The JW obsession with demons has been a theme of late, but I haven't heard much about the WT views on the physical processes actually involved in demonic activity. Ever heard of ectoplasm? You know, like 'I've been SLIMED!' in Ghostbusters. Bet you didn't know that 'modern science' has actually observed this ectoplasm and documented its physical properties. Apparently it has. During the heyday of seances the WT produced some bizarre articles that they probably would very much like to avoid mention of.
*** w55 9/1 526-7 Part 1: What Do the Scriptures Say About "Survival After Death"? ***
As a result of its investigations modern science has discovered what it calls "ectoplasm," that is, human matter that streams forth from various parts of the spirit medium's body and that produces certain phenomena or takes certain shapes. Because it is protoplasm pushed out from the medium's body, Webster's dictionary defines ectoplasm as "exteriorized protoplasm." Marcus Bach, in his book They Have Found a Faith (1946), describes it on page 112:
"The reason for concealing the medium . . . is because a red light is used during a materialization seance. Even a dim light interferes with the generation of the ectoplasm necessary in building spirit forms. The cabinet shields the medium during the time this force is being assembled and then, when complete, the form can stand the light rays long enough to be seen outside the cabinet by the sitters--from thirty seconds to three or four minutes. The medium entranced is also sometimes disturbing to the spectators. It is not a pleasingly aesthetic sight--especially not during a materialization, for ectoplasm exudes from her mouth and body in the nature of gauzy, foggy, smokelike substance from which figures are formed by the spirit chemists."
11 Says Rishi (page 3 of his above-mentioned book):
"In Europe and America several scientists have made important discoveries in this science. Some persons are aware of the discovery of ectoplasm, a white snowy matter emanating from the body of the medium. However much the existence of this matter may be denied by ignorant persons and fraudulent people, it is weighed and analysed by great scientists." (Page 2) "The proof regarding survival after death has been mainly obtained through the inherent psychic power of a medium and hence the phenomena of mediumship have been recognized as the one basic factor of modern spiritualism. It is impossible to define or describe this power as it is not possible to define electricity or magnetism, although we all perceive their effects every day."...
Their being "reserved with eternal bonds" evidently means also that they are no more permitted to materialize in the flesh as before the Flood. This power of materialization was exercised by God's faithful angels, including Jesus Christ, for thousands of years after the Flood, down into the day of Christ's faithful apostles, according to God's will and to serve his holy purposes. But the sinner angels were not allowed to use this power longer, for they would misuse it. The materializations that are reported by spiritualists as taking place at mediumistic séances are not materializations such as the "sons of God" performed before the Flood. Their materializations were instantaneous and out in the open daylight without a medium and in independent bodies. The spiritualist materializations today are merely the taking of the protoplasm or material of the medium's body and extruding it from such body as "ectoplasm" and then shaping it into human appearances. At the end of the apparition the ectoplasm, rather than being dissolved, uncreated and dematerialized, returns to the medium's body and the medium becomes normal and conscious again.
The WT is obviously quoting works that defend the credibility of spirit mediums. Why are they reading these books in the first place? The statement in the article that "modern science" recognizes the existence of ectoplasm is actually based on claims made by the spiritist defenders. Other works would've mentioned that skeptics had debunked this ectoplasm as things like painted cheesecloth, egg white or wood pulp used under cover of darkness and the spell of mysticism to create the desired effect. Notice how "even a dim light interferes with the generation of the ectoplasm" until it is 'ready' to be viewed by the 'audience.' Of course these works probably fall under the category of 'higher criticism' and would therefore have much less weight than the writings of the spiritists themselves! Where better to find out about spiritism than from spiritists themselves? The following article admits that plainly.
*** w62 11/1 647 What Is Extrasensory Perception? ***
One of the most informative descriptions of ESP and how it arrives is given by Ronald Edwin, more than thirty years an extrasensory perceiver....
"Where does E.S.P. come from in the first place?" asks this same extrasensory perceiver. "Here I have to admit that I do not know." He says the clues are slender, if there are any. Yet in his own autobiography he gives ample clues. For instance, he tells of the time when he tried to prove that it would be easy to fake a spirit medium's séance, including the ectoplasmic materializations. He bought some cheesecloth for fake ectoplasm. During the seance he went into a trance and later discovered that he had really produced ectoplasm, which was proved by scientific test not to be mere cheesecloth but a kind of protoplasm:
"A percentage of the phenomena photo graphed was . . . quite genuine. . . . In all cases, I was conscious of a strange feeling of 'extension' and an inexplicable sense of loss. . . . While entranced on one of these occasions, I gave permission for one of the sitters to break off a piece of the white substance which photography afterwards showed had hovered over my face.
"This independently taken sample was handed to a public analyst, Percy Egerton. This was his report, for those who may be interested: ' . . . a sticky material containing many squamous epithelial cells with their nuclei. There were also a few epithelial cells without a nucleus and some disintegrated cells of a similar character. A large number of highly refractile ovoid bodies resembling a yeast were also seen together with a few threads resembling cotton. No pus cells, but a few organisms and much amorphous debris were also observed.' It is a strange thought that a man in the midst of fraud may also be capable of producing genuine phenomena."
The book quoted here was apparently a sensationalistic biography that served as an expose of fraud in other mediums, but was obviously defending the legitimacy of the craft, at least in the authors case, whose claims were verified by the 'scientific tests' of a 'public analyst' whatever the hell that means. Again, what's the WT doing reading these books in the first place, let alone presenting their claims as genuine without refering to the body of evidence debunking this early 20th century fad. Of course nowadays, you will not hear much about ectoplasm in the WT publications, or even from serious spiritists as far as I'm aware.
You can therefore imagine how the readers of the WT, with little access to alternate viewpoints, serious scientific studies (and certainly not the spiritistic reference materials themselves!) would be a little paranoid about these bizarre happenings which were all apparently accepted by 'modern science.'
Find more fun pictures and explanations of this historical fad here: http://www.photographymuseum.com/believe1.html
mox