History Hub: Message List - Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Maddie Tsurusaki — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 01:34:11 GMT

In the same vein as above: how easy it is to relate to Hockley. I get a kick out of his not always remembering the "i before e" rule. He consistently misspells "receive". Sometime, he does it correctly, but for just as many entries, it's incorrect. Who can't relate to having to mentally double check that spelling when writing?

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Lauren Algee — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 20:28:48 GMT

Thanks for all your work and insight on the Hockley campaign, Maddie Tsurusaki ! This thread is both interesting and inspiring! I'm hoping you might be up for an interview about your volunteering. Send us an email at crowd@loc.gov if you're interested!

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Maddie Tsurusaki — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 23:40:09 GMT

So I transcribed this today. I think it clarifies what the letters with the dramatic strike through mean.

The C is for Crystal and the M is for Mirror. (Still not sure about the MA above) Unless you object, I'd like to just transcribe them as C or M, but it could also be Crystal or Mirror. Would that help with the readability.

I often think about the readability of this thing once it's done. A good example is his use of abbreviations. If transcribed as written, with a period, it is impossible to enter them into the notes box at the bottom of the page because it doesn't accept periods. If entered with an apostrophe to mark the missing letters, its meaning can be entered into the bottom box, but it corrupts the text a bit. Yet for readability when all is completed, the apostrophe makes the most sense for modern readers.

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Maddie Tsurusaki — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 20:44:31 GMT

I've started replying to myself now.

Here's a quote from what I transcribed today. I don't know the source because it comes from the Spirit World and I'm moving around without context right now, but of course it is Hockley himself.

7541

1841 Heavy is it on the Shoulders of the

High for while they preach goodness, they are

withholding the means of attaining it - The

Almighty did not intend that one class of men

should take all the wealth, and the Rank and

crush other men beneath them because they had

not that wealth and rank. -

Just to say -- the world seems to always have the same social problems. Hockley often seems current to me.

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Lauren Algee — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 21:51:14 GMT

This one has us stumped as well! Our recommendation is to transcribe it either as [MA] or[?].

Perhaps someone else transcribing will be able to enlighten us all as to its meaning!

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Maddie Tsurusaki — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 06:46:56 GMT

Here's a question.

It looks like the MA is crossed out but it's not. That is some type of Hockley shorthand. How do you want us to transcribe that!

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Maddie Tsurusaki — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 04:36:12 GMT

On an unrelated subject to the actual transcription. Waaaay off topic....

What do you think was the conception of Nature as truth for Hockley? And how does he intertwine this reverence of Nature with his Christianity?

In contemporary terms, (and for myself) I think of it as the "church of the sky." In other words, being out at a beautiful location like a waterfall is Nature at an atomic level. That is, the beauty and power of that location represents all of the factors that need to come together to have those falls appear at that location at that specific moment as representative of the organization of life. But I don't get the sense that Hockley is talking about this kind of nature.

What is it for him?

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Alan Thorogood — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 13:48:31 GMT

I think Anderson was a source of irritation when he first appeared, but Hockley came to enjoy his company and Dresser later took on the role of irritant. Many years later Hockley told a friend that Anderson became his 'favourite companion' in the crystal. He also gave the following brief account in 1880:

'In April, 1852, the atmospheric spirit of a military officer of rank at Court, a Spaniard and a Roman Catholic (who afterwards served in the Crimea) appeared for the first time in my Crystal. I never knew him in the world, but we formed a mutual attachment, assisting each other in our occult studies, and communicating our experiences. He possessed the faculty of seeing spirits, and was a constant visitor in my mirrors and crystals for eight years. He would never tell us his name, and we dubbed him Captain Anderson.' ('Evenings with In-Dwellers of the World of Spirits', The Spiritualist v. 17 (2 July 1880), p. 4).

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Maddie Tsurusaki — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 06:37:07 GMT

I have become quite attached to the characters of Mr. Anderson and Mr. Dresser. The imps. Do they come up in other volumes of his work? On one occasion, Mr. Anderson jumps from chair to chair and annoys Emma by laughing at her all evening. They just finally give it up.

On another occasion, Emma is cold and is not being warmed up by the fire. Hockley honors her dedication. I'm so taken with the humanity in these transcriptions. It's evident so often -- especially in the transcriptions from the man who is fighting in the Crimean War.

I'm not saying I believe anything about this - but gosh, I do wish my CA could let me know just who my Guardian Spirit is!.

Thanks LOC for this opportunity.

Re: Help needed deciphering Hockley symbol

Alan Thorogood — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 00:40:40 GMT

Emma Hardinge does make an appearance later (April1866), as recorded in vol. 14 of the Crystal MSS, fol. 149.