Articles on Religion & Burial – Dr. T.J. Gile, 1880’s

Republished from our predecessor publication Lucifer the Light Bearer

Materialization – Dr. T.J. Gile, 8/27/1886

Ed. Lucifer: At the time I was so hospitably entertained at your residence, I promised to favor your numerous readers
with an article on Spiritualism. I do not think of anything more practical than the subject of materialization, which is daily
taking place through one W. Aber, at 33 12th St., Topeka, Kan. His séances are attended by people of the highest
position and unimpeachable character, who declare positively that they meet, converse with, and recognize their
departed friends. Mr. Aber is a young man, 25 years of age, about medium height, of fine features, erect in carriage,
wears a light mustache, with the rosy hues of health on his cheeks, and is what the world calls good-looking. He
resides with his widowed mother, to whom the world is indebted not only for his existence, but for the development
of his valuable gift, which enables him to demonstrate with absolute certainty the immortality of the soul. Hence,
those who are fortunate enough to visit Mr. Aber, with good desires at the bottom of their investigations, have no
further use for blind faith, vain hope, or uncertain belief as taught by the Christian churches, because they have
actual facts and direct revelations through their own recognized friends and nearest relatives. Hence, the revelations
through materialization and other phases of mediumship are made more valuable than those through the Bible, as
they take place in the present enlightened age and have date and authenticity. For example, Belshazzar saw the
hand of a man writing on the wall—words that neither he nor his wise men could interpret. Is there anything now
that compares with this? I do not know of anything exactly like it, but in our day many have been the times when
a hand was seen to write, a hand formed for the occasion; and sometimes a ring or token on the hand has been
recognized as having been worn by the hand of the person, when in this life, who is writing the communication.
Rings, bracelets, and other tokens have been repeatedly seen and recognized at Mr. Aber’s séances, and instead
of writing communications in unknown languages on the wall, plain English language was uttered by the spirits and
understood by mortals. Jesus, Peter, James, and John went into a mountain apart, and there they saw two spirits,
Moses and Elias.

Moses had been dead over thirteen hundred years and was a lawgiver; Elijah, or Elias, it is said, went up in a chariot
of fire. These four on the mount talked with Moses and Elias as well as saw them. I wish to show that what has been
may be again, hence the parallel between the foregoing phenomena. My experience in this instance is a test séance,
conducted at Mr. Aber’s for the purpose of proving the genuineness of the manifestations. He and his cabinet, being
duly searched, were handcuffed by the writer, who held the key during the séance, which was subjected to the criticism
of six of the best men and their wives of Topeka. During the séance, I will venture to say that from twenty to twenty-five
spirits materialized, some of which talked freely and were recognized; others talked but little and were partially recognized.
The writer saw his brother. He has not been dead thirteen hundred years, as in the case of Moses. He died about twenty
years ago and was a grain dealer of Wisconsin; neither did he go up in a chariot of fire as did Elias. I saw him die a
natural death, and he ascended through natural laws. He appeared in his usual good-natured feelings, with his familiar
dark, glossy hair and dark-colored whiskers; his skin was clear and his countenance familiar. We stared at each other
for a moment, and with a little effort he spoke his name, “Nathan.” “I am aware it is you, Nathan. What news have you
brought me?” “Stand a little back,” he replied, “I must get more strength before I can talk,” and the curtain closed. Suddenly
it opened and he reappeared and said, “You study too hard—you need rest.” He then asked some questions about his
surviving brothers and sisters in Wisconsin, calling them by their Christian names, which were unknown to the medium.
After making appropriate remarks regarding my answers to his questions, which were not designed for the public, he
disappeared into the world of realities.

The next spirit that materialized was my son, who died in infancy but has grown to mature age. He talked freely about his
brother in Dakota. The next two spirits that materialized were two nephews who died suddenly in Wisconsin, one of whom
talked plainly and was recognized; the other could utter but one word—his name, “Walter.” The Christian world must come
to Spiritualism to prove the fact they hold to be sacred, and likewise to obtain proof of immortality. Outside of psychology
and its attending phenomena, there is no proof of a continued existence beyond the grave.

A Much Needed Reform – Dr. T.J. Gile, 5/11/1888

Editor Lucifer I deeply regret that I was not at home when you favored me with a personal call a few days ago. I
found on my desk your valuable paper with remarks on its margin. Many thanks for the kind remembrance. Now,
while you are advocating, at the expense perhaps of your liberty and comfort, some reforms in regard to the protection
of living bodies, especially of wives from brutal husbands, allow me to introduce another much-needed reform after
the poor, worn-out body is dead, so called. It is time to recognize the fact that no person is ever dead or buried. The
shell that the spirit throws off at transition is only so much gross material. It is simply dirt, and no more worthy to be
mourned over than so many pounds of any other dirt. Certainly, thinking minds cannot believe that the moldering form
before them is their friend. The custom of paying great respect to dead bodies by the Christian world drifted down from
the Dark Ages and originated in the gross superstition that the spirit would again return to earth at some indefinite
time and re-clothe itself in this diseased and worn-out matter. This is one of the most absurd, repugnant, and vile
fictions that has ever been imposed on credulous man. Now, if the Christian world would unite with LUCIFER THE
LIGHT-BEARER and its followers and bestow what favor and kindness they can on the living bodies, and not wait
until they are dead, they would thereby become noble benefactors of humanity. Henry Ward Beecher requested his
family to refrain from wearing black or any other sign of mourning at his funeral. The custom of wearing mourning,
he said, should be left to those who do not know what becomes of their friends at death, for it pitifully signalizes
the darkness of the mind and the destitution of hope.