Spiritualism and the New Psychology

e spread, mistakes are made, and beliefs are imposed upon the multitude, and in the production of hypnotic and hysterical manif

ical force are, except when used figuratively, mere incoherences, but suggestion is an

lting in the acceptance with conviction of the communicated prop

we use the above definition the greater part of our accepted propositions owe their acceptance to suggestion. This is true as regards most of our political, religious, and social beliefs,

believe is sufficient to convince the ordinary man, and often the existence of widespread belief is used as an argument to prove the truth of a proposition. One recognises this tendency at once in people of another race and other superstitions. An educated Chinese once assured me that bloo

quent pairings, maintained that the widespread belief among dog-breeders in the existence of this influence proved its trut

nd this tendency has been erected into an instinct by Trotter, who shows ho

e another word. It is already used in a somewhat special sense to account for the acceptance of propositions which an ordinary man i

st example we see a new factor. The hardened Big-ender would be impervious to the most imposing suggestions from a Little-endian source, but would accept the saddest nonsense from a journal of h

siring to accept propositions but of anticipating or guessing them, of picking up hints as to what is in th

any manifestations of pain. This phenomenon, which resembles the insensitive patches that under the name of 'Devil's claws' were found upon witches when witch

t?' It is my experience that the patient sometimes flinches at the first prick, but answers 'No',

h its unreal nature is shown by the fact that the patient is not especially disposed to burn or injure the limb, unlike the sufferer from a true loss of sensation, who is always liable

been subjected to a previous test, and stimulating him variously in different places asks what he feels. This avoids the suggestion of loss of sensat

eam of consciousness knows nothing about the prick. The difference between the two theories is not so great as appears, for the control of the supp

n is accompanied by a loss of sensation in the throat which is not explicable by recept

sound views w

fic talk about suggestion is based upon the unconscious superstition that suggestion actually possesses some magi

ve one or two supporters who would have eaten it without a doubt of its freshness if no one had cast suspicion upon it; or let one of a class of medical st

y patients was very restless. I could not remember the man, but asked a few questions about him and ordered a soporific. Next morning on waking I became aware that I had no such patient, and on enquiry found that I had been mistaken for another resident whose slumbers had been undisturbed, thanks to my sugge

in the former a more active desire to accept. Though suggestion might be further classified according to the f

t to define as suggestion, but in the absence of any more precise

ontractions, themselves produced by the same cause, and some of the varied sensations of the hysteric are of similar origin. Creepy feelings at

ieve that a confirmed hysteric who complained of a severe pain really suffered from that pain; the description of a water-divi

must again take account of borderline cases. The person who feels a cold shiver at the mention of a snake cannot tell us precisely to what extent the shiver is due to conscious thou

ceptance of suggestion is still easier, and when people assembled together are swayed by these feelings the Herd Instinct reaches its full strength and we have the ingredients for the manufacture of a collective delusion. There are many examples of strange and supernatural occurrences vouched for by masses of observers, and I see no reason to doubt the good faith of the historians. We all know how infectious is emotion and how hard it is for one man to remain unmoved whe

and he had a wound on the head where in the brain beneath lies the 'motor area' of the left arm. Looking at the wound, which was obscured by hair and blood, I said, 'That's pulsating'; the two consultants and the other officer agreed with my observation, and appropriate treatment was recommended. The importance of pulsati

trating wounds were common before the introduction of helmets. My unconscious had worked out the probabilities and led me to expect the signs of penetration; deceiving myself, by

terrified and tried to cover his head to hide the sight, when the brother woke up, and, being told of the face, promptly saw it too. The brother's evidence is strongly corroborative, not of the presence of a ghost, but of the power of suggestion when the way is prepared by str

Podmore, W. H. Myers, Sir William Barrett, and probably many other

Mr. Charles Lett on December 3

ey entered the room-the gas was burning all the time-they were amazed to see, reflected as it were upon the polished surface of the wardrobe, the image of Captain Towns. It was barely half-figure, the head, shoulders, and part of the arms only showing-in fact it was like an ordinary medallion portrait, but life-size. The f

and she was called in, and asked if she saw anything, and her reply was "Oh, Miss: the master." Graham-Captain Towns' old body-servant-was then sent for, and he also exclaimed, "Oh, Lord save us! Mrs. Lett, it's the Captain!" The butler was called, and then Mrs

ation was given to any of the witnesses; the same question was put to each one

n the part of each of the later witnesses was independent, and

y two of the witnesses tha

ature would have been re-told many times, and we know what happens under such conditi

sure, in spite of the words 'before either of the others had time to speak', which are interpolated to strengthen the story); she straightway experiences the same emotion as do the others and sees what they see. Now we have three emotional people, and as

individual to ensure that the same question, and nothing else, was put to each newcomer? Such a thing could only happen by careful pre-arrangement, which was lacking

l. Can we suppose that there were no signs of wonder and awe on the faces of those present, no excited exclamations, no glances towards the wardrobe, no pointing of hands: only a few calm and self-possessed people asking each newcomer if he or she

he first two witnesses, has been influenced by discussion after the incident and is itself another product of suggestion. The narrator has over-s

repeatedly by writers on the spiritualist side, and u

believed was felt to be true), the desire to believe in what we wanted to happen, and the desire to be personally connected with important events. The last factor was shown by the number of people who claimed to have personal experience of the transit of th

on in a case familiar to every one, and if the lesson is borne in mind a list o