On July 7, 1930, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) died - the father of the most famous detective Sherlock Holmes.
Graduated as a doctor, he discovered his true calling in writing. His work is collected in seventy volumes. Arthur Conan Doyle gained world fame with the novels and stories about Sherlock Holmes, and “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and “The Sign of the Four” are undoubtedly among his most famous works.
Member of the occult society “Golden Dawn”, president of the British College of Occult Sciences and the London Spiritualist Society, author of the two-volume work “History of Spiritualism”, physician and scientist who devoted 50 years of his life to the study of occultism – these are just some of the things that can be said about the author of the legendary adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
On October 21, 1916, in the magazine Light, the 47-year-old Conan Doyle, already a world-famous creator of detective novels, published an article in which he publicly declared his belief in communicating with deceased people for the first time.
“When I completed my medical education in 1882 – he wrote, – I, like most doctors, was a convinced materialist in everything that concerned our fate. And at the same time I never ceased to be a zealous atheist, since, in my opinion, no one has yet answered the question posed by Napoleon on a starry night to an atheist professor during the Egyptian campaign: “Tell me, who created these stars?”
But when I approached the question of our fragile personalities surviving death, it seemed to me that many analogies existing in nature rejected the preservation of personality after the death of the body. When the candle burns out, the light goes out; when the cable breaks, the current stops; and when the body perishes, consciousness disappears. The broken violin makes no sound, although the musician is the same.”
No less impressive was his visit to a spiritualist seance at the end of 1886:
„I have always regarded this subject as the greatest folly in the world; until then I had read some stories of scandalous exposures of mediums and was amazed how a person of sound mind could believe them at all – admits Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. – But some of my friends were interested in spiritualism and together with them I took part in some seances. We received related messages.”
One of his first assistants in spiritualist seances was an architect – Mr. Ball. Then seances began in the families of patients. But the mind of the practicing physician did not want to accept the obvious facts. For advice he turned to an acquaintance – General Alfred Drayson, known for his astronomical and psychical research. And he responded with advice: “To engage in psychicism without a medium is like engaging in astronomy without a telescope.”
Listening to the advice, Conan Doyle, with the help of professional medium Horsted, organized six seances in his home over a period of 6 months in 1887. And the results exceeded his expectations. He devoted several years to the study of theosophy, but became disillusioned with it and in 1891 joined the Society for Psychical Research. This organization was called upon to study all “cases relating to the manifestation of supernatural powers”.
Skeptical friends attributed Conan Doyle's involvement with spiritualism to unhealthy heredity. It is known that the writer's father suffered from mental disorders and died in a specialized clinic. Things came to an open debate between him and John Douglas in the pages of the “Sunday Express”. His opponent published an article with the title “Has Conan Doyle gone mad?”.
The writer's friends Jerome K. Jerome and Bertrand Russell also publicly expressed doubt about Sir Arthur's sanity. He was most annoyed by the science fiction writer H.G. Wells, who described as one of the characters in his novel “The Autocracy of Mr. Parham” a man who, during a spiritualist seance, is reincarnated with the aim of coming to power in England and plunging the world into war.
In the article “What Annoys H.G. Wells” Conan Doyle defended spiritualism: “One of two things - either all observers are liars and fools, or their observations are true. If I, without a shadow of a doubt, assert that in the presence of witnesses I have simultaneously seen my mother and my nephew, when they were no longer alive, then it is quite clear that I belong to one or the other of these two categories. I leave the care of deciding this to those who know me and can judge of everything I have done.”
Conan Doyle met the famous illusionist Harry Houdini (1874-1926) during a tour of America. The famous writer's lectures were devoted to spiritualism, and the illusionist openly laughed at the belief in paranormal phenomena. Harry even spent half a year preparing a trick to dissuade Sir Arthur. “I have developed a trick specifically to show you what a skillful and experienced person is capable of” he said. – I beg you very much” when you see something incredible, do not rush to conclusions that it was not without supernatural forces or spirits.”
Meanwhile, Houdini himself became so carried away by spiritualism that he specially went to Russia in search of supernatural secrets. After which he turned to Conan Doyle: “I heard that your wife has discovered the gift of a strong medium.” When Doyle confirmed: “Yes, the Genie has some abilities”, the magician asked: “In that case, let me ask you a few questions.” “ “I have no objection” replied the writer. – We can meet at the “Ambassador” Hotel and have a seance there.”
The spectacle attracted many curious people. As those present later recalled, the Genie stood aside and very quickly fell into a trance. Then, in a muffled voice, she announced that she was in contact with Sir Arthur's son from his first marriage, who died in World War I. Houdini's question was: “Ask him why my mother left such a strange will?”
What exactly Harry heard remained a secret. But the answer shocked him so much that he jumped up and ran out of the room. And Sir Arthur admitted that at this seance he had received another proof of the existence of spirits.
Arthur Conan Doyle's fame as a writer with a brilliant style helped to popularize spiritualism. In the article "Spiritualism and Human Progress" (1925) he wrote: "Spiritualism is undoubtedly the most important thing in the world and deserves to be given time. People should be blamed for neglecting it, not for approaching it with caution. I would repeat here in my own name the words of Thackeray.
He said to one of his opponents: "What you say is perfectly natural, but if you had seen the same thing that I have, you would change your mind." We must equate our theories with the facts. Up to now we have equated the facts with our theories. If you are not yet among our supporters, that is perfectly right on your part. To understand this teaching you need time. It took me many years myself. Now there is nothing more important to me than this, because I know that this is the truth. But knowing is not the same as believing. Spiritualism is inexhaustible. There are dozens of different areas in it, worthy of study. Only when these things concern you personally will you be able to understand and appreciate their full power.”
On July 13, 1930, at the London “Royal Albert Hall” at a memorial service for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, almost 8,000 people gathered. Those present looked with some bewilderment at the empty chair in the front row, between the widow Jean and her son Arthur, left especially for Conan Doyle. No less interest was aroused by the presence in the hall of Estelle Roberts – a famous medium.
Everyone whispered that Sir Arthur knew the exact date of his death. Back in the spring, the writer called his wife into his office and told her: “I was told “from there” that I would leave this world on July 7th. It's a pity, of course, but you've prepared everything you need.”
Jane, whom Doyle no coincidence considered a powerful medium, took his words seriously. Alas, the confirmation came quickly. In the height of summer, Conan Doyle had a heart attack. The night before July 7th was the last in his life. A second heart attack struck him at half past eight in the morning, and half an hour later Sir Arthur did not get up.
Those present fell silent when the widow addressed them:
“Ladies and gentlemen! Before his death, my husband gave me this package, sealed with his personal seal. Mrs. Roberts will learn from the spirit of Sir Arthur the contents of the message and we will verify whether it is true.” Several people wanted to make sure of the integrity of the family seal of red wax. Then Estelle Roberts, standing in front of the empty chair, announced: “I have defeated you, gentlemen unbelievers! There is no death. See you soon.”
The general amazement increased even more when they opened the package: on a piece of paper was written this same text.
Fate granted the faithful Jean another ten years of life. She claimed until her last breath that she was communicating with the spirit of her deceased husband. She left this world with the words: “He called me.”
The text was published on Facebook
Source: Тайны ХХ века