Charles Carleton Massey (1838–1905), most well known as C. C. Massey, was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, Christian mystic and psychical researcher. Massey was born at Hackwood Park,

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

. He was the first president of the British Theosophical Society and a founding member of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

in 1882. His father was William Nathaniel Massey. His main interest was

Christian Theosophy Christian theosophy, also known as Boehmian theosophy and theosophy, refers to a range of positions within Christianity that focus on the attainment of direct, unmediated knowledge of the nature of divinity and the origin and purpose of the unive ...

; he was influenced by the writings of

Jakob Böhme Jakob Böhme (; ; 24 April 1575 – 17 November 1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mysticism, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant Theology, theologian. He was considered an original thinker by many of his contemporaries within the L ...

. Massey, a convinced

spiritualist Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least ...

, was associated with the medium Stainton Moses. He was also a member of the British National Association of Spiritualists and

The Ghost Club The Ghost Club is a paranormal investigation and research organization, founded in London in 1862. It is believed to be the oldest such organisation in the world, though its history has not been continuous. The club still investigates mainly gh ...

. Massey had defended the medium Henry Slade against the accusations of fraud from

Ray Lankester Sir Edwin Ray Lankester (15 May 1847 – 13 August 1929) was a British zoologist.New International Encyclopaedia. An invertebrate zoologist and evolutionary biologist, he held chairs at University College London and Oxford University. He was th ...

. In 1880 he translated

Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner (8 November 1834, Berlin25 April 1882, Leipzig) was a German astrophysicist who studied optical illusions. He was also an early Parapsychology, psychical investigator. Biography From 1872 he held the chair of astro ...

's ''Transcendental Physics'' into English.Fichman, Martin. (2004). ''An Elusive Victorian: The Evolution of Alfred Russel Wallace''. University of Chicago Press. p. 186.

Publications

*C. C. Massey. (1909). ''Thoughts of a Modern Mystic. A Selection from the Writings of the Late C. C. Massey'', ed. William F. Barrett (London: Regan Paul, Trench & Co).

Publications

References

Further reading