Posted on 27 February 2023, 9:27

The Imperator group of 49 apparently advanced spirits had much more to communicate through the mediumship of William Stainton Moses, an Anglican priest, than what is summarized in the last two blogs here.  Some of it came through the trance-voice, while it later came primarily by means of automatic writing.  Members of the small circle, including Dr. Stanhope Speer (seated in photo with Moses standing behind him), often put questions to the Imperator group, but when Moses developed as an automatist, he put his own questions to them.  Some of the messages were from individual spirits, but many were messages of collective thought from the group or from a number within the group.  It is not always clear from the reports as to whether a certain message is coming from Imperator himself, from one of the group, or from all of the group.

Imperator explained to Moses that he was slowly prepared for his mediumship. “We began with you on the material plane. We showed you the powers of spirit over matter, and enabled you to observe the phenomenal results of unseen agencies at work through you. At first, material phenomena sufficed you. By degrees we taught you of ourselves, and instilled into your mind new views of revealed truth. Your mind was enabled to see that not to any one race, or person, or place, or age, has the whole of Divine Truth been given. We showed you the germ of truth that underlies every religion that man has framed for himself.”  They added that they dread apathy more than opposition to their work. “Dead, cold, lifeless indifference which care not to question, and has not sufficient interest to doubt.” They lamented the fact that men are cumbered with dogmas and creeds of human invention, as well as rituals and ceremonies, which detract from the actual spiritual truths. 

The spirits stressed that the physical phenomena that came through Moses’s mediumship was intended as outward evidence of a hidden power, and that it was only a subsidiary of their real work. “We judged it wise to withdraw you, in time, from the public position of a teacher in a Church which no longer represented your intellectual and religious plane of thought…You have come to see that anthropomorphic views of God are born of man’s ignorance; that the revelation of God is frequently but the imagination of man; that the incarnation of the Supreme in a body of flesh is a human figment; a superstition which advanced knowledge puts aside, with its erroneous doctrines,  its degrading views of God. You have learned that man needs no external Saviour, and that duty honestly performed to self, brother, and to God is the only passport to happiness.”

They further explained they were not permitted to interfere in the chain of cause and effect, to save man from the consequences of his sin, to pander to idle curiosity, or to change the world from a state of probation. Moreover, they told him that their purpose was not to offer communication with his personal friends or the deceased loved ones of his friends and that such mediumship runs the risk of possession by undeveloped spirits, those closest to the earth plane. “We can but offer, and protect and guide and train, and prepare the willing mind for future progress.”

On the subject of planes or spheres in the afterlife, the group communicated that the spheres are states, not places, and that they are not governed by conditions of time and place as we are. “The difference between the spheres is caused by the moral, intellectual, and spiritual state of the inhabitants,” they communicated. “Affinities congregate, and rejoice in congenial society. Not from neighbourhood or locality, but from similarity of tastes or pursuits. Into the spheres of the higher spirits none that are unholy enter. Into the lower are congregated those who yet require teaching and guidance, which they receive from higher spirits who leave their own bright homes in order to add a ray of light to groping, earth-bound spirits.”

Such are they who have made little progress in the earth sphere; not the wholly bad, but the vacillating, aimless souls who have frittered away their opportunities and made no use of them.

It was further stated that the spheres are pictured to human minds as places like our world as it is impossible for us to understand them otherwise. Things that are real to them are imperceptible and impalpable to our rude senses.  They are not limited by space as we are but their surroundings are, to their refined senses, as real as ours.  They further explained that the first three spheres are near the earth plane. “The first with those who, from many causes, are attracted to earth. Such are they who have made little progress in the earth sphere; not the wholly bad, but the vacillating, aimless souls who have frittered away their opportunities and made no use of them. Those, again, whom the affections and affinity for pursuits of their friends restrain them from soaring, and who prefer to remain near the earth sphere, though they might progress. In addition, there are the imperfectly trained souls whose education is still young, and who are in course of elementary teaching; those who have been incarnated in imperfect bodies, and have to learn still what they should have learned on earth. Those, too, who have been prematurely withdrawn from earth, and, from no fault of their own, have still to learn before they can progress.”

Reincarnation was one subject in which they couldn’t give a direct answer, but they did say that reincarnation, in the sense which it is popularly understood, is not true. “We have said, too, that certain great spirits, for certain high purposes and interests, have returned to earth and lived again amongst men.  There are other aspects of the question which, in the exercise of our discretion, we withhold; the time is not yet come for them.  Spirits cannot be expected to know all abstruse mysteries, and those who profess to do give the best proof of their falsity.”

It was explained that the words used by Moses are those in his vocabulary, but the thoughts are theirs. The handwriting differed as evidence of their individuality.  They again pointed out that the physical manifestations were solely to offer evidence of their existence. “They are necessary in the present stage of our work, and for some minds will always be necessary. Therefore, we have produced for you from time-to-time marvels. We have warned you not to fix too strong an interest in them, and have told you that in many cases they are harmful. In all they are but secondary.” They added that the physical mediumship can be dangerous to its possessor, and that it is serviceable only to those who are learning the alphabet of spirit communication.

They further pointed out that the physical phenomena are produced by spirits who can produce them best. “Those spirits are the lowest and most earthly; either those who have passed through incarnation without progress, or those who have reached but not attained to it. These last are most powerful agents, but they know no distinctions of morality. It would be absurd and foolish to you if the progressed spirits of humanity were to be put forward as the agents in what you contemptuously describe as the moving of furniture.” The more advanced spirits, they said, no longer have any power over gross matter and therefore are unable to produce such physical phenomena.

We warn you again against deceptive agencies, which abound and will be increasingly active.

Spirit photographs, they said, are pictures of spirit substance, not of spirits themselves. They are moulded models framed to invite recognition.  “They would be made either by the spirit himself or by some spirits who are acting under his direction, save in cases where deceptive agencies are at work. We warn you again against deceptive agencies, which abound and will be increasingly active. You must expect many such assaults. Our mission is too important not to challenge envy and attack. We warn you.”

Imperator added: “You must remember that those of us who operate on the plane of spirit rather than of matter, do so on your earth under conditions that are very delicate and precarious.  Matter has faded from our gaze, and when we return to the material plane, we see nothing of it.  All we see is the spirit. We could not present ourselves for a photograph, but we might commission other spirits to present an image of us.”

Imperator further explained that when spirits appear to humans, they do so in forms recognizable to them. “We array ourselves in such sort as you would expect us to appear. If the spirit is showing itself to its own friends, it would appear in the semblance of the dress it was in the habit of wearing in earth-life; and would specially exaggerate, or draw attention to, any peculiarity of gesture, dress or demeanour which would identify it.”  When they are rejected by loved ones on the earth plane, they suffer bitter pain, corresponding to the intensity of job with which a spirit finds itself still loved and recognized.”

Asked whether they require food, Imperator replied that it is not food as we understand it. “We are supported by the spirit ether which interpenetrates space, and by which your spirit bodies are even now supported. It is the universal food and support of the spirit, whether incarnated or not. Will-power suffices for our movements. We are attracted by sympathy, repelled by antipathy, drawn by desire on our part, or on that of those who wish for our presence.”

Michael Tymn is the author of The Afterlife Revealed: What Happens After We Die, Resurrecting Leonora Piper: How Science Discovered the Afterlife, and Dead Men Talking: Afterlife Communication from World War I.
His latest book, No One Really Dies: 25 Reasons to Believe in an Afterlife is published by White Crow books.

Posted on 13 February 2023, 7:25

“Our work is an organized missionary effort to disseminate Truth, without which the spiritual life of your world would die.  Of religion there is but little amongst you, and what little there is has, in most cases, lost its power to influence life and action. The vitality has gone, and the appearance alone remains. As it was in the time of Christ, so now. Men are anxiously looking for something that is to come.”

So communicated the spirit known as Imperator through the mediumship of William Stainton Moses, an Anglican priest who developed mediumistic abilities in 1872. It was explained that messages seemingly coming from one spirit in the Imperator group of 49 spirits were usually collective messages from many spirits in the group, even if only one spirit seemed to be communicating. It was further explained that the lack of interest by humans makes it difficult for them to get through to our world. “Men care little for being taught; they seek rather to be amused. We do what we can, hampered by many disadvantages, attacked on the one side by the ceaseless machinations of spiritual foes, and hindered from advance on the other by the dead, cold faith of men, or his undeveloped and unreceptive spirit.” (See prior blog for more background on Moses and the Imperator group of 49. References to Imperator as “he” or “they” should not be construed as an attempt at “woke” journalism.). 

It was explained that higher spirits can exist for only a short time in our atmosphere, and that it is often difficult for them to communicate with those on the earth plane, while spirits more recently departed are more able to get through. “Many spirits, with the best of intentions, communicate the most erroneous doctrines as they have not lost the theological fog gathered during earth lives,” Imperator continued. “Those of whom you speak may be unknowingly the agents of adversaries, who seek to perpetuate doctrines which we might fight against with determined energy. We have descended to your world for nothing else than to reveal Truth to man.”                                                                                                                                     

Moses or one of the sitters in his small circle asked what was meant by Truth.  “If by Truth you mean accurate and precise statements about matters which, from their nature, transcend human knowledge, then no doubt neither we nor any can reveal to you exact Truth, seeing that you are not capable of understanding it,” Imperator responded. “But if you mean, as you should, a higher revelation of facts which concern man to know, which will develop his intelligence, and raise him to an advanced plane of knowledge, then we have come for no other purpose than to reveal to you such Truth. It is the very object of our mission. We come neither to amuse nor to astonish, but only to instruct and develop. All that we do has its end the revealing of higher and more extended views of truth.”

At a different sitting, Imperator said, “We can no more tell you of our life than you can convey to a deaf and dumb and blind man the true notions of your world.”

Earlier, Dr. Stanhope Speer, a member of the circle who sat with Moses, who was in a trance state, asked about the teachings of the Church. “The doctrines taught by the Church are faulty,” one of the 49 called Elliotson responded. “The life of the Man Christ Jesus on earth was a pattern life, intended for the example of man. But, in so far as it was deemed to be an atonement by way of a sacrifice for sin, this was a falsehood, degrading to God, degrading to that pure and stainless Spirit, to whom such things were falsely attributed, and misleading to souls who rest on blind faith, and falsely imagine their credulity would be accounted a virtue.”

Elliotson went on to state that God reveals to man that which he is able to bear, so that it is progressive. Dr. Speer asked for clarification of the text that says “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanest all from sin.”  Elliotson replied: “Set aside a doctrine so cold, so hard, so bitter, and take the spiritual meaning that underlies Christ’s life and teaching. The pattern life is to you the model of what many may become, pure and holy, ennobled by suffering, and elevated by charity.  To that life you may look; following it will rescue you from sin, and lead you to that which is noble. You err in following too closely the words of fallible men or building on them an edifice the foundation of which is error, and the superstructure fallacy.”

After explaining that God, to his understanding, is not of a limited personality and had never been enshrined in a human body, Elliotson cautioned that it is a fatal error to reduce God to a Force or some anthropomorphic delusion.  “In early days, man framed a god for himself, a human tyrant, yea, worse than man can be. God is really an informing, energizing Spirit. He supplies the light and love that give beauty to all around you. The Divine Life is brought home to you in the life of Christ. God is not a force, nor the impersonal entity you call Nature.”

Theophilus, another of the 49, added: “Ritual and ceremonial and creed have so filled the thoughts of your churchmen that they have set aside the idea of spirit that underlies them. The first mark of a fading faith is that lack of spirituality which leads men to give up the unseen world, and to busy themselves with the useless husks that surround it. When men are cumbered with dogmas and creeds of human invention, and leave out of view the spiritual truths that underlie them, it is clear that faith is on the wane.”

Imperator said that he was “inclined to believe” that the claims of Jesus were overstated and that the disciples who recorded them did so in a far stronger sense than He Himself would have. “Doubtless, He did claim for Himself a divine mission, as, indeed, it was.  He claimed in hyperbolical Eastern metaphor honour and respect as the Messenger of the Most High.  And His followers, ignorant and uneducated, magnified His claims in the light of the Crucifixion and Resurrection and their attendant wonders. And so the story grew until it has reached the marvelous dimensions which now astonish reflecting men.”

Nevertheless, Imperator explained that Jesus was controlled and animated by spirits who had never been incarnated and that all spiritual light comes from him, reaching the world through innumerable links connected in one vast chain of influence. “It is rare for any high spirit to control directly as we are controlling now,” he continued. “In such cases the medium’s spirit must be considerably developed, and such mediums are rare. The control can be conveyed through a number of links; but when the medium is mentally undeveloped the higher spirits will not endeavour to influence him.  It is not possible for a spirit, as far progressed as the Christ, to directly control mediums on this earth. He was the immediate expression of a separate spiritual phase of the Divine Will. He has left no successor, nor will any ever spring from Him. His influence is entirely devoted to the enlightenment of your globe, for to each globe is assigned its own source of spiritual light.” 

Imperator added that, as in the case of the Buddha, the idea of Christ’s divinity did not arise until many years after His death. “The prophet was exalted at the expense of the message which He delivered,” Imperator continued. “He never claimed any such position as His followers have assigned to Him. He was the mediator between God and man in the truest sense, for He was able to make manifest God’s Truth to the age in which He lived, and, through it, to succeeding ages.  Throughout His whole life He was in direct antagonism to the prevailing spirit of the age, and He met the fate all such must meet with; first maligned, then falsely accused, falsely condemned, and finally executed.”

Imperator said that it was often difficult for him to get through to Moses. “I myself am far away from the medium, and unable to draw nearer to him, on account of his mental and corporeal conditions.  When out of health, I cannot approach him. Spirits recently passed from earth can more readily draw near to him, but we are able to influence from a distance – time and space not existing with us.”

Doctor, one of the 49 in the Imperator group, stressed that the spirit-body is the real man, the earth-body only its temporary clothing. When the earth body is thrown off, the real man is left with all his individuality untouched. He told of different stages in the development of the spirit body, a more-refined body eventually replacing the one that leaves the earth-body. “At each successive stage the spirit accretes to itself a similar body, and throws aside one which has become unsuited to it. Hence, each change of state is accompanied by one somewhat analogous to death.”

Asked about the resurrection of Jesus, Doctor replied, in part: “In fabricating such a theory they have missed the truth, though they have partially enshrined it in their dogma. The body of earth, friend, cannot be restored when once it has been resolved into its elemental state. It is dissipated once and for ever, and in future combinations becomes the perpetual constituent of other forms of matter. The fabled resurrection cannot be. But men have taken no account of another body…the Spirit Body. The real man rises from earth and is transported to his real home….The appearance of Jesus was of the Spirit Body, which He was enabled to manifest in tangible form. The earth body never rose.”  Doctor added that the three archangels who were concerned in governing the life of Jesus – Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael – aided by spiritual power, removed the body.

Imperator communicated that earth-bound spirits had somehow gained the upper-hand and commented that Spiritualism was on its last trial and would probably pass into another phase. “There is in Spiritualism a growing and most fatal influence,” Imperator lamented, “a spiritual form of materialism which results from the study of phenomena only.  Men care only for the force and refuse to recognize the various forms of intelligence that underlie it. Matter is an accident; spirit is reality. All the religious systems of the world rest on a belief in the future life. Owing to the materialistic atmosphere round the world, there is too great a tendency to smother Divine Truth under a whole host of phenomena. If people rest content with these only, it would have been better for them to leave the subject alone. We hope, however, that many will rise above the phenomenal aspects of the subject and seek for those higher spiritual truths to which the former have only served as an introduction.”

Michael Tymn is the author of The Afterlife Revealed: What Happens After We Die, Resurrecting Leonora Piper: How Science Discovered the Afterlife, and Dead Men Talking: Afterlife Communication from World War I.
His latest book, No One Really Dies: 25 Reasons to Believe in an Afterlife is published by White Crow books.