1921
By Rev. E. J. Pace
Director of Missionary Course, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago
TEXT — The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. — 2 Cor. 13:14
In the familiar words of the apostolic benediction, so called, without which no assembly of Christians seems fittingly dismissed, reverberates the supreme fact of the Christian revelation, namely that God exists a trinity of persons in a unity of nature. It is one God, and yet there are three persons; not three Gods, nor yet three manifestations of the one God, as the religion of the Hindoos, but three persons, each distinct from the other two, and yet bound to both by mutual bonds of complementary life and love relationships.
We grant there is mystery here. But where in this universe will we encounter no mystery? When we can explain one of the manifold mysteries that are locked up in a single drop of water, or in one beam of light, we will then demand an explanation of this, the profoundest mystery of all, the tri-unity of the one Godhead.
So, let it be repeated, we have here a fact of revelation, and of the Christian revelation, mind you, a fact which, while not opposed to reason, nevertheless transcends reason. Science unaided never could have discovered it; and yet when once the fact is revealed, lo, even science comes laden with presumptive evidence from myriad sources; and not only so, but the artist from his palette, and the musician from his keys, all of them come bearing united testimony that underneath all the phenomena of nature, as well as all the harmonies of both light and sound, lies the number three.
Every schoolboy knows how with three primary colors — red, yellow and blue — he can make any other color. Indeed, every imaginable tint or hue in the universe is but the blending of these three undivided colors. And it does not take long for the lassie at the piano stool to learn that all the infinite range of possibilities in the harmony of sound results from the blending of three primary triads of notes. The scientist in his eager search for unifying laws cannot get less than three categories in which to cast all physical phenomena. These three categories are substance, form and force. And how strikingly suggestive these three! For what have we in substance but the Father? What have we in form but the Son, who is the "express image of the Father's substance (Heb. 1:3); and what have we in force but the Spirit, by whose power all effects in creation and redemption are wrought!
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Friday, June 8, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Religion, Science, and Facts
1911
Science Does Not Stop With What Can Be Demonstrated
"Nothing else has to do with so many facts and so great facts as religion," says the Advance of Chicago, "and to call only those things fact which physical science considers and to ignore the facts which fall within the sphere of religious faith and action is to be blind to the most important thing of life.
"What is more absurd than to see in the wall which houses a hospital a fact and not to see a fact in the spirit which prompted and pervades the institution, or to see a fact in the chemical change produced by an experiment in a laboratory and not to see a fact in the change wrought in a community or an individual life by a revival or other spiritual influences?
"But it is said that Christian faith reaches beyond facts into the unknown. This is not disputed. There is no need to dispute it. Science does the same thing. It never yet discovered a fact great or small which did not carry it over into the unknown. Indeed, notwithstanding all the claims to the contrary, science does not confine itself to facts. 'Any one who is practically acquainted with scientific work,' says Mr. Huxley, 'is aware that those who refuse to go beyond fact rarely ever get so far as fact.'
"Indeed, science brings its followers at last to the borders of the unknown, where hope and fear quiver at the thought of the mystery beyond. But here faith takes the believer up in its arms and bids him look to the everlasting Father, who holds all things in his hands."
Science Does Not Stop With What Can Be Demonstrated
"Nothing else has to do with so many facts and so great facts as religion," says the Advance of Chicago, "and to call only those things fact which physical science considers and to ignore the facts which fall within the sphere of religious faith and action is to be blind to the most important thing of life.
"What is more absurd than to see in the wall which houses a hospital a fact and not to see a fact in the spirit which prompted and pervades the institution, or to see a fact in the chemical change produced by an experiment in a laboratory and not to see a fact in the change wrought in a community or an individual life by a revival or other spiritual influences?
"But it is said that Christian faith reaches beyond facts into the unknown. This is not disputed. There is no need to dispute it. Science does the same thing. It never yet discovered a fact great or small which did not carry it over into the unknown. Indeed, notwithstanding all the claims to the contrary, science does not confine itself to facts. 'Any one who is practically acquainted with scientific work,' says Mr. Huxley, 'is aware that those who refuse to go beyond fact rarely ever get so far as fact.'
"Indeed, science brings its followers at last to the borders of the unknown, where hope and fear quiver at the thought of the mystery beyond. But here faith takes the believer up in its arms and bids him look to the everlasting Father, who holds all things in his hands."
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Death Merely a Transition is "Word" of Dead Boston Pastor
1921
While the experiences of Dr. Elliott and the Braintree business man have been advanced by British spiritists as valid physical proof of the existence of another world (involving a guardian angel and visions of the crucified Christ), psychic manifestations are still being reported in the United States as competent evidence.
In Boston, Mass., a series of lectures are being delivered by what is represented as the personalities of various men and women who have died, through the body of the Rev. F. A. Wiggin, pastor of Unity Church. The first of these lectures was given recently when Dr. George C. Lorimer, late pastor of Tremont Temple, who died in 1904, supposedly spoke.
There was nothing uncanny about this service. After congregational singing and a prayer, Rev. Mr. Wiggin stepped forward, closed his eyes and announced his text from the seventeenth verse of the seventh chapter of Corinthians — "As the Lord hath called every one so let him walk."
It was Rev. Dr. Lorimer who was now talking through Mr. Wiggin. As Dr. Wiggin lifted his head the whole gesture was undeniably reminiscent of Rev. Dr. Lorimer, according to those who knew that well known pastor.
But "Dr. Lorimer" made no reference to the unusual fact that he was addressing a Boston audience for the first time since he had died in 1904, nor that he found anything new and strange in the Boston of 1921, nor to the fact that the world had been through one of the greatest wars of all times. He "spoke" as he might have spoken in 1900, using such references and analogies in the application of his text and the development of his theme as were common at that time.
"Dr. Lorimer" did assure his hearers that death meant nothing except a sort of transition into another world, in which men continue the work of this world in much the same way as they had worked and lived here. And Christ was just as much of a force for good and just as much of a mystery there as here.
—Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jan. 1, 1922, section 4, page 2.
Comment: That's a very interesting statement right at the end, that after the transition into another world Christ is just as much a mystery there as here.
While the experiences of Dr. Elliott and the Braintree business man have been advanced by British spiritists as valid physical proof of the existence of another world (involving a guardian angel and visions of the crucified Christ), psychic manifestations are still being reported in the United States as competent evidence.
In Boston, Mass., a series of lectures are being delivered by what is represented as the personalities of various men and women who have died, through the body of the Rev. F. A. Wiggin, pastor of Unity Church. The first of these lectures was given recently when Dr. George C. Lorimer, late pastor of Tremont Temple, who died in 1904, supposedly spoke.
There was nothing uncanny about this service. After congregational singing and a prayer, Rev. Mr. Wiggin stepped forward, closed his eyes and announced his text from the seventeenth verse of the seventh chapter of Corinthians — "As the Lord hath called every one so let him walk."
It was Rev. Dr. Lorimer who was now talking through Mr. Wiggin. As Dr. Wiggin lifted his head the whole gesture was undeniably reminiscent of Rev. Dr. Lorimer, according to those who knew that well known pastor.
But "Dr. Lorimer" made no reference to the unusual fact that he was addressing a Boston audience for the first time since he had died in 1904, nor that he found anything new and strange in the Boston of 1921, nor to the fact that the world had been through one of the greatest wars of all times. He "spoke" as he might have spoken in 1900, using such references and analogies in the application of his text and the development of his theme as were common at that time.
"Dr. Lorimer" did assure his hearers that death meant nothing except a sort of transition into another world, in which men continue the work of this world in much the same way as they had worked and lived here. And Christ was just as much of a force for good and just as much of a mystery there as here.
—Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jan. 1, 1922, section 4, page 2.
Comment: That's a very interesting statement right at the end, that after the transition into another world Christ is just as much a mystery there as here.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Theosophy in Butte
Montana, 1902Theosophy and its revival of occultism is establishing a firm footing in the philosophy and religion of the western world. Its teachings have been the recent occasion of extended newspaper discussion and very serious attention from the pulpit. The church is almost a unit against it, while writers are divided in opinion as to whether its influence is good or baneful. Even in Butte, where the society has one of its most active branches, theosophy has been the subject of sermons and public discussions. The advocates of the cult claim that those who attack it are actuated by a misconception of its doctrine and purpose, and by a mistaken idea that it is a new religion and antagonistic to Christianity, when in fact it is neither. Wide public attention has been called to the growth of the society by the extended reviews and notice given the new book, "Esoteric Christianity," by Annie Besant, the society's most prolific writer, in which she antagonizes the church by the declaration that there is a hidden side to religion, and that religion in its fullness is not free to all, but that it is handed out in measures as it can be received, or as man is prepared for its understanding and comprehension.
The Theosophical society now girdles the earth, and branches have been established in every country. Its headquarters are at Adyar, India, while the head of the American section is in New York, Alexander Fullerton, formerly an Episcopal clergyman, being its secretary.
Some Eminent Theosophists.
The society counts its membership among all races and in all countries, some very noted men and women being among its leaders. Camille Flammarion, the great French astronomer, is one of them. Thomas A. Edison and Professor Crookes, the eminent chemist of London, are ardent theosophists, and so was Max Mueller during his lifetime. J. C. Chattopadhyaya, a high caste Brahmin of India, is one of the converts to theosophy, and spent some time in the United States, where he delivered lectures on the subject. Annie Besant, the authoress, is a sister-in-law of the late Walter Besant, and her husband was a dean of the English church; A. P. Sinnett was for years on the editorial staff of the London Times until he received a commission in the army in India, where he met Madame Blavatsky, one of the founders of the modern society. C. W. Leadbeater, another prominent teacher and writer, was formerly a clergyman in the English church, and G. R. S. Mead, who has written some fine books on many subjects, is regarded as one of the most learned men in the world.
Origin of the Word.
The word "theosophy" is from the Greek and means "divine wisdom." The latter term is many thousand years old. The name theosophy dates from the third century of the Christian era and was applied by Ammonius Saccas, who started the electric theosophical system. Prof. Alexander Wilder, in his new Platonism, says the followers of that school were so called because of their practice of interpreting all sacred legends and narratives, myths and mysteries, by rule or principle of analogy and correspondence, so that events which were related as having occurred in the external world were regarded as expressing operations and experiences of the human soul. The object of this system was, first of all, to inculcate certain great moral truths upon its disciples, hence also the motto adopted by the theosophical society, "There Is No Religion Higher Than Truth." The chief aim of the founders of the ancient electric theosophical school was one of the three objects of its modern successor, the theosophical society of to-day, namely, to reconcile all religious sects and nations under a common system of ethics, based on eternal verities. The theosophists of olden times were large bodies and, like the modern, belonged to various religious philosophies. The mistake is often made that theosophy is a separate religion and antagonistic to other religions. This is not so, according to the claims made by the society. It is antagonistic to no religion. It teaches that all religions are streamlets of the one universal fountain of truth. Theosophy is a religious philosophy, universal in its scope and teaching and all inclusive. Its fundamental objects are: "To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color; to encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science; to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the power latent in man."
Basis of Theosophy.
The doctrine of the brotherhood of man is based on the belief that all men spring from the one spiritual source, and all bodies are from the one mother earth, but theosophy differs from other beliefs as to all men being born equal. Theosophy holds that the true evolution is the unfolding, the growth of intelligence or consciousness through physical forms. Consequently all men are not at the same grade of mental development or evolution, hence all are not equal. For instance, to compare the low intellect of an Australian bushman with the mind of an Emerson illustrates that idea of the difference of unfoldment and development. Spiritually all men are brothers and are from the same spiritual parent. In its study of comparative religions theosophy teaches that each religion has its own mission in the world, is suited to the nation to which it is given, and the type of civilization which it is to permeate. The failure to see these leads to unjust criticism, for an ideally perfect religion would not be suitable to imperfect and partially evolved men. Every religion in the course of time suffers from accretions due to ignorance. It is found in comparative religions that at base they are all one. In all ages of the world there have been great spiritual teachers — Christs or Buddhas — who gave out the truth essential to the demand of the stage of evolution and environment of the people of different nations. Christ was the latest teacher and Christianity the youngest religion. He came to the western world and gave out in a form suitable to the western mind the religion of Christianity. All religions are found to be clothed in parable, allegory, symbol and figure, and when once the key to those symbols and allegories is understood it will be found that there is no disagreement at all in the teachings of the religions of the world. The study of comparative religions naturally leads to a study of comparative mythology, in which it is found that the gods of the ancients are not the mere figures of weird and extravagant tales, but are the personification of forces of nature and intelligences, and that the stories themselves clothe great truths.
Miracles Not Supernatural.
The latent forces in man open a wide and deep subject for study. It is claimed that when once the latent forces are understood the so-called miracles of Christ will be seen not to be supernatural, but the result of the development of powers within the man that enabled him to overcome material forces external to himself. Man is an epitome of the universe, and all forces, powers and laws of the universe are centered in him. It is claimed that lying within the physical senses are senses still finer, more subtle, and that if man is made in the image of God he must possess spiritual faculties that are the root and base of all other faculties. Theosophy holds that the seeming miracles performed by the disciples of Jesus, who were only ordinary men, prior to the awakening of their spiritual faculties, were possible by reason of the development of these faculties by knowledge imparted to them by their master, Jesus. Intuition, it is claimed, is the sixth sense, now being developed to a greater or less extent by men of to-day. The surprises in store for the races are not so much in discoveries of the finer forces of nature, marvelous as they will be, but rather what man is going to find within himself, for there lies in man possibilities undreamed of by the western world. By a method of mental and spiritual training called yoga the Hindoos have developed powers that enable them to control physical forces, and which has caused them to be looked upon as miracle workers. The orientals have always studied these latent powers, while the westerners have studied everything else but themselves. If Bible statements are true men in olden times exhibited powers far beyond the comprehension of undeveloped spiritual man. Witness the statements of St. Paul and St. John, and the story of Daniel in the lion's den, and of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
What It Teaches.
Theosophy teaches the doctrine of reincarnation and karma. Karma is the law of retribution, the law of cause and effect, the power that controls all things, the resultant of moral action. It is the sowing and reaping, for as a man sows so shall he also reap. All thoughts and acts committed while here on earth are seeds which will produce a harvest for which the sower must return and reap. Reincarnation is the return of the soul time and time again into physical bodies until it has learned the lesson that earth can teach. It learns from experience. Hence the teaching of karma and reincarnation establishes justice in the world and exonerates God of partiality, and shows why one man is born in a palace and another in the slum, why one is born a genius and another a fool, why one is a saint and the other a sinner. It is held that man is the creator of his own destiny. To quote Sir Edwin Arnold, a believer in reincarnation:
"He cometh, reaper of the things he sow'd,
Sesamum, corn, so much cast in past birth;
And so much weed and poison-stuff, which mar
Him and the aching earth.
"If he shall labor rightly, rooting these,
And planting wholesome seedlings
where they grew,
Fruitful and fair and clean the ground shall be,
And rich the harvest due."
—The Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, Feb. 16, 1902, p. 19.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Salvation Army Lass Locked Up in A Trunk
1909
HANNIBAL, Missouri — While the Salvation Army people were holding a street meeting a man entered their headquarters where Miss Millie Stocking, aged 16, was left in charge of a baby. Threatening her life if she made an outcry, he cut down a clothesline, bound it around her neck, tightly tied her arms and feet, chucked her in a three and one-half by two foot trunk, shut the lid and left the premises. When the army people returned the girl was nearly dead from suffocation and suspension of blood circulation, but was soon resuscitated. The reason for the man's strange actions are a puzzle. Miss Stocking's parents reside in St. Louis.
Hubby Gone 30 Years
LAPORTE, Indiana — Mourned as dead for thirty years George Medsker of Marion, Indiana, will be reunited the coming week with his family, living at Parkers Landing, Pennsylvania. Medsker was a Civil War veteran. He disappeared thirty years ago without apparent reason or cause, and for years, with his mind blank, he drifted about the country. He finally became an inmate of the Marion Soldiers' Home. Mrs. Medsker recently made application for a pension as a soldier's widow, and an investigation by the Government established the residence of the veteran.
Want to Buy A Town? There's One For Sale
SALINA, Kansas — Shipton, a busy little village in this county, northwest of Salina, will be sold at auction Oct. 20, 1909. The village is on the farm of W. S. Irwin, and when he sells his farm, personal property and farm belongings the village will go with the rest. A band will furnish music. This is the first time a townsite has been sold under the hammer in this part of the State. Shipton is on the Union Pacific Railroad and has a depot, a store building, an elevator and several residences, and much business is transacted there.
HANNIBAL, Missouri — While the Salvation Army people were holding a street meeting a man entered their headquarters where Miss Millie Stocking, aged 16, was left in charge of a baby. Threatening her life if she made an outcry, he cut down a clothesline, bound it around her neck, tightly tied her arms and feet, chucked her in a three and one-half by two foot trunk, shut the lid and left the premises. When the army people returned the girl was nearly dead from suffocation and suspension of blood circulation, but was soon resuscitated. The reason for the man's strange actions are a puzzle. Miss Stocking's parents reside in St. Louis.
Hubby Gone 30 Years
LAPORTE, Indiana — Mourned as dead for thirty years George Medsker of Marion, Indiana, will be reunited the coming week with his family, living at Parkers Landing, Pennsylvania. Medsker was a Civil War veteran. He disappeared thirty years ago without apparent reason or cause, and for years, with his mind blank, he drifted about the country. He finally became an inmate of the Marion Soldiers' Home. Mrs. Medsker recently made application for a pension as a soldier's widow, and an investigation by the Government established the residence of the veteran.
Want to Buy A Town? There's One For Sale
SALINA, Kansas — Shipton, a busy little village in this county, northwest of Salina, will be sold at auction Oct. 20, 1909. The village is on the farm of W. S. Irwin, and when he sells his farm, personal property and farm belongings the village will go with the rest. A band will furnish music. This is the first time a townsite has been sold under the hammer in this part of the State. Shipton is on the Union Pacific Railroad and has a depot, a store building, an elevator and several residences, and much business is transacted there.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Interviews with Ouija
1920
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN,
Director Janesville Daily Gazette Information Bureau, Washington, D.C.
Washington, Feb. 20.—"Why don't you interview ouija?" asked a friend the other day.
We thought it over. Our relations with "weegee" have always been rather distant. We have met at parties and at the home of ouija janes. But always we have passed the time of day in a few trifling queries, and let it go at that. Certainly, we never expected to start interviewing spirit celebrities so long as the earthly supply held out.
Still, we reflected, there were advantages to this kind of interview. Ouija, once cornered, could not plead a previous engagement or a conference, and judging by his reputation he would have a lot to say.
So we decided to borrow a staid, serious minded old ouija and ask him about the Sims-Daniels scrap, and who ought to be the next president, and if there were any messages from cousin Lon, who is either dead or in Chicago. We knew the board to borrow. It belongs to an elderly woman who goes in for higher thought and concentration, and undoubtedly her ouija has never been asked a silly question in its life.
Borrowed Board and Book
The old woman promptly offered to get the board, and also a book on how to set the best results with ouija. We hauled ouija home, corralled a friend to act as accomplice, and with the setting arranged, settled down for the interview.
First we read the book carefully. We found out that "the solar plexus -- that never sleeping brain of the individual -- is the witch board or receiving station for the messages." We also discovered that "the great secret why some individuals can successfully use the board and some cannot is "that the successful person must have, so to speak, a diseasedly sensitive solar plexus." That worried us, as our solar plexus has always been pretty healthy, and was feared the message germs might not have any effect. For a while we held on to the hope that maybe the writer was mistaken about the solar plexus being the brain of the soul, but further on we found that ouija himself had told her, "The solar plexus is the spiritual brain." With his inside information and a warning that to get best results you must think high thoughts we invited "little weegee" to the interview.
For the property of a higher thought sort of person this ouija board certainly had a remarkable line of talk and interesting opinions. It told us that there would be a big message for us.
Aunt Harriet Is Happy
After a rest it condescended to tell us that Aunt Harriet, who died some years ago, "is happy, but when we asked for Dumas to come and tell us who was the man in the iron mask, it wouldn't write anything except, "They don't answer."
When we returned the board we commented on the rather flippant attitude that it seemed to have. "Well," said the old woman, "I never tried the board myself. It's the maid's board."
Having talked to "little weegee" we decided to find out something about his life history. The messenger at the patent office was frankly amused at our mission.
"Weejah?" he repeated with a huge grin. "Yessuh. Try de toy division, suh."
The toy division was also moved to laughter over the password, but soon recovered sufficiently for a pleasant young patent examiner to get a collection of the patents.
"There are now 30 or 40 patents along this line," he explained. "Some are ouija board type, worked by a moving index, and others are planchettes and have a pencil to write the message."
"The first ouija board, called 'little wonder,' was patented in 186S. Since then, the idea has been adapted and the board improved by numerous inventors, mostly toy makers. The ouija board and similar inventions can be patented in the United States only as a toy. The patent office does not inquire into any mystic properties, and it does not permit inventors to claim or describe such properties in their patent papers."
It's Different in England
In England inventors often go into detail to explain the supernatural power of such devices. Thus, one British patentee inserts the following on his patent:
"If the person or persons are of temperament suitable for the reception of spiritualistic or telepathic messages, sentences may be spent out obtained from such sources and possibly conveying information unknown to the operator; the largest number of messages are automatic, i.e., communications from the subliminal consciousness finding expression through muscular workings controlled in a method hitherto only imperfectly understood."
"What does ouija mean, anyway?" we asked the patent office, for we have heard all sorts of cabalistic meanings attached to the queer syllables. "Well," said an obliging clerk, "the name is trademarked just as a word, but we understand that it means 'yes, yes,' being derived from oui, which is French for yes, and ja, which is German."
This seems plausible, if we discount ouija's own statements that its name signifies "The Master Hand," or "The Unknown," or that it is Hawaiian for "Truth." If ouija had not told so many people such different names for itself it might be easier to believe that the name savors of the occult. As it is, we fear that some prosaic toymaker, French perhaps, or German, accidentally put these two syllables together and found the effect pleasing, so that he named the board which answered yes and no, ouija, a union of languages not offensive.
Inventor Doesn't Understand
The ouija board most used in the United States was patented by William Fuld, a Baltimore toy manufacturer. Mr. Fuld invented his board simply as a game of the puzzle or mystic variety. He is careful to say that he does not claim any remarkable powers for his invention, but on the other hand, he tells the public that he does not himself know exactly what makes the little table move in so uncanny a manner.
This Solomon-like verdict is the only safe one for the inventor, for to deny outspokenly that his little board held any kinship with spirits would greatly injure the trade in his best seller, while if he claimed mysterious powers in league with the bits of wood, then he might be held responsible for some of little ouija's playful jokes.
Take the recent case of the woman who was unable to account for the disappearance of a sum of money. Ouija told her that a certain neighbor had taken it, and this startling advice was accepted as a clue from heaven. The neighbor was dramatically accused of theft, and the case went to court, one woman claiming a charge of theft, and the other after a libel suit. In such an instance the inventor of ouija is safe from attack as the cause of it all, as he never claimed that his invention was infallible.
Comedy and Farce
Most of ouija's history has been comedy, so far, and a good deal has been farce, but in a few cases an unaccountable force is said to have guided the board. The outstanding example of this is the well known story of Patience Worth who sent messages to a St. Louis woman through a ouija board. The mystery of Patience was that she talked in the language of seventeenth century England, using words and figures of speech which the medium could not possibly know, but which were almost always found in dictionaries of archaic English. Patience is still a mystery -- a seventeenth century English spinster who came to St. Louis to give her poems to the twentieth century, and for social chats with the medium and her friends, all through the ouija board.
We had talked to the ouija board, and delved into its history, and there was one more thing we wanted to know about that ouija -- how does it work, anyway? We called up the bureau of standards, the government scientific laboratory. The chief clerk answered, after his secretary had gurgled our message to him between fits of giggles, easily heard over the phone. The chief clerk was amused too, but the third commandment of the government is to give a serious answer to inquiries.
"Of course," he said, "we have never made a study of this matter. Unofficially, I should say that there is a tendency for the eye to guide the table toward some letter. The influence of the eye is shown in that is almost impossible to get any results blindfolded.
"Yes," he continued, "it is probably the working of the sub-conscious mind."
Still, we wonder. Thousands of people play with the board every night when the supper table is cleared off, and weegee tells them what day Jim will come home, and who is playing at the Main street picture show. Sometimes weegee hits the answer, sometimes he fails. It is a game. But out of these thousands of ouija fans comes one who calls up a Patience Worth, to upset the common sense theories and keep us wondering.
--Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, February 26, 1920, page 4.
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN,
Director Janesville Daily Gazette Information Bureau, Washington, D.C.
Washington, Feb. 20.—"Why don't you interview ouija?" asked a friend the other day.
We thought it over. Our relations with "weegee" have always been rather distant. We have met at parties and at the home of ouija janes. But always we have passed the time of day in a few trifling queries, and let it go at that. Certainly, we never expected to start interviewing spirit celebrities so long as the earthly supply held out.
Still, we reflected, there were advantages to this kind of interview. Ouija, once cornered, could not plead a previous engagement or a conference, and judging by his reputation he would have a lot to say.
So we decided to borrow a staid, serious minded old ouija and ask him about the Sims-Daniels scrap, and who ought to be the next president, and if there were any messages from cousin Lon, who is either dead or in Chicago. We knew the board to borrow. It belongs to an elderly woman who goes in for higher thought and concentration, and undoubtedly her ouija has never been asked a silly question in its life.
Borrowed Board and Book
The old woman promptly offered to get the board, and also a book on how to set the best results with ouija. We hauled ouija home, corralled a friend to act as accomplice, and with the setting arranged, settled down for the interview.
First we read the book carefully. We found out that "the solar plexus -- that never sleeping brain of the individual -- is the witch board or receiving station for the messages." We also discovered that "the great secret why some individuals can successfully use the board and some cannot is "that the successful person must have, so to speak, a diseasedly sensitive solar plexus." That worried us, as our solar plexus has always been pretty healthy, and was feared the message germs might not have any effect. For a while we held on to the hope that maybe the writer was mistaken about the solar plexus being the brain of the soul, but further on we found that ouija himself had told her, "The solar plexus is the spiritual brain." With his inside information and a warning that to get best results you must think high thoughts we invited "little weegee" to the interview.
For the property of a higher thought sort of person this ouija board certainly had a remarkable line of talk and interesting opinions. It told us that there would be a big message for us.
Aunt Harriet Is Happy
After a rest it condescended to tell us that Aunt Harriet, who died some years ago, "is happy, but when we asked for Dumas to come and tell us who was the man in the iron mask, it wouldn't write anything except, "They don't answer."
When we returned the board we commented on the rather flippant attitude that it seemed to have. "Well," said the old woman, "I never tried the board myself. It's the maid's board."
Having talked to "little weegee" we decided to find out something about his life history. The messenger at the patent office was frankly amused at our mission.
"Weejah?" he repeated with a huge grin. "Yessuh. Try de toy division, suh."
The toy division was also moved to laughter over the password, but soon recovered sufficiently for a pleasant young patent examiner to get a collection of the patents.
"There are now 30 or 40 patents along this line," he explained. "Some are ouija board type, worked by a moving index, and others are planchettes and have a pencil to write the message."
"The first ouija board, called 'little wonder,' was patented in 186S. Since then, the idea has been adapted and the board improved by numerous inventors, mostly toy makers. The ouija board and similar inventions can be patented in the United States only as a toy. The patent office does not inquire into any mystic properties, and it does not permit inventors to claim or describe such properties in their patent papers."
It's Different in England
In England inventors often go into detail to explain the supernatural power of such devices. Thus, one British patentee inserts the following on his patent:
"If the person or persons are of temperament suitable for the reception of spiritualistic or telepathic messages, sentences may be spent out obtained from such sources and possibly conveying information unknown to the operator; the largest number of messages are automatic, i.e., communications from the subliminal consciousness finding expression through muscular workings controlled in a method hitherto only imperfectly understood."
"What does ouija mean, anyway?" we asked the patent office, for we have heard all sorts of cabalistic meanings attached to the queer syllables. "Well," said an obliging clerk, "the name is trademarked just as a word, but we understand that it means 'yes, yes,' being derived from oui, which is French for yes, and ja, which is German."
This seems plausible, if we discount ouija's own statements that its name signifies "The Master Hand," or "The Unknown," or that it is Hawaiian for "Truth." If ouija had not told so many people such different names for itself it might be easier to believe that the name savors of the occult. As it is, we fear that some prosaic toymaker, French perhaps, or German, accidentally put these two syllables together and found the effect pleasing, so that he named the board which answered yes and no, ouija, a union of languages not offensive.
Inventor Doesn't Understand
The ouija board most used in the United States was patented by William Fuld, a Baltimore toy manufacturer. Mr. Fuld invented his board simply as a game of the puzzle or mystic variety. He is careful to say that he does not claim any remarkable powers for his invention, but on the other hand, he tells the public that he does not himself know exactly what makes the little table move in so uncanny a manner.
This Solomon-like verdict is the only safe one for the inventor, for to deny outspokenly that his little board held any kinship with spirits would greatly injure the trade in his best seller, while if he claimed mysterious powers in league with the bits of wood, then he might be held responsible for some of little ouija's playful jokes.
Take the recent case of the woman who was unable to account for the disappearance of a sum of money. Ouija told her that a certain neighbor had taken it, and this startling advice was accepted as a clue from heaven. The neighbor was dramatically accused of theft, and the case went to court, one woman claiming a charge of theft, and the other after a libel suit. In such an instance the inventor of ouija is safe from attack as the cause of it all, as he never claimed that his invention was infallible.
Comedy and Farce
Most of ouija's history has been comedy, so far, and a good deal has been farce, but in a few cases an unaccountable force is said to have guided the board. The outstanding example of this is the well known story of Patience Worth who sent messages to a St. Louis woman through a ouija board. The mystery of Patience was that she talked in the language of seventeenth century England, using words and figures of speech which the medium could not possibly know, but which were almost always found in dictionaries of archaic English. Patience is still a mystery -- a seventeenth century English spinster who came to St. Louis to give her poems to the twentieth century, and for social chats with the medium and her friends, all through the ouija board.
We had talked to the ouija board, and delved into its history, and there was one more thing we wanted to know about that ouija -- how does it work, anyway? We called up the bureau of standards, the government scientific laboratory. The chief clerk answered, after his secretary had gurgled our message to him between fits of giggles, easily heard over the phone. The chief clerk was amused too, but the third commandment of the government is to give a serious answer to inquiries.
"Of course," he said, "we have never made a study of this matter. Unofficially, I should say that there is a tendency for the eye to guide the table toward some letter. The influence of the eye is shown in that is almost impossible to get any results blindfolded.
"Yes," he continued, "it is probably the working of the sub-conscious mind."
Still, we wonder. Thousands of people play with the board every night when the supper table is cleared off, and weegee tells them what day Jim will come home, and who is playing at the Main street picture show. Sometimes weegee hits the answer, sometimes he fails. It is a game. But out of these thousands of ouija fans comes one who calls up a Patience Worth, to upset the common sense theories and keep us wondering.
--Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, February 26, 1920, page 4.
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