Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft

by the Neo-Platonists, or Gnostics of Alexandria, but the great principles of the doctrine, however, were taught hundreds of years prior to the mystical school establish

l on earth, until it is fully purged of evil, and becomes fit to be absorbed into the Deity whence it came, gaining thereby Nirvana, or unconsciousness." Some Theosophists claim th

tes in occult lore, being able to cause apparitions of themselves in places where their bodies were not; and that they not only appeared but communicated intelligently with those whom they thus visited and themselves perceived what was going on where their phantoms appeared." This phantasmal appearance she called the projection of the astral form. Many of the phenomena witnessed in the pr

golden vaults the weird signs attract attention, but whose secret meaning is never penetrated by the idle gazers, they have been seen, but seldom recognized. Historical memoirs have recorded their presence in the brilliantly illuminated salons of European aristocracy

ty was organized in Ne

"Madame Blavatsky and Her Theosophy," spea

were not mere symbols, but accurate portraits of the 'Elementals.' He professed to be able to evoke and control them. He announced that he had discovered the secret 'formularies' of the old Egyptian magicians. Plainly, the Theosophical Socie

ed that the adept left behind him as a souvenir of his presence, a turban, which was exhibited on all occasions by the enterprising Hierophant. William Q. Judge, a noted writer on Spiritualism, who had met the Madame at Irving Place in the winter of 1874, joined

t before anything had been accomplished a strangely foreign Hindoo, dressed in the peculiar garb of his country, came before them, and, leaving a package, vanished, and no one knew whither he came or went. On ope

WILLIAM

ourtesy of the N

illing to embrace anything that savors of the mysterious, however absurd the tenets of the new doctrine may be. The objects of

Brotherhood of Humanity without disti

ryan and other Eastern litera

s of Nature and the ps

enough. Oriental scholars and scientists have been working in this field for many years. But the investigations, as conducted under

ous, ghostly appearances of Mahatmas were seen, and messages were constantly received by supernatural means. One of the apartments of the bungalow was denominated the Occult Room, and in this room was a sort of cupboard against the wall, known as the Shrine. In this shrine the ghostly missives were received and from it were sent. Skeptics were convinced, and occult lodges spread rapidly over India among the dreamy, marvel-loving natives. But affairs were not destined to sail smoothly. There came a rift within the lute-Madame Blavatsky quarreled with her trusted lieutenants, the Coulombs! In May, 1884, M. and Mme. Coulomb were expelled from the Society by the General Council, during the absence of the High Priestess and Col. Olcott in Europe. The Coulombs, who had grown weary of a life of imposture, or were

Madame Blavatsky and her co-adjutors are unworthy of credence. In his volume he gives diagrams of the trap-doors and machinery of the shrine and the occult room, and facsimiles of Madame Blavatsky's handwriting, which proved to be iden

th other persons to produce by ordinary means a series of a

received, was elaborately arranged with a view to the secret insertion of letters and other objects thr

xistence of Mahatmas are to be explained as due either (a) to deliberate deception carried out by or at the instigation of Madame Bl

onfederates, the cleverest among them being Madame Coulomb. Sliding panels, secret doors, and many disguises were the

iries, I found that in all cases I could hear of, the mental query was such as might easily have been anticipated by Madame Blavatsky; indeed, the query was whether the questioner would meet with success in his endeavor to become a pupil of the Mahatma, and the answer was frequently of the indefinite and oracular sort. In some cases the envelop

ceiling, supposed to be a communication from some Mahatma. In all such cases conjuring was proved to have been used-the deus ex machina being either a s

h in cipher to one of her numerous correspondents, East Indian, for example, to write a letter in reply to a certain query, and post it at a particular date. Then she would calculate the arrival of the letter, often to a nicety. Her ability as a conversationalist enabled her to adroitly

aphs of people far away by a sort of spiritual photography, involving no other mechanic

n London, a scientist published the following expla

chlorine, and this chlorine bleaches the brown silver particles of which the photograph consists, by changing them to chloride of silver. The mercuric chloride becomes mercurous chloride. This body is white, and therefore invisible on white paper. Now, several substances will color this white mercurous chloride black. Ammonia and hypo-sulphite of soda will do this. In the magic photographs before mentioned the blotting p