Pickering and
Sadgrove, which appeared in the Annales des Sciences Psychiques
for 1 February 1908, the summary of an experiment by Mrs. A. W.
Verrall told in full detail in Vol. XX of the Proceedings. Mrs.
Verrall is a celebrated "automatist"; and her
"cross-correspondence" occupy a whole volume of the Proceedings.
Her good faith, her sincerity, her fairness and her scientific
precision are above suspicion; and she is one of the most active
and respected members of the Society for Psychical Research.
On the 11th of May, 1901, at 11.10 p.m., Mrs. Verrall wrote as
follows:
"Do not hurry date this hoc est quod volui--tandem. {greek
here} A. W. V. {greek here}. calx pedibus inhaerens difficultatem
superavit. magnopere adiuvas persectando semper. Nomen inscribere
iam possum--sic, en tibi!"[1]
[1] Xenoglossy is well known not to be unusual in automatic
writing; sometimes even the 'automatist' speaks or writes
languages of which he is completely ignorant. The Latin and Greek
passages are translated as follows:
"This is what I have wanted at last. Justice and joy speak a word
to the wise. A.W.V. and perhaps someone else. Chalk sticking to
the feet has got over the difficulty. You help greatly by always
persevering. Now I can write a name--thus, here it is!"
After the writing comes a humorous drawing representing a bird
walking.
Pages:
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86