectual development. Moreover, the faculty can be developed further by exercising it.
8“A small triangular or heart-shaped board supported by two casters and a pencil or stylus that, when moved by the fingertips across a surface, supposedly writes clairvoyant messages or subconscious thoughts. (Webster’s, op. cit.) – Tr.
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