This meant nothing to him at first;
but later, and after some apparent effort, the medium succeeded in
catching (and conveying) the idea that the key was symbolic of
success--unlocking the door of happiness, etc.--whereupon all she had
said fell naturally into place.

Why this symbolism? The probable answer to this question is that the
"message" cannot be given _directly_, and that this symbolic method of
presentation must be resorted to in order to get the message through at
all. There is good evidence to show that a pictorial method is resorted
to, very largely, by the _soi-disant_ spirits--mediums seeing what they
describe, very often, when the more direct auditory method is not
resorted to. The "spirit" presents somehow to the mind of the medium a
picture, which is described and often interpreted by the medium. Often
this interpretation is quite erroneous--resembling a defective analysis
of a dream. Because of this the message is not recognized. Yet the
source of the message may have been perfectly "veridical."

Let me illustrate this a little more fully. Suppose you desired to tell
a Chinaman, who spoke not a word of English, to fetch a certain object
from the next room. It would be useless for you to say "watch," because
he would not know what the word meant. Probably you would tap your
waistcoat pocket, pretend to take out a watch, wind it, look at the
hands, etc., in your endeavour to convey to him your meaning. If this
was not recognized, for any reason, you would have the utmost difficulty
in conveying your meaning to him--and equal difficulty in telling him to
fetch the watch from the next room.

Now, suppose these antics--or somewhat similar ones--were resorted to by
a "spirit" in his attempt to convey the word watch--perhaps to remind
the sitter of a particular watch he used to wear. The medium might well
proceed as follows: "He taps his stomach, and looks at a spot over his
left side.... He seems to wish to convey the impression that he suffered
much from his bowels--perhaps a cancer on the left side. Yes, he seems
to be taking something away from his body; evidently they removed some
growth, and he wishes to convey the idea that something was taken from
him.... Now he is examining his hands; he is looking intently. He is
doing something with his fingers.... I can't see what it is ... a little
movement. Was he connected with machinery in life? Now he is pointing to
the door ..." etc.

Such an interpre