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O, in a normal state, are incapable of doing either, as well as many other exploits, at the option or desire of…

Date of account
Published 1857
Source
The Spirit Land
Reference
The Spirit Land · selected passage 124
Rights
public_domain
Language
English
Record updated
2026-08-24

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Record summary

o, in a normal state, are incapable of doing either, as well as many other exploits, at the option or desire of those who are present; inquirers, oftentimes, in such cases, becoming the operators, transferring their own impressions, ideas, sentiments, and knowledge to the acting medium, and yet entirely ignorant of 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 only

o, in a normal state, are incapable of doing either, as well as many other exploits, at the option or desire of those who are present; inquirers, oftentimes, in such cases, becoming the operators, transferring their own impressions, ideas, sentiments, and knowledge to the acting medium, and yet entirely ignorant of the fact, and astonished at the results produced. The gentleman referred to discards the agency of spirits in these transactions, and declares that the whole is done by the power of his own will in using and controlling the amount of electricity present at the time; thus proving that the mind or spirit in the body has as much power and control over electricity as the mind or spirit has _out_ of, or separate from, the body. And he is of the opinion that if scientific men would investigate the powers of electricity, and the laws by which it is controlled, they would no more think of attributing the phenomena of the times to the agency of _spirits_, than to the Pope of Rome.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This 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 only

A 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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