海外文化:英美民俗 通灵术

【英文原文】

摘要：研究通灵术的人认为死人与活人能够通过某种方式进行交流。他们相信人由灵、魂、体三者组成，灵寓于魂之中，而灵与魂又寓于体之中。人死后，灵与魂依然存活，故能与活人沟通。

Spiritualism is the belief that spirits of the dead can communicate with the living. Spiritualists believe that human beings are made up of body, soul, and spirit. At death, the body ceases to exist, but the spirit continues to exist because it is encased in the soul. According to spiritualists, communication between the physical and spiritual world does not end with physical death.

Modern spiritualism arose in the 19th century. In the United States spiritualism developed around Margaret and Kate Fox, sisters in New York State who were awakened with the rest of their family by mysterious rapping sounds in their house. The young sisters decided to ask questions with yes, no, or unmerical answers, and they claimed to receive responses in the form of raps. Visitors began to crowd the Fox house to witness this spectacle or prove it a trick, and stories quickly spread that the Fox girls were mediums in touch with spirits. The Fox sisters later showed their ability in New York City to famous people.

To communicate with spirits, spiritualists sometimes meet in small gatherings called séances. During a séance, several persons sit at a table and touch hands. An individual, usually called a medium leads the séance. The medium helps the group concentrate their thoughts on the person they wish to contact, usually a dead friend or relative. The spirit of the dead is supposed to show its presence by making rapping sounds, by moving objects in the room, or by speaking through the medium.

Many people honestly believe in spiritualism. Unfortunately, there have been many professional magicians and others who use trickery to make themselves appear to be mediums. Because of this, anyone who says he or she is a medium is likely suspected of dishonesty. Harry Houdini, the most famous professional magician, distrusted spiritualism so thoroughly that he spent a great deal of time trying to prove that it could not be true.

Although many scientists dispute spiritualist claims, spiritualists defend their beliefs. They claim that communication between the living and the dead has been scientifically verified. Some spiritualists consider themselves in agreement with Christian tradition. But most forms of Christianity do not agree with spiritualism’s main teaching that the spirits of the dead communicate with people on earth.

Serious investigators believed some truth lay behind the reports of mediums. The society for Psychical Research was founded in 1882 by a distinguished group of Cambridge scholars in London, United Kingdom, and a fund was established to investigate reports of possible spirit appearances, to find out if any of them is true. A number of famous people have supported investigations of the field, among them two British writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge. Several organized bodies of spiritualists exist, with about 600 congregations and a membership of more than 210000 people in the United States in the late 1900s. the larger organizations include the International General Assembly of Spiritualists, with headquarters in Ashtabula, Ohio; the National Spiritual Alliance of the USA in Lake Pleasant, Massachusetts; and the National Spiritualist Association of Churches in Lily Dale, New York.

【中文译文】

研究通灵术的人认为死人与活人能够通过某种方式进行交流。他们相信人由灵、魂、体三者组成，灵寓于魂之中，而灵与魂又寓于体之中。人死后，灵与魂依然存活，故能与活人沟通。

现代通灵术兴起于19世纪。它在美国的流行则起源于一个偶然事件。纽约州的玛格丽特和凯特•福克斯姐妹半夜被神秘的敲击声惊醒。这对年轻的姐妹对敲击者提出一些可以用是与否或数字回答的问题，据她们说敲击者用敲击声一一做了回答。成群的人们拥向福克斯家看稀罕，也有人认为这是姐妹俩恶作剧，去寻找破绽，以戳穿她们的把戏。福克斯姐妹能通灵的消息迅速传开，她们不久就被请到纽约市为名人们表演通灵术。

为与死人的灵魂沟通， 通灵术士有时要举行几人参加的小规模的降灵会。降灵会由一位称做灵媒的人主持，与会者坐在一张桌子周围，手手相触。灵媒帮助与会者将神思集中于他们想与之沟通的死者身上，然后据说死者的灵魂就会发出敲击声，或移动室内的物件，或通过灵媒之口说话。

不少人笃信通灵术。但至今已证实有很多专业魔术师和懂魔术的人借机装神弄鬼。因此，自称灵媒的人往往让人起疑。美国魔术大师胡迪尼就对通灵术嗤之以鼻，花了很多时间设法证明通灵术士是江湖骗子。

科学家也对通灵术提出质疑，但笃信者称死者与活人之间的沟通是超自然现象，无法用科学方法证实。有人称通灵术与基督教不矛盾，但遭到教会的驳斥。

但也有学者认为通灵术或许有真实的成分。1882年英国剑桥就有一群学者成立了精神现象研究会研究通灵术，并成立了基金会资助通灵术的研究，以证实其真伪。支持这方面研究的英国名人有《福尔摩斯探案集》的作者柯南道尔以及物理学家洛奇，二人都热衷通灵术。美国有600个通灵术组织，成员达20余万。著名的有国际通灵术代表大会、全美灵学联合会及美国通灵教团协会。