HOLLAND

Spiritualism

Spiritualism was introduced into Holland in about 1857. The first Dutch Spiritualist on record is J. N. T. Marthese, who, after studying psychic phenomena in foreign countries, finally returned to his native Holland, taking with him the American medium D. D. Home. The latter held séances at The Hague before several learned societies, and by command of Queen Sophia a séance was given in her presence. The medium himself, in an account of the performance, stated that the royal lady was obliged to sit seven séances on consecutive evenings before any results were obtained. These results, however, were apparently satisfactory, for the queen was thereafter a staunch supporter of the movement.

During Home's visit Spiritualism gained a considerable following in Holland and the practice of giving small private séances became fairly widespread. Allegedly, spirit voices were heard at these gatherings, the touch of spirit hands was felt, and musical instruments were played by invisible performers.

Séances held at the house of J. D. van Herwerden in The Hague were particularly notable and were attended by many enthusiastic students of the phenomena. Van Herwerden recruited a 14-year-old Javanese boy of his household as the medium. The manifestations ranged from spirit rapping and table turning in the earlier séances to direct voice, direct writing, levitation, and materializations in later ones. The séances were described in van Herwerden's book Ervaringen en Mededeeling op een nog Geheimzinnig Gebied and took place between 1858 and 1862. One of the principal spirits purported to be a monk, Paurellus, who was assassinated some 300 years previously in that city. Afterward van Herwerden was induced by his friends to publish his diary, under the title Experiences and Communications on a Still Mysterious Territory.

For a time Spiritualist séances were conducted only in family circles and were of a private nature. But as the attention of intellectuals became more and more directed to the new phenomenon, societies were formed to promote research. Oromase, or Ormuzd, the first of these societies, was founded in 1859 by Major J. Revius, a friend of Marthese's, and included among its members many people of high repute. They met at The Hague, and the records of their transactions were carefully preserved. Revius was president until his death in 1871. He was assisted by the society's secretary, A. Rita. They assembled a fine collection of works on Spiritualism, mesmerism, and kindred subjects.

Another society, the Veritas, was founded in Amsterdam in 1869. The studies of this association were conducted in a somewhat less searching and scientific spirit than those of the Oromase. Its mediums specialized in trance utterances and written communications from the spirits, and its members inclined to a belief in reincarnation, an opinion at variance with that of the older society. Rotterdam had for a time a society known as the Research after Truth, which had similar manifestations and tenets, but it soon came to an end, although its members continued to devote themselves privately to the investigation of spirit phenomena.

Other equally short-lived societies were formed in Haarlem and other towns. In all of these, however, there was a shortage of mediums able to produce form materializations. To supply this demand a number of foreign mediums hastened to Holland, including Margaret Fox Kane (of the Fox sisters), the Davenport brothers, Florence Cook, and Henry Slade.

Before this the comparatively private nature of the séances and the high standing of those who took part in them had prevented the periodicals from making any but the most cautious comments on the séances. The appearance of professional mediums on the scene, however, swept away the barrier and let loose a flood of journalistic ridicule and criticism. This in turn provoked the supporters of Spiritualism to retort, and soon a lively battle was in progress between the Spiritualists and the skeptics. The consequence was that "the cause" was promoted as much by the articles that derided it as by those that were in favor of it.

Among the defenders of Spiritualism was Madame Elise van Calcar, who not only wrote a novel expounding Spiritualist principles but also published a monthly journal, On the Boundaries of Two Worlds, and held a sort of Spiritualist salon where enthusiasts could meet and discuss their favorite subjects. Dutch intellectuals, such as Drs. H. de Grood, J. Van Velzen, Van der Loef, and Herr Schimmel, were among authors who wrote in defense of the same opinions, and the writings of C. F. Varley, Sir William Crookes, and Alfred Russel Wallace were translated into Dutch.

A mesmerist, Signor Donata, carried on the practice of animal magnetism in Holland and endeavored to identify the magnetic force emanating from the operator with the substance of which disembodied spirits were believed to be composed. Progress of the movement was hampered by the many exposures of unscrupulous mediums, but on the whole the mediums, professional or otherwise, were well received. Haunted houses and poltergeists were also noted.

Psychical Research and Parapsychology

Some of the pioneers of psychical research in Holland were Frederik van Eeden (1860-1932), K. H. E. de Jong (1872-1960), P. A. Dietz (1878-1953), and Florentin J. L. Jansen (b. 1881). Van Eeden was an author and physician who sat with the English medium Rosina Thompson and was also acquainted with F. W. H. Myers. Van Eeden contributed "A Study of Dreams" to the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research (vol. 26, p. 431), in which he used the term lucid dream to indicate those conditions in which the dreamer is aware that he is dreaming. This condition of consciousness in the dream state was emphasized by the British writer Oliver Fox as a frequent preliminary to astral projection.

Jong was a classical student whose doctoral thesis dealt with the mysteries of Isis. As World War II began, he was a lecturer in parapsychology at the University of Leiden and was responsible for a number of books and articles dealing with psi faculty.

Dietz attempted to organize a student social group for psychical research when studying biology at the University of Groningen. Although this was short-lived, Dietz went on to investigate parapsychological card tests, using himself as the subject. After qualifying as a medical doctor in 1924, he became a neurologist in The Hague. A few years later he and W. H. C. Tenhaeff founded the periodical Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie. In his book Wereldzicht der Parapsychologie (Parapsychological View of the Universe) Dietz coined the terms paragnosy for psychical phenomena and parergy for physical phenomena. He became a lecturer in parapsychology at the University of Leiden in 1931 and had a reputation as an excellent speaker.

Jansen seems to have established a parapsychological laboratory as early as 1907, while still a medical student. He founded the quarterly periodical Driemaandelijkse verslagen van het Psychophysisch Laboratorium te Amsterdam. He took a special interest in experiments with Paul Joire 's sthenometer and conducted a number of experiments to verify the od force proposed by Baron von Reichenbach. In 1912 he immigrated to Buenos Aires, where he worked as a physician.

Other pioneers included Marcellus Emants (1848-1932), a novelist who experimented with the famous medium Eusapia Palladino; engineer Felix Ortt (1866-1959), who published articles on parapsychology and a book on the philosophy of occultism and Spiritualism; and Captain H. N. de Fremery, who published a manual of Spiritualism and also contributed to Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie.

In 1920 the Studievereniging voor Psychical Research, the Dutch Society for Psychical Research, was founded in Amsterdam through the enterprise of Gerardus Heymans (1857-1930) of Groningen University. Although the society began well, it was soon criticized for an unsympathetic atmosphere for mediums, but in 1927 it received a new impetus from the psychologist W. H. C. Tenhaeff and the journal Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie. Some notable investigations over the years included studies of dowsing (water witching), physics and parapsychology, and precognitive elements in dreams.

The society was suppressed during World War II, and the Germans took the library to Germany and destroyed it. After the war the society was reconstructed and soon numbered a thousand members, including Javanese parapsychologist George Zorab. Some of the work in this period included observations on the noted psychic Gerard Croiset, an attempt to replicate the Whately Carington tests with Zener cards, and the investigation of "objective clairvoyance." Meanwhile, in 1933 Tenhaeff founded the Parapsychology Institute of the State University of Utrecht, later known as the Parapsychological Division of the Psychological Laboratory, Utrecht.

In 1953 the First International Conference of Parapsychological Studies, sponsored by the Parapsychology Foundation, New York, was held in Utrecht. In 1959 the Amsterdam Foundation for Parapsychological Research was established and began an investigation of the influence of psychedelics on ESP. Another investigation was a widely conducted inquiry into the occurrence of spontaneous phenomena.

In 1960 a controversy erupted in the Studievereniging voor Psychical Research over Tenhaeff's authoritarian control of the organization. Some members withdrew and founded the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Parapsychologie, which now provides the primary focus for parapsychological research in the country. By 1967 there was growing interest in parapsychology among students of five major universities, and various societies were set up. These were later grouped into the Study Center for Experimental Parapsychology.

The Federation of Parapsychological Circles of the Netherlands emerged as an umbrella for several small local parapsychological groups, including the Amsterdamse Parapsychologische Studiekring, the Haarlemse Parapsychologische Studiekring, the Haagse Parapsychologische Studiekring, and the Rottendamse Parapsychologische Studiekring.

Sources:

Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

Dykshoorn, M. B., with Russell H. Felton. My Passport Says Clairvoyant. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1974.

Hurkos, Peter. Psychic. London: Arthur Baker, 1962.

Pleasants, Helene, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology. New York: Helix Press, 1964.

Pollack, Jack Harrison. Croiset the Clairvoyant. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964. Reprint, New York: Bantam Books, 1965.