Modern spiritism; its science and religion - SpiritArchive.org

COLLECTIVE HYPNOSIS 161
easily produce situations of great danger and induce
many beliefs in fictitious phenomena. There is little
doubt that the condition tends to prevail, more or
less,
in large crowds in proportion as they are of one
heart and mind. The testimony of thousands in
India has been given to a phenomenon that never
occurred. These have asserted they have seen a boy
throw the end of a long rope up into the air, where
it became rigid, and climb up it and disappear, being
afterwards found in the crowd.
Seance in
Regent's Park
Perhaps one of the most remarkable displays of the
power of "collective hypnotism" occurred at a seance
at which I was present, and can therefore vouch for
the truth of the smallest details. It was not long before
Mr. Stead's death that I heard that most wonderful
manifestations had taken place at his house at
Wimbledon before himself and, I believe, Sir Oliver
Lodge and others, where a materialisation of a spirit
took place, and he saw standing in the room before him
a dear member of his family, who had died shortly
before. Of the fact he appeared to have no doubt
whatever; and the event made such a deep impression
upon him, that with such wonderful mediums as
the man and his wife (from America) who had operated,
he though it a favourable opportunity to restore the
(at that time) somewhat fading belief in Spiritism*
by producing in London, before a distinguished
audience, phenomena wholly supernatural that
could not be gainsaid.
* This was before "Raymond," or Sir A. Conan Doyle.
M.S.
II