I have seen hundreds and thousands of materialized forms; have seen, in a few instances, personation, where the…
- Date of account
- Published 1885
- Source
- Materialized apparitions: if not beings from another life, what are they
- Reference
- Materialized apparitions: if not beings from another life, what are they · selected passage 86
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-24
Record summary
I have seen hundreds and thousands of materialized forms; have seen, in a few instances, personation, where the medium was taken possession of, brought out, and controlled as in trance-mediumship; I have seen what appeared to be the double of the medium, so thoroughly like, that I should have testified that it was the …
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyI have seen hundreds and thousands of materialized forms; have seen, in a few instances, personation, where the medium was taken possession of, brought out, and controlled as in trance-mediumship; I have seen what appeared to be the double of the medium, so thoroughly like, that I should have testified that it was the medium had I not seen it dematerialize, or been taken into the cabinet by the form and found the entranced medium there; but I have never seen a single instance of transfiguration, unless the double of the medium be considered as such. The fact that Mrs. Fairchild stands outside, by the cabinet, during the seance, in full view of the audience; that at the Berry Sisters', and at Mrs. Sawyer's, the spirits lead the medium out of the cabinet; that at Mrs. Fay's the forms often take the visitors into the cabinet and show them not only the medium but the materialized control,--are things which the skeptic will find very hard to explain.
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis is a historical account assembled under the reporting and publishing conventions of its period. It may preserve testimony, hearsay, retelling and editorial interpretation together.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyA modern comparison can identify recurring descriptions and possible explanations, but the account is not treated as independently verified evidence merely because it appeared in print.
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