CHAPTER III
TELEPATHY AND TELE-MNEMONIKY
Science has not yet accepted definitely the existence of telepathy and can hardly be said to have even begun the study of tele-mnemoniky. But the idea of these matters is so intermingled with the subjects of “survivals” and “communications,” and--as regards telepathy at least--appears so frequently in psychical literature, that it is desirable for those who contemplate speaking with the dead to become acquainted with the general nature of the problems and facts involved therein.
Many people are aware--and, indeed, have themselves tried the experiment--that mind can influence mind without the intervention of matter, such as the organs of speech and hearing operating in a sound-conveying atmosphere. A common phenomenon is the mental impression of a person being present who has approached without being seen or heard. A somewhat less frequent, but still sufficiently familiar, instance of the same order of things is to be found in the fact that persons who are looked at intently (even behind their backs) often become uneasy and turn to meet the gaze. So, also, it is found that cases occur of persons suddenly, and without any apparent cause, finding themselves thinking earnestly of certain other persons and learning subsequently that those other persons were at, or a little before, the time of the impression thinking of the persons impressed.
Facts such as these--which are positive and undisputed--have led to experimental tests, conducted scientifically, for the purpose of determining whether it is possible, at will, to establish intelligent communications between transmitters and percipients who are at a distance from each other; and the name “telepathy” has been given to the kind of intercourse in question. The work has been conducted chiefly by the Society for Psychical Research, whose Reports on the subject have become classics. Telepathy is recognised in so far as it is a grouping of observed facts; but it has not hitherto advanced beyond the status of a “working hypothesis,” which, however, still awaits precise formulation. Thus, Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., in his “Raymond,” first published in November, 1916, says--
“The fact of telepathy proves that bodily organs are not absolutely essential to communication of ideas. Mind turns out to be able to
## act directly on mind, and stimulate it into response by other than
material means. Thought does not belong to the material region, although it is able to exert an influence on that region through mechanism provided by vitality. Yet the means whereby it accomplishes the feat are essentially unknown, and the fact that such interaction is possible would be strange and surprising if we were not too much accustomed to it. It is reasonable to suppose that the mind can be more at home, and more directly and more exuberantly active, when the need for such interaction between psychical and physical--or let us more safely and specifically say between mental and material--no longer exists, when the restraining influence of brain and nerve mechanism is removed, and when some of the limitations connected with bodily location in space are ended.
“Experience must be our guide. To shut the door on actual observation and experiment in this particular region, because of preconceived ideas and obstinate prejudice, is an attitude common enough, even among scientific men; but it is an attitude markedly unscientific. Certain people have decided that inquiry into the activities of discarnate mind is futile; some few consider it impious; many, perhaps wisely distrusting their own powers, shrink from entering on such an inquiry. But if there are any facts to be ascertained, it must be the duty of some volunteers to ascertain them: and for people having any acquaintance with scientific history to shut their eyes to facts when definitely announced, and to forbid investigation or report concerning them on pain of ostracism,--is to imitate a byegone theological attitude in a spirit of unintended flattery--a flattery which from every point of view is eccentric; and likewise to display an extraordinary lack of humour.”
It must, however, be added that, a little further on in the same book, Sir Oliver speaks somewhat less positively. He says--
“Matter is an indirect medium of communication between mind and mind. That direct telepathic intercourse should be able to occur between mind and mind, without all this intermediate physical mechanism, is therefore not really surprising. _It has to be proved, no doubt_, but the fact is intrinsically less puzzling than many of those other facts to which we have grown hardened by usage.”
This account of telepathy is vague, and a similar vagueness also characterises the utterances of other authorities on the same subject. But no good reason exists why the matter should not be dealt with in a manner very much more clear and precise.
We should consider, in the first place, that the word “mind” really means “soul,” and is used merely for the sake of convenience as concentrating attention upon the soul’s faculty of intelligence apart from its sentient, emotional, volitional and ethical attributes. Accordingly, when a telepathist speaks of mind communicating directly with mind, it is the same thing as saying that soul communicates directly with soul; and this, in its turn, implies the corollary that, whether spirits be incarnate or discarnate, the idea of telepathic intercourse is admissible.
In the next place, it is to be borne in mind that, as shown in