Dead Carl Wickland - 30 Years Among the Dead

Among the writers of early Christianity we find that St. Anthony says: “We walk in the midst of demons, who give us evil thoughts; and also in the midst of good angels. When these latter are especially present, there is no disturbance, no contention, no clamor; but something so calm and gentle it fills the soul with gladness. The Lord is my witness that after many tears and fastings I have been surrounded by a band of angels, and joyfully joined in singing with them.” Tertullian with authority challenged the heathery to a trial of superiority in the matter of casting out demons. Minucius Felix, a Roman advocate and apologist, wrote in “Octavius”: “There are some insincere and vagrant spirits, degraded from their heavenly vigor . . . who cease not, now that they are ruined themselves, to ruin others.”

Dr. Godfrey Raupert, of London, who several years ago was especially delegated by Pope Pius X to lecture to Catholic audiences in America on Spiritualism, said in substance: “It is no longer possible to put the subject of psychic phenomena aside. The scientific men all over the world have recognized spiritism as a definite and real power, and to shelve it is a dangerous policy. Consequently the Pope has asked me to tell Catholics the attitude to take toward the subject ... The Church admits the reality of these spiritistic phenomena and their external intelligences, in fact, it has always admitted their reality. The problem at present is to discover the nature of the intelligence. We are now on the borderland of new discoveries which may revolutionize the world. It is not the time yet for an explanation of all the phenomena. We must suspend our judgment until the subject is better known. The study of spiritism is a new one and therefore dangerous . . . A partial knowledge of the subject may cause grave dangers.” (Resulting in obsession or possession.)

“There is no doubt about the fact of diabolical obsessions in the olden time. That the Church (Catholic) recognizes the possibilities is evidenced by the rules prepared for exorcising,” is the quoted statement of Monsignor Lavelle, Rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York.

Julian Hawthorne wrote, in one of the leading newspapers: “Thousands of evil-minded and evil-acting men and women die every day. What becomes of their souls, or spirits? They want to get back here . . . the increasing boldness and frequency with which they take advantage of their opportunities is illustrated in many ways. . . Two acts of defense are open to us. We may stop the source of supply of these undesirable visitors and we may close the doors.”

Dr. Axel Gustafson', who publicly acclaimed his views regarding the fact of spirit obsession, in quoting cases which had come to his attention, said: “The spirits of the revengeful have power after death to enter into and possess the living under certain conditions.”

Prof. Herbert L. Stetson, of Kalamazoo College, Michigan, stated, in a lecture at the University of Chicago: “Demon obsession is no myth; illness is often due to demoniacal possession. . . . Belief in demons is widespread.”

“I often see the spirits who cause insanity,” is the statement of Dr. E. N. Webster, of the mental section of the American Medical Association. “At times I even hear their voices. Insane persons who are spoken of as hopelessly insane are frequently lost under the overwhelming control of a spirit or crowd of spirits. We frequently find by postmortem examination that no physical disorder exists in the brain or nervous system of such persons.”

Prof. William James wrote in “Proceedings S. P. R.”: “That the demon-theory will have its innings again is to my mind absolutely certain. One has to be 'scientific' indeed, to be blind and ignorant enough to suspect no such possibility.”

Prof. James H. Hyslop, while editor of the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, wrote: “There is growing evidence of the fact of obsession which lies at the basis of much insanity and can be cured. The medical world will have to wake up and give attention to this problem or materia medica will lose control of the subject.”

In one of Prof. Hyslop's latest books, “Contact with the Other World,” we find the following:

“The existence of evil spirits affecting the living is as clearly taught in the New Testament, and implied in the Old Testament, as any doctrine there expounded. . . . The term obsession is employed by psychic researchers to denote the abnormal influence of spirits on the living.... The cures effected have required much time and patience, the use of psychotherapeutics of an unusual kind, and the employment of psychics to get into contact with the obsessing agents and thus to release the hold which such agents have, or to educate them to voluntary abandonment of their persecutions. . . . Every single case of dissociation and paranoia to which I have applied cross-reference has yielded to the method and proved the existence of foreign agencies complicated with the symptoms of mental or physical deterioration. It is high time to prosecute experiments on a large scale in a field that promises to have as much practical value as any application of the scalpel and the microscope.”

In “Modern Psychical Phenomena,” Dr. Hereward Carrington states: “It is evident . . . that spiritual 'obsession' is at least a possibility which modern science can no longer disregard, while there are many striking facts in its support. This being so, its study becomes imperative-not only from the academic viewpoint but also because of the fact that hundreds and perhaps thousands of individuals are at the present moment suffering in this manner, and their relief demands some immediate investigation and cure. Once grant the theoretical possibility of actual obsession, and a whole vast field of research and investigations is opened up before us which demands all the care, skill and patience which modern enlightenment and psychological understanding can furnish.”

Never before in the history of medical science has there been such widespread interest, by the public at large, as well as by medical men and public officials, in the subject of the cause, treatment and cure of nervous and mental diseases. Statistics show that insanity is increasing with alarming rapidity everywhere, yet medical experts differ widely as to the causes of mental deterioration, and science is not yet in possession of knowledge of the exact etiology of functional insanity. “The whole world will go mad before long,” declared Dr. Winslow of England.

The greater number of neurologists and alienists entertain the belief that the active and underlying cause of insanity has its origin within the deranged nervous system, but very little as yet is actually known of the true cause.

Dr. W. M. L. Coplin, Director of the Bureau of Health and Charities, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said “Insanity, in most cases, is unaccompanied by any perceptible change in the brain structure. The brain of the patient, when examined under a microscope, shows absolutely nothing which differs in any way from the appearance of the brain of the perfectly sane person. It is therefore evident that the insanity might be due to toxemia, the effect of some subtle organism in the nature of bacilla.... Something causes insanity but what it is, we do not yet know.”

Dr. Britton D. Evans, Superintendent of the Morris Plains, New Jersey, Insane Asylum, stated: “Brain tumor or brain fever may not affect the mind.... A man may have trouble of the brain and still have a normal mind.”

Dr. Th. Ziehen, a noted German alienist, and an authority on hysteria, wrote: “For many functional neuroses there is as yet no accurate limitation and definition. As pathological anatomy does not aid us, no uniform and exclusive cause for hysteria can be demonstrated.”