The Marvels Beyond Science - Being a Record of Progress Made in the Reduction of Occult Phenomena to a Scientific Basis , livre ebook

THE
MARVELS BEYOND SCIENCE
(L Occultisme Hier et Aujourd hui; Le Merveilleux pr scientifique)
Being a Record of Progress Made in the Reduction of Occult Phenomena to a Scientific Basis
BY
JOSEPH GRASSET, M.D.
Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Montpellier, and National Fellow of the French Academy of Medicine; Author of The Semi-Insane and the Semi-Responsible
WITH A PREFACE BY
EMILE FAGUET
Of the French Academy
AUTHORIZED ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE SECOND REVISED AND ENLARGED FRENCH EDITION, BY
REN JACQUES TUBEUF
Fellow of the University of Paris
Copyright 2018 Read Books Ltd. This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
CONTENTS
A UTHOR S P REFACE TO THE F IRST E DITION
A UTHOR S P REFACE TO THE S ECOND E DITION
T RANSLATOR S P REFACE
I NTRODUCTION BY E MILE F AGUET OF THE F RENCH A CADEMY
PART I
Definitions-Historical Account-Difficulties in making this Survey
CHAPTER I
Definitions and Historical Account
I. 1. A D EFINITION OF O CCULTISM AND O CCULT P HENOMENA
II. 2. H ISTORICAL A CCOUNT
3. The Period of Animal Magnetism
4. The Period of Spiritualism
5. The present Period
6. Occultism the Promised Land of Science
III. 7. W HAT O CCULTISM IS N OT
8. The traditional Science of the Magi, Theosophists and Spiritualists
9. The Supernatural and Miracles
CHAPTER II
Difficulties in the Present Study of Occult Phenomena
I. C OMPLEXITY OF D ETERMINISM IN E XPERIMENTS
10. Occult phenomena cannot be reproduced at will
11. This experimental determinism is a fact, and must consequently be investigated
II. T HE F RAUDS OF M EDIUMS
12. Frauds in general
13. Voluntary and conscious frauds
14. Frolicsome people and neuropathic sufferers
15. Instances of frauds. Unconscious frauds
16. Conclusions. Caution to be observed
PART II
The Occultism of Yesterday
CHAPTER III
Animal Magnetism and Hypnotism
I. 17. H ISTORICAL A CCOUNT . Braid, Charcot, Liebeault and Bernheim
II. T HE H YPNOTIC S LEEP AND THE C ONDITION OF S UGGESTIBILITY
18. Definition: hyperpolygonal disaggregation and polygonal malleableness
19. How to provoke hypnotic sleep and how to check it
III. S UGGESTION
20. Intrahypnotic suggestions
a . Motive
b . Sensory
c . Psychical and active
d . Modifying the individuality of the person
e . Matters usually beyond the reach of volition
21. Posthypnotic suggestions
a . Suggestions at waking time
b . Suggestions to be fulfilled at a distant date
c . Psychical condition when becoming due, and between the suggestion and becoming due
d . Suggestions affecting memory
IV. T HE U SE OF H YPNOTISM IN F ORENSIC M EDICINE , T HERAPEUTICS AND M ORALS
22. Hypnotism and suggestion before Justice
23. Hypnotism and suggestion from a therapeutical standpoint
24. Hypnotism and suggestion with reference to Morals
CHAPTER IV
Involuntary and Unconscious Motions: Table-Turning, the Exploring Pendulum, Willing Game with Contact
I. T HE M OTOR F UNCTION OF THE P OLYGON : I NVOLUNTARY AND U NCONSCIOUS M OVEMENTS
25. Historical account
26. Instances: absence of mind, somnambulism, itinerant automatism
27. Reciprocal influence of ideas and movements
II. T URNING T ABLES
28. The fact verified
29. Explanation of the fact
30. Psychological analysis of experiments
31. Practical requirements for success
32. The unequal aptitudes of various subjects
III. 33. T HE E XPLORING P ENDULUM
IV. 34. T HE C ONJURER S W AND
V. 35. W ILLING G AME BY C ONTACT
CHAPTER V
Polygonal Memory and Sensations; Erroneous Divination; Polygonal Hallucinations and Crystal Vision; Polygonal Reminiscences and Misjudgments
I. 36. P OLYGONAL S ENSIBILITY AND M EMORY
37. The sensibility of the polygon
38. Memory in the polygon
39. Facts recently disoccultated which are dependent on the polygonal function
II. P OLYGONAL H ALLUCINATIONS AND C RYSTAL V ISION
40. Polygonal Hallucinations
41. Crystal vision
a . Description of the phenomenon and historical account
b . How to produce the phenomenon
c . Psychological analysis
III. P OLYGONAL R EMINISCENCES AND M ISJUDGMENTS
42. Polygonal reminiscences
a . When absent of mind
b . When dreaming
c . Before the crystal mirror
d . When awake
. Absence of mind and waking
. Sleeping and waking
43. A sensation of things seen previously or already felt, or erroneous recognition
a . Some attitudes of O respecting those polygonal reminiscences
b . Description of things previously seen
c . Psychophysiological analysis of the phenomenon
44. Pathology of polygonal memory
a . Polygonal hyperamnesis
b . Total amnesis with preservation of the polygonal memory
c . Polygonal amnesis
CHAPTER VI
Polygonal Association of Ideas and Imagination; Polygonal Romances of Mediums
I. P OLYGONAL I MAGINATION AND THE L INKING OF I DEAS
45. General hints, definitions and analysis
46. The polygon and inspiration
II. M EDIUMS
47. The exteriorization of polygonal ideas
48. Definition of a medium
49. Trances. Mediums connected with people suffering from nervous diseases
50. Alterations of personality and the mediumistic individuality
51. The stages of mediumship
III. T HE P OLYGONAL N OVELS OF M EDIUMS
52. Helen Smith s novels
a . The Royal Cycle
b . The Martian novel
53. Mrs. Smead s Martian novel
IV. C ONCLUSIONS
54. Reality of the polygonal imagination
55. Limits to the polygonal imagination
a . Inferior characteristics
b . Inferiority of polygonal conceptions at large
56. The productions of mediums by polygonal memory easily counterfeit exogenic supernatural messages
PART III
The Occultism of To-day
57. S UMMARY OF THE S ECOND P ART . O UTLINE AND P LAN OF THE T HIRD P ART
A. THEORIES .
58. C LASSIFICATION OF T HEORIES . P LAN OF THEIR S URVEY
CHAPTER VII
I. D EFINITION AND A CCOUNT OF THE S PIRITUALISTIC D OCTRINE
59. Meaning of the word Spiritualism
60. Account of the Theory
II. D ISCUSSION OF THE T HEORY OF S PIRITUALISM
61. This theory unlikely
62. Spiritualism must bring forth its proofs
63. The ideas expressed during trances are those of the medium but not of the spirits evoked
64. Errors of the mediums. The deceitful spirits
65. The spiritualists do not agree together
III. 66. C ONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER VIII
Psychical Radiations; Perispirit; Astral Body; Radiant Psychical Power
I. A CCOUNT OF THE T HEORY
67. The occultist doctrine: perispirit; astral body
68. Other scientific forms of the doctrine
a . Psychical radiations
b . Apparatus to measure them
II. D ISCUSSION OF T HEORIES
69. Most of them bring forth as proofs only the power of exteriorization which they try to explain
70. The biometers have not proved the existence of a power irreducible to the other modes of power known ( heat, electricity )
71. Should this new power be proved, nothing would yet demonstrate that it is a connecting agent between two separate psychisms
III. 72. C ONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER IX
The Independence of Occultism and of all Philosophical and Religious Doctrines
73. Knowledge of occult phenomena can help neither the triumph nor the ruin of any philosophical or religious doctrine
74. Opinions of people who try to mix occultism with philosophy or religion
75. Refutation of this doctrine
a . Authors who try to mix occultism with philosophy or religion come to contradictory conclusions disproving themselves
b . One could give to occultism a philosophical strength only by accepting the spiritualistic doctrine, which, as we have seen, is not proved
c . Occultism is a prescientific chapter open to all, whatever their philosophical or religious creed may be
B. CASES .
76. One must prove the existence of the facts. Classification and Plan of Survey. A list of occult phenomena, according to Maxwell
CHAPTER X
Cases whose Demonstration, if Possible, Appears Very Far Away
I. T ELEPATHY AND P REMONITIONS
77. Definitions
78. Account of cases
a . Telepathy and telesthesia
b . Premonitions and forebodings (divination and prophecy)
c . Telepathical influence of the dead and of things; retrocognitive telepathy (psychometry)
79. Discussion
a . Instances of telepathy are not hallucinations. Their scientific existence not proven
b . No case proves divination or prophecy
c . Many telepathical cases are disoccultated by our actual knowledge respecting the lower psychism
d . Coincidences explain the others
e . How should experimentation be established to become effective
II. M ATERIAL B ROUGHT FROM A L ONG D ISTANCE
80. Instances
a . Anna Rothe and Henry Melzer
b . MacNab
c . Charles Bailey
81. Discussion
a . Conscious deceits
b . Unconscious deceits
III. M ATERIALIZATIONS
82. How the qu