Elongation
The phenomenon of elongation is a fairly common one at spiritualistic séances. It may be described as a stretching out of the medium's body, till his height is increased by from three inches to nearly a foot. The feat is ascribed to spirit agencies. There are accounts by witnesses of standing in the social and scientific world of elongations of Herne, Home, Morse, and other well-known mediums. These manifestations usually made their appearance only when the light was low, but there were several exceptions. In describing an elongation of Home, Lord Lindsay says: Home looked as if he was pulled up by the neck, the muscles seemed in a state of tension. He stood firmly upright in the middle of the room, and before the elongation commenced I placed my foot on his instep." The same witness also declares that the increase in Home's height on this occasion was eleven inches. Most accounts describe a violent swaying motion on the part of the medium as preceding the elongation, which some critics have regarded as a convenient mode of covering the use of mechanism, which might be concealed in the medium's boots.
Elymas, the Sorcerer : A magician of Paphos, in Cyprus, who openly defied the apostle Paul before the Roman governor. The latter, who did not know whether to credit Paul or Elymas, summoned them both before him, when the apostle suffered the indignity referred to. "Oh, full of all subtlety and mischief," said Paul, in righteous anger, "child of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ? And, now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season." It is not related in what manner Elymas exercised his talents, or what were the characteristics of his sorceries, but we are told that the sentence of Paul immediately took effect, and "there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about, seeking some to lead him by the hand."