Vibration in Spiritualist Discourse

In a discussion on Michael Tymn’s excellent blog on White Crow Books, the subject of “vibrations” was discussed as to when the term first came into use in the spiritualist world. I used Google’s Notebook LM across a large series of trance lectures given via the mediumship of Cora L. V. Richmond. Here is what the Google Gemini AI engine returned from various queries on this collection of discourses.

Vibrations as Communication

• Spiritual communication occurs through vibrations. Thoughts in the spiritual realm produce vibrations on the finer substances of spiritual existence, similar to how sound creates vibrations in the air in the physical world. These thought vibrations reach another spirit and create an impression, just as sound vibrations reach the ear and are interpreted.
• Similarly, materialization, the manifestation of spirits in visible forms, is also achieved through vibrations. Spirits can use the psychic force or nerve aura of a medium to attract atoms from the surroundings and fashion them into tangible forms. This process is also described as similar to a telegraph, where the connection between the spiritual and material worlds is maintained by the continuous vibration of atoms.
• However, human senses are limited in their perception of these vibrations. Both sight and hearing are attuned to a limited range of vibrations. Humans only see the broken rays of light refracted through the Earth’s atmosphere, and the ear can only perceive a limited range of sound vibrations. If humans could perceive all  vibrations of sound and light, the sensory input would be overwhelming.
• This limitation suggests that humans do not perceive reality as it truly is. The sources point towards a deeper, spiritual reality that exists beyond the reach of the human senses. This spiritual reality is where the true nature of life and the universe can be understood.

The sources highlight various ways in which vibrations facilitate communication:

Physical Phenomena: Spirits can generate a wide array of physical phenomena, including raps, moving furniture, playing musical instruments, and even transporting individuals through space. These actions are achieved by spirits impacting the nerve aura through their thought vibrations, causing physical effects. The sources also suggest that future advancements in technology might allow humans to harness a broader spectrum of light vibrations for communication. This could lead to methods of communication that are even faster than electricity.

Direct Thought Communication: Spirits can communicate directly through thought vibrations, bypassing the need for physical senses or spoken language. This form of communication requires both the sender and the receiver to be in a state of harmony and mental attunement.

Materialization: Spirits can manifest in visible forms by utilizing their thought vibrations to manipulate the nerve aura of a medium and attract atoms from the surroundings. This process enables them to create temporary physical bodies that interact with the material world.

Thought Vibrations and Their Effect on Substance

The sources do not describe vibration as a substance. They explain how thought vibrations affect substance and that thought is not a substance itself. Instead, thought interacts with the substance of spiritual life, causing vibrations, much like sound waves in the physical world. When a spirit thinks, it produces vibrations that affect the surrounding spiritual atmosphere. This aura around a spirit serves as an indicator of their state of being and their thoughts.

Thought Vibrations Impacting Physical Matter:

A “psycho-dynamic power” or “nerve aura” composed of minuscule particles surrounds every human being. This aura is sensitive to thought and volition and facilitates both physical movement and interaction with disembodied spirits.

“Benjamin Franklin,” speaking through a medium, explains that the same psycho-dynamic power used by embodied spirits to control their physical bodies can be extended by disembodied spirits to affect the atoms of both the physical and spiritual atmospheres. This power, driven by thought, enables spirits to move objects and produce physical phenomena.

Harmony and Vibrations

The sources also emphasize the importance of harmony in facilitating spiritual phenomena. Any disruption in the harmonious flow of thought vibrations, such as anger, suspicion, or hatred, can interfere with the process of materialization. These negative emotions depolarize the atoms, making them unusable for the spirit’s will. Just like a carefully prepared photographic plate or an electric battery, the conditions for materialization must be carefully maintained.

The sources suggest a complex interplay between thought, vibration, and substance. While vibration itself is not explicitly categorized as a substance, it acts as a bridge between thought and both the spiritual and physical realms, facilitating communication and the manifestation of spiritual phenomena.

Vibrations in Spiritualism

The sources depict a world permeated by vibrations, serving as the primary means of communication and interaction between the spiritual and physical realms. These vibrations, generated by thought and volition, impact both the subtle substances of spiritual existence and the physical matter of the material world.

Thought Vibrations in the Spiritual Realm

• In the spiritual world, thoughts function like spoken words in the physical world, producing vibrations that travel through the spiritual atmosphere. These vibrations convey meaning to other spirits, similar to how sound waves carry spoken language.
• Every spirit is surrounded by an aura, a visual manifestation of their thoughts and overall spiritual condition.

Limitations of Human Perception

The sources repeatedly acknowledge the limitations of human senses in fully perceiving the world of vibrations. Human sight and hearing are restricted to narrow ranges, preventing us from experiencing the full richness and complexity of the vibrational reality around us. The sources suggest that if humans could perceive all vibrations of sound and light, the sensory input would be overwhelming and potentially disruptive. This limited perception implies that humans only grasp a fraction of reality and that a vast, unseen world of vibrations lies beyond the reach of our senses.

The Potential for Future Advancements

The sources envision a future where humans might overcome these limitations and harness a broader spectrum of light vibrations for communication, potentially surpassing the speed of electricity. They suggest that light, the ultimate message carrier, could be manipulated to transmit information instantaneously across vast distances. The sun, as the source of light and the driving force of the solar system, is seen as the future engine of communication, enabling thought vibrations to travel on light waves and connect individuals and worlds.

The sources paint a picture of a universe deeply interconnected through vibrations. These vibrations, generated by thought and volition, act as the fundamental language of existence, facilitating communication and interaction between the spiritual and physical realms. While human perception remains limited, the sources suggest a future where the understanding and manipulation of vibrations could unlock incredible possibilities for communication and understanding.