O Livro dos Médiuns — Part I, ch. II — The marvellous and the supernatural

7If the belief in spirits and in their manifestations were an isolated conception, the product of a system, it could, with some appearance of reason, be suspected of illusion; but we should like to be told why it is constantly found so strongly impressed among all people, ancient and modern, in holy books and in all known religions? It is, say some critics, because man, in all times, has loved the marvelous. What, then, do you consider the marvelous? Whatever is supernatural. What do you understand by supernatural? Whatever is contrary to the laws of nature. You are, then, so thoroughly acquainted with these laws, that it is possible for you to assign a limit to the power of God? Well, prove, then, that the existence of spirits and their manifestations are contrary to the laws of nature; that it is not, and can not be, one of these laws. Follow the spirit doctrine, and see if it has not all the characteristics of an admirable law, which solves all that the laws of philosophy have, until now, been unable to solve.
Thought is one of the attributes of the spirit; the possibility of acting on matter, of making an impression on our senses, and, consequently, of transmitting his thought, -results, if we may so express ourselves, from his physiological constitution; then there is nothing in this fact either supernatural or marvelous.
When a man dead, thoroughly dead, revives corporeally,— when his dispersed members re-unite to re-form his body, — that is something marvelous, supernatural, fantastical; that would be a veritabLe derogation, which God could accomplish only by a miracle; but there is nothing of the kind in the spirit doctrine.

8Nevertheless you admit, it will be said, that a spirit can raise a table, and maintain it in space without support; is not this a derogation of the law of gravity? Yes, to the known law; but has Nature said her last word? Before the ascensional force of certain gases had been discovered, who would have said that a heavy machine, carrying several men, could triumph over the force of attraction? Would not this seem to the eyes of the crowd marvelous, diabolical? A hundred years ago, a person who should have proposed to transmit a despatch five hundred leagues and receive an answer in a few minutes, would have been called a fool: had he done it, it would have been thought he had the devil under his orders; for at that time the devil alone was capable of traveling so rapidly. Why, then, should not an unknown fluid have the property, under given circumstances, to counterbalance the effect of weight, as hydrogen counterbalances the weight of the balloon?
This, let us remark, en passant, is a comparison, but not an assimilation, and simply to show, by analogy, that the fact is not physically impossible. Now, it is precisely when the learned, in the observation of these phenomena, have wished to proceed by assimilation that they have been led astray. As to the rest, the fact is there: all the denials can not make it not be; for to deny is not to prove. For ourselves, there is in it nothing supernatural; that is all we can say at present.

9If the fact is verified, it may be said we accept it; we accept even the cause you have assigned* — that of an unknown fluid, — but what proves the intervention of spirits? There lies the marvelous, the supernatural.
An entire demonstration would be necessary here, which would not be in place, and besides, would make double work; for it will be found throughout the other parts of the book. Only we will say, to sum it up in a few words, that it is founded, in theory, on this principle — all intelligent effect should have an intelligent cause; in practice, on this observation — that the phenomena called spiritual, having given proofs of intelligence, should have their cause outside of matter; that this intelligence, not being that of the assistants, — this is a result of experience, — must be outside of them: since the acting being can not be seen, it musx be an invisible being. It is thus that, from observa' tion to observation, we have learned that this invisible being, to which we have given the name of spirit, is no other tharfthe soul of those who have lived corporeally, and whom death has stripped of their gross, visible envelope, leaving them only an ethereal envelope, invisible in its normal state. Here, then, are the marvelous and the supernatural reduced to their simplest expression.
The existence of invisible beings once proved, their action on matter results from the nature of their fluidic envelope: this action is intelligent, because, in dying, they have lost only their body, but have retained intelligence, which is their essence; that is the key to all the phenomena erroneously reported supernatural. The existence of spirits is not, then, a preconceived system, an imagined hypothesis to explain facts; it is a result of observations, and the natural consequence of the existence of the soul: to deny this cause is to deny the soul and its attributes. Those who may think they can give a more rational solution of these intelligent effects, — above all, giving a reason for all the facts, — let them do so, and then the merits of each may be discussed. io. To the eyes of those who regard matter as the sole power in nature, all that ca7i not be explained by the laws of matter is marvelous or supernatural, and for them, marvelous is synonymous with superstitious. To such persons, religion founded on the existence of an immaterial principle would be a tissue of superstitions; they dare not say it aloud, but say it softly, and think to save appearances by conceding that there needs a religion for the people and to make children good; but one of two things, either the religious principle is true or it is false; if true, it is so for all the world; if false, it is no better for the ignorant than for the enlightened. ii. Those who attack. Spiritism, under the name of the marvelous, generally rest on the materialistic principle; since, in the very denying of all extra material effect, they deny the existence of the soul: go to the very bottom of their thought, scrutinize well the sense of their words, and you will almost always see this principle, if not categorically formulated, peep from under the pretended rational philosophy with which they cover it.
Thus, in rejecting, on the score of marvelous, all that flows from the existence of the soul, they are consistent with themselves; not admitting the cause, they can not admit the effects: thence a preconceived opinion, that incapacitates them from judging soundly of Spiritism, because they start on a principle of negation for all that is not material. As for us, while we admit all the effects which are the consequence of the existence of the soul, does it follow that we should accept all the facts called marvelous? that we should be the champions of all dreamers, skilled in all Utopian projects/all systematic eccentricities? One must know very little of Spiritism to think so; but our adversaries do not look at it so closely; the necessity of knowing what they talk of is the least of their care. According to them, the marvelous is absurd; Spiritism rests on marvelous facts; hence Spiritism is absurd: this is, for them, a judgment without appeal. They think to offer an unanswerable argument when, after having made erudite researches among the convulsionaries of St. Medard, the camisards of the caverns, the nuns of Loudun, they have discovered patent evidences of fraud, which no one denies; but are these histories the evangel of Spiritism? Have its partisans denied that charlatanism has used certain facts for its profit? that the imagination has created, and fanaticism exaggerated much of it? It i«s no more responsible for the extravagances committed in its name, than true science for the abuses of ignorance, and true religion for the excesses of fanaticism.
Many critics judge Spiritism only by fairy tales and popular legends, which are its fictions: as well judge history by historical romances or tragedies.

12In elementary logic, to discuss a thing, one must know it; for the opinion of a critic has a value only as he speaks in perfect knowledge of cause; then, only, his opinion, were it erroneous, can be taken into consideration: but of what weight is it on a matter of which he knows nothing? The true critic should give proof, not only of erudition, but of profound knowledge of the parts of the subject-matter, of a sound judgment, and of impartiality in every trial; otherwise any fiddler could arrogate to himself the right to judge of Rossini, and a dauber that of censuring Raphael.

13Spiritism, then, does not accept all the facts reputed marvelous or supernatural; far from that, it demonstrates the impossibility of a great number, and the absurdity of certain beliefs which constitute, properly speaking, superstition. It is true that in what it admits there are things that, for the skeptic, are of the purely marvelous, otherwise called superstition. So be it; but at least discuss only those points, for on the others it has nothing to say, and you preach to the converted. In attacking what refutes itself, you prove your ignorance of the matter, and your arguments fall to the ground. But, it may be said, where does the belief of Spiritism stop? Read, observe, and you will know. No science is acquired without time and study; and Spiritism, which touches on the gravest questions of philosophy, on all the branches of social order, which embraces at the same time man physical and man moral, is itself an entire science, an entire philosophy, which can no more be learned in a few hours than any other science. There would be as much puerility in seeing the whole of Spiritism in table-turning as to see the whole of physics in certain toys. / For whoever would penetrate beyond the surface, there are not hours, but months and years, required to probe all its mysteries. Judge by that of the degree of knowledge, and of the value of the opinion of those who arrogate to themselves the right of judging, because they have witnessed one or two experiments, most often only by way of distraction or pastime. They will, doubtless, say they have not the leisure to give all the time necessary to this study. So be it; nothing constrains them; but, then, when they have not the time to learn a thing, let them not speak on it, still less judge it, if they would not be accused of frivolity; the more exalted a position one occupies in science, the less excusable is it to treat lightly a subject one does not know.

14We sum up in the following propositions: —
First. All the spiritual phenomena have for their principle the existence of the soul, its survival of the body, and its manifestations.
Second. These phenomena, being founded on a law of nature, have in them nothing marvelous or supernatural, in the ordinary acceptation of these words.
Third. Many facts are reputed supernatural only by reason of their cause not being known. Spiritism, in assigning their cause, brings them into the domain of natural phenomena.
Fourth. Among the facts called supernatural, there are many of which Spiritism demonstrates the impossibility, and which it places among superstitious beliefs.
Fifth. While Spiritism recognizes in many popular beliefs a foundation of truth, it refuses positively the responsibility of all the fantastic tales created by the imagination.
Sixth. To judge Spiritism by what it does not admit, is a proof of ignorance, and destroys all the value of a person's opinion.
Seventh. The explication of the facts admitted by Spiritism, their causes and moral consequences, constitute a whole science, a whole philosophy, which requires a serious, persevering, and searching study.
Eighth. Spiritism can regard as a serious critic only him who may have seen all, studied all, explored all, with the patience and perseverance of a conscientious observer; who may know as much on this subject as the most enlightened believer; who, consequently, will have drawn his knowledge from elsewhere than the romances of the science; to whose attention no fact can be brought with which he is not acquainted, no argument that he has not studied; let him refute, not by negations, but by other arguments more peremptory; in a word, who can assign a more logical cause for the averred facts. Such a critic is yet to be found.

15We mentioned the word mi7-acle: a short observation on this subject will not be out of place in this chapter on the marvelous.
In its primitive acceptation, and by its etymology, the wrord miracle signifies extraordinary tiling; thing admirable to see; but this word, like many others, has wandered from its original sense, and now it is, according to the Academy, an act of the divine power coiitrary to the common laws of nature. Such is, in fact, its usual acceptation, and it is now only by comparison, and by metaphor, that it is applied to common things which surprise us, and whose cause is unknown. It enters not into our views to examine if God has judged it useful, under certain circumstances, to set aside the laws established by himself; our aim is only to demonstrate that the spiritual phenomena, however extraordinary they may be, do not set aside these laws — have nothing of a miraculous character; neither are they marvelous or supernatural. A miracle cannot be explained; the spiritual phenomena, on the contrary, are explained in the most rational manner; they are not then miracles, but simple effects, which have their cause in general laws. A miracle has still another character; it is that of being insulated and isolated. But from the moment a fact is reproduced, so to say, at will, and by different persons, it cannot be a miracle.
Science every day performs miracles in the eyes of the ignorant; this is why, formerly, those who knew more than the common herd passed for sorcerers, and, as it was thought all super-human science came from the devil, they burned them. Now, when people are much more civilized, they content themselves with sending them to the mad-house.
That a man really dead, as we said in the beginning, should be recalled to life by divine intervention, — that is a real miracle, because it is contrary to the laws of nature. But if the man had only the appearance of death, if there remained in him some latent vitality, and science, or magnetic action, should succeed in reanimating him, this, in the eyes of enlightened persons, is a natural phenomenon; but in the eyes of the ignorant, the fact will pass for miraculous, and the author will be pursued with stones or venerated, according to the character of the individuals. In some countries, should a natural philosopher let fly an electrical paper kite, and cause the thunderbolt to strike a tree, this new Prometheus would be looked upon as armed with diabolic power; and it may be said, in passing, Prometheus seems to us singularly to have forestalled Franklin; but Joshua arresting the movement of the sun, or, rather, of the earth, — this is a real miracle; for we know of no magnetizer endowed with sufficient power to perform such a prodigy. Of all the spiritual phenomena, one of the most extraordinary is, without contradiction, that of direct writing, and the one that shows, in the most evident manner, the action of occult intelligences; but, as the phenomenon is produced by invisible beings, it is no more miraculous than all the other phenomena due to invisible agents, because these occult beings, who people space, are one of the powers of nature — a power whose action is incessant on the material, as well as on the moral world. '
Spiritism, in shedding light on this power, gives us the key to a crowd of things unexplained and inexplicable by all other means, and which have, in times past, passed for prodigies: like magnetism, it reveals a law, if not unknown, at least scarcely comprehended; or, to better express it, the effects are known, for they have been produced through all time; but the law was not known, and it is the ignorance of this law that has engendered superstition. The law known, the marvelous disappears, and the phenomena reenter the natural order of things. This is why spirits no more perform a miracle in turning a table, or in writing, than the doctor in reviving a dying man, or the natural philosopher in causing the fall of the thunderbolt. He who should pretend, by the aid of this science, to perform miracles, would be either ignorant of the thing or an impostor.

16Before the causes were known, spiritual phenomena, as well as magnetic phenomena, might readily have passed for prodigies; but as the skeptics, the free-thinkers, — that is, those who have the exclusive privilege of reason and good sense, — believe nothing possible which they cannot understand, all facts reputed wonderful are the object of their ridicule, and as religion contains a great number of facts of this kind, they do not believe in religion; and from thence to absolute skepticism is but a step. Spiritism, in explaining- the greater part of these facts, assigns them a cause. It comes, then, to the aid of religion in demonstrating certain facts, which, though no longer possessing a miraculous character, are not the less extraordinary; and God is no less grand, no less powerful, for not having set aside his laws. Of what jests have not the suspensions of St. Cupertin been the object! But the ethereal suspension of heavy bodies is a fact explained by spirit law: we have been personally eye-witnesses, and Mr. Home, as well as other persons of our acquaintance, have, at various times, reproduced St. Cupertin's phenomenon. Thus this phenomenon enters into the order of natural things.

17Among the number of facts of this kind, apparitions must be placed in the front rank, because they are most frequent. That of La Salette, about which even the clergy are divided, is not for us an isolated fact. Assuredly we cannot affirm that it took place, because we have no material proof of it; but for us it is possible, insomuch as millions of recent analogous facts are known to us; we believe in them, not only because their reality is proved to us, but because we know perfectly the manner in which they are produced. Let any one look well into the theory we give, further on, of apparitions, and it will be seen that this phenomenon becomes as simple and as plausible as a host of physical phenomena which are wonderful only because the key to them is unknown. As to the person who presented himself at La Salette, that is another question; his identity is not at all demonstrated: we simply state that an apparition could take place; with the rest we have nothing to do. Every one, in this respect, may have his own convictions. Spiritism is not obliged to meddle with them; we say only that the facts produced by Spiritism reveal to us new laws, and give us the key to a host of things that appear supernatural: if some of those which pass for miraculous find here a logical explanation, it is one reason why we should not be in haste to deny what we do not understand.
Spiritual phenomena are contested by some persons precisely because they appear to be outside of the common law, and they cannot explain them to themselves. Give them a rational basis, and the doubt ceases. Explanation in this age, when words do not satisfy, is, then, a powerful motive for conviction. Thus we see, every day, persons who have never witnessed a single act, have never seen a table turn, nor a medium write, and who are as convinced as ourselves, only because they have read and comprehended. If one should only believe what one has seen with the eyes, one's convictions would be reduced to very little.