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Stainton-Moses - extract from the Spiritualist describing the seances
Identifier
015627
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
This article may lend credence to the theory that it was Dr Speer who controlled Moses. None of the things happen unless Speer is there and Speer seems to be very protective of his charge - some of this ‘evidence’ is third hand – relayed by him presumably to garner interest. Did he charge for these seances? I suspect he did, in which case he is acting like a minder – Moses is the gullible accomplice to Dr Speer’s business venture.
The spirit lights and table lifting have not been witnessed, they just add to the overall air of magic. But there seems to be definite inter composer communication going on between Moses and Dr Speer and this article lends credence to the argument that Moses was the innocent party – as he received information which contradicted his theological beliefs. In his other books he appears to be quite upset at times about the evidence he is getting – but he writes it down nonetheless because he himself appears to believe it comes from ‘elsewhere’.
Dr Speer was starting a new religion – ‘spiritualism’ and he wanted Moses to be the unwitting front man – a vicar – someone who would add a bit of authenticity to the attempts at conversion. There is something a little sinister about all of this. The last sentence is quite telling.
A description of the experience
Spirit Identity – William Stainton Moses
extract from The Spiritualist December 15th 1873
Recently we have been present at some séances at te residence of Dr Stanhope T Speer, Douglas House, Alexandra Road, St John’s Wood, at which some most interesting manifestations too place, through the mediumship of a gentleman in private life [Moses].
He obtains both physical and mental manifestations of a high order. Raps, tiltings of the table, the carriage of small solid objects from one room or house to another, are common phenomena in connection with his mediumship.
Large spirit lights are seen through his mediumship and the direct spirit voice is in the incipient stages of development. He also obtains direct spirit music – that is to say, one of the spirits usually plays, in the air, upon what sounds like a stringed musical instrument, when there is no musical instrument of mortal make in the room.
Like most other mediums, this gentleman finds that uncongenial company reduces the manifestations to a minimum; they are moderately strong in ordinary circle and of great power when none but intimate friends and no new influences are present, the spiritual harmony reacting in the usual manner upon the manifestations.
So strongly is this fact recognised, that he has been advised by the communicating intelligences to refrain from all attempts to elicit phenomena, except in the circle with which he habitually sits.
The wisdom of this advice is shown by the fact, repeatedly made clear, that any attempt to introduce new elements is attended by failure of the phenomena, as well as by the most serious physical consequences to himself.
An unsuccessful séance will leave its mark on him for some days. It is to be greatly regretted that under these conditions, it is impossible that the results of his mediumship should be experimentally known to a great number who earnestly desire to witness them.
But the most valuable features of his mediumship are not seen in the physical manifestations, but in the higher developments of trance speaking and automatic writing. Whenever he has been entranced in our presence, the whole room has been in a state of incessant vibration, which could not only be felt but heard; the vibrations go on steadily during the whole of the entrancement. Having never seen this phenomenon in connection with the trances of other mediums, we asked the spirits the reason of it. They replied that there was much surplus power during his entrancement and their method of expending the surplus caused the physical vibrations.
He communication obtained through his writing mediumship are of the greatest value. His handwriting changes with every different spirit who controls him and these spirits, who are chiefly literary and theological men of past ages, give their names, the particulars of their earth life, extracts from their writings and on enquiry and search at the British Museum Library and elsewhere, their statements are found to be true.
The medium criticises and questions all the results of his own mediumship as closely as any scientific man would do. He says that he is assured that the messages come from individuals outside himself, the facts, arguments and lines of thought being foreign to his own and often strongly and seriously at variance with his own opinions, especially on theological matters.
Although the facts sated he felt sure to be quite new to him, yet, he argued ‘how can I be perfectly certain that they were not once in my mind and afterwards forgotten?’