The night side of nature
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| The night side of nature |
From the introduction:
In my late novel of " Lilly Dawson," I announced my intention of publishing a work to be called " The Night Side of Nature;" this is it. The term " Night Side of Nature " I borrow from the Germans, who derive it from the astronomers, the latter denominating that side of a planet which is turned from the sun, its night side. We are in this condition for a certain number of hours out of every twenty- four; and as, during this interval, external objects loom upon us but strangely and im- perfectly, the Germans draw a parallel between If I could only induce a lew capable person, instead of laughing at these things, to look at them, my object would be attained, and I should think my time well spent.
Most persons are aware that the Greeks and Romans entertained certain notions regarding the state of the soul, or the immortal part of man, after the death of the body, which has been generally held to be purely mythological. Many of them, doubtless, are so; and of these, I am not about to treat; but amongst their conceptions, there are some which, as they coincide with the opinions of many of the most enlightened persons of the present age, it may be desirable to consider more closely. I allude here particularly to their belief in the tripartite kingdom of the dead.
According to this system, there were the Elysian fields, a region in which a certain sort of happiness was enjoyed; and Tartarus, the place of punishment for the wicked; each of which was, comparatively, but thinly in- habited. But there was, also, a mid-region, peopled with innumerable hosts of wandering and mournful spirits, who, although under-going no torments are represented as incessantly bewailing their condition, pining for the life they once enjoyed in the body, longing jitter the things of the earth, and occupying themselves with the same pursuits and objects, as had formerly constituted their business or their pleasure.
Old habits are still dear to them, and they cannot snap the link that binds them to the earth. Now, although we cannot believe in the existence of Charon, the three-headed dog, or Alecto, the serpent-haired fury, it may be worthwhile to consider whether the per- suasion of the ancients with regard to that which concerns us all so nearly, namely, the destiny that awaits us when we have shaken off this mortal coil, may not have some foundation in truth: whether it might not be a remnant of a tradition transmitted from the earliest inhabitants of the earth, wrested by observation from nature, if not communicated from a higher source: and, also, whether circumstances of constant recurrence in all ages and in all nations, frequently observed and recorded by persons utterly ignorant of classical lore, and unacquainted, indeed, with the dogmas of any creed but their own, do not, as well as various passages in the Scriptures, afford a striking confirmation of this theory of a future life; whilst it, on the other hand, offers a natural and convenient explanation of their mystery.
To minds which can admit nothing but what can be explained and demonstrated, an investigation of this sort must appear perfectly idle; for whilst, on the one hand, the most acute intellect or the most powerful logic can throw little light on the subject, it is, at the same time though I have a confident hope that this will not always be the case equally irreducible within the present bounds of science; meanwhile, experience, observation, and intuition must be our principal, if not our only guides. Because, in the seventeenth century, credulity outran reason and discretion
Contents of Volume 1
I. Introduction 1
II. The Dweller in the Temple . . . . 24
III. Waking and Sleeping, and how the Dweller
in the Temple sometimes looks abroad . 4 1
IV. Allegorical Dreams, Presentiments, &c. . . 95
V. Warnings 107
VI. Double Dreaming and Trance, Wraiths, &c. . 165
VII. Wraiths . . . . . . .222
VIII. Doppelgangers, or Doubles . . . . 258
IX. Apparitions . . ... . .300
X. The Future that awaits us . . 361
II. The Dweller in the Temple . . . . 24
III. Waking and Sleeping, and how the Dweller
in the Temple sometimes looks abroad . 4 1
IV. Allegorical Dreams, Presentiments, &c. . . 95
V. Warnings 107
VI. Double Dreaming and Trance, Wraiths, &c. . 165
VII. Wraiths . . . . . . .222
VIII. Doppelgangers, or Doubles . . . . 258
IX. Apparitions . . ... . .300
X. The Future that awaits us . . 361
Contents of volume 2:
I. The Power of Will 1
II. Troubled Spirits 26
III. Haunted Houses 64
IV. Spectral Lights, and Apparitions attached to
certain families 147
V. Apparitions seeking the prayers of the living 194
VI. The Poltergeist of the Germans, and Pos-
session 238
session 238
VII. Miscellaneous Phenomena . . . . 312
VIII. Conclusion . . 353
Catherine Crowe
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