Modern spiritism; its science and religion - SpiritArchive.org

94 MODERN SPIRITISM
Are They Daemons?
Sir Wm. Barrett attributes the phenomena to
human-like, but not human, intelligences. They
may be good or bad daemons, but they afford no
proofs of any human existence after death. He
considers the only explanation of what he has
witnessed is the spirit hypothesis. His words are:
"Neither hallucination, imperfect or mal-observation,
nor misdescription can account for the phenomena,
and the simplest explanation is the spirit hypothesis."
Of these spirits Cardinal Newman writes: "Also
between the hosts of evil spirits I considered there
was a middle race, 'daimonia' (daemons), partially
fallen, capricious, wayward, noble or crafty, benevolent
or malicious, as the case might be."
Dr. F. van Eder, S.P.R., maintains all is the work
of spirits.
After reading all these views, which I would fain
were more coherent, I think we must for the present
leave the riddle still unsolved.
Maeterlinck Puzzled
M. Maeterlinck is enormously puzzled with the
tremendous contrast between our conscious and
unconscious mind, if indeed all the absurd puerilities
of Spiritism are the product of the latter and
not of spirits. He asks ("The Unknown Guest"):
"But how can we explain the incredible contrast
between the grandeur and calmness of this
inner life and the puerile and grotesque incongruities
which it manifests at times? Inside us
the unconscious mind is the sovereign judge, the
supreme arbiter, and the prophet. In external