This little book is an introduction to Spiritualism for small children, which understandably emphasises the fairy-tale aspects of the faith. Early on, for example, the reader is told about the etheric body, that part of one which is supposedly eternal:
In Incredible Alliance P. M. Doucé describes her experiments with automatic writing, in which she found herself filling pages with what seemed to her untrained mind to be poetry. Seeking further information about the source of this unbidden literary effusion, she consulted a psychic who told her that she had become the conduit for the posthumous creations of none other than T. S. Eliot.
This charming little item is, like The Animals and Birds Redeemed from Death, an attempt to persuade the reader of the reality of an afterlife for members of the animal kingdom, in this case specifically pets.
It was with some scepticism that the public looked at copies of Hitler's Last Year of Power on the bookstalls all over the country when it appeared at the end of August of this year.
"Hitler's Last Year of Power!" This they said was one of the many predictions which are made each year and which are never fulfilled, which only serve the purpose of making money for the publisher and bringing discredit upon the science of astrology.
Ms Herold's little handbook strives to alert police officers to the menace of the occult, though as it largely consists of statements of the obvious, it suggests that the guardians of the law must be even more stupid than is popularly thought.
For example, we learn that the signs of involvement in occult practices include:
a systematic use of symbols
The author, John Armstrong Chaloner (born Chanler), known as Archie to his friends, made frequent appearances in the American press of the early 20th century. A member of the wealthy Astor family, he was married to another favourite of the gossip columns, the writer Amélie Rives. Chaloner was noted for his eccentricity and was for a while imprisoned as a lunatic; some recent commentators have suggested that he suffered from bipolar disorder.
What if all spiritualist mediums are genuine, and the phenomena of the seance are real? Could not these be studied, and a science of ghosts thereby arrived at? Such is the central idea of Danmar's unusual self-published volume of 1924.
What, Danmar asks, are ghosts made of? Future studies would surely shine light on the question:
If you are looking for a thrilling mystery with a supernatural twist: this is not it. On the other hand, should you like your fiction to be dull, turgid, and weighed down with metaphysical drivel, An Astral Bridegroom may be the very thing.
Power. Deep down, isn't that what we all want? Power over others, power to induce them to do our bidding, power to get what we want when we want it. Even better, psychic power, so one can control people with the mind, without resistance or resentment. (Just what I want for my birthday, in case you were wondering.) That is the promise of this book.
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