In a recent post, we met Francis George Irwin, a Freemason and occultist who ought to be better known for his role in the Victorian Occult Revival. Irwin was an associate of a number of leading figures in contemporary esotericism, including the founders of the Golden Dawn and Frederick Hockley.

One of Irwin’s interests was Spiritualism, and this post is about a series of séances held by him in the early 1870s. 

Records of Irwin’s séances are preserved in two small notebooks held in the library of Freemasons’ Hall in London (although, judging from the presence of copying errors, the contents of the books originally came from elsewhere).  The notebooks record around 40 sittings which took place between November 1872 and November 1873.  We know from the correspondence published in John Hamill’s book The Rosicrucian Seer that the séances continued into 1874.

There were seemingly several people present at the séances, including Irwin’s wife Kate and a Mr Monk.  More than one technique seems to have been used to contact the spirits.  One such technique appears to have been table-turning or table-rapping (and at one point there is a reference to a table trying to move upstairs).  Other sessions apparently involved Kate scrying in a crystal.  The spirits also recommended water divination, but it is not clear whether this recommendation was followed.

In the course of the séances, Irwin was contacted by a number of entities claiming to be the spirits of religious and esoteric figures from the 17th century, including Thomas Vaughan, Robert Fludd and Elias Ashmole.  Irwin briefly encountered “evil spirits” at one point, but does not elaborate on the experience.  (The other spirits gave him advice on how to counteract evil spirits: “By earnestly striving after the light, by endeavouring to follow the master”.)

The contents of the spirit messages will come as little surprise to those familiar with such communications.  They can be divided into four broad categories.

1.  Incomprehensible or incoherent content

This category speaks for itself.  It includes strings of random letters and nonsensical words.

It is also worth noting that sometimes otherwise coherent passages have problems with spelling and grammar (of the sort that a native English speaker would not make by accident).  There are also a couple of passages in French.

2.  Brief and inconsequential statements

These comprise phrases like “Alchemie is not the work of hands but of the soul” and “Light more light”.  They also include dietary and health advice for Irwin.

3.  Christian content

This includes Bible quotations and prayers addressed to the Christian God.  However, the spirits have a rather universalist attitude towards the Christian tradition:

The Bible consists for the most part of the [?] and contains the ground work of one universal religion veiled in language unintelligible to the multitude

4.  Esoteric content

The spirits talk about standard esoteric topics including mesmerism, kabbalah, the Pythagoreans, numerology and Hermes Trismegistus.  “Thomas Vaughan” confirms that alchemists of the past were genuinely able to turn base metals into gold.  In addition, the spirits give Irwin advice about séances and spirit communications, as well as insights into the spirit world:

Sex in spirit world is unchanged our souls had a pre existence  Evil spirits have power over man[?]  There are evil spirits who have never been incarnated upon this earth

The spirits also seem to want obedience from him:

You must obey your spirit friends, do not olt[?] without their knowledge and consent.

Some of the content is quite consistent with Irwin’s own interests in esoteric fraternal organisations (he was a keen Freemason).  There is talk of the Rosicrucians; and the spirit of Cagliostro reveals the existence of a centuries-old society called the “Fratris [sic] Lucis, Brethren of Light”.  Cagliostro tells Irwin that he will not be eligible for membership of this body until he has studied the “occult Sciences”.  We know that Irwin subsequently attempted to found a group called the Fratres Lucis, although without much success.

At one point, Irwin himself tried to test the spirits, leading to this exchange:

– Why do you visit us?

– To give you a hope of immortality

– Which will die first Kate or myself?

– Leave the future in the hands of our good and merciful Father – seek not that which the Father has mercifully hidden

– What is the square of 19?

– 361

At another point, the alleged spirit of Thomas Vaughan used the name “Eyraenus[?] Philathes”.  This seems to have been a genuine piece of information that was not known to Irwin:

on asking what E P meant he replied “my nomme de plume” on asking him to give it in full he gave e u g e n i u s p – and refused to proceed – but referred to his books, one brought on the table he appeared to express much pleasure and I saw Thomas Vaughan wrote under the nomme de plume of Eugenius Philalethes

The force of this incident is blunted by the fact that “nomme” should have been “nom” – a basic French mistake.

Some of the content is provably false.  When Irwin asks for information about the countries beyond the North Pole, he gets this answer:

It is inhabited by nations far superior to those of Europe, in arts – sciences – and manufactures and will in my opinion in about a hundred years become known to and trade with the at present known world.

The spirits also told Irwin that Cagliostro was burned in the Castel Sant’ Angelo in Rome.  This is historically incorrect.

What are we to make of all this?  You may be wondering whether the spirit contact recorded by Irwin is to be treated as authentic. Suffice it to say that the spirit messages seem to contain the same mix of truth and falsehood that will be familiar to anyone who has looked at this kind of material.