Ectenic Force
A supposed physical force emanating from the person of the medium, and directed by his will, by means of which objects may be moved without contact in apparent defiance of natural laws. The existence of such a force was first postulated by Count Agenor de Gasparin, to explain the phenomena of table-turning and rapping, and the name Ectenic Force was bestowed upon the supposed agency by de Gasparin's colleague, M. Thury. The experiments of Thury and de Gasparin are declared to offer some of the most convincing evidence that spiritualism can produce, and have influenced more than one eminent student of psychic research. If it be true that tables were moved without contact, then such a theory Niger delta. The name means tiger," and the society is divided into eleven grades, of which the first three are not open to slaves. Members, as a rule, buy themselves into the higher grades in their turn, and the money thus obtained is shared amongst the Nyampa who form the inner circle. The king is president of the society under the title of Cyamba. Each grade has its special festival day, on which their Idem or spirit-master exercises complete control. Whenever an Egbo day is announced, slaves, women, and children take flight in all directions, as the ambassador of the Idem, armed with a heavy whip, goes through the village and lashes everyone whom he may encounter. The Idem is usually a hermit who lives in the distant bush-land, and when he appears it is in a fantastic guise of mats and branches, which covers him from head to foot, and with a black mask on his face. The principals of the order themselves are linked together by a garb of leaves so gathered up that they seem to move in a connected mass. "The Order of Free Egbos, (says Froebenius) is said to have originated at the fairs which were held at a great palm-oil market in the interior, midway between Calabar and the Kamerun. As the place became the scene of much disorder, while the European trade made it necessary for the maintenance of public credit that all engagements should be strictly carried out, this institution was formed as a sort of Hanseatic Union under the most influential traders, for the mutual safeguarding of their interests. Later it acquired the political character of a Vehmgericht or secret tribunal, by bringing within its sphere of action the whole police of the Calabars and the Kamerun. The kings always sought to secure for themselves the Grandmastership of the Order, since otherwise their authority would sink to a mere shadow. European skippers have frequently found it to their advantage to be enrolled in the lower grades, in order thereby the more easily to recover their debts. A member of the Egbo has the right to claim as his own property the slave of his debtor, wherever he may find him, merely by fastening a yellow strip to his dress or loincloth. Even in the interior of the continent the standing of an Egbo is still respected and feared, and affords one a certain immunity from molestation, such as is absolutely needed for the extensive commercial speculations in Africa. "In the Kamerun, as a preliminary to their acceptance into the Free Egbos, the young men are sent for a protracted period to the Mokokos, a bush tribe in the interior; with these they live naked in the fields, and only now and then dart out, clad in green leaves, to have a bath in the river. All women, and especially slaves, are prohibited, under heavy penalties, from approaching the forest where they reside. In the Kamerun, it is customary to pay particular honour to a visitor, above all if he be a European, by introducing the Egbo goat, which the people are otherwise seldom allowed to set eyes upon. 6 "Holman reports that the whole of the Old Calabar district is subject to the rule of the so-called Egbo laws. These are promulgated at a secret Council, the Egbo Assembly, which is held in the Palaver-house' erected for this special purpose. In virtue of his sovereign rights, the head-chief presides, under the title of Cyamab, over this assembly. Amongst the members of the Egbo there are different ranks, which must be acquired in their due order, one after the other. Holman quotes Englishmen who state that Europeans have bought themselves into the Egbo, and even into the Yampai, in order to be thus better able to get in their money. He gives the following as the names and prices of the different grades of Egbo: ..
I Abungo .. .. 125 bars 2 Aboko .. .. .. 75 bars 3 Makairo .. .. .. 4 Bakimboko .. .. .. 400 copper bars 100 bars 5 Yampaiç 850 copper bars .. .. .. "To these must be added rum, clothes, membo, etc.
The Yampai is the only grade whose members are allowed to sit in Council. The sums paid for the various titles of the Egbo are distributed exclusively amongst the Yampai, who, however, are not limited to a single share, since every Yampai can multiply his title as often as he can purchase shares, and these give him a claim to the receipt of the corresponding quotas from the profits of the whole institution."
Egg, Orphean: The cosmic doctrine of the Greek sage Orpheus. He says: "God, the uncreated and incomprehensible Being, created all things; the ether proceeded from him; from this the unshapely chaos and the dark night arose, which at first covered all things. The unshapen mass was formed into the shape of an egg, from which all things have proceeded." The whole universe has the form of an egg, and everything in it strives to attain the same form. The Orphean theory has something in common with the doctrines of the magnetic philosophers. Eglamour of Artoys, Sir: A magical English legend of French origin. The poem tells of the winning of Christabell by Eglamour. Christabell's father will agree to the union if Eglamour will fulfil three tasks. He must conquer the giant, Sir Maroke; bring from a distant land the head of an enormous boar, and kill a powerful dragon which has been devastating the country round Rome. In these adventures he is successful, but is kept in Rome by illness. Meantime, Christabell has given birth to a son, and is banished by her angry father. Her son is stolen from her by a griffin, and taken to Israel, where he is adopted by the king and named Degrabell. Many years afterwards, Sir Eglamour and Degramour meet in a tournament for the hand of Christabell. The former is successful, and eventually their identities are revealed. Eglamour and Christabell are married, and return to their native country with their son.
Eglinton, William : A well known English medium, who in 1876 succeeded Slade as the principal exponent of slatewriting (q.v.) That Eglinton's performances in this Egypt direction were very skilfully carried out there is abundant evidence, for several practised conjurers, as well as many other investigators, were entirely at a loss to explain the modus operandi. Yet on one occasion, at least, Eglinton was seen-by Professor Lewis Cargill-to write the " spirit" messages himself. This was in 1886, when his slate-writing was attracting attention. Some ten years earlier, when he was giving materialisation séances, there were discovered in his portmanteau a false beard and some muslin draperies, which were found to correspond with fragments cut from the hair and garments of the materialised spirit. Nor were these the only occasions on which he made use of fraudulent means of producing mediumistic phenomena. It may be objected that Eglinton was "controlled to procure draperies and fake hair, but it necessarily casts a dark shadow on his mediumship. "