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Communicating with the Dead (Original)

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Trent
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« Reply #195 on: January 19, 2008, 03:16:55 pm »

 
Ishtar

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  posted 07-21-2005 08:40 PM                       
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YEA YOU, are born with it.

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“Ad initio, alea iacta est.”
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
it's Later Than You Think
http://forums.atlantisrising.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=28;t=000023;p=1

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« Reply #196 on: January 19, 2008, 03:17:26 pm »

unknown

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   posted 07-21-2005 09:09 PM                       
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Ishtar
They have HP Manly's "The Secret Teachings Of All Ages" on Sacred Texts now

reading it now

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several species of small furry animals gathered together and grooving with a pict in a cave

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« Reply #197 on: January 19, 2008, 03:17:50 pm »

docyabut
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What about crystal? Cayce did say the atlantians communicated with the dead through cyrstal cylinders, allthough I do think he was seeing a atlantis of the future.Maybe a computer with a crystal chip:)
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« Reply #198 on: January 19, 2008, 03:18:40 pm »

Sandra Taylor

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Thanks, Mish, I would like to dwell a little bit more on the subject of spirit photography. If you follow the link to the article, there is the picture of the famous "Brown Lady" ghost descending the stairs:

- THE HAUNTED MUSEUM -

SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
It's Strange & Controversial History



The actual practice of attempting to capture ghosts on film dates back nearly a century and a half to around 1861. Not surprisingly, this type of photography has been controversial and the subject of much debate ever since.

The reason that is most given for the lack of widespread acceptance of the credibility of spirit photographs is that the photographs of the past were so riddled with fraud. Strangely though, it is spirit photography that seems to provide the most scientific evidence of ghosts. It is one of the only methods of capturing ghostly phenomena that approaches the standards of science. The reasons for this are fairly simple and include the fact that genuine spirit photos are clearly a physical phenomenon; the amount of energy that goes into making such a photo can be measured by the way it appears in the image; a method of attempting to establish replication is possible; and finally, that it may be possible at some point to develop explanations for how spirit photographs are made and why they exist.

Spirit photography is what seems to be the effect of radiation of some sort on photosensitive film. Such results continue today, although much has changed from the early days of photography. In those days, the photographer first had to prepare a glass plate by coating it with a film of collodion (gun cotton dissolved in ether) containing iodide of potassium, sensitize it by dipping it into a bath of silver nitrate and then take the photograph while the plate was still wet. Each exposure was exciting, each batch of chemicals mixed was a new experiment and every result and reason to take another. Today, we take photography for granted by simply loading film into a camera and snapping a picture. But thanks to advances in film, cameras and technology over the last several decades, it may be that the controversial science of spirit photography is finally coming of age. Of course, nothing of the present could exist without the example of the past.

Spirit photography of today differs greatly from that of days gone by however. As mentioned already, the fraudulent spirit photography of the past has damaged the reputation of modern efforts, making it difficult for today’s ghost hunter’s to be taken seriously. Just the mention of "spirit photography" tends to conjure up the images of days gone by, a period that was plagued with questionable methods and often humorous results. But were all of the photographs of the past fake images that were created to bilk people out of their money? It has been claimed that spirit photographs were first produced by accident and only when unscrupulous photographers realized the wealth to be made from them were the first fraudulent images produced. But were they all frauds or did a few fakes muddy the waters for the many?

A fairly standard spirit photograph of days past. This was taken by William Hope of a Mrs. Longcake and what was alleged to be her deceased sister in law.


The very first spirit photograph has long been erroneously credited to William Mumler, a Boston engraver in 1861 but as it happens, he was not the first to take a photo that would later be deemed as "unexplainable". This bizarre event actually occurred just one year before, but as the photographer was never able to reproduce the results, he has since faded from memory. His name was W. Campbell though and he lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. One day, he was taking a test photograph of an empty chair and while there was no one else in the studio at the time, the developed plate showed the image of a small boy. Campbell was never able to produce any more photographs of this nature however and so it was not until the following year when the history of spirit photography really began.

The first "official" spirit photograph has been credited to a Boston engraver named William Mumler, an experienced and enthusiastic amateur photographer with a studio on Washington Street. While developing some experimental self-portraits of himself, a developed plate showed the image of a young woman standing next to him. As he examined the picture, he recognized the figure as that of a cousin who had died 12 years earlier. He later recalled that while posing for the photograph, he had experienced a strange trembling sensation in his right arm that left him feeling exhausted.


A photograph taken by William Mumler in the 1860's
The photograph attracted great interest and came about during the expansion of the Spiritualist movement. It was investigated by both the Spiritualists and by prominent photographers of the day, who came to believe Mumler's statement on the subject, which said: "This photograph was taken by myself of myself and there was not a living person in the room besides myself." Mumler was soon overwhelmed by public demand for similar photographs and he began taking two hours each day from his regular work as an engrave for Bigelow Bros. and Kennard, one of Boston's best jewelers. Soon, he gave up his job entirely and devoted his efforts to spirit photography.

William Black, a leading Boston photographer and the inventor of the acid nitrate bath (an important improvement in the photographic process) was one of the professional photographers who investigated Mumler and his methods. While attending a sitting in Mumler's studio, Black carefully examined his camera, plate, dipper and bath and even kept his eye on the plate from the moment its preparation began, until it was sensitized and locked into the dark slide. After his portrait was taken, Black removed it from the camera and took it to the darkroom himself where, as it was developed, he saw the figure of a man leaning over his shoulder. He had no explanation for its appearance.


Although he had not previously been interested in spirits or Spiritualism, Mumler soon began to describe himself as a "medium for taking spirit photographs" and although the spirit "extras" were often unrecognizable and blurred, in many of the cases they were the distinct likenesses of deceased family members and friends. He quickly became the subject of great controversy. Even the testimony of New York Supreme Court Judge John Edmonds -- who had gone to see Mumler convinced that he was a fraud and left convinced that he could actually produce psychic photographs -- failed to quiet the critics and the non-believers. Mumler finally left Boston and moved to New York in 1869, where he opened a new studio and charged as much as $10 per photograph.

The studio began to be frequented by wealthy and influential patrons. Although many of the photos that he produced were undistinguished, one one occasion at least he produced a recognizable (and some believe amazing) spirit portrait of Abraham Lincoln. A lady who was heavily veiled and wearing a black dress gave her name as "Mrs. Tydall" when she called unannounced at the studio and asked to be photographed. In Mumler's words: " I requested her to be seated, went into my darkroom and coated a plate. When I came out I found her seated with a veil still over her face. The crepe veil was so thick that it was impossible to distinguish a single feature of her face. I asked is she intended having her picture taken with her veil. She replied, 'When you are ready, I will remove it.' I said I was ready, upon which she removed the veil and the picture was taken." It was only when Mumler saw the developed print that he realized the sitter had been Mary Todd Lincoln -- for behind her stood the smiling image of Abraham Lincoln himself. This photograph has been distributed widely over the years and while some have expressed amazement at it -- most feel that it is likely a clever hoax.

Mumler's most famous photograph -- the alleged photo of Mary Lincoln and her spectral husband


In 1863, a Dr. Child of Philadelphia reported that he found Mumler to be very willing to give him every opportunity to investigate his methods and that he was himself interested in finding a rational solution to the mystery. Mumler permitted Child to watch all of his operations in the darkroom and allowed him to examine all of his apparatus. Child showed the pictures made during the investigation and he and several friends watched the whole process, from the plate cleaning to the developing. He took the precaution to mark each plate with a diamond before it was used and yet on each was a spirit image. Child failed completely to discover any human agency that could have formed the spirit extras. And with each of these, they differed considerably from any that he had seen before and he had no way of imitating them.

The extras that appeared in Mumler's photographs did not meet with universal acclaim though and after more controversy, the Mayor of New York pressured prosecutors into swearing out a warrant for his arrest on charges of "swindling credulous persons by what he called spirit photographs". His trial was widely publicized and he was later acquitted. A number of eminent New Yorker's spoke out on his behalf and in addition, a number of professional photographers also testified that they had studied samples of Mumler’s work and had found no evidence of trickery. One of these was Jeremiah Gurney, the famous Broadway photographer, and he testified that he had witnessed Mumler's process, scrutinized everything and could find nothing that appeared to be fraud or fakery. Mumler was exonerated and his case dismissed.

Many modern researchers believe that Mumler may have actually captured something genuine in some of his photos, however, the lure of money was just too big a temptation for him and he supplemented his authentic photos with fraudulent ones in order to pay the rent.


Phony spirit photograph taken by E. Buguet in 1874. The photographer was later arrested and charged with fraud.
Soon, other photographers, both amateur and professional, began to come forward and they also called themselves "mediums", claiming the ability to make dead appear in photographs. Spirit photography soon became a popular pastime and literally thousands of dollars were made from those who came to have their portraits taken. One photographer, William Hope, claimed to take more than 2,500 spirit photographs during a period of about two decades. Few of these photos appear to be in the least bit authentic.

Typically in the photographs, ghostly faces appear, floating above and behind the living subjects. In others, fully formed spirits would appear, usually draped in white sheets. Unfortunately, the methods of producing such images were simple. The fraudulent photographers became adept at doctoring their work, superimposing images on plates with living sitters and adding ghostly apparitions and double exposures. The appearance of the fully formed apparition was even easier. Old types of cameras usually demanded that the subject of the photo remain absolutely still for periods of up to one minute, all the while, the shutter of the camera remains open. During this time, it was very simple for the photographer’s assistant to quietly appear behind the sitter, dressed in appropriate "spirit attire". The assistant remained in place for a few moments and then ducked back out of the photo again. On the finished plate, it would seem that a transparent "figure" had made an appearance.


This type of "trick photo" was first mentioned in photography journals in 1856. Ten years later, Sir David Brewster recalled the technique when he saw some of the early spirit photos that were produced. He remembered another photo that he had seen of a young boy who had been sitting on a step near a doorway and who had apparently gotten up and left about halfway through the exposure. As a result, the seated image was transparent in the finished photo. Brewster wrote: "The value and application of this fact did not at first present itself to me, but after I had contrived the lenticular stereoscope I saw that such transparent pictures might be used for the various purposes of entertainment." Ghost and spirit photographs and stereographs were sold commercially in America through the 1860's and 1870's but were nothing more than a parlor novelty and were no meant to be taken as genuine spirit photographs.


A stereoscopic card from my own collection in which trick photography was used to show
"the devil" appearing in the background.

Other methods of obtaining fraudulent photographs were used as well. Prepared plates and cut films were often switched and substituted by slight of hand tricks, replacing those provided by the investigator. And while this might have fooled a credulous member of the general public, slight of hand maneuvers and instances of assistants prancing through photos draped in sheets would not have convinced hardened and skeptical investigators that the work of the spirit photographers was credible and even genuine. However, in case after case, investigators walked away stumped as to how the bizarre images managed to appear on film. For every fraud who was exposed, there was at least one other photographer who was never caught cheating.

But unfortunately, there were many who were not so honest. At about the same time that William Mumler was going on trial in New York for fraud, a popular spirit photographer named Frederick Hudson emerged on the scene in London. He was brought to the public's attention by Mrs. Samuel Guppy, a well-known medium of the day. He was eventually investigated by a famous professional photographer named John Beattie in 1873. He carried out a series of experiments with Hudson that were later published in the British Journal of Photography. At that time, Hudson was charging a steep fee for his photos, but only with the understanding that he could not be blamed if nothing unusual appeared, which often happened. In his article, Beattie described how, with a friend, he had examined the glass room in Hudson's garden where the experiments were to take place, the operating room with its yellow light and porcelain baths, the 10 x 8 inch camera with its 6 - inch lens and all of the machinery involved. He also maintained that he had marked the photographic plate to be used and watched it being coated and prepared.

For the first photograph that Hudson took, using an exposure of about one minute, Beattie sat as the subject in profile to the background and Hudson's daughter (acting as the medium) stood next to him. No extra appeared in the photo. For the next experiment, Beattie wrote: "All was the same except that the medium sat behind the background. On the picture being developed, a sitting figure beside myself came out in front of me and between the background and myself. I am sitting in profile in the picture -- the figure is in a three-quarter position -- in front of me, but altogether between me and the background. The figure is draped in black, with a white colored plaid over the head, and is like both a brother and a nephew of mine. This last point I do not press because the face is like that of a dead person and under lighted."

Beattie continued: "In my last trial -- all, if possible, more strictly attended to then before, and in the same place relative to me -- there came out a standing female figure, clothed in black skirt, and having a white-colored, thin linen drapery something like a shawl pattern, upon her shoulders, over which a mass of black hair loosely hung. The figure is in front of me and, as it were, partially between me and the camera."

Beattie had assumed that Hudson was in some way faking the photographs but was now no longer convinced of this. He was convinced that the figures were not double exposures, had not been projected in some way, were not the result of mirrors or even the result of images that had been manipulated onto the plates during the developing process. What he did not take into consideration though was that the images could have been on the plates all along -- that his own plates had been switched for "trick plates" by the photographer. This seems to have been the standard operating procedure for many of the so-called spirit photographers of the day and it was not realized for quite some time. Many of them, including a Mr. Parkes, who produced a number of psychic images even allowed themselves to be observed while working on the plates. Parkes, for instance, had an aperture cut into the wall of his darkroom so that investigators could see inside while he went through the developing process. The problem was that the investigators had no idea just what plates he was actually developing!

A spirit photo taken by Fredrick Hudson. The sitter was Raby Wootton, who, with friends, took the photograph and developed it themselves without allowing Hudson to take part in it. They never realized how easy it would be for Hudson to switch the plate that he gave them to develop!


In 1874, a French photographer named E. Buguet opened up a studio and also began a career capturing the spirits on film. Most of his photographs were of famous people, most of whom claimed to recognize deceased loved ones and family members as extras. This did not stop him from being arrested for fraud and tried by the French government though. He admitted deception but even then, there were many who refused to accept his confession as genuine, claiming that he had been paid off by the church to plead guilty. In his confession, he stated that his photographs were created by double exposure. First, he would dress up his assistants to play the part of a ghost, or would dress up a doll in sheet. This figure, along with a stock of heads, was seized by the police when they raided his studio. Buguet was fined and sentenced to a year in prison.

Even after this, his supporters continued to exist his photographs were real. Reverend Stainton Moses, the famous medium, was convinced that at least some of Buguet's spirit photographs were authentic. He said that the prosecution of the case was tainted by religious officials, that the judge was biased or that Buguet must have been bribed or terrorized to confess.

The 1870’s saw the first general acceptance that there might be something credible to at least some aspects of spirit photography. A number of references to it appeared in issues of the British Journal of Photography and in other periodicals of the time. In the 1890’s, J. Traille Taylor, the editor of the Journal, reviewed the history of spirit photography and detailed the methods by which fraudulent photos were sometimes produced. He approached the phenomenon as a true skeptic, not immediately disbelieving it, but studying it in a scientific manner. He used a stereoscopic camera and noted that the psychically produced images did not appear to be in three dimensions. He used his own camera and he and his assistants did all of the developing and photographing. Strangely, they were still able to produce mysterious results.

In 1891, the practice of spirit photography gained more credibility when Alfred Russell Wallace, the co-developer of the theory of evolution, spoke out with the belief that spirit photography should be studied scientifically. He later wrote about his own investigations into it and included a statement that he believed the possibility of it was real. He did not feel that just because some of the photos that had been documented were obviously fraudulent, that all of them could be dismissed as hoaxes.

Despite such notable interest in the field, little was heard of spirit photography (outside of Spiritualist circles) for a number of years. But during this time, some fairly spectacular photos did manage to appear and some of them have remained unexplained ever since. Perhaps my favorite of this period has been referred to as the "Lord Combermere Photograph". The photo was taken in 1891 (and first published in 1895) by Sybell Corbett, who was staying with her sister at Combermere Abbey in Cheshire, England. She decided to take a photo of the large library there and used an exposure of about one hour, a fact that she noted in her diary. Although no one was in the room when the photo was taken, the developed plate showed the faint image of a man seated in one of the chairs. The photograph was shown to a relative of Lord Combermere and it was identified as being the man himself. The problem with this was at the time the photo was taken, Lord Combermere was being buried in a churchyard a few miles away. He had been killed in an accident just five days before! The photo has defied explanation ever since.

In 1911, spirit photography entered the mainstream with the publication of the book Photographing the Invisible by James Coates. It covered dozens of cases of spirit photographs in detail and was later revised and expanded in 1921. It remains one of the most comprehensive books on the subject during this period and it managed to bring spirit photography into the mainstream for the first time. Following the publication of the book, several noteworthy articles appeared on spirit photography, including one by James Hyslop, a Columbia University professor. He wrote an introduction to a series of experiments carried out by Charles Cook of two American spirit photographers, Edward Wyllie of Los Angeles and Alex Martin of Denver. Cook did extensive work with the two men in 1916 and provided them with his own plates and had them developed by a commercial studio. In this way, he eliminated any opportunity that the two men might have had to doctor the images. Cook concluded that the photographs submitted were genuine but in these cases thought the name "psychic photography" better matched the phenomenon. He believed that the two men actually produced the images through some psychical means, rather than actually photographing ghosts.

Despite the failure to debunk a number of the spirit photographs of the time, the reality of the photographs was not accepted by the scientists of the day. As it is today, the majority of them simply refused to examine the data and assumed that fraud was more than adequate to explain the findings. One of the few exceptions was Sir William Crookes, the distinguished chemist and physicist. For 30 years, he was a member of the Royal Society and was known for his discovery of thallium, his studies of photography and other scientific work. At the invitation of several skeptical members of the Royal Society, he agreed to take on a six month study of psychic phenomenon. Instead of just six months though, his work continued for years and he came to the conclusion that much of what he studied (including psychic photographs) was genuine. He presented his findings in both book and article form but soon became discouraged about convincing most of his scientific colleagues of the reality of what he was doing. He endured ridicule and disdain, but never wavered from his beliefs. More than 25 years later, he would maintain that spirit photography could, and did, exist.

As time passed and photographic techniques and equipment became more advanced, researchers began to discover that some of the photographs being taken in allegedly haunted locations could not be explained away as film flaws and tricks of light. Gone were the days of phony photos that were taken by so-called spirit mediums in studios. They had been replaced by often accidental photos that defied all logic.

One of the most convincing photographs was the famous image of the "Brown Lady" of Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England. The photo was taken Captain Provand, a professional photographer, who was taking snapshots of the house for Britains Country Life magazine in September 1936. His assistant, Indre Shira, actually saw the apparition coming down the staircase and directed Provand to take the photo... even though the other man saw nothing at the time. The resulting image (shown here) has been examined by experts many times, although no explanation for it has ever been given.

The Famous Brown Lady Photograph



Another amazing photograph is that of the Greenwich Ghost. This photo was taken in 1966 at Queen’s House, Greenwich, London by Reverend RW Hardy. Although nothing was seen at the time, the developed image clearly shows a shrouded figure, bent over and climbing the stairs. The photo and original negative were examined at length by Kodak and by other photographic experts. They were completely unable to explain the figure and are sure the photo was not double-exposed.


The emergence of modern science in the first half of the 1800's had helped to dispel the superstitions of the past but scientists were unable to connect the mysterious evidence obtained by spirit photography to the progress they were making in other fields. Because of this, most of the investigation and research into the field was carried out by Spiritualists, who believed that far too many of the photographs were genuine, thus validating their often unpopular beliefs. The debunkers of today simply point to the usually ridiculous images that were produced as proof that the entire field was corrupt. As most of us know though, nothing is ever that clear cut when it comes to the paranormal -- nor are answers ever that easily obtained.

http://www.prairieghosts.com/ph_history.html
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« Reply #199 on: January 19, 2008, 03:20:53 pm »

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Mish'

The astral plane is the receptical of all human detritus, what is not naturally consumed at death. When a human dies all that has been integrated into the whole personality is consumed as a natural consequence. Then there are facets to the personality that are NOT integrated, such as secret loathings of self or others, sexual habits, alcaholism, addictions, hatreds, fears, all of which can be kept separate from the whole personality. These are left "in the ether" as it were...and accumulate in what has been named the "astral plane". There is no Light there, and nothing good, clear, or wholesome to be found there.

It is, however, full of tricksters, lining up to attach to a new "host".

Please realize that all energies of this type will do anything, make any adjustment, to be accepted by a living person.

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"Illigitimi non carborundum!"
All knowledge is to be used in the manner that will give help and assistance to others, and the desire is that the laws of the Creator be manifested in the physical world. E.Cayce 254-17

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« Reply #200 on: January 19, 2008, 03:21:31 pm »

Sandra Taylor

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Some great old ghost pictures on these links:

http://www.photography-museum.com/believe1.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/photo.html
http://www.photography-museum.com/seance.html
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« Reply #201 on: January 19, 2008, 03:22:51 pm »

Sandra Taylor

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The Fox Sisters and the Spiritualism Movement

Margaretta and Kate Fox

The Spiritualism movement began with what Allen Kardec termed typtology. Typtology is a mode of spirit communication in which spirits lift and tilt a table during a seance to produce rapping sounds. In organized seances, a number of people would sit around a table, hold hands, concentrate, and ask questions of the spirits. The spirits would then answer their questions through a series of raps, or knocks, similar to someone knocking on a door. In order to question the spirits, sometimes a simple yes or no would be indicated by a prescribed number of knocks. In another method, called alphabetical typtology, letters of the alphabet were recited and when the letter that the spirit wanted to draw attention to was called, a rap could be heard; thus spelling out words, sentences, and so on. Using this method, it was possible to hold lengthy, detailed conversations with the mysterious entities responsible for spirit-rapping.

The first recorded spirit-rapping began in America in 1848 with the playful efforts of Margaretta and Kate Fox to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Much to their astonishment, they succeeded in establishing a ghostly dialogue with the spirit of Charles Haynes. Using rapping noises as its means of communication, Hayne's spirit conveyed the message that he had been killed and buried in the basement of their home. When bones were found in their basement, what had begun as innocent fun became a sensation. From these humble beginnings, what came to be known as the Spiritualism movement took root and grew to international proportions. As a result of their spiritualistic activities, the Fox sisters were condemned and lived in constant danger. They were attacked by religious fanatics in their community, and besieged by angry mobs several times. They were also exploited, and eventually betrayed by their own sister, Leah, who was said to have been the beneficiary of most of the donations collected from those who came to the Fox sisters for spiritual counseling.

As the spiritualism movement got underway in America and Europe, the strange but well-documented manifestations of spirit communication such as spirit-rapping and seance channeling were regarded as weird and unexplainable events. The great majority of Americans and Europeans viewed it as nothing more than a bizarre form of entertainment. For those who took the spirit communications seriously, however, it quickly became apparent that something more was happening. Many of the messages received from the spirits were discovered to be quite accurate. In addition to the messages, other phenomena were being witnessed and verified by many of the most credible individuals in American and European society. By 1854, spirit-directed paranormal phenomenon had reached the level of an intradimensional invasion. Leading spiritualists in the United States decided that it was time to undertake an official investigation. The erudite and well-respected spiritualists petitioned Congress to appoint a scientific commission to investigate the perplexing paranormal phenomenon that had been witnessed by so many people.

The petition entitled 'A Memorial' described the phenomenon produced by the spirits in great detail. The object of the investigation was described in the petition as: 1) an occult force, exhibited in sliding, raising, arresting, holding, suspending, and otherwise disturbing, numerous ponderable bodies, apparently in direct opposition to the acknowledged laws of matter, and altogether transcending the accredited powers of the human mind; 2) lights of various forms and colors, and of different degrees of intensity, which appear in dark rooms, where no substances exist, which are liable to develop a chemical action or phosphorescent illumination, and in the absence of all the means and instruments whereby electricity is generated or combustion produced; 3) sounds which are extremely frequent in their occurrence, widely diversified in their character, and more or less significant in their import; and 4) how the functions of the human body and mind are often and strangely influenced in what appear to be certain abnormal states of the system, and by causes which are neither adequately defined nor understood.

This document was delivered by the former governor of Wisconsin, Nathaniel Tallmadge, to Senator James Shields to be presented before Congress. Much to the consternation of the petitioners, Shields scorned the spiritualists by saying, "the prevalence of this delusion at this age of the world, among any considerable portion of our citizens, must originate, in my opinion, in a defective system of education, or in a partial derangement of the mental faculties, produced by a diseased condition of the physical organization. I cannot, therefore, believe that it prevails to the extent indicated in this petition." Responding to Shield's criticism, Eliab Capron, a chronicler of the spiritualism movement, wrote, "It is not probable that any of the Memorialists expected more favorable treatment than they received. The carpenters and fishermen of this world are the ones to investigate new truths, and make senates and crowns believe and respect them. It is in vain to look for the reception or respect of new truths by men in high places." The widely documented and verified invasion of the spirits described above never received a plausible explanation and is still regarded as a mystery.

In the fifty years that elapsed between the publication of Kardec's books and the incorporation of the Union, the spiritualism movement declined in the United States and Europe. Numerous scandals undermined the credibility of some of its foremost proponents. By 1888, both of the Fox sisters confessed that they were cheats. In fact, both sisters had developed serious drinking problems over the years. At the behest of her sister Leah, Kate Fox's children were taken from her by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and placed in foster care. This act led to a great deal of bitterness and anger against Leah by both Margaretta and Kate. Feeling exploited and betrayed by their sister Leah, who had collected and spent the great majority of the money paid to them...Margaretta and Kate appeared publicly at the New York Academy of Music. Margaretta confessed that she had made all the rapping noises that fostered the movement by means of a double-jointed big toe. Kate remained silent and would neither confirm nor deny the confession of her sister. It was later learned that a reporter had offered $1,500 to them if they would confess and give him an exclusive on the story. Desperate for money and liquor, the sisters apparently agreed, and then proceeded to drink their earnings away. Margaretta recanted her confession in writing shortly before she died in 1895. Kate never recanted, and died shortly afterwards. Both sisters were buried in pauper's graves.


http://www.livingtruth.net/foxsister.html
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« Reply #202 on: January 19, 2008, 03:28:59 pm »

Sandra Taylor

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   posted 07-21-2005 10:28 PM                       
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The Bell Witch

For several years her ghost pinched, slapped, scolded and otherwise tormented a Tennessee family in America's best-known poltergeist case.
Adams, Tennessee, in 1817, was the site of one of the most well-known hauntings in American history – so well known that it eventually caught the attention and then the involvement of a future president of the United States.

Known as The Bell Witch, the strange and often violent poltergeist activity that provoked fear and curiosity in the small farming community has remained unexplained for nearly 200 years, and is the inspiration for many fictional ghost stories, including the recent film, The Blair Witch Project. The facts of The Bell Witch case share little in common with the mythology created for The Blair Witch Project, except they both attracted a great deal of public interest. And because it really happened, The Bell Witch is far scarier.

One early account of The Bell Witch haunting was written in 1886 by historian Albert Virgil Goodpasture in his History of Tennessee. He wrote, in part:

A remarkable occurrence, which attracted wide-spread interest, was connected with the family of John Bell, who settled near what is now Adams Station about 1804. So great was the excitement that people came from hundreds of miles around to witness the manifestations of what was popularly known as the "Bell Witch." This witch was supposed to be some spiritual being having the voice and attributes of a woman. It was invisible to the eye, yet it would hold conversation and even shake hands with certain individuals. The freaks it performed were wonderful and seemingly designed to annoy the family. It would take the sugar from the bowls, spill the milk, take the quilts from the beds, slap and pinch the children, and then laugh at the discomfiture of its victims. At first it was supposed to be a good spirit, but its subsequent acts, together with the curses with which it supplemented its remarks, proved the contrary. A volume might be written concerning the performance of this wonderful being, as they are now described by contemporaries and their descendants. That all this actually occurred will not be disputed, nor will a rational explanation be attempted.

The Vengeful Ghost
What was the Bell Witch? Like most such stories, certain details vary from version to version. But the prevailing account is that it was the spirit of Kate Batts, a mean old neighbor of John Bell who believed she was cheated by him in a land purchase. On her deathbed, she swore that she would haunt John Bell and his descendents. The story is picked up by the Guidebook for Tennessee, published in 1933 by the Federal Government’s Works Project Administration:

Sure enough, tradition says, the Bells were tormented for years by the malicious spirit of Old Kate Batts. John Bell and his favorite daughter Betsy were the principal targets. Toward the other members of the family the witch was either indifferent or, as in the case of Mrs. Bell, friendly. No one ever saw her, but every visitor to the Bell home heard her all too well. Her voice, according to one person who heard it, "spoke at a nerve-racking pitch when displeased, while at other times it sang and spoke in low musical tones.” The spirit of Old Kate led John and Betsy Bell a merry chase. She threw furniture and dishes at them. She pulled their noses, yanked their hair, poked needles into them. She yelled all night to keep them from sleeping, and snatched food from their mouths at mealtime.

http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa101399.htm
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« Reply #203 on: January 19, 2008, 03:31:31 pm »

Sandra Taylor

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The Bell Witch, cont’d

Andrew Jackson Challenges the Witch
So widely spread was the news about The Bell Witch that people came from hundreds of miles around hoping to hear the spirit’s shrill voice or witness a manifestation of its vile temper. When word of the haunting reached Nashville, one of its most famous citizens, General Andrew Jackson, decided to gather a party of friends and journey to Adams to investigate. The General, who had earned his tough reputation in many conflicts with Native Americans, was determined to confront the phenomenon and either expose it as a hoax or send the spirit away. A chapter in M. V. Ingram’s 1894 book, An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch – considered by many to be the best account of the story – is devoted to Jackson’s visit:

Gen. Jackson’s party came from Nashville with a wagon loaded with a tent, provisions, etc., bent on a good time and much fun investi­gating the witch. The men were riding on horseback and were following along in the rear of the wagon as they approached near the place, discussing the matter and planning how they were going to do up the witch. Just then, traveling over a smooth level piece of road, the wagon halted and stuck fast. The driver popped his whip, whooped and shouted to the team, and the horses pulled with all of their might, but could not move the wagon an inch. It was dead stuck as if welded to the earth. Gen. Jackson commanded all men to dismount and put their shoulders to the wheels and give the wagon a push, but all in vain; it was no go. The wheels were then taken off, one at a time, and examined and found to be all right, revolving easily on the axles. Gen. Jackson after a few moments thought, realizing that they were in a fix, threw up his hands exclaiming, “By the eternal, boys, it is the witch.” Then came the sound of a sharp metallic voice from the bushes, saying, “All right General, let the wagon move on, I will see you again to-night.” The men in bewildered astonishment looked in every direction to see if they could discover from whence came the strange voice, but could find no explanation to the mystery. The horses then started unexpectedly of their own accord, and the wagon rolled along as light and smoothly as ever.

According to some versions of the story, Jackson did indeed encounter The Bell Witch that night:

Betsy Bell screamed all night from the pinching and slapping she received from the Witch, and Jackson’s covers were ripped off as quickly as he could put them back on, and he had his entire party of men were slapped, pinched and had their hair pulled by the witch until morning, when Jackson and his men decided to hightail it out of Adams. Jackson was later quoted as saying, "I’d rather fight the British in New Orleans than to have to fight the Bell Witch."

The Death of John Bell
The torment of the Bell house continued for years, culminating in the ghost’s ultimate act of vengeance upon the man she claimed had cheated her: she took responsibility for his death. In October 1820, Bell was struck with an illness while walking to the pigsty of his farm. Some believe that he suffered a stroke, since thereafter he had difficulty speaking and swallowing. In and out of bed for several weeks, his health declined. The Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee, tells this part of the story:

On the morning of December 19, he failed to awake at his regular time. When the family noticed he was sleeping unnaturally, they attempted to arouse him. They discovered Bell was in a stupor and couldn’t be completely awakened. John Jr. went to the medicine cupboard to get his father’s medicine and noticed it was gone with a strange vial in its place. No one claimed to have replaced the medicine with the vial. A doctor was summoned to the house. The witch began taunting that she had place the vial in the medicine cabinet and given Bell a dose of it while he slept. Contents of the vial were tested on a cat and discovered to be highly poisonous. John Bell died on December 20. "Kate" was quiet until after the funeral. After the grave was filled, the witch began singing loudly and joyously. This continued until all friends and family left the grave site.

The Bell Witch left the Bell household in 1821, saying that she would return in seven years time. She made good on her promise and “appeared” at the home of John Bell, Jr. where, it is said, she left him with prophecies of future events, including the Civil War, and World Wars I and II. The ghost said it would reappear 107 years later – in 1935 – but if she did, no one in Adams came forward as a witness to it.

Some claim that the spirit still haunts the area. On the property once owned by the Bells is a cave, which has since become known as The Bell Witch Cave, and many locals claim to have seen strange apparitions at the cave and at other spots on the property.

An Explanation?
A few rational explanations of The Bell Witch phenomena have been offered over the years. The haunting, they say, was a hoax perpetrated by Richard Powell, the schoolteacher of Betsy Bell and Joshua Gardner, with whom Betsy was in love. It seems Powell was deeply in love with the young Betsy and would do anything to destroy her relationship with Gardner. Through a variety of pranks, tricks, and with the help of several accomplices, it is theorized that Powell created all of the “effects” of the ghost to scare Gardner away. Indeed, Gardner was the target of much of the witch’s violent taunting, and he eventually did break up with Betsy and left the area. It has never been satisfactorily explained how Powell achieved all these remarkable effects, including paralyzing Andrew Jackson’s wagon. But he did come out the winner. He married Betsy Bell.

http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa101399a.htm
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« Reply #204 on: January 19, 2008, 03:34:22 pm »

 
unknown

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   posted 07-21-2005 11:25 PM                       
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Sandra

One of my all time favorite supernatural stories, thanks.

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« Reply #205 on: January 19, 2008, 03:34:50 pm »

 
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  posted 07-22-2005 07:04 AM                       
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Sandra! Wow! I've never heard of the Bell Witch before - me, who studies hauntings! So, thanks for posting!! Andrew Jackson's wife and everything! What a great story. :-)

Now, the Fox sisters I have definately read up on. My gut says that they were telling the truth originally, but recanted because of ugly family politics. When they (or at least Margaretta)admitted it WAS the truth before they died, this of course garnered way less publicity than their admitting to a hoax in the first place. They discreditied themselves, which is shameful when I think they were some of the VERY FEW real mediums out there. Now a days the world is littered with fraud in metaphysical persuits. Just go to E-Bay and see what I mean!! :-)
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« Reply #206 on: January 19, 2008, 03:35:28 pm »

unknown

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   posted 07-22-2005 08:36 AM                       
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The Bell-Witch seems to have many of the ear marks of poltergeist activity case rather than a haunting.

"Into the Unknown"
Readers Digest
pg260

"The word poltergeist comes from German and means "racketing ghost" of "noisy spirit."
It describes disturbances that erupt spontaneously in a household- inexplicable rapping noises, pots and pans that fly through the air, pictures crash to the floor. Through the ages poltegeist activity usually has been attributed to the devil or some malevolent-and noisy-spirit. Since such eruptions typically center on a single living individual, however, some parapsychologists now believe that poltergeist activity is actually an involuntary, or unconscious, form of teleknesis."

Also I may add that they usually involve adolescents also those just entering puberty

"Into the Unknown"
Readers Digest
pg 180-181

The ordeal of the Bell family has been the focus of much study and speculation over the years as an especially rich and complex instance of paranormal activity. For one thing, as Fanck Smyth pointed out "it seems certain that the principle phenomenon did take place," and indeed, they were witnessed by dozens of observers, including may outside the family who were presumably of objective opinions. The witch was extensively "interviewed" by a commitee of god fearing neighbors, and both Betsy and John Bell the primary victims, were examined by the family doctor, who could find no natural cause for their suffering. Betsy was for a while suspected of ventriloquism, but after one occasion when the doctor placed his hand over her mouth while the voice was speaking, the suspician was dropped. In the world of the Bells, a remote rural corner of the bible belt in the early 19th century, there could be but three explanations for the Bell Witch: it had to be a fraud, the devil or a ghost. The consensus of the community was that the Bell Witch was some sort of combination of the last two, an evil visitation against which they had no defense.

In the post-Freudian world in which we live, the most plausible explanation for the disaster that overtook the Bells may well be that suggested by psychoanalyst Nandor Fodor in a book entitled "haunted people." In his study of the Bell case, Fodor noted that the symptoms manifested by Betsy-swooning, fainting, dizzy spells-are those ordinarily expeienced by someone entering a trance, in other words, someone who is leaving her conscious self behind. And he observed that John Bell's ailments-nervous tic, inability to eat or speak, withdrawal from all normal contacts and activity-are commonly associated in modern psychiatric theory with severe feelings of quilt.

Fodor further recalled that the behavior of the witch was capricious, adolescent, human, and that while the witch was almost uniformly malicious, it did act in a kind manner toward one person in the family, the mother, Lucy Bell.

After analyzing these and other elements in the case, Fodor came to a fascinating, if highly speculative, conclusion that the Bell Witch was the expression,possibably through the power of the mind, of Betsy Bell's intense hatred for her father. Such hatred, Fodor theorized, might have been engendered by sexual advances made by the father or by some form of incestuous relationship between the father and daughter. As a result, according to Fodor, Betsy was incapable of dealing with her emotions consciously, and when stirred by the attentions of two suitors, Betsy's personality split into-the split including perhaps, "the girl in the green dress" swinging from the oak tree. Part of her personality then proceeded to attack her father.

Of course, Fodor's version of the original Bell Witch is only psychological conjecture offered a century and a half after the fact, there being no possibility of proving his theory. The subject of ghosts is no easier to resolve. It may be, as many believe that ghosts are simply the distillation into familiar forms of our deepest wishes and fears; they maybe hallucinations, pure and simple they maybe waking dreams; the may be serendipitous electrical reactions; or they maybe the visibl edge of a phenomenon as yet beyond the range of human comprehension. After all, when one realizes how dim an understanding most people have of recently explained phenomenon, such as radio and television waves, it is not difficult to believe the universe may harbor additional secrets as well.

In the end, it matters little to those who have seen ghosts whether others believe in them or not. For those who have seen them, ghostts just are. Long after Robert Graves let it be known that he had seen the ghost of young Private Challoner, he was asked to elaborate on the likelyhood of such an event. His response to the question was at once unexcited and provocative.

"I think," he wrote , "that one should accept ghosts very much as one accepts fire-a more common but equally mysterious phenomenon. What is fire? It is not really an element, not a principle of motion, not a living creature-not even a disease, though a house can catch it from its neighbors. It is an event rather than a thing or a creature. Ghost's similarly, seem to be events rather than things or creatures."

[ 07-22-2005, 08:43 AM: Message edited by: unknown ]

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« Reply #207 on: January 19, 2008, 03:35:57 pm »

Sandra Taylor

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   posted 07-22-2005 07:51 PM                       
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Mish, glad I introduced you to something new in the realm of the paranormal. The story of the Bell Witch is so compelling that it could easily warrant a topic of it's own. In my view, it's the most incredible haunting ever.

As for the Fox sisters, I sort of want to believe that they were genuine, but it looks like the evidence is stacked against them.

Unknown, the Bell Witch is my favorite ghost story, too. I actually think that there may be something to the modern view that Betsy was abused by her father and the poltergeist was a manifestation of that violence.

More on the Bell Witch and the rest of this later...
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« Reply #208 on: January 19, 2008, 03:37:09 pm »

Sandra Taylor

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   posted 07-22-2005 07:58 PM                       
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Here is something of interest though, the "Bell Witch Cave Photo," showing a ghostly apparition in the mouth of the cave that the Bell Witch is said to haunt:

http://www.prairieghosts.com/chris.html


quote:
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BELL WITCH CAVE PHOTO

This photograph was taken and submitted by Chris Kirby, one of the owners of the Bell Witch Cave near Adams, Tennessee. The cave and the Bell farm has had a very long history of hauntings and strange activity. The story of the haunting at the farm and cave can be found in Troy Taylor's book Season of the Witch.

The photo that appears above was taken near a sinkhole on the Kirby's farm that leads down into the depths of the haunted cave. The cave itself, while formed by water from limestone, is what is referred to by geologists as a "dry cave". This means that the cave, except for during flood seasons, remains relatively dry and does not have the common cave features that are formed by water like stalactites and stalagmites. I mention this to dispel the idea that this might be some kind of mist of wet fog that is emerging from the cave via the sinkhole. Many debunkers, who are ignorant and uninformed of the area and the cave's geology, have tried to dismiss this as mere fog.

This image could not be seen by the naked eye when the photo was taken. Some have suggested that they can see the image of a face inside of the ectoplasmic-like cloud but regardless the source of the "mist" remains unexplained. In 1997, the photo was submitted to the Kodak Laboratories and they had no explanation for it and could find nothing wrong with the film, negative or print that would debunk this image.
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« Reply #209 on: January 19, 2008, 03:38:36 pm »

 
unknown

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   posted 07-22-2005 07:58 PM                       
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Hi Sandra
I read the story years ago and it always stuck out in my mind. I don't know but I think that Its where they got the inspiration for the Blair Witch movie.

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