“Professor Thury, who denies the theory of departed human spirits, rejects the Christian devil-doctrine, and shows himself unwilling to pronounce in favor of Crooke’s theory (the 6th), that of the hermetists and ancient theurgists, adopts the one, which, he says in his letter, is “the most prudent, and makes him feel strong against every one.”
Moreover, he accepts as little of de Gasparin’s hypothesis of “unconscious will-power.” This is what he says in his work:
“As to the announced phenomena, such as the levitation without contact, and the displacement of furniture by invisible hands – unable to demonstrate their impossibility, a priori, no one has the right to treat as absurd the serious evidences which affirm their occurrence. (p. 9)”
As to the theory proposed by M. de Gasparin, Thury judges it very severely.
“While admitting that in the experiments of Valleyres”, says de Mirville, “the seat of the force might have been in the individual – and we say that it was intrinsic and extrinsic at the same time – and that the will might be generally necessary (p. 20), he repeats but what he had said in his preface, to wit: ‘M. de Gasparin presents us with crude facts, and the explanations following he offers for what they are worth. Breathe on them, and not many will be found standing after this. No, very little, if anything, will remain of his explanations. As to facts, they are henceforth demonstrated'”. (p. 10.)”
H. P. Blavatsky
