Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh,
Methought the souls of all that I caused to be murdered
Came. . . . "*
The Prince of Hohenlohe, so famous during the first quarter of our century for his healing powers, was himself a great medium. Indeed, these phenomena and powers belong to no particular age or country. They form a portion of the psychological attributes of man—the Microcosmos.
For centuries have the Klikouchy,† the Yourodevoÿ,‡ and other miserable creatures been afflicted with strange disorders, which the Russian clergy and the populace attribute to possession by the devil. They throng the entrances of the cathedrals, without daring to trust themselves inside, lest their self-willed controlling demons might fling them on the ground. Voroneg, Kiew, Kazan, and all cities which possess the thaumaturgical relics of canonized saints, abound with such unconscious mediums. One can always find numbers of them, congregating in hideous groups, and hanging about the gates and porches. At certain stages of the celebration of the mass by the officiating clergy, such as the appearance of the sacraments, or the beginning of the prayer and chorus, "Ejey Cheroúvim," these half-maniacs, half-mediums, begin crowing like cocks, barking, bellowing and braying, and, finally, fall down in fearful convulsions. "The unclean one cannot bear the holy prayer," is the pious explanation. Moved by pity, some charitable souls administer restoratives to the "afflicted ones," and distribute alms among them. Occasionally, a priest is invited to exorcise, in which event he either performs the ceremony for the sake of love and charity, or the alluring prospect of a twenty-copeck silver bit, according to his Christian impulses. But these miserable creatures—who are mediums, for they prophesy and see visions sometimes, when the fit is genuine§—are never molested because of their misfortune. Why should the clergy persecute them, or people hate and denounce them as damnable witches or wizards? Common sense and justice surely suggest that if any are to be punished it is certainly not the victims who cannot help themselves, but the demon who is alleged to control their actions. The worst that happens to the patient is, that the priest inundates him or her with holy water, and causes the poor creature to catch cold. This failing in efficacy, the Klikoucha is left to the will
* Shakespere: "Richard III."
† Literally, the screaming or the howling ones.
‡ The half-demented, the idiots.
§ But such is not always the case, for some among these beggars make a regular and profitable trade of it.
