Spiritual Wives (Volume 1) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1868. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... a kiss on the most beautiful sister's lips. While he had not the power to do such things easily, a man, said Ebel, was certainly not in a state of grace. The method by which men and women were sanctified is still, in some respects, a secret. Kahler pretended to make it known in his theological romance called Philagathos, and Sachs described it in evidence. But Kahler was not a member of the circle, and Sachs' odious declarations have been strenuously denied by Countess Ida and the Graf von Kanitz. Generally, the method of sanctification used by Ebel is thought to have consisted in a series of lessons in Gospel freedom; which were meant to fortify the mind of his followers against the allurements of carnal beauty. Thus, it is told, that a youthful member was trained by precept and example, to use his freedom without abusing it. In the private meetings of the sect, which are said to have taken place in either the Countess Ida's apartments in the Schloss, or in Griifin von Kanitz' house in the Upper Town, some beautiful woman was persuaded to bare her arm, her foot, her shoulder; so as to present, in the eyes of all the circle, a living type of the temptations thrown by Satan in the ways of men. The minds of the devotees were supposed to be tempered and hardened in this Spiritual fire. How far these lessons in the art of resisting beauty went, we do not absolutely know; when the day of scandal came, it was said they had gone very far indeed, before the process of sanctification had been found complete. The cynical pen of Sachs delighted in suggesting the most horrible details. In the matter of this gospel freedom, as in every other, the true order of precedence was observed. Ebel and Diestel, having a larger share of grace, had also a larger liberty in fact than th...