The mystery of "cheating things that are not cheats"

In his 1909 book The Survival of Man, Oliver Lodge recounts some séances in which the deceased F.W.H. Myers apparently communicated. In one of the most intriguing and puzzling communications, "Myers" spoke of some earlier sessions and complained:  

I could not say it, but they were translating like a schoolboy does his first lines of Virgil - so terribly confused and inaccurate. But somehow I could not help it. It was not me communicating, yet I saw it going on.... I can only think the things, and false things may creep in without my knowing it.

The medium's spirit control, "Nellie," then added in explanation:

He said it was not he, but neither was it fraud. He does not want you to stop the phenomenon, he wants to study it. You are not to say it was wrong and get it stopped. He likes to watch the somnambulistic thing at work. It is not he that is doing it, and yet he is looking on. He does not see how it is worked, but he finds this more interesting than the genuine communications. He did not rattle the curtains either ... but it was not cheating, and he does not want you to make them think that they are cheats. He does not know how it is worked, but he is studying and he thinks it will help a great deal if he can understand how the cheating things that are not cheats are done ...

He says he is finding out how honest non-phenomena are to be accounted for. Apparently dishonest phenomena are phenomena of extreme [interest] apart from the spirit which purports to be communicating.

Lodge adds this comment:

Whatever their origin, these words do, in my judgment, represent the truth about a good many of these phenomena - that is to say, that they are not precisely what their surface-aspect implies, yet neither are they fraud. [All quotes from p. 310.] 

This is certainly confusing. How can there be "cheating things that are not cheats"? And what can this possibly mean: "He said it was not he, but neither was it fraud"? And who or what is "the somnambulistic thing at work" - the entranced medium or the communicating entity?

A possible answer to all these questions is provided in a book called The Astral Plane, by C.W. Leadbeater. The book is a Theosophist manual published in 1900. It can be read online at Project Gutenberg.

Before going on, I should say that I'm not a Theosophist and have many doubts about that movement, including the career of its charismatic founder, Madame Blavatsky. Famed psychic investigator Richard Hodgson debunked Blavatsky rather damningly, though Blavatsky's defenders continue to dispute Hodgson's findings. In any event, I would not take any Theosophical theory at face value. There is a great deal of jargon and rococo complication in Theosophy, with all sorts of detailed hierarchies of spirits and planes of existence, as well as a complex account of reincarnation that does not seem to fit very well with the best empirical evidence, such as Ian Stevenson's cases. (If I understand it correctly, Theosophy holds that a vast amount of time must elapse between earthly incarnations, while Stevenson's cases - involving children who spontaneously recall a past life - typically indicate a very brief interval between lives.)

Still, there are probably elements of truth in Theosophy. What interests me about this particular idea is that it dovetails nicely with the "Myers" comments quoted above.

In a section called "The Shade" (in Part 2 of the larger section called "Inhabitants"), Leadbeater tells us that lower and more degraded portions of the astral body may be left behind as the soul advances:

Thus comes into existence the class of entity which has been called "The Shade"—an entity, be it observed, which is not in any sense the real individual at all (for he has passed away into Devachan [a higher plane]), but nevertheless, not only bears his exact personal appearance, but possesses his memory and all his little idiosyncrasies, and may, therefore, very readily personate him, as indeed it frequently does at séances. It is not, of course, conscious of any act of impersonation, for as far as its intellect goes it must necessarily suppose itself to be the individual, but one can imagine the horror and disgust of the friends of the departed, if they could only realize that they had been deceived into accepting as their loved one a mere soulless bundle of all his worst qualities. Its length of life varies according to the amount of the lower Manas [mental function] which animates it, but as this is all the while in process of fading out, its intellect is a steadily diminishing quantity, though it may possess a great deal of a certain sort of animal cunning; and even quite towards the end of its career it is still able to communicate by borrowing temporary intelligence from the medium.

Leadbeater is not saying that all mediumistic communications are of this type; elsewhere he talks about how the actual deceased person can reach his loved ones through a medium at times. But according to the Theosophical view, mediumistic communications "frequently" do involve the discarded lower parts of the self, which have an autonomy that persists for a time.

If there is any truth to this theory, it might make sense of the puzzling "Myers" communication conveyed and reported some years after Leadbeater's book was published. The Shade would be communicating in the persona of the deceased person, yet would not actually be that person. The resultant communication would not be from Myers, but "neither would it be fraud." The communicator and its work would be a "cheating thing that is not a cheat." And "the somnambulistic thing at work" would presumably be the Shade, an ongoing (though decaying) fragment of the deceased person with an independent but limited existence. 

All this would seem to be precisely the kind of anomaly that "Myers" would enjoy investigating, since it would offer significant insights into the makeup of the astral body and its gradual progress to higher planes.  So maybe that's what he was talking about.

Incidentally, Richard Matheson makes use of a similar idea in his worthwhile fantasy novel What Dreams May Come, a book that recounts the adventures of a newly deceased person in the afterlife. At one point, the narrator is appalled to realize that a medium is in touch with his disintegrating astral shell or husk, rather than with his true self. Powerless to do anything about it, he can only observe in frustration. This scene reminds me of the "Myers" message: "I could not help it. It was not me communicating, yet I saw it going on." The difference, though, is that in Matheson's book, the astral shell has no mental powers and is merely inert - a sort of mindless zombie.

Comments

[william]

Just a thought: could it be that the eternal soul moves on to higher planes but this “shade” is the left over vitality of the human body or creature “soul or psyche” that carries on for some length of time. Maybe before it blends back into some type of human species group soul? Newton claims to have discovered through hypnosis that mature souls decide in advance the body and environment they wish to reincarnate into to learn new lessons in life.

Now Newton also claimed that his clients told him that animals (i.e. creature type) have a soul or a group soul so I wrote Newton and asked him what happened to the soul of the human creature after the eternal soul leaves the physical body. He did not respond to my letter. Also we must keep in mind that the “souls or spirits” from the other side tell us though mediums that they tend to keep the appearance of their humans bodies after they cross over.

Yogananda of self-realization fame claims to have remembered as a soul learning to adjust to the human creature essence, soul, or whatever in his mother’s womb before he was born. Fact check: Because Yogananda claims such a thing does not make it so.

I have often thought that ghosts are some type of left over energy from a human soul after it passes on to these astral planes. Truly research into the paranormal is not for the faint of heart. Maybe that is why religious people prefer to have others tell them what is truth and how to get to heaven. It is just more comfortable to do so.

[Goonch]

Interesting. So would it be the lower realms of the astral plane are basically a house for the less desirable aspects of souls that have 'shed that skin' and left for greener pastures? It would be chilling to encounter a loved one in those realms during an out of body experience, observe their 'worst qualities', and yet its only a 'mimic'.

I wonder how frequent that really is. Watching most television mediums gives the impression that everything is a-okay. But if they're 'frequently' talking with the leftover worst qualities of that person than perhaps they're hiding its 'character' in the translation?

[Ulysses]

Interestingly enough I was reading a similar description about the spirit “imprint” that remain earthbound, but are not the spirit (consciousness or soul) itself. The description can be found in the Kryon channelings, by Lee Carroll, in a channeling titled “Where is Aunt Martha”:
http://kryon.com/k_chanelcapecod06.html
“That imprint is forever. You can talk to that imprint any time you want to, depending upon the talent and how interdimensional the psychic is. But it's important to realize that you are only communicating with the imprint of Martha's transition”…

[william]

“That imprint is forever. You can talk to that imprint any time you want to, depending upon the talent and how interdimensional the psychic is. But it's important to realize that you are only communicating with the imprint of Martha's transition”…”

I find this statement very difficult to believe or even comprehend. Maybe a temporal imprint, but one that goes on forever. Also this “imprint” has the intelligence to communicate and discuss recent events in a sitter’s life.

I found little if any information in my personal research that cross validates with this statement. This does not mean it is not a valid statement just because my research fails to support such a statement. My mind wants to reject such statements which of course is the danger in any research were beliefs can overwhelm what could be valid evidence.

One thing about paranormal research it seems to never quit challenging your acquired cherished beliefs. Psychics can hold something in their hand that the deceased had owned and tell much from that object so something is going on with imprints but an imprint forever that can communicate?

I feel there might be something more going on here than imprints. I can’t explain it but sometimes I get a feeling that something is not quite right with such a statement. I have noticed in my life when I get that feeling I must proceed with caution.

One could respond that it is just your cherished beliefs that gives you that feeling and maybe so; but over time I have learned that often that “higher self” or whatever has something to offer and it is often is beneficial to listen to that inner voice.

That inner voice has caused me to challenge many accepted beliefs and to later find out that inner voice was accurate. I.e. to name a few: the original sin idea, sacrifice needed for sin, the no soul teachings of the Buddhists, etc.

As I have stated to the effect on this blog many times if a person is comfortable with their beliefs and does not want them challenged (i.e. threatened) then paranormal research may not be for them.

[Michael Prescott]

"I wonder how frequent that really is."

My guess is that it's not as frequent as Leadbeater suggests. Most of the communications that come through mediums are quite positive and uplifting, and give the impression that the communicator is at least slightly more advanced than he/she was on earth. This is also true of other types of after-death communication, including Induced After-Death Communications. Alan Botkin, who pioneered the use of IADCs, says virtually all the experiences his patients report are positive.

Still, it's the kind of thing that may happen occasionally, and may possibly explain the otherwise baffling comments made by "Myers." On the other hand, I may be misinterpreting "Myers," or maybe that particular communication was garbled or not genuine.

[dmduncan]

Perhaps the word "somnambulistic" offers a clue in that there are states of consciousness which defy easy categorization such as the apparent ability of certain people to move about and do things as though awake, when they are not.

"Cheating things that are not cheats" may mean a sort of this in which the rattling of the curtains was genuine but perhaps the result of some interplay between the spirit and the medium which produces the effects, so that it's a kind of cheat, i.e., part produced by the medium, and yet not a cheat, i.e., a genuinely psychic phenomenon.

There's a strange kind of phenomenon that takes place in Aikido, the martial art, when you are throwing someone, and the throw is both real and staged at the same time. It's hard to explain. The person you are throwing knows how to be thrown, but the throw is real, i.e., he is not making himself be thrown, although he is participating in the throw. In contrast, if you performed, for example, a kotegaeshi on someone who did not know how to be thrown, you would in all likelihood separate his hand from the wrist joint, because he would resist being thrown and end up worse for it.

So there may be a kind of an odd dance like that which takes place between medium and spirit, the workings of which are mysterious and unclear to both of them.

[Sandy]

As I have stated to the effect on this blog many times if a person is comfortable with their beliefs and does not want them challenged (i.e. threatened) then paranormal research may not be for them.

I agree, William. Paranormal research certainly isn’t for the likes of me. Unfortunately, my odd habit of experiencing things that confuse the heck out of me have made it difficult to remain completely isolated from paranormal research. How do mediums understand what they are witness to? I sure don’t. I got used to earth-bound ghosts; then there were “spirit guides”. I still don’t really understand much about the spirit guides.

A spirit guide type of ghost recently showed me images of an accident where three men were killed. It wasn’t the dead men that the ghost wanted me to see. It was a man who died but was later revived by medical personnel; a NDEr, like me. The part of him that left his body was surrounded by different kinds of ghosts. Some looked like family; some were people of light. He didn’t go very far from his body before returning. I didn’t see anything like the NDE place that I had experienced, just a man surrounded and comforted by ghosts. It wasn’t what I would have expected. I found it confusing and almost a little disappointing somehow, which is silly, because it was such a privilege to see such an event occur. The man who was revived… his colors changed. That seems very important.

[dagezhu]

I do not endorse the Theosopical Society, even though I was once a dues-paying member. I did it to get access to their lending library.

In particular, I don't endorse Leadbeater.

However, it seems that Leadbeater's remote viewing of quarks matches up well with observed reality.

So ... I can only say such things need to be examined.

[william]

“So there may be a kind of an odd dance like that which takes place between medium and spirit, the workings of which are mysterious and unclear to both of them.”

I believe that this is the reason the traditional materialistic approach to the scientific method is not as a compelling approach to validating paranormal phenomena as it is with physical phenomena.

Even most on the “other side” do not seem all that interested in communicating with the physical realm maybe they would consider that tampering. It also appears that the higher the realm the less desire to communicate with this physical realm with rare exceptions.

At this time we have to rely more on qualitative data than quantitative data. Also our human mind, unless we experience these phenomena ourselves, has a very difficult time comprehending a reality beyond this physical reality.

And even more difficult to comprehend is the underlying reality of all appearances.

[Art]

I remember John Edward saying on his show, Crossing Over, that talking to the other side is like communicating with someone at the bottom of a swimming pool. You got to try and figure out what they are trying to tell you. They don't always get it right.

[william]

“You got to try and figure out what they are trying to tell you. They don't always get it right.”

John Edwards uses an interesting technique to communicate with the other side. He sees symbols or pictures or even a character in a movie when communicating with the other side.

Compared to some mediums who have lived in the past he is in my opinion a medium of limited ability but watching every show he made for two years he does I believe get significant hits that are indeed from the other side and his ability is not due to cold reading or telepathy.

This above statement does not mean that I know with absolute certainty he does not use cold reading or telepathy but I have seen him get hits that rule out both types of psychic reading. I remember reading that an ultra skeptic claimed Edward’s readings were due to cold reading and when I asked this ultra skeptic on the net how many shows he had watched he stated just one and only for ten minutes as he could tell in ten minutes John Edwards was a fake and using cold reading techniques.

This “skeptics” conclusion of course was not due to any in-depth of research but cherished beliefs.

Crossing Over shows stimulated my interest in spiritualism and that proved to be very beneficial in my research into the mysteries of life. From my point of view the spiritualists have done the best and worst job of proving life after death and what life may be like on the other side. The worst job as fraud sit in when money entered the picture and the best, as there have been some great mediums that were able to communicate very clearly with the other side.

And there have been a few mediums that have communicated with “spirits” that appear to have what I would term profound knowledge from these higher realms of existence. One such medium I believe was George Wright who was a gifted medium that never made or asked for a dime from his abilities.

[Michael Tymn]

Some interesting ideas and conjectures, especially with regard to the Leadbeater material. Concerning physical mediumship, I believe that much of the cheating supposedly done by Eusapia Palladino was the "cheating that was not really cheating," i.e., spirits moving her arms and legs to accomplish a feat of some kind while she was in a trance. However, mental mediumship is something else.