Frederick Bligh Bond's "The Gate of Remembrance" is a work that describes his experiences with the excavation of Glastonbury Abbey and automatic writing. This article introduces the "Preface to the Second Edition," written by Bond himself, which was included in the third edition published in 1920.
In this introduction, Bond addresses two issues: how to explain the mixture of languages that appear in the written records, and how to consider the intelligent source of the messages. From there, he advances the discussion towards hypotheses such as potential memory, telepathy, and a "great memory" that permeates beyond individual memories.
Descriptions of paranormal phenomena and life after death are the opinions of the original author, and do not represent a certification of facts by the translator.
Preface to the Second Edition
Regarding this transcript, critics have paid serious attention to two issues. The first, and simpler issue, concerns the language and literary form of the message. It is a strange patchwork of low Latin, different periods of Middle English, and various modern English in terms of style and vocabulary. One could say it's a mosaic of colorful fragments glued together in a terribly random way. This anomaly becomes even more noticeable when contrasted with the consistent and coherent content that the transcript itself suggests. The transcript proceeds without interruption, as if following a predetermined intention and fixed plan, presenting a complete whole line by line. Time seems to have no meaning there. Even after interruptions of several hours, the thread picks up again from where it left off. An unfinished communication about Loretto Chapel in 1911 was resumed five years later and spontaneously completed. Nevertheless, the strange patchwork of languages is evident here as well.
Regarding this fact, the following explanation is presented. Whatever the source of these messages may be, or whatever force motivates them, it can easily be recognized that the language in which the message is conveyed is a "mechanical aspect" of the process, and that it inevitably relies on conventions during the transmission. However, what appears to be the visible tool are the brains of F.B.B. and J.A. Their reasoning ability and capacity for introspection are either suspended or engaged in something else at that time. While their attention is completely diverted, a repository of memories and subconscious impressions hidden within their brains is being used. This occurs simultaneously with, and entirely independently from, their normal cognitive abilities being directed towards an entirely different subject. [1]
Let us consider the human brain, from early childhood to later life, as a repository for every impression etched in our minds. In this way, the brain becomes an encyclopedia of all knowledge accumulated by the conscious mind. Each entry records a concept with a specific property, and is written in the language dictated by the circumstances at that time. Now, let us assume – it is not difficult to do so – that each of these recordings responds to the impulse of an idea about to be expressed, and that this expression is achieved through a kind of resonant vibration tuned to the original thought that recorded a specific memory or object. This resonant vibration seizes upon the denser, physical particles of the recording, causing them to respond and emit their own unique sound.
In other words, written records are nothing more than the brain's recorded responses to the resonant vibrations of ideas, regardless of their origin.
Of course, such conditions are not always necessary, nor are they always possible. For example, there are many well-documented cases of automatic writing where the ideas conveyed were outside the writer's conscious awareness, and in some cases, even the language itself was completely unknown to the writer. Consider examples of automatic writing in languages that the medium does not know. Moreover, understanding them may require special knowledge.
The explanation in this case seems to be that the mediator's mind becomes more malleable towards a more direct spiritual influence, and that influence shapes the particles of the mind, creating new records for itself. This must have occurred during the "gift of tongues" at Pentecost, and also in the history of the early church.
The second problem, which critics have pointed out, is a more difficult one. It concerns the intellectual source of the message. Regarding this, I have proposed the concept of a "Greater Memory," which transcends and yet permeates our own memories. This theory offers suggestions rather than explanations. It does not explain many things that are currently beyond our ability to explain, nor does it intend to explain everything. As I say, it is merely a suggestion. Its strength lies in the fact that it excludes no other possible actions. Therefore, it leaves room for the workings of transcendent abilities such as intuition, as well as for all kinds of "primary" impulses, and for various guiding influences in terms of number and degree.
We must acknowledge, based on our own experiences, that some form of intelligence, separate from the conscious mind, is causing latent memories to be revived and drawn out within these records. We also must acknowledge that telepathy between two people is involved. If this is the case, we must also recognize the possibility that a broader range of telepathic activity exists, which passes through our minds when these messages are generated.
On the one hand, the material brain decays and ceases to function with death. On the other hand, a more internal and less materialistic brain, which is an organ or medium of the subconscious or intuitive self, completely survives and remains alive beyond bodily death. If we agree that this is based on our own experiences, and furthermore, if we consider that this inner brain is made up of finer particles that respond to much faster movements of intuitive thought, then we must also acknowledge the following: namely, if records of deceased personalities can respond to the same spiritual will and ideals that motivate us ourselves, then those records can be similarly drawn out by an activating intelligence. And just as in our own case, this can be achieved without evoking the personality's unique conscious "spirit" or the personality itself. When Johannes says the following (page 95), it must mean precisely this.
"Why do I cling to something that doesn't exist? It is me, and yet it is not me. It is a part of me that my physical soul has loved and called 'home' for many years. Yet, I, Johannes, am made up of many parts. And the better part does something else – glory be, praise God! – only the part that clings to things, fixating on them like memories, is what remains."
Therefore, regarding the issue of personality in the sense that the individual of the deceased is consciously present there, I do not believe it should arise at all with respect to these records. What should be considered as a necessary premise is only that our own potential minds, or the deep layers of dream consciousness, are connected to other depths with similar properties. This is made possible by the existence of a larger, all-encompassing spiritual essence, idea, or will, under which they resonate and move in harmony. That essence, idea, or will exists everywhere, permeates everything, activates dormant memory records, and guides them into one of the channels of the mind that has been prepared through conscious awareness to receive and retain them.
From a distant time, a faint voice reaches us—a voice that vibrates the void and causes a subtle resonance within our own existence—it is great telepathy, true communion of hearts, and the gateway to Gnosis. The key lies in empathy. Lawyers took this key away, so we cannot enter, nor can others.
There are no dissonances that disrupt this harmony. Love and understanding are its law. Death cannot touch it. Rather, death is the gatekeeper. The time we know has no meaning here. For deep consciousness, a day can become a thousand years, and a period of trance or sleep can be like an hour on a clock.
Bristol.
May 1918.
Footnote [1]
In recent sessions, it has become customary for F.B.B. to read aloud a novel or other entertaining and interesting book to J.A. while the secretary is taking notes. As a result of this practice, the resulting transcripts bear no resemblance whatsoever to the content of the books being read, instead forming a series of related essays on the subject of matter being conquered by spirit.