The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1862

In the undergrounds of St. Michel’s tower there is a certain number of mummified cadavers that, as it seems, go back two or three centuries. It constitutes one of the curiosities of the city always sought by visitors. All bodies have their skin fully parsed. They are preserved in a way that makes it possible to distinguish faces and physiognomic expressions. Some exhibit remarkable preservation in their nails, clothing, and other fine fabrics. Amongst all the mummies, there is one in particular that deserves attention. It is a man whose contraction of body, face and arms leave no doubt about the kind of death he had. It is obvious that he was buried alive, dying in a terrible fate.

A new periodical from Bordeaux publishes a novel-feuilleton with the title The Mysteries of St. Michel’s tower. The only thing we know about the work is the name and the posters hanging on the walls of town portraying the undergrounds of the tower. Hence we do not know the mind frame that conceived it or the source from where the author collected the described facts. What we are going to report here at least has the merit of not having been produced by human imagination since it comes directly from beyond the grave something that its author may laugh at it. Nonetheless we believe that the episode is not one of the least shocking ones that took place there. The Spiritists will read it with as much interest as the profundity of the lesson it contains.

It is the story of the man who was buried alive and two persons linked to the case obtained in a series of evocations carried out at the Spiritist Society of Saint-Jean d’Angély last August, a story that we were told when visiting that town. We will discuss the authenticity of the facts in the observation that wraps up the article.

Saint-Jean d’Angély, August 9^th 1862 Medium Mr. Del… through typtology.

1. Question to the protector guide: Can we evoke the spirit that animated the body found in the undergrounds of St. Michel’s tower in Bordeaux that seems to have been buried alive? – A. Yes and may this serve as a lesson to you.
2. Evocation – the Spirit gives sign of his presence.
3. Can you tell us the name you used when animating the body in question? – A. Guillaume Remone.
4. Was your death atonement or a test chosen for your advancement? – A. My God! Why, in your goodness, pursue your sacred justice? Know this that the atonement is always compulsory and the one who committed a crime cannot avoid it. I was among those and that is all I have to say. After much suffering I came to acknowledge my mistakes and I experience the necessary regret to find the grace of the Eternal.
5. Can you tell us about your crime? – A. I murdered a woman in her bed.

7. Has justice found someone guilty for the death of your wife? – A. No. They believed that it was a subtle death. I suffocated her.
8. What was it that led you to such a criminal act? – A. Jealousy.
9. Were you buried alive by mistake? – A. Yes.
10. Do you remember the moments just prior to death? – A. It is something horrible, impossible to describe. Imagine yourself in a grave covered by ten feet of earth, wanting to breath with no air, wanting to shout: “I am alive!” and feeling the voice muffled; seeing oneself dying and incapable of asking for help; seeing oneself with plenty of life but scratched out from the roll of the living ones; feeling thirsty and incapable of attending to that; feeling hungry and incapable of feeding yourself; in a word, die in a damned rage.
11. In such a crucial moment did you think that it was the beginning of your punishment? – A. I thought of nothing. I died enraged, hitting the walls of the coffin, trying to live at any price.

Observation: This answer is logical and justified by the contorted cadaver that explains how the individual had died.

12. Once separated, did your spirit see the body of Guillaume Remone? – A. Just after death I still saw myself on Earth.
13. For how long did you still remain in that state, that is, with the spirit connected to the body but not animating it? – A. Approximately fifteen to eighteen days.
14. Where did you find yourself after leaving the body? – A. I saw myself surrounded by many Spirits in pain like myself. They did not recognize the need to raise their hearts to God. Their hearts were still linked to Earth and hopeless to any form of forgiveness.

Observation: Connected to his own body and still suffering the tortures of the final moments, since he found himself among suffering Spirits, isn’t that hell with the crying and gridding of teeth? Will it be necessary to build a furnace with flames and tridents? As it is well-known, the belief in the eternal sufferings is a punishment to guilty Spirits. Such punishment lasts until the Spirits would last forever if the Spirits would never repent as God only forgives the repented sinner. As soon as a seed of regret enters their hearts a ray of hope allows them to foresee the possibility of an end to their sufferings. But simple regret is not enough. God wishes the reparation and atonement and it is through successive incarnations that God gives the imperfect Spirits the possibility of betterment. They make decisions in erraticism and try to execute them in their corporeal life. That is how they leave behind some impurities in each existence and progressively move one step ahead towards eternal happiness. The door is never closed to them who achieve happiness in a relatively long time interval and according to the will-power and the work done for themselves. One cannot admit God’s omnipotence without prescience. Hence the question is why God when creating a soul and knowing that the soul should fail without the capacity of standing alone, why God took that soul from nothing and sent the same soul to the eternal sufferings? Did God want to create unhappy souls? Such notion is irreconcilable with the idea of an infinite goodness that is one of God’s essential attributes. It must be either one: God knew or did not know. If He did not know than God is not omnipotent. If He did know then that God is neither fair nor good. Now, subtracting any portion God’s infinite attributes is the same as denying His divinity. On the contrary, however, everything is conciliated with the possibility of allowing the spirit to make up for his faults. God knew that the spirit would fail as a consequence of the free-will but He also knew that the spirit would stand up again. God knew that the being would delay the arrival to the objective by choosing the bad path but He also knew that sooner or later the spirit would get there. God multiplies the warnings about the journey to help us to get there faster. If the spirit does not listen is for one’s own fault hence deserving the elongation of the tests. Which one is the more rational doctrine?

15. Are our questions unpleasant to you? – A. They remind me of painful memories but now that I got the grace through repentance, I feel happy for being able to use my life as an example in order to forearm my brothers and sisters against the passions that could drag them as they did to myself.
16. Comparing the kind of death you had to that of your wife we are led to suppose that the “eye for an eye” rule was applied to you, realizing Jesus’ words: “For all those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.” Could you tell us how you suffocated your wife? – A. In bed, as I said, between two pillows after having muzzled her so that she could not scream.
17. Did you enjoy good reputation with your neighbors? – A. Yes. I was poor but honest and well liked. My wife was also from an honorable family. I was up all night out of jealousy since I had seen a man leaving her room. I was mad of anger and did not know what I was doing and perpetrated the crime that you know.
18. Have you seen your wife again in the spiritual world? – A. It was the first spirit that I saw as if to criticize me for my crime. I saw her for a long time and she was unhappy also. It was only after the fact that my reincarnation was decided that I was freed from her presence.

Observation: The continual vision of the victims is one of the most common punishments imposed on criminal Spirits. Those surrounded by darkness, something that is very frequent, cannot always escape. They see nothing but what reminds them of the crime.

19. Have you asked for her forgiveness? – A. No. We were always running away from each other to find ourselves face to face again torturing one another.
20. However have you had to ask for her forgiveness when you repented? – A. Since the time I repented I have not seen her any more.
21. Do you know where she is now? – A. I do not know what happened to her but it would be easy for you to find out through your spiritual guide, St. John the Baptist.
22. What have you suffered as a spirit? – A. I was surrounded by desperate Spirits. I thought I would never get away from that miserable state. There was not a spark of light shining upon my brute soul. The sight of the victim was the coronation of my martyrdom.
23. How were you guided to a better situation? – A. From amidst my brothers in desperation one day I envisaged an end that could only be achieve through regret.
24. What was that end? – A. God, from whom everybody has an idea willing or not.
25. You have already mentioned twice that you are supposed to incarnate soon. Would it be an indiscretion to ask you about the kind of test that you have chosen? – A. Death will take always all those who are dear to me and I will suffer the most abject diseases.
26. Are you happy now? – A. Relatively yes since I foresee an end to the suffering. Effectively, no.
27. From the time when you passed away in lethargy until the moment when you woke up in the coffin did you see or hear what was happening around you? – A. Yes but so vaguely that it seemed like a dream.
28. In which year did you die? – A. In 1612.
29. (To St. John the Baptist) – G. Remone was not certainly forced to confess his crime as a punishment in our meeting. This seems to result from his first answer when he speaks of God’s justice. – A. Yes. He was forced but he was resigned in good faith for he saw another way of pleasing God by serving you in your studies.
30. The spirit was certainly mistaken when answering the sixth question he said: “The only thing I knew was that I would to commit a terrible crime”. He would likely know that he would be exposed to commit a crime but given the free-will he could have resisted the temptation. – A. He did not explain it well. He should have said: “I knew there would be plenty of remorse in my life.” He had the freedom of choosing the kind of test. Now, in order to feel remorse it is necessary to admit that he would do something bad.
31. Could it be the case that he would only have the free-will by choosing this or that test but once chosen he would no longer have the freedom of not doing the action and hence the crime would necessarily have to be committed by him? – A. He could have avoided it. He had his free-will as a spirit as well as an incarnate soul. Consequently he could have resisted but he was dragged by his passions.

Observation: It is evident that the spirit was not aware of his precise situation. He had confused the test, that is, the temptation of doing something with the action of doing it. Since he succumbed he believed that there was an unavoidable fate chosen by himself a fact that would not be rational. Free-will is the most beautiful privilege of the human spirit and a wonderful demonstration of God’s justice by turning the spirit the judge of their own destiny since it depends on each one the abbreviation or the prolongation of sufferings by greed and bad will. The assumption that the spirit could have lost his moral freedom when incarnate would be the same as subtracting his responsibilities for his actions. From that we can see that after a mature examination one cannot admit certain answers given by the spirit when not supported by logic in all points.


A.K.

32. Should we understand that a spirit can choose a life of crimes as a test since the spirit has chosen remorse which is a consequence of a breach of the divine law? – A. The spirit may choose the test of being exposed to that but due to the free-will the spirit may not fail. G. Remone had chosen a life full of domestic displeasures that would excite the idea of a crime and then remorse had he committed the crime. He therefore wanted to face that trial in order to be victorious.

Your language is so much in disharmony with the way the Spirits communicate that sometimes it does happen that certain phrases employed by the mediums must be rectified particularly by the intuitive mediums. We transmit our ideas to them by the combination of the fluids that translate our thoughts more or less well according to a better or worse combination between the fluids of our perispirit and the animal fluid of the medium.

33. (To St. John) – Could we evoke the spirit of the wife of Mr. G. Remone? – A. No. She is incarnate.
34. On Earth? – A. Yes.
35. Since we cannot evoke her as a spirit could we do that to the incarnate spirit? Couldn’t you tell us when she is asleep? – A. You can do that right now since nights for that spirit are days for you.
36. Evocation of the spirit of Mrs. Remone (the spirit manifests).
37. Do you remember the existence when you were Mrs. Remone? – A. Yes. Oh! Why do you make me remember my shame and my unhappiness?
38. If our questions make you suffer we will stop. – A. Please continue.
39. Our objective is not to make you suffer. We do not know you and perhaps we will never do. All we want is to do Spiritist studies. – A. My spirit is tranquil. Why agitating it with painful memories? Can’t you do that with Spirits in erraticity?
40. (To St. John) – Should we stop the questions that seem to bring up painful memories in this spirit? – A. I advise so. It is a child still and the fatigue of the spirit would lead to a painful reaction of the body. In fact, she would more or less repeat what was said by her husband.
41. Have G. Remone and his wife forgiven one another? – A. No. For that they need to achieve a high degree of perfection.
42. If these two Spirits met on Earth as incarnate Spirits what would be their mutual feelings?
– A. Just antipathy.
43. If G. Remone saw his body, like a visitor, in the cave of St. Michel would he experience a sensation that would be unknown to the other curious people? – A. Yes but such a sensation would seem natural to him.
44. Has he seen his body again after he was removed from Earth? – A. Yes.
45. What were his impressions? – A. None. You must understand that once separated from the material envelope the spirit sees things differently from here when compared to the incarnate ones.
46. Could we have more information about the current condition of Mrs. Remone? – A. Ask.
47. What is her gender now? – A. Female.
48. What is her motherland? – A. She is in the Antilles as the daughter of a rich tradesman.
49. The Antilles belong to several nations. What is hers? – A. She lives in Havana.
50. Can we know her name? – A. Do not ask me that.
51. What is her age? – A. She is eleven years old.
52. What are her trials? – A. She will lose her fortune and will live an illegitimate and hopeless love added to misery and hard labor.
53. You say illegitimate love. Will she love her father, brother or another family member? –
A. She will love a man of God, she will be alone and without any hope of being corresponded.
54. Now that we know the trials of that spirit couldn’t we evoke her from time to time in her sad days and give her some advice to reestablish her courage and help her to wait in God? Would that influence the resolutions she would make in the vigil state? – A. Very little. That young lady already has a huge imagination and is knuckle headed.
55. You said that in the country where she lives their nights are our days. But between Havana and Saint-Jean d’Angély the time difference is only five and half hours. At the time of evocation it was 2 pm here and 8:30 am in Havana. – A. Well, she was asleep when you evoked her while you were up long before that. In those regions rich people sleep longer hours and there isn’t much to do.

Observation: Several lessons are found in this evocation. If the incarnate spirit cannot remember the past in the ordinary life the situation changes when unleashed during the sleep. Hence there is no rupture in the life of the spirit that during times of emancipation may look at the past to previous existences and carry over an intuition that may guide them in the vigil state. On several occasions we have pointed out the inconveniences produced by an accurate memory of the past in the present life. These evocations give us an example. It was said that if G. Remone and his wife met they would have a mutual feeling of antipathy. What would happen if they remembered they former relationship! It would break an inevitable reciprocal hatred. Instead of just two antipathetic or indifferent persons towards one another they would perhaps be mortal enemies. In their ignorance they are more themselves and follow their new journeys more freely. The memory of the past would disturb them, humiliating them before others and themselves. The oblivion state does not impair their experience since they are born with the acquired intelligence and morality. They are what they have made. It is a new starting point. It would be an atrocious pain if the memory of the latest death would join the new trials to be endured by G. Remone and God wanted to avoid that by casting a veil onto his past.

punished. – A. Yes my dear, each one receives reward or punishment according to their works. Make sure you do the right thing.
61. Your jokes do not intimidate us. We have trust in God. But it seems that you are still much delayed. – A. As in the past I am always the Big John.
62. How come you cannot respond to our serious questions? – A. Oh serious people, why me? I am always more prepared for laughing than philosophy.
63. (To the guardian angel of the medium) – Can you give us some information about this spirit? – A. He is not sufficiently advanced to provide you with good reasons.
64. Would there be any danger in communicating with him? Could we lead him to better feelings? – A. It could be more advantageous to him than to you. Try it. You may perhaps convince him to see things from another point of view.
65. (To the spirit) – Do you know that the spirit must progress? That through successive incarnations the spirit is supposed to get to God from whom you seem very separated? –
A. I never thought of that and that is why I am so far away from that objective. I have no intention of initiating such a journey.

Observation: Here is a spirit that for his lightheartedness and little advancement is not concerned with reincarnation. When the time is right for him to initiate a new existence what will be his choice? It will evidently suit his habits and character so that he can continue in another incarnation instead of atoning, until such time he is advanced enough to understand his consequences. It is like the story of the unexperienced boy who tries every adventure and experiences on his own. We must remember here that the little advanced Spirits who are incapable of making a fully informed choice there are compulsory incarnations.

66.Do you know G. Remone? – A. Yes, in reality his is the miserable one.
67. Were you suspicious that he could have murdered his wife? – A. I was a little selfish thus more worried about myself than others. When I learned about her death I honestly cried but I did not try to know the cause of death.
68. What was your position then? – A. I was a simple auxiliary court clerk; an office boy as you say.
69. After the death of that lady, have you thought of her again? – A. Do not remind me of all that again.
70. We want you to remember because you seem to be better as a person than you initially showed us. – A. I thought of her a few times. However, since I was naturally lighthearted the memory of her would come and go.
71. What was your name? – A. You are very curious. If I were not forced to stay I would have walked away already leaving you behind with your sermons.
72. You lived in a religious century. Haven’t you ever prayed for that woman who you loved?
– A. Yes I did.
73. Have you ever seen G. Remone and his wife again in the spiritual world? – A. I went back to meet the guys like me and when those crying babies wanted to show up I turned my back on them. I do not like the drama…
74. Go on. – A. I am not so talkative like you. I will stop here if you like.
75. Are you happy today? – A. Why not? I have fun by pranking the oblivious ones who believe to be dealing with good Spirits. When they deal with us we trick them nicely.
76. That is not happiness. The proof that you are not happy is that you said yourself that you were forced to come here. Well, one cannot be happy when forced to do something that is unpleasant. – A. Do not we always have superiors above us? That does not preclude us from being happy. Everyone seeks happiness where they can find it.
77. With some effort, particularly through prayer, you could reach the happiness of those who command you. – A. I did not think of that. You will make me ambitious. Aren’t you tricking me? Do not disturb my poor spirit for nothing.
78. We are not tricking you. You must work for your own advancement. – A. That requires a lot of sacrifice and I am too lazy.
79. When someone is too lazy a friend may help. We will then help you by praying for you. –
A. Pray then so that I may decide to pray myself.
80. We will pray but join us. – A. Do you believe that if I prayed I would have thoughts similar to yours?
81. No doubt but pray on your side. We will evoke you on Thursday to see the progress that you might have done and give you advices if you agree. – A. So long then.
82. Can you tell us your name now? – A. Jacques Noulin.

The following day the spirit was evoked again and was asked different questions about Mrs. Remone. His answers were very little educational and similar to the first ones. After being asked about it St. John said: “You were mistaken by disturbing this spirit and awakening his former passions. It would have been better to wait for the scheduled day. He was in a new kind of confusion. Your evocation had placed him in a new level of thoughts completely different from his common ideas. He was not able to make a firm decision yet although he was prepared to try the prayer. Wait until the proposed day. From now to that day if he listens to the good Spirits who want to help you in your good tasks you may obtain something.”

83. (To St. John) – Has Jacques Noulin made amendments after the last evocation? – A. He prayed and there was light in his soul. He now believes that he is destined to become better and he is prepared to work.
84. What should we do to help him? – A. Ask about the current state of his soul and make him look inwardly so that he can detect the change.
85. (To Jacques Noulin) – Have you given any thought to what you promised and can you tell us how do you see things today? – A. Before anything else I want to thank you. You spared me many years of darkness. Since a few days now I understand that God is my objective; that I must strive to be worthy of him. A new era is presented before me. Darkness is over and I can now see the path ahead. My heart is full of hope and I am sustained by the good Spirits who help the weak. I will follow this new avenue in which I have already found tranquility and that must lead me to happiness.
86. Were you really happy as you said? – A. I was very unhappy. I can see now. But I was happy as everybody else who does not look upwards. I did not think of the future and wandered around on Earth as a lighthearted person, not giving any serious thought. Oh! How much regret for the blindness that made me waste such a precious time! You made a friend, do not forget that. Call me whenever you want and I will attend if I can.
87. What do your former peers think of you now? – A. They make fun of me for having listened to the good Spirits whose presence and advices are hated by them all.
88. Would you be allowed to go and see them? – A. I am now devoted to my progress. As a matter of fact, the good angels who care for me now do not allow me to look backwards but to show my wickedness only.

Observation: Undoubtedly there is no material means of confirming the identity of the Spirits who gave these communications. Hence we will not state it in absolute terms. We offer this as a disclaimer to those who believe that we blindly accept everything that comes from the Spirits. If anything we fail due to over scrutinizing as opposed to mistrust. Fact is that we must be careful not to take by truth something that cannot be controlled. Now, in the absence of positive proofs we must limit ourselves to discuss the possibility and seek the moral proofs in the absence of material ones.

The answers in the case above have a character of likelihood and particularly of elevated morality. There is no contradiction; none of those less logical answers shock common sense or reveal deception; everything concatenates perfectly; everything confirms what has been shown by experience. It is certain that it is not a novel created by people but a piece of mediumistic work. If it were the fantasy of a spirit it would have come from a frivolous spirit for the good Spirits do not enjoy writing novels and the frivolous ones always reveal their objective.

We add the fact that the Spiritist Society of Saint-Jean d’Angély is one of the most serious and better administered centers. It was started by very serious people who were highly commended for their character. This can be assessed by the wisdom and by the method utilized in the formulation of the questions. Hence all communications obtained there attest to the superiority of the manifesting Spirits. The evocations above were performed in excellent conditions both with respect to the ambient and the nature of the mediums involved. For us it is at least a guarantee of the most absolute sincerity. Besides the veracity of the report was explicitly confirmed by the best mediums of the Parisian Society.

Looking at this from a moral point of view only, there is a serious issue. Here we have two Spirits Remone and Noulin brought from their condition to a state of better feelings through the evocation and advices that were given to them. One can ask if they would remain unhappy in case they had not been evoked and what happens to all other unfortunate Spirits who are not evoked? The answer has already been given in “The story of a naughty spirit” published in The Spiritist Review, 1860. We add that since these two Spirits had arrived at a point to be touched by regret and were prepared to receive light, their evocation was provoked by providential circumstances, although fortuitous, contributing to their improvement and instruction. The evocation was the means but, in the absence of God, it does not lack other resources to come to the rescue of the unfortunate ones. We must also rest assured that every spirit that is willing to advance will always find assistance one way or another.

A.K.