• Original work: Margaret Cameron, The Seven Purposes: An Experience in Psychic Phenomena (Harper & Brothers, 1918).

In this article, we will introduce the "Introduction" written by the author himself and the beginning of the first part. This describes the circumstances in which the author engaged in communication experiments using Planchette during the period of World War I. The descriptions regarding paranormal phenomena and survival after death are claims and anecdotes from the original work and do not represent a factual endorsement by the translator.

Introduction

Twenty-five years ago, or perhaps even longer, I was intrigued by the potential for interesting things to emerge from a planchette, and like other young people, I occasionally played with it for several years. As with others, I sometimes wondered where these surprising words that came out of it originated. However, the idea that these words were spoken by personalities who had separated from their bodies always seemed quite foolish to me.

Occasionally, I come across magazine articles that depict or discuss paranormal phenomena, but my interest in them is not strong enough to read them regularly. I haven't read much philosophy either. I am always busy, and I have not been particularly concerned with what scholars have said about life, instead directly experiencing it. Regarding humans or God, the beliefs I hold are based on actions. Therefore, without convincing empirical evidence, I cannot believe that individual lives continue after death.

However, after the war began, interest in the possibility of individuals continuing to exist increased dramatically and painfully quickly. Attempts to communicate with those who had passed away were being talked about everywhere. Therefore, I decided to try the planchette again. However, it was only in 1917 that my friend V—— mentioned wanting to try it with me sometime. That's when I actually bought it. For almost a year afterward, the planchette remained untouched in its box. And even when the opportunity finally came to try it, there were no results. It didn't move from where it was placed, and I never tried using it alone.

Several weeks later, two friends, Mrs. Wiley and Miss Gale, contacted me through someone living near my home, saying they were trying to reach my brother, Frederick, and that they seemed to be getting promising results. A day or two later, we tried using a planchette together, with some degree of success. It moved vigorously and wrote phrases such as "Frederick... mother... love... happiness..." along with other fragmented words. It also repeatedly drew a small circle about two inches in diameter, tracing its circumference over and over again with the pencil. Because it was repeated so frequently, Mrs. Wiley thought it might be some kind of symbol, but we didn't get satisfactory answers when we asked about it.

My friends returned home without restarting the experiment, and it didn't stimulate my interest very much. The written words probably reflected the thoughts and desires of Frederick's sisters, and I thought that everything could be explained by the theory that the muscles in their hands unconsciously reacted to suggestions from the subconscious mind. As for what I was involved with, I had already resolved that issue. Then, a letter arrived from Mrs. Gail Lord. Her daughters wrote that they had heard from me that I have "spiritual medium abilities," and perhaps I could be of help.

I knew that the intensity of her deep sorrow stemmed not only from being separated from her only son, but also from the fact that she could not believe in his continued identity and growth. For her, the assurance that her son had not "extinguished like a blown-out candle," as she would later say, was likely to be the greatest, if not the only possible comfort. Therefore, I immediately wrote back, stating that while I did not believe myself to have any "mediumistic abilities" whatsoever, I was willing to try further experiments, but with the caveat that the attempts were probably doomed to fail.

The following pages record some of the results, partially. Soon it became clear that some of these revelations were too significant to be kept from the public. Furthermore, many personal matters are omitted here, but most of those who received these messages felt compelled to share what they believed would offer comfort and reassurance during this tragic time, and they willingly shared aspects of their private lives in order to provide grieving people with renewed confidence in the continuation of personality and all that it implies.

This report is divided into three parts to ensure ease of reference and to provide a foundation for the overall understanding. The first part describes the process by which individual messages emerged and rapidly developed. Initially, they were short and purely personal, but over time, their volume and significance increased. The second part consists of "lessons." The third part, like the initial message, contains further individualized messages that were originally intended for a personal purpose. However, these messages have broader human appeal and meaning, illuminating and emphasizing the essence of the "lessons."

For obvious reasons, the names and initials used in this book are substitutes for the actual names and initials of those involved, except for a few exceptions.

Part 1

"That is an eternal battle. It is a battle between the purpose of progress and construction, and the purpose of destruction. This battle continues in your life as well, and here, it continues with less intensity. Help me build towards great unity, just as we started."

"This is the battle that we, along with everyone who supports progress, are calling out to you."

The next section begins with a record of the author's first full-fledged communication experiment, which was conducted on March 3, 1918.