Marilyn Lena Penner
Member
Shelley,
I don't think Sir Arthur ever stopped 'fairy chasing'. I've often wondered why he did believe they existed or why someone didn't notice and tell him that the 'fairies' in those photographs came from a children's book.
Conan Doyle was a sincere believer in 'the life beyond the grave' long before World War I, but he publicly proclaimed his belief in 1917 in a small book titled "The New Revelation."
'Beyond the veil' would be more accurate because he believed that the souls of the living and the dead were separated by a filmy ether and that a person 'sensitive' or receptive to the spirit voices could communicate with them. (Those sensitives would 'mediate' between the spirits out of and people still in the corporeal body, hence 'medium') He believed that his second wife Jean (nee Leckie) was a 'sensitive' who could communicate with the spirits through automatic writing and a spirit guide named Phineas. Houdini criticized the veracity of a spirit message written from his mother via Jean.
Doyle also believed that the spirits could be photographed and had several 'spirit photographs' where the face of his son Kingsley or his mother or sister were seen in a cloud near his head.
His father drew fairies. Oh well. "Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms." Sherlock Holmes, in "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter".
Volume 1 of Doyle's 2 vol. The History of Spiritualism. I don't know if "The New Revelation' or any of his other spiritualist writings are on line, but the New Revelation is in print if you try a Google Books Search.
Arthur Conan Doyle - The History of Spiritualism Vol I
This one has good background on Doyle's life. You'll notice there is also a 'Titanic' button, which mentions the letters to the editor between Doyle and George Bernard Shaw.
http://www.siracd.com/life_spirit.shtml
I tout sherlockian.net because Chris Redmond is very thorough about his links and his Sherlockian scholarship. You'll need to scroll down to find "ACD and Spiritualism"
http://www.sherlockian.net/acd/
I don't think Sir Arthur ever stopped 'fairy chasing'. I've often wondered why he did believe they existed or why someone didn't notice and tell him that the 'fairies' in those photographs came from a children's book.
Conan Doyle was a sincere believer in 'the life beyond the grave' long before World War I, but he publicly proclaimed his belief in 1917 in a small book titled "The New Revelation."
'Beyond the veil' would be more accurate because he believed that the souls of the living and the dead were separated by a filmy ether and that a person 'sensitive' or receptive to the spirit voices could communicate with them. (Those sensitives would 'mediate' between the spirits out of and people still in the corporeal body, hence 'medium') He believed that his second wife Jean (nee Leckie) was a 'sensitive' who could communicate with the spirits through automatic writing and a spirit guide named Phineas. Houdini criticized the veracity of a spirit message written from his mother via Jean.
Doyle also believed that the spirits could be photographed and had several 'spirit photographs' where the face of his son Kingsley or his mother or sister were seen in a cloud near his head.
His father drew fairies. Oh well. "Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms." Sherlock Holmes, in "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter".
Volume 1 of Doyle's 2 vol. The History of Spiritualism. I don't know if "The New Revelation' or any of his other spiritualist writings are on line, but the New Revelation is in print if you try a Google Books Search.
Arthur Conan Doyle - The History of Spiritualism Vol I
This one has good background on Doyle's life. You'll notice there is also a 'Titanic' button, which mentions the letters to the editor between Doyle and George Bernard Shaw.
http://www.siracd.com/life_spirit.shtml
I tout sherlockian.net because Chris Redmond is very thorough about his links and his Sherlockian scholarship. You'll need to scroll down to find "ACD and Spiritualism"
http://www.sherlockian.net/acd/
