Chapter XX
MORAL INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIUM
Various Questions. — Dissertations of a Spirit on
Moral Influence
Various Questions
226. 1. " Is the development of mediumship in pro
portion to the moral development of the medium ? "
" No ; the faculty proper pertains to the organism ;
it is independent of the moral ; it is not the same with
its use, which may be more or less good, according to
the qualities of the medium."
2. " It has always been said that mediumship is a
gift of God, a grace, a favor ; why, then, is it not a
privilege of good men, and why do we see unworthy
people who are endowed in the highest degree, and
who misuse it ? "
" All faculties are favors for which we should give
thanks to God, for. there are men who are deprived of
them. You might as well ask why God gives sight to
malefactors, adroitness to thieves, eloquence to those
who use it to say evil things. It is the same with
mediumship ; unworthy persons are endowed with it,
because they have greater need of it to be improved :
do you think God refuses the means of salvation to the
guilty ? He multiplies such means in their path ; he
puts them in their hands ; it is for them to profit by it.
Did not Judas, the traitor, as apostle, perform miracles, and heal the sick ? God permitted him to have this
gift to render his treason more odious."
3. "Will mediums who make a bad use of their .
faculty, or who do not use it for doing good, or do not
profit by it for their instruction, be obliged to bear the
consequences ? "
" If they use it wrongly, they will be doubly pun
ished, because they have a means of being enlightened,
and do not profit by it. He who sees clearly and
stumbles is more blamable than the blind man who
falls into the ditch."
4. " There are mediums to whom communications
are, almost constantly, being made spontaneously, on
the same subject, on certain moral questions, for in
stance, certain designated faults : has that any special
motive ? "
" Yes ; and the motive is to enlighten them on a
subject often repeated, or to correct them of certain
faults ; for this reason they speak to one constantly of
pride, to another of charity : only satiety can open
their eyes. There is not a medium misusing his
faculty from ambition or interest, or compromising it
by a capital fault, such as pride, egotism, levity, &c,
who does not receive from time to time some warning
from the spirits ; the evil is, that they rarely take the
warning to themselves."
Remark. Spirits often use management in giving
their lessons ; they give them in an indirect manner,
in order to leave more merit to him who knows how to
apply and profit by them ; but with some people the
blindness and pride are such that they cannot recog
nize themselves in the picture placed before their eyes ;
much more if the spirit gives them to understand that
they themselves are the ones in question, they become angry, and treat the spirit as a liar or jester. This
plainly proves that the spirit was right.
5. " In the lessons that are dictated to the medium
in a general manner, and without personal application,
does he not act as a passive instrument for the instruc
tion of others ? "
" Often the advice and counsel are not dictated for
him personally, but for others to whom we can address
ourselves only through his agency ; but he ought to
take his share of it, if he is not blinded by self-love.
" Do not think the medianimic faculty has been given
solely to correct one or two persons ; no, the end is
greater ; it is a question of all mankind. A medium
is an instrument of too little importance individually :
this is why, when we give instructions for general
profit, we use those who possess the necessary facili
ties ; but be assured there will come a time when good
mediums will be so common that spirits will not need
to use bad instruments."
6. " Since the moral qualities of the medium keep
away imperfect spirits, how does it happen that a
medium endowed with good qualities transmits false
or gross answers ? "
" Do you know the inward recesses of the soul ?
Besides, without being vicious, he may be light and
frivolous, and then, also, sometimes he needs a lesson
that he may be on his guard."
7. " Why do the superior spirits permit persons
endowed with great power as mediums, and who
might do much good, to be made the instruments of
error ? "
" They try to influence them ; but when they allow
themselves to be carried into an evil way, they let
them go. This is the reason they use them with ' repugnance, for truth cannot be interpreted by false
hood."
8. " Is it absolutely impossible to have good com
munications through an imperfect medium ? "
" An imperfect medium may sometimes obtain good
things, because, if he have a fine faculty, good spirits
may avail themselves of him in default of another, in
one particular case ; but it is always only temporarily,
for, as soon as they find one who suits them better,
they give him the preference."
Remark. It is to be observed that when the good
spirits perceive that a medium ceases to be well assist
ed, and becomes, by his imperfections, the prey of
deceiving spirits, they almost always call forth circum
stances that expose his irregularities, and withdraw
from him serious and well-intentioned persons, whose
sincerity might be abused. In such case, whatever
may be their faculties, it is not to be regretted."
9. " What should a medium be, to be called per
fect ? "
" Perfect ! You well know that perfection is not on
the earth, or you would not be here ; say a good
medium, and that is much, for they are rare. The
perfect medium would be one on whom the bad spirits
have never dared the attempt to deceive ; the' best is
he who, sympathizing only with good spirits, has been
least often deceived."
10. " If he sympathize only with good spirits, how
can they allow him to be deceived ? "
" The good spirits sometimes allow it with the best
mediums, in order to exercise their judgment, and teach
them to discern the true from the false ; and then,
however good a medium may be, he is never so perfect
that there may not be found some weak side in him hat can be approached ; it should serve him as a
lesson. The false communications that he receives
from time to time are warnings that he must not be
lieve himself infallible, and pride himself upon it ; for
the medium who obtains the most remarkable things
has no more matter for glorification in it than the
organ-grinder who produces the most beautiful airs by
simply turning the crank of the instrument."
11. "What are the necessary conditions by which
the words of the superior spirits may reach us pure
from all adulteration ? "
" To will good ; to remove all pride and egotism :
both are necessary."
12. "If the speech of the superior spirits reach us
pure only under conditions difficult to attain, is it not
an obstacle to the propagation of the truth ? "
" No ; for the light always comes to him who wishes
to receive it. Whoever wishes to be enlightened must
flee the darkness, and darkness is in impurity of
heart.
" Spirits whom you consider the personification of
good do not willingly answer the appeal of those
whose hearts are soiled by pride, cupidity, and a lack
of charity.
" Let those, then, who desire enlightenment, throw
aside all human vanity, and humble themselves before
the infinite power of the Creator : this will be the best
proof of their sincerity ; and this condition every one
can fulfill."
227. If the medium, as to execution, is only an
instrument, yet, under the moral relation, he exercises
a great influence. Since, in order to communicate,
the foreign spirit identifies himself with the spirit of
the medium, this identification can take place only so far as there is sympathy, and, if one might say it,
affinity between them. The soul exercises on the
foreign spirit a kind of attraction or repulsion, accord
ing to the degree of their similarity or dissimilarity ;
thus, the good have an affinity for the good, and the
bid for the bad ; from whence it follows that the moral
qualities of the medium have a powerful influence on
the nature of the spirits who communicate through
him. If he is vicious, the inferior spirits surround
him, and are always ready to take the place of the
good spirits who have been called. The qualities
which best attract good spirits are, kindness, benevo
lence, simplicity of heart, love of the. neighbor, detach
ment from material things ; the faults that repel them
are, pride, egotism, envy, jealousy, hatred, cupidity,
sensuality, and all the passions by which man is
attached to matter.
228. All moral imperfections are so many open
doors which give access to evil spirits ; but the one
they can play upon most skillfully is pride, because it is
the one people are least willing to confess, even to
themselves : pride has ruined numberless mediums
endowed with the finest faculties, and who, but for
that, might have become remarkable and very useful
subjects ; but, become the prey of lying spirits, their
faculties have been first perverted, then annihilated,
and more than one have been humiliated by the most
bitter deceptions.
Pride betrays itself in mediums by unequivocal
signs, to which it is so much the more necessary to
call attention, as it is one of the things which should
soonest inspire a distrust of their communications,
This is, first, a blind confidence in the superiority of
these same communications, and in the infallibility of the spirit who gives them ; from thence a certain dis
dain for all that does not come to them, for they be
lieve that they have the privilege of the truth. The
prestige of great names, borrowed by the spirits whom
they account as their protectors, dazzles them, and
as their self-love would suffer in confessing themselves
to be dupes, they repulse every kind of advice ; they
even avoid it by withdrawing from their friends, and
from whoever might be the means of opening their
eyes : if they condescend to listen to them, they scorn
their advice ; for to doubt the superiority of their spirit
is almost a profanation. They are offended at the
least contradiction, at a simple criticism, and even
almost begin to hate the persons who have done them
the service. Under cover of this isolation, brought
about by spirits who want no contradictions, these have
fine sport in keeping them in their illusions, and
easily make them take the grossest absurdities for sub
limities. Thus, absolute confidence in the superiority
of what they obtain, contempt for what does not come
from them, undue importance attached to great names,
rejection of 'counsel, all criticism taken in ill part,
withdrawal from those who might give disinterested
advice, a belief in their skill in spite of their want of
experience, — such are the characteristics of proud and
vain mediums.
It is proper to say that pride is often excited in
a medium by his surroundings. If he has greater
faculties than ordinary, he is sought after and praised ;
he considers himself indispensable, and soon affects
airs of self-sufficiency and disdain when he lends his
assistance. We have, more than once, had to regret
the eulogiums we had given to certain mediums in
order to encourage them.
229. By the side of this picture let us place that of
the truly good medium —him in whom we may have
confidence. Let us first suppose facility of execution
so great as to permit the spirits to communicate freely,
without being hampered by any difficulty of a material
kind. This being given, what is most necessary to
consider is, the nature of the spirits who habitually
assist him ; and for that it is not the name that must
be looked to, but the language. He should never lose
sight of the fact that the sympathies he encourages
among the good spirits will be in proportion to his
withdrawal from the bad. Knowing that his faculty is
a gift accorded to him for use in good, he seeks not
self-laudation, he takes no merit for it to himself. He
accepts the good communications made to him as a
favor, of which he should endeavor to render himself
worthy by kindness, benevolence, and modesty. The
former prides himself on his relations with superior
spirits ; the latter becomes more humble in conse
quence, always believing himself beneath such favor.
Dissertations of a Spirit on Moral Influence
230. The following instruction has been given to us
on this subject by a spirit, several of whose communi
cations we have already given : —
" We have already said, mediums, as mediums, have
but a secondary influence in the communications of
spirits : their task is that of an electric machine, which
transmits telegraphic despatches from one point of the
earth to another far distant. So, when we wish to dic
tate a communication, we act on the medium as the
telegraph operator on his instruments ; that is, as the
tac-tac of the telegraph writes thousands of miles
away, on a slip of paper, the reproduced letters of the
dispatch, so we, from the immeasurable distance that
separates the visible from the invisible world, the immaterial from the incarnated world, communicate what
we wish to teach you by means of the medianimic in
strument. But, also, as the atmospheric influences act
upon, and often disturb, the transmissions of the electric
telegraph, the moral influence of the medium acts upon,
and sometimes affects, the transmission of our dis
patches from beyond the tomb, because we are obliged
to make them pass through a medium whose nature is
contrary to them. At the same time, that influence is
most often annulled by our energy and our will, and
no disturbing element is manifest. Indeed, dictations
of a high, philosophic bearing, communications of
perfect morality, are sometimes transmitted through
mediums .little suited to these superior teachings ;
while, on the other hand, communications anything
but edifying, sometimes come by mediums who are
very much ashamed of having been used as their
conductor. .
" As a general rule it may be affirmed that spirits call
their like, and that spirits of an elevated plane rarely
communicate by bad conductors, where they have at
hand good medianimic instruments —good mediums.
" Light, trifling mediums call spirits of the same
nature ; and thus their communications are impressed
with vulgar expressions, frivolities, ideas disjointed
and often very heterodox. To be sure they
can and do sometimes say good things, but it is in this
case, particularly, that it is necessary to subject them
to a rigid examination ; for, in the midst of these good
things, some hypocritical spirits skillfully, and with
calculating perfidy, insinuate inventions, lying asser
tions, in order to deceive the sincerity of their auditors.
Then every equivocal word or phrase must be merci
lessly stricken out, preserving only as much of the dictation as is accepted' by logic, or as is already
taught by the doctrine. Communications of this na
ture are to be dreaded only for isolated spiritists, for
circles newly formed, or not yet fully enlightened ; for
in reunions where the believers are more advanced,
and have gained experience, in vain the jackdaw bor
rows the peacock's feathers ; he is always mercilessly
expelled.
" I will not speak of mediums who are pleased to
solicit and listen to filthy communications ; let us leave
them to please themselves in the society of cynical
spirits. Besides, communications of this order seek,
of themselves, solitude and isolation ; in any case they
could only inspire disdain and disgust among the
members of philosophical and serious circles. But
where the moral influence of the medium makes itself
really felt, is when he substitutes his personal ideas
for those which the spirits endeavor to suggest to him ;
and again, when he draws from his own imagination
fantastic theories, which he himself sincerely believes
to be the result of an intuitive communication. Then
it is a thousand to one that this is the reflex of the
personal spirit of the medium ; then occurs this
strange fact —the hand of the medium is sometimes
moved almost mechanically, guided by a secondary
and mocking spirit. It is against this touchstone that
so many ardent imaginations are shattered ; for, car
ried away by the impetuosity of their own ideas, by
the tinsel of their literary learning, they despise the
modest dictation of a wise spirit, and abandon the sub
stance for the shadow, substitute for it a high-flown
paraphrase. On this dreadful rock are personal ambi
tions also stranded, when, in default of communications,
which the good spirits refuse to them, they present their own work as the work of these same spirits.
For this reason it is necessary that the chiefs of spir
itist circles be possessed of exquisite tact and rare
sagacity, in order to discern authentic communications,
and not to wound those who delude themselves.
" ' In doubt, abstain,' says one of your old proverbs ;
admit nothing that has not certain .evidence of truth.
As soon as a new opinion is brought to light, if it
seem ever so little doubtful, pass it through the cruci
ble of reason and logic ; what reason and good sense
refuse, reject boldly ; better reject ten truths than
admit a single lie, a single false theory. For on this
theory you might construct a whole system that would
crumble at the first breath of truth, like a monument
raised on the shifting sand ; while, should you reject
some truths to-day, because they are not clearly and
logically demonstrated, very soon a strong fact, an
irrefutable demonstration, will come to show you its
authenticity.
" Remember, nevertheless, O, spiritists, that there is
nothing impossible for God, and for good spirits,
except injustice and iniquity.
" Spiritism is now sufficiently diffused among men,
and has so moralized the sincere believers of its holy
doctrine, that spirits need no longer be reduced to
employ bad instruments — imperfect mediums. If,
now, a medium, whoever he may be, gives, by his con
duct or his manners, by his pride, his want of love and
charity, a legitimate cause for suspicion, —refuse, re
ject his communications, for there is a snake hidden
in the grass. That is my conclusion on the moral
influence of mediums. Erastus."
