January 5, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am a spirit who cannot tell you of the joys of Heaven, but I can describe the horrors of Hell. For just as these other spirits described to you their homes of beauty and happiness, I can describe my home of ugliness and torment. Do you wish me to do so?
Well, know then that when I lived on earth, I was a man of very considerable intellectual powers and acquirements and, also, of an intense animal nature; so much so, that it overcame my judgment and what moral qualities I had, and I became at last a slave to my appetites which were varied, especially my appetite for drink. I had many friends of position, social and otherwise, and I was considered a brilliant newspaper writer and had access to the inner political circles that were then in control of the government.
My weakness, or rather the effect of the strength of my animal nature, was known to many of my friends and they, in many ways, tried to help me and rescue me from my evil and destructive course of living; and, at times, I would succeed in reforming my conduct; but, alas, not for any great length of time, when I would again relapse into my deplorable habits and become the controlled victim of my destroying appetites.
Of course, human friendship and sympathy had their limits and, finally, my friends gave me up as lost and past redemption, and I surely and quickly sunk lower and lower in my moral condition and, at last, died a drunkard, unwept and unsung except for the evil that I had done. It was undoubtedly a relief to my friends and acquaintances when I passed over and forever relieved them of the shadow of my presence and the ghost of what I had been.
But such was my end and when I came to the spirit world, I found that I still was deserted by friends who had become spirits before me, except some who liked the flowing bowl as I did on earth, and who were inhabitants of the unattractive place that I found myself in when my habitation became fixed. I never, when on earth, thought much of the future life, except to convince myself that there was no Hell and if there was a God, He was not bothered about me, a mere man of many millions. But oh, the fatal mistake! And the unexpected realization of the fact that there is a Hell!
Whether there is a God I don't know, for I have never seen Him or felt His influence. But since I came to you tonight and heard the messages of those two spirits who described their wonderful homes and their condition of happiness and ascribed them all to the kindness and care of God, I have commenced to think that there may be a God, and that my mistake was greater than I have heretofore realized; but this is a digression from what I started out to write.
That there is a Hell; I know to my sorrow and sufferings. For I have been the occupant of one for, oh, these many years; and it is always the same place of horrors and darkness, except sometime it is lighted by the flame of lurid light that comes from the anger and sufferings of some unfortunate like myself.
In this Hell of mine, and there are many like it, instead of beautiful homes, as the other spirits described, we have dirty, rotten hovels all crooked and decayed with all the foul smells of a charnel house ten times intensified. And instead of beautiful lawns and green meadows and leafy woods filled with musical birds making the echoes ring with their songs, we have barren wastes and holes of darkness and gloom and the cries and cursings of spirits of damnation without hope. And instead of living silvery waters, we have stagnant pools filled with all kinds of repulsive reptiles and vermin and smells of inexpressible, nauseating stinks.
I tell you that these are all real and not creatures of the imagination or the out flowing of bitter recollections. And as for love, it has never shown its humanizing face in all the years that I have been here - only cursings, and hatred, and bitter scathings, and imprecations, and grinning spirits with their witch-like cacklings. No rest, no hope, no kind words or ministering hand to wipe away the scalding tears, which so often flow in mighty volumes.
No, Hell is real and Hell is here. We do not have any fire and brimstone, or grinning devils with pitch forks and hoofs and horns as the churches teach; but what is the need or necessity for such accompaniments? They would not add to the horrors or to our torments. I tell you my friend that I have faintly described our homes in these infernal regions and I cannot picture them as they are.
But the horror and pity of it all is that hope does not come to us with one faint smile to encourage us that there may at some time be an ending to all these torments and, in our hopeless despair, we realize that our doom is fixed for all eternity. As the rich man in Hell said, if I could only send Lazarus to tell my poor, erring brothers on earth of what awaits them, how gladly I would do so and save their souls from the eternal torment.
Well, I have written you a long letter and am tired, because it is the first time that I have attempted to write for many long years, and I find some difficulty in gathering my thoughts so as to be able to write in an intelligent and collected manner. So I must stop.
Well, I will say that you are the best friend that I have had since I became an outcast while on earth, and that I will do whatever you may advise, but you must not expect me to have much hope, not doubting your desire to help me, but merely your ability.
Well, I don't understand, but I will trust you and will try to believe what you say - only don't create in me that of which I have been deprived of for so long, I mean - hope - and have me disappointed. Well, I have looked, as you advised, and see some spirits who are so beautiful and so bright that I can scarcely look at them. Never before have I seen such spirits or imagined that such could exist. They must be gods, or why all the great happiness and beauty and love which they have. Tell me, what does it all mean! Is it a star of hope that has come to me from afar and bids me trust that these Hells shall not be my home forever? Oh tell me, I pray, you are they the spirits of real mortals who lived and died as I did?
Such love I have never seen; and they look at me with such encouragement and almost human eyes of love and beckon me to come with them. I have asked if Mr. Riddle is there, and one spirit comes to me and says yes, and that he is glad to have me come with him, as he knew me on earth and is acquainted with my sad life. And now I remember him, for he was a friend who lived in the same city as I did.
He says: "Come George, and I will try to show you the way to light and relief from your sufferings." And I am going, and as I go a beautiful, glorious spirit comes to me and lays her hand on my head and says: "God bless you my brother and may His Divine mercy be yours;" and she tells me that they all love me and will help me.
Oh, tell me what does it all mean! Am I dreaming? Are you real and are they real, or am I in one of the deliriums that I used to have on earth? Oh, so beautiful and heavenly. But they say no, that they are real spirits and once lived on earth - sinful mortals like myself.
How can I ever thank you? I am overcome and cannot write more, but I will come again. So my dear friend good night, for I am going.
G.H.B.
My name is George H. Butler, and I died in 1886.
* * * * * * * * * *
Helen Writes to Confirm Mr. Butler's Message
I am here, Your own true and loving Helen.
Well my dear, you have had a variety of writings tonight, and I have been greatly impressed with the last message that you received, for the writer was a very intelligent spirit and seemed to be without hope in his soul. He was a very dark spirit and did not seem to have any love in his soul, but was the picture of despair and grief. He firmly believed that his position in Hell was fixed for all eternity and, hence, the hopeless despair in which he was.
I am so glad that he came to you and described these Hells, for he was capable; and no one can describe them as he who has lived in them for many years and suffered and experienced all their torments.
He seems to be very grateful, and I think that hope has come to him. He has gone with Mr. Riddle, who is much interested in him. We will all try to help him to progress. So you must pray for him now. We all will. It is late, and I will not write more.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Showing posts with label despair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label despair. Show all posts
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Friday, May 4, 2012
Helen Transcribes a Conversation By James' Friends Wherein They Discuss an Experiment to Pray for God's Love
January 12, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Helen.
You must not write to these spirits as we have told you. Yes. he said that he knew you on earth and wanted you to help him. I see that he has gone to seek Mr. Taggart, but I don't think that he will be much helped. Yes. you may be right. You certainly have a way of accomplishing things. I never thought of that. Well, I will go and see if I can find them and make them come here, and write you what I hear.
They are here.
Mr. Taggart tells Mr. Harvey that you told him that the way to get out of this condition of darkness and unhappiness is to pray to God for His Love to enter into their hearts, and believe that it will, that if he will only be willing to have it come into their hearts, it will, but that he has not yet been able to believe. But Mr. Harvey says, that when he was on earth, he was a strict Catholic and that he often prayed something like that and attended to his duties, and even when he made his will, he left some money for the priests to pray him out of purgatory, but all their prayers together have not helped him, and he doesn't believe that there is any God to whom a person can pray and from whom he can get relief. So that when you talked that way to Taggart, you were merely trying to mislead him as the priests did him.
But Mr. Taggart says:
"George you are wrong there, for our friend does not merely say pray, but he prays with us and for us and seems to believe with all his heart that there is a God and that he will answer prayer. So I am not so certain that there is not a God and one who answers prayers, I am going to try to pray and believe myself and I advise you to do likewise."
Mr. Harvey says:
"Taggart it is all nonsense, and if that is the only way we can get out of this condition, we never will be any better than we now are. So you need not tell me of God and prayer."
Mr. Taggart says:
"George, I have seen the effect of this prayer on some spirits and I know that they have been made more beautiful and happy, and even Mackay is commencing to say that he sees light ahead and has felt some strange influences come into his heart as he said a prayer, which he promised our friend to say. Now what is the use in your being pig-headed and say that there is no God, when you don't know anything about it. I tell you, though, there must be something in this belief, or I would not see so many happy spirits around us. Be a man who can keep his mind open to what he sees and the reasons therefor may come to you. Let us not become hardheaded in this matter. As you were so easy to believe on earth what your priests told you about purgatory and the Hells and the necessity for you to pay for prayers to help you out of purgatory, why can't you try to believe a little when the same thing is told you without your having to pay for it? I am going to try my best to believe and if you know what is best for you, you will follow suit."
Mr. Harvey says:
"Taggart, what is the use of being fooled twice, once is enough for me. Priests are here with me and suffering more than I am, and when I ask them why don't they pray themselves out of purgatory, they say - to hell with prayer. Now, how am I to believe anything that is told me about prayer or God?"
Mr. Taggart says:
"George, let your priests and their sufferings and their cursings pass out of your mind and listen to me for a moment. When I came over, I was in great darkness and despair and believed that there was no possible help for me and that I must remain in the condition of darkness that I found myself in, but one day I was called to meet our friend by his father and, when I came where he was, I found that Mackay was there also, and then we exchanged greetings and wished each other happiness. But I found that there was no happiness for me and I told our friend that I was anything but happy, and he said believe in God's Love and you will soon be, and I said, who is God and what is His Love. And then he explained to Mackay what that love is, and I heard it all, and then I tackled him and told him that God was a myth and prayer was nothing but the wish of a man and went no higher than his mind.
But he would not agree with me and we had an argument right then and there, and I tell you that while he did not convince me that there was a God or any efficacy in prayer, yet, it made me think and wonder if I could be wrong and he right, and before I left him, not only Mackay, but myself promised that we would try an experiment in the nature of prayer and we have been doing it many times since, and I tell you, that while I am not yet convinced that there is a God, or that prayer to Him will take us out of our awful conditions of suffering and darkness, yet, I have felt many strange sensations, and at times, some little feeling of happiness, which I had never felt before.
So you can see, I would be a fool not to try and get this relief if I possibly can. And I want to tell you George that, if you are willing to make the effort with us, we will be glad to have you come. Of course, you need not believe if you don't want to, but just come and join with us in our experiment and you will soon realize that there is something operating that you cannot account for.
Mackay is now feeling very much happier he says. And I believe that he will soon believe in this God and his love that our friend told us about. At any rate, he is commencing to improve in his appearance, and I attribute it to trying the experiment I told you of. So what is the use in holding back and saying that there is no God and no love that can get you out of your condition of which you complain so much, when by the exercise of a little reason and will, you may be on the right track to salvation. Of course, I don't know just what this may lead to, but I have determined to follow it to a conclusion, and you will be a big fool if you don't go with me."
Mr. Harvey said:
"Taggart, you were a pretty level-headed man when on earth and required to have things proved to you and were really a stubborn man, as I know, and what you say impresses me, but you will have to show me what you mean by this experiment. You have not told me what you mean and, of course, until you do, I can't follow you."
Mr. Taggart says:
"George, it is a very simple thing. Mackay and I told our friend that we did not believe in God or in His love or in any saviour, and he said, you need not to do what I want you to try. He said, while there is a God and His love, which is the only thing that can save you from sin and make you happy men, yet, that God does not force that love on you or make you believe in Him. And only when you are willing to receive that love of your own volition will it come to you. So you see he said it all depends upon your own will, whether you will have that love and the happiness which flows from it or not, and if you will only will that you may believe in God if there be one, and that you may receive that love if such there be, then if you will, will this and say to God, if there be one, that you will that this love shall come into your heart and that this belief shall come into your mind, and repeat this with all earnestness and will, you will find that after a little while, this belief will come to you, and this love will come into your heart.
So Mackay and I are desiring to try anything to get out of our condition and believing that our friend would not intentionally deceive us - promised to say these things. And in that way, pray to a God that we did not believe in, and we have continued to repeat these thoughts ever since. And I must confess to you that some strange change or sensation has come to me. What it is, I don't just know, but it is there, and I am determined to continue in this qualified prayer until I know one way or the other what the result will be. So you see, George, if it does no good, it can do no harm, and if you have desire enough to get out of your condition, you will try the experiment."
Mr. Harvey says:
"Well, Taggart, there may be something in what you say and I am willing to go with you. For as you say, if it does no good, it can do no harm. So let me hear again what I am to say and I will commence."
Then Mr. Taggart repeated the prayer and they left.
You are too wonderful in your way of getting the attention of spirits who are in darkness to turn their thoughts to things that may help them. And I am so glad that you are helping these spirits, even though you did let Mr. Harvey write. But who knows, maybe such interferences are intended for some good purposes.
So, my darling, I love you with all my heart and soul and must stop writing. Yes, I will, and will try to talk to him sometime when the proper occasion comes.
So goodnight, my own darling Ned.
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Helen.
You must not write to these spirits as we have told you. Yes. he said that he knew you on earth and wanted you to help him. I see that he has gone to seek Mr. Taggart, but I don't think that he will be much helped. Yes. you may be right. You certainly have a way of accomplishing things. I never thought of that. Well, I will go and see if I can find them and make them come here, and write you what I hear.
They are here.
Mr. Taggart tells Mr. Harvey that you told him that the way to get out of this condition of darkness and unhappiness is to pray to God for His Love to enter into their hearts, and believe that it will, that if he will only be willing to have it come into their hearts, it will, but that he has not yet been able to believe. But Mr. Harvey says, that when he was on earth, he was a strict Catholic and that he often prayed something like that and attended to his duties, and even when he made his will, he left some money for the priests to pray him out of purgatory, but all their prayers together have not helped him, and he doesn't believe that there is any God to whom a person can pray and from whom he can get relief. So that when you talked that way to Taggart, you were merely trying to mislead him as the priests did him.
But Mr. Taggart says:
"George you are wrong there, for our friend does not merely say pray, but he prays with us and for us and seems to believe with all his heart that there is a God and that he will answer prayer. So I am not so certain that there is not a God and one who answers prayers, I am going to try to pray and believe myself and I advise you to do likewise."
Mr. Harvey says:
"Taggart it is all nonsense, and if that is the only way we can get out of this condition, we never will be any better than we now are. So you need not tell me of God and prayer."
Mr. Taggart says:
"George, I have seen the effect of this prayer on some spirits and I know that they have been made more beautiful and happy, and even Mackay is commencing to say that he sees light ahead and has felt some strange influences come into his heart as he said a prayer, which he promised our friend to say. Now what is the use in your being pig-headed and say that there is no God, when you don't know anything about it. I tell you, though, there must be something in this belief, or I would not see so many happy spirits around us. Be a man who can keep his mind open to what he sees and the reasons therefor may come to you. Let us not become hardheaded in this matter. As you were so easy to believe on earth what your priests told you about purgatory and the Hells and the necessity for you to pay for prayers to help you out of purgatory, why can't you try to believe a little when the same thing is told you without your having to pay for it? I am going to try my best to believe and if you know what is best for you, you will follow suit."
Mr. Harvey says:
"Taggart, what is the use of being fooled twice, once is enough for me. Priests are here with me and suffering more than I am, and when I ask them why don't they pray themselves out of purgatory, they say - to hell with prayer. Now, how am I to believe anything that is told me about prayer or God?"
Mr. Taggart says:
"George, let your priests and their sufferings and their cursings pass out of your mind and listen to me for a moment. When I came over, I was in great darkness and despair and believed that there was no possible help for me and that I must remain in the condition of darkness that I found myself in, but one day I was called to meet our friend by his father and, when I came where he was, I found that Mackay was there also, and then we exchanged greetings and wished each other happiness. But I found that there was no happiness for me and I told our friend that I was anything but happy, and he said believe in God's Love and you will soon be, and I said, who is God and what is His Love. And then he explained to Mackay what that love is, and I heard it all, and then I tackled him and told him that God was a myth and prayer was nothing but the wish of a man and went no higher than his mind.
But he would not agree with me and we had an argument right then and there, and I tell you that while he did not convince me that there was a God or any efficacy in prayer, yet, it made me think and wonder if I could be wrong and he right, and before I left him, not only Mackay, but myself promised that we would try an experiment in the nature of prayer and we have been doing it many times since, and I tell you, that while I am not yet convinced that there is a God, or that prayer to Him will take us out of our awful conditions of suffering and darkness, yet, I have felt many strange sensations, and at times, some little feeling of happiness, which I had never felt before.
So you can see, I would be a fool not to try and get this relief if I possibly can. And I want to tell you George that, if you are willing to make the effort with us, we will be glad to have you come. Of course, you need not believe if you don't want to, but just come and join with us in our experiment and you will soon realize that there is something operating that you cannot account for.
Mackay is now feeling very much happier he says. And I believe that he will soon believe in this God and his love that our friend told us about. At any rate, he is commencing to improve in his appearance, and I attribute it to trying the experiment I told you of. So what is the use in holding back and saying that there is no God and no love that can get you out of your condition of which you complain so much, when by the exercise of a little reason and will, you may be on the right track to salvation. Of course, I don't know just what this may lead to, but I have determined to follow it to a conclusion, and you will be a big fool if you don't go with me."
Mr. Harvey said:
"Taggart, you were a pretty level-headed man when on earth and required to have things proved to you and were really a stubborn man, as I know, and what you say impresses me, but you will have to show me what you mean by this experiment. You have not told me what you mean and, of course, until you do, I can't follow you."
Mr. Taggart says:
"George, it is a very simple thing. Mackay and I told our friend that we did not believe in God or in His love or in any saviour, and he said, you need not to do what I want you to try. He said, while there is a God and His love, which is the only thing that can save you from sin and make you happy men, yet, that God does not force that love on you or make you believe in Him. And only when you are willing to receive that love of your own volition will it come to you. So you see he said it all depends upon your own will, whether you will have that love and the happiness which flows from it or not, and if you will only will that you may believe in God if there be one, and that you may receive that love if such there be, then if you will, will this and say to God, if there be one, that you will that this love shall come into your heart and that this belief shall come into your mind, and repeat this with all earnestness and will, you will find that after a little while, this belief will come to you, and this love will come into your heart.
So Mackay and I are desiring to try anything to get out of our condition and believing that our friend would not intentionally deceive us - promised to say these things. And in that way, pray to a God that we did not believe in, and we have continued to repeat these thoughts ever since. And I must confess to you that some strange change or sensation has come to me. What it is, I don't just know, but it is there, and I am determined to continue in this qualified prayer until I know one way or the other what the result will be. So you see, George, if it does no good, it can do no harm, and if you have desire enough to get out of your condition, you will try the experiment."
Mr. Harvey says:
"Well, Taggart, there may be something in what you say and I am willing to go with you. For as you say, if it does no good, it can do no harm. So let me hear again what I am to say and I will commence."
Then Mr. Taggart repeated the prayer and they left.
You are too wonderful in your way of getting the attention of spirits who are in darkness to turn their thoughts to things that may help them. And I am so glad that you are helping these spirits, even though you did let Mr. Harvey write. But who knows, maybe such interferences are intended for some good purposes.
So, my darling, I love you with all my heart and soul and must stop writing. Yes, I will, and will try to talk to him sometime when the proper occasion comes.
So goodnight, my own darling Ned.
Helen
Thursday, May 3, 2012
George Harvey, a Former Washington, D.C. Resident and Restaurant Owner, Asks James for Help, for He is in Hell in Despair and Darkness
January 12, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, George W. Harvey.
I lived in Washington and kept a restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue and Tenth Street. I am in the spirit world and in the earth plane and in Hell also. I am not happy for I am in darkness and despair.
Yes, I did, but that did not keep me from Hell. The priests mislead me, and they are here, too. Damn them. Can you help me any, if you can do so?
Yes, I remember Taggart, but he is here too and can't help himself, for I see him sometimes and he tells that he is in a condition of suffering, too. No, but he is not in condition to help me, even if I do see him.
You must help me if you can. I don't know but I want help from someone. I know they say so, but I don't believe them, for they can't help themselves. No, I don't know them. I will see him at once and ask him, and tell him that I want to know. So good-night.
Your friend,
George W. Harvey
Harvey Family Tree
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, George W. Harvey.
I lived in Washington and kept a restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue and Tenth Street. I am in the spirit world and in the earth plane and in Hell also. I am not happy for I am in darkness and despair.
Yes, I did, but that did not keep me from Hell. The priests mislead me, and they are here, too. Damn them. Can you help me any, if you can do so?
Yes, I remember Taggart, but he is here too and can't help himself, for I see him sometimes and he tells that he is in a condition of suffering, too. No, but he is not in condition to help me, even if I do see him.
You must help me if you can. I don't know but I want help from someone. I know they say so, but I don't believe them, for they can't help themselves. No, I don't know them. I will see him at once and ask him, and tell him that I want to know. So good-night.
Your friend,
George W. Harvey
Harvey Family Tree
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