ancient and modern, were, and
are, impostors--but I do think that all the honest ones were, and
are, mistaken. I do not believe that man has ever received any
communication from angels, spirits or gods. No whisper, as I
believe, has ever come from any other world. The lips of the dead
are always closed. From the grave there has come no voice. For
thousands of years people have been questioning the dead. They
have tried to catch the whisper of a vanished voice. Many say that
they have succeeded. I do not know.

_Question_. What is the explanation of the startling knowledge
displayed by some so-called "mediums" of the history and personal
affairs of people who consult them? Is there any such thing as
mind-reading or thought-transference?

_Answer_. In a very general way, I suppose that one person may
read the thought of another--not definitely, but by the expression
of the face, by the attitude of the body, some idea may be obtained
as to what a person thinks, what he intends. So thought may be
transferred by look or language, but not simply by will. Everything
that is, is natural. Our ignorance is the soil in which mystery
grows. I do not believe that thoughts are things that can been
seen or touched. Each mind lives in a world of its own, a world
that no other mind can enter. Minds, like ships at sea, give signs
and signals to each other, but they do not exchange captains.

_Question_. Is there any such thing as telepathy? What is the
explanation of the stories of mental impressions received at long
distances?

_Answer_. There are curious coincidences. People sometimes happen
to think of something that is taking place at a great distance.
The stories about these happenings are not very well authenticated,
and seem never to have been of the least use to anyone.

_Question_. Can these phenomena be considered aside from any
connection with, or form of, superstition?

_Answer_. I think that mistake, emotion, nervousness, hysteria,
dreams, love of the wonderful, dishonesty, ignorance, grief and
the longing for immortality--the desire to meet the loved and lost,
the horror of endless death--account for these phenomena. People
often mistake their dreams for realities--often think their thoughts
have "happened." They live in a mental mist, a mirage. The boundary
between the actual and the imagined becomes faint, wavering and
obscure. They mistake clouds for mountains. The real and the
unreal