A Bohemian Ghost (Part 2)

For those who found A Bohemian Ghost (Part 1) interesting, here is the conclusion, which is included in the 1893 book by Papus entitled “An Elementary Treatise on Practical Magic”, in a section about the use of the magical sword:

 

The fluid accumulations formed by the union of astral powers acting like a soul with the ambient vital fluids acting like a body have a very strong analogy to electrical accumulations. The astral can only act on the physical by means of the fluids of physical life, or what we can call vital energy. And when the Operator supposes that the astral power which appears wishes to abuse its power by acting against the goal being pursued, the Operator has no other option than to place the point of his sword in the fluidic being which appears. The metallic point immediately draws off the astro-electric fluids which had formed the body of the being endowed with evil intent, and this being is immediately deprived of its means to act on the physical plane. It goes without saying that the lead grains violently expelled by a gun. like a revolver’s bullet, act almost exactly in the same manner, which can be seen in many articles, among which is the one published by the Count of Larmandie (Eureka, p. 135), or the following taken from Initiation (1893).

Dissolving a larva on a steel point – Repercussion on the physical body of the witch

The following facts seemed worthy of attention, since they allowed me to seek an explanation for the phenomenon of the luminous apparition cited in Issue No. 5 (February).

I should say in advance that in drawing conclusions, I can only give a hypothesis.

As I said earlier, the population of P… is comprised of twenty-six people, living in six houses. I hadn’t mentioned a seventh house, which is located in the center of the village and which, with the farm, had become my parents’ property. This house was uninhabited. At its side was a little house, or rather a kind of cabin, inhabited by a woman living alone. This woman, Mrs. B., was widely reputed to be a witch! The peasants attributed all kinds of occult powers to her, beginning with knowing how to make callouses disappear almost immediately, up to the blackest of evil magic, such as casting spells on people, inciting illnesses in animals, making cows abort, etc.

I had an opportunity to see this woman for the first time a few months after my parents had moved into P. for the summer holidays.

Mrs. B. came to the farm regularly every Saturday to purchase eggs, butter and cheeses, which she sold in local markets.

She was aged forty to forty-five years old, small, stocky, a little chubby, with a disagreeable face without being ugly. She had a large mouth, with thick lips, slightly drooping to the right side; a short and large nose, with nostrils widely flared, a very low forehead, and dark chestnut hair beginning to turn gray. Her eyes were particularly remarkable: and weren’t of the same color. Small, piercingly alive, the right eye was gray, while the left was a very clear blue, almost green at the top, while the lower part was dark brown.

I was familiar with the stories circulating about this person, and, without paying the least attention to them, I had still noted them with some curiosity.

I should now interject a detail whose importance will become clear later.

When my parents had acquired the farm, it belonged to an Austrian gentleman and administered by a kind of steward, an uneducated peasant, who was notorious in the region for being under the domination of Mrs. B. Their exploitation of the farm resulted in no benefit accruing to its owner, and that is why it had been sold. All the animals, including a dog, had been included in the sale. This was a large sheepdog with reddish-brown hair, but which, was completely inoffensive during the day. Now, the dog was barely familiar with anyone outside of the members of the family, yet he had a remarkable affection for me.

This dog had peculiar eyes: the right eye was gray, while the left was a very clear blue, almost green at the top, while the lower part was dark brown. In a word, the dog had eyes identical to those of Mrs. B. Moreover, the animal, which normally wasn’t at all naughty, had an extraordinary animosity towards that person. On the days that Mrs. B. came to the farm we had to take care to put the dog on a chain. He barked furiously, he yelped, and didn’t stop until B. had left. The dog ended up knowing the day that Mrs. B. came to make her purchases, and from the morning onwards, he was always in bad humor, and sought to shake off this chain.

The cause of this animosity was unknown. One day, I asked Mrs. B. if perhaps she had done something unpleasant to the dog in the past; but she denied it, and simply replied that he was a bad animal, which would do something really bad one day if he wasn’t taken care of. It was noticeable that the dog, when outside the house, was afraid of Mrs. B. If he saw her on the road he would run away.

At the farm, we were used to his caprices and didn’t pay him any attention, save to put him on his chain each Saturday morning.

In August of 1876, a few days following the appearance of the lantern, the night before my departure to rejoin my regiment, I was going for a walk with M. N. mentioned beforehand. The dog followed us as usual. We made our way towards the inhabited house, which I wanted to go into to examine some bric-a-brac in the loft.

As I mentioned earlier, Mrs. B. lived next door.

Mrs. B. must have seen us enter. When we came out half an hour later, Mrs. B. was at her door, leaning against the wall. The dog followed behind us. Hardly had he come around the corner than he cried out, just like a dog which had been hit hard without warning, and took off in the direction of the farm. M.N. and I watched the dog run off in surprise for a few moments, when Mrs. B., who was still at her door beside us, without our paying any attention to her, began to laugh.

I turned back towards her, feeling very vexed, without knowing why. No knowing what to say, I half turned, intending to look for the dog. But he had stopped a hundred meters or so away, and looked at us. We both stood where we were, and I called him over with a whistle. The dog obeyed my repeated calls. He began by approach slowly, stopped at each step and crouching on the ground. As he came closer at the sound of my voice (I chatted to him all the time), he became visibly bolder. The dog was now around twelve meters from me. He crouched on the ground and started to growl quietly. I called insistently to him. He didn’t move, but his anger appeared to grow.

I had a feeling that something was about to happen (M.N. told me later he felt almost sick). Instinctively, I glanced at Mrs. B. and was taken aback by the hard and hate-filled regard on her face, whose expression had completely changed. I have never forgotten the strangely evil expression on that face, as well as the intense and uncontrollable anger which overtook me at that moment.

I called to the dog in a short, sharp tone; feeling sure he would approach. The dog pricked up his ears, eyes sparkling. Then, barking furiously, he bounded forward towards the door of the cabin. The instant the dog launched himself forward, Mrs. B. stepped back precipitously and threw the door shut behind her with a crash.

The dog, upright against the door, barked and scratched furiously against it, as if he wanted to force his way in. It took a great effort to make him leave the place: we both had to take him by the collar to drag him back to the house.

M.N. and I were not disposed to leave, and we discussed the bizarre attitudes of the woman and the dog far into the night, losing ourselves in conjecture.

The following day I left for my garrison.

At the end of December, I obtained a new leave for the New Year, and returned to our home at P…

Since space at the house was limited and all the bedrooms occupied (relatives had come to visit us), I had a bed put in the empty house in the village.

I went there around 11 o’clock in the evening, accompanied by one of the housemaids, who brought water, towels, etc. Our shepherd dog followed me. After the housemaid had made the bed, she left, taking the dog with her.

The room I was sleeping in was on the first floor, accessible by a corridor which led to the door of a first room. This room was empty and completely stripped of furniture. It communicated with my bedroom by means of a second door facing the first. My bed was set up in the corner, next to the communicating door between the two rooms, so that this door touched the foot of the bed when it was opened.

After the housemaid had left, I locked the front door of the house and went upstairs. I closed the door of the first room behind me, without locking it, and went into my bedroom leaving the door partly open, touching the corner of my bed.

I undressed (I was in uniform), placing my cavalry saber against a chair which I was using as a night table. I went to bed and blew out my candle.

When I had extinguished the light, I heard a very loud scratching at the door to the first room. It was a noise identical to that produced by a dog wanting to enter or leave a room. But the scratching I had heard was very intense, as if the dog wanted to force the door open.

Once the first moment of surprise had passed, I thought our dog perhaps remained in the house. However, the scratching seemed to me to have been produced against the inside of the door of the first room and not against the corridor side. I called the dog several times by his name, “Sokol.” Each time the noise increased in response.

As I said earlier, I had left the communicating door between the two rooms open. Since this door was resting against the foot of the bed, I was able to reach it with my feet. With a brisk movement, I violently pushed the door with my right foot, which shut with a loud noise. At the same instant, the scratching increased in a very violent manner, now against the other side of the communicating door.

I must admit that, after calling the name of the dog to no avail, and the strange noise had grown stronger, I was frightened for a moment, and it was that which made me push the door shut. But the moment I heard the noise of this door closing right next to me, the feeling of fear immediately disappeared. I prepared to light my candle, and once light had returned the scratching stopped.

I got out of bed, put on my pants and went into the first room.

I still had the idea of the dog in my mind, despite the material impossibility of his presence. There was nothing in the room.

I went out of the room, descended the stairs and looked around the ground floor. I called the dog. Still nothing.

There was nothing more I could do but go back up to my room, and not comprehending any of this, I went back to bed and blew out the candle.

Hardly had I laid down when the racket started up again outside the communicating door with even greater intensity, which I had closed behind me this time.

Then I experienced a feeling of annoyance and anger. I was aroused and, without taking time to light the candle, I jumped out of bed, seized my saber which I drew from its scabbard and ran into the first room. When I opened the door I felt a resistance, and in the darkness, I thought I saw a glow, a luminous shadow, if I can call it that, vaguely appearing against the door leading from the corridor.

Without thinking, I jumped forwards and struck a powerful blow with the saber in the direction of the door.

A shower of sparks flew out from the door as if I had hit a nail stuck in the panel. The point of the saber had stuck into the wood and it took an effort to withdraw the weapon. I hurried back to my room to light the candle, and, saber in hand, I then returned to look at the door.

The panel was sliced from top to bottom. I searched for the nail which I thought I’d hit, but could find nothing. The sharp side of the saber didn’t appear to have encountered anything made of iron.

I went downstairs again and looked everywhere, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

I went back to my room. It was now eleven forty-five.

I thought about the things which had just taken place. No explanation came to mind, but I felt a true feeling of peace having been greatly excited, and I remember very well that I almost involuntarily stroked the blade of my sword as I went back to bed, and placed the weapon next to me in the bed, beneath the covers.

I slept without further incident, and only awoke around eight o’clock in the morning.

In the light of day, the incidents of the night and the broken door appeared even more strange.

Eventually I left the place and returned to the farm, where everyone had come together to have breakfast and were expecting me. Naturally I recounted my adventures, which seemed unbelievable to the youngsters visiting. As for my parents, as well as N.M., they were very concerned.

Once breakfast was ended – it was now around ten o’clock – everyone wanted to see the broken door, and my parents, the young visitors, M. N. and I made our way to the house in the village.

On the way, a woman from the village can to meet us and said she had wanted to come to our home to ask N.M. (who was a medical student) to come and see Mrs. B. who was ill. Another woman, who had gone to find Mrs. B. for some reason a few minutes earlier had found her on her bed, unconscious and covered in blood.

We walked more quickly. Personally, I was particularly moved by the woman’s words.

The delirious woman, who was lying down on her bed, had a face almost completely covered with coagulated blood, her eyes closed and stuck together by blood, which was still pouring out of a mortal wound on her forehead. This wound, made by a sharp instrument, began around two centimeters above the hairline and continued in a straight line to the bridge of the nose, extending seven and a half centimeters. The brain was literally split open, and the cerebral mass poured out through the crack.

M.N. and I ran through the house, M.N. to find the necessaries to make a dressing, and me to have our groomsman go and find the doctor in a small neighboring village.

Once the carriage had departed, I returned to Mrs. B., who had been temporarily dressed by M.N. The cabin was filled with all the village inhabitants, including the present hostess of the inn. Nobody had any idea what could have happened to Mrs. B. The wounded woman, who had always been feared by the population, now only seemed to inspire the curiosity of the people present, with the exception of the hostess of the inn, who appeared not only to have been drawn by curiosity, but who also seemed visibly happy, and wasn’t afraid to say out loud: “At last, Mrs. B. has got what she deserved.”

I must say that, from the moment I had laid eyes on Mrs. B. on coming into the house, laid out thus on her bed with her brain exposed, I had the feeling of something vague suddenly beginning to make sense in my mind. At that moment, I realized that it had been Mrs. B., the “witch”, who had been touched by the point of my weapon, when I had given the blow with my saber which had broken asunder the door of the room the previous night.

Once the wounded woman was dressed and cleaned up, I left with M.N. We went up to the first floor of the empty house, to the broken door. M.N. looked at it without saying anything: he was visibly affected. I myself was no less so. Eventually I broke the silence and shared my thoughts with M.N.

I should mention that, at that time, I had no understanding of occult knowledge or powers; any more than did M.N. The connections I had made between what had passed in the night and the state in which we had found Mrs. B. were only intuitive.

All M.N. said in answer to my explanations, if one could call it such, with: “I don’t understand anything, but some terrible things have taken place.” I didn’t understand either, and we agreed not to speak about the events which had happened to Mrs. B. that night again.

She was in a comatose state, and the delirium had given way to a deep prostration from which she would never recover.

After recommending that the ladies present continue to replace the cold compresses until the doctor arrived, we all returned to the farm. The family members had completely lost sight of the original purpose for our walk, which was the broken door; and both M.N. and I refrained from returning there. All thoughts and conversations revolved around Mrs. B.’s accident, and when one of the younger people reminded me that we had forgotten to visit the door, I replied that it wasn’t worth the effort to make another journey, and that I believed I had allowed myself to be overly affected by a dream.

At one o’clock that afternoon, the doctor arrived. M.N. and I accompanied him to the home of Mrs. B.

The doctor could only emphasize the gravity of the wound, and warned us that Mrs. B. only had a few hours to live. When he asked about possible causes for the wound, we held our tongues, as we had agreed beforehand, and offered no suggestions.

In expectation of a fatal outcome taking place at any moment, the doctor stayed with us in P… He put together a report on the matter, and I immediately had a man leave to deliver this report to the nearest police station, since somebody would have to come to establish an inquiry about the cause of the accident.

A brigadier arrived at 7 o’clock in the evening. He held an inquiry about the event in the same room as Mrs. B., where the doctor was present, along with M.N., myself, the woman who had first discovered Mrs. B., and some other inhabitants of the village.

The policeman’s inquiry continued until 7:30 o’clock, when Mrs. B. suddenly sat up in her bed, supporting herself on her elbows. She opened her eyes very wide, remained like this for a few moments, then fell back with her eyes still open. She was dead. The doctor closed her eyelids.

Since nobody could give any opinion at all on how Mrs. B. had been wounded, the brigadier completed his inquiry and left. A magistrate arrived the following morning, on January 1^st, to finalize the customary reports with the doctor, who had stayed overnight at our house, and in the evening Mrs. B. was buried in the nearest cemetery to the village.

An inquiry ordered simply for form and protocol produced no result, and was abandoned after a few days. An accidental fall was concluded.

I have nothing to add to the facts as stated, but I should mention a coincidence: and this is, that following the death of Mrs. B., all talk of seeing the lantern in P… and the neighboring areas ceased.

Since that time, for the following seventeen years, I have had the opportunity to observe a great number of events with a supernatural aspect, or at least inexplicable by ordinary explanation. But I have never had an occasion to see any spontaneous phenomenon produced which is at all like the lantern. I have always found that the most miraculous phenomena have their basic origins in human powers (which is not to say I would deny the existence of other kinds of powers out of hand) and I believe myself able to conclude:

1^st: That Mrs. B. Had been a very powerful ‘medium of physical effects’, but one who could act consciously;

2^nd: That, consequently, Mrs. B. had been either well-endowed with extraordinary abilities to send forth her astral body, or that she had been initiated into certain practices to that end;

3^rd: That the nocturnal noise in my room had been produced by Mrs. B., that is, by her astral body, with the intention of scaring me in revenge for my having taught our dog to resist the occult power which she had previously exercised over him outside our house. This is why she had decided to imitate the noise the dog had made at her own door, when he had thrown himself at her;

4^th: That, by thrusting the saber against the door, or against the luminous shade, the steel had touched the astral body, and that a molecular severance of this body, due to the contact of the steel point crossing it with considerable force, had resulted in Mrs. B.’s wounding;

5^th: Finally, that the apparition of the lantern had, in fact, been an astral emanation of Mrs. B., who enjoyed affecting the local people, and making them afraid.

Regarding this last point, I was led to believe that if I had been able to fire my pistol at the phenomenon when the lantern has appeared, which had been my intention, I would probably have killed Mrs. B. on the spot.

GUSTAVE BOJANOO