Marquis Carlo Centurione Scotto, Carlo Centurione Scotto,
Medium Marquis Carlo Centurione Scotto. Italy.
Carlo Centurione Scotto
Marquis Centurione Scotto
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Marquis Carlo Centurione Scotto, Medium
In Modern Psychic Mysteries at Millesimo Castle Mrs. Gwendolyn Kelley Hack has
united all the reports of the memorable psychic investigations which took place
during the years 1927 and 1928 in the mediaeval Castle of Millesimo in the
Province of Savona, Italy, the property of Marquis Carlo Centurione Scotto. The
principal phenomenon which we obtained was that of the Direct Voice, combined
with many other important manifestations, such as extraordinary apports and
asports, the transportation from a distance of extremely large and heavy
articles, the playing of musical instruments while they floated round the room,
the materialization of human hands and feet, the levitation of the medium to a
height of over six feet above the ground in the large arm-chair in which he was
seated, noisy duels between invisible fighters; and finally, the culminating
phenomenon, in the dramatic bodily disappearance of the Medium. This was
followed by an anxious, but vain search for the sensitive which lasted for two
and a half hours. We were eventually relieved of our anxiety by means of Mrs.
Kelley Hacks mediumship, the welcome information which guided us to the spot
where we found the Medium, Marquis Centurione Scotto, immersed in deep sleep,
being written automatically through her hand.
This is not the place to analyze the facts, but it seems an opportune moment to
quote and comment on some criticism which has been advanced in Germany against
the investigations at Millesimo, with regard to the methods of control adopted
during these experiments, which are considered to have been insufficiently
stringent from a scientific point of view. This criticism is brought forward by
Prof. von Schrenck-Notzing and Prof. Rudolf Lambert. It is unnecessary to quote
these criticisms in detail as they all centre round the fact that the mediums
were not subjected to a rigorous, personal control; such as, for example, Prof.
von Schrenck-Notzing invariably adopts when experimenting with the Schneider
brothers.
Now I must frankly confess that in the main our critics are right. This does
not, however, signify that our experiments are destitute of scientific value. I
hasten to demonstrate this on the basis of fact, but before I begin it appears a
suitable opportunity to consider certain psychological and moral considerations
regarding the metapsychic investigation of Mediums; considerations which are of
no little importance from the scientific standpoint, and, in our case, they
amply justify our not having adopted this rigorous personal control.
I flatter myself that our critics will gladly concede that there is an enormous
difference between a Circle of experimenters, who employ professional Mediums,
and a group which experiments with private, cultured mediums of a privileged
social class. In saying which I do not refer to the indubitable fact of the
great difference between the conditions of these two kinds of experiment; for
they cannot well be compared on a moral or psychological basis; rather do I
refer to another circumstance which concerns the susceptibility of mediumistic
persons. For, in the first case, we are treating of professionals who must
perforce accept the necessary conditions of control inseparable from the
exercise of their profession. Whereas, in the second case, we are treating of
private Mediums who lend themselves voluntarily, for the purpose of experiment,
without any utilitarian end, urged solely by their intense interest in these new
researches. It is, therefore, necessary to consider the personal
susceptibilities of these last-mentioned mediums and to remember, as of
paramount importance, their dignity as gentlemen. It is true that amongst
private mediums one occasionally finds persons so imbued with the spirit of
sacrifice in the cause of science that they will undergo any kind of humiliation
which may be inflicted on them. Such people deserve an honored place amongst the
saints and martyrs of a future metapsychic calendar; and in saying this I have
in mind that American lady, Margery (Mrs. Crandon) and her worthy husband, Dr. L.
Crandon. They submitted themselves to all kinds of tests and endured untold
indignity in order to convince the men of science who attended their seances.
Such a spirit of sacrifice is indeed worthy of admiration, but one cannot
reasonably demand that all private Mediums should desire to be aspirants to the
crown of martyrdom. It is only human that many of them should be extremely
tenacious of their personal dignity. This is all the more easy to understand in
our case, for our experiments were held with a member of the highest Italian
aristocracy, who had undertaken this research work in the hope of getting into
communication with his adored deceased son; but the scientific side of the
experiments, and the question of propaganda did not interest him at all.
Therefore, it is but natural that when certain delicate arguments are addressed
to these Mediums, they proudly reply that they are not in the habit of being
treated with suspicion, and that such people as insist on humiliating personal
control may very well stay at home, for no one feels it at all necessary to
convince them. There is not the slightest doubt that they are entirely within
their rights in so replying. I may, however, be told that although their right
is incontestable that does not prevent scientific experiments from being
invalidated when conducted without rigorous personal control of the Mediums. Not
so fast : I will demonstrate on the basis of fact that when considering the case
of control and scientific proof one must proceed by analyzing each case on its
own merits, that it is not right to settle the matter in a pedantic way as
though by the stroke of a dogmatic scientific totalizer, for we must proceed
slowly, example by example, our experience proving that it is possible to
conduct a whole series of metapsychic experiments which give solid, scientific
proof, without adopting any kind of personal control of the Mediums whatsoever.
I conclude my preliminary discussion of this matter by stating that scientific
critics do not take enough account of the enormous difference
between a professional Medium, who lends himself to this form of research
without ideal motives, and a private Medium of ancient lineage, blessed with
vast culture, who had been drawn to the investigation of this new form of
research on account of a family tragedy which had occurred a few months
previously. When added to this our critics pronounce sentence without troubling
to analyze the facts by which it is desired to solve the discussion, it is plain
that we are confronted by a kind of scientific dogmatic totalizer. This is
unreasonable, and can only be classed as pedantry.
However, all the above is only a theoretic prologue to the matter under
discussion; let us come to the practical part, in order to analyze the facts.
I commence with a query : When are we to consider rigorous personal control of
the medium an indispensable necessity? The answer is simple. Except in special
cases, it is absolutely necessary when the phenomena takes place in the vicinity
of the medium, and are of a purely physical character. Such was the case with
Eusapia Paladino, and it is the same with the Schneider brothers with whom Prof.
von Schrenck-Notzing is in the habit of experimenting. In such experiments it is
necessary for the control of the Medium to be rigorous even to pedantry. Not
only must every possibility of conscious fraud be eliminated, but still more
must strict control be adopted as a protection against those inevitable
subconscious automatisms, the result of suggestion or of auto-suggestion to
which a Medium in trance is liable.
It must be recognized that stringent control such as that which Prof. von
Schrenck-Notzing adopts when experimenting with professional mediums, is fully
justified, but in such a case as the Millesimo experiments, the circumstances
are entirely different, for even the most elementary phenomena (or at least that
which we considered to be the most elementary when contrasted with the major
phenomena) are of such a nature as to eliminate at one stroke every suspicion of
fraud, and for this reason, that it would be impossible to obtain them by
fraudulent means. This can be said of the phenomenon with which our sittings
usually commence. The trumpets, encircled with a band of luminous paint, rise
rapidly to the ceiling, whirl and twist about with great speed, moving in every
direction, then descend into the midst of the Circle, tap the Medium on the
head, and touch the knees of the sitters in sign of greeting. In spite of our
being in total darkness this is accomplished with infallible precision. How
would it be possible to obtain such results by means of fraud, seeing that the
first part of the phenomenon could not be carried out even if one climbed on to
the table which stands in a corner of the room, for in this case the trumpets
would be obliged to confine their evolutions to that particular corner, instead
of which they glide about the seance room with perfect freedom. The criticism
that the height to which the trumpets rise is difficult to estimate in total
darkness cannot legitimately be advanced, for it is discounted by the fact that
when the luminous trumpets were whirling around they sometimes illuminated the
ceiling. With regard to the second part of the phenomenon in which the trumpets
touched the sitters with such wonderful precision (a phenomenon which we
constantly observed in far more amazing circumstances) and which it would be
impossible to explain unless we admit that our Mediums are nictalopes, namely
that they can
see perfectly in the dark. Now people who can see in the dark are extremely rare
members of the human race, and I am sure all will credit my assertion that our
Mediums do not belong to this category. As they invariably remain awake and
normal during the seance it is not possible to even insinuate that they become nictalopes when in trance.
I turn to a second physical phenomenon which is equally impossible to obtain by
fraudulent methods. On the evening of July 7, 1928, the heat was very
oppressive; a deplorable circumstance, for the Medium suffers terribly from heat
during the manifestation of phenomena. At the beginning of the sitting we
happened to mention this disadvantage, and almost immediately blasts of
unusually strong, icy air were felt by us all, as I recorded in my account of
the sitting, in the following words :
There was a continual change in the direction from which these air currents
came; sometimes they descended from the ceiling, then we felt them in front of
us, or at our side, or blowing from behind us; sometimes they were like small
whirlwinds. It felt as though several electric fans were working in the centre,
outside and above the Circle.
In the next seance, July 8, another extremely hot day, the phenomenon was
repeated, and this time it was perfected, for, instead of sudden blasts of air
coming from all sides, these refreshing breezes descended from a central point
situated above us, and were described in my report as follows : Almost
immediately we felt strong blasts of icy air which rapidly increased in force,
giving one the impression of a powerful supernormal electric fan which
periodically wafted its pleasant, cooling currents of air over the sitters. . .
. These currents were so strong that our hair waved in the wind, and the men's
coats, and the lace on the ladies dresses were blown about. . . .
This remarkable physical phenomenon so occurred, and it was particularly
convincing. Our thoughts turned to the adherents of the theory of universal
fraud, and someone remarked : If the famous French journalist, M. Heuze, were
here now, he would at last be convinced of the genuine character of mediumistic
phenomena. Indeed, it would be impossible to reproduce the phenomenon by
artificial means, even supposing that a powerful electric fan were suspended in
the centre of the Circle, for although it would have a similar effect, it would
be impossible for it to work without its making the slightest sound.
Nor must we forget that melodious music played on the flexatone, that small
North American musical instrument, an instrument new to us, all of which the
technique requires great skill in the performer, for these musical notes are
obtained by pressing the end of the musical blade with greater or less force. I
described it as follows when I first listened to the phenomenon : Hardly had the
gramophone recommenced playing the waltz from Faust when the flexatone rose in
the air and began to accompany the music with unsurpassable synchronization,
never missing a beat, nor sounding a wrong note, executing the most brilliant
variations, thus proving the great virtuosity of the player. All the while the
flexatone was floating about in the air, rising to the ceiling and then
descending again in order to play the instrument close to the ears of the
experimenters, soaring and floating around in every direction with the agility
and grace of a butterfly. Again, one may well ask, how fraud could have occurred
in such a case? This small musical instrument had come into our hands owing to
our holding these mediumistic seances. No one had ever heard of it before, no
one knew how to play it, and its technique appears difficult to acquire.
Nevertheless the instrument was played most beautifully, whilst it hovered about
in the air like a luminous butterfly. This last fact must not be overlooked by
our critics, for it flew all about the room, both within and without the Circle,
and such behavior cannot be explained by fraud.
A fourth phenomenon, which cannot be produced by a conjurer, is the fact that
Cristo D'Angelo, the Spirit Guide, is able to read peoples thoughts, both when
they are present, or when absent. He answers mental questions, and informs the
sitters as to what is happening to an absent member of the group at that precise
moment, or else what is actually taking place at a great distance in another
experimental circle. He can answer questions admirably, these questions having
been written on a sheet of paper placed in a sealed envelope and deposited,
unknown to the rest of the sitters, in the middle of the circle by Mme la
Marquise Luisa. He revealed the name of the author of an anonymous letter, gave
an invaluable diagnosis from a distance (the diagnosis being given in London
while the patient was at Millesimo), sometimes he predicted recovery and
sometimes death. This diagnosis is of such importance that it deserves a short
digression. It occurred at a sitting held on November 12, 1928, this seance
being exclusively dedicated to the matter. The report was not published on
account of its extremely private nature; however it is now possible to give the
following details. In October 1928 our friend M. Paulo Rossi was in London,
where he sat in a Direct Voice séance with a private medium. Cristo D'Angelo,
speaking in Italian, communicated with him, saying that Marquis Centurione
Scotto's deceased son, by advice of Dr. Barnett (one of Valiantine's Spirit
Guides) wished to give a message of supreme importance concerning the health of
someone dear to the Marquisson. He, therefore, begged M. Rossi to take his wife
to Millesimo during the first fortnight of November in order to sit in a private
sitting at which no persons were to be present except the Marquis Centurione
Scotto and his wife, M. and Mme Rossi, and Ernesto Bozzano. Even Marquis
Centurione Scotto was to be kept in ignorance of what transpired at the sitting
(in order that he should not be alarmed) and so Cristo D'Angelo decided to put
him into trance. We five assembled on November 12 at Millesimo according to
Cristo D'Angelo's instructions, and almost immediately, as had been predicted in
London, but contrary to his usual practice, Marquis Centurione Scotto fell into
trance. Cristo D'Angelo at once communicated at the request, he informed us, of
Marquis Centurione Scotto's deceased son. He spoke for half an hour, giving a
masterly diagnosis of a disease of the blood, called leucemia. He told us the
cause of the disease and prescribed a cure, after which he ordered the sitting
to be closed. The diagnosis, given by our Spirit Guide, purported to be imparted
through the instrumentality of Dr. Barnett, and was absolutely correct, for the
cause of this illness was such as he had stated, and the cure prescribed rapidly
brought back health, strength, and energy to a person in a precarious condition,
the reason of whose ill health had been a mystery.
I flatter myself that my critics will not hesitate to allow that this memorable
incident, when our Spirit Guide at a seance in London informed us that a member
of our Circle had, unknown to herself, contracted the germs of an insidious
disease of the blood, and that he therefore instructed us to meet at Millesimo
so that he could prescribe a cure, is an event which in itself suffices to
demonstrate the supernormal source of our experiments. It should certainly be
sufficiently convincing when considered in conjunction with another similar
instance mentioned above, of Cristo D'Angelo's power of mind-reading, in the
case of persons both present and absent; and also of various cases of
clairvoyance and of clairvoyant predictions.
Passing to the consideration of the phenomena of apports, I must point out that
in our case their dimensions were usually so great as to completely exclude that
criticism which is constantly advanced in similar incidents, namely, that
mediums hide about their person (not excluding the natural cavities of the body)
such objects as they pretend to produce as apports. Now it is plain that in our
case such objections need not even be considered, because it would be absolutely
impossible for our Mediums to hide about their person a halberd over six feet
long, a plant in its pot over four feet high, large pistols, swords, and dolls
of great size. This being the case it would be absurd to inconvenience our sensitives in order to prevent a danger which does not exist. This is the
gravest objection advanced against the phenomenon of apports; and I agree that
in the case of small objects it would be difficult to eliminate this
possibility.
With regard to large apports, such as those which we obtained, it is only
necessary to consider the facts in order to eliminate another objection, that of
their having previously been hidden in the seance room. With regard to this
supposition I must state that in this particular room the only furniture beside
the chairs occupied by members of the Circle, is a piano, two corner tables not
covered with a cloth, and a very low antique divan or couch, so low that one
could hardly force ones hand under it. In consequence it could not possibly be
used as a hiding place for the cuirass, shields, and helmets, or for the large
and beautifully dressed doll, nor for the plant in its pot, and so forth. Not to
mention that at the beginning of every sitting the author examined it by means
of a stick. This is all by the way, because the circumstances in which a large
number of these apports took place are such as to demonstrate their indisputable
authenticity.
So, for instance, when Cristo D'Angelo told Mme la Marquise Luisa that a very
near relative of hers was destined to die she became much agitated and anxiously
enquired : Who is it? Tell me who it is, don't leave me in this cruel
uncertainty. Cristo D'Angelo replied : I will bring you his portrait. Soon after
this the framed photograph of her doomed relative fell at Mme la Marquise
Louisa's feet. Now the great value of this apport as a test, consists in the
fact that it followed a premonition of death, and a question asked on the spur
of the moment by Mme la Marquise Luisa. That is to say that if we are to invoke
the theory of fraud the hypothetical conjurer must have known that a near
relation of the Centurione Scotto's would be taken dangerously ill two days
later, that he would die, that Mme la Marquise would ask just such a question,
and, on the basis of this, the hypothetical conjurer would have prepared this
sensational faked apport. Now considering that clairvoyant prediction exceeds
the normal stock-in-trade of a conjurer, we must logically infer that this
phenomenon of apports is incontestably genuine. It must follow, therefore, that
one of our apports being recognized as genuine, there is no longer any reason
arbitrarily to deny the genuineness of the others; all the more as we are forced
to credit their authenticity on account of the evidence furnished in each case
which I have previously referred to. As I cannot discuss each one in detail I
must limit myself to the most important apport we received--that of the
variegated ivy plant, about four feet high, with its bamboo support, and the
flower-pot full of earth. I repeat, that such a plant could not have been hidden
under the divan, for it was impossible to insert it on account of its size. The
method by which this difficult apport was accomplished should be noted. First
the earth contained in the flower-pot was sprinkled over us, next the plant was
placed in the authors lap, and lastly the terracotta flower-pot in which the
plant had been growing was laid at the writers feet. This can well be understood
when we consider the difficulty which must have confronted the Spirit Entities,
the materials of which the apport was composed being of such different kinds;
and it would explain why they were obliged to perform this feat in three
separate parts. On the other hand the production of an apport in three portions
cannot be explained in the case of a hypothetical conjurer who would naturally
cause less suspicion when making one journey to fetch the plant, than if he had
risked discovery on three separate occasions. Why make three journeys when one
would suffice? (See Chapter II)
I must remind the reader that in the last seance, by Cristo D'Angelo's orders,
the doors of the seance room were sealed with wax, but this did not prevent our
obtaining two remarkable apports, one of which was a large and beautifully
dressed doll (which was too large to be placed under the couch) nor did it
interfere with the asportation of articles which were returned to their place
outside the séance room. I hasten to discuss this phenomenon at length.
Before I commence I cannot resist the temptation of telling my critics how
absurd and unlikely--I might almost say puerile--it would be to imagine that in a
group of intelligent experimenters at every seance one of their number secretly
leaves his chair; quietly opens a locked door and goes out; that shortly
afterwards he re-enters carrying a plant, a cuirass, or a halberd, that he
manages to pass between the chairs (which are separated from each other by a
space of about seven inches) into the centre of the Circle, without ever
stumbling in the darkness, knocking against one of the other sitters or dropping
the apport, and without any of the investigators hearing the key turn in the
lock, or the door creak on its hinges. Is this likely? In the name of logic and
common sense I feel sure that no one will desire to uphold this hypothesis.
In conclusion we must reject both the theory that the conjurer conceals fake
apports on his own person or that he previously hides them in the seance room,
as an adequate explanation of our experiments. The foolish
assumption that the aforesaid conjurer could, time after time, leave the room in
search of the objects of which he has need, is also quite untenable, and it
therefore follows that the apport phenomena witnessed by us cannot reasonably be
doubted, and consequently we must accept these important incidents as reliable
facts on which to base our scientific studies, in the hope of discovering their
origin and significance. But if the hypothesis of fraud be incapable of
explaining our apports, the question becomes still more complicated when we
consider the opposite phenomenon--that of asports, namely the transportation of
articles out of the seance room. Let us examine some of them. In the seance of
July 8, 1928, the sitters were tapped on the head, knees, or shoulders, by a
little parchment drum; and Mme Fabienne Rossi and Mme la Marquise Luisa each
felt their heads squeezed by two iron mittens. At the conclusion of the sitting
these objects were no longer in the room, but were found in the large salon,
where the small drum had been replaced on the table, where it previously stood,
while the iron mittens were discovered where they had been deposited at the foot
of the suit of armour from which they had previously been detached. In the
sitting of August 12, 1928, we witnessed a bloodless, but noisy duel between two
Roman centurions. We heard the swords cross and glance off each other in a
sinister manner, and then we heard formidable blows which rained on metallic
armour, on helmet, shield, or cuirass. At the end of the sitting the only thing
which remained on the field of battle was a Roman gladiators sword, everything
else having been returned to its place in another room. In both the sittings of
July 14 and 28, 1928, a large, live bird flew about the room; three times it
touched the head of the writer with its wing as it flew by, and it also touched
Mme Fabienne Rossi, and Mme la Marquise Luisa. When the sitting was over the
bird had disappeared. Such are the facts. Let us consider them a moment : If we
admit the presence of a conjurer, we must endow him with sufficient ability and
common sense not to embark upon fraudulent practices such as would contravene
those psychological laws of least effort and least risk. Now the phenomenon
asports is in conflict with these laws. How can one imagine that a conjurer
endowed with common sense, after having introduced helmets, swords, shields,
cuirasses, chains, small drums, iron mittens and live birds into the seance
room, would unnecessarily expose himself for the second time to the risk of
discovery, with the absurd idea of discounting and canceling the magnificent
success which he had already achieved by means of his faked apports? Then
consider the asportation of a bird which touched us when flying about the room.
It must first be caught, and how is one to catch it in total darkness? I will
say no more, for I am confident that everyone, commencing with my critics, will,
ere this, have conceded the logical impossibility of explaining these asport
phenomena by means of fraud.
Still another point : it might be objected that it was not a question of birds,
nor of armour actually brought into the room, but that the experimenters were
afflicted by tactile and auditory hallucinations simulating birds and armour,
and that, as in all hallucinations, they were nonexistent. I reply that the fact
that we found the iron mittens deposited
at the foot of the suit of armour from which they had been detached (the great
difficulty of hooking them on to the iron hauberk will explain this fact) proves
that it was not a case of hallucination, but that they were genuine asports. At
the same time I must point out that this objection would be invalid from the
point of view which we are considering namely, that of fraud--seeing that if this
were the correct solution we should then have to explain the genesis of this
hallucination, a phenomenon which is extremely complex and perturbing on account
of the perfect imitation of the objects represented, which could certainly not
be explained by the easily formulated theory of universal fraud. Now I have
finished, for I believe that I have withdrawn from the hands of my critics all
those offensive weapons with which they were provided in order to combat the
reality of apport and asport phenomena. My critics being men of science whose
great analytical penetration is combined with an unshakable serenity of thought
and judgment, I am sure that they will appreciate the absurdity, and above all
the uselessness, of bringing forward such an untenable interpretation of the
phenomena in question.
Another noteworthy incident, which cannot be elucidated or explained by fraud,
occurred on July 28, 1928, when the Medium, seated in an exceptionally heavy
armchair, was levitated to a height of over six feet. (This could be
ascertained by the fact that the arm-chair with the Medium in it knocked against
the central chandelier, which was about nine feet above the floor.) Considered
as a test, such a phenomenon is even more remarkable, because one of our number,
perturbed at the turn that events had taken and fearing the intervention of low
and dangerous Spirit Entities, suddenly turned on the red light at the very
moment when the Mediums arm-chair was staggering about on the floor in an effort
to levitate itself. We have to thank our fellow-investigator for his action,
which proved so valuable, as it gives a solemn lie to propounders of the theory
of universal fraud. The unexpected illumination of the room just at the instant
at which this great physical phenomenon took place, that is to say, at the
critical moment when, according to the fraud theory, the accomplices should have
been discovered in the act of levitating the so-called Medium, the sudden
illumination clearly revealed the fact that all the sitters were in their seats,
that no one else had entered the room, and that none of the furniture had been
moved, except the chair which the spirit operators were endeavoring to levitate.
What are our critics to think? I must remind them that this incident was
referred to by me, and that I commented on it in the report of July 28. How can
one understand Prof. von Schrenck-Notzing and Prof. Rudolf Lambert having
completely ignored it, although the facts were conclusively proved? This is
hardly the right attitude for a scientist to adopt with regard to the work of
other investigators. (See Chapter VIII.)
Passing to other manifestations I must call my critics attention to that most
unusual and important physical phenomenon, namely, the unexpected disappearance
of the Medium, which was followed by our anxious search of the castle, the
stables, and the park in our efforts to find him.
We persevered in the search for two and half hours without result, until our
anxiety was finally relieved by a psychic message which gave us the necessary
information as to where we should find the Medium. This
series of facts constitutes a sequence of unassailable proofs. I refer my
critics to the report published by me on the subject, because as it treats of
the most extraordinary of all the phenomena witnessed by us I described and
discussed it in such minute detail that nothing now remains for me to add. I
merely remind the reader that the authenticity of the phenomenon was
unexpectedly confirmed by a message from New York from the Spirit Guide, Bert
Everett who, when manifesting in one of Valiantine's sittings, referred to the
Millesimo experiments and stated that he had helped Cristo D'Angelo to carry out
the phenomenon of the transport of the medium into the granary. And this was
received a whole month before a report of the case had been published in Italy
or elsewhere.
Finally I come to the principal phenomenon of our experiments, that of the
Direct Voice. Wishing to be sincere I cannot refrain from the remark that
however superficially one analyses the manifestations which we witnessed in our
sittings, one is struck by the fact that the proof of their supernormal origin
is so palpable that one is amazed how our critics could possibly have overlooked
it. Alas! that it should be so. They refuse to recognize it, and therefore I am
forced to enumerate some of these manifestations in order to demonstrate the
truth of my thesis. I cannot refer to them all as there are far too many to
quote and space would not permit it. I must point out with regard to Bert
Everett, the Spirit Guide, that when he speaks by Direct Voice the sound issues
with great power from a corner of the ceiling, and it would be quite impossible
to produce it fraudulently. Critics who remain unconvinced are invariably people
who have never had the opportunity of personally hearing the phenomenon, and
were it possible for them to do so, they would immediately change their opinion.
Alas! in metapsychics those who arrogate the right of judgment are almost always
individuals who do not possess the requisite knowledge for their task. I well
know how the supporters of the universal fraud theory explain the form of
trickery by means of which the Direct Voice is produced when it issues from a
corner of the ceiling. They affirm that in order to obtain this acoustic
illusion, Valiantine, the celebrated Medium, joins two acoustic trumpets by
their smaller ends; so that, when he speaks through one of the trumpets the
voice, passing through both of them, issues sufficiently high up in the room to
give the illusion that it comes from a corner of the ceiling. An ingenious
explanation, but inapplicable in Valiantine's case, for he only uses one
trumpet. As regards our experiments this explanation is still more absurd, for
two equally good reasons, the first being that both trumpets used are encircled
with luminous paint, so that if anyone fitted the mouthpiece of the one into the
mouthpiece of the other, it would immediately be noticed on account of the
luminous band at the end of each. Secondly, the mouthpieces of our trumpets will
not go one inside the other, because they are of exactly the same size.
As regards the location of the voices it is worth mentioning that there is a
curious way in which they are exteriorized. This generally takes place at the
commencement of the sitting when the trumpets are standing upright side by side
in the centre of the Circle, and are plainly visible on account of the luminous
paint which encircles them; if one asks Cristo D'Angelo a question before they have begun to move, his reply is often given
from the inside of one of the trumpets, without the latter having moved from its
position. Now as the band of luminous paint surrounding the instruments throws a
patch of light on to the carpet, it can easily be understood that if a
ventriloquist approached the trumpet in order to speak through it, he would
immediately be seen.
When we consider the vocal timbre of the Direct Voice, one wonders how a male
trickster could possibly speak with a perfectly natural feminine voice, for it
is most certainly not a male voice speaking in falsetto. But this difficulty,
although insurmountable, appears as nothing compared with another of a similar
nature. One asks how any trickster who had never known Eusapia Paladino in life
could express himself with that most unusual vocal timbre which she possessed;
and how could he express himself in her Italianized Neapolitan dialect? When
addressing the writer how could he make use of the same idiosyncrasies of
language, pronunciation and inflexion as she did when conversing with the
author, which he alone in all the world would be able to recognize? In my report
I drew special attention to this. Why, therefore, did my critics not take notice
of it? Is not this simple incident, which also excludes the hypothesis of an
accomplice, quite enough to explode the theory of fraud and to demonstrate the
true supernormal origin of the phenomenon of the Direct Voice?
Let us proceed. We have seen that in the manifestations of the Spirit
Personality who affirmed that she was my mother, I was almost always obliged to
suppress a large part of what she told me because she referred to extremely
private family matters, and that on one occasion Cristo D'Angelo ordered all the
sitters to stop their ears. I must add that one part of this information was
unknown even to the writer, who had to adopt detective methods in order to
verify its truth. I ask my critics to demonstrate to me how such a mystery as
this, namely, information confided to me by a Spirit, can be explained by the
theory of fraud; and if such a mystery is inexplicable by fraud, then in its
turn it clearly proves the supernormal origin of these Direct Voices.
There were also very strange incidents connected with the arrival of Mlle
Ferraris from Turin. She was a new acquaintance, previously unknown to us all,
but the very same evening that she arrived at Millesimo we had a communication
from the Spirit Guide of her Turin Circle. Speaking in the Piedmontese dialect
(which everyone present of course understood, but would have been incapable of
speaking correctly) he immediately referred to a family incident with which her
mind had been occupied a month before. Then a deceased sister communicated with
her, and thanked her for the affectionate solicitude which she had shown with
regard to the education of her little orphaned daughter. The sister approved of
the having the child placed in a nuns school on Lake Como by Mlle Ferraris, this
school being correctly named by the sister. Another of the Turin Circles spirit
Guides then communicated, his voice issuing from the floor; we all noticed that
he frequently made a curious sound which he apparently obtained by clicking his
tongue against the roof of his mouth. Mlle Ferraris explained that this strange
idiosyncrasy was characteristic of this Spirit when he communicated through the
mouth
of their Turin Medium, when the latter was in trance. Such are the facts. If for
the purpose of the present discussion it be desired to deny the spiritistic
interpretation of the facts, the only alternative is to allow that all the
information furnished by these so-called spirit personalities was obtained by
the supernormal power of rendering the sitters subconscious, in other words by
telepathy, which power must be conceded to be supernormal. If this is granted
such a concession is enough to exclude the hypothesis of fraud, and to confirm
the supernormal origin of the Direct Voice. Such being the case I can only beg
my critics to explain how their hypothetical trickster could have managed to
inform himself about the private affairs of a person who an hour earlier was
completely unknown to all present.
Passing to the consideration of these Direct Voices, I must mention that they
spoke three languages and five dialects unknown to our Mediums, namely, Latin,
Spanish, and German, and the following dialects, Piedmomtese, Romagmolo,
Neapolitan, Venetian, and Sicilian. From the theoretical point of view the
Romagmolo and the Sicilian were the most important, because these dialects
present an insurmountable difficulty with regard to accent, construction and
technique. Being unable to quote all I must limit myself to an account of the
conversation in German which took place between M. Gimo Gibelli and a
personality who affirmed that he was the Spirit of an Austrian prisoner of war
who had passed two days in the Castle of Millesimo. (It is true that Austrian
prisoners had spent two days there.) The communicating personality spoke in a
loud voice, more powerful than a normal one would be. Of those present only Mrs.
Gwendolyn Hack and M. Gibelli could speak German, and the communicating entity
therefore conversed with them. I repeat that the two mediums did not know a
single word of German. Who, therefore, could have been the communicator? At the
present time I am not concerned with the theoretical interpretation of these
facts, and therefore I will only ask my critics to explain how fraud could
account for this phenomenon of xemoglossis? M. Gibelli had lived in Austria for
many years, and he affirms that the entity with whom he conversed expressed
himself with a provincial accent. Therefore, the man who spoke must have been of
Germanic race. Where could he have come from? Any trickery by members of the
group is out of the question, seeing that only Mrs. Hack and M. Gibelli were
conversant with German; therefore, the only remaining hypothesis is that of an
Austrian accomplice, introduced into Millesimo Castle for the purpose of
deceiving the sitters. But supposing that anyone can be found willing to accept
such a monstrous theory I warn him that the hypothetical accomplice will have to
enlist the services of a dozen assistants of different nationalities, and of
almost all the Italian Provinces, seeing that they must be able to converse in
Latin, Spanish, and German, and in the following dialects : Venetian, Romagmolo,
Piedmomtese, Genoese, Neapolitan, and Sicilian.
And now I come to the final proof, which our critics never cease to demand; it
is this : that we have recently adopted personal control during several of our
experiments, and although the Circle was principally composed of new sitters
(this is always a detriment to the manifestations, because there is a lack of
that indispensable coalescence and fusing of the psychic fluids), yet in spite
of these difficulties we obtained the Direct Voice.
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A short sitting was held in the house of M. Gimo Gibelli (Piazza dello Zerbino,
Genoa), on September 24, 1928, Marquis Carlo Centurione Scotto, Prof. Tullio
Castellani, M. Mongiardino (the engineer), M. Lavarello, M. Schiaffino, and M.
Massone being present. In order to allay scepticism Prof. Castellani had
prepared strips of material covered with small patches of phosphorescent paint.
These pieces of material were fixed to the hands of the sitters by means of two
rings placed upon the fingers, and were fastened round the wrist by a strong
piece of tape, the ends of which were sealed on the same system in use for
packages sent by rail in Italy. In the same manner similar pieces of material
were fixed round the sitters ankles. It is plain that in this way all present
were able to see and keep a check on the hands and feet of each of the others.
With one exception the doors were all locked on the outside of the room, and
this was locked on the inside, the key being handed to Prof. Castellani. In
spite of this personal and general control Bert Everett, the Spirit Guide, gave
the usual English greeting, which resounded almost immediately from a corner of
the ceiling; but the experimenters noticed that the Voice was not as strong as
usual, and that although it issued from a corner of the room, the sound came
from a spot nearer to the Medium. This weakening of the phenomena is
theoretically interesting, for it occurs in direct proportion to the number of
new sitters present who, not being in the habit of sitting together and not
being in sympathetic rapport one with another, cannot fuse their psychic powers.
To this deplorable circumstance must be added the exhaustion of the Medium, and
the absence of the other sensitive, Mme Fabienne Rossi. Bert Everett was
followed by the other Spirit Guide--Cristo D'Angelo--who spoke several times, and
complained of the excessive amount of luminosity which prevented the regular
concentration of the fluids necessary for the production of the voices. The
trumpet was then thrown violently into a corner. The experimenters also felt the
usual currents of icy air, and were touched by materialized hands. A few days
later another sitting was held in which a similar system of control was adopted,
with the same results; namely, Direct Voice, movement of articles, cold breezes,
and the materialization of hands.
It is not inadvisable to point out that in these experiments the Medium was not
in his own house, and this alone is enough to exclude the theory of accomplices.
And now I consider that I have abundantly proved the absolutely genuine and
supernormal character of our Millesimo experiments.