CLASSIFICATION OF PHANTASMS.
Without any attempt at an exhaustive classification (which is, of course, impossible), I have divided the different kinds of phantasms that have come within my experience as follows:—Phantasms of the Dead, Phantasms of the Living, and Elementals, and since I have defined each of these species in another of my works, it will be sufficient for me to say here, that by Phantasms of the Dead, I mean the phantasms of every form of life that has inhabited a material body, whether human, animal, or vegetable, for I maintain that there is a spirit in everything that lives; that by Phantasms of the Living, I mean the superphysical counterpart of a living material body that can, under certain conditions not at present fully known, leave that body and manifest itself at any distance away from that body, either visually or auditorially; and that by Elementals, I mean all spirits that have never inhabited any material body.
PHANTASMS OF THE DEAD.
As I have already stated, I think earth-bound spirits of the dead are confined to people whose animal propensities were far in excess of their spiritual—that is to say, whose thoughts were entirely centred on matters appertaining to the material world.
I do not suppose for one moment all such spirits would be compelled to haunt certain localities, but only the spirits of murderers, of carnal-minded suicides, of misers and other people who, when alive, were attracted to one spot by some special vice or peculiar hobby; the spirits of criminal lunatics, and vicious imbeciles, and of particularly gross and sensual people, whose phantasms are, according to some authorities (a view I do not altogether take), as bestial and savage in appearance as the people, when alive, were lustful and cruel in disposition, need not necessarily haunt one spot. That the earth-bound spirits of murderers, suicides, and grossly sensual people haunt certain localities in the shape of certain animals has been firmly believed for many centuries. According to Hartshorne, a man, who committed suicide at Broomfield, near Salisbury, came back to earth in the form of a black dog; whilst legend says that the spirit of Lady Howard, of James the First’s reign, who got rid of four husbands, haunts the road from Fitzford to Oakhampton Park, in the shape of a hound.
Many spectral dogs, supposed by some to be the souls of evil-doers, are alleged to haunt the sides of pools and rivers, particularly in Devon. Mr. Dyer, in his Ghost World (p. 107) gives an instance of a haunting near Tring, where the spirit of a chimney-sweep, who murdered an old woman, was frequently seen on the site of the gibbet, on which he was hanged, in the form of a black dog. As, however, the phantasms of so many murderers and vicious people have been seen in forms more or less resembling those people when alive, I am inclined to attribute the apparitions of animals either to the earth-bound spirits of the animals themselves, or to Impersonating and Vice Elementals, whilst to the latter I attribute the entire sub-human and sub-animal type of psychic phenomenon—such, for example, as the pig-headed ghost of Guilsborough.
THE SOULS OF THE GOOD.
Whilst the spirits of bad people are thus held to be reincarnate, in the shape of animals, in some countries there is a belief that the souls of the good remain on earth for an indefinite period in the guise of birds. In Bulgaria, for example, all souls are supposed to leave the body in the form of birds—a belief that was at one time prevalent among certain North American Indian tribes, whilst in Denmark and Germany there was at one time an almost universal belief that the advent of infants was heralded by the appearance of a stork, who brought the child’s soul with it (vide Thorpe’s Northern Mythology, i., p. 289). To my mind, it is a significant fact that from time immemorial psychism has been closely associated with the bird which, in Egyptian hieroglyphics and other symbols of the Ancients, signifies the soul.
Apropos of psychism and birds, a very curious incident happened this spring to a relative of mine with whom I was staying in the village of G——. Early one morning a large bird came to his bedroom window, and by violent tappings and flappings of its wings against the glass, attracted his attention, when it at once flew away. The previous day an old and dear friend of his (to whom he was very much attached) had died, and he subsequently learned that on the day of her funeral a dove had come to the window of the room in which the dead body lay, and had behaved in precisely the same manner, flying away directly it had succeeded in attracting attention. The visitation of these birds may, of course, only have been a coincidence, but if so, it was a very curious one—indeed, I am inclined to believe that in each instance the bird was a benevolent Elemental that appeared with the sole object of intimating to my relative and to those around the dead body of his friend that the soul of the latter was still alive.
Though I think it quite possible that the souls of the virtuous and spiritual-minded remain earth-bound for a short space after death, I do not think that, when once they are removed to other spheres, they can, under any circumstances, return. There can be no going back when once they have begun the slow, but sure process of spiritual evolution which will lead them to Paradise.
FUTURITY FOR DUMB ANIMALS.
There is, in my opinion, abundant evidence to show that dogs, horses, and birds have spirits that survive death, and this being so, it is only reasonable to suppose that there is a future existence for every kind of animal and for everything, in fact, that possesses any sort of mind—though I do not believe that their spirits all go to the same sphere. A relative of mine, once a year, always hears the sound of barking over the grave of a very favourite fox-terrier, whilst another relative has on more than one occasion seen the phantasm of a black spaniel to which she was very much attached. Mr. Harper, in his book of Haunted Houses (Chapman and Hall, 1907), gives a very interesting account of the alleged haunting of Ballechin House, Perthshire, by the phantasms of a number of dogs that had been shot on the death—and at the express desire—of a Major Stewart, the late owner of the property; whilst a lady correspondent of mine tells me that her eldest nephew has, from the time he was three years old, seen, occasionally, two thin dogs like greyhounds. To quote her own words: “They seem to come and look at him, he says. He is a most matter-of-fact person, and I do not think he has any belief in psychic matters at all. He was born in the North West Territory, where there are no dogs of that kind, and did not come to England until he was over four years old.”
In my book, The Haunted Houses of London, I gave several instances of the apparitions of animals, including that of a dear old dog of mine that appeared to me in York Road, London, and of a parrot that was seen standing on the shoulders of a lady near Clifton.
Although it is only too apparent that animals have not man’s capacity for appreciating what is morally beautiful—in other words, have no souls—I think their intelligence, sagacity, and faithfulness ensures a future life of happiness to them with as great a certainty as “soul” entails a happy futurity to us. Consequently, I believe that all animals and insects have future lives, and that the spirits of all animals and insects, like the souls of men, are being continually contended for by Elementals; and that whilst the spirits of the faithful, benignant, gentle, and industrious go to the Animals’ Paradise, the spirits of the cruel and savage are condemned to go to a corresponding Hades.
There is apparently, however, no very stringent law to prevent the spirits of all kinds of animals—benevolent and otherwise—from occasionally returning and materialising to us.
PHANTASMS OF THE LIVING.
I have already stated that it is quite possible to separate the superphysical from the physical body, and for the former to manifest itself either visually or auditorially, or both, at any distance from the latter. The accomplishment of this act—which is called projection—is entirely a question of concentration, but of a concentration so intense that it cannot be reached—at least, such is my experience—without absolute physical quiet and total absence of mental disturbance.
The separation of the two bodies may be done consciously or unconsciously, more often th
e latter, and not infrequently, too, during sleep. Indeed, many cases of nocturnal hauntings have been found to be due to the phantasms of living people, who have dreamed they were visiting certain localities, and whose superphysical bodies frequently have, in very truth, visited the places in question, and thereby occasioned the hauntings.
The following is one of the many stories I have heard that would serve as an example of this kind of haunting. A Mrs. Elmore, on the occasion of her first visit to Scotland, told me that the people with whom she was staying took her to see a picturesque house near Montrose. The caretaker, on opening the door to them, turned deadly pale, and screamed out, “God help us! If it isn’t the ghost come to visit me in broad daylight!” When the woman had recovered a little from her fright, she explained to them that, for some months past, the house had been haunted by an apparition the exact image of Mrs. Elmore; it had exactly the same face and figure, but was wearing different clothes, which clothes, however, when the caretaker described them, Mrs. Elmore immediately identified with certain garments she had at home.
As they proceeded to explore the house, it began to dawn on Mrs. Elmore that the face of the old woman was strangely familiar, and, on ascending the main staircase, she at once recognised the landing and passages as those she had been continually dreaming about during the past year. Pointing to one of the closed doors, she exclaimed, “That is my favourite room with the pretty blue wall paper, the blue carpet and the quaint inlaid cabinet standing opposite the foot of the old oak bedstead.”
The caretaker again almost fainted in astonishment. “It is just as you describe, ma’am,” she exclaimed. “The De’il is in it.”
And it did indeed seem like it, as Mrs. Elmore knew the upper part of the house—the part she had visited in her sleep—by heart. As a matter of fact, there is no doubt that during sleep Mrs. Elmore’s superphysical body had left her material body and visited the house. In all such cases, however, as well as in cases of conscious projection, there is great danger, since, awake or asleep, we are never free from antagonistic Elementals, who would have no difficulty in seizing both our superphysical and material bodies, and appropriating the latter to their own use, were it not for the combatting and counteracting efforts of our guardian angels—the Benevolent Elementals.
All dreams, whether accompanied or unaccompanied by unconscious projections, are induced by Elementals.
THE CLOTHES OF PHANTASMS.
Again, and again, sceptics, with would-be smartness, have said to me, “Where do ghosts get their clothes? One can imagine the spirit of a person, but not the spirit of his garments. There are surely no tailoring establishments in the psychic world?” But this argument, if such it can be called, is of little value, since the Dead who appear would naturally assume those forms in which they were best known when living, and when on earth they were surely better known clothed than unclothed.
The clothes are not, of course, material clothes any more than the body is a material body—they are mere accessories assumed, so to speak, to make the image more complete, and to facilitate the question of identity. It is surely not difficult to understand that the Force which has the power to manifest itself at all, has the power to manifest itself in the most suitable guise. The phantasm is, after all, only the image of the spirit or soul; it is not actually the spirit or soul itself, any more than the man we see walking about Regent Street in a silk hat and frock-coat is actually the man himself; the latter is an abstract quantity, compounded of spirit, soul, and intelligence—what we see is merely an outward concrete form, whereby we are able to identify that abstract quantity. So it is with the superphysical ego. To identify it we must either see or feel it, and thus to those of us who have sight, it appears in a form with which some of us, at least, are familiar—the form that was once common to its material body; hence clothes—illusionary clothes—are necessary appendages.
It is not so with certain orders of Elementals: having no identity to prove, they manifest themselves—nude.
PHANTASMS OF THE MURDERED AND OF SUICIDES.
As I have already stated, where suicides and murdered people have led gross lives, the hauntings are undoubtedly due to their earth-bound spirits; but where they have been benevolent and pure-minded people, then the phenomena experienced after their deaths may be attributed to Elementals.
ELEMENTALS.
Elementals—namely, those spirits that have never had material bodies, human or animal—are either benevolent, antagonistic, or neutral, and are subjected to the supervision of those Higher Occult Forces that are responsible for the creation of Nature. I do not think it feasible that the same Powers (or Power) that created all that is beneficial to man, created also all that is obnoxious to him. If Man were the only sufferer, then one could attach some credence to the story of the Fall, though there would be little enough justice in it then; but when one considers the vast amount of suffering that has always been endured by all forms of animal life, the Biblical version of the Garden of Eden degenerates into a mere myth as unjust as it is fanciful. Whatever man may have done to have brought upon himself thousands of years of the most hideous sufferings, it is ludicrous to suppose that animals and insects also sinned! And therefore, since to me the terms Almighty and Merciful, and Almighty and Just, are utterly irreconcilable when applied to the Creator of this material world, I can only assume that there was not one Creative Force, but many, and that whilst some (probably the majority) of these Forces (none of which are supreme, for if one were Omnipotent, then the others would assuredly cease to exist) have always been diametrically opposed to one another in their attitude towards all forms of animal life, others have remained indifferent and neutral. Of these Creative Forces, some, whom I will designate the Benevolent Powers, wished both man and beast to live for ever in perfect happiness, whilst others, whom I will designate the Evil Powers, wished both man and beast to die. Some sort of a compromise was therefore arranged by which the contending Forces agreed that all forms of animal life should die, and that the material body should be succeeded by the superphysical, for the possession of which both Forces must contend. The Benevolent Powers would strive to transfer superphysical man, after subjecting him to the thorough process of spiritual evolution to their own particular sphere, namely, Paradise, whilst the Evil Powers would strive to keep superphysical man permanently bound to this Earth, namely, Purgatory; hence there would be a constant struggle between them, a struggle in which each opposing Force would resort to every conceivable device to secure the souls and spirits of both man and beast.
To the Benevolent Creative Powers, then, we owe everything that tends to man’s happiness (and what is more necessary to real happiness than temperance and morality), whilst to the Evil Creative Powers are due all diseases, crimes, and cruelties—everything, in fact, that is injurious to health and responsible for suffering, either mental or physical.
I think I have elsewhere stated in my definition of Benevolent Elementals that they would seem to be identical with the good fairies of our childhood’s days, and with the angels in the Bible. In any case they are employed by the Higher Occult Powers friendly to man, and are always with us, trying to keep us in the paths of virtue, and guarding us from physical danger.
Vice Elementals, on the other hand, are employed by the Higher Occult Powers inimical to man, and are also always with us, trying to persuade us to do everything that harms us mentally, morally, and physically, and that, in a like manner, indirectly injures our neighbours.
Vice Elementals appear in every variety of form, from beautiful, captivating women and handsome, insinuating men, to the grossest and most terrifying caricatures of both man and beast; for example, pig-headed men, monstrous dogs (such as “The Mauthe Dog” of Peel Castle, Isle of Man; the Kirk-grim of Scandinavia, which is sometimes a dog and sometimes a horse or pig); the Gwyllgi of Wales; huge bears (such as the famous “bear” ghost of the Tower of London), and many ot
her mal-shaped forms of man and beast.
Whereas, however, the more prepossessing type of this class of Elemental roams everywhere, the more terrible are usually confined to places where crimes have been committed and impure thoughts conceived.
VAGRARIANS.
These Elementals, which I have already described, are merely survivals of experiments at life, prior to the selection of any definite forms of man and beast; they were created by the neutral Powers, and their attitude to man (whom they shun as much as possible), though spiteful and mischievous, is prompted by nothing actually sinister.
MORBAS, OR DISEASE ELEMENTALS.
These Phantasms are the Agents of the Evil Creative Powers. Always hideous in appearance, they create all manner of malignant bacilli, and are responsible for all diseases and illness, which they often delight in predicting.
CLANOGRIANS, OR FAMILY GHOSTS.
Why there should be a particular type of Elemental attached to certain families it is difficult to say. Some people think it is solely on account of the dreadful crimes perpetrated by members of these families in past days; but if that were the case, what family would be exempt, since there can be very few amongst us who could positively assert that no ancestor of his had ever committed a murder! I think it more likely, that, at one time, Man was in much closer touch with the Creative Powers than he is now, and that certain families, as a mark of friendship, or otherwise, had Clanogrians attached to them (by both the Benevolent and Antagonistic Powers), with the express purpose of warning them of physical danger, and that in course of time, as the relationship between the Higher Powers and man grew more distant, the functions of these Family Elementals became fewer and fewer, until at length they consisted solely of Death warnings, as is now the case.
The Elliott O’Donnell Supernatural Megapack Page 49