[Occult Phenomena. Eine wunderbare Heilung] [1]
Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl
The ccult Review and other English journals give accounts of a miraculous healing similar to those reported from time to time of Lourdes, and of actual intervention of the supernatural world in ours: A young girl, Miss Dorothy Kerin, was already sickly from her infancy, and from 1907 to 1912 she was almost constantly afflicted with every sign of pulmonary tuberculosis, which was ascertained by all the physicians who examined her. On February 18th she seemed to be near death and her relatives were therefore gathered at her bedside. Suddenly she awoke from her comatose state and whispered the words: “I hear.” Then she opened her eyes, straightened up and beaming with joy told her relatives that she had had a wonderful vision and that her illness had now left her completely She asked for her clothes, got dressed, got out of bed and was completely healthy from then on.
Her testimonies indicate that while she was sleeping she heard a voice calling her name. Then she felt herself gripped by two warm hands; a glorious light appeared at the foot of the bed, and she saw an angelic figure telling her that her suffering was at an end, and that she should get up.
The rapporteur remarks very aptly: The few who believe in the possibility of such miraculous healings, as such occur in the biographies of Christian saints, will be strengthened in their faith by this case, while the orthodox scientist has nothing but good in it corroborated testimony of an event of which he understands nothing, and will entrust it to his wastebasket to forget as soon as possible.
We would like to add the following to this:
We do not blame our orthodox doctors if they cannot believe that such miraculous healings can take place, and that e.g., lost lung substance can be replaced in this way; for our orthodox “science,” built on blind materialism, does not know the nature of what is called “matter,” knows nothing of the fact that all material forms which surround us are nothing but appearances, created by the interaction of invisible forces; it knows next to nothing about the power of the spirit over the “material” and nothing about the infinitely large invisible worlds which surround us and their inhabitants, nor about the relationships which exist between them and us. It will also be the case in the future, as before, that school wisdom only opens its eyes to the approval of truths when everyone already knows them.
The drowned people of the Titanic.
Unbelievable as it may seem to some, it is nonetheless true that in our supposedly enlightened century there are still apparently educated people who know nothing about communication with dead people and deny the possibility of such interaction. A knowledge of certain events which took place after the sinking of the Titanic should be of use to them in broadening their world view; for numerous occult phenomena took place after this sad event, which bear witness to the fact that by drowning one can leave one’s material body behind in the depths of the sea, but nevertheless live and be provided with all one’s spiritual powers.
Of the many accounts of people who drowned in the sinking of the Titanic, those of the peace apostle W. F. Stead are of particular interest. Not only did he personally appear to various of his friends who possessed the appropriate psychic perception for this purpose, but there are also numerous communications from him, the content of which bears the character of authenticity. This is all the more understandable as W. Stead was always striving to help his fellow human beings and was therefore undoubtedly still bound to earth by this striving even after leaving his body. In these messages he describes the situation of the drowned when they entered the “other world” and the help they received from the inhabitants of the same; how some of the drowned were paralyzed with terror and how the spirits of light formed a protective wall to protect them from the intrusion of the forces of darkness. From his reports it emerges that a stubborn materialist finds it difficult to find his way when entering the “beyond,” while a spiritually clear-sighted person enters a country that is not unfamiliar to him.
Black Magic.
The manifestations of black magic practiced among the ancient Atlanteans can be seen in our “enlightened” age, where even the most insignificant spiritistic manifestations, such as e.g., the materialization of the astral body, possession, witchcraft and the like are not believed and much less understood, not to speak of the existence of vampires, werewolves and the like, hardly have a concept. A glimpse of the conditions which prevailed among the ancient Atlanteans may perhaps serve to show us where we shall come when the flourishing of egoism keeps pace with the spread of occult science.
The Theosophist (Adyar) gives the description of an orgy celebrated in Atlantis, from which we gather the following:[2]
A significant number of people were gathered in a large cave; the girls wore diaphanous star-studded veils, and the boys were dressed in the skins of tigers, leopards, etc. At the sound of the cymbal, everything moved in a whirling dance around the throne erected in the middle of the cave, which was painted blood-red and adorned with large carbuncles. Before this yawned an abyss, from the depths of which rose flames of fire; Clouds of incense filled the air and exerted an intoxicating effect. It sounded like rolling thunder; then a mighty clap of thunder resounded through the cave, the flames rose higher, and amidst them appeared the mighty figure of Oduarpa, clad in steel-blue robes, his countenance grave and sad, like that of a fallen archangel; but it showed indomitable pride and firm determination. He sat down on the throne and the wild dance, which had stopped for a few moments when he entered, began again at his nod.
Now out of a side passage came a strange procession: hairy bipeds with long arms and cloven hooves, with animal heads and long manes, terrible, horrid-looking, not human, and yet in hideous human-like form. They mingled with the dancers, gave them something to drink from a vessel and smeared them with ointment. Whole groups of dancers fell drunk to the ground with their dancers, and out of them horrible animal figures emerged, raging, hissing and hissing, which then disappeared from the cave into the darkness of the night.
Woe to the wanderer who encounters these fiendish astral materializations. With mouths dripping with blood, these creatures return at dawn, lying on the bodies of the sleepers and disappearing inside.
If we compare this description with similar narratives of authenticated tales of vampires, werewolves, and the possessed, it does not strike us as unbelievable. But the fact that we read such stories and go to sleep with the conviction that they may well be true does not help much; rather, we should regard them as a pointer to the study of the psychic organism of man, in which many mysterious forces are still hidden, of which our academic orthodox science is as good as ignorant.
Notes:
[1] Occult Phenomena. A Wonderful Healing. [Occult Phenomena. Eine wunderbare Heilung. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Neue Lotusblüten 5, no. 11-12 (November-December 1912), 334-341] {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl, ©2025}
[2] {R.H.—Although the issue number from The Theosophist was not given, it is extracted, in part, from chapter IX “Black Magic in Atlantis,” from the book by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater, Man-Whence, How and Whither. A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation. Chicago, The Theosophical Press, 1922}