2 THE INFLUENCE OF THE MILIEU
Although spiritist theories may be drawn from the 'communications' of alleged 'spirits', they are always closely related to ideas current in the milieu in which they are formulated. This strongly supports the thesis we have advanced, namely, that the real source of these 'communications' is to be found in the 'subconscious' of the medium and of the others present. Let us recall that a kind of combination of the 'subconscious' minds of those present may be formed so as to give at least the illusion of a 'collective entity'. We say 'illusion' because only the occultists, with their mania for secing living beings everywhere and in everything (although they reproach religion for its anthropomorphism!) let themselves be deceived by appearances to the point of believing that a real being is in question. Whatever the case, the formation of this 'collective entity' explains the fact noted by all spiritists that the 'communications' are clearer and more coherent in the measure that the séances are more regular and held with the same participants. The participants also insist on these conditions, although without knowing the reason for them, and they often hesitate to admit new members into already constituted groups, preferring to have newcomers form new groups. Besides, a gathering with too many present does not lend itself to the establishment of solid and durable ties among the members. The influence of those in attendance may be quite far-reaching and may be manifested in other ways than by 'communications', if the Russian spiritist Aksakoff can be believed. According to him, aspects of these 'materializations' are modified each time new members are brought into séances where
these 'materializations' are produced, even while continuing to present themselves under the same identity. For him, this fact is explained by borrowings of the 'materialized spirits' from the 'perispirits' of the living; for us, however, we can see in this the actualization of a kind of 'composite image' to which each one contributes certain traits, a fusion being effected between the productions of the subconscious minds of diverse individuals.
Of course we do not exclude the possibility of action by extraneous influences, but generally these influences, whatever they may be, must be consonant with the tendencies of the groups where they are manifested. In fact, it is necessary that they be attracted by certain affinities; the spiritists, ignoring the laws by which these influences act, are compelled to receive whatever presents itself and are unable to determine these things according to their own will. Moreover, we have noted that the 'wandering influences' cannot properly speaking be regarded as conscious by themselves; it is with the aid of human 'subconsciousnesses' that they form a temporary consciousness, so that from the point of view of intelligent manifestations, the result is exactly the same as if there were only the action of exteriorized forces of the participants. The only exception to note here concerns the reflexive consciousness which can remain immanent in psychic elements that have belonged to human beings but which are in the process of disintegration. But the responses that come from this kind of source generally have a fragmentary and incoherent character, so much so that the spiritists themselves pay them little heed. Nevertheless, it is only this that authentically comes from the dead, while their 'spirit', or their real being, assuredly is not there at all.
Something else must be taken into account, the action of which may be very important: the elements borrowed not from those in immediate attendance but from the general ambience. The existence of tendencies or mental currents of which the strength is predominant for a period and for a given country, is commonly known, at least in a vague way, so that what we wish to convey is easily understood. These currents act more or less on everyone, but their influence is particularly strong on those who may be called 'sensitive', and among mediums in whom this quality is carried to its highest
degree. On the other hand, with normal individuals, it is chiefly in the area of the 'subconscious' that this kind of influence is exercised. It is more clearly asserted when the content of the 'subconscious' appears outwardly, which is precisely what happens in spiritist séances; and many of the improbable banalities displayed in the 'communications' received in spiritist séances must be traced to this origin. In this order of things there may even be material that might seem of greater interest; there are ideas which are popularly said to be 'in the air', and it is known that some scientific discoveries have been made simultaneously by several persons working independently of one another. If such results have never been obtained by the mediums it is because, even if they receive an idea in this manner, they are quite incapable of drawing the proper conclusions. All they can do is express it in a more or less ridiculous, almost incomprehensible form, but one which will be enough to excite the admiration of the ignorant among whom spiritism recruits the great majority of its adherents. This explains 'communications' of a scientific or philosophical allure, which the spiritists present as proving the truth of their doctrine when the medium, being either ignorant or unlettered, seems obviously incapable of having invented such things. We must add further that in many cases these 'communications' are quite simply the reflection of casual reading, perhaps misunderstood, and not necessarily that of the medium. The ideas or mental tendencies of which we speak act somewhat like 'wandering influences', a term so comprehensive as to include in its scope the former as a special class. They are not necessarily incorporated into the 'subconscious' of individuals; they may also remain as more or less inchoate 'fluid' currents (though this is not to say that they are anything like the 'fluid' currents of the occultists), and nevertheless be manifested in spiritist séances. In fact, it is not only the medium but the entire group that places itself in a state of passivity or, if it be preferred, of 'receptivity'; it is this which permits it to attract 'wandering influences', since a group could never capture these influences by exerting a positive action on them as a magician does. This passivity, with all its consequences, is the greatest of all the dangers of spiritism; it is necessary to add to this the disequilibrium and the partial dissociation that these practices provoke in the constituent
elements of the human being, which are not negligible even with those who are not mediums. The fatigue experienced after a séance by those who have attended is evidence of this, and the long-term effects can be most deadly.
There is another point that demands particular attention. There are organizations that are quite unlike spiritist groups in that they try to provoke and maintain certain mental currents consciously and voluntarily. If one considers such an organization on the one hand, and a spiritist group on the other, it is easy to see what can be produced: one of them will emit a current and the other will receive it; thus there is a kind of 'psychic telegraphy' is established, especially if the organization envisaged is not only capable of producing the current but also of directing it. An explanation of this sort also applies to the phenomena of 'telepathy', but here the communication is established between two individuals and not between two collectivities, and in addition is most often quite accidental and momentary, not being willed by either party. This relates to what we have said regarding the real origins of spiritism and the role that living men could have played in it without seeming to have had the least part. Such a movement is eminently suited to the propagation of certain ideas, the provenance of which may remain completely unknown even to those who participate. The disadvantage is that the instrument thus created may also be at the mercy of any other kind of influence, even influences opposed to those originally at work. We cannot dwell further on these things nor give a more complete theory of the centers of 'mental broadcasting' to which we have alluded; even though it would be difficult, it may be that we shall do so on some other occasion. We will add only this in order to avert any false interpretation: when an explanation of 'telepathy' is in question, the psychists willingly appeal to something that more or less resembles 'Herzian waves', an analogy that may at least help represent these things in some measure, if it does not aid in understanding them fully. But if one goes beyond the limits within which such an analogy is valid, nothing remains but an image almost as gross as that of 'fluids', notwithstanding its more 'scientific' appearance. In reality, the forces in question are essentially different from those of the physical order.
Let us return to the influence of the milieu considered in its most general aspect. This influence may previously have acted on the spiritists themselves, or be embodied in their séances, which accounts for most of the variations that the spiritist theories undergo. Thus the 'spirits' are polygamists among the Mormons and in other American circles they are 'neo-Malthusians'. It is certain that the attitudes of various splinter groups toward reincarnation is to be explained similarly. In fact, we have seen how in France this idea of reincarnation found an ambiance quite disposed to receive and develop it. If on the contrary Anglo-Saxon spiritists rejected it, this, according to some, is because of their biblical conceptions. Actually, this does not seem entirely sufficient in itself as the causal explanation, for the French spiritists invoke the Gospel in favor of reincarnation, and, especially in Protestant circles, the most fantastic interpretations are given free rein. If English and American 'spirits' have stated that reincarnation is not in accordance with the Bible (where it is not mentioned for the good reason that it is a completely modern idea), it is because this view represents the thinking of those who interrogated them; were the situation reversed, they surely would have expressed quite another opinion and would not have been embarrassed to cite texts in its support, for the reincarnationists in fact do so. And there is something better still: it appears that in America, in particular, reincarnation is rejected because the possibility of rebirth as a negro is horrifying to whites! [1] If American 'spirits' have put forward such a motive, it is not only because they are not completely 'disengaged' from their earthly prejudices, but, as the French spiritists contend, because they are only reflecting the mentality of those who receive their 'messages', that is to say the popular mentality of Americans. The importance accorded such considerations shows how far the ridiculous sentimentalism common to all spiritists can be carried. If today there are Anglo-Saxon spiritists who accept reincarnation, this is due to the influence of Theosophist ideas. Spiritism never does anything but follow mental fashions; it can in no case give birth to them, by reason of the passive attitude we have noted. Moreover,
the most general theories of spiritism are those of modernity itself, such as, for example, the belief in progress and evolution. All the rest comes from more particular currents acting in less extended circles, but especially and most often in those which can be regarded as 'average' in terms of intelligence and education. From this point of view we should note the role played by ideas that are spread by works popularizing science. Many spiritists belong to the class to which these works are directed; and if there are others of a still lower mental level, the same ideas either reach them through others or are simply drawn from the ambience. Ideas of a loftier character are not subject to the same intense diffusion and thus are never reflected in the spiritist 'communications'; but this is a matter for satisfaction because the 'psychic mirror' that is the medium can only deform them, and this not to anyone's advantage, since the spiritists are perfectly incapable of appreciating anything that goes beyond current conceptions.
When a spiritist school has reached the point of putting together some semblance of doctrine, fixing certain main lines of belief, the variations within this school no longer have any bearing except on secondary points; but within these limits they continue to follow the same laws. It may happen that 'communications' then continue to express a mentality reflecting the time when the school was established, because this mentality has remained that of its adherents even though it no longer corresponds entirely with the ambicnce. This is what happened with Kardecism, which has always retained the traits of the socialist milieux of 1848 in which it arose. It should also be noted that the spirit that animated these milicux has not entirely disappeared, even outside spiritist circles, and that it has survived under various forms in all the varieties 'of 'humanitarianism' that have subsequently developed. Kardecism, however, has remained closer to the old forms while other stages in this development have 'crystallized' in 'neo-spiritualist' movements of more recent date. Besides, democratic tendencies are generally inherent in spiritism and even in a more or less accentuated way in all 'neospiritism'. This is so because spiritism, faithfully reflecting the modern mind in this as in so many other things, is and can only be a product of the democratic mentality. As has been said, the 'religion
of democracy is the heresy in which democracy can only end as religion. [2] As for other 'neo-spiritualist' schools, they are likewise specifically modern creations, influenced directly or indirectly by spiritism itself. But those which admit a pseudo-initiation, however illusory, and thus a certain hierarchy, are less logical than spiritism, for here we have, willy-nilly, something clearly contrary to the democratic spirit. In this respect, but in a slightly different order of ideas, it is worth noting certain contradictory attitudes such as those of contemporary Masonry (especially in France and in the socalled Latin countries) which, even while ferociously maintaining the most democratic claims, nevertheless carefully maintain the ancient hierarchy without sensing any incompatibility. It is precisely this unconsciousness of contradiction which especially merits the attention of those who study the characteristics of the contemporary mentality; but this unconsciousness is manifested nowhere more conclusively than among the spiritists and those who have some affinities for them.
In certain respects the observation of what takes place in spiritist circles can provide very clear indications as to tendencies prevailing at a given time in, for example, the political arena. Thus for a long time the majority of French spiritists remained attached to socialist notions strongly colored by internationalism. Several years before the war, [3] however, there was a change and the general orientation became radical in character with accentuated patriotic tendencies. Only anticlericalism remained unchanged. Today, internationalism has reappeared in various forms; in circles such as these, naturally, notions about the League of Nations arouse the greatest enthusiasm. Moreover, those among the working class who have been won over to spiritism have returned to socialism, but socialism in a new mode quite different from that of 1848 which was after all a socialism of the 'petty bourgeoisie'. Finally, we know that a great deal of spiritism exists in communist circles [4] and we are convinced that
there all the 'spirits' must preach Bolshevism, for unless they do they cannot gain the least credibility.
In considering these 'communications', we have in view only those that involve no fraud, the others obviously having no interest. Certainly, most spiritists are in good faith and only the professional mediums are a priori suspect, even when they provide patent proofs of their faculties. Moreover, the real tendencies of spiritist circles are more fully revealed in small private groups than in the séances of more renowned mediums. Further, one must know how to distinguish between general tendencies and those proper to such and such a group. The last named tendencies reveal themselves especially in the choice of names by which the 'spirits' present themselves, especially the 'guides' recognized by the group. These of course are usually the names of illustrious personages, which would lead one to believe that these latter manifest themselves much more willingly than others, that they have acquired a kind of ubiquity (an analogous comment will have to be made regarding reincarnation), and that the intellectual qualities they possessed when in this life have been grievously diminished. In a group wherein religiosity was the dominant note, the 'guides' were Bossuet [5] and Pius IX; in others priding themselves on literature, the 'guides' are great writers, among whom Victor Hugo is most often encountered, no doubt because he was himself a spiritist. There is something curious about this, however: with Hugo, everything, no matter what, was expressed in perfectly correct verse, which agrees with our explanation. We say 'no matter what' because he sometimes received 'communications' from fantastic entities, such as 'the shadow from the tomb' (one need only refer to his works to find the origin of these notions). [6] But among the general run of spiritists, Hugo seems to
have forgotten even the most elementary rules of prosody-when, that is, those who question him are themselves ignorant of them. But there are less hapless cases: a former officer (of whom there are many among the spiritists) who gained renown by his experiments in 'photographing thought'-the results of which are questionable to say the least-is firmly convinced that his daughter is inspired by Victor Hugo. This young woman in fact has an uncommon facility in versification and has even acquired a certain notoriety; still, this proves absolutely nothing, unless one agrees with the spiritists that natural predispositions are due to influences by 'spirits', and that all who show certain talents from their youth are mediums without knowing it. Other spiritists, on the contrary, see in these same phenomena only an argument in favor of reincarnation. But let us return to the signatories of these 'communications'; we cite the views of a psychist who is not suspected of partiality, Dr L. Moutin:
A man of science will not be satisfied and will not accept these idiotic communications of Alexander the Great, Caesar, Christ, the Holy Virgin, St Vincent de Paul, Napoleon I, Victor Hugo, etc., which is precisely what a throng of pseudo-mediums maintain. The abuse of great names is detestable, for it engenders scepticism. We have often demonstrated to these mediums that they are deceived by asking the so-called spirits who are present, questions they should know but of which the mediums are ignorant. Thus, for example, Napoleon I no longer remembers Waterloo; St Vincent de Paul does not know a word of Latin; Dante does not understand Italian; Larmartine and Alfred de Musset are incapable of two lines of verse. Does catching these spirits red-handed in their ignorance and pointing the finger of truth at these mediums shake their belief? No, for the spirit-guide maintains that we are in bad faith and that we seek to impede a great mission, a mission that has fallen to the lot of this medium. [0]
We have known many of these great missionaries who have ended their mission in mental institutions! [7]
Papus, for his part, had this to say:
When St John, the Virgin Mary, or Jesus Christ come with their communications, they seek among those present a Catholic believer, for it is from his brain and nowhere else that the directing idea originates. It is the same, as I have seen, when d'Artagnan presents himself: a fervent follower of Alexandre Dumas is involved.
We only have two corrections to make: first, 'brain' must be replaced by 'subconscious' (these 'neo-spiritualists' sometimes speak like pure materialists); second, as believing Catholics are rather rare among spiritist groups, although 'communications' from Christ or the saints are not at all rare, one must speak only of an influence of Catholic ideas subsisting 'subconsciously' even among those who believe themselves completely 'emancipated' from them-a rather important nuance. Papus continues in these words:
When Victor Hugo writes thirteen-meter verse, or gives culinary advice, when Madame de Giradin declares her posthumous love for an American medium, [8] there are ninety chances out of a hundred that it is an error of interpretation. The origin of the impulsive idea must be sought much closer to hand. [9]
We say flatly that in these cases and in all others without exception there is always an error of interpretation on the part of the spiritists. But in these instances the real origin of the 'communications' can be discovered more easily. All one need do is make a modest inquiry into the reading matter, tastes, and habitual preoccupations of those present. Of course, the 'communications' that are most extraordinary by reason of their content or their supposed provenance are not those that the spiritists welcome with the least respect and eagerness. These people are completely blinded by their preconceived ideas and their credulity seems to have no limits, while their intelligence and their discernment are very restricted; we speak of the greater number, for there are degrees in blindness. The fact of accepting the spiritist theories may give proof of stupidity or simply of ignorance. Those in the first case are incurable and can only be pitied; those in the second category may be somewhat different, and one can try to show them their error, at least if this is not so deeply rooted as to have marked them with an irremediable mental deformity.