A Lesson in Materialization Phenomena (with 21 documentary photos)

Clairvoyance and Materialisation (1927) is the English translation of L'Ectoplasmie et la Clairvoyance (1924) by Gustave Geley (1868-1924).  In the book, Geley described nine sittings with medium ‘Eva C.'  These laboratory notes are succinct so I am presenting them in this article with book photographs inserted when mentioned.  Some of the enlargement photos show the mobile and mutable aspects of the biological phenomenon involving the amorphous substance that has come to be called 'ectoplasm.'
 

Geley mentioned that medium Eva C. "exteriorises the amorphous solid in exceptional abundance."  It is more appropriate in what should be a more knowing epoch to qualify this statement by attributing the manifestations to an omnipresent Force.  Geley provided some background information about his investigation of Eva's mediumship. 

Mme. Bisson made Eva's acquaintance in 1909 and began to work with her.  From the outset she perceived that during the séances Eva's head and face were covered with a kind of white substance which transfigured her.  This was the beginning of further research.

The following year, Professor von Schrenck Notzing was introduced to the Bissons and began researching Eva’s mediumship with them.  Geley worked with Mme. Bisson from May 1916 to April 1918 at her house and for three months in his own laboratory (December 1917 to March 1918).  Thus he was able "to confirm without reserve the accuracy of the observations made by Mme. Bisson and Dr. von Schrenck-Notzing."  At the beginning of each sitting (or seance) Eva was hypnotized.  A 1918 lecture by Geley with observations about Eva was quoted in a supplementary article in Schrenck Notzing's Phenomena of Materialisation (1920) with Schrenk Notzing reporting: "Eva is brought, in the hypnotic state, to the stage in which she forgets her normal personality."

In Clairvoyance and Materialisation, Geley mentioned that Eva had shown clairvoyance as an aspect of her mediumship: "She has 'read' automatically on an imaginary screen, like that of a cinema, pages of philosophy . . . but during this period of her mediumship the ectoplasmic faculty disappeared."

The intentions of researchers to photograph the phenomena produced from Eva's mediumship may have been a factor that influenced aspects of materialization.  In the introduction of Clairvoyance and Materialisation, Geley commented that "the brighter the light, the more difficult it is to obtain phenomena . . . No doubt, by much patience and training of the medium, it is possible to operate in sufficient light.  Madame Bisson has been able to do this with Eva.  But as regards causes, the intensity of light and the perfection of materialisation are inversely proportional."

Geley reported about the experiments with Eva: "A bright and unexpected light perturbs the medium, but this effect of light is also very variable; in certain cases even daylight is endured.  The magnesium flash causes the medium to start violently, but the substance can stand it: this allows of instantaneous photography."
 

Manifesting forms attested by Geley as being of indisputable metapsychic origin included "imitations or simulacra of organs" such as fingers and "faces like masks, or as if cut out of paper, tufts of hair sticking to them, and undefinable forms."
 

The disappearance of materialised forms is as curious as their formation.  It is sometimes instantaneous, or almost instantaneous; in less than one second the thing that has been seen and touched simply disappears.  In other cases the disappearance takes place by degrees.  One can observe the return to the original substance and its resorption into the medium by the same changes as those of its development, but in inverse order.

 
Preceding Geley's laboratory notes (below) from the book are excerpts from Nandor Fodor's synopsis about Geley from Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science (1966). 

GELEY, Dr. GUSTAVE (1868-1924), distinguished modern psychical researcher.  In his first book, L'Etre Subconscient, published in 1899 in Paris, he expounded a theory of dynamo-psychism, a sort of soul energy by which he sought to escape from the trammels of materialistic philosophy.  In his second book, De L'Inconscient au Consient, 1919 (From the Unconscious to the Conscious) he developed this into a more comprehensive treatise and leaned to admitting an external direction and intention in the phenomena of trance which cannot be referred to the medium or to the experimenters.  Shortly before the publication of this work, which is considered by many as the most important contribution to psychical research since Myers' Human Personality, he abandoned his medical practice at Annecy and accepted, from Jean Meyer, the post of the director of the Institut Metapsychique International founded by Mr. Meyer.

His last book . . . was to have been followed by a second volume, The Genesis and Meaning of Metapsychic Phenomena, of which, however, the world was deprived by his sudden death in an aeroplane accident on July 15, 1924, a few days after a last seance with Kluski in Warsaw.

 

Experiment of January 11, 1918, at 5 p.m.

Present: Mme. Bisson, Mme. de Vesme, M. Le Cour, Dr. Geley.

Precautions: As usual, I controlled the left hand, Mme. Bisson the right.  Strong red light.

Nothing special to be noted unless that Eva had her period a few hours before.  Put to sleep, she soon fell into a trance, and almost at once the phenomena began.  It developed wholly under my eyes.

Her two hands were in full view, on her knees.  A membrane formed between her right and left thumbs, linking them together.  I could not see whether the ectoplasm proceeded from the right or the left or from both, her thumbs being in contact.  As soon as the extrusion began she parted her two hands, slowly and evenly.

The membrane lengthened and spread, as if it were of india-rubber, but, contrary to what would be the case with india-rubber, it thickened and grew as it extended.  I know of no fraudulent method of producing this.  The membrane soon formed a large thick cord, which under my eyes soon took the form of an epiploic fringe.

At this moment, without letting go Eva's hand, I started an electric flashlight, two cameras having been focused on her (Plate V., Fig. 22).

Fig. 22.—Exteriorisation of Substance from the Fingers: "Epiploic Form."

After the flash and the painful shock visibly produced on the medium, the phenomenon continued.

I saw in the midst of the ectoplasmic mass two fingers appear—index and medial—well formed with their nails, anatomically perfect.  Their colour was slightly bluish.  I touched them carefully.  They were colder than normal.  The fingers were living; they bent and extended.

While I was looking at them I saw them melt away in a moment, without apparent cause; only Eva's hand remained visible and sharply defined.  Total time occupied, fifteen minutes.

After about five minutes the fingers reappeared in the space between Eva's two hands, but this time without the accompaniment of any amorphous substance.  For the second time they disappeared instantaneously.  Then in the same space between the hands I saw an opaque mass about the size of a walnut, an indefinite form.

Eva moaned out, "It is a face!" but I could see nothing definite.  Again the ectoplasm disappeared, Eva not having moved.

She feels that "the powers are leaving her."  The experiment is at an end, having lasted an hour and a quarter.

Experiment of January 15, 1918, at 8:30 p.m.

Present: Mme. Bisson, M. Le Cour, Dr. Chalot, Dr. Mme. X., Dr. Geley.  Usual control and precautions.  The curtains remained half drawn.  Red light.  After fifteen minutes the moaning of the medium became characteristic.  Suddenly there appeared on Eva's left shoulder a white patch about 6 inches long and 4 inches wide, barely visible at first.  Its visibility increased, faded, and increased again, and it spread out.  I could see forming in the middle of the patch the features of a face about the size of an orange, surrounded by amorphous substance.  The face was flat and misshapen; only the forehead, the eyes, and the nose were recognizable; the lower part of the face was scarcely distinguishable from the matrix.

The form changed its position from the shoulder of Eva to the top of her head, slightly to the right.  Two photographs were taken, but unfortunately the electric flash was not bright enough for success.

After the second lash the phenomenon did not end by a reversal of the process of its formation and diminution of visibility; it was reabsorbed by the mouth.  I saw it slowly reabsorbed, seeming to open Eva's lips.  The lower part seemed to double up to enter the mouth.

A very curious and interesting thing then happened: a piece of the ectoplasm, about the size of a schilling, was detached, fell on the black garment, and instantly disappeared.

Experiment of February 7, 1918

I have said that the photographs taken on January 15 were failures.  The experiment of February 7 gave identical results.  I think it unnecessary to give a complete account of it, but this time the photograph was a success (Plate VI., Fig. 23).  It speaks for itself.

Fig. 23.—Genesis of a Face in a Mass of Ectoplasm.

Experiment of February 12, 1918, at 5 p.m.

Present: Mme. Bisson, Mme. de Vesme, M. Le Cour, Dr. Geley.  The usual control and precautions were taken.

Eva was very well disposed.  I note, merely as a fact, that on her arrival she said to me: "For the last twenty-four hours I have felt near me the presence of a woman who wished to manifest."

As soon as she "slept" she was affected, and moaned like a woman in labour.  Little by little she became calm without anything coming to pass.  I thought that the experiment would be a failure.  Suddenly Mme. Bisson exclaimed: "There it is . . . at the curtain."

It was so; above the medium's head, in the opening between the curtains and coming from the right, the head of a woman was visible at about the normal height of a person standing.  Only the head emerged from the curtain.  The materialisation was perfect; it was a living face of normal size, of fresh tint, and with expressive eyes.  The face was beautiful, and the experimenters gazed at it with expressions of admiration spoken in low tones.  I was so moved and surprised that I omitted to press the button for the flashlight.  I only thought of it when the apparition, doubtless inconvenienced by the light in the room or by our concentrated attention, retired behind the curtain.  This scene, though very clear, was very short—only a few seconds.

Then, during a quarter of an hour the same head appeared ad disappeared, sometimes of normal size, sometimes much smaller, but always sharply defined.  I could not hit on a favourable moment for the flash.

At last the head, reduced by two-thirds in size, placed itself on Eva's breast, in profile, and I pressed the button (Plate VII., Figs. 24 and 25).

Fig. 24.—Completely Materialised Face (Miniature). 

Fig. 25.—Same as 24, with a Second Camera Placed to One Side.

Fig. 26.—Enlargement of Fig. 25.

After the flash I saw the head for a moment on Eva's knees; I saw no shoulders.  Then everything disappeared instantaneously.

It is noteworthy that in this experiment I did not see any of the original ectoplasmic substance, nor the progressive formation of the head.  It appeared suddenly, completely materialised in the opening between the curtains.  The variations in the dimensions of the head, from natural size to much smaller, are also to be noted.

I am absolutely certain that Eva could not have brought (or carried away afterwards) the head of a doll or any other imitation.  This notion is negatived also by the changes of volume, which such a supposition could not account for.

Experiment of February 26, 1918, at 5. p.m.

Same persons present, and the usual precautions and control.

Eva very quickly passed under influence.  A materialised face developed round about the medium, disappearing and reappearing.  It had obvious resemblances to that photographed on February 12.

I remarked particularly that the manifestations seemed designed to show various modes in the genesis of the phenomena.

1. The face appeared at the curtain suddenly and without amorphous ectoplasm.  It was of natural size, but ephemeral, and immediately vanished, so that I had no time to photograph it.

2. The face was formed from a mist which floated at the side of the medium, then placed itself on her breast, her head, or her shoulder.  Its visibility increased and decreased alternately.  The features were not very marked.

3. A cord of substance issued from Eva's mouth, about two fingers' breadth.  It descended under her chin a little to the left.  At that point its end swelled like an expanding bud, and in this I saw the features of a face, not very distinct.  I pressed the button for the flash (Plate IX., Fig. 27).

Fig. 27.—Woman's Head in Process of Formation.  From a cordon of substance issuing from the mouth.

Despite a violent start of the medium, the flash did not cause the face to vanish.  The end of the ectoplasmic cord bearing the face mounted to the left side of Eva's head, floating about a quarter of a yard from the medium, a little higher than her ear.  There the features rapidly became more defined.  I then took a second photograph (Plates IX., X., and XI.; Figs. 28, 29, 30, 31).  Two stereoscopic photographs taken at the same time show that the face is three-dimensional, except in the lower part, which seems flat.

Fig. 28.—The same as Fig. 27, advanced One Stage, a Few Moments Later. 

Fig. 31.—Same as Fig. 30 [and same as 29, both enlargements of Fig. 28] (Greatly Enlarged).
The thick black hair which covers the head, of which a tress passes between the chin and the rudimentary substance, is not well apparent in the photograph.  On the other hand, the detail of the features is clearer.  Remark the impression and detail of the eyes, also the network of geometrical lines like a spider's web, probably indicating the mode of formation and lines of force; also the relation of the form to the rudiment and the organization of this latter.

Experiment of March 1, 1918

Same experimenters and same conditions.  The usual precautions and control.  On her arrival Eva said to me: "She wants to show herself differently than before, looking another way."

This sitting is almost the counterpart of the preceding one.  The apparition sometimes showed itself at the opening between the curtains, was sometimes condensed from a mist, and sometimes seemed to form at the end of an ectoplasmic cord issuing from Eva's mouth.

Four photographs were taken, of which two were failures through insufficiency of the electric flash.  On the less defective of these latter the same face [conjecture] as Fig. 25 can be distinguished, but, seen from the reverse side, it looks to the right of the medium instead of to her left.

(It is possible that this variation may be due to suggestion from the sitters, who wished to see the apparition from its other side.)

The two successful photographs also show a side face, inversely to the photographs taken at other séances (Plate XII., Fig. 32).

Fig. 32.—Woman's Head (Miniature).  The lower part of the face better materialised than the upper.

Experiment of March 5, 1918, at 5 p.m.

Present: Mme. Bisson, Mme. de Vesme, M. Jules Courtier, M. Le Cour, Dr. Geley.  Precautions and control as before.

After a quarter of an hour Eva begins to moan.  She says: "They take me differently . . . it is something different!"

I note these words cause us a lively disappointment, for we wished to see the beautiful face again.  Our desires therefore had no result, contrariwise to what we had thought at the previous experiment.

Eva's moaning increased, and I soon saw the ectoplasmic substance, dazzlingly white, issue from the fingers of her left hand and link them to those of her right hand.  She separated her hands, and everything went as on January 11.  The band spread, thickened and grew, and formed a large epiploic fringe.  The ectoplasmic mass mounted on Eva's chest up to her mouth, into which it disappeared.  Five minutes' wait.

Eva's moaning increased.  We then saw a mass of white substance exude from her nose and eyes.  It descended to her knees, thickening as it went, giving the impression of a fimbriated skein (Plate XIV., Fig. 34).

Fig. 34—Ectoplasm Issuing from the Facial Orifices.

The photograph was a good one (Plate XIII., Fig. 33).

Fig. 33—Woman's Head (Enlarged) Materialised at the Same Experiment as Fig. 32.  Notice the perfect formation of the lips and dark hair descending over the neck.

After a short time this fimbriated skein vanished instantly.  The substance then reappeared between her hands, and in it a very small hand; but the phenomena ceased almost at once, for the medium was exhausted.  Resorption into the fingers was instantaneous.

Experiment of March 8, 1918, at 5 p.m.

Present: Inspector-General Calmette, Mme. Bisson, Mme. de Vesme, M. Le Cour, Dr. Geley.  The usual precautions and control.

After an hour's wait Eva began her moaning, which became more pronounced.  A white spot appeared on her left shoulder.  This spread and thickened, and in the middle of it we could see a small face like that of previous sittings.  At the same time the greater part of the amorphous substance disappeared; only a small mass was perceptible, which moved to Eva's chest and there remain fixed as by a kind of stalk proceeding from the right side of the mouth of materialised face (Plate XIV., Figs. 34, 35).

Fig. 35.—Woman's Head, with a Kind of Embryonic Body in a Mass of Substance Ending at the Corner of the Materialised Mouth.

This constituted, the face developed, moved from place to place, disappeared and reappeared; it was seen on Eva's chest, by the side of her head, under her chin, on her knees, and between her hands.

It disappeared, whether instantaneously or by resorption, into the mouth.

After a while I saw the right-hand curtain of the cabinet shake as if moved from inside.  At this time Eva was motionless on her chair and could be seen in the space between the half-drawn curtains.  Her hands were on her knees, and I was holding her right hand.

Seeing that the movements of the curtain could not be caused by the medium, I felt round with my left hand.

I could clearly feel a human body, which was shaking the curtain.  It seemed of normal size; I felt the shoulder, and, lowering my hand, I felt the thorax and reached to the level of the pelvis.  At this moment a hand inside the curtain pushed my hand back, and a moment later a head appeared at the opening of the curtains (Plate XV., Fig. 36).

Fig. 36.—Same as Fig. 35 photographed a Moment Later.  The face was above and to the right of the medium in the opening between the curtains.

Mme. Bisson declared that she was touched on the neck and shoulder by a hand, through the curtain.

I distinctly state that throughout these phenomena Eva was completely visible.  Her head and bust were always in view, her hands held and resting motionless on her knees.

Experiment of March 11, 1918, at 5 p.m.

Present: Dr. Calmettte, Mme. Busson, Mme. de Vesme, M. Le Cour, Dr. Geley.  Usual precautions and control.

During the whole of this experiment the curtain remained half open, and I could observe the entire genesis of the phenomena.

After waiting three-quarters of an hour the trance began.  I saw a small mist, about the size of a large orange, floating on the medium's left; it went to Eva's chest, high up and on the right side.  It was at first a vaporous spot, not very clear.  The spot grew slowly, spread, and thickened.  Its visibility increased, diminished, and increased again.  Then, under direct observation, we saw the features and the reliefs of a small face growing.  It soon became a well-formed head surrounded by a kind of white veil.  This head resembled that of preceding experiments.  It often moved about; I saw it to the right, to the left, above and below Eva's head, on her knees, and between her hands.  It appeared and disappeared suddenly several times.  Finally it was resorbed into her mouth.  Eva then cried out: "It changes.  It is the power!"

The sitters then felt blows through the curtain.  (Eva's hands and knees were in sight and held.)

During this experiment I took several photographs, all successful (Plates XVI. to XX., Figs. 37 to 44).

Fig. 37.—Woman's Head forming Round the Medium. 

Fig. 38.—Same as Fig. 37, a Moment Later. 

Fig. 39.—The Same in Another Position. 

Fig. 40.—The Same Slightly Masked by the Intervening Head of One of the Experimenters.

Fig. 41.—The Same, in Process of Dematerialisation.  Resorption by the medium's mouth. 

Fig. 42.—Same Head in Another Position (Enlarged).

Fig. 43.—Enlargement of Fig. 40.

Fig. 44.—Enlargement of Fig. 38.

 

Geley's Introduction for Clairvoyance and Materialisation includes commentary about how misunderstandings have occurred about mediumship, such as the actions of mediums in an altered state of consciousness being misinterpreted.  Geley also commented that "the strange aspect of the ectoplasmic substance . . . may assume the likeness of more or less visible filaments, giving an unaccustomed observer the impression of threads intended to move an object fraudulently.  At other times it assumes the appearance of light woven stuff like muslin, and photography shows the web.  This has often been thought a proof of fraud in cases of quite genuine metapsychic phenomena."

Ectoplasmic organs are often flat, irregular, and incompletely formed.  As I shall show when dealing with defective materialisations, these imperfections not only do not prove fraud, but attest the honesty of the medium.


. . . the perfection of materialised organs may cause the same illusion.  Inexperienced observers see a perfectly formed and living hand move some object; their first impression is naturally that it is the hand of the medium.