Clairvoyance and o p by panchadasi

Clairvoyance andOccult Powers by

Swami Panchadasi

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CLAIRVOYANCEand

Occult PowersINCLUDING

CLAIRVOYANCE, CLAIRAUDIENCEPREMONITION AND IMPRESSIONS

CLAIRVOYANT PSYCHOMETRYCLAIRVOYANT CRYSTAL-GAZING

DISTANT CLAIRVOYANCEPAST CLAIRVOYANCE

FUTURE CLAIRVOYANCESECOND-SIGHT

PREVISIONCLAIRVOYANT DEVELOPMENT

ASTRAL-BODY TRAVELINGASTRAL-PLANE PHENOMENA

PSYCHIC INFLUENCE—Personal and DistantPSYCHIC ATTRACTION

PSYCHIC HEALINGTELEPATHY

MIND-READINGTHOUGHT TRANSFERENCE and other PSYCHIC PHENOMENA

By

Swami PanchadasiAuthor of

"The Human Aura,""The Astral World," Etc.

1916


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SYNOPSIS OF THELESSONS

LESSON ITHE ASTRAL SENSESThe skeptical person who "believes only the evidenceof his senses." The man who has much to say about"horse sense." "Common Sense" versus UncommonSenses. The ordinary five senses are not the onlysenses. The ordinary senses are not as infallible asmany think them. Illusions of the five physical senses.What is back of the organs of physical sense. Allsenses an evolution of the sense of feeling. How themind receives the report of the senses. The RealKnower behind the senses. What the unfolding of newsenses means to man. The super-physical senses. TheAstral Senses. Man has seven physical senses, insteadof merely five. Each physical sense has its astral sensecounterpart. What the astral senses are. Sensing onthe astral plane. How the mind functions on the astralplane, by means of the astral senses. The unfolding ofthe Astral Senses opens up a new world of experienceto man.

LESSON IITELEPATHY vs. CLAIRVOYANCEThe two extra physical senses of man. The extra senseof "the presence of other living things." The"telepathic sense." How man may sense the presenceof other living things apart from the operation of hisordinary five physical senses. This power is strongly


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developed in savages and barbarians, but has becomeatrophied in most civilized men, by continued disuse.It is now vestigal in civilized man, but may bedeveloped by practice. Animals have this extra sensehighly developed, and it plays a very important part intheir protection from enemies; their capture of prey,etc. The strange actions of dogs, horses, etc.,explained. How the geese saved Rome by reason ofthis sense. All hunters have experienced evidences ofthe existence of this sense on the part of animals. Thephysical telepathic sense. How it operates. Interestinginstances of its possession by animals, and savagetribes. Women possess it strongly. The distinctionbetween this form of thought-transference andclairvoyance.

LESSON IIITELEPATHY EXPLAINEDWhat "telepathy" means. The mental process by whichone "knows at a distance." The sending and receivingof waves and currents of thought and feeling. Thoughtvibrations, and how they are caused. The part playedby the cerebrum, cerebellum, and medullaoblongata—the three brains of man. The part playedby the solar plexus and other great nervous centres.How thought messages are received. How states ofemotional excitement are transmitted to others. ThePineal Gland: what it is, and what it does. Theimportant part it plays in telepathy and thought-transference. Mental atmospheres. Psychicatmospheres of audiences, towns, houses, stores, etc.Why you are not affected by all thought vibrations inequal measure and strength. How thought vibrationsare neutralized. Affinities and repulsions betweendifferent thought vibrations. Interesting factsconcerning telepathy. Scientific explanations oftelepathy.


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LESSON IVSCIENTIFIC TELEPATHYThe important investigations of the Society forPsychical Research. True telepathy and pseudo-telepathy; how they are distinguished by scientists.Strict tests imposed in investigations. The celebrated"Creery Experiments," and how they were conducted.The elaboration of the "guessing" game. Seventeencards chosen right, in straight succession. Precautionsagainst fraud or collusion. Two hundred and tensuccesses out of a possible three hundred andeighty-two. Science pronounces the results as entirelybeyond the law of coincidences and mathematicalprobability; and that the phenomena were genuineand real telepathy. Still more wonderful tests.Telepathy an incontestable reality. "A psychic forcetransmitting ideas and thoughts." Interesting cases ofspontaneous telepathy, scientifically proven. Extractsfrom the scientific records. Cold scientific reports readlike a romance, and prove beyond doubt the reality ofthis great field of phenomena.

LESSON VMIND-READING, AND BEYONDWhat "Mind-Reading" is. The two phases ofMind-Reading. Mind-Reading with physical contact;and without physical contact. Why the scientificinvestigators make the distinction. Why science hasbeen over-cautious; and how it falls short of the fullunderstanding of contact Mind-Reading. How thethought-waves flow along the nerves of the projectorand recipient. Like telegraphy over wires, as comparedwith the wireless method. How to learn by actualexperience, and not alone by reading books. How toexperiment for yourself; and how to obtain the bestresults in Mind-Reading. The working principles ofMind-Reading stated. Full directions and instructiongiven for the successful performance of the interestingfeats. This lesson is really a little manual of practical


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instruction in Mind-Reading, and the higher phases ofThought-Transference. The person carefully studyingand applying the principles taught therein shouldbecome very proficient in both private and publicmanifestations.

LESSON VICLAIRVOYANT PSYCHOMETRYWhat Clairvoyance really is; and what it is not. Thefaculty of acquiring super-normal knowledge of factsand happening at a distance, or in past or future time,independent of the ordinary senses, and independentof telepathic reading of the minds of others. Thedifferent kinds of Clairvoyance described. What isPsychometry? Clairvoyant en rapport relations on theastral plane, with distant, past or future happeningsand events; by means of a connecting material link.How to obtain the psychic affinity or astral relation toother things by means of a bit of stone, lock of hair,article of wearing apparel, etc. Interesting instances ofclairvoyant psychometry. How to go about the work ofpsychometrizing. How to develop the power. How tosecure the best conditions; and what to do when youhave obtained them. Psychometry develops theoccultist for still higher clairvoyant powers.

LESSON VIICLAIRVOYANT CRYSTAL-GAZINGThe second great method of securing clairvoyant enrapport relations with the astral plane. How thecrystal, magic-mirror, etc., serves to focus the psychicenergy of the clairvoyant person. The crystal servesthe purpose of a psychic microscope or telescope. Howcrystals tend to become polarized to the vibrations oftheir owner. Why crystals should be preserved for thepersonal use of their owners. The use of crystals, orother forms of shining objects, by different peoples in


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ancient and modern times. How they are employed inAustralia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, South America,etc., by the primitive tribes. Various substitutes forthe crystal. Full directions for Crystal Gazing.Complete instructions and warnings. All stagesdescribed, from the first "milky mist" to the clearlydefined "psychic photograph." The Astral Tube, andthe part it plays in Crystal Gazing. A complete littletext-book of the subject.

LESSON VIIICLAIRVOYANT REVERIEThe higher forms of Clairvoyance, and how they maybe cultivated and acquired. Trance conditions notessential to highest Clairvoyance, although oftenconnected therewith. In Clairvoyant Reverie, theclairvoyant does not become unconscious; but merely"shuts out" the outside world of sights and sounds.Shifting the consciousness from the physical plane tothe astral. Clairvoyant Reverie may be safely andeffectively induced by mental concentration alone.Artificial methods dangerous, and not advised by bestauthorities. Abnormal conditions not desirable. The"one pointed" mind. The Clairvoyant "day dream" or"brown study." False "psychic development." Use ofhypnotic drugs strongly condemned. Scientificpsychological methods stated and taught. The laws ofattention and concentration of the mind. HowClairvoyance develops by this method. The true occultinstruction given fully.

LESSON IXSIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCEWhat the Clairvoyant senses in Simple Clairvoyance.Perception of the Aura, and Auric Emanations ofothers; Psychic Vibrations; Astral Colors; ThoughtCurrents, Waves and Vibrations, etc., are features of


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Simple Clairvoyance. The beautiful kaleidoscopicspectacle of the Auric changes. The Prana Aura, andits appearances. The Mental and Emotional Aura, andits many interesting phases. Perception of AstralThought-Forms. Other Astral Phenomena. The AstralWorld, and its Myriad Manifestations. Strange aspectsof Astral Visioning. "Seeing through a Brick-wall." TheX-Ray Vision. Reading from closed books, sealedenvelopes, etc., and how it is explainable. Seeing intothe depths of the earth, and the occult explanationthereof. The Laws and Principles of this ExtraordinaryPower. Magnifying and Diminishing Clairvoyant Vision.A wonderful field for experiment opened out for thestudent.

LESSON XCLAIRVOYANCE OF DISTANT SCENESThe characteristics of Space Clairvoyance. The AstralSeeing of Distant Scenes; and through interveningobjects. Remarkable instances of this power, wellauthenticated and established. Interesting andinstructive historical cases recorded and explained.Testimony of the Society for Psychical Researchconcerning this phase of Clairvoyance. The interestingcase of W.T. Stead, the celebrated English writer, whowent down on the "Titanic." The important testimonyof Swedenborg, the eminent religious teacher. Otherwell-authenticated cases happening to well-knownpersons. The evidence collected by the Society forPsychical Research. Interesting German case. Why somany cases of this kind happen when the person is onhis death-bed, or seriously ill. Why such experiencesoften occur in dreams. Actual "appearance" of personsat a distance, and how explained. Important andinteresting facts recited in connection with this phaseof Clairvoyance.


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LESSON XICLAIRVOYANCE OF THE PASTThe clairvoyant perception of the facts, events andhappenings of past time. There is no difference in thenature of this strange phenomenon, whether the pasttime be but five minutes or else five thousand years.How is it possible to "see" a thing that no longerexists? The "just how" of this strange happening.Nothing could be perceived if it had actuallydisappeared from existence. But nothing entirelydisappears in fact. On the astral plane are recorded allthings, events and happenings since the beginning ofthe present world-cycle. The "Akashic Records;" or the"Astral Light;" constitute the great record books of thepast. The clairvoyant gaining access to these may readthe past like a book. Analogies in physical science.Interesting scientific facts. What astronomy teacheson the subject. How the records of the past are stored.How they are read by the clairvoyant. A fascinatingsubject clearly presented and explained.

LESSON XIICLAIRVOYANCE OF THE FUTUREThe clairvoyant power manifest in all forms ofperception of facts, happenings and events offuture time. Explanation of Prophecy,Prevision, Foretelling, Second-Sight, etc.These powers not supernatural; but aremerely the development of the clairvoyantfaculties. How may a thing be "seen" yearsbefore it really exists. Nothing could be seen,unless it existed in some form, at leastpotential and latent. Keen perception of thesubconscious faculties. Subconsciousreasoning from cause to effect. Comingevents cast their shadows before. Fate vs.


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Free-Will. "Time is but a relative mode ofregarding things." "Events may, in somesense, exist always, both past and future."Time like a moving-picture reel, containing thefuture scene at the present moment, thoughout of sight. Analogy of dream-time. AnAbsolute Consciousness in which past,present and future exist as a singleperception. A glimpse of a transcendentaltruth. How to acquire the faculty of Future-Clairvoyance.

LESSON XIIISECOND-SIGHT, PREVISION, ETC.Many persons, in all times, in all lands, havepossessed the gift of looking into the future. Not asuperstition, but a scientific fact. The Investigations ofthe scientific bodies. The Society for PsychicalResearch, and its reports on this phase ofClairvoyance. Interesting case told by a leadingTheosophist. Tragedy and Funeral foreseen byClairvoyant Prevision, or Second-Sight. Historicalinstances. George Fox, the Quaker, and his Second-Sight. The prophecy of the Death of Caesar. Biblicalinstances. The celebrated case of Cazotte, which hasbecome a matter of history. How Cazotte foretold thecoming of the French Revolution, including the fate ofeminent personages present at the time of theprophecy. A startling occurrence, well worthy ofcareful study. The historical case of the assassinationof Spencer Perceval, Chancellor of the Exchequer.Other well-authenticated cases. Symbolic visions. Irishand Scotch cases.

LESSON XIV


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ASTRAL-BODY TRAVELINGAstral visioning in Clairvoyance, and visioning bymeans of the Astral Body. The difference between thetwo phases of clairvoyant phenomena. Thecharacteristics of Astral-Body traveling. How onetraveling in the Astral Body may "see all around him,"instead of merely gazing at an astral picture.Limitations of Astral-Body visioning. What theAstral-Body really is; and what it is like. How itdisengages itself from the physical body, and travelsin space. Many persons "travel in the astral" duringordinary sleep. Occult teachings regarding Astral-Bodytraveling. How dying persons often travel in theastral-body, before death. Many interesting casescited, all well-authenticated by scientific investigation.Society for Psychical Research's records and reportson such cases. Dangers of uninstructed persons goingout on the astral, except in dream state. "Fools rush inwhere angels fear to tread." A timely warning. A mostimportant and interesting subject.

LESSON XVSTRANGE ASTRAL PHENOMENAAdditional phases of Astral Phenomena. Projection ofThought-Forms. Something between ordinaryClairvoyance and Astral-Body perception. What aThought-Form is. How it is created. What it does.Where it goes. How a portion of one's consciousness isprojected in a Thought-Form. Using a Thought-Formas at cut-post, or observation point. How thingsappear when viewed from a Thought-Form. Awonderful phase of occult phenomena. Advantagesand disadvantages of this form of clairvoyantvisioning. Hindu Psychic Magic, and how it isperformed. Remarkable illusory effects produced byHindu Magicians. All is explained when the principle ofthe creation and projection of Thought-Forms isunderstood. Why the Hindus excel in this phase ofoccultism. An interesting description of Hindu Magic


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feats. The power of concentrated "visualization." Thephenomena of Levitation, or the moving of articles ata distance. The occult explanation of thisphenomenon. Natural explanation for so-called"super-natural" occurrence.

LESSON XVIPSYCHIC INFLUENCE: ITS LAWS ANDPRINCIPLESThe laws and principles underlying the power of onemind to influence and affect another mind. More thanordinary telepathy. The inductive power of mentalvibrations. Everything is in vibration. Mentalvibrations are much higher in the scale than arephysical vibrations. What "induction" is. How a mentalstate, or an emotional feeling, tends to induce asimilar state in another mind. Many instances cited.The different degrees of vibratory influence, and whatcauses the difference. The contagious effect of a"strong feeling." Why a strong desire hag a dynamiceffect in certain cases. The power of visualization inPsychic Influence. The Attractive Power of Thought.The effect of Mental Concentration. Focusing yourForces. Holding the mind to a state of"one-pointedness." Why the occultist controls hisimagination. Suggestions as to practice, and rules ofdevelopment. A few easily-mastered principles whichgive you the key to the whole of this wonderfulsubject.

LESSON XVIIPERSONAL PSYCHIC INFLUENCE OVEROTHERSPsychic Influence exerted over others, when in theirpresence. Different degrees of the influence.Possession of this power by Alexander the Great,


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Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, and other greatleaders of men. The ability to influence others is asure sign of the possession of this psychic power. TheThree Underlying Principles of Psychic Influence. Theimportance of strong desire to influence and exertpower. The importance of clear, positive mentalpictures of what effect you wish to produce. Theimportance of the firm concentration of your mind onthe subject. The creation of a positive psychicatmosphere. The Positive Psychic Aura. How to projectyour Psychic Power. The Psychic Struggle between twopersons. How to handle yourself in such conflicts ofPsychic Power. How to Neutralize the Psychic Power ofothers, and thus disarm them. The Occult Shield ofDefence. Valuable directions regarding practice anddevelopment of Psychic Power. Scientific Exercises forDevelopment. Important Rules of Practice.

LESSON XVIIIPSYCHIC INFLUENCE AT A DISTANCEPsychic Influence over others, manifested when theyare distant from the person exerting the influence.Distance no obstacle. Psychic Induction atLong-Range. How to create the en rapport conditionwith the other person. How to protect yourself againstsuch influence at a distance. The Psychic Armor.Psychometric Method of producing Distant En RapportCondition. To proceed when the en rapport condition issecured. The scientific explanation of the old talesabout sorcery, witchcraft, super-natural influence, etc.The effect of fear, and belief, on the mind of the otherperson. The effect of Denial. The secret of manystrange cases made plain. Some typical cases. TheMaster-Key which unlocks the doors of manyMysteries. Low forms of Occultism, and how they maybe defeated. Dangerous Teachings in some quarters.Warnings against their use. The Astral Tube; how it iserected, used and employed. A simple, plainexplanation of a puzzling occult manifestation.


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Self-Protection.

LESSON XIXLAWS OF PSYCHIC ATTRACTIONHow psychic vibrations tend to attract to their creatorother persons vibrating along the same lines; andthings having a relation to the things thought of.Harmony and Inharmony in the Psychic World. TheLaw of Psychic Attraction. The Law of PsychicRepulsion. An important phase of Astral Phenomena.The Law works two ways. It draws other persons andthings to you; and you to other persons and things.How the men of "big business" operate under this Lawof Attraction. How scheming exploiters of the publicactually "treat the public" by psychic means. Thevarious forms of psychic influence employed bypersons of this kind. The Law of Attraction, and how itworks out in Business Life. The scientific facts behindthe outward appearance of things. Instances andexamples of the working out of these laws andprinciples. The Law of Psychic Attraction is as constantand invariable as the great Law of Gravitation, orMagnetic Attraction. The Co-Relation of Thoughts andThings. How we may create our own environment byPsychic Influence.

LESSON XXPSYCHIC AND MAGNETIC HEALINGThe Psychic Principles underlying the many forms ofpsychic or mental healing. Many theories—one set ofprinciples. Psychic Healing as old as the race. TheBasic Principles of Psychic Healing. The PhysiologicalPrinciples involved. How the Astral Body is used inPsychic Healing. Human Magnetism, and what it reallyis. All about Prana. The Laying-on of Hands in Healing;and what is back of it. What happens in MagneticHealing. The Secret of Absent Healing. Space no


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barrier in Psychic Healing. The Human Aura andPsychic Healing. The Secret of SuggestiveTherapeutics. The effect of the "affirmations" of thehealers. How the Healing Cults obtain good results.Self-Healing by Psychic Power. Absent Healing byPsychic Power. How to "treat" others by AbsentTreatment. Valuable Instructions and PracticalMethods of Psychic Healing. The whole subjectcondensed, and made plain, so that it may be appliedby any person of average intelligence. No fancifultheories; only plain, practical facts for actualapplication.

INTRODUCTION.

In preparing this series of lessons for studentsof Western lands, I have been compelled toproceed along lines exactly opposite to thosewhich I would have chosen had these lessonsbeen for students in India. This because of thediametrically opposite mental attitudes of thestudents of these two several lands.The student in India expects the teacher tostate positively the principles involved, andthe methods whereby these principles may bemanifested, together with frequentillustrations (generally in the nature of fablesor parables), serving to link the newknowledge to some already known thing. TheHindu student never expects or demandsanything in the nature of "proof" of theteachers statements of principle or method; infact, he would regard it as an insult to the


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teacher to ask for the same. Consequently, hedoes not look for, or ask, specific instances orillustrations in the nature of scientific evidenceor proof of the principles taught. He may askfor more information, but solely for thepurpose of bringing out some point which hehas not grasped; but he avoids as apestilence any question seeming to indicateargument, doubt of what is being taught him,or of the nature of a demand for proof orevidence.The Western student, on the other hand, isaccustomed to maintaining the skepticalattitude of mind—the scientific attitude ofdoubt and demand for proof—and the teacherso understands it. Both are accustomed toillustrations bringing out the principlesinvolved, but these illustrations must not befanciful or figurative—they must be actualcases, well authenticated and vouched for asevidence. In short, the Western teacher isexpected to actually "prove" to his studentshis principles and methods, before he mayexpect them to be accepted. This, of course,not from any real doubt or suspicion of theveracity or ability of the teacher, but merelybecause the Western mind expects toquestion, and be questioned, in this way inthe process of teaching and learning.Consequently, in this series of lessons, I havesought to follow the Western method ratherthan the Hindu. So far as is possible, I haveavoided the flat positive statement ofprinciples and methods, and have sought to


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prove each step of the teaching. Of course, Ihave been compelled to assume the existenceof certain fundamental principles, in order toavoid long and technical metaphysical andphilosophical discussions. I have also had tocontent myself with the positive flat assertionof the existence of the Astral Plane, AkashicRecords, Prana, etc., which are fundamentalpostulates of Hindu philosophy and occultscience—for these are established solely bythe experience of those who are able tofunction on the higher planes themselves.But, beyond this I have sought to prove bydirect and positive evidence (adapted to theWestern mind) every step of my teaching andmethods.In offering this scientific proof, I havepurposely omitted (except in a few instances)all mention of occult or psychic phenomenaoccurring in India, and have confined myselfto instances occurring in Western lands toWestern persons. Moreover, I have avoidedquoting and citing Hindu authorities, andhave, instead, quoted and cited fromauthorities well known and respected inWestern lands, such as the Society forPsychical Research, and the prominentscientists interested in the work of the saidsociety. In this way I have sought to furnishthe Western student with examples, cases,and illustrations familiar to him, and easilyreferred to. Had I cited Indian cases, I mightbe accused of offering proof that could not beeasily verified; and quoting persons unknownto my readers. There is a wealth of such


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cases and illustration in India, naturally, butthese as a rule are traditional and notavailable in printed form; and these would notlikely be very satisfactory to the Westernstudent.I must, however, positively and firmly statethat while these cases and illustrations, thesequotations and citations, are purely Western,the principles they illustrate and prove areamong the oldest known to Hindu occultscience and philosophy. In fact, having beenaccepted as proved truth in India, forcenturies past, there is very little demand forfurther proof thereof on the part of theHindus. In the Western world, however, thesethings are comparatively new, and must beproved and attested accordingly. So, as Ihave said, I have cut the cloth of myinstruction to conform with the patternfavored for the Western garment ofknowledge. So far as the illustrations andcases, the quotations and citations areconcerned—these are purely Western andfamiliar to the student. But, when it comes tothe principles themselves, this is anothermatter—I must be pardoned for stating thatthese are the outgrowth of Hindu thought andinvestigation, and that he who would discovertheir roots must dig around the tree of theWisdom of the East, which has stood thestorms and winds of thousands of years. Butthe branches of this mighty tree arewide-spreading, and there is room for manyWestern students to rest in its shade andshelter.


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In these lessons I have referred occasionallyto my two little books, entitled "The AstralWorld," and "The Human Aura," respectively.To those who are interested in these subjects,I recommend these little books; they are soldat a nominal price, and contain much that willbe helpful to the student of Hindu OccultScience. They are not required, however, tocomplete the understanding of the subjectstreated upon in these lessons, and arementioned and recommended merely assupplementary reading for the student whowishes to take little "side excursions" awayfrom the main trip covered in these lessons.I trust that my students will find the pleasureand satisfaction in studying these lessons thatI have in writing them.SWAMI PANCHADASI.

LESSON I.THE ASTRAL SENSES.

The student of occultism usually is quitefamiliar with the crass individual who assumesthe cheap skeptical attitude toward occultmatters, which attitude he expresses in hiswould-be "smart" remark that he "believesonly in what his senses perceive." He seemsto think that his cheap wit has finally disposedof the matter, the implication being that the


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occultist is a credulous, "easy" person whobelieves in the existence of things contrary tothe evidence of the senses.While the opinion or views of persons of thisclass are, of course, beneath the seriousconcern of any true student of occultism,nevertheless the mental attitude of suchpersons are worthy of our passingconsideration, inasmuch as it serves to giveus an object lesson regarding the childlikeattitude of the average so-called "practical"persons regarding the matter of the evidenceof the senses.These so-called practical persons have muchto say regarding their senses. They are fondof speaking of "the evidence of my senses."They also have much to say about thepossession of "good sense" on their part; ofhaving "sound common sense"; and oftenthey make the strange boast that they have"horse sense," seeming to consider this agreat possession. Alas, for the pretensions ofthis class of persons. They are usually foundquite credulous regarding matters beyondtheir everyday field of work and thought, andaccept without question the most ridiculousteachings and dogmas reaching them fromthe voice of some claimed authority, whilethey sneer at some advanced teaching whichtheir minds are incapable of comprehending.Anything which seems unusual to them isdeemed "flighty," and lacking in appeal totheir much prized "horse sense."


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But, it is not my intention to spend time indiscussing these insignificant half-pennyintellects. I have merely alluded to them inorder to bring to your mind the fact that tomany persons the idea of "sense" and that of"senses" is very closely allied. They considerall knowledge and wisdom as "sense;" and allsuch sense as being derived directly fromtheir ordinary five senses. They ignore almostcompletely the intuitional phases of the mind,and are unaware of many of the higherprocesses of reasoning.Such persons accept as undoubted anythingthat their senses report to them. Theyconsider it heresy to question a report of thesenses. One of their favorite remarks is that"it almost makes me doubt my senses." Theyfail to perceive that their senses, at the best,are very imperfect instruments, and that themind is constantly employed in correcting themistaken report of the ordinary five senses.Not to speak of the common phenomenon ofcolor-blindness, in which one color seems tobe another, our senses are far from beingexact. We may, by suggestion, be made toimagine that we smell or taste certain thingswhich do not exist, and hypnotic subjects maybe caused to see things that have noexistence save in the imagination of theperson. The familiar experiment of the personcrossing his first two fingers, and placingthem on a small object, such as a pea or thetop of a lead-pencil, shows us how "mixed"the sense of feeling becomes at times. The


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many familiar instances of optical delusionsshow us that even our sharp eyes maydeceive us—every conjuror knows how easy itis to deceive the eye by suggestion and falsemovements.Perhaps the most familiar example ofmistaken sense-reports is that of themovement of the earth. The senses of everyperson report to him that the earth is a fixed,immovable body, and that the sun, moon,planets, and stars move around the earthevery twenty-four hours. It is only when oneaccepts the reports of the reasoning faculties,that he knows that the earth not only whirlsaround on its axis every twenty-four hours,but that it circles around the sun every threehundred and sixty-five days; and that eventhe sun itself, carrying with it the earth andthe other planets, really moves along inspace, moving toward or around someunknown point far distant from it. If there isany one particular report of the senses whichwould seem to be beyond doubt or question,it certainly would be this elementary sensereport of the fixedness of the earth beneathour feet, and the movements of the heavenlybodies around it—and yet we know that this ismerely an illusion, and that the facts of thecase are totally different. Again, how fewpersons really realize that the eye perceivesthings up-side-down, and that the mind onlygradually acquires the trick of adjusting theimpression?I am not trying to make any of you doubt the


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report of his or her five senses. That would bemost foolish, for all of us must needs dependupon these five senses in our everydayaffairs, and would soon come to grief were weto neglect their reports. Instead, I am tryingto acquaint you with the real nature of thesefive senses, that you may realize what theyare not, as well as what they are; and alsothat you may realize that there is no absurdityin believing that there are more channels ofinformation open to the ego, or soul of theperson, than these much used five senses.When you once get a correct scientificconception of the real nature of the fiveordinary senses, you will be able tointelligently grasp the nature of the higherpsychic faculties or senses, and thus be betterfitted to use them. So, let us take a fewmoments time in order to get thisfundamental knowledge well fixed in ourminds.What are the five senses, anyway. Your firstanswer will be: "Feeling, seeing, hearing,tasting, smelling." But that is merely a recitalof the different forms of sensing. What is a"sense," when you get right down to it? Well,you will find that the dictionary tells us that asense is a "faculty, possessed by animals, ofperceiving external objects by means ofimpressions made upon certain organs of thebody." Getting right down to the roots of thematter, we find that the five senses of manare the channels through which he becomesaware or conscious of information concerningobjects outside of himself. But, these senses


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are not the sense-organs alone. Back of theorgans there is a peculiar arrangement of thenervous system, or brain centres, which takeup the messages received through theorgans; and back of this, again, is the ego, orsoul, or mind, which, at the last, is the realKNOWER. The eye is merely a camera; theear, merely a receiver of sound-waves; thenose, merely an arrangement of sensitivemucous membrane; the mouth and tongue,simply a container of taste-buds; the nervoussystem, merely a sensitive apparatusdesigned to transmit messages to the brainand other centres—all being but part of thephysical machinery, and liable to impairmentor destruction. Back of all this apparatus isthe real Knower who makes use of it.Science tells us that of all the five senses, thatof Touch or Feeling was the original—thefundamental sense. All the rest are held to bebut modifications of, and specialized forms of,this original sense of feeling. I am telling youthis not merely in the way of interesting andinstructive scientific information, but alsobecause an understanding of this fact willenable you to more clearly comprehend thatwhich I shall have to say to you about thehigher faculties or senses.Many of the very lowly and simple forms ofanimal life have this one sense only, and thatbut poorly developed. The elementary lifeform "feels" the touch of its food, or of otherobjects which may touch it. The plants alsohave something akin to this sense, which in


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some cases, like that of the Sensitive Plant,for instance, is quite well developed. Longbefore the sense of sight, or the sensitivenessto light appeared in animal-life, we findevidences of taste, and something likerudimentary hearing or sensitiveness tosounds. Smell gradually developed from thesense of taste, with which even now it isclosely connected. In some forms of loweranimal life the sense of smell is much morehighly developed than in mankind. Hearingevolved in due time from the rudimentaryfeeling of vibrations. Sight, the highest of thesenses, came last, and was an evolution ofthe elementary sensitiveness to light.But, you see, all these senses are butmodifications of the original sense of feelingor touch. The eye records the touch or feelingof the light-waves which strike upon it. Theear records the touch or feeling of thesound-waves or vibrations of the air, whichreach it. The tongue and other seats of tasterecord the chemical touch of the particles offood, or other substances, coming in contactwith the taste-buds. The nose records thechemical touch of the gases or fine particles ofmaterial which touch its mucous membrane.The sensory-nerves record the presence ofouter objects coming in contact with thenerve ends in various parts of the skin of thebody. You see that all of these senses merelyrecord the contact or "touch" of outsideobjects.But the sense organs, themselves, do not do


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the knowing of the presence of the objects.They are but pieces of delicate apparatusserving to record or to receive primaryimpressions from outside. Wonderful as theyare, they have their counterparts in the worksof man, as for instance: the camera, orartificial eye; the phonograph, or, artificialear; the delicate chemical apparatus, orartificial taster and smeller; the telegraph, orartificial nerves. Not only this, but there arealways to be found nerve telegraph wiresconveying the messages of the eye, the ear,the nose, the tongue, to the brain—telling thesomething in the brain of what has been feltat the other end of the line. Sever the nervesleading to the eye, and though the eye willcontinue to register perfectly, still no messagewill reach the brain. And render the brainunconscious, and no message will reach itfrom the nerves connecting with eye, ear,nose, tongue, or surface of the body. There ismuch more to the receiving of sensemessages than you would think at first, yousee.Now all this means that the ego, or soul, ormind, if you prefer the term—is the realKnower who becomes aware of the outsideworld by means of the messages of thesenses. Cut off from these messages the mindwould be almost a blank, so far as outsideobjects are concerned. Every one of thesenses so cut off would mean a diminishing orcutting-off of a part of the world of the ego.And, likewise, each new sense added to thelist tends to widen and increase the world of


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the ego. We do not realize this, as a rule.Instead, we are in the habit of thinking thatthe world consists of just so many things andfacts, and that we know every possible one ofthem. This is the reasoning of a child. Thinkhow very much smaller than the world of theaverage person is the world of the personborn blind, or the person born deaf! Likewise,think how very much greater and wider, andmore wonderful this world of ours would seemwere each of us to find ourselves suddenlyendowed with a new sense! How much morewe would perceive. How much more we wouldfeel. How much more we would know. Howmuch more we would have to talk about.Why, we are really in about the same positionas the poor girl, born blind, who said that shethought that the color of scarlet must besomething like the sound of a trumpet. Poorthing, she could form no conception of color,never having seen a ray of light—she couldthink and speak only in the terms of touch,sound, taste and smell. Had she also beendeaf, she would have been robbed of a stillgreater share of her world. Think over thesethings a little.Suppose, on the contrary, that we had a newsense which would enable us to sense thewaves of electricity. In that case we would beable to "feel" what was going on at anotherplace—perhaps on the other side of the world,or maybe, on one of the other planets. Or,suppose that we had an X Ray sense—wecould then see through a stone wall, insidethe rooms of a house. If our vision were


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improved by the addition of a telescopicadjustment, we could see what is going on inMars, and could send and receivecommunications with those living there. Or, ifwith a microscopic adjustment, we could seeall the secrets of a drop of water—maybe it iswell that we cannot do this. On the otherhand, if we had a well-developed telepathicsense, we would be aware of thethought-waves of others to such an extentthat there would be no secrets left hidden toanyone—wouldn't that alter life and humanintercourse a great deal? These things wouldreally be no more wonderful than is theevolution of the senses we have. We can dosome of these things by apparatus designedby the brain of man—and man really is but animitator and adaptor of Nature. Perhaps, onsome other world or planet there may bebeings having seven, nine or fifteen senses,instead of the poor little five known to us.Who knows!But it is not necessary to exercise theimagination in the direction of picturing beingson other planets endowed with more sensesthan have the people of earth. While, as theoccult teachings positively state, there arebeings on other planets whose senses are asmuch higher than the earth-man's as thelatter's are higher than those of the oyster,still we do not have to go so far to findinstances of the possession of much higherand more active faculties than thoseemployed by the ordinary man. We have butto consider the higher psychical faculties of


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man, right here and now, in order to see whatnew worlds are open to him. When you reacha scientific understanding of these things, youwill see that there really is nothing at allsupernatural about much of the great body ofwonderful experiences of men in all timeswhich the "horse sense" man sneeringlydismisses as "queer" and "contrary to sense."You will see that these experiences are quiteas natural as are those in which the ordinaryfive senses are employed—though they aresuper-physical. There is the greatestdifference between supernatural and super-physical, you must realize.All occultists know that man has other sensesthan the ordinary five, although but few menhave developed them sufficiently well to usethem effectively. These super-physical sensesare known to the occultists as "the astralsenses." The term "Astral," used so frequentlyby all occultists, ancient and modern, isderived from the Greek word "astra," meaning"star." It is used to indicate those planes ofbeing immediately above the physical plane.The astral senses are really the counterpartsof the physical senses of man, and areconnected with the astral body of the personjust as the physical senses are connected withthe physical body. The office of these astralsenses is to enable the person to receiveimpressions on the astral plane, just as hisphysical senses enable him to receiveimpressions on the physical plane. On thephysical plane the mind of man receives onlythe sense impressions of the physical organs


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of sense; but when the mind functions andvibrates on the astral plane, it requires astralsenses in order to receive the impressions ofthat plane, and these, as we shall see, arepresent.Each one of the physical senses of man hasits astral counterpart. Thus man has, inlatency, the power of seeing, feeling, tasting,smelling, and hearing, on the astral plane, bymeans of his five astral senses. More thanthis, the best occultists know that man reallyhas seven physical senses instead of but five,though these two additional senses are notunfolded in the case of the average person(though occultists who have reached a certainstage are able to use them effectively). Eventhese two extra physical senses have theircounterparts on the astral plane.Persons who have developed the use of theirastral senses are able to receive the senseimpressions of the astral plane just as clearlyas they receive those of the physical plane bymeans of the physical senses. For instance,the person is thus able to perceive thingsoccurring on the astral plane; to read theAkashic Records of the past; to perceivethings that are happening in other parts of theworld; to see past happenings as well; and incases of peculiar development, to catchglimpses of the future, though this is far rarerthan the other forms of astral sight.Again, by means of clairaudience, the personmay hear the things of the astral world, past


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as well as present, and in rare cases, thefuture. The explanation is the same in eachcase—merely the receiving of vibrations onthe astral plane instead of on the physicalplane. In the same way, the astral senses ofsmelling, tasting, and feeling operate. Butthough we have occasional instances of astralfeeling, in certain phases of psychicphenomena, we have practically nomanifestation of astral smelling or tasting,although the astral senses are there ready foruse. It is only in instances of travelling in theastral body that the last two mentioned astralsenses, viz., smell and taste, are manifested.The phenomena of telepathy, or thoughttransference, occurs on both the physical andthe mental plane. On the physical plane it ismore or less spontaneous and erratic inmanifestation; while on the astral plane it is asclear, reliable and responsive to demand as isastral sight, etc.The ordinary person has but occasionalflashes of astral sensing, and as a rule is notable to experience the phenomenon at will.The trained occultist, on the contrary, is ableto shift from one set of senses to the other,by a simple act or effort of will, whenever hemay wish to do so. Advanced occultists areoften able to function on both physical andastral planes at the same time, though theydo not often desire to do so. To visionastrally, the trained occultist merely shifts hissensory mechanism from physical to astral, orvice versa, just as the typewriter operator


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shifts from the small-letter type to thecapitals, by simply touching the shift-key ofhis machine.Many persons suppose that it is necessary totravel on the astral plane, in the astral body,in order to use the astral senses. This is amistake. In instances of clairvoyance, astralvisioning, psychometry, etc., the occultistremains in his physical body, and senses thephenomena of the astral plane quite readily,by means of the astral senses, just as he isable to sense the phenomena of the physicalplane when he uses the physical organs—quite more easily, in fact, in manyinstances. It is not even necessary for theoccultist to enter into the trance condition, inthe majority of cases.Travel in the astral body is quite anotherphase of occult phenomena, and is far moredifficult to manifest. The student should neverattempt to travel in the astral body exceptunder the instruction of some competentinstructor.In Crystal Gazing, the occultist merelyemploys the crystal in order to concentratehis power, and to bring to a focus his astralvision. There is no supernatural virtue in thecrystal itself—it is merely a means to an end;a piece of useful apparatus to aid in theproduction of certain phenomena.In Psychometry some object is used in orderto bring the occulist "en rapport" with the


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person or thing associated with it. But it is theastral senses which are employed indescribing either the past environment of thething, or else the present or past doings ofthe person in question, etc. In short, theobject is merely the loose end of the psychicball of twine which the psychometristproceeds to wind or unwind at will.Psychometry is merely one form of astralseeing; just as is crystal gazing.In what is known as Telekinesis, or movementat a distance, there is found the employmentof both astral sensing, and astral will actionaccompanied in many cases by actualprojection of a portion of the substance of theastral body.In the case of Clairvoyance, we have aninstance of the simplest form of astral seeing,without the necessity of the "associatedobject" of psychometry, or the focal point ofthe crystal in crystal gazing.This is true not only of the ordinary form ofclairvoyance, in which the occultist seesastrally the happenings and doings at somedistant point, at the moment of observation; itis also true of what is known as pastclairvoyance, or astral seeing of past events;and in the seeing of future events, as inprophetic vision, etc. These are all simplydifferent forms of one and the same thing.Surely, some of you may say, "These thingsare supernatural, far above the realm of


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natural law—and yet this man would have usbelieve otherwise." Softly, softly, dear reader,do not jump at conclusions so readily. Whatdo you know about the limits of natural lawand phenomena? What right have you toassert that all beyond your customary rangeof sense experience is outside of Nature? Doyou not realize that you are attempting toplace a limit upon Nature, which in reality isillimitable?The man of a generation back of the presentone would have been equally justified inasserting that the marvels of wirelesstelegraphy were supernatural, had he beentold of the possibility of their manifestation.Going back a little further, the father of thatman would have said the same thingregarding the telephone, had anyone been sobold as to have prophesied it. Going back stillanother generation, imagine the opinion ofsome of the old men of that time regardingthe telegraph. And yet these things are simplythe discovery and application of certain ofNature's wonderful powers and forces.Is it any more unreasonable to suppose thatNature has still a mine of undiscoveredtreasure in the mind and constitution of man,as well as in inorganic nature? No, friends,these things are as natural as the physicalsenses, and not a whit more of a miracle. It isonly that we are accustomed to one, and notto the other, that makes the astral sensesseem more wonderful than the physical.Nature's workings are all wonderful—none


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more so than the other. All are beyond ourabsolute conception, when we get down totheir real essence. So let us keep an openmind!

LESSON II.TELEPATHY vs. CLAIRVOYANCE.

In this work I shall use the term"clairvoyance" in its broad sense of "astralperception," as distinguished from perceptionby means of the physical senses. As weproceed, you will see the general and specialmeanings of the term, so there is no necessityfor a special definition or illustration of theterm at this time.By "telepathy," I mean the sending andreceiving of thought messages, and mentaland emotional states, consciously orunconsciously, by means of what may becalled "the sixth sense" of the physical plane.There is, of course, a form of thoughttransference on the astral plane, but this Iinclude under the general term ofclairvoyance, for reasons which will beexplained later on.You will remember that in the precedingchapter I told you that in addition to the fiveordinary physical senses of man there werealso two other physical senses comparatively


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undeveloped in the average person. Thesetwo extra physical senses are, respectively,(1) the sense of the presence of other livingthings; and (2) the telepathic sense. As I alsotold you, these two extra physical senseshave their astral counterparts. They also havecertain physical organs which are notgenerally recognized by physiologists orpsychologists, but which are well known to alloccultists. I shall now consider the first of thetwo above-mentioned extra physical senses,in order to clear the way for our considerationof the question of the distinction betweenordinary telepathy and that form ofclairvoyance which is its astral counterpart.There is in every human being a sense whichis not generally recognized as such, althoughnearly every person has had more or lessexperience regarding its workings. I refer tothe sense of the presence of other livingthings, separate and apart from the operationof any of the five ordinary physical senses. Iask you to understand that I am not claimingthat this is a higher sense than the otherphysical senses, or that it has come to man ina high state of evolution. On the contrary, thissense came to living things far back in thescale of evolution. It is possessed by thehigher forms of the lower animals, such as thehorse, dog, and the majority of the wildbeasts. Savage and barbaric men have itmore highly developed than it is in the case ofthe civilized man. In fact, this physical sensemay be termed almost vestigal in civilizedman, because he has not actively used it for


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many generations. For that matter, thephysical sense of smell is also deficient inman, and for the same reason, whereas in thecase of the lower animals, and savage man,the sense of smell is very keen. I mention thisfor fear of misunderstanding. In my littlebook, "The Astral World," I have said: "Alloccultists know that man really has sevensenses, instead of merely five, though theadditional two senses are not sufficientlydeveloped for use in the average person(though the occultist generally unfolds theminto use)." Some have taken this to mean thatthe occultist develops these two extraphysical senses, just as he does certainhigher psychic or astral faculties. But this iswrong. The occultist, in such case, merelyre-awakens these two senses which havebeen almost lost to the race. By use andexercise he then develops them to awonderful proficiency, for use on the physicalplane.Now, this sense of the presence of other livingbeings is very well developed in the loweranimals, particularly in those whose safetydepends upon the knowledge of the presenceof their natural enemies. As might beexpected, the wild animals have it more highlydeveloped than do the domesticated animals.But even among the latter, we find instancesof this sense being in active use—in the caseof dogs, horses, geese, etc., especially. Whoof us is not familiar with the strange actions ofthe dog, or the horse, when the animalsenses the unseen and unheard presence of


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some person or animal? Very often we wouldscold or punish the animal for its peculiaractions, simply because we are not able tosee what is worrying it. How often does thedog start suddenly, and bristle up its hair,when nothing is in sight, or within hearingdistance. How often does the horse grow"skittish," or even panicky, when there isnothing within sight or hearing. Domesticfowls, especially geese, manifest anuneasiness at the presence of strangepersons or animals, though they may not beable to see or hear them. It is a matter ofhistory that this sense, in a flock of geese,once saved ancient Rome from an attack ofthe enemy. The night was dark and stormy,and the trained eyesight and keen hearing ofthe Roman outposts failed to reveal theapproach of the enemy. But, the keen senseof the geese felt the presence of strange men,and they started to cackle loudly, aroused theguard, and Rome was saved. Skepticalpersons have sought to explain this historicalcase by the theory that the geese heard theapproaching enemy. But this explanation willnot serve, for the Roman soldiers weremarching about on their posts andguard-duty, and the geese remained silentuntil they sensed the approach of the smallnumber of the enemy's scouts, when theyburst into wild cries. The ancient Romans,themselves, were under no illusion about thematter—they recognized the existence ofsome unusual power in the geese, and theygave the animals the full credit therefor.


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Hunters in wild and strange lands have told usthat often when they were lying concealed forthe purpose of shooting the wild animalswhen they came within range, they havewitnessed instances of the existence of thisstrange faculty in the wild beasts. Thoughthey could not see the concealed hunters, norsmell them (as the wind was in the otherdirection) all of a sudden one or more of theanimals (generally an old female) would startsuddenly, and a shiver would be seen to passover its body; then it would utter a lowwarning note, and away would fly the pack.Nearly every hunter has had the experience ofwatching his expected game, when all of asudden it would start off with a nervous jerk,and without waiting to sniff the air, as isusual, would bolt precipitately from the scene.Moreover, many beasts of prey are known tosense the presence of their natural prey, evenwhen the wind is in the other direction, andthere is no sound or movement made by thecrouching, fearstricken animal. Certain birdsseem to sense the presence of particularworms upon which they feed, though thelatter be buried several inches in the earth, orin the bark of trees.Savage man also has this faculty developed,as all travellers and explorers well know. Theyare as keen as a wild animal to sense thenearness of enemies, or, in some cases, theapproach of man-eating beasts. This does notmean that that these savages are more highlydeveloped than is civilized man—quite thereverse. This is the explanation: when man


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became more civilized, and made himselfmore secure from his wild-beast enemies, aswell as from the sudden attacks of his humanenemies, he began to use this sense less andless. Finally, in the course of manygenerations, it became almost atrophied fromdisuse, and ceased reporting to the brain, orother nerve centres. Or, if you prefer viewingit from another angle, it may be said that thenerve centres, and brain, began to pay lessand less attention to the reports of this sense(trusting more to sight and hearing) until theconsciousness failed to awaken to the reports.You know how your consciousness will finallyrefuse to be awakened by familiar sounds(such as the noise of machinery in the shop,or ordinary noises in the house), although theears receive the sound-waves.Well, this is the way in the case of thisneglected sense—for the two reasons justmentioned, the average person is almostunaware of its existence. Almost unaware Ihave said—not totally unaware. For probablyevery one of us has had experiences in whichwe have actually "felt" the presence of somestrange person about the premises, or place.The effect of the report of this sense isparticularly noticed in the region of the solarplexus, or the pit of the stomach. It manifestsin a peculiar, unpleasant feeling of"gone-ness" in that region—it produces afeeling of "something wrong," which disturbsone in a strange way. This is generallyaccompanied by a "bristling up," or "creepy"feeling along the spine. The organs registering


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the presence of a strange or alien creatureconsist of certain delicate nerves of thesurface of the skin, generally connected withthe roots of the downy hair of the body—orresting where the hair roots would naturallybe, in the case of a hairless skin. These seemto report directly to the solar-plexus, whichthen acts quickly by reflex action on the otherparts of the body, causing an instinctivefeeling to either fly the scene or else to crouchand hide oneself. This feeling, as may be seenat once, is an inheritance from our savageancestors, or perhaps from our lowly-animalancestral roots. It is a most unpleasantfeeling, and the race escapes muchdiscomfort by reason of its comparativeabsence.I have said that occultists have developed, orrather re-developed this sense. They do thisin order to have a harmonious well-developedseven-fold sense system. It increases theirgeneral "awareness." Certain other knowledgeof the occultist neutralizes the unpleasantfeatures of the manifestation of this sense,and he finds it often a very valuable adjunct tohis senses of seeing and hearing, particularlyin the cases in which he is approached bypersons having antagonistic or hostile feelingstoward him, as in such cases this faculty isparticularly active. In connection with thetelepathic sense (to be described a littlefurther on) this sense operates to give aperson that sense of warning whenapproached by another person whose feelingsare not friendly to him, no matter how friendly


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the outward appearance of that person maybe. These two extra senses co-operate to givea person that instinctive feeling of warning,which all of us know in our own experience.This particular, as well as the telepathicsense, may be cultivated or developed byanyone who wishes to take the time andtrouble to accomplish the work. The principleis simple—merely the same principle that oneuses in developing any of the other physicalattributes, namely, use and exercise. The firststep (a) is the recognition of the existence ofthe sense itself; then (b) the attention givento its reports; then (c) frequent use andexercise. Just think of how you would proceedto develop any of the five ordinarysenses—the hearing, sight, or touch, forinstance—then follow the same process in thecultivation of this extra sense, or two senses,and you will accomplish the same kind ofresults.Now, let us consider the other extra physicalsense—the "telepathic" sense, or sense ofbecoming aware of the thought-waves, oremotional waves, of other persons. Now, asstrange as this may appear to somepersons—the most of persons in fact—thistelepathic faculty is not a "higher" faculty orsense, but is really a comparatively low one.Just like the sense just described, it ispossessed in a higher degree by many of thelower animals, and by primitive and savageman. That which really is "higher" in this kindof psychic phenomena is the manifestation of


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that higher form of telepathy—by use of theastral counterpart of this sense—which weshall consider, later, under the name ofclairvoyance, for this is really a particularphase of clairvoyance.As strange as it may appear to some of you,the lower animals possess a kind of telepathicsense. An animal is usually aware of yourfeelings toward it, and your purposesregarding it. Domestic animals lose some ofthis by generations of confinement, while thewild animals have the sense highly developed.But even some of the domestic animals havemore or less of it. You will readily recognizethis fact if you have ever tried to "cut out" acertain animal from a herd or flock. You willfind that the animal in some way has sensedyour designs upon it, no matter how indirectlyyou approach it, and it will begin circlingaround the other animals, twisting in and outin its endeavors to be lost to your sight. Theother animals, likewise, will seem to knowthat you are after only that particular one, andwill manifest but little fright or distrust,comparatively.I have frequently seen this thing, in my owncountry and in others, among poultry raisers.The poultryman will think, to himself, "Now, Iam going to get that black hen with the yellowlegs—that fat, clumsy one," and he will movetoward the flock slowly and with an air ofunconcern. But, lo! as soon as he gets nearthe creatures, that black hen will be seenedging her way to the outer circle of the flock,


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on the opposite side from the man. When theman moves around to her side, she will befound to have plunged into the crowd, and itis hard to find her. Sometimes she willactually try to sneak off, and conceal herselfin some dark corner, or back of some largeobject. Every poultryman will smile when thisoccurrence is mentioned to him—he knows byexperience that hens have a way of sensingwhat he has in his mind regarding them.Moreover, as every farmer knows, the crowfamily has a most uncanny way of sensing theintentions of the farmer who is trying todestroy them, and shows great sagacity indefeating those intentions. But, while the crowis a very intelligent bird—one of the wisest ofthe bird family, in fact—it obtains itsknowledge of what is in the mind of the mannot alone from "figuring on his intentions," butrather from that instinctive sensing of hismental states. The hen, as all know, is a verystupid bird, showing but little intelligentactivity. But, nevertheless, she is very quickabout sensing the poultryman's designs onher, though generally very stupid aboutplanning out a skillful escape.Every owner of dogs, cats and horses, hashad many opportunities for observing themanifestation of this sense on the part ofthose animals. Every dog feels the emotionalstates of his owner, and others. The horseknows when his owner seeks to throw thehalter over his neck, or when, on thecontrary, he is merely walking through the


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field. Cats sense their owners' feelings andthoughts, and often resent them. Of course,the lower animals can sense merelyelementary mental states, and generally onlyemotional states, as their minds are notdeveloped so as to interpret the morecomplex mental states. Primitive men likewisealmost instinctively sense the feelings anddesigns of other men. They do not reason thething out, but rather merely "feel" the ideasand designs of the others. The women of thelower races are more adept in interpretingthese sense reports than are the men.Women are more sensitive, as a rule, than aremen—on any point on the scale ofdevelopment.When we come to consider ordinary telepathyin the case of men of civilized countries, wefind a more complex state of affairs. Whilecivilized man, as a whole, has lost some ofthe quick telepathic perception of the lowerraces, he has, in some exceptional cases,acquired a faculty of receiving and interpretingmore complex thought-forms and mentalstates. The investigations of the Society forPsychical Research, and those of privateinvestigators as well, have shown us that apicture of a complicated geometrical designheld in the mind of one person may be carriedto and received by the mind of anotherperson, who reproduces the design on paper.In the same way, complicated thoughts havebeen transmitted and received. But these areonly exceptional cases. In many cases thissense seems almost dead in the ordinary


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civilized individual, except when aroused inexceptional cases.But, nevertheless, the majority of personshave occasional flashes of telepathy—justenough to make them realize that "there issomething in it." The renewed interest in thesubject, of late years, has directed the publicmind to the phenomena of telepathy, and,consequently, more persons are now takingnote of the cases of thought-transferencecoming under their personal notice. It mustbe remembered, of course, that all of us areconstantly receiving thought-waves, andfeeling thought-influence, unconsciously. I amspeaking now only of the consciousperception of the thought-waves.Many investigators have so developed theirtelepathic sense that they are able, at times,to obtain wonderful test results. But, it hasbeen a source of disappointment to many ofthem to discover that at other times, underapparently similar conditions, their successwas very slight. So true is this that manyauthorities have accepted the theory thattelepathy is more or less spontaneous, andcannot be produced to order. This theory istrue as far as it goes, but there is a side of thecase that these investigators overlook,probably because of their lack of the occultprinciples involved in the phenomena. I meanthis: that their most brilliant successes havebeen obtained by reason of their unconscious"switching on" of the astral telepathic sense,the clairvoyant sense. While in this condition,


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they obtained startling results; but the nexttime they tried, they failed to awaken theastral sense, and, therefore, had to dependentirely upon the physical telepathic sense,and, consequently, their results werecomparatively poor.You will understand the difference anddistinction between physical-sense telepathy,and astral-sense telepathy, if you will carefullyconsider the nature of each, as I shall nowpresent it to you. I ask your close attention towhat I shall have to say on this subject in theremaining pages of this chapter. Do not passover these explanations as "dry," for unlessyou have a clear fundamental understandingof the thing, you will never be able to get thebest results. This is true of every phase oflearning, physical as well as psychical—onemust get started right, in order to obtain thebest results.In the first place, every thought process,every emotional activity, every creation ofideas, is accompanied by a manifestation offorce—in fact, is the result of themanifestation of a force. Without entering atall into the question of what mind is, in itself,we may rest firmly on the natural fact thatevery manifestation of mental or emotionalactivity is the result of an action of the brainor nervous system, manifesting in a form ofvibrations. Just as in the case of themanifestation of electricity in which certainchemical elements are consumed, ortransformed, so in the case of mental or


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emotional activity there is a consuming ortransformation of the substance of which thenervous system is composed. When I say"nervous system" in this connection, I includethe brain, or brains of man—for these are buta part of his great nervous system in which allemotional or mental activity is manifested.Moreover, just as there is no real destructionof matter in any of Nature's processes—allseeming destruction being but atransformation—so in the case before us thereis a transformation of the energy released inthe thought or emotional process. We maygrasp this idea more clearly if we considerwhat takes place into transformation ofelectrical energy. For instance, transmit astrong current of electricity over a fine wire,or filament of carbon, and lo! the current istransformed into light. Use another kind ofchannel of transmission, and the current istransformed into heat. Every electric light, orelectric heating apparatus is proof of this. Inthe same way, the electric current is sent intospace in the form of wireless waves. Thesewaves coming in contact with certain forms ofapparatus are transformed into forms of forcewhich are registered and interpreted by thewireless operator.In the same way, the telepathic waves ofenergy are sent forth by the activity releasedby the thought or emotion state. These wavestravel in every direction, and when they comein contact with physical apparatus sufficientlysensitive to register them, they may be


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reproduced or retransformed into thought ormental states similar to those which originallysent them forth. You talk into the receiver ofthe telephone, and the sound waves aretransformed into waves of electricity. Theseelectric waves travel over the wires, and onreaching the other end of the telephone circuitare again transformed into sound-waveswhich are heard by the ear of the listener.Well, then, when your brain sends outthought waves, these travel until they arereceived by the apparatus in the brain ofanother person, when they arere-transformed into thoughts of the same kindthat originally caused the thought-waves. Iwill have much more to say on this subject inthe next chapter. I will pause here to point outthe difference between the phenomena of thisform of telepathy, and the higher form whichis really a phase of clairvoyance.Now, in the case of what may be called aclairvoyant-telepathy, or astral telepathy, theordinary thought-waves play but a small part.Instead of these, there is a transmission offorce along the channels of the astral plane. Itis almost impossible to describe thephenomena of the astral plane in the terms ofthe physical. I may illustrate the matter, in ageneral way, by saying that is something likeyour astral self actually extending itself outuntil it touches the astral self of the otherperson, and thus actually "feels" the astralactivities there, instead of it being a case ofsomething like waves travelling along spacebetween brain and brain. Do you get this


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clearly? This is about as near to it as I canexplain it to you at this place. Telepathy issimply a matter of the transmission andreceiving of waves of vibratory force whichhave travelled along the ether between twopersons. But clairvoyance or astral-telepathyis something like your mind being extendedout until it actually touches the mind of theother person and sees what is there.I shall have much to say regarding theworking out of the processes of clairvoyance,as we proceed. I have merely given the aboveexplanation for the purpose of distinguishingbetween ordinary telepathy and clairvoyance,so as to prevent you from falling into acommon error. Now let us consider thephenomena of ordinary telepathy—this is verywonderful in itself, although it is on a lowerplane of activity than its astral or clairvoyantcounterpart.

LESSON III.TELEPATHY EXPLAINED.

Telepathy, meaning Thought-Transference,bears a misleading title. Literally translated, itmeans "suffering at a distance," or, perhaps,"feeling pain at a distance." The name shouldreally indicate "knowing at a distance," inorder to be properly descriptive. But as theterm has acquired a forced meaning by


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reason of years of usage, it will probably becontinued in popular favor. After all, names donot count, so long as the meaning is acceptedand understood.While the term itself has been generally usedin the sense of conscious and deliberatesending and receiving of thought-waves,there is a far wider field of phenomena reallycovered by it, viz., the unconscious sendingand receiving of mental and emotionalvibrations. I shall take up this phase of thesubject in a moment, after I have called yourattention to the mechanism whereby thewaves of thought and emotion aretransmitted.In the last chapter, you will remember that Icalled your attention to the fact that there is amanifestation of energy or force (in the formof vibrations) in every mental or emotionalstate. This is true not only in the case of deepthought or vivid feeling, but also in the case ofgeneral mental "feelings," and emotionalstates. During such manifestations there is aradiation of mental or emotional vibrationsfrom the brain or nervous centres of thesystem, which flows out in all directions justas do light and wireless electricity. Theprincipal seats or centres of these radiationsare (1) the several brains of man, viz., thecerebrum, cerebellum, and the medullaoblongata, respectfully; and (2) the severalgreat centres of nerve substance in thehuman system, called the plexi, such as thesolar plexus, etc.


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The vibrations arising from emotionalexcitement are sent out principally from theplexi, or great centres of the sympatheticnervous system. Those arising from the morestrictly mental states emanate from certaincentres and points of the brain, or brains, ofthe person manifesting them. Certain forms ofthese vibrations constitute the real essence ofwhat is generally called "human magnetism,"which will be treated upon in the proper placein these lessons.I do not think it advisable to go into thetechnical details of the generation andmechanism of transmission of these thoughtand emotional vibrations, in these lessons. Tounderstand the same would require atechnical knowledge of physiology and organicchemistry, which is not possessed by theaverage person. Moreover, such details areneither interesting nor instructive to thegeneral student of occultism. But, I think itproper to give at least a brief description ofthe receiving of such vibratory-waves byother individuals.In the first place, every great plexus, orgroups of nerve ganglia, in the human systemis a receiving station, as well as a sendingstation. A person manifesting strongemotional excitement tends to awaken similarstates in the nervous centres of other personsin whom the conditions are favorable. Thisexplains why the vibrations of anger, fear,panic, are so contagious. It also explains thestrong effect of the vibrations emanating from


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the nerve centres controlling the reproductivesystem, in certain cases of strong sexualexcitation. Each human sympathetic nervoussystem contains many receiving stationswhere emotional vibrations are received, andwhere they tend to be transformed into similarfeeling in the receiving system, unlessneutralized by other mental and emotionalstates in the person.When we come to consider the apparatus bywhich is received the vibrations arising fromwhat may be called "purely mental"operations of the brain, such as intellectualthought, constructive imagination, etc., wefind a more specialized arrangement, as mightbe expected. There are several minorreceiving points of mental vibrations,regarding which I do not consider it worthwhile to go into detail, because of thetechnical features involved. The principalapparatus for receiving thought vibrations ofthis kind is that which is known as the "pinealgland," which I shall now describe.The pineal gland is a peculiar mass of nervoussubstance which is embedded in the humanbrain, in a position near the middle of the skullalmost directly above the extreme top of thespinal column. It is shaped like a small cone;and is of a reddish-gray color. It lies in frontof the cerebellum, and is attached to the floorof the third ventricle of the brain. It contains asmall quantity of peculiar particles of gritty,sand-like substance, which are sometimescalled "brain-sand." It derives its scientific


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name from its shape, which, as I have said,resembles a pine-cone. Physiologists are atsea regarding the function of this strangeorgan, and generally content themselves withthe statement that "its functions are notunderstood." But occultists know that thepineal gland, with its peculiar arrangement ofnerve-cell corpuscles, and its tiny grains of"brain-sand," is the physical telepathicreceiving instrument. Students of wirelesstelegraphy have noticed a startlingresemblance between the pineal gland and apart of the receiving instrument employed inwireless telegraphy.The thought vibrations coming in contact withthe nervous system of the receiving person,set up a peculiar vibration in the substance ofthe pineal gland and thus the first step in thetransformation of these vibrations intothought-forms in the mind of the person isunder way. The remainder of the process istoo technical, both in the physiological as wellas in the occult sense, to be taken up in detailat this place. The student will do well to getthe idea of the workings of wirelesstelegraphy well fixed in his mind, for this willset up the right conception of the working ofordinary telepathy, without the necessity ofcomplicated technical diagrams anddescriptions.And, now then, let us see what results fromthe sending forth and receiving of thesemental and emotional waves of force andenergy. It is a most interesting subject, I


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assure you. While the phenomena of theastral plane is probably more fascinating tothe average student, I would impress uponyou the importance of mastering the occultphenomena of the physical plane, beforepassing on to that of the higher planes.In the first place, as all occultists know, eachperson is constantly surrounded with whathas been called an "atmosphere" composed ofmental and emotional vibrations which areemanated from his personality. Theatmosphere of each person depends upon thegeneral character of the thoughts and feelingsof the person in question. Consequently, asno two persons are precisely alike incharacter, it follows that no two personalatmospheres are exactly alike. Each personhas a psychic atmosphere of his or her own.These atmospheric vibrations do not extendvery far from the presence of the person, and,consequently affect only those coming near tohim.In the same way, every group or crowd ofpersons has its own psychic atmosphere,composed of a blending of the individualpsychic atmospheres of the personscomposing the crowd, group or assemblage,and representing the general average of thethought and feelings of the crowd. There areno two group atmospheres exactly alike, forthe reason that no two groups of persons,large or small, are exactly alike. Actors knowthat each audience which they face has itsown psychic atmosphere, and the actors are


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affected by it. Preachers, lawyers, andspeakers in general are quite aware of thisfact, and freely admit it, though they may notbe acquainted with the causes or lawsgoverning the phenomena.Following the same psychic law, it will befound that every town or large city, or evenevery small village or section of a larger town,will be found to have its own distinctivepsychic atmosphere, which is very perceptibleto strangers visiting the place, and whichaffect those who take up their residence in theplace. In large cities, it has been noticed thatevery building has its own peculiar vibrationswhich arise from the general character ofthose occupying it. Different church buildingslikewise reflect the character of the generalhabits of thought and feeling of thoseworshipping in them. Likewise, certainbusiness streets have pleasant or unpleasantvibrations in their atmosphere, from the samecauses. Every person recognizes the truth ofthese statements, though but few are able toaccount for the facts in a scientific manner.The beginner in the study of psychicphenomena often asks how these things canbe, when the thought which has occasionedthe vibrations have long since passed away.The explanation is simple, when properlyexplained. It is something like this: just asheat remains in a room after the stove hasceased to throw out heat-waves, so do thevibrations of thought and feeling persist longafter the thought or feeling has died away. Or,


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if you prefer a more material illustration, wemay say that if a package of perfumery hasbeen opened in a room, and then removed,the air will remain charged with the odor for along time afterwards.So, you see, the same principle applies in thecase of psychic vibrations. The person carriesaround with him the general atmosphere ofhis characteristic mental and emotionalvibrations. And, in the same way, the house,store, church, street, town, or city, etc., ispermeated with the psychic vibrations ofthose who have frequented them. Nearlyevery one realizes the different feeling thatimpresses him when he enters a strangehouse, apartment, store or church. Each onehas its own difference of psychic effect. And,so does each person create his or her psychiceffect upon those coming in contact with himor her, or who comes into his or her presenceor vicinity.The next question asked by the thoughtfulnew student is this: If persons are constantlysending forth psychic vibrations, and if suchvibrations persist for some time, why are wenot overwhelmed with the force of them; andwhy are they not all so mixed up as to lose alltheir effect. I shall now answer this veryimportant question.In the first place, though we are constantlyaffected more or less by the multitude ofpsychic vibrations beating upon us, still thegreater part of them do not consciously


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impress us. For an example, we have but toconsider how few of the sounds or sights of abusy street are impressed upon ourconsciousness. We hear and see only a few ofthe things which attract our attention andinterest. The rest are lost to us, although oureyes and ears receive them all. In the sameway, we are impressed only by the strongervibrations which reach us, and then only bythose which we have attracted to ourselves,or which prove attractive to us by reason ofour own likes and dislikes.In the second place, the effect of certainthought vibrations is neutralized by the effectof the vibrations of thoughts of an oppositecharacter. Just as a mixture of black andwhite produces the neutral color of grey, sodo two currents of opposing thoughtvibrations tend to resolve themselves into aneutral vibration which has little or no effectupon those coming in contact with them. Youmay think of numerous correspondences tothis in the world of material things. Forinstance, a mixture of very hot and very coldwater, will produce a neutral lukewarm liquid,neither hot nor cold. In the same way, twothings of opposing taste characteristics, whenblended, will produce a neutral taste havingbut little effect upon one. The principle isuniversal, and is readily understood.In the third place, there is that which we maycall an "affinity" between thoughts andfeelings of a similar character. Not only do thevibrations of similar thoughts tend to coalesce


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and combine; but, more than this, each oneof us attracts to himself or herself the thoughtvibrations which are in general accord withcorresponding thoughts in our own minds, orfeelings in our own nature. Like attracts like.In the same way, the character of ourthoughts and feelings act to repel thought oremotional vibrations of an opposite orinharmonious nature. As all occultists know,everyone draws thought vibrations inharmony with his or her own; and also repelsthought vibrations of an inharmonious nature.These are the general laws and principlesgoverning the phenomena of this phase oftelepathic vibrations. There is much more tobe said on the subject, of course, but if youwill note carefully the leading principles andlaws of manifestation just mentioned, you willbe able to reason correctly regarding anyphase of this class of phenomena which maycome before you for attention. Once you learna general rule, the rest becomes merely amatter of application and interpretation. Let usnow proceed to a consideration of otherphases of the general subject of telepathicinfluence.We now come to the phase of what may becalled direct telepathy—that is where athought is consciously, and more or lesspurposely, directed toward another person.We come across many interesting cases ofthis kind where persons find themselvesthinking intently of certain other persons, andafterwards are told by the other persons that


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"I found myself thinking intently about you, atsuch and such a time," etc. In some of thesecases it is difficult to determine which onestarted the thinking. Again, how often do wefind ourselves thinking of a person, when allof a sudden the person comes into sight.Again, we think intently and earnestly about acertain question; and then, all of a sudden,other folks whom we meet begin talking to usabout the same thing. These instances are toocommon to need more than a passing notice.A little more purpose is displayed in that classof phenomena in which we intently wish that acertain person shall do a certain thing, and lo!we soon learn that that certain person hasdone it. A number of years ago, a popularwriter wrote an article in which he mentionedwhat seemed to him to be a curious instanceof some form of mental influence or telepathy.He said that he had found out that if he wouldsit down and carefully write a letter to someperson from whom he had not heard for along time, and then destroy the letter insteadof sending it, he would be almost certain toreceive a letter from that person within a fewdays. He did not attempt to account for thephenomenon, he merely called the attentionof his readers to it. Many persons havefollowed the suggestion, often with verywonderful results. There is nothingmiraculous, or supernatural about suchoccurrences. It is merely one phase oftelepathy. The concentrated thought of thewriter of the letter is directed toward the otherperson, and that person begins to think of the


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first one; then he thinks he will write to him;then he actually does write. Distance, space,and direction have no importance in thisexperiment—it is not necessary to even knowwhere the second person is, in fact.There are often found persons so closely inpsychic harmony with each other that theyvery often are able to ask questions andreceive answers from each other, eventhough great distances separate them. Someparticular times there is a better psychicharmony existing between the same personsthan is found at other times. All this, ofcourse, affects the success of the experiment.It is surprising what wonderful results alongthese lines may be obtained by almost anyperson of average intelligence, after a littlecareful, patient, conscientious practice.But there have been phenomena obtained asthe result of long series of careful experimentswhich are, in a way, even more wonderfulthan these somewhat less deliberateexperiments just mentioned. I allude to theexperiments of a number of earnest, carefulscientific students, who surroundedthemselves with every precaution againstover-enthusiasm, fraud, and coincidence.Prominent among this class of investigationswe find those conducted by the Society forPsychical Research, of England, which reallyestablished a firm basis for the work of otherinvestigators who followed the generalmethods of the said society. In the followingchapter, I shall give you a somewhat


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extended statement of the results of suchinvestigations, because this information isimportant to every student of psychicphenomena, not only because it establishes afirm scientific basis for his studies and beliefs,but also because it gives him importantinformation which he may apply in the courseof his own experimental work.I may mention that the investigations into thesubject of telepathy, and kindred subjects,under the auspices of the society justmentioned, were conducted by men of carefulscientific training and experience, and underthe general supervision and approval of theofficers of the society, among which havebeen numbered such eminent men as Prof.Henry Sidgwick, of Cambridge University;Prof. Balfour Stewart, a Fellow of the RoyalSociety of England; Rt. Hon. A.J. Balfour, theeminent English statesman; Prof. WilliamJames, the eminent American psychologist;Sir William Crookes, the great chemist anddiscoverer of physical laws, who invented thecelebrated "Crookes' Tubes," without whichthe discovery of the X Rays, radio-activity,etc., would have been impossible; FrederickW.H. Myers, the celebrated explorer of theastral planes, and writer upon psychicphenomena; Sir Oliver Lodge, the popularEnglish scientist; and other men ofinternational reputation and high standing.The character of these men at once gives thestamp of honesty and scientific accuracy to allthe work of the society.


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In order that you may understand the spiritwhich animated these scientific investigatorsin their work of the exploration of this newand strange region of Nature, I ask you tocarefully read the following words of thepresidential address of Sir William Crookes,before the Royal Society, at Bristol, England,in 1898. Remember, please, that this addresswas made before an assemblage ofdistinguished scientists, many of them rankmaterialists and, quite skeptical of all occultphenomena—this was nearly twenty yearsago, remember. Sir William Crookes, facingthis gathering, as its president, said:"Were I now introducing for the first timethese inquiries to the world of science, Ishould choose a starting point different fromthat of old (where we formerly began). Itwould be well to begin with Telepathy; withthat fundamental law, as I believe it to be,that thoughts and images may be transferredfrom one mind to another without the agencyof the recognized organs of sense—thatknowledge may enter the human mindwithout being communicated in any hithertoknown or recognized ways. * * * If telepathytakes place, we have two physical facts—thephysical change in the brain of A, thesuggestor, and the analogous physical changein the brain of B, the recipient of thesuggestion. Between these two physicalevents there must exist a train of physicalcauses. * * * It is unscientific to call in the aidof mysterious agencies, when with every freshadvance in knowledge it is shown that either


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vibrations have powers and attributesabundantly able to any demand—even thetransmission of thought."It is supposed by some physiologists that theessential cells of nerves do not actually touch,but are separated by a narrow gap whichwidens in sleep while it narrows almost toextinction during mental activity. Thiscondition is so singularly like a Branly orLodge coherer (a device which led to thediscovery of wireless telegraphy) as tosuggest a further analogy. The structure ofbrain and nerve being similar, it is conceivablethat there may be present masses of suchnerve coherers in the brain, whose specialfunction it may be to receive impulses broughtfrom without, through the connectingsequence of ether waves of appropriate orderof magnitude."Roentgen has familiarized us with an order ofvibrations of extreme minuteness ascompared with the smallest waves with whichwe have hitherto been acquainted: and thereis no reason to suppose that we have herereached the limit of frequency. It is knownthat the action of thought is accompanied bycertain molecular movements in the brain,and here we have physical vibrations capablefrom their extreme minuteness of acting directupon individual molecules, while their rapidityapproaches that of internal and externalmovements of the atoms themselves. Aformidable range of phenomena must bescientifically sifted before we effectually grasp


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a faculty so strange, so bewildering, and forages so inscrutable, as the direct action ofmind upon mind."In the old Egyptian days, a well knowninscription was carved over the portal of theTemple of Isis: 'I am whatever has been, is,or ever will be; and my veil no man hath yetlifted.' Not thus do modern seekers after truthconfront Nature—the word that stands for thebaffling mysteries of the Universe. Steadily,unflinchingly, we strive to pierce the inmostheart of Nature, from what she is toreconstruct what she has been, and toprophesy what she shall be. Veil after veil wehave lifted, and her face grows morebeautiful, august and wonderful, with everybarrier that is withdrawn."You will notice that this address made nearlytwenty years ago, and from the standpoint ofphysical science is in full accord with the ideasof occultism as old as the hills. And yet, thespeaker had worked out the ideaindependently. He also investigated higherforms of psychic phenomena, with results thatstartled the world. But, you will notice that hedoes not attempt to give any other thanpurely physical laws the credit for the ordinaryphenomena of telepathy. And he wasthoroughly right in this, as we have seen. Heescaped the common error of confusingphysical-sense phenomena with thephenomena of the astral-senses. Each planehas its own phenomena—and each class issurely wonderful enough. And, again,


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remember that both physical and astralphenomena are purely natural; there is noneed for seeking any supernatural agencies toaccount for these natural facts.

LESSON IV.SCIENTIFIC TELEPATHY.

The investigators of the Society for PsychicalResearch, of England, started by giving abroad definition of Telepathy, as follows:"Telepathy is the communication ofimpressions of any kind from one mind toanother, independently of the recognizedchannels of sense." They took the rationalposition that the actual distance between theprojector and the recipient of the telepathicmessage is not material; and that all that isrequired is such a separation of the twopersons that no known operation of thesenses can bridge the space between them.They wisely held that telepathy between twopersons in the same room is as muchtelepathy as when the two persons arelocated at opposite sides of the world.The investigators then ruled out all instancesof thought-transmission in which there waseven the slightest muscular contact betweenthe projector and the recipient. They held thatthough there might be genuine telepathy insuch cases, nevertheless, there was always


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the possibility of fraud or collusion, or ofunconscious muscular action on the part ofthe projector. They demanded absolute andactual separation of the two persons, in orderthat their experiments might be abovesuspicion. They were wise in this, for whilethere is undoubtedly a psychic communicationin the cases in which there is the slightphysical connection between the two persons(as I shall point out to you a little further on),still the element of doubt or suspicion must beentirely eliminated from a scientific test, inorder to render it valuable and valid.They, therefore, confined their investigationsin Telepathy to the two following classes, viz.:(1) where actions are performed withoutphysical contact with the person willing; and(2) where some number, word, or card isguessed apparently without any of theordinary means of communication. Theinvestigators recognized the possibility that inthe first of the above-mentioned two classesof experiments there is a possibility ofsuspicion of collusion, fraud, or unconscioussuggestion, in the matter of the motion of theeyes of the party, or some member of it,which might be seized upon, perhapsunconsciously, by the recipient, and used toguide him to the object which was beingthought of by the projector or the party. Theysought to obviate this difficulty by blindfoldingthe percipient, and by placing non-conductorsof sound over his ears. But, finally, they cameto the conclusion that even these precautionsmight not prove sufficient; and, accordingly,


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they devoted their attention to the secondclass of experiments, in which all ordinarymeans of communication between projectorand recipient were impossible. They took theadditional precautions of limiting their circle toa small number of investigators of scientificreputations, and well known to each other,always avoiding a promiscuous company forobvious reasons.One of the earliest series of investigations bythese special committees of investigators wasthat of the family of the Rev. A.M. Creery, inDerbyshire, England. The children of thisfamily had acquired a reputation in what wasknown as the "guessing game," in which oneof the children, previously placed outside ofthe room, then returned to the room andattempted to "guess" the name or location ofsome object agreed upon by the party duringher absence. The results were veryinteresting, and quite satisfactory, and havefrequently been referred to in works on thesubject written since that time. I think it wellto give the results of this series ofexperiments in some little detail, for they forma basis for experiments on the part of thosewho read these lessons.Prof. W.F. Barrett, Professor of Physics in theRoyal College of Science for Ireland,conducted the most of the experiments. Thereport to the Society says: "We began byselecting the simplest objects in the room;then chose names of towns, people, dates,cards out of a pack, lines from different


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poems, etc., in fact, any thing or series ofideas that those present could keep in theirminds steadily. The children seldom made amistake. I have seen seventeen cards chosenby myself named right in succession withoutany mistake. We soon found that a great dealdepended on the steadiness with which theideas were kept before the minds of thethinkers, and upon the energy with which theywilled the ideas to pass. I may say that thisfaculty is not by any means confined to themembers of one family; it is much moregeneral than we imagine. To verify thisconclusion, I invited two of a neighbor'schildren to join us in our experiments, withexcellent results."The report gives the methods of theexperiments, as follows: "The inquiry hastaken place partly in Mr. Creery's house, andpartly in lodgings, or at a hotel occupied bysome of our number. Having selected atrandom one child, whom we desired to leavethe room and wait at some distance, wewould choose a pack of cards, or write on apiece of paper a name of a number whichoccurred to us at the moment. Generally, butnot always, this was shown to the membersof the family present in the room; but no onemember was always present, and we weresometimes entirely alone. We then recalledthe child, one of us always assuring himselfthat, when the door was suddenly opened,she was at a considerable distance, thoughthis was usually a superfluity of caution, asour habit was to avoid all utterances of what


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was chosen. On re-entering, she stood—sometimes turned by us with her face towardthe wall, oftener with her eyes directedtoward the ground, and usually close to usand remote from the family—for a period ofsilence varying from a few seconds to aminute, till she called out to us some number,card, or whatever it might be."In the first experiments, in "guessing" thename of objects, the child guessed correctlysix out of fourteen. She then guessedcorrectly the name of small objects held in thehands of one of the committee—five times outof six. She guessed fictitious names chosenby the committee—five out of ten, at the firsttrial. The committee then tested her by writingdown the name of some object in the house,fixed at random, and then, after all hadthought intently of the thing, they sent for thechild and bade her try to find the thingthought of, the thought-concentration ofcourse continuing during the search. Theresult is thus reported: "In this way I wrotedown, among other things, a hair-brush—itwas brought; an orange—it was brought; awine-glass—it was brought; an apple—it wasbrought; and so on, until many objects hadbeen selected and found by the child."Passing over the details of many otherexperiments we find that the followingremarkable results were obtained by thecommittee: "Altogether, three hundred andeighty-two trials were made in this series. Inthe case of letters of the alphabet, of cards,


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and of numbers of two figures, the chances ofsuccess on a first trial would naturally be 25to 1, 52 to 1, and 89 to 1, respectively; in thecase of surnames they would of course beinfinitely greater. Cards were far mostfrequently employed, and the odds in theircase may be taken as a fair medium sample,according to which, out of a whole series ofthree hundred and eighty-two trials, theaverage number of successes at the firstattempt by an ordinary guesser would beseven and one-third. Of our trials, onehundred and twenty-seven were successes onthe first attempt, fifty-six on the second,nineteen on the third—MAKING TWOHUNDRED AND TWO, OUT OF A POSSIBLETHREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO!" Thinkof this, while the law of averages called foronly seven and one-third successes at firsttrial, the children obtained one hundred andtwenty-seven, which, given a second andthird trial, they raised to two hundred andtwo! You see, this takes the matter entirelyout of the possibility of coincidence ormathematical probability.But this was not all. Listen to the furtherreport of the committee on this point: "Thefollowing was the result of one of the series.The thing selected was divulged to none ofthe family, and five cards running were namedcorrectly on a first trial. The odds against thishappening once in a series were considerablyover a million to one. There were other similarbatches, the two longest runs being eightconsecutive guesses, once with cards, and


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once with names; where the adverse odds inthe former case were over one hundred andforty-two millions to one; and in the other,something incalculably greater." The opinionof eminent mathematicians who haveexamined the above results is that thehypothesis of mere coincidence is practicallyexcluded in the scientific consideration of thematter. The committee calls special attentionto the fact that in many of the most importanttests none of the Creery family werecognizant of the object selected, and that,therefore, the hypothesis of fraud or collusionis absolutely eliminated. The committeenaturally came to the conclusion that thephenomena was genuine and real telepathy.Prof. Balfour Stewart, LL.D., F.R.S., who waspresent at some of these experiments, thoughnot a member of the committee, expressedgreat amazement at some of the results. Hereports: "The thought-reader was outside adoor. The object or thing thought of waswritten on paper and silently handed to thecompany in the room. The thought readerwas then called in, and in the course of aminute the answer was given. Definite objectsin the room, for instance, were first thoughtof, and in the majority of the cases theanswers were correct. Then numbers werethought of, and the answers were generallyright, though, of course, there were somecases of error. The names of towns werethought of, and a good many of these wereright. Then fancy names were thought of. Iwas asked to think of certain fancy names,


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and mark them down and hand them round tothe company. I thought of and wrote onpaper, 'Blue-beard,' 'Tom Thumb,' 'Cinderella.'and the answers were all correct!"The committee also conducted a number ofexperiments with other recipients, with verysatisfactory results. Colors were correctlyguessed with a percentage of successes quitebeyond the average or probable number.Names of towns in all parts of the world, werecorrectly "guessed" by certain recipients witha wonderful degree of success. But, probablymost wonderful of all, was the correctreproduction of diagrams of geometrical andother figures and shapes. In one case, therecipient, in a series of nine trials, succeededin drawing them all correctly, except that hefrequently reversed them, making theupper-side down, and the right-hand side tothe left. The Society, has published thesereproduced diagrams in its Illustrated reports,and they have convinced the most skeptical ofcritics. Some of the diagrams were quitecomplicated, unusual, and even grotesque,and yet they were reproduced with marvelousaccuracy, not in a hesitating manner, butdeliberately and continuously, as if therecipient were actually copying a drawing infull sight. Similar results have been obtainedby other investigators who have followed thelead of these original ones.So you see, the seal of scientific authority hasbeen placed upon the phenomena oftelepathy. It is no longer in the realm of the


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supernatural or uncanny. As CamilleFlammarion, the eminent French scientist, hassaid: "The action of one mind upon another ata distance—the transmission of thought,mental suggestion, communication at adistance—all these are not more extraordinarythan the action of the magnet on iron, theinfluence of the moon on the sea, thetransportation of the human voice byelectricity, the revolution of the chemicalconstituents of a star by the analysis of itslight, or, indeed, all the wonders ofcontemporary science. Only these psychiccommunications are of a more elevated kind,and may serve to put us on the track of aknowledge of human nature. What is certainis: That telepathy can and ought to behenceforth considered by Science as anincontestable reality; that minds are able toact upon each other without the interventionof the senses; that psychic force exists,though its nature is yet unknown. * * * Wesay that this force is of a psychic order, andnot physical, or physiological, or chemical, ormechanical, because it produces andtransmits ideas and thoughts, and because itmanifests itself without the co-operation ofour senses, soul to soul, mind to mind."In addition to investigating the abovementioned classes of telepathic phenomena,the English Society for Psychical Researchinvestigated many remarkable cases of asomewhat higher phase of telepathy. Theytook down the stories told by persons deemedresponsible, and then carefully examined, and


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cross-examined other witnesses to thestrange phenomena. The record of theseexperiments, and investigations, fill a numberof good sized volumes of the Society'sreports, which are well worth reading by allstudents of the subject. They may be found inthe libraries of nearly any large city. I shall,however, select a number of the mostinteresting of the cases therein reported, togive my students an idea of the character ofthe phenomena so investigated and foundgenuine by the committees having this classof telepathy under investigation.An interesting case of spontaneous telepathyis that related by Dr. Ede, as follows: "Thereis a house about a half-mile from my own,inhabited by some ladies, friends of ourfamily. They have a large alarm bell outsidetheir house. One night I awoke suddenly andsaid to my wife: 'I am sure I hear Mrs. F'salarm bell ringing.' After listening for sometime, we heard nothing, and I went to sleepagain. The next day Mrs. F. called upon mywife and said to her: 'We were wishing foryour husband last night, for we were alarmedby thieves. We were all up, and I was aboutto pull the alarm bell, hoping that he wouldhear it, saying to my daughters, "I am sure itwill soon bring Dr. Ede," but we did not ringit.' My wife asked what time this hadhappened, and Mrs. F. said that it was abouthalf past one. That was the time I awokethinking that I heard the bell."In this case there was manifested simply


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ordinary physical plane telepathy. Had the bellactually been rung, and heard psychically, itwould have been a case of astral planehearing, known as clairaudience. As it was,merely the thought in the mind of Mrs. F., andher strong idea to ring the bell, caused atransmission of thought waves which struckDr. Ede with great force and awakened him.This case is interesting because it is typical ofmany cases of a similar nature within theexperience of many persons. It is seen that astrong feeling, or excitement, accompanied bya strong desire or wish to summon anotherperson, tends to give great power and effectto the thought waves emitted. They strike themind of the recipient like the sudden ringing ofan alarm clock bell.Another interesting case is that of two ladies,both well known to members of thecommittee, and vouched for as of strictveracity. This case is unusual for the reasonthat two different persons received thethought-waves at the same time. Here is anabridgment of the case: "Lady G. and hersister had been spending the evening withtheir mother, who was in her usual health andspirits when they left her. In the middle of thenight the sister awoke in her fright and said toher husband: 'I must go to my mother atonce; do order the carriage. I am sure thatshe is taken ill.' On the way to her mother'shouse, where two roads meet, she saw LadyG.'s carriage approaching. When they meteach asked the other why she was there.They both related the same experience and


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impression. When they reached their mother'shouse, they found that she was dying, andhad expressed an earnest wish to see them."Another case of a similar nature is this: "Atthe siege of Mooltan, Major General R., thenadjutant of his regiment, was severelywounded and supposed himself to be dying.He requested that his ring be taken off hisfinger and sent to his wife. At the same timehis wife was at Ferozepore, one hundred andfifty miles distant, lying on her bed, in a statehalf way between waking and sleeping. Shesaw her husband being taken off the field, andheard his voice saying: 'Take this ring off myfinger, and send it to my wife.'"This case bears the marks of very strongtelepathy, but also has a suspiciousresemblance to clairvoyance accompanied byclairaudience. Or perhaps it is a combinationof both telepathy and clairvoyance. It isimpossible to determine which, in absence ofmore detailed information. The message ofpersons dying, or believing themselves to beapproaching death, are frequently verystrong, for certain reasons well known tooccultists. But there is nothing supernaturalabout the phenomena, and in most cases it ismerely a case of strong telepathy.The Society also reports the followinginteresting case: "A. was awake, and stronglywilled to make himself known to two friendswho at that time (one o'clock in the morning)were asleep. When he met them a few days


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afterward, they both told him that at oneo'clock they had awakened under theimpression that he was in their room. Theexperience was so vivid that they could not goto sleep for some time, and looked at theirwatches to note the time." Cases of this kindare quite common, and many experimentershave had equally good results with this phaseof thought transference. You will rememberthat there is no actual projection of the astralbody, in most of these cases, but merely astrong impression caused by concentratedthought.Another interesting case is that of the lateBishop Wilberforce, and is recorded in hisbiography, as follows: The Bishop was in hislibrary at Cuddleson, with three or four of hisclergy with him at the same table. The Bishopsuddenly raised his hand to his head, andexclaimed: "I am certain that something hashappened to one of my sons." It afterwardstranspired that just at that time his eldestson's foot was badly crushed by an accidenton board his ship, the son being at sea. TheBishop himself recorded the circumstance in aletter to Miss Noel, saying: "It is curious thatat the time of his accident I was so possessedwith the depressing consciousness of someevil having befallen my son, Herbert, that atthe last, I wrote down that I was unable toshake off the impression that something hadhappened to him, and noted this down forremembrance." There is nothing unusualabout this case, for it has been duplicated inthe experience of many persons. Its chief


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importance lies in the fact that it is recordedby a man of wide reputation and highstanding, and also that the Bishop had takenthe precaution to note down the thing at thetime, instead of merely recalling it after hehad heard of the accident.You will notice that in many cases of this kindthe phenomenon closely approaches theaspect of true clairvoyance, or astral sensing.In some cases there appears to be a blendingof both telepathy and astral clairvoyance. Infact, there is but very little difference betweenthe highest phases of ordinary telepathy, andthe more common phases of clairvoyance.Here, as in many other cases of Nature'sforces, there seems to be a gradual blending,rather than a sharp dividing line between thetwo classes of phenomena. Moreover, thestudent developing his telepathic powers willfrequently find that he is beginning to unfoldat least occasional flashes of clairvoyance.In the case of telepathy, the recipient merelysenses what is in the mind of the projector. Insome cases a picture in the mind of theprojector may be seen by the recipient, andmay thus be mistaken for a case of pureclairvoyance. But, in investigating closely, itwill be found that the real scene was slightlydifferent from the impression, in which case itshows that the impression was simplytelepathic. Clairvoyant vision shows the sceneas it really is, or rather as the physical eye ofthe recipient would have seen it. The astralsight really sees the scene, and does not


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merely receive the mental impression of theprojector. The first is original seeing; thesecond, merely a reproduction of imagesalready in the mind of the projector, andcolored by his personality, etc.In the next lesson, I shall give you a numberof exercises and methods designed to developyour telepathic powers. You will find thepractice of these most interesting andentertaining, and at the same time mostinstructive. You will find that as you practicethe exercises given therein, you will becomemore and more adept and proficient inproducing telepathic phenomena. From thelower stages, you will be able to proceed tothe higher. And, in time, you will be surprisedto find that almost unconsciously you havepassed into the stage in which you will have atleast occasional manifestations ofclairvoyance, psychometry, etc.In fact, there is no better way known topractical occultists to develop in a student thepowers of clairvoyance than just this methodof starting the student with the exercisesdesigned to develop the telepathic power. Ithas been found by centuries of experiencethat the student who develops telepathicpower, in a systematic way, will graduallyunfold and evolve the clairvoyant andpsychometric power. It constitutes the firstrungs on the ladder of psychic development.Of course, under the head of clairvoyance,etc., you will be given methods and exercise


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designed to develop clairvoyantpowers—some of them very valuable andeffective methods, at that. But,notwithstanding this, I feel that I shouldimpress upon you the importance of laying afirm foundation for such instruction, bydeveloping yourself first along the lines oftelepathic power. Such a course will not onlykeenly sharpen your powers of receptivity tosuch vibrations as you may wish to receive;but it will also train your mind in the directionof translating, interpreting, and recordingsuch impressions when received.You must remember that proficiency in amental art is attained only by means oftraining the attention to concentrate upon thetask. It is the same way in clairvoyance andpsychometry. Telepathy trains your attentionto concentrate upon the reception ofimpressions, and to hold them firmly andclearly in consciousness. The result is thatwhen you really develop clairvoyantreceptivity, your attention has already beentrained to do the necessary work. I need nottell you what an advantage this gives you overthe clairvoyant who has not received thistraining, for your own good common sensewill assure you of it.So, now for our training in telepathy—not onlyfor itself, but also as a means of preparing forthe higher stages.


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LESSON V.MIND READING, AND BEYOND.

The simpler forms of telepathic phenomenahave received the name "Mind Reading" andby some have been regarded as somethingnot quite within the class of real telepathy.This last impression has been heightened bythe fact that there has been offered the publicmany spectacular exhibitions of pseudomind-reading, that is to say, imitation orcounterfeit mind-reading, in which the resulthas been obtained by trickery, collusion, orclever artifice. But, notwithstanding this fact,genuine mind-reading is actually a phase oftrue telepathy.What is generally known as mind-reading maybe divided into two classes, as follows: (1)where there is an actual physical contactbetween the projector and the receiver; and(2) where there is no actual physical contact,but where there is a close relation in spacebetween the two parties, as in the case of the"willing game." In the first class belong allcases in which the projector touches therecipient, or at least is connected with him bya material object. In the second class belongthose cases in which the recipient seeks tofind an object which is being thought of byeither a single projector, or by a number ofpersons in the same room. You will notice thatboth of these classes were omitted from the


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experiments of the Society for PsychicalResearch, because of the possibility of fraudor collusion. But, nevertheless, the studentwill do well to acquire proficiency inmanifesting this form of telepathy, not alonefor its own sake, but, also, because itnaturally leads to higher development.In the case of the first class of mind-readingnamely, that in which actual physical contactis had between the projector and therecipient, there has been a disposition on thepart of some authorities to explain the wholematter by the theory of unconscious muscularimpulse of the projector; but those who havecarefully studied this subject, and who havethemselves performed the feats of this classof mind-reading, know that there is far morethan this to it. Those familiar with the subjectknow that there is a decided transference ofthought-waves from the projector to therecipient, and that the latter actually "feels"the same as they strike upon his mentalreceiving apparatus. The whole differencebetween this and the higher forms oftelepathy is that in this the thought-currentsgenerally run along the wires of the nervoussystem, instead of leaping across the spacebetween the two persons.It is known to all who have conducted thisclass of experiments, that at times there willbe experienced a change or shifting in thetransmission of the thought-currents. For atime, the thought-waves will be felt flowing inalong the nerves of the hands and arms


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when, all of a sudden this will cease, andthere will be experienced the passage of thecurrent direct from brain to brain. It isimpossible to describe this feeling in merewords, to those who have never experiencedit. But those to whom it has once beenmanifested will recognize at once just what Imean by this statement. It is a differentsensation from any other in the experience ofa human being, and must actually beexperienced to be understood. The nearestanalogy I can offer is that feeling experiencedby the person when a forgotten name forwhich he has vainly sought, suddenly flashesor leaps into his consciousness—it is felt tocome from somewhere outside of theconscious field. Well, in the case of thethought-current the feeling is much the same,only there is a fuller sense of the"outsideness" of the source of the thought.In order to make you understand thedistinction between the two classes ofmind-reading more clearly, I will say that youmay think of one as akin to the ordinarytelegraphy over wires; and of the other asakin to wireless telegraphy. It is the sameforce in both cases, the difference beingsimply one of the details of transmission. Fixthis idea firmly in your mind, and you willhave no trouble in always having the rightconception of any kind of case ofmind-reading, or telepathy. But, you mustremember, there are cases in which there is acombination of both methods of transmission,either simultaneously, or else shifting and


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changing from one to the other.I will here remind the student that he willlearn more by a half-dozen actual experimentsin mind-reading, than he will by reading adozen books on the subject. It is very good toread the books in order to get the correcttheory well fixed in mind, and also in order tolearn the best methods as taught by thosewho have had a wide experience in thesubject; but the real "how" of the matter islearned only through actual experience. So, Ishall now give you advice and instructionsconcerning actual experimental work.You, the student, should begin by makingyourself a good recipient—that is a good"mind reader," allowing others to play the partof projector. Later on, you may play the partof projector, if you so desire, but the real "finework" is done by the recipient, and, for thatreason that is the part you should learn toplay by frequent rehearsals.I advise you to begin your experiments withfriends who are in sympathy with you, andwho are interested in the subject. Avoidparticularly all early experiments withuncongenial or unsympathetic persons; andavoid as you would a pestilence all those whoare antagonistic either to yourself or to thegeneral subject of telepathy and kindredsubjects. As you must make yourselfespecially "sensitive" in order to successfullyconduct a mind-reading test, you will findyourself particularly susceptible to the mental


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attitude of those around you at such times,and therefore should surround yourself onlywith those who are congenial andsympathetic.You will find that there is a great differencebetween the several persons whom you "tryout" as projectors. Some will be more "enrapport" with you than are others who may beequally good friends. "En rapport," you know,means "in vibrational harmony." When twopersons are en rapport with each other, theyare like two wireless telegraphic instrumentsperfectly attuned to each other. In such casesthere are obtained the very best results. Youwill soon learn to distinguish the degree of enrapport conditions between yourself anddifferent persons—you soon learn to "feel"this condition. In the beginning, it will be wellfor you to try several persons, one after theother, in your mind-reading experiments, inorder to pick out the best one, and also tolearn the "feel" of the different degrees of enrapport condition.Even in cases of persons in whom the enrapport conditions are good, it is well toestablish a rhythmic unison between you. Thisis done by both you and the person breathingin rhythmic unison a few moments. Begin bycounting "one-two-three-four," like the slowticking of a large clock. Have the other personjoin with you in so counting, until your mindsboth work in the same rhythmic time. Thenyou should have him breathe in unison withyou, making a mental count with you at the


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same time, so that you will "breathetogether." Count (mentally) "one-two-three-four," as you inhale; the "one-two," holdingthe breath; and, then "one-two-three-four,"exhaling or breathing-out. Try this severaltimes, and, you will find that you haveestablished a rhythmic unison betweenyourself and the other person. In the progressof an experiment, if you should find that theconditions are not as good as might bedesired, you will do well to pause for a fewmoments and re-establish the properrhythmic harmony by this method ofharmonious rhythmic breathing.Begin by having the projector select someprominent object in the room, a chair, or tablefor instance. Then have him take your lefthand in his right hand. Raise your left hand,held in his right hand, to your forehead; thenclose your eyes and remain passive a fewmoments. Have him concentrate his mindintently on the selected object—and will thatyou should move toward it. Have him think ofnothing else except that object, and to willyou to move toward it, with all his power.Close your eyes, and quiet your mind,opening your consciousness to every mentalimpression that he may send you. Instructhim to think not merely "chair," for instance,but rather "there—go there." The mainthought in his mind must be that of direction.He must will that you move toward that chair.After a moment or two, you will begin to feel avague, general impulse to move your feet.


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Obey the impulse. Take a few slow steps inany direction that seems easy to you.Sometimes this will take you in an oppositedirection from that of the chair, but it will "getyou going," and you will soon begin to feelthat the direction is "all wrong," and will beginto be mentally pulled in the right direction.You will have to actually experience thisfeeling, before you will fully understand justwhat I mean.After some little practice, you will begin to feelquite distinctly the mental direction, orwill-force, of the projector, which will seem totell you to "come this way—now stop—nowturn a little to the right—now a little to theleft—now stop where you are, and put outyour right hand—lower your hand—move yourhand a little to the right—that's it, now youhave got it all right." You will soon learn todistinguish between the "no, that's wrong"thought, and the "that's right" one; andbetween the "go on," and the "come on" one.By making yourself completely passive, andreceptive and obedient to the thought andwill-impulses of the projector, you will soonact like a ship under the influence of therudder in the hand of the projector.After you have attained proficiency inreceiving the mental impressions anddirections, you will find yourself attracted ordrawn, like a piece of steel to the magnet,toward the object selected. It will sometimesseem as if you were being moved to it evenagainst your own will—and as if someone else


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were actually moving your feet for you.Sometimes the impulse will come so strongthat you will actually rush ahead of theprojector, dragging him along with you,instead of having him a little in advance, or byyour side. It is all a matter of practice.You will soon discover the great differencebetween different projectors. Some of themwill be in perfect en rapport condition withyou, while others will fail to get into tune withyou. Some projectors do not seem to knowwhat is required of them, and usually forget to"will" you to the object. It helps sometimes totell them that the whole thing depends upontheir will power, and that the stronger theirwill is, the easier it is for you to find the thing.This puts them on their mettle, and makesthem use their will more vigorously.You will soon learn to recognize that peculiarfeeling of "all right," that comes when youfinally stand in front of the desired object.Then you begin to move your right hand upand down and around, until you get the right"feel" about that also, when you should placeyour hand on the place which seems to attractyou most. You will find that the hand is just asresponsive to the mental force, as are thefeet. You will soon learn to distinguishbetween the mental signals: "up," "down," "tothe right," "to the left," "stop now, you'reright," etc. I cannot tell you just thedifference—you must learn to "feel" them, andyou will soon become expert in this. It is likelearning to skate, run an automobile, operate


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a typewriter or anything else—all a matter ofexercise and practice. But it is astonishinghow rapidly one may learn; and how, attimes, one seems to progress by great leapsand bounds. Now I shall give you the differentstages or steps, which you will do well tofollow in your exercises, progressing from themore simple to the more complex—but besure to thoroughly master the simple ones,before you pass on to the more complex one.Be honest and strict with yourself—makeyourself "pass the examination" beforepromotion, in each and every step.1. LOCATIONS. Begin by finding particularlocations in a room; corners, alcoves, doors,etc.2. LARGE OBJECTS. Then begin to find largeobjects, such as tables, chairs, book-cases,etc.3. SMALL OBJECTS. Then proceed to findsmall objects, such as books on a table,sofa-cushions, ornaments, paper-knives, etc.Gradually work down to very small objects,such as scarf-pins, articles of jewelry, pocket-knives, etc.4. CONCEALED OBJECTS. Then proceed tofind small objects that have been concealedunder other objects, such as a pocket-bookbeneath a sofa-cushion, etc.; or a key in abook; or a key under a rug, etc.5. MINUTE OBJECTS. Then proceed to


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discover very small objects, either concealedor else placed in an inconspicuous place, suchas a pin stuck in the wall, etc.; or a smallbean under a vase, etc.The public performers of mind reading varythe above by sensational combinations, butyou will readily see that these are butingenious arrangements of the above generalexperiments, and that no new principle isinvolved. As these lessons are designed forserious study and experiment, and not forsensational public performances, I shall notenter into this phase of the subject in thesepages. The student who understands thegeneral principles, and is able to perform theabove experiments successfully, will have nodifficulty in reproducing the genuine feats ofthe public mind readers, by simply using hisingenuity in arranging the stage-effects, etc.Among other things, he will find that he will beable to obtain results by interposing a thirdperson between the projector and himself; orby using a short piece of wire to connecthimself and the projector. Drawing pictureson a blackboard, or writing out names on aslate, by means of thought direction, aresimply the result of a fine development of thepower of finding the small article—the impulseto move the hand in a certain direction comesin precisely the same way. The public drivingfeats of the professional mind-reader are buta more complicated form of the same generalprinciple—the impression of "direction" onceobtained, the rest is a mere matter of detail.The opening of the combination of a safe,


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though requiring wonderful proficiency on thepart of the operator, is simply an elaborationof the "direction" movement.Some recipients are, of course, far moreproficient than are others; but each and everyperson—any person of averageintelligence—will be able to secure more orless proficiency in these experiments,provided that patience and practice areemployed. There is no such thing as anabsolute failure possible to anyone who willproceed intelligently, and will practicesufficiently. Sometimes, after manydiscouraging attempts, the whole thing willflash into one's mind at once, and after thatthere will be little or no trouble. If you are ableto witness the demonstrations of some goodmind-reader, professional or amateurs it willhelp you to "catch the knack" at once.You will find that these experiments will tendto greatly and rapidly develop your psychicreceptivity in the direction of the higherphases of psychic phenomena. You will besurprised to find yourself catching flashes orglimpses of ^higher telepathy, or evenclairvoyance. I would advise every personwishing to cultivate the higher psychicfaculties, to begin by perfecting himself orherself in these simpler forms ofmind-reading. Besides the benefits obtained,the practice proves very interesting, andopens many doors to pleasant socialentertainment. But, never allow the desire forsocial praise or popularity, in these matters,


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to spoil you for serious investigation andexperiment.THE SECOND STEP OF DEVELOPMENT. Thestudent, having perfected himself in theexperiments along the lines of the first classof mind-reading, viz., where there is no actualphysical contact between the projector andrecipient, but where there is a close relation inspace between the two.Now, the thoughtful student will naturally wishto ask a question here, something like this:"You have told us that there is no realdifference between telepathy at a greatdistance, and that in which there is only theslightest difference in the position of theprojector and recipient, providing, always,that there is no actual physical contact. Thisbeing so, why your insistence upon the 'closerelation in space' just mentioned?—what is thereason for this nearness?" Well, it is like this:While there is no distinction of space in truetelepathy, still in experiments such as I shallnow describe, the physical nearness of theprojector enables him to concentrate moreforcibly, and also gives confidence to the newbeginner in receiving mind-currents. Thebenefit is solely that of the psychologicaleffect upon the minds of the two persons, andhas nothing to do with the actual power of thetelepathic waves. It is much easier for aperson to concentrate his thought and willupon a person in actual physical sight beforehim, than upon one out of sight. And,likewise, the recipient finds himself more


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confident and at ease when in the actualphysical of the person sending the thoughtsand will power. That is all there is to it. Whenthe persons have acquired familiarity withprojecting and receiving, then this obstacle isovercome, and long distances have no terrorfor them.The best way for the student to start in onthis class of mind-reading, is for him toexperiment occasionally while performing hisphysical contact mind-reading experiments.For instance, while engaged in searching foran object let him disengage his hand fromthat of the projector for a moment or so, andthen endeavor to receive the impressionswithout contact. (This should be done only inprivate experiments, not in public ones.) Hewill soon discover that he is receiving thoughtimpulses in spite of the lack of physicalcontact—faint, perhaps, but still perceptible. Alittle practice of this kind will soon convincehim that he is receiving the mental currentsdirect from brain to brain. This effect will beincreased if he arranges to have severalpersons concentrate their thoughts and willpower upon him during the experiment. Fromthis stage, he will gradually develop into thestage of the Willing Game.The Willing Game, quite popular in somecircles, is played by one person (usually blind-folded) being brought into the room in whicha number of persons have previously agreedupon some object to be found by him, theyconcentrating their thought firmly upon the


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object. The audience should be taught to notonly to think but also to actively "will" theprogress of the recipient from the start to thefinish of the hunt. They should "will" himalong each step of his journey, and then "will"his hand to the object itself wherever it behidden.An adept in the receiving end of the WillingGame will be able to perform all theexperiments that I have just pointed out toyou in the contact mind-reading class. In theWilling Game, you must remember that thereis no taking hold of hands or any other formof physical contact between projector andrecipient. The transmission of the mentalcurrents must be direct, from brain to brain.Otherwise, the two classes of experiments arealmost identical. There is the same "willing"toward the object on the part of theprojectors, and the same passive obedienceof the recipient. All the difference is that thecurrent now passes over the ether of space,as in the case of the wireless message,instead of over the wires of the nervoussystem of the two persons.The next step is that of "guessing" the nameof things thought of by the party. I can giveyou no better directions than those followedby the investigators in the Creery children, asrelated in a preceding chapter of this book.When you become sufficiently proficient in thisclass of mind-reading, you should be able toreproduce every experiment there mentioned,with at least a fair degree of success. It is all a


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matter of patience, perseverance andpractice.After you have become very proficient in thisclass of experiments, you may begin to tryexperiments at "long distance," that is wherethe projector is out of your physical presence.It makes no difference whether the distancebe merely that between two adjoining rooms,or else of miles of space. At first, however,nearness adds confidence in the majority ofcases. Confidence once gained, the distancemay be lengthened indefinitely, withoutimpairing the success of the experiments. Thelong distance experiments may consist eitherof the receiving of single words, names, etc.,or else distinct, clear messages or ideas.Some find it no more difficult to reproducesimile geometrical designs, such as circles,squares, triangles, etc., than to reproducewords or ideas.In long distance experiments, it is well for theprojector to write down the word or thoughthe wishes to transmit, and for the recipient towrite down the impressions he receives.These memoranda will serve as a record ofprogress, and will, moreover, give a scientificvalue to the experiments.Some experimenters have been quitesuccessful in experiments along the lines ofAutomatic Writing from living persons,produced by means of long distancetelepathy. In these cases the recipient sitspassively at the hour agreed upon for the


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experiment, and the projector concentratesintently upon a sentence, or severalsentences, one word at a time—at the sametime "willing" the other person to write theword. The famous investigator of psychicphenomena, the late W.T. Stead, editor of aLondon newspaper, who went down on the"Titanic," was very successful in experimentsof this kind. His written records of these arevery interesting and instructive.You will, of course, understand that in allcases of long distance telepathic experimentsthere should be an understanding betweenthe two persons regarding the time andduration of the experiment, so as to obtainthe best results. Personally, however, I haveknown of some very excellent results in whichthe receiving of the message occurred severalhours after the sending—thus showing thattelepathy is in a measure independent of time,as well as of space. But, as a rule, the bestresults are obtained when the two persons"sit" simultaneously.Do not rest content with accepting the reportsof others regarding these things. Try them foryourself. You will open up a wonderful worldof new experiences for yourself. But,remember always, you must proceed step bystep, perfecting yourself at each step beforeproceeding to the next.

LESSON VI.


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CLAIRVOYANT PSYCHOMETRY.

The word "clairvoyance" means "clearseeing." In its present usage it covers a widefield of psychic phenomena; and is used bydifferent writers to designate phases ofpsychic phenomena differing widely from eachother. The student is apt to become confusedwhen he meets these apparently conflictingdefinitions and usages. In the glossary of theSociety for Psychical Research, the term isdefined as: "The faculty or act of perceiving,as though visually, with some coincidentaltruth, some distant scene; it is usedsometimes, but hardly properly, fortranscendental vision, or the perception ofbeings regarded as on another plane ofexistence."Mrs. Henry Sidgwick, a distinguished writer onthe subject of psychic phenomena, in one ofher reports to the Society for PsychicalResearch, says: "The word clairvoyant isoften used very loosely and with widelydifferent meanings. I denote by it a faculty ofacquiring supernormally, but not by readingthe minds of persons present, a knowledge offacts such as we normally acquire by the useof our senses. I do not limit it to knowledgethat would normally be acquired by the senseof sight, nor do I limit it to a knowledge ofpresent facts. A similar knowledge of the past,and if necessary, of future facts may beincluded. On the other hand, I exclude the


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mere faculty of seeing apparitions or visions,which is sometimes called clairvoyance."The above definitive explanation of the termclairvoyance agrees with the idea of the bestauthorities, and distinguishes between thephenomena of clairvoyance and that oftelepathy, on the one hand; and between theformer and that of seeing apparitions, on theother hand. I, personally, accept thisdistinction as both scientific in form, and asagreeing with the facts of the case. You will,of course, see that the acceptance of theexistence of the astral senses throws light onmany obscure points about which the psychicresearchers are in doubt, and reconciles manyapparently opposing facts.All scientific authorities, as well as the bestoccultists, divide the phenomena ofclairvoyance into several well-distinguishedclasses. The following classification is simple,and indicates clearly the principal forms ofclairvoyant phenomena:(1) Simple Clairvoyance, in which theclairvoyant person merely senses the auricemanations of other persons, such as theauric vibrations, colors, etc.; currents ofthought-vibrations, etc.; but does not seeevents or scenes removed in space or timefrom the observer.(2) Clairvoyance in Space, in which theclairvoyant person senses scenes and eventsremoved in space from the observer; and,


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often also is able to sense such things evenwhen they are concealed or obscured byintervening material objects.(3) Clairvoyance in Time, in which theclairvoyant person senses scenes and eventswhich have had their original place in pasttime; or scenes and events which will havetheir original place in the future.I shall describe each of these three classes,with their many variations, as we reach themin their proper places in these lessons. Beforedoing so however, I wish to explain to you theseveral methods by which clairvoyant vision isusually induced. These methods may bedesignated as follows:(1) Psychometry, or the method of getting enrapport with the astral plane by means ofsome physical object connected with theperson, thing, or scene about which youdesire to be informed.(2) Crystal Gazing, etc., or the method ofgetting en rapport with the astral plane bymeans of gazing into a crystal, magic mirror,etc.(3) Clairvoyant Reverie, or the method ofgetting en rapport with the astral plane bymeans of psychic states in which the sights,sounds and thoughts of the material andphysical plane are shut out of consciousness.I shall now proceed to give the detailsregarding each one of these three great


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classes of methods inducing clairvoyantvision, or en rapport conditions with the astralplane.Psychometry. Psychometry is that form ofclairvoyant phenomena in which theclairvoyant gets into en rapport relation withthe astral plane by means of the connectinglink of material objects, such as bit of stone,piece of hair, article of wearing apparel etc.,which has had previous associations with thething, person or scene regarding whichclairvoyant vision is required.Without going into technical occultexplanations, I would say that the virtue ofthese articles consists entirely of theirassociative value. That is to say, they carry inthem certain vibrations of past experiencewhich serve as a connecting link, orassociated filament, with the thing which issought to be brought into the field ofclairvoyant vision.To reach clairvoyantly a thing, scene, orperson in this way is akin to the unwinding ofa ball of yarn, when you hold the loose end inyour hand. Or, it is like giving a keen-scenteddog a sniff at a handkerchief once carried bythe person whom you wish him to nose outfor you.A well-known authority on the subject ofpsychic phenomena has said on this point:"The untrained clairvoyant usually cannot findany particular astral picture when it is wanted,


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without some special link to put him enrapport with the subject required.Psychometry is an instance in point. It seemsas though there were a sort of magneticattachment or affinity between any particle ofmatter and the record which contains itshistory—an affinity which enables it to act as akind of conductor between that record and thefaculties of anyone who can read it. Forinstance, I once brought from Stonehenge atiny fragment of stone, not larger than a pin'shead, and on putting this into an envelopeand handing it to a psychometer who had noidea what it was, she at once began todescribe that wonderful ruin and the desolatecountry surrounding it, and then went on topicture vividly what were evidently scenesfrom its early history, showing that theinfinitessimal fragment had been sufficient toput her into communication with the recordsconnected with the spot from which it came.The scenes through which we pass in thecourse of our life seem to act in the same wayupon the cells of our brain as did the historyof Stonehenge upon that particle of stone.They establish a connection with those cellsby means of which our mind is put en rapportwith that particular portion of the records, andso we 'remember' what we have seen."One of the simplest and most common formof psychometry is that in which thepsychometrist is able to tell the physicalcondition of a person by means of holding tothe forehead, or even in the hand, sometrinket or small article such as a handkerchief


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recently worn on the person of the individualregarding whom the information is sought. Inthe case of some very sensitivepsychometrists, the psychic person "takes on"the condition of the other person whoseformer article of clothing, trinket, etc., she isholding. She will often actually experience thephysical pain and distress of the person, andwill be able to indicate from what ailment theperson is suffering. Some persons attain greatproficiency in this direction, and are a greatassistance to wise physicians who availthemselves of their services. Some successfulphysicians themselves possess this facultywell developed, and use it to great advantage,though, as a rule they keep very quiet aboutit, from fear of creating unfavorable commentfrom their fellow-physicians and from thegeneral public who "do not believe in suchtom-foolery."A step further is the power of somepsychometrists to correctly describe thepersonal characteristics, and even the pasthistory of persons with whom they come incontact, or whose "associated article" theyhave in their hands. Some very remarkableinstances of this phase of psychometry arerelated in the books containing the history ofclairvoyance. An interesting case is thatrelated by Zschokke, the eminent Germanwriter, who relates in his autobiography hiswonderful experience in this direction. Listento the story in his own words: "It hashappened to me occasionally at the firstmeeting with a total stranger, when I have


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been listening in silence to his conversation,that his past life up to the present moment,with many minute circumstances belonging toone or other particular scene in it, has comeacross me like a dream, but distinctly, entirelyinvoluntarily and unsought, occupying induration a few minutes. For a long time I wasdisposed to consider these fleeting visions asa trick of the fancy—the more so as mydream-vision displayed to me the dress andmovements of the actors, the appearance ofthe room, the furniture, and other accidentsof the scene; till on one occasion, in agamesome mood, I narrated to my family thesecret history of a seamstress who had justquitted the room. I had never seen the personbefore. Nevertheless, the hearers wereastonished, and laughed and would not bepersuaded but that I had a previousacquaintance with the former life of theperson, inasmuch as what I had stated wasperfectly true."I was not less astonished to find that mydream vision agreed with reality. I then gavemore attention to the subject, and as often aspropriety allowed of it, I related to thosewhose lives had so passed before me thesubstance of my dream-vision, to obtain fromthem its contradiction or confirmation. Onevery occasion its confirmation followed, notwithout amazement on the part of those whogave it. On a certain fair-day I went into thetown of Waldshut accompanied by two youngforesters, who are still alive. It was evening,and, tired with our walk, we went into an inn


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called the 'Vine.' We took our supper with anumerous company at the public table, whenit happened that they made themselves merryover the peculiarities of the Swiss inconnection with the belief in mesmerism,Lavater's physiognomical system, and thelike. One of my companions, whose nationalpride was touched by their raillery, begged meto make some reply, particularly in answer toa young man of superior appearance who satopposite, and had indulged in unrestrainedridicule."It happened that the events of this person'slife had just previously passed before mymind. I turned to him with the questionwhether he would reply to me with truth andcandor, if I narrated to him the most secretpassages of his history, he being as littleknown to me as I to him. That would, Isuggested, go something beyond Lavater'sphysiognomical skill. He promised that if I toldthe truth he would admit it openly. Then Inarrated the events with which my dreamvision had furnished me, and the table learnedthe history of the young tradesman's life, ofhis school years, his peccadilloes, and finally,of a little act of roguery committed by him onthe strongbox of his employer. I described theuninhabited room with its white walls, whereto the right of the brown door there had stoodupon the table the small money-chest, etc.The man, much struck, admitted thecorrectness of each circumstance—even,which I could not expect, of the last."


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The above incident is typical of this class ofpsychometry, and many persons have had atleast flashes of this phase of the power. Theonly remarkable thing about this particularcase is its faithfulness regarding details—thisshows a very fine development of the astralsense. The feature that makes itpsychometric, instead of pure clairvoyance, isthat the presence of the other person wasnecessary to produce the phenomenon—a bitof clothing would probably have answered aswell. Zschokke does not seem to have beenable to manifest time-clairvoyanceindependent of the presence of the personconcerned—he needs the associated link, orloose end of the psychic ball of yarn.Next in order in the list of the phenomena ofpsychometry is that in which thepsychometrist is able to describe a distantscene by means of a bit of mineral, plant, orsimilar object, once located at that place. Insuch cases, the psychometrist gets en rapportwith the distant scene by means of theconnecting link mentioned. Having obtainedthis, he is able to relate the events that arehappening on that scene at that particularmoment. Some very interesting cases arementioned in which the psychometrist hasbeen able to "spy" in on a certain place, bymeans of some small article which hasrecently been located in that place. Forinstance I once gave a young psychometrist apenholder from the office of a lawyer, a friendof mine, located about eight hundred milesfrom the psychometrist. She gave a perfect


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picture of the interior of the office, the sceneacross the street visible from the officewindow, and certain events that werehappening in the office at that moment, whichwere verified by careful inquiry as to personsand time. Every occultist, or investigator ofpsychic phenomena has experienced manycases of this kind.Another phase of psychometry is that in whichthe psychometer is able to sense theconditions existing underground, by means ofa piece of mineral or metal which originallywas located there. Some wonderful instancesof phychometric discernment of mines, etc.,have been recorded. In this phase ofpsychometry, all that is needed is a piece ofthe coal, mineral or metal which has comefrom the mine. Following up this psychic"lead" the psychometrist is able to describethe veins or strata of the surrounding land,although they have not yet been uncovered ordiscovered.Still another form of psychometricdiscernment is that in which thepsychometrist gets en rapport with the pasthistory of an object, or of its surroundings, bymeans of the object itself. In this way, thepsychometrist holding in his hand, or pressingto his head, a bullet from a battle field, is ableto picture the battle itself. Or, given a piece ofancient pottery or stone implement, thepsychometrist is able to picture the time andpeoples connected with the object in thepast—sometimes after many centuries are


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past. I once handed a good psychometrist abit of ornament taken from an Egyptianmummy over three thousand years old.Though the psychometrist did not know whatthe object was, or from whence it had come,she was able to picture not only the scenes inwhich the Egyptian had lived, but also thescenes connected with the manufacture of theornament, some three hundred years beforethat time—for it turned out that the ornamentitself was an antique when the Egyptian hadacquired it. In another case, I had thepsychometrist describe in detail the animallife, and the physical phenomena, of the agein which a fossil had existed whenalive—many thousands of years ago. In theproper place in this book, I will explain justhow it is possible to penetrate the secrets ofthe past by psychometric vision—that is tosay, the psychic laws making the samepossible.Some of the most remarkable of recordedinstances of this form of psychometry knownto the Western world are those related in theworks of a geologist named Denton, whosome fifty years ago conducted a series ofinvestigations into the phenomena ofpsychometry. His recorded experiments fillseveral volumes. Being a geologist, he wasable to select the best subjects for theexperiments, and also to verify and decideupon the accuracy of the reports given by thepsychometrists. His wife, herself, was a giftedpsychometrist, and it has been said of her, bygood authority, that "she is able, by putting a


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piece of matter (whatever be its nature) toher head, to see, either with her eyes closedor open, all that the piece of matter,figuratively speaking, ever saw, heard, orexperienced." The following examples will givea good idea of the Denton experiments, whichare typical of this class of psychometry.Dr. Denton gave the psychometrist a smallfragment broken from a large meteorite. Sheheld it to her head, and reported: "This iscurious. There is nothing at all to be seen. Ifeel as if I were in the air. No, not in the aireither, but in nothing, no place. I am utterlyunable to describe it; it seems high, howeverI feel as though I were rising, and my eyesare carried upwards; but I look around invain; there is nothing to be seen. I seeclouds, now, but nothing else. They are soclose to me that I seem to be in them. Myhead, and neck and eyes are affected. Myeyes are carried up, and I cannot roll themdown. Now the clouds appear lighter andlighter, and look as though the sunlight wouldburst through them. As the clouds separate, Ican see a star or two, and then the mooninstead of the sun. The moon seems near,and looks coarse and rough, and paler andlarger in size than I ever saw it before. What astrange feeling comes over me! It appears asif I were going right to the moon, and it looksas if the moon were coming to me. It affectsme terribly."Dr. Denton adds: "She was too much affectedto continue the experiment longer. Had this


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aerolite at some period of its history, comewithin the sphere of the moon's attraction,and had its velocity so increased that itsaugmented centrifugal force had carried it offinto space again, whence, drawn by thesuperior attractive force of the earth, it hadfallen and ended its career forever?"At another time, Dr. Denton tested thepsychometrist with a whalebone walking cane.She supposed it to be wood, but when shebegan to report her psychic impressions, theycame as follows: "I feel as though I were amonster. There is nothing of a tree about it,and it is useless for me to go further. I feellike vomiting. Now I want to plunge into thewater. I believe that I am going to have a fit.My jaws are large enough to take down ahouse at a gulp. I now know what this is—it iswhalebone. I see the inside of the whale'smouth. It has no teeth. It has a slimy look,but I only get a glimpse of it. Now, I see thewhole animal. What an awful lookingcreature."Another time, Dr. Denton gave thepsychometrist a minute piece of the enamel ofthe tooth of a mastodon, which had beenfound thirty feet below the surface of theearth. The psychometrist had not the slightestknowledge of the character of the tiny flake ofenamel handed her, but neverthelessreported: "My impression is that it is a part ofsome monstrous animal, probably part of atooth. I feel like a perfect monster, with heavylegs, unwieldy head, and very large body. I go


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down to a shallow stream to drink. I canhardly speak, my jaws are so heavy. I feel likegetting down on all fours. What a noise comesthrough the woods. I have an impulse toanswer it. My ears are very large andleathery, and I can almost fancy they flap inmy face as I move my head. There are someolder ones than I. It seems so out of keepingto be talking with these heavy jaws. They aredark brown, as if they had been completelytanned. There is one old fellow, with largetusks, that looks very tough. I see severalyounger ones. In fact, there is a whole herd.My upper lip moves curiously; I can flap it up.It seems strange to me how it is done. Thereis a plant growing here, higher than my head.It is nearly as thick as my wrist, very juicy,sweet, and tender—something like green cornin taste, but sweeter. It is not the taste itwould have to a human being—oh no! it issickenish, and very unpleasant to the humantaste." These instances might be multipliedindefinitely, but the principle is the same ineach. In my own experience, I gave a smallpiece from the Great Pyramid of Egypt to apsychometrist who was uneducated and whoknew nothing of ancient Egypt or its history.Notwithstanding this, she gave me such adetailed and complete account of the life ofancient Egypt, which was in such completeaccordance with the opinions of the bestauthorities, that I would hesitate aboutpublishing the report, for it certainly would beregarded as rank imposture by the averagescientific authority. Some day, however, Imay publish this.


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There are no special directions to be given thestudent in psychometry. All that can be doneis to suggest that each person should try theexperiments for himself, in order to find outwhether he has, or has not, the psychometricfaculty. It may be developed by the methodsthat will be given to develop all psychicpowers, in another part of this book. Butmuch will depend upon actual practice andexercise. Take strange objects, and, sitting ina quiet room with the object held to yourforehead, shut out all thoughts of the outsideworld, and forget all personal affairs. In ashort time, if the conditions are all right, youwill begin to have flashes of scenes connectedwith the history of the object. At first ratherdisconnected and more or less confused,there will soon come to you a clearing away ofthe scene, and the pictures will become quiteplain. Practice will develop the power. Practiceonly when alone, or when in the presence ofsome sympathetic friend or friends. Alwaysavoid discordant and inharmonious companywhen practicing psychic powers. The bestpsychometrists usually keep the physical eyesclosed when practicing their power.You have doubtless heard the sensing ofsealed letters spoken of as clairvoyance. Butthis is merely one form of psychometry. Theletter is a very good connecting medium inpsychometric experiments. I advise you tobegin your experiments with old letters. Youwill be surprised to discover how readily youwill begin to receive psychic impressions fromthe letters, either from the person who wrote


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them, or from the place in which they werewritten, or from some one connected with thesubsequent history. One of the mostinteresting experiments I ever witnessed inpsychometry, was a case in which a letter thathad been forwarded from place to place, untilit had gone completely around the globe, waspsychometrized by a young Hindu maiden.Although ignorant of the outside world, shewas able to picture the people and scenery ofevery part of the globe in which the letter hadtraveled. Her report was really an interesting"travelogue" of a trip around the world, givenin tabloid form. You may obtain someinteresting results in psychometrizing oldletters—but always be conscientious about it,and refrain from divulging the secrets that willbecome yours in the course of theseexperiments. Be honorable on the astralplane, as well as on the physical—more so,rather than less.

LESSON VII.CLAIRVOYANT CRYSTAL GAZING.

As I have informed you in the precedinglesson, Crystal Gazing is the second methodof getting en rapport with the astral plane.Under the general term "Crystal Gazing" Iinclude the entire body of phenomenaconnected with the use of the crystal, magic


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mirror, etc., the underlying principle being thesame in all of such cases.The crystal, etc., serves to focus the psychicenergy of the person, in such a way that theastral senses are induced to function morereadily than ordinarily. The student iscautioned against regarding the crystal, ormagic mirror, as possessing any particularmagic power in itself. On the contrary, thecrystal, or magic mirror serves merely as aphysical instrument for the astral vision, justas the telescope or microscope performs asimilar office for the physical vision. Somepersons are superstitious regarding thecrystal, and accord to it some weirdsupernatural power, but the true occultist,understanding the laws of the phenomenaarising from its use, does not fall into thiserror.But, notwithstanding what I have just said, Iwould be neglecting my full duty in the matterif I failed to call your attention to the fact thatthe continued use of a particular crystal oftenhas the effect of polarizing its molecules so asto render it a far more efficient instrument astime passes by. The longer the crystal is usedby one person, the better does it seem toserve the uses of that person. I agree withmany users of the crystal in their belief thateach person should keep his crystal for hisown personal use, and not allow it to be usedindiscriminately by strangers or persons not insympathy with occult thought. The crystaltends to become polarized according to the


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requirements of the person habitually using it,and it is foolish to allow this to be interferedwith.The use of crystals and other bright, shiningobjects, has been common to psychicinvestigators of all times, and in practically alllands. In the earlier days of the race, pieces ofclear quartz or shining pebbles were generallyemployed. Sometimes pieces of polishedmetal were so used. In fact, nearly everyobject capable of being polished has beenemployed in this way at some time, by someperson. In our own day, the same conditionexists. In Australia the native sooth-sayersand magicians employ water and othershining objects, and, in some cases, evenbright flame, sparks, or glowing embers. InNew Zealand, the natives frequently employdrops of blood held in the hollow of the hand.The Fijians fill a hole with water, and gaze intoit. South American tribes use the polishedsurface of black, or dark colored stones. TheAmerican Indians use water, or shining piecesor flint or quartz. Shining pieces of metal arefrequently used by the primitive races. Lang,writing on the subject, has said: "They stareinto a crystal ball; a cup; a mirror; a blot ofink (Egypt and India); a drop of blood (theMaoris of New Zealand); a bowl of water(American Indians); a pond (Roman andAfrican); water in a glass bowl (Fez); oralmost any polished surface, etc."In the present-day revival of interest incrystal-gazing among the wealthier classes of


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Europe and America, some of the high-pricedteachers have insisted upon their pupilspurchasing pure crystal globes, claiming thatthese alone are capable of serving thepurpose fully. But, as such crystals are veryexpensive, this advice has prevented manyfrom experimenting. But, the advice iserroneous, for any globe of clear quartz, oreven moulded glass, will serve the purposeequally well, and there is no need of spendingtwenty-five to fifty dollars for a pure crystalglobe.For that matter, you may obtain very goodresults from the use of a watch-crystal laidover a piece of black velvet. Some, today, usewith the best effect small polished pieces ofsilver or other bright metal. Others follow theold plan of using a large drop of ink, pouredinto a small butter plate. Some have smallcups painted black on the inside, into whichthey pour water—and obtain excellent resultstherefrom.Above all, I caution the student to pay noattention to instructions regarding thenecessity of performing incantations orceremonies over the crystal or other objectemployed in crystal-gazing. This is but a bit ofidle superstition, and serves no usefulpurpose except, possibly, that of giving theperson confidence in the thing. All ceremoniesof this kind have for their purpose merely theholding of the attention of the personinvestigating, and giving him confidencein-the result—the latter having a decided


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psychological value, of course.There are but few general directionsnecessary for the person wishing toexperiment in crystal gazing. The principalthing is to maintain quiet, and an earnest,serious state of mind—do not make a merrygame of it, if you wish to obtain results.Again, always have the light behind yourback, instead of facing you. Gaze calmly atthe crystal, but do not strain your eyes. Donot try to avoid winking your eyes—there is adifference between "gazing" and "staring,"remember. Some good authorities advisemaking funnels of the hands, and using themas you would a pair of opera glasses.In many cases, a number of trials are requiredbefore you will be able to get good results. Inothers, at least some results are obtained atthe first trial. It is a good plan to try to bringinto vision something that you have alreadyseen with the physical eyes—some familiarobject. The first sign of actual psychic seeingin the crystal usually appears as a cloudyappearance, or "milky-mist," the crystalgradually losing its transparency. In this milkycloud then gradually appears a form, or face,or scene of some kind, more or less plainlydefined. If you have ever developed aphotographic film or plate, you will know howthe picture gradually comes into view.W.T. Stead, the eminent English investigatorof psychic phenomena, has written as followsregarding the phenomena of crystal-gazing:


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"There are some persons who cannot lookinto an ordinary globular bottle without seeingpictures form themselves without any effort orwill on their part, in the crystal globe. Crystal-gazing seems to be the least dangerous andmost simple of all forms of experimenting.You simply look into a crystal globe the size ofa five-shilling piece, or a water-bottle which isfull of clear water, and which is placed so thattoo much light does not fall upon it, and thensimply look at it. You make no incantations,and engage in no mumbo-jumbo business;you simply look at it for two or three minutes,taking care not to tire yourself, winking asmuch as you please, but fixing your thoughtupon whatever you wish to see. Then, if youhave the faculty, the glass will cloud over witha milky mist, and in the centre the image isgradually precipitated in just the same way asa photograph forms on the sensitive plate."The same authority relates the followinginteresting experiment with the crystal: "MissX., upon looking into the crystal on twooccasions as a test, to see if she could see mewhen she was several miles off, saw not me,but a different friend of mine on eachoccasion. She had never seen either of myfriends before, but immediately identifiedthem both on seeing them afterward at myoffice. On one of the evenings on which weexperimented in the vain attempts tophotograph a 'double,' I dined with Madam C.and her friend at a neighboring restaurant. Asshe glanced at the water-bottle, Madam C.saw a picture beginning to form, and, looking


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at it from curiosity, described withconsiderable detail an elderly gentlemanwhom she had never seen before, and whomI did not in the least recognize from herdescription at the moment. Three hoursafterward, when the seance was over, MadamC., entered the room and recognized Mr.Elliott, of Messrs. Elliott & Fry, as thegentleman whom she had seen and describedin the water-bottle at the restaurant. Onanother occasion the picture was lessagreeable; it was an old man lying dead inbed with some one weeping at his feet; butwho it was, or what it related to, no oneknew."Andrew Lang, another prominent investigatorof psychic phenomena, gives the followinginteresting experiment in crystal-gazing: "Ihad given a glass ball to a young lady, MissBaillie, who had scarcely any success with it.She lent it to Miss Leslie, who saw a large,square, old-fashioned red sofa covered withmuslin (which she, afterward found in thenext country-house she visited). Miss Baillie'sbrother, a young athlete, laughed at theseexperiments, took the ball into his study, andcame back looking 'gey gash.' He admittedthat he had seen a vision—somebody heknew, under a lamp. He said that he woulddiscover during the week whether or not hehad seen right. This was at 5:30 on a Sundayafternoon. On Tuesday, Mr. Baillie was at adance in a town forty miles from his home,and met a Miss Preston. 'On Sunday,' he said,'about half-past-five, you were sitting under a


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standard lamp, in a dress I never saw youwear, a blue blouse with lace over theshoulders, pouring out tea for a man in blueserge, whose back was toward me, so that Ionly saw the tip of his mustache.' 'Why, theblinds must have been up,' said Miss Preston.'I was at Dulby,' said Mr. Baillie, and heundeniably was."Miss X., the well-known contributor to theEnglish magazine, "Borderland," several yearsago, made a somewhat extended inquiry intothe phenomena of crystal-gazing. From herexperiments, she made the followingclassification of the phenomena of crystal-vision, which I herewith reproduce for yourbenefit. Her classification is as follows:1. Images of something unconsciouslyobserved. New reproductions, voluntary orspontaneous, and bringing no freshknowledge to the mind.2. Images of ideas unconsciously acquiredfrom others. Some memory or imaginativeeffect, which does not come from the gazer'sordinary self. Revivals of memory.Illustrations of thought.3. Images, clairvoyant or prophetic. Picturesgiving information as to something past,present, or future, which the gazer has noother chance of knowing.As a matter of fact, each and every form orphase of clairvoyance possible under other


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methods of inducing clairvoyant vision, ispossible in crystal-gazing. It is a mistake toconsider crystal-gazing as a separate anddistinct form of psychic phenomena. Crystal-gazing is merely one particular form ormethod of inducing psychic or clairvoyantvision. If you will keep this in mind, you willavoid many common errors andmisunderstandings in the matter.In order to give you the benefit of as manypoints of view as possible, I shall now quotefrom an old English writer on the subject ofthe use of the crystal. I do this realizing thatsometimes a particular student will get morefrom one point of view, than fromanother—some particular phrasing will seemto reach his understanding, where others fail.The directions of the English authority are asfollows:"What is desired through the regular use ofthe translucent sphere is to cultivate apersonal degree of clairvoyant power, so thatvisions of things or events, past, present, andfuture, may appear clearly to the interiorvision, or eye of the soul. In the pursuit of thiseffort only, the crystal becomes at once botha beautiful, interesting and harmless channelof pleasure and instruction, shorn of dangers,and rendered conducive to mentaldevelopment."To the attainment of this desirable end,attention is asked to the following practicaldirections, which, if carefully followed, will


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lead to success:"(1) Select a quiet room where you will beentirely undisturbed, taking care that it is asfar as possible free from mirrors, ornaments,pictures, glaring colors, and the like, whichmay otherwise district the attention. The roomshould be of comfortable temperature, inaccordance with the time of year, neither hotnor cold. About 60 to 65 deg. Fahr. is suitablein most cases, though allowance can be madewhere necessary for natural differences in thetemperaments of various persons. Thus thin,nervous, delicately-organized individuals, andthose of lymphatic and soft, easy-going,passive types, require a slightly warmerapartment than the more positive class whoare known by their dark eyes, hair andcomplexion, combined with prominent joints.Should a fire, or any form of artificial light benecessary, it should be well screened off, soas to prevent the light rays from beingreflected in, or in any manner directlyreaching the crystal. The room should not bedark, but rather shadowed, or charged with adull light, somewhat such as prevails on acloudy or wet day."(2) The crystal should be placed on its standon a table, or it may rest on a black velvetcushion, but in either case it should bepartially surrounded by a black silk or similarwrap or screen, so adjusted as to cut off anyundesirable reflection. Before beginning toexperiment, remember that most frequentlynothing will be seen on the first occasion, and


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possibly not for several sittings; though somesitters, if strongly gifted with psychic powersin a state of unconscious, and sometimesconscious degree of unfoldment, may befortunate enough to obtain good results at thevery first trial. If, therefore, nothing isperceived during the first few attempts, donot despair or become impatient, or imaginethat you will never see anything. There is aroyal road to crystal vision, but it is open onlyto the combined password of Calmness,Patience, and Perseverance. If at the firstattempt to ride a bicycle, failure ensues, theonly way to learn is to pay attention to thenecessary rules, and to persevere daily untilthe ability to ride comes naturally. Thus it iswith the would-be seer. Persevere inaccordance with these simple directions, andsuccess will sooner or later crown yourefforts."(3) Commence by sitting comfortably withthe eyes fixed upon the crystal, not by a fiercestare, but with a steady, calm gaze, for tenminutes only, on the first occasion. In takingthe time it is best to hang your watch at adistance, where, while the face is clearlyvisible, the ticking is rendered inaudible. Whenthe time is up, carefully put the crystal awayin its case, and keep it in a dark place, underlock and key, allowing no one but yourself tohandle it. At the second sitting, which shouldbe at the same place, in the same position,and at the same time, you may increase thelength of the effort to fifteen minutes, andcontinue for this period during the next five or


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six sittings, after which the time may begradually increased, but should in no caseexceed one hour. The precise order ofrepetition is always to be followed until theexperimenter has developed an almostautomatic ability to readily obtain results,when it needs no longer to be adhered to."(4) Any person, or persons, admitted to theroom, and allowed to remain while you sit,should (a) keep absolute silence, and (b)remain seated at a distance from you. Whenyou have developed your latent powers,questions may, of course, be put to you byone of those present, but even then in a verygentle, or low and slow tone of voice; neversuddenly, or in a forceful manner."(5) When you find the crystal begins to lookdull or cloudy, with small pin-points of lightglittering therein, like tiny stars, you mayknow that you are commencing to obtain thatfor which you seek—viz., crystalline vision.Therefore, persevere with confidence. Thiscondition may, or may not, continue forseveral sittings, the crystal seeming at timesto alternately appear and disappear, as in amist. By and by this hazy appearance, in itsturn, will give place quite suddenly to ablindness of the senses to all else but a blueor bluish ocean of space, against which, as ifit were a background, the vision will be clearlyapparent."(6) The crystal should not be used soon aftertaking a meal, and care should be taken in


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matters of diet to partake only of digestiblefoods, and to avoid alcoholic beverages. Plainand nourishing food, and outdoor exercise,with contentment of mind, or love of simplicityin living, are great aids to success. Mentalanxiety, or ill-health, are not conducive to thedesired end. Attention to correct, breathing isof importance."(7) As regards the time at which events seenwill come to pass, each seer is usuallyimpressed with regard thereto; but, as ageneral rule, visions appearing in the extremebackground indicate time more remote, eitherpast or future, than those perceived nearer athand, while those appearing in theforeground, or closer to the seer, denote thepresent or immediate future."(8) Two principal classes of vision willpresent themselves to the sitter—(a) theSymbolic, indicated by the appearance ofsymbols such as a flag, boat, knife, gold, etc.,and (b) Actual Scenes and Personages, inaction or otherwise. Persons of a positive typeof organization, the more active, excitable,yet decided type, are most likely to perceivesymbolically, or allegorically; while those of apassive nature usually receive direct or literalrevelations. Both classes will find it necessaryto carefully cultivate truthfulness,unselfishness, gratitude for what is shown,and absolute confidence in the love, wisdom,and guidance of God Himself."As the student proceeds with the study of


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these lessons, he will become acquainted withvarious details and methods concerned withthe various phases of clairvoyance, whichknowledge he may then combine with theabove, the whole aiding him in the successfulmanifestation of the psychic phenomena ofcrystal-gazing, which, as I have said, ismerely one phase of clairvoyance and underthe same general laws and rules ofmanifestation. Remember that present, pastand future clairvoyance all is possible to thehighly developed crystal gazer.THE ASTRAL TUBE. Closely allied with thephenomena of crystal-gazing, and that ofpsychometry, is that which occultists know as"the astral tube," although this psychicchannel may be developed in ordinaryclairvoyance by means of the power ofconcentrated attention, etc. I shall not enterinto a detailed or technical discussion of theastral tube, at this place, but I wish to giveyou a general and comprehensive view of itand its workings.In case of the strong concentration of themind, in cases of psychometry or crystal-gazing, a channel or "line of force" is set up inthe astral substance which composes thebasis of the astral plane. This is like the wakeof a ship made on the surface of the waterthrough which the ship has passed. Or it islike a current of magnetic force in the ether. Itis caused by a polarization of the particlescomposing the astral substance, whichmanifest in a current of intense vibrations in


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the astral substance, which thus serve as aready channel for the transmission of psychicforce or astral energy.The astral tube serves as a ready conductor ofthe vibrations, currents and waves of energyon the astral plane which carry to the astralsenses of the person the perception of thethings, objects and scenes far removed fromhim in space and time. How these things farremoved in space and time are perceived bythe astral seer is explained in subsequentlessons of this course. At this place we areconcerned merely with the "channel" throughwhich the currents of energy flow, and whichhas been called the astral tube.As a writer well says: "Through the astral tubethe astral senses actually 'sense' the sights,and often the sounds, being manifested at adistance, just as one may see distant sightsthrough a telescope, or hear distant soundsthrough a telephone. The astral tube is usedin a variety of forms of psychic phenomena. Itis often used unconsciously, and springs intoexistence spontaneously, under the stronginfluence of a vivid emotion, desire or will. Itis used by the trained psychometrist, withoutthe use of any 'starting point,' or 'focalcentre,' simply by the use of his trained,developed and concentrated will. But its mostfamiliar and common use is in connection withsome object serving as a starting point orfocal centre. The starting point or focal centre,above mentioned, is generally either what isknown as the 'associated object' in the class


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of phenomena generally known aspsychometry, or else a glass or crystal ball, orsimilar polished surface, in what is known ascrystal-gazing."Another authority tells his readers that:"Astral sight, when it is cramped by beingdirected along what is practically a tube, islimited very much as physical sight would beunder similar circumstances, though ifpossessed in perfection it will continue toshow, even at that distance, the auras, andtherefore all the emotions and most of thethoughts of the people under observation. * ** But, it may be said, the mere fact that he isusing astral sight ought to enable him to seethings from all sides at once. And so it would,if he were using that sight in a normal wayupon an object which was fairly nearhim—within his astral reach, as it were; but ata distance of hundreds or thousands of milesthe case is very different. Astral sight gives usthe advantage of an additional dimension, butthere is still such a thing as position in thatdimension, and it is naturally a potent factorin limiting the use of the powers on thatplane. * * * The limitations resemble those ofa man using a telescope on the physicalplane. The experimenter, for example, has aparticular field of view which cannot beenlarged or altered; he is looking at his scenefrom a certain direction, and he cannotsuddenly turn it all around and see how itlooks from the other side. If he has sufficientpsychic energy to spare, he may dropaltogether the telescope he is using, and


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manufacture an entirely new one for himselfwhich will approach his objective somewhatdifferently; but this is not a course at all likelyto be adopted in practice."The student will find that, as we progress,many of these points which now seemcomplicated and obscure will gradually takeon the aspect of simplicity and clearness. Wemust crawl before we can walk, in psychicresearch as well as in everything else.

LESSON VIII.CLAIRVOYANT REVERIE.

In the preceding two chapters, I have askedyou to consider the first two methods ofinducing the clairvoyant phenomena, namely,Psychometry, and Crystal-Gazing,respectively. In these cases you have seenhow the clairvoyant gets en rapport with theastral plane by means of physical objects, inthe case of psychometric clairvoyance; or bymeans of a shining object, in the case ofcrystal gazing. Let us now consider the thirdmethod of inducing the clairvoyant conditionor state, i.e., by means of what may be calledClairvoyant Reverie, in which the clairvoyantgets en rapport with the astral plane bymeans of psychic states in which the sights,sounds and thoughts of the material andphysical plane are shut out of consciousness.


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The student of the general subject ofclairvoyance will soon be impressed with twofacts concerning the production of clairvoyantphenomena, namely, (1) that in the majorityof the recorded cases of the investigators theclairvoyant phenomena were obtained whenthe clairvoyant was in the state of sleep, or atleast semi-sleep or drowsiness, the visioningappearing more or less like a vivid dream; and(2) that in the case of the clairvoyantvoluntarily entering en rapport with the astralplane, he or she would enter into whatseemed to be a kind of trance condition, insome cases an absolute unconsciousness ofthe outside world being manifested. Thestudent, noting these facts, is apt to arrive atthe conclusion that all clairvoyance isaccompanied by the condition of sleep, ortrance, and that no clairvoyant phenomenaare possible unless this psychic condition isfirst obtained. But this is only a half-truth aswe shall see in a moment.In the first place, the student arriving at thisconclusion seems to have ignored the factthat the phenomena of psychometry andcrystal gazing, respectively, are as trueinstances of clairvoyance as are those whichare manifested in the sleep or trancecondition. It is true that some psychometristsproduce phenomena when they are in a stateof psychic quiescence, but, on the other hand,many clairvoyant psychometrists merelyconcentrate the attention on the object beforethem, and remain perfectly wide-awake andconscious on the physical plane. Likewise, the


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average crystal gazer remains perfectlywide-awake and conscious on the physicalplane. When the student takes these facts intoconsideration, he begins to see that thetrance condition, and similar psychic states,are simply particular methods of inducing theen rapport condition for the clairvoyant, andare not inseparably bound up with thephenomena of clairvoyance.As the student progresses, moreover, he willsee that even in the case of ClairvoyantReverie, the third method of inducing theastral en rapport condition, the clairvoyantdoes not always lose consciousness. In thecase of many advanced and exceptionallywell-developed clairvoyants, no trance orsleep condition is induced. In such cases theclairvoyant merely "shuts out" the outsideworld of sights, sounds and thoughts, by aneffort of trained will, and then concentratessteadily on the phenomena of the astral plane.For that matter, the skilled and advancedoccultist is able to function on the astral planeby simply shifting his consciousness from oneplane to another, as the typist shifts from thesmall letters of the keyboard to the capitalletters, by a mere pressure on the shift-key ofthe typewriter.The only reason that many clairvoyantsmanifesting along the lines of the thirdmethod, known as "clairvoyant reverie," fallinto the trance or sleep condition, is that theyhave not as yet acquired the rare art ofcontrolling their conscious attention at


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will—this is something that requires greatpractice. They find it easier to drop into thecondition of semi-trance, or semi-sleep, thanit is to deliberately shut out the outer world byan act of pure will. Moreover, you will find thatin the majority of the recorded cases of theinvestigators, the clairvoyance was more orless spontaneous on the part of theclairvoyant person, and was not produced byan act of will. As we proceed to consider thevarious forms and phases of clairvoyantphenomena, in these lessons, you will noticethis fact. There are but few recorded cases ofvoluntary clairvoyance in the books of theinvestigators—the skilled clairvoyants, andmore particularly the advanced occultists,avoid the investigators rather than seek them;they have no desire to be reported as "typicalcases" of interesting psychicphenomena—they leave that to the amateurs,and those to whom the phenomena come as awonderful revelation akin to a miracle. Thisaccounts for the apparent predominance ofthis form of clairvoyance—the secret is thatthe net of the investigators has caught only acertain kind of psychic fish, while the othersescape attention.All this would be of no practical importance,however, were it not for the fact that theaverage student is so impressed by the factthat he must learn to induce the trancecondition in order to manifest clairvoyantphenomena, that he does not even think ofattempting to do the work otherwise. Thepower of auto-suggestion operates here, as


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you will see by a moment's thought, anderects an obstacle to his advance alongvoluntary lines. More than this, this mistakenidea tends to encourage the student tocultivate the trance condition, or at least someabnormal psychic condition, by artificialmeans. I am positively opposed to theinducing of psychic conditions by artificialmeans, for I consider such practices mostinjurious and harmful for the person usingsuch methods. Outside of anything else, ittends to render the person negative,psychically, instead of positive—it tends tomake him or her subject to the psychicinfluence of others, on both the physical andastral plane, instead of retaining his or herown self-control and mastery.The best authorities among the occultistsinstruct their pupils that the state ofclairvoyant reverie may be safely andeffectively induced by the practice of mentalconcentration alone. They advice positivelyagainst artificial methods. A little commonsense will show that they are right in thismatter. All that is needed is that theconsciousness shall be focused to a point—become "one pointed" as the Hindu Yogis say.The intelligent practice of concentrationaccomplishes this, without the necessity ofany artificial methods of development, or theinduction of abnormal psychic states.If you will stop a moment and realize howeasily you concentrate your attention whenyou are witnessing an interesting play, or


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listening to a beautiful rendition of some greatmasterpiece of musical composition, or gazingat some miracle of art, you will see what Imean. In the cases just mentioned, while yourattention is completely occupied with theinteresting thing before you, so that you havealmost completely shut out the outer world ofsound, sight and thought, you are,nevertheless, perfectly wide awake and yourconsciousness is alert. The same thing is truewhen you are reading a very interestingbook—the world is shut out from yourconsciousness, and you are oblivious to thesights and sounds around you. At the risk ofbeing considered flippant, I would remind youof the common spectacle of two lovers sowrapped up in each other's company that theyforget that there is a smiling world of peoplearound them—time and space are forgotten tothe two lovers—to them there is only oneworld, with but two persons in it. Again, howoften have you fallen into what is known as a"brown study," or "day dream," in which youhave been so occupied with the thoughts andfancies floating through your mind, that youforgot all else. Well, then, this will give you acommon-sense idea of the state that theoccultists teach may be induced in order toenter into the state of en rapport with theastral plane—the state in which clairvoyance ispossible. Whether you are seekingclairvoyance by the method of psychometry,or by crystal gazing, or by clairvoyantreverie—this will give you the key to the state.It is a perfectly natural state—nothingabnormal about it, you will notice.


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To some who may think that I am laying toomuch stress on the undesirability of artificialmethods of inducing the clairvoyant condition,I would say that they are probably not awareof the erroneous and often harmful teachingson the subject that are being promulgated byignorant or misinformed teachers—"a littlelearning is a dangerous thing," in many cases.It may surprise some of my students to learnthat some of this class of teachers areinstructing their pupils to practice methods ofself-hypnosis by gazing steadily at a brightobject until they fall unconscious; or bygazing "cross eyed" at the tip of the nose, orat an object held between the two eyebrows.These are familiar methods of certain schoolsof hypnotism, and result in producing a stateof artificial hypnosis, more or less deep. Sucha state is most undesirable, not only byreason of its immediate effects, but also byreason of the fact that it often results in acondition of abnormal sensitiveness to the willof others, or even to the thoughts andfeelings of others, on both the astral and thephysical planes of life. I emphatically warn mystudents against any such practices, oranything resembling them.While I dislike to dwell on the subject, I feelthat I should call the attention of my studentsto the fact that certain teachers seek toproduce the abnormal psychic condition bymeans of exhausting breathing exercises,which make the person dizzy and sleepy. Thisis all wrong. While rhythmic breathingexercises have a certain value in psychic


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phenomena, and are harmless when properlypracticed, nevertheless such practices asthose to which I have alluded are harmful tothe nervous system of the person, and alsotend to induce undesirable psychic conditions.Again, some teachers have sought to havetheir students hold their breath forcomparatively long periods of time in order tobring about abnormal psychic states. Theslightest knowledge of physiology informs onethat such a practice must be harmful; itcauses the blood to become thick and impure,and deficient in oxygen. It certainly willproduce a kind of drowsiness, for the samereason that impure air in a room will do thesame thing—in both cases the blood stream ispoisoned and made impure. The purpose ofrational and normal breathing is to obviatejust this thing—so these teachers arereversing a natural law of the body, in orderto produce an abnormal psychic state. With allthe energy in me, I caution you against thiskind of thing.Along the same line, I protest and warn youagainst the practices advised by certainteachers of "psychic development," who seekto have their pupils induce abnormal physicaland psychic conditions by means of drugs,odor of certain chemicals, gases, etc. Suchpractices, as all true occultists know, belongto the clans of the Black Magicians, or devilworshippers, of the savage races—they haveno place in true occult teachings. Commonsense alone should warn persons away fromsuch things—but it seems to fail some of


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them. I assert without fear of intelligentcontradiction, that no true occultist evercountenances any such practices as these.All the true teachers are vigorous in theirdenunciation of such false teachings andharmful practices. In this same category, Iplace the methods which are taught by certainpersons, namely, that of inducing abnormalphysical and psychic condition of giddinessand haziness by means of "whirling" around ina circle until one drops from giddiness, or untilone "feels queer in the head." This is a revivalof the practices of certain fanatics in Persiaand India, who perform it as a religious riteuntil they fall into what they consider a "holysleep," but which is nothing more than anabnormal and unhealthful physical andpsychic condition. Such practices are adownward step, not an upward one. It seemsa pity that the necessity has arisen for suchwarnings as these—but my duty, as I see it, isvery plain. To all who are tempted to"develop" in this way, I say, positively,"DON'T!"The scientific, rational way to develop theastral senses is to first acquire the art ofconcentrating. Bear in mind that inconcentration the person, while shutting outthe impressions of the outside world ingeneral, nevertheless focuses andconcentrates his attention upon the onematter before him. This is quite a differentthing from making oneself sensitive to everycurrent of thought and feeling that may be in


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the psychic atmosphere. True concentrationrenders one positive, while the other methodsrender one negative. Contrary to the commonopinion, psychic concentration is a positivestate, not a negative—an active state, not apassive one. The person who is able toconcentrate strongly is a master, while onewho opens himself to "control," eitherphysical or astral, is more or less of a slave toother minds.The student who will begin by experimentingalong the lines of contact mind-reading, andwho then advances along the lines of truetelepathy, as explained in the earlier chaptersof this book, will have made a good start, andconsiderable progress, along the road toclairvoyant development. The rest will belargely a matter of exercise and practice. Hewill be aided by practicing concentration alongthe general lines of the best occult teaching.Such practice may consist of concentrationupon almost any physical object, keeping thething well before the mind and attention. Donot tire the attention by practicing too long atone time. The following general rules will helpyou in developing concentration:(1) The attention attaches more readily tointeresting rather than uninteresting things.Therefore, select some interesting thing tostudy and analyze by concentrated thought.(2) The attention will decline in strengthunless there is a variation in the stimulus.Therefore, keep up the power of


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concentration by either changing the objectyou are observing; or else by discoveringsome new properties, qualities or attributes init.(3) The things you wish to shut out ofconsciousness can best be shut out by yourconcentration upon some other thing—theattention can dwell only upon one thing at atime, if focused upon that one thing.(4) The power of applying your attention,steady and undissipated, to a single object, isa mark of strong will and superior mentaldiscipline—weak-minds cannot do this.Therefore, in cultivating concentratedattention you are really strengthening yourmind and will.(5) To develop concentrated attention, youmust learn to analyze, analyze, and analyzethe thing upon which you are bestowingconcentrated attention. Therefore, proceed byselecting an object and analyzing it byconcentrated attention, taking one part afteranother, one by one, until you have analyzedand mastered the whole object. Give it thesame attention that the lover gives his lovedone; the musician his favorite composition;the artist his favorite work of art; and thebooklover his favorite book—when you haveaccomplished this, you have masteredconcentration, and will be able to apply themind "one pointed" upon anything you wish,physical or astral; and, consequently will haveno trouble in shutting-out disturbing


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impressions.(6) Learn to concentrate on the physicalplane, and you will be able to concentrate onthe astral plane as well. By the one who hasmastered concentration, trances andabnormal psychic states will not be needed.The needle-pointed mind is able to pierce theastral veil at will, while the blunt-pointed mindis resisted and defeated by the astralenvelope, which while thin is very tough andunyielding.A well-known authority on psychicdevelopment has well said: "Occasionalflashes of clairvoyance sometimes come tothe highly cultured and spiritual-minded man,even though he may never have heard of thepossibility of training such a faculty. In hiscase such glimpses usually signify that he isapproaching that stage in his evolution whenthese powers will naturally begin to manifestthemselves. Their appearance should serve asan additional stimulus to him to strive tomaintain that high standard of moral purityand mental balance without whichclairvoyance is a curse and not a blessing toits possessor. Between those who are entirelyunimpressionable and those who are in fullpossession of clairvoyant power, there aremany intermediate stages. Students often askhow this clairvoyant faculty will first bemanifested in themselves—how they mayknow when they have reached the stage atwhich its first faint foreshadowings arebeginning to be visible. Cases differ so widely


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that it is impossible to give to this questionany answer that will be universally applicable."Some people begin by a plunge, as it were,and under some unusual stimulus becomeable just for once to see some striking vision;and very often in such a case, because theexperience does not repeat itself, the seercomes in time to believe that on that occasionhe must have been the victim of hallucination.Others begin by becoming intermittentlyconscious of the brilliant colors and vibrationsof the human aura; yet others find themselveswith increasing frequency seeing and hearingsomething to which those around them areblind and deaf; others, again, see faces,landscapes, or colored clouds floating beforetheir eyes in the dark before they sink to rest;while perhaps the commonest experience ofall is that of those who begin to recollect withgreater and greater clearness what they haveseen and heard on other planes during sleep."The authority in question gives the followingexcellent advice regarding the subject of thedevelopment of clairvoyant power and astralvisioning: "Now the fact is that there aremany methods by which it may be developed,but only one which can be at all safelyrecommended for general use—that of whichwe shall speak last of all. Among the lessadvanced nations of the world the clairvoyantstate has been produced in variousobjectionable ways; among some of thenon-Aryan tribes of India, by the use ofintoxicating drugs or the inhaling of stupefying


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fumes; among the dervishes, by whirling in amad dance of religious fervor until vertigo andinsensibility supervene; among the followersof the abominable practices of the Voodoocult, by frightful sacrifices and loathsome ritesof black magic. Methods such as these arehappily not in vogue in our own race, yet evenamong us large numbers of dabblers in thisancient art adopt some plan ofself-hypnotization, such as gazing at a brightspot, or the repetition of some formula until acondition of semi-stupefaction is produced;while yet another school among them wouldendeavor to arrive at similar results by theuse of some of the Indian systems ofregulation of the breath. All these methodsare unequivocally to be condemned as quiteunsafe for the practice of the ordinary manwho has no idea of what he is doing—who issimply making vague experiments in anunknown world. Even the method of obtainingclairvoyance by allowing oneself to bemesmerized by another person is one fromwhich I should myself shrink with the mostdecided distaste; and assuredly it shouldnever be attempted except under conditionsof absolute trust and affection between themagnetizer and the magnetized, and aperfection of purity in heart and soul, in mindand intention, such as is rarely to be seenamong any but the greatest of saints."Yet there is one practice which is advised byall religions alike—which if adopted carefullyand reverently can do no harm to any humanbeing, yet from which a very pure type of


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clairvoyance has sometimes been developed;and that is the practice of meditation. Let aman choose a certain time every day—a timewhen he can rely upon being quiet andundisturbed, though preferably in the daytimerather than at night—and set himself at thattime to keep his mind for a few minutesentirely free from all earthly thoughts of anykind whatever, and, when that is achieved, todirect the whole force of his being towards thehighest ideal that he happens to know. He willfind that to gain such perfect control ofthought is enormously more difficult than hesupposes, but when he attains it it cannot butbe in every way most beneficial to him, and ashe grows more and more able to elevate andconcentrate his thought, he may graduallyfind that new worlds are opening before hissight. As a preliminary training towards thesatisfactory achievement of such meditation,he will find it desirable to make a practice ofconcentration in the affairs of daily life—evenin the smallest of them. If he writes a letter,let him think of nothing else but that letteruntil it is finished; if he reads a book, let himsee to it that his thought is never allowed towander from his author's meaning. He mustlearn to hold his mind in check, and to bemaster of that also, as well as of his lowerpassions; he must patiently labor to acquireabsolute control of his thoughts, so that hewill always know exactly what he is thinkingabout, and why—so that he can use his mind,and turn it or hold it still, as a practicedswordsman turns his weapon where he will."


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I have given the above full quotation from thisauthority, not merely because that fromanother angle he states the same generalprinciples as do I; but also because hispersonal experience in actual clairvoyantphenomena is so extended and varied thatany word from him on the subject of thedevelopment of clairvoyant power must havea value of its own. While I differ from thisauthority on some points of detail of theoryand practice, nevertheless I gladly testify tothe soundness of his views as above quoted,and pass them on to my students for carefulconsideration and attention. The student willdo well to heed what he has to say, and tocombine such opinion with what I haveuttered in the earlier part of this chapter—there will be found a close agreement inprinciple and practice.And, now let us pass on to a consideration ofthe various forms and phases of theclairvoyant phenomena itself. The subject isfascinating, and I am sure that you will enjoythis little excursion into the strange realm ofthought regarding the astral phenomena ofclairvoyance. But, be sure to master eachlesson before proceeding to the rest, asotherwise you will have to turn back theleaves of the course in order to pick up somepoint of teaching that you have neglected.

LESSON IX.


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SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE.

In a previous chapter we have seen that thereare three well-defined classes of clairvoyance,namely, (1) Simple clairvoyance; (2)Clairvoyance in space; and (3) Clairvoyance inTime. I shall now consider these in sequence,beginning with the first, Simple Clairvoyance.In simple clairvoyance the clairvoyant personmerely senses the auric emanations of otherpersons, such as the auric vibrations, colors,etc., currents of thought vibrations, etc., butdoes not see events or scenes removed inspace or time from the observer. There areother phenomena peculiar to this class ofclairvoyance which I shall note as we progresswith this chapter.An authority on the subject of astralphenomena has written interestingly, asfollows, regarding some of the phases ofsimple clairvoyance: "When we come toconsider the additional facilities which it offersin the observation of animate objects, we seestill more clearly the advantages of astralvision. It exhibits to the clairvoyant the auraof plants and animals, and thus in the case ofthe latter their desires and emotions, andwhatever thoughts they may have, are allplainly shown before his eyes. But it is indealing with human beings that he will mostappreciate the value of this faculty, for he willoften be able to help them far more effectually


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when he guides himself by the informationwhich it gives him."He will be able to see the aura as far up asthe astral body, and though that leaves all thehigher part of a man still hidden from hisgaze, he will nevertheless find it possible bycareful observation to learn a good deal aboutthe higher part from what is within his reach.His capacity of examination of the ethericdouble will give him considerable advantage inlocating and classifying any defects ordiseases of the nervous system, while fromthe appearance of the astral body he will atonce be aware of all the emotions, passions,desires and tendencies of the man before him,and even of very many of his thoughts also."As he looks at a person he will see himsurrounded by the luminous mist of the astralaura, flashing with all sorts of brilliant colors,and constantly changing in hue and brilliancywith every variation of the person's thoughtsand feelings. He will see this aura flooded withthe beautiful rose-color of pure affection, therich blue of devotional feeling, the hard, dullbrown of selfishness, the deep scarlet ofanger, the horrible lurid red of sensuality, thelivid grey of fear, the black clouds of hatredand malice, or any of the other hundredfoldindications so easily to be read in it by thepracticed eye; and thus it will be impossiblefor any persons to conceal from him the realstate of their feelings on any subject. Not onlydoes the astral aura show him the temporaryresult of the emotion passing through it at the


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moment, but it also gives him, by anarrangement and proportion of its colorswhen in a condition of comparative rest, aclue to the general disposition and characterof its owner."By simple clairvoyance in a certain stage ofdevelopment the clairvoyant person is able tosense the presence of the human aura, bymeans of his astral sight. The human aura, asall students of occultism know, is that peculiaremanation of astral vibrations that extendsfrom each living human being, surroundinghim in an egg-shaped form for a distance oftwo to three feet on all sides. This peculiarnebulous envelope is not visible to thephysical sight, and may be discerned only bymeans of the astral senses. It, however, maybe dimly "felt" by many persons coming intothe presence of other persons, andconstitutes a personal atmosphere which issensed by other persons.The trained clairvoyant vision sees the humanaura as a nebulous hazy substance, like aluminous cloud, surrounding the person fortwo or three feet on each side of his body,being more dense near the body andgradually becoming less dense as it extendsaway from the body. It has a phosphorescentappearance, with a peculiar tremulous motionmanifesting through its substance. Theclairvoyant sees the human aura as composedof all the colors of the spectrum, thecombination shifting with the changing mentaland emotional states of the person. But, in a


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general way, it may be said that each personhas his or her or distinctive astral auric colors,depending upon his or her general characteror personality. Each mental state, oremotional manifestation, has its ownparticular shade or combination of shades ofauric coloring. This beautiful kaleidoscopicspectacle has its own meaning to theadvanced occultist with clairvoyant vision, forhe is able to read the character and generalmental states of the person by means ofstudying his astral auric colors. I haveexplained these auric colors, and theirmeanings, in my little book entitled "TheHuman Aura."The human aura is not always in a state ofcalm phosphorescence, however. On thecontrary, it sometimes manifests greatflames, like those of a fiery furnace, whichshoot forth in great tongues, and dart forthsuddenly in certain directions toward theobjects attracting them. Under greatemotional excitement the auric flames movearound in swift circling whirlpools, or elseswirl away from a centre. Again, it seems tothrow forth tiny glistening sparks of astralvibrations, some of which travel for greatdistance.The clairvoyant vision is also able to discernwhat is called the "prana aura" of a person. Bythis term is indicated that peculiar emanationof vital force which surrounds the physicalbody of each and every person. In fact, manypersons of but slight clairvoyant power, who


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cannot sense the auric colors, are able toperceive this prana-aura without trouble. It issometimes called the "health aura," or"physical aura." It is colorless, or rather aboutthe shade of clear glass, diamond, or water. Itis streaked with very minute, bristle-like lines.In a state of good health, these fine lines arestiff like toothbrush bristles; while, in cases ofpoor health, these lines droop, curl andpresent a furlike appearance. It is sometimesfilled with minute sparkling particles, like tinyelectric sparks in rapid vibratory motion.To the clairvoyant vision the prana-auraappears like the vibrating heated air arisingfrom a fire, or stove, or from the heated earthin summer. If the student will close his eyespartially, and will peer through narrowedeyelids, he will in all probability be able toperceive this prana-aura surrounding the bodyof some healthy, vigorous person—particularly if the person is sitting in a dimlight. Looking closely, he will see the peculiarvibratory motion, like heated air, at a distanceof about two inches from the body of theperson. It requires a little practice in order toacquire the knack of perceiving thesevibrations—a little experimenting in order toget just the right light on the person—butpractice will bring success, and you will berepaid for your trouble.In the same way, the student may by practiceacquire the faculty to perceiving his ownprana-aura. The simplest way to obtain thislast mentioned result is to place your fingers


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(spread out in fan-shape) against a blackbackground, in a dim light. Then gaze at thefingers with narrowed eyelids, and half-closedeyes. After a little practice, you will see a finethin line surrounding your fingers on allsides—a semi-luminous border of prana-aura.In most cases this border of aura is colorless,but sometimes a very pale yellowish hue isperceived. The stronger the vital force of theperson, the stronger and brighter will thisborder of prana-aura appear. The aurasurrounding the fingers will appear very muchlike the semi-luminous radiance surrounding agas-flame, or the flame of a candle, which isfamiliar to nearly everyone.Another peculiar phenomenon of the astralplane, perceived by clairvoyants of a certaindegree of development, is that which isknown as the "thought-form." A thought-formis a specialized grouping of astral substance,crystalized by the strong thought impulses orvibrations of a person thinking, or manifestingstrong emotional excitement. It is generatedin the aura of the person, in the first place,but is then thrown off or emitted from theatmosphere of the person, and is sent off intospace. A thought-form is really but a stronglymanifested thought or feeling which has takenform in the astral substance. Its power andduration depend upon the degree of force ofthe thought or feeling manifesting it.These thought-forms differ very materiallyfrom one another in form and generalappearance. The most common form is that of


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a tiny series of waves, similar to those causedby the dropping of a pebble in a pond ofwater. Sometimes the thought-form takes onthe appearance of a whirlpool, rotating arounda centre, and moving through space as well.Another form is like that of the pin-wheelfireworks, swirling away from its centre as itmoves through space. Still another form isthat of a whirling ring, like that emitted from asmokestack of a locomotive, or the mouth ofa smoker—the familiar "ring" of the smoker.Others have the form and appearance ofsemi-luminous globes, glowing like a giantopal.Other thought-forms are emitted in jet-likestreams, like steam puffed out from atea-kettle. Again, it will appear as a series ofshort puffs of steam-like appearance. Again, itwill twist along like an eel or snake. Anothertime it will twist its way like a corkscrew. Atother times it will appear as a bomb, or seriesof bombs projected from the aura of thethinker. Sometimes, as in the case of avigorous thinker or speaker, thesethought-form bombs will be seen to explodewhen they reach the aura of the personaddressed or thought of. Other forms appearlike nebulous things resembling an octopus,whose twining tentacles twist around theperson to whom they are directed.Each thought-form bears the same color thatit possessed when generated in the aura of itscreator, though the colors seem to fade withtime. Many of them glow with a dull


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phosphorescence, instead of bright coloring.The atmosphere of every person, and everyplace, is filled with various thought-formsemanated from the person, or persons whoinhabit the place. Each building has its owndistinctive thought-forms, which permeate itsmental atmosphere, and which are clearlydiscernible by trained clairvoyant vision.I here take the liberty of quoting a fewparagraphs from my little book entitled "TheAstral World," in which the phenomena of theastral plane are explained in detail. Ireproduce them here in order to show youwhat you may see on the astral plane whenyour clairvoyant vision is sufficientlydeveloped to function there. The words areaddressed to one who is sensing on theastral, plane."Notice that beautiful spiritual blue aroundthat woman's head! And see that ugly muddyred around that man passing her! Here comesan intellectual giant—see that beautiful goldenyellow around his head, like a nimbus! But Idon't exactly like that shade of red around hisbody—and there is too marked an absence ofblue in his aura! He lacks harmoniousdevelopment. Do you notice those greatclouds of semi-luminous substance, which areslowly floating along?—notice how the colorsvary in them. Those are clouds of thought-vibrations, representing the compositethought of a multitude of people. Also noticehow each body of thought is drawing to itselflittle fragments of similar thought-forms and


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energy. You see here the tendency ofthought-forms to attract others of theirkind—how like the proverbial birds of afeather, they flock together—how thoughtscome home, bringing their friends withthem—how each man creates his own thoughtatmosphere."Speaking of atmospheres, do you notice thateach shop we pass has its own peculiarthought-atmosphere? If you look into thehouses on either side of the street, you willsee that the same thing is true. The verystreet itself has its own atmosphere, createdby the composite thought of those inhabitingand frequenting it. No! do not pass down thatside street—its astral atmosphere is toodepressing, and its colors too horrible anddisgusting for you to witness just now—youmight get discouraged and fly back to yourphysical body for relief. Look at thosethought-forms flying through the atmosphere!What a variety of form and coloring! Somemost beautiful, the majority quite neutral intint, and occasionally a fierce, fiery onetearing its way along toward its mark.Observe those whirling and swirlingthought-forms as they are thrown off fromthat business-house. Across the street, noticethat great octopus monster of athought-form, with its great tentacles strivingto wind around persons and draw them intothat flashy dance-hall and dram-shop. Adevilish monster which we would do well todestroy. Turn your concentrated thoughtupon it, and will it out of existence—there,


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that's the right way; watch it sicken andshrivel! But, alas! more of its kind will comeforth from that place."The above represents the sights common tothe advanced occultist who explores the astralplane either in his astral body, or else bymeans of clairvoyant vision. To such a one,these sights are just as natural as those of thephysical plane to the person functioning byordinary physical senses. One is as natural asis the other—there is nothing supernaturalabout either.But there are other, and even more wonderfulattributes of astral visioning than that whichwe have just related. Let us take a generalsurvey of these, so that you may be familiarwith what you hope to see on the astral plane,and which you will see when you havesufficiently developed your clairvoyantpowers.What would you think if you could "seethrough a brick wall?" Well, the clairvoyant isable to do this. For that matter, the physical XRays are able to penetrate through solidsubstances, and the astral vibrations are evenmore subtle than these. It seems strange tohear of this kind of visioning as purely natural,doesn't it? It smacks strongly of the oldsupernatural tales—but it is as simply naturalas is the X Ray. The advanced clairvoyant isable to see through the most solid objects,and inside of anything, for that matter. Theastral senses register the subtle vibrations of


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the astral plane, just as the physical eyeregisters the ordinary rays of light-energy.You are able to see through solid glass, withthe physical eye, are you not? Well, in thesame way the clairvoyant sees through solidsteel or granite. It is all a matter of registeringvibrations of energy—nothing more, andnothing less.It is in this way that the trained clairvoyant isable to read from closed books, sealed letters,etc. In the same way, he is able to pierce thedense soil, and to see far down into thedepths of the earth, subject to certainlimitations. Veins of coal, oil, and othersubstances have been discoveredclairvoyantly in this way. Not everyclairvoyant is able to do this, but theadvanced ones have done it. In the sameway, the trained clairvoyant is able to seeinside the bodies of sick persons, and todiagnose their ailments, providing, of course,he is familiar with the appearance of theorgans in health and in disease, and has asufficient knowledge of physiology andpathology to interpret what he sees.An authority on the phenomena of the astralplane has written entertainingly and correctlyregarding this phase of simple clairvoyance,as follows: "The possession of thisextraordinary and scarcely expressible power,then, must always be borne in mind throughall that follows. It lays every point in theinterior of every solid body absolutely open tothe gaze of the seer, just as every point in the


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interior of a circle lies open to the gaze of aman looking down upon it. But even this is byno means all that it gives to its possessor. Hesees not only the inside as well as the outsideof every object, but also its astralcounterpart. Every atom and molecule ofphysical matter has its corresponding astralatoms and molecules, and the mass which isbuilt up out of these is clearly visible to theclairvoyant. Usually the astral form of anyobject projects somewhat beyond the physicalpart of it, and thus metals, stones and otherthings are seen surrounded by an astral aura."It will be seen at once that even in the studyof inorganic matter a man gains immensely bythe acquisition of this vision. Not only does hesee the astral part of the object at which helooks, which before was wholly hidden fromhim; not only does he see much more of itsphysical constitution than he did before, buteven what was visible to him before is nowseen much more clearly and truly. * * *Another strange power of which he may findhimself in possession is that of magnifying atwill the minutest physical or astral particle toany desired size, as through a microscope—though no microscope ever made, or everlikely to be made, possesses even athousandth part of this psychic magnifyingpower. By its means the hypotheticalmolecule and atom postulated by sciencebecome visible and living realities to the occultstudent, and on this closer examination hefinds them to be much more complex in theirstructure than the scientific man has yet


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realized them to be. It also enables him tofollow with the closest attention and the mostlively interest all kinds of electrical, magnetic,and other etheric action; and when some ofthe specialists in these branches of scienceare able to develop the power to see thesethings whereof they write so facilely, somevery wonderful and beautiful revelations maybe expected."This is one of the SIDDIHIS or powersdescribed in the Oriental books as accruing tothe man who devotes himself to spiritualdevelopment, though the name under which itis there mentioned might not be immediatelyrecognizable. It is referred to as 'the power ofmaking oneself large or small at will,' and thereason of a description which appears sooddly to reverse the fact is that in reality themethod by which this feat is performed isprecisely that indicated in these ancientbooks. It is by the use of temporary visualmachinery of inconceivable minuteness thatthe world of the infinitely little is so clearlyseen; and in the same way (or rather in theopposite way) it is by enormously increasingthe size of the machinery used that itbecomes possible to increase the breadth ofone's view—in the physical sense as well as,let us hope, in the moral—far beyond anythingthat science has ever dreamt of as possiblefor man. So that the alteration in size is reallyin the vehicle of the student's consciousness,and not in anything outside of himself; andthe old Oriental books have, after all, put thecase more accurately than have we. I have


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indicated, though only in the roughestoutlines, what a trained student, possessed offull astral vision, would see in the immenselywider world to which that vision introducedhim; but I have said nothing of thestupendous change in his mental attitudewhich comes from the experimental certaintyregarding matters of paramount importance.The difference between even the profoundestintellectual conviction, and the preciseknowledge gained by direct personalexperience, must be felt in order to beappreciated."Now, here at this place, I wish to call theattention of the student to the fact that whilethe above stated, phenomena strictly belongto the class of "simple clairvoyance," ratherthan to "space clairvoyance," or "timeclairvoyance" respectively, nevertheless thesame phenomena may be manifested inconnection with that of these other classes ofclairvoyance. For instance, in spaceclairvoyance the trained clairvoyant is able notonly to perceive things happening at points fardistant, but may also (if highly developedpsychically) be able to perceive the detailsjust mentioned as well as if he were at thatdistant point in person. Likewise, in timeclairvoyance, the clairvoyant may exercise thepower of magnifying vision regarding theobject far distant in time, just as if he wereliving in that time. So here as elsewhere wefind the different classes of phenomenashading and blending into each other. At thebest, classifications are useful principally for


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convenience in intellectual consideration andreasoning.In the same way, the clairvoyant maymanifest the above mentioned forms of astralsensing in cases when the astral vision hasbeen awakened by psychometry, or by crystalgazing, as well as in those cases in which thecondition has been brought about throughmeditation, or similar methods.I would also call the attention of the studentto the fact that in the above description of thephenomena of simple clairvoyance I havemade no mention of the sights of the astralplane which often become visible to theclairvoyant, and which have to do with astralbodies, astral shells, the disembodied souls ofthose who have passed on to other planes ofexistence, etc. I shall take up these matters inother parts of this course, and shall not dwellupon them in this place. But, I wish you toremember that the same power which enablesyou to sense other objects by means of theastral scenes, is the same that is called intooperation in the cases to which I have justreferred.The astral plane is a wonderful plane or fieldof being, containing many strange andwonderful beings and things. The personliving on the physical plane may visit theastral plane in the astral body; and, again, hemay perceive the happenings and scenes ofthat plane by means of the awakened anddeveloped astral senses. Some clairvoyants


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find it easy to function in one way, and somein another. It is reserved for the scientificallydeveloped clairvoyant to manifest thewell-rounded power to perceive thephenomena of the astral plane in its wonderfulentirety.Finally, you will see by reference to otherchapters of this book, that one may manifestsimple clairvoyant powers (as well as themore complicated ones of time and spaceclairvoyance) not only in the ordinary wakingstate, but also in the state of dreams. In fact,some of the most striking psychic phenomenaare manifested when the seer is in the dreamstate. As we proceed, you will find that everyphase of the great subject will fit into itsplace, and will be found to blend with everyother phase. There will be found a logicalharmony and unity of thought pervading thewhole subject. But we must use single bricksand stones as we build—it is only in thecompleted structure that we may perceive theharmonious unity.

LESSON X.CLAIRVOYANCE OF DISTANT SCENES.

Let us now consider the phenomena of thesecond class of clairvoyance, namely,Clairvoyance in Space.


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In space clairvoyance the clairvoyant personsenses scenes and events removed in spacefrom the observer—that is to say, scenes andevents situated outside of the range of thephysical vision of the clairvoyant. In this classalso is included certain phenomena in whichthe clairvoyant vision is able to discern thingsthat may be concealed or obscured byintervening material objects. Some of themany different forms and phases of spaceclairvoyance are illustrated by the followingexamples, all taken from the best sources.Bushnell relates the following well-known caseof space clairvoyance: "Capt. Yount, of NapaValley, California, one midwinter's night had adream in which he saw what appeared to be acompany of emigrants arrested by the snowsof the mountains, and perishing rapidly bycold and hunger. He noted the very cast ofthe scenery, marked by a huge, perpendicularfront of white-rock cliff; he saw the mencutting off what appeared to be tree-topsrising out of deep gulfs of snow; hedistinguished the very features of thepersons, and their look of peculiar distress.He awoke profoundly impressed by thedistinctness and apparent reality of thedream. He at length fell asleep, and dreamedexactly the same dream over again. In themorning he could not expel it from his mind.Falling in shortly after with an old huntercomrade, he told his story, and was only themore deeply impressed by him recognizingwithout hesitation the scenery of the dream.This comrade came over the Sierra by the


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Carson Valley Pass, and declared that a spotin the Pass exactly answered his description."By this the unsophistical patriarch wasdecided. He immediately collected a companyof men, with mules and blankets and allnecessary provisions. The neighbors werelaughing meantime at his credulity. 'Nomatter,' he said, 'I am able to do this, and Iwill, for I verily believe that the fact isaccording to my dream.' The men were sentinto the mountains one hundred and fiftymiles distant, direct to the Carson Valley Pass.And there they found the company exactly inthe condition of the dream, and brought in theremnant alive."In connection with this case, some leading,occultists are of the opinion that thethought-waves from the minds of thedistressed lost persons reached Capt. Yountin his sleep, and awakened his subconsciousattention. Having natural clairvoyant power,though previously unaware of it, he naturallydirected his astral vision to the source of themental currents, and perceived clairvoyantlythe scene described in the story. Not havingany acquaintance with any of the lost party, itwas only by reason of the mental currents ofdistress so sent out that his attention wasattracted. This is a very interesting case,because several psychic factors are involvedin it, as I have just said.In the following case, there is found aconnecting link of acquaintance with a person


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playing a prominent part in the scene,although there was no conscious appeal tothe clairvoyant, nor conscious interest on herpart regarding the case. The story iswell-known, and appears in the Proceedingsof the Society for Psychical Research. It runsas follows:Mrs. Broughton awoke one night in 1844, androused her husband, telling him thatsomething dreadful had happened in France.He begged her to go asleep again, and nottrouble him. She assured him that she wasnot asleep when she saw what she insisted ontelling him—what she saw in fact. She saw,first, a carriage accident, or rather, the sceneof such an accident which had occurred a fewmoments before. What she saw was the resultof the accident—a broken carriage, a crowdcollected, a figure gently raised and carriedinto the nearest house, then a figure lying ona bed, which she recognized as the Duke ofOrleans. Gradually friends collected aroundthe bed—among them several members of theFrench royal family—the queen, then the king,all silently, tearfully, watching the evidentlydying duke. One man (she could see his back,but did not know who he was) was a doctor.He stood bending over the duke, feeling hispulse, with his watch in the other hand. Andthen all passed away, and she saw no more."As soon as it was daylight she wrote down inher journal all that she had seen. It wasbefore the days of the telegraph, and two ormore days passed before the newspapersannounced 'The Death of the Duke of


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Orleans.' Visiting Paris a short timeafterwards, she saw and recognized the placeof the accident, and received the explanationof her impression. The doctor who attendedthe dying duke was an old friend of hers, andas he watched by the bed his mind had beenconstantly occupied with her and her family."In many cases of clairvoyance of this kind,there is found to exist a strong connecting linkof mutual interest or affection, over whichflows the strong attention-arousing force ofneed or distress, which calls into operationthe clairvoyant visioning.In other cases there seems to be lacking anyconnecting link, although, even in such casesthere may be a subconscious link connectingthe clairvoyant with the scene or event. Aninteresting example of this last mentionedphase is that related by W.T. Stead, theEnglish editor and author, as having happenedto himself. Mr. Stead's recital follows:"I got into bed and was not able to go tosleep. I shut my eyes and waited for sleep tocome; instead of sleep, however, there cameto me a succession of curiously vividclairvoyant pictures. There was no light in theroom, and it was perfectly dark; I had myeyes shut also. But, notwithstanding thedarkness, I suddenly was conscious of lookingat a scene of singular beauty. It was as if Isaw a living miniature about the size of amagic-lantern slide. At this moment I canrecall the scene as if I saw it again. It was a


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seaside piece. The moon was shining uponthe water, which rippled slowly on to thebeach. Right before me a long mole ran intothe water. On either side of the mole irregularrocks stood up above the sea-level. On theshore stood several houses, square and rude,which resembled nothing that I had ever seenin house architecture. No one was stirring, butthe moon was there and the sea and thegleam of the moonlight on the rippling waters,just as if I had been looking on the actualscene. It was so beautiful that I rememberthinking that if it continued I should be sointerested in looking at it that I should nevergo asleep. I was wide awake, and at the sametime that I saw the scene I distinctly heardthe dripping of the rain outside the window.Then, suddenly without any apparent objector reason, the scene changed."The moonlight sea vanished, and in us placeI was looking right into the interior of areading-room. It seemed as if it had beenused as a school-room in the daytime, andwas employed as a reading-room in theevening. I remember seeing one reader whohad a curious resemblance to Tim Harrington,although it was not he, hold up a magazine orbook in his hand and laugh. It was not apicture—it was there. The scene was just as ifyou were looking through an opera glass; yousaw the play of the muscles, the gleaming ofthe eye, every movement of the unknownpersons in the unnamed place into which youwere gazing. I saw all that without openingmy eyes, nor did my eyes have anything to do


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with it. You see such things as these as if itwere with another sense which is more insideyour head than in your eyes. The pictureswere apropos of nothing; they had beensuggested by nothing I had been reading ortalking of; they simply came as if I had beenable to look through a glass at what wasoccurring somewhere else in the world. I hadmy peep, and then it passed."An interesting case of space clairvoyance isthat related of Swedenborg, on the bestauthority. The story runs that in the latter partof September, 1759, at four o'clock oneSaturday afternoon, Swedenborg arrivedhome from England, and disembarked at thetown of Gothenburg. A friend, Mr. W. Castel,met him and invited him to dinner, at whichmeal there were fifteen persons gatheredaround the table in honor of the guest. At sixo'clock, Swedenborg went out a few minutes,returning to the table shortly thereafter,looking pale and excited. When questioned bythe guests he replied that there was a fire atStockholm, two hundred miles distant, andthat the fire was steadily spreading. He grewvery restless, and frequently left the room. Hesaid that the house of one of his friends,whose name he mentioned, was already inashes, and that his own was in danger. Ateight o'clock, after he had been out again, hereturned crying out cheerfully, "Thankheaven! the fire is out, the third door from myhouse!" The news of the strange happeninggreatly excited the people of the town, andthe city officials made inquiry regarding it.


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Swedenborg was summoned before theauthorities, and requested to relate in detailwhat he had seen. Answering the questionsput to him, he told when and how the firestarted; how it had begun; how, when andwhere it had stopped; the time it had lasted;the number of houses destroyed or damaged,and the number of persons injured. On thefollowing Monday morning a courier arrivedfrom Stockholm, bringing news of the fire,having left the town while it was still burning.On the next day after, Tuesday morning,another courier arrived at the city hall with afull report of the fire, which correspondedprecisely with the vision of Swedenborg. Thefire had stopped precisely at eight o'clock, thevery minute that Swedenborg had soannounced it to the company.A similar case is related by Stead, having beentold to him by the wife of a Dean in theEpiscopal Church. He relates it as follows: "Iwas staying in Virginia, some hundred milesaway from home, when one morning abouteleven o'clock I felt an overpoweringsleepiness, which drowsiness was quiteunusual, and which caused me to lie down. Inmy sleep I saw quite distinctly my home inRichmond in flames. The fire had broken outin one wing of the house, which I saw withdismay was where I kept all my best dresses.The people were all trying to check theflames, but it was no use. My husband wasthere, walking about before the burninghouse, carrying a portrait in his hand.Everything was quite clear and distinct,


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exactly as if I had actually been present andseen everything. After a time, I woke up, andgoing down stairs told my friends the strangedream I had had. They laughed at me, andmade such game of my vision that I did mybest to think no more about it. I was travelingabout, a day or two passed, and whenSunday came I found myself in a churchwhere some relatives were worshipping.When I entered the pew they looked verystrange, and as soon as the service was overI asked them what was the matter. 'Don't bealarmed,' they said, 'there is nothing serious.'Then they handed me a post-card from myhusband which simply said, 'House burnedout; covered by insurance.' The day was thedate upon which my dream occurred. Ihastened home, and then I learned thateverything had happened exactly as I hadseen it. The fire had broken out in the wing Ihad seen blazing. My clothes were all burned,and the oddest thing about it was that myhusband, having rescued a favorite picturefrom the burning building, had carried it aboutamong the crowd for some time before hecould find a place in which to put it safely."Another case, related by Stead, the sameauthority, runs as follows: "The father of ason who had sailed on the 'Strathmore,' anemigrant ship outbound from the Clyde sawone night the ship foundering amid the waves,and saw that his son, with some others, hadescaped safely to a desert island near whichthe wreck had taken place. He was so muchimpressed by this vision that he wrote to the


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owner of the 'Strathmore' telling him what hehad seen. His information was scouted; butafter a while the 'Strathmore' becameoverdue, and the owner became uneasy. Dayfollowed day, and still no tidings of themissing ship. Then like Pharaoh's butler, theowner remembered his sins one day, andhunted up the letter describing the vision. Itsupplied at least a theory to account for theship's disappearance. All outward-bound shipswere requested to look out for any survivorson the island indicated in the vision. Theseorders were obeyed, and the survivors of the'Strathmore' were found exactly where thefather had seen them."The Society for Psychical Research mentionsanother interesting case, as follows: "Dr.Golinski, a physician of Kremeutchug, Russia,was taking an after-dinner nap in theafternoon, about half-past three o'clock. Hehad a vision in which he saw himself calledout on a professional visit, which took him toa little room with dark hangings. To the rightof the door he saw a chest of drawers, uponwhich rested a little paraffine lamp of specialpattern, different from anything he had everseen before. On the left of the door, he saw awoman suffering from a severe hemorrhage.He then saw himself giving her professionaltreatment. Then he awoke, suddenly, and sawthat it was just half-past four o'clock. Withinten minutes after he awoke, he was called outon a professional visit, and on entering thebedroom he saw all the details that hadappeared to him in his vision. There was the


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chest of drawers—there was the peculiarlamp—there was the woman on the bed,suffering from the hemorrhage. Upon inquiry,he found that she had grown worse betweenthree and four o'clock, and had anxiouslydesired that he come to her about that time,finally dispatching a messenger for him athalf-past four, the moment at which heawoke."Another, and a most peculiar, phase of spaceclairvoyance is that in which certain personsso awaken the astral senses of other personsthat these persons perceive the first person—usually in the form of seemingly seeing theperson present in the immediate vicinity, justas one would see a ghostly visitor. In somecases there is manifested double-clairvoyance, both persons visioningclairvoyantly; in other cases, only the person"visited" astrally senses the occurrence. Thefollowing cases illustrate this form of spaceclairvoyance.W.T. Stead relates the case of a lady wellknown to him, who spontaneously developedthe power of awakening astral perception inothers. She seemed to "materialize" in theirpresence. Her power in this direction becamea source of considerable anxiety and worry toher friends to whom she would payunexpected and involuntary visits, frighteningthem out of their wits by the appearance ofher "ghost." They naturally thought that shehad died suddenly and had appeared to themin ghostly form. The lady, her self, was totally


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unconscious of the appearance, though sheadmitted that at or about the times of theappearances she had been thinking of herfriends whom she visited astrally.The German writer, Jung Stilling, mentionsthe case of a man of good character who haddeveloped power of this kind, but also wasconscious of his visits. He exerted the powerconsciously by an effort of will, it seems. Atone time he was consulted by the wife of asea captain whose husband was on a longvoyage to Europe and Asia (sailing fromAmerica). His ship was long overdue, and hiswife was quite worried about him. Sheconsulted the gentleman in question, and hepromised to do what he could for her. Leavingthe room he threw himself on a couch andwas seen by the lady (who peered throughthe half-opened door) to be in a state ofsemi-trance. Finally he returned and told herthat he had visited her husband in acoffee-house in London, and gave herhusband's reasons for not writing, adding thather husband would soon return to America.When her husband returned several monthslater, the wife asked him about the matter. Heinformed her that the clairvoyant's report wascorrect in every particular. Upon beingintroduced to the clairvoyant, the captainmanifested great surprise, saying that he hadmet the man in question on a certain day in acoffee-house in London, and that the man hadtold him that his wife was worried about him,and that he had told the man that he hadbeen prevented from writing for several


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reasons, and that he was on the eve ofbeginning his return voyage to America. Headded that when he looked for the man a fewmoments afterwards, the stranger hadapparently lost himself in the crowd,disappeared and was seen no more by him.The Society for Psychical Research givesprominence to the celebrated case of themember of the London Stock Exchange,whose identity it conceals under the initials"S.H.B.," who possessed this power ofvoluntary awakening of astral sight in othersby means of his "appearance" to them. Theman relates his experience to the Society asfollows: "One Sunday night in November,1881, I was in Kildare Gardens, when I willedvery strongly that I would visit in the spirittwo lady friends, the Misses X., who wereliving three miles off, in Hogarth Road. I willedthat I should do this at one o'clock in themorning, and having willed it, I went to sleep.Next Thursday, when I first met my friends,the elder lady told me that she woke up andsaw my apparition advancing to her bedside.She screamed and woke her sisters, who alsosaw me." (The report includes the signedstatement of the ladies, giving the time of theappearance, and the details thereof.)"Again, on December 1, 1882, I was atSouthall. At half-past nine I sat down toendeavor to fix my mind so strongly upon theinterior of a house at Kew, where Miss V. andher sister lived, that I seemed to be actually inthe house. I was conscious, but was in a kind


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of mesmeric sleep. When I went to bed thatnight, I willed to be in the front bedroom ofthat house at Kew at twelve; and to make mypresence felt by the inmates. Next day I wentto Kew. Miss V.'s married sister told me,without any prompting from me, that she hadseen me in the passage going from one roomto another at half-past nine o'clock, and thatat twelve, when she was wide awake, she sawme come to the front bedroom, where sheslept, and take her hair, which is very long,into my hand. She said I then took her hand,and gazed into the palm intently. She said,'You need not look at the lines, for I neverhave any trouble.' She then woke her sister.When Mrs. L. told me this, I took out theentry that I had made the previous night andread it to her. Mrs. L. is quite sure she wasnot dreaming. She had only seen me oncebefore, two years previously. Again, on March22, 1884, I wrote to Mr. Gurney, of thePsychical Research Society, telling him that Iwas going to make my presence felt by MissV., at 44 Norland Square, at midnight. Tendays afterwards, I saw Miss V., when shevoluntarily told me that on Saturday atmidnight, she distinctly saw me, when shewas quite wide awake."The records of the psychic researchers arefilled with numerous accounts of cases inwhich similar astral projections have occurredwhen the person was on his or her death-bed,but was still alive. It would seem that undersuch circumstances the astral senses are verymuch freer from the interference of the


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physical senses, and tend to manifest verystrongly in the form of appearances topersons in whom the dying person is attachedby the ties of affection. Many who read thiscourse have known of cases of this kind, forthey are of quite frequent occurrence.The student will notice that in the majority ofthe cases cited in this chapter the clairvoyanthas been in a state of sleep, or semi-sleep—often in a dream condition. But you mustnot jump to the conclusion that this conditionis always necessary for the manifestation ofthis phenomenon. On the contrary, theadvanced and well developed clairvoyantsusually assume merely a condition of deepreverie or meditation, shutting out the soundsand thoughts of the physical plane, so as tobe able to function better on the astral plane.The reason that so many recorded cases haveoccurred when the clairvoyant person wasasleep, and the vision appeared as a dream, issimply because in such a condition thephysical senses of the person are stilled andat rest, and there is less likelihood ofinterference from them, and a betteropportunity for the astral senses to functioneffectively. It is like the familiar cases in whichone becomes so wrapped up in viewing abeautiful work of art, or in listening to abeautiful musical rendition, that he or sheforgets all about the sights and sounds of theworld outside. One sometimes gets into thissame condition when reading an interestingbook, or when witnessing an interesting play.


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When the psychic powers are concentratedupon any one channel of vision, the others failto register a clear impression. The same ruleholds good on the astral plane, as on thephysical.There are certain psychic conditions which areespecially conducive to the manifestation ofclairvoyant phenomena, as all students of thesubject know very well. These conditions aresomewhat hard to induce, at least until theclairvoyant has had considerable experienceand practice. But, in the state of sleep, theperson induces the desired conditions, inmany cases, though he is not consciouslydoing so. As might naturally be expected,therefore, the majority of the recorded casesof clairvoyance have occurred when theclairvoyant person has been asleep.I should also state, once more, that in manycases in which the clairvoyant has witnessedthe "appearance" of another person, as in thecases such as I have just mentioned, there isalways the possibility of the person havingactually appeared in his astral body,unconsciously to himself of course. No onebut a skilled occultist is able to distinguishbetween cases of this kind. The line betweenthis class of clairvoyance and astralappearance is very thin, and, in fact, the twoclasses of phenomena shade and blend intoeach other. In reality, when one gets down tobottom principles, there is very little differencebetween the actual appearance in the astralbody, and the strong projection of one's


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presence by means of will, conscious orunconscious, along the lines of awakening theclairvoyant vision of others. To attempt toexplain the slight points of difference here,would only involve the student in a mass oftechnical description which would tend toconfuse, rather than to enlighten him—fromthis I refrain.

LESSON XI.CLAIRVOYANCE OF THE PAST

The third great class of clairvoyantphenomena, known as Time Clairvoyance, isdivided into two sub-classes, as follows: (1)Past-Time Clairvoyance; and (2) Future-TimeClairvoyance. The characteristics of each ofthese sub-classes is indicated by its name.Past-Time Clairvoyance, as indicated by thename, is that class of clairvoyant phenomenawhich is concerned with the perception offacts, events and happenings of past time.Whether the happening is that of five minutesago, or of five thousand years ago, theprinciples involved are precisely the same.One is no more or less wonderful than is theother.Many students confess themselves perplexedwhen they are first confronted with this classof phenomena. While they find it


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comparatively easy to see how by astralvision the clairvoyant is able to sense eventshappening at that moment, though thousandsof miles away from the observer, they cannotat first understand how one can "see" a thingno longer in existence, but which disappearedfrom sight thousands of years ago. Naturally,they ask to be informed how this is possible,before proceeding to develop the faculty itself.Believing that this question is now beingasked by you, the student of these lessons, Ishall pause for a few moments and show you"just how" this wonderful thing becomespossible to the clairvoyant.In the first place, it would undoubtedly beimpossible to perceive a thing, even by astralvision, if it had entirely disappeared at sometime in the past—this would be beyond allnatural powers, astral as well as physical. But,as a matter of fact, the things of the past havenot entirely disappeared, but, on the contrary,while having disappeared on the physicalplane they still exist on the astral plane. I shallendeavor to explain this wonderful fact ofnature to you in plain terms, although itbelongs to one of the most mysterious classesof the occult facts of the universe.In the occult teachings we find manyreferences to "the Akashic Records," or whatis sometimes called "the records of the AstralLight." Without going into technical occultdefinitions and explanations, I will say to youthat the gist of this occult teaching is that inthat high form of the universal substance


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which is called the Universal Ether there isfound to be recorded all the happenings of theentire World Cycle of which the present timeis a part. All that has happened from the verybeginning of this World Cycle, millions ofyears ago, is preserved on these astralrecords, and may be read by the advancedclairvoyant or other person possessing occultpowers of this kind. These records perish onlywith the termination of a World Cycle, whichwill not happen for millions of years yet tocome.To those who cannot accept thereasonableness of this occult fact, I would saythat there are analogies to be found on otherplanes of natural manifestation. For instance,as astronomy teaches us, a star may beblotted out of existence, and yet its light willpersist long after (perhaps until the end ofworld-time) traveling along at the rate of186,000 miles each second. The light that wenow see coming from the distant stars has leftthose stars many years ago—in some casesthousands of years ago. We see them not asthey are now, but as they were at the time theray of light left them, many years ago; Theastronomers inform us that if one of thesestars had been [*Transcribers Note: Textmissing from original] sands) of years ago,we would still see it as in actual existence. Infact, it is believed that some of these starswhich we see twinkling at night have actuallybeen blotted out hundreds of years ago. Wewill not be aware of this fact until the lightrays suddenly cease reaching us, after their


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journey of billions of miles and hundreds ofyears. A star blotted out of existence todaywould be seen by our children, and children'schildren.The heat from a stove will be felt in a roomlong after the stove has been removed fromit. A room will long contain the odor ofsomething that has been removed from it. Itis said that in one of the old mosques ofPersia there may be perceived the faint odorof the musk that was exposed there hundredsof years ago—the very walls are saturatedwith the pungent odor. Again, is it notwonderful that our memories preserve theimages of the sounds and forms which wereplaced there perhaps fifty years and moreago? How do these memory images surviveand exist? Though we may have thought ofthe past thing for half a lifetime, yet, suddenlyits image flashes into our consciousness.Surely this is as wonderful as the AkashicRecords, though its "commonness" makes itlose its wonderful appearance to us.Camille Flammarion, the eminent Frenchastronomer, in a book written overtwenty-five years ago, and which is now outof print, I believe, pictured a possiblecondition of affairs in which a disembodiedsoul would be able to perceive events thathappened in the past, by simply taking aposition in space in which he would be able tocatch the light-waves that emanated from adistant planet at that particular time in thepast the happenings of which he wanted to


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perceive. The little book was called"Lumen"—I advise you to read it, if you canfind it in your public libraries.Another writer has written somewhat alongthe same lines. I herewith give you aquotation from him, that you may get the ideahe wishes to express—it will help you in yourconception of the Akashic Records. He says:"When we see anything, whether it be thebook we hold in our hands, or a star millionsof miles away, we do so by means of avibration in the ether, commonly called a rayof light, which passes from the object seen toour eyes. Now the speed with which thisvibration passes is so great—about 186,000miles in a second—that when we areconsidering any object in our own world wemay regard it as practically instantaneous.When, however, we come to deal withinterplanetary distances we have to take thespeed of light into consideration, for anappreciable period is occupied in traversingthese vast spaces. For example, it takes eightminutes and a quarter for light to travel to usfrom the sun, so that when we look at thesolar orb we see it by means of a ray of lightwhich left it more than eight minutes ago.From this follows a very curious result. Theray of light by which we see the sun canobviously report to us only the state of affairs'which existed in that luminary when it startedon its journey, and would not be in the leastaffected by anything that happened after itleft; so that we really see the sun not as it is,but as it was eight minutes ago. That is to say


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that if anything important took place in thesun—the formation of a new sun-spot, forinstance—an astronomer who was watchingthe orb through his telescope at the timewould be unaware of the incident while it washappening, since the ray of light bearing thenews would not reach him until more thaneight minutes later."The difference is more striking when weconsider the fixed stars, because in their casethe distances are so enormously greater. Thepole star, for example, is so far off that light,traveling at the inconceivable speed abovementioned, takes a little more than fifty yearsto reach our eyes; and from that follows thestrange but inevitable inference that we seethe pole star not as or where it is at thismoment, but as and where it was fifty yearsago. Nay, if tomorrow some cosmiccatastrophe were to shatter the pole star intofragments, we should still see it peacefullyshining in the sky all the rest of our lives; ourchildren would grow up to middle-age andgather their children about them in turn beforethe news of that tremendous accident reachedany terrestial eye. In the same way there areother stars so far distant that light takesthousands of years to travel from them to us,and with reference to their condition ourinformation is therefore thousands of yearsbehind time. Now carry the argument a stepfarther. Suppose that we were able to place aman at the distance of 186,000 miles from theearth, and yet to endow him with thewonderful faculty of being able from that


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distance to see what was happening here asclearly as though he were still close beside us.It is evident that a man so placed would seeeverything a second after the time it reallyhappened, and so at the present moment hewould be seeing what happened a secondago. Double that distance, and he would betwo seconds behind time, and so on; removehim to the distance of the sun (still allowinghim to preserve the same mysterious powerof sight) and he would look down and watchyou doing not what you are doing now, butwhat you were doing eight minutes and aquarter ago. Carry him to the pole star, andhe would see passing before his eyes theevents of fifty years ago; he would bewatching the childish gambols of those who atthe same moment were really middle-agedmen. Marvellous as this may sound, it isliterally and scientifically true, and cannot bedenied."Flammarion, in his story, called "Lumen,"makes his spirit hero pass at will along the rayof light from the earth, seeing the things ofdifferent eras of earth-time. He even madehim travel backward along that ray, thusseeing the happenings in reverse order, as ina moving picture running backward. Thisstory is of the greatest interest to theoccultist, for while the Akashic Records arenot the same as the light records, yet theanalogy is so marked in many ways that theoccultist sees here another exemplification ofthe old occult axiom that "as above, so below;as below, so above."


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I take the liberty of quoting here from my littlebook, "The Astral World," in order to give yousome further idea of the nature of theserecords in the Astral Light. The reader issupposed to be travelling in his astral body,having the phenomena of the astral pointedout to him by a competent occultist acting ashis guide. The occultist-guide says to thestudent: "Changing our vibrations, we findourselves entering a strange region, thenature of which you at first fail to discern.Pausing a moment until your astral visionbecomes attuned to the peculiar vibrations ofthis region, you will find that you arebecoming gradually aware of what may becalled an immense picture gallery, spreadingout in all directions, and apparently bearing adirect relation to every point of space on thesurface of the earth. At first, you find itdifficult to decipher the meaning of this greatarray of pictures. The trouble arises from thefact that they are arranged not one after theother in sequence on a flat plane; but ratherin sequence, one after another, in a peculiarorder which may be called the order of'X-ness in space,' because it is neither thedimension of length, breadth, or depth—it ispractically the order of the fourth dimension inspace, which cannot be described in terms ofordinary spatial dimension. Again, you findupon closely examining the pictures that theyare very minute—practically microscopic insize—and require the use of the peculiarmagnifying power of astral vision to bringthem up to a size capable of being recognizedby your faculty of visual recognition.


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"The astral vision, when developed, is capableof magnifying any object, material or astral, toan enormous degree—for instance, thetrained occultist is able to perceive thewhirling atoms and corpuscles of matter, bymeans of this peculiarity of astral vision.Likewise, he is able to plainly perceive manyfine vibrations of light which are invisible tothe ordinary sight. In fact, the peculiar AstralLight which pervades this region is due to thepower of the astral vision to perceive andregister these fine vibrations of light. Bringthis power of magnifying into operation, andyou will see that each of the little points anddetails of the great world picture so spreadbefore you in the Astral Light is really acomplete scene of a certain place on earth, ata certain period in the history of the earth. Itresembles one of the small views in a series ofmoving pictures—a single view of a roll-film. Itis fixed, and not in motion, and yet we canmove forward along the fourth dimension, andthus obtain a moving picture of the history ofany point on the surface of the earth, or evencombine the various points into a largemoving picture, in the same way. Let us provethis by actual experiment. Close your eyes fora moment, while we travel back in time (so tospeak) along the series of these astralrecords—for, indeed, they travel back to thebeginning of the history of the earth. Nowopen your eyes! Looking around you, youperceive the pictured representation ofstrange scenes filled with persons wearing apeculiar garb—but all is still, no life, nomotion.


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"Now, let us move forward in time, at muchhigher rate than that in which the astral viewswere registered. You now see flying beforeyou the great movement of life on a certainpoint of space, in a far distant age. From birthto death you see the life of these strangepeople, all in the space of a few moments.Great battles are fought, and cities rise beforeyour eyes, all in a great moving picture flyingat a tremendous speed. Now stop, and thenlet us move backward in time, still gazing atthe moving pictures. You see a strange sight,like that of 'reversing the film' in a movingpicture. You see everything moving backward—cities crumbling into nothingness, menarising from their graves, and growingyounger each second until they are finallyborn as babes—everything moving backwardin time, instead of forward. You can thuswitness any great historical event, or followthe career of any great personage from birthto death—or backward. You will notice,moreover, that everything issemi-transparent, and that accordingly youcan see the picture of what is going on insideof buildings as well as outside of them.Nothing escapes the Astral Light Records.Nothing can be concealed from it. By travelingto any point in time, on the fourth dimension,you may begin at that point, and see amoving picture of the history of any part ofthe earth from that time to the present—oryou may reverse the sequence by travellingbackward, as we have seen. You may alsotravel in the Astral, on ordinary spacedimensions, and thus see what happened


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simultaneously all over the earth, at anyspecial moment of past-time, if you wish."Now, I do not for a moment wish you tounderstand that the above experience ispossible to every clairvoyant who is able tosense past-time events and happenings. Onthe contrary, the above experience is possibleonly to the advanced occultist, or to thestudent whom he may take with him on anastral trip, in the astral body. The clairvoyantmerely catches glimpses of certain phasesand fields of the great astral record region orstate. For that matter, the ordinaryclairvoyant merely sees a reflection of the trueAstral-Light pictures—a reflection similar tothat of a landscape reflected in a pond.Moreover, this reflection may be (andfrequently is) disturbed as if by the ripplesand waves of the pond in which the landscapeis reflected. But, still, even the ordinaryclairvoyant is able to secure results which arewonderful enough in all truth, and which fartranscend the power of the person functioningon the physical plane alone.Past-time clairvoyance is frequently inducedby means of psychometry, in which theclairvoyant is able to have "the loose end" tounwind the ball of time. But, still, in somecases the clairvoyant is able to get en rapportwith the astral records of past-time by theordinary methods of meditation, etc. The mainobstacle in the last mentioned case is thedifficulty of coming in contact with the exactperiod of past-time sought for—in


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psychometry, the vibrations of the"associated object" supplies the missing-link.Lacking the "associated object," theclairvoyant may obtain the link by bringinginto the imagination some associated scene ofthat time—something else that happenedabout the same time. All that is needed is toget hold of something associated in space orin time with the sought for scene. All that isneeded is the "loose end" of association.Sometimes the clairvoyant senses somepast-time experience, the place and time ofwhich is unknown to him. In such cases, it isnecessary for him to get hold of some "looseend" by which he may work out the solution.For instance, the picture of a certain buildingor personage, or historical happening, maygive the key to the mystery.In very high forms of past-time clairvoyance,the clairvoyant is able not only to perceive theactual happenings of the past, but also toactually sense the thought and feelings of theactors therein—for these, too, are recordedon the astral plane. In other cases, theclairvoyant person is able to picture scenesand happenings relating to his pastincarnations, even though he is not able tosense other past-time events and scenes.But, here again, many good past-timeclairvoyants are not able to catch theseglimpses of their own past lives, though ableto perceive those of other persons. All thesevariations are due to certain technicaldifferences into which I cannot go into detail


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at this place. Again some persons are able toperceive events that have happened topersons present before them, but are not ableto contact past-time events in the ordinaryway. There are a thousand-and-one variationsin clairvoyant work. Only the highly advancedoccultist is master of all of them. But, stillevery one may develop himself or herself,from humble beginnings.In concluding this lesson, I wish to call yourattention to the following advice from a manwell advanced in the knowledge of the astralplane. He says: "It would be well for allstudents to bear in mind that occultism is theapotheosis of common-sense, and that everyvision that comes to them is not necessarily apicture from the Akashic Records, nor everyexperience a revelation from on high. It is farbetter to err on the side of healthy skepticism,than of over-credulity, and it is an admirablerule never to hunt about for an occultexplanation of anything when a plain andobvious physical one is available. Our duty isto endeaveor to keep our balance always, andnever to lose our self-control, but to take areasonable, common-sense view of whatevermay happen to us, so that we may be wiseroccultists, and more useful helpers than wehave ever been before."We find examples of all degrees of the powerto see into this 'memory of nature,' from thetrained man who can consult the records forhimself at will, down to the person who getsnothing but occasional vague glimpses, or has


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perhaps had only once such glimpse. Buteven the man who possesses this faculty onlypartially and occasionally still finds it of thedeepest interest. The psychometer, whoneeds an object physically connected with thepast in order to bring it all into life againaround him; and the crystal-gazer who cansometimes direct his less certain astraltelescope to some historic scene of long ago,may both derive the greatest enjoyment fromthe exercise of their respective gifts, eventhough they may not always understandexactly how their results are obtained, andmay not have them fully under control underall circumstances."In many cases of the lower manifestations ofthese powers we find that they are exercisedunconsciously. Many a crystal-gazer watchesscenes from the past without being able todistinguish them from visions of the present.And many a vaguely-psychic person findspictures constantly arising before his eyes,without ever realizing that he is in effectpsychometrizing the various objects aroundhim, as he happens to touch them or standnear them. An interesting variant of this classof psychics is the man who is able topsychometrize persons only, and notinanimate objects as is more usual. In mostcases this faculty shows itself erratically, sothat such a psychic will, when introduced to astranger, often see in a flash some prominentevent in that stranger's earlier life, but onsimilar occasions will receive no specialimpression. More rarely we meet with


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someone who gets detailed visions of the pastlife of nearly everyone whom he encounters.It may easily happen, moreover, that aperson may see a picture of the past withoutrecognizing it as such, unless there happensto be in it something which attracts specialattention, such as a figure in armor, or inantique costume. Its probable, therefore, thatoccasional glimpses of these astral reflectionsof the akashic records are commoner than thepublished accounts would lead us to believe."I would say to my students, make hasteslowly. Do not try to rush development toorapidly. Perfect and develop yourself in oneline of psychic power, before seeking another.Take things cooly, and do not lose your headbecause you happen to achieve somewonderful phenomena. Do not becomeconceited and vain-glorious. And, finally, donot prostitute your powers to ignoble ends,and make a cheap show of them. Bycheapening and prostituting the higherpsychic powers, the student frequently endsby losing them altogether. Moderation in allthings is the safe policy. And it always is wellfor the occultist to resist temptation to use hispowers for unworthy, sensational, or purelyselfish purposes.

LESSON XII.CLAIRVOYANCE OF THE FUTURE


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Future-Time Clairvoyance, as indicated by itsname, is that class of clairvoyant phenomenawhich is concerned with the perception offacts, events and happenings of future time.In this class of clairvoyant phenomenanaturally fall all genuine cases of prophecy,prevision, foretelling, second-sight, etc.History, theological and secular, is filled withinstances of the foretelling of the future byprophets, wise men, and others. By many,such powers are generally regarded assupernatural or divine. Without wishing tocombat such theories and beliefs, I would saythat the advanced occultists account for allsuch phenomena under the general laws ofclairvoyance.But while the phenomena itself is very wellknown, and is accepted as genuine in evenmany cases in which past-time clairvoyance isdoubted, still it is even more difficult toexplain than is past-time clairvoyance basedon the Akashic Records or the Astral Light. Tothe person not well versed in occultknowledge, and esoteric principles, it isdeemed impossible to intelligently account forthe perception of an event before it hasactually happened—perhaps years before itsactual happening. While I cannot hope tomake this matter absolutely clear to theperson who is not an advanced student ofoccultism, still I shall try to throw at leastsome light on the underlying principles of thiswonderful class of occult phenomena. The


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main point for the student to realize is thatthere are natural laws underlying thisphenomenon, and that it is not a matter ofsupernatural power, or necessarily of divinespecial dispensation.In the first place, in some of the simpler formsof future-time clairvoyance, there is merely ahigh development of subconscious reasoningfrom analogy. That is to say, thesubconscious mental faculties of the personreason out that such-and-so being the case,then it follows that so-and-so will result,unless something entirely unexpected shouldprevent or intervene. This is merely anextension of certain forms of reasoning thatwe perform ordinarily. For instance, we see achild playing with a sharp tool, and wenaturally reason that it will cut itself. We see aman acting in certain ways which generallylead to certain ends, and we naturally reasonthat the expected result will occur. The moreexperience that the observer has had, and thekeener his faculty of perception and his powerof deductive reasoning, the wider will be therange of his power in the direction ofpredicting future results from presenthappenings and conditions.In this connection, we must remember thatthe ordinary clairvoyant has easier access tohis subconscious mentality than has theaverage person. The subconscious mindperceives and notes many little things that theconscious mind overlooks, and therefore hasbetter data from which to reason. Moreover,


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as all students of the subconscious know,these wonderful subconscious mentalfactulties have a very highly developed powerof reasoning deductively from a given premiseor fact. In fact, the subconscious faculties arealmost perfect reasoning machines, providingthey are supplied with correct data in the firstplace. Much of the so-called "intuitivereasoning" of persons arises from theoperations of the subconscious mentalfaculties just mentioned.But, you may say, this is very interesting, butit is not clairvoyance. Certainly, good student,but still clairvoyance plays an important parteven in this elementary form of prevision andfuture-seeing. You must remember that byclairvoyant vision the real thoughts andfeelings of a person may be perceived. But,unless the attention of the clairvoyant isspecially directed to this, the conscious minddoes not note it, and the matter reaches thesubconscious faculties without interference orconscious knowledge on the part of theclairvoyant. This being so, it will be seen thatthe subconscious mind of the clairvoyant isable to reason deductively, in such cases, farbeyond the power of even the subconsciousmind of the ordinary person—it has fuller dataand more complete material to work upon, ofcourse.It has become a proverb of the race that"coming events cast their shadows before";and many persons frequently have littleflashes of future-time seeing without realizing


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that they are really exercising elementaryclairvoyant powers. The combination of evena simple form of clairvoyance and an activesubconscious mind will often produce verywonderful results—although not of course themore complex phenomena of full clairvoyanceand prevision. Some persons have claimedthat even this form of prevision impliessomething like fate or predestination, but thisis not fully true, for we must remember thefact that in some cases it is possible to so actin accordance with a clairvoyant warning ofthis kind that the impending calamity may beescaped. But, on the other hand, we mustalso remember that every event is the resultof certain preceding events, without which itcould not have happened, and which existingit must happen unless some new elementintervenes. There is such a thing as cause andeffect, we must remember—and if we canreason clearly from one to the other withsufficient clearness, then we may actuallyprophesy certain things in advance, alwaysmaking allowance for the intervention of theunexpected.An authority says on this phase of thequestion: "There is no doubt whatever that,just as what is happening now is the result ofcauses set in motion in the past, so what willhappen in the future will be the result ofcauses already in operation. Even on thisplane of life we can calculate that if certainactions are performed, certain results willfollow; but our reckoning is constantly liableto be disturbed by the interference of factors


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which we have not been able to take intoaccount. But if we raise our consciousness tothe higher planes we can see much furtherinto the results of our actions. We can trace,for example, the effect of a casual word, notonly upon the person to whom it wasaddressed, but through him on many othersas it is passed on in widening circles, until itseems to have affected the whole country;and one glimpse of such a vision is moreefficient than any number of moral precepts inimpressing upon us the necessity of extremecircumspection in thought, word, and deed.Not only can we from that plane see thus fullythe result of every action, but we can also seewhere and in what way the results of otheractions apparently quite unconnected with itwill interfere with and modify it. In fact, it maybe said that the results of all causes atpresent in action are clearly visible—that thefuture, as it would be if no entirely newcauses should arise, lies open before ourgaze."New causes of course do arise, becauseman's will is free; but in the case of allordinary people the use which they make oftheir freedom may be calculated beforehandwith considerable accuracy. The average manhas so little real will that he is very much thecreature of circumstances; his action inprevious lives places him amid certainsurroundings, and their influence upon him isso very much the most important factor in hislife-story that his future course may bepredicted with almost mathematical certainty.


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With the developed man the case is different;for him also the main events of life arearranged by his past actions, but the way inwhich he will allow them to affect him, themethods by which he will deal with them andperhaps triumph over them—these are all hisown, and they cannot be foreseen even onthe mental plane except as probabilities."Looking down on man's life in this way fromabove, it seems as though his free will couldbe exercised only in certain crises in hiscareer. He arrives at a point in his life wherethere are obviously two or three alternativecourses open before him; he is absolutely freeto choose which of them he pleases, andalthough someone who knew his naturethoroughly well might feel almost certain whathis choice would be, such knowledge on hisfriend's part is in no sense a compelling force.But when he has chosen, he has to gothrough with it and take the consequences;having entered upon a particular path he may,in many cases, be forced to go on for a verylong time before he has any opportunity toturn aside. His position is somewhat like thatof a driver of a train; when he comes to ajunction he may have the points set either thisway or that, and so can pass on to whicheverline he pleases, but when he has passed on toone of them he is compelled to run on alongthe line which he has selected until he reachesanother set of points, where again anopportunity of choice is offered to him."But, interesting and wonderful as this phase


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of future-time clairvoyance undoubtedly is, itpales before the fuller and more completephases. And, in the latter, we must lookelsewhere for the explanation—or approach toan explanation. The explanation of this higherform of future-time clairvoyance must belooked for in a new conception of the natureand meaning of time. It is difficult to approachthis question without becoming at onceinvolved in technical metaphysical discussion.As an example of this difficulty, I invite you toconsider the following from Sir Oliver Lodge,in his address to the British Association, atCardiff, several years ago. While what he saysis very clear to the mind of a person trainedalong these lines of subtle thought, it will bealmost like Greek to the average person. SirOliver Lodge said:"A luminous and helpful idea is that time is buta relative mode of regarding things; weprogress through phenomena at a certaindefinite pace, and this subjective advance weinterpret in an objective manner, as if eventsmoved necessarily in this order and at thisprecise rate. But that may be only one modeof regarding them. The events may be insome sense of existence always, both pastand future, and it may be we who are arrivingat them, not they which are happening. Theanalogy of a traveller in a railway train isuseful; if he could never leave the train noralter its pace he would probably consider thelandscapes as necessarily successive and beunable to conceive their co-existence * * *We perceive, therefore, a possible fourth


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dimensional aspect about time, theinexorableness of whose flow may be anatural part of our present limitations. And ifwe once grasp the idea that past and futuremay be actually existing, we can recognizethat they may have a controlling influence onall present action, and the two together mayconstitute the 'higher plane' or totality ofthings after which, as it seems to me, we areimpelled to seek, in connection with thedirecting of form or determinism, and theaction of living being consciously directed to adefinite and preconceived end."Sir Oliver's illustration is somewhat akin tothat of a person who sees a moving-pictureshow for the first time, and does not knowhow it is produced. To him it looks as if theevents of the pictured story actually weredeveloping and happening in time, whereas,in reality the whole picture is existing at onetime. Its past, present and future is alreadypictured, and may be seen by one who knowsthe secret and how to look for the past orfuture scene; while, to the ordinary observer,the scene progresses in sequence, thepresent being followed by something elsewhich is at this moment "in the future," andtherefore, unknowable. To the senses of theordinary observer only the present is inexistence; while, in fact, the "future" isequally truly in existence at the same time,although not evident to the senses of theobserver. Think over this a little, and let theidea sink into your mind—it may help you tounderstand something concerning the


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mystery of future-time clairvoyance,prevision, or second-sight.Time, you know, is far more relative than wegenerally conceive it. It is a scientific fact thata person in the dream state may cover yearsof time in a dream that occupies only a fewseconds of time. Persons have nodded andawakened immediately afterwards (as provedby others present in the room), and yet inthat moment's time they have dreamed oflong journeys to foreign lands, greatcampaigns of war, etc. Moreover, a loudsound (a pistol shot, for instance) which hasawakened a sleeping person, has also set intoeffect a dream-state train of circumstances,constituting a long dream-state story which,after many events and happenings,terminated in the shot of a firing-squad—andthen the man awoke. Now in this lastmentioned case, not only has the dreamerexperienced events covering a long time, all inthe space of a second of time; but, also, thevery sound which terminated the dream, alsoinduced it from the very beginning—the lastthing caused the first things to appear andproceed in sequence to the last! Personsunder the influence of chloroform, or"laughing gas," have similar experiences—often the first sound heard at the momentof recovering consciousness seems to be thelast thing in a long dream which preceded it,though the long dream was really caused bythe final sound. Now, remember, that herenot only did past, present and future exist atthe same moment of time; but, also, the


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future caused the past and present to comeinto being.On the physical plane, we have analogiesillustrating this fact. It is said that in everyacorn rests and exists, in miniature, the formof the future oak. And, some go so far as tosay that the oak is the "ultimate cause" of theacorn—that the idea of the oak caused theacorn to be at all. In the same way, the "idea"of the man must be in the infant boy, from themoment of birth, and even from the momentof conception. But, let us pass on to the boldconception of the most advancedmetaphysicians—they have a still moredazzling explanation, let us listen to it.These occultists and metaphysicians whohave thought long and deeply upon theultimate facts and nature of the universe,have dared to think that there must existsome absolute consciousness—some absolutemind—which must perceive the past, presentand future of the universe as one happening;as simultaneously and actively present at onemoment of absolute time. They reason thatjust as man may see as one happening of amoment of his time some particular eventwhich might appear as a year to some minuteform of life and mind—the microscopiccreatures in a drop of water, for instance; sothat which seems as a year, or a hundredyears, to the mind of man may appear as thehappening of a single moment of a higherscale of time to some exalted Being or form ofconsciousness on a higher plane. You


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remember that it is said that "a thousandyears is but as a day to the Lord;" and theHindu Vedas tell us that "the creation,duration, and destruction of the universe, isas but the time of the twinkling of an eye toBrahman." I shall not proceed further alongthis line—I have given you a very strong hinthere; you must work it out for yourself, if youfeel so disposed. But there are certainconsequences arising from this ultimateuniversal fact, which I must mention beforepassing on.The high occult teachings hold that there is aplane of the higher astral world which may besaid to carry a reflection of the UniversalMind—just as a lake contains a reflection ofthe distant mountain. Well, then, theclairvoyant vision at times is able to penetrateto the realm of that astral reflecting medium,and see somewhat dimly what is picturedthere. As the future may be discerned in thisreflected picture, by the clairvoyant mind, wesee how future-seeing, prevision, andsecond-sight may be explained scientifically.A writer has said: "On this plane, in somemanner which down here is totallyinexplicable, the past, the present, and thefuture, are all there existing simultaneously.One can only accept this fact, for its cause liesin the faculty of that exalted plane, and theway in which this higher faculty works isnaturally quite incomprehensible to thephysical brain. Yet now and then one maymeet with a hint that seems to bring us a trifle


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nearer to a dim possibility of comprehension.When the pupil's consciousness is fullydeveloped upon this higher plane, therefore,perfect prevision is possible to him, though hemay not—nay, he certainly will not—be able tobring the whole result of his sight throughfully and in order into his physicalconsciousness. Still, a great deal of clearforesight is obviously within his powerwhenever he likes to exercise it; and evenwhen he is not exercising it, frequent flashesof foreknowledge come through into hisordinary life, so that he often has aninstantaneous intuition as to how things willturn out."The same writer says: "Short of perfectprevision we find that all degrees of this typeof clairvoyance exist, from the occasionalvague premonitions which cannot in any truesense be called sight at all, up to frequent andfairly complete second-sight. The faculty towhich this latter somewhat misleading namehas been given is an extremely interestingone, and would well repay more careful andsystematic study than has hitherto been givento it. It is best known to us as a notinfrequent possession of the ScottishHighlanders, though it is by no meansconfined to them. Occasional instances of ithave appeared in almost every nation, but ithas always been commonest amongmountaineers and men of lonely life. With usin England it is often spoken of as if it werethe exclusive appanage of the Celtic race, butin reality it has appeared among similarly


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situated peoples the world over, it is stated,for example, to be very common among theWestphalian peasantry."Sometimes the second-sight consists of apicture clearly foreshowing some comingevent; more frequently, perhaps, the glimpseof the future is given in some symbolicalappearance. It is noteworthy that the eventsforeseen are invariably unpleasantones—death being the commonest of all; I donot recollect a single instance in which thesecond-sight has shown anything which wasnot of the most gloomy nature. It has aghastly symbolism of its own—a symbolism ofshrouds and corpse-candles, and otherfuneral horrors. In some cases it appears tobe to a certain extent dependent uponlocality, for it is stated that inhabitants of theIsle of Skye who possess the faculty oftenlose it when they leave the island, eventhough it be only to cross to the mainland.The gift of such sight is sometimes hereditaryin a family for generations, but this is not aninvariable rule, for it often appearssporadically in one member of a familyotherwise free from its lugubrious influence."There may be still some people who deny thepossibility of prevision, but such denial simplyshows their ignorance of the evidence on thesubject. The large number of authenticatedcases leave no room for doubt as to the fact,but many of them are of such a nature as torender a reasonable explanation by no meanseasy to find. It is evident that the Ego


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possesses a certain amount of previsionalfaculty, and if the events foreseen werealways of great importance, one mightsuppose that an extraordinary stimulus hadenabled him for that occasion only to make aclear impression of what he saw upon hislower personality. No doubt that is theexplanation of many of the cases in whichdeath or grave disaster is foreseen, but thereare a large number of instances on record towhich it does not seem to apply, since theevents foretold are frequently trivial andunimportant."In the following chapter I shall present to yourconsideration some very remarkable cases offuture-time clairvoyance, prevision, orsecond-sight; some of these are historicalcases, and all are vouched for by the bestauthorities. I quote these cases not merely fortheir own interesting features, but also to giveyou an idea of how remarkable some of theseinstances are; and also to give you a clearconception of the way in which this form ofclairvoyance tends to manifest itself.Before passing on to these interesting cases,however, I wish to remind you that infuture-time clairvoyance, as well as inpast-time clairvoyance, the phenomenon maybe manifested in many ways and according toseveral methods. That is to say, that infuture-time clairvoyance the vision may comein the state of meditation or reverie; it maycome along the lines of psychometry, someassociated object or person supplying the


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connecting link; or, again, it may come as theresult of crystal-gazing, etc. This is as wemight naturally expect, for this form ofclairvoyance is merely one special andparticular phase of clairvoyance in general,and of course, comes under the general lawsand rules governing all clairvoyantphenomena.Future-time clairvoyance, prevision andsecond-sight may, like any other form ofclairvoyance, be developed and unfolded, bymeans of the same rules and methods that Ihave already suggested to you in thepreceding lessons. It is all a matter ofattention, application, patience, exercise andpractice. I may say, however, that the strongdesire and wish for the perception of futureevents, held firmly in mind during thepracticing and exercising, will tend to unfoldand develop the clairvoyant faculties in thisparticular direction. Strong desire, andearnest attention in the desired direction, willdo much to cultivate, develop and unfold anypsychic faculty.Just as meditation and reverie about pasttimes and things tend to develop past-timeclairvoyance, so will meditation and reverieabout future time and things tend to developprevision and the seeing of future things.This, indeed, is the very first step toward theattainment of this form of clairvoyance. Theattention clears the psychic path, over whichthe astral faculties travel. In the astral, as onthe physical, the rule is: always look where


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you are going—look ahead on the path overwhich you wish to travel.

LESSON XIII.SECOND-SIGHT, PREVISION, ETC.

Notwithstanding the difficulties in the way ofan intelligent explanation of the phenomena offuture-time clairvoyance, second-sight,prevision, etc., of which I have spoken in thepreceding lesson, the human race has alwayshad a lively reminder of the existence of suchphenomena; and the records of the race havealways contained many instances of themanifestation thereof. Among all peoples, inall lands, in all times, there have been notedremarkable instances of the power of certainpersons to peer into, and correctly reportfrom, the mysterious regions of the future.Passing from the traditional reports of therace, and the minor instances known toalmost every person, we find that thescientific investigators of psychic phenomenahave gathered together an enormous array ofwell authenticated cases of this class. Thereports of the Society for Psychical researchcontain hundreds of such cases, which thestudent may read and study with interest andprofit.It is not my intention to present a full historyof the reports of this character. Rather, I shall


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call your attention to a few striking cases, inorder to illustrate the phenomenon clearly andforcibly. There is such a wealth of material ofthis kind that it embarrases one who wishesto select from it. However, I shall do the bestI can in that direction. Following, tocommence with, I give you extracts from awell known case reported by a prominentmember of the Theosophical Society, whichhas attracted much attention. It was relatedto this person by one of the actors in thescene. It happened in India. A party of Englisharmy officers was entering a dense jungle.Then follows the story, as below:"We plunged into the jungle, and had walkedon for about an hour without much success,when Cameron, who happened to be next tome, stopped suddenly, turned pale as death,and, pointing straight before him, cried inaccents of horror: 'See! see! mercifulheavens, look there!' 'Where? what? what isit?' we all shouted confusedly, as we rushedup to him, and looked around in expectationof encountering a tiger—a cobra—we hardlyknew what, but assuredly something terrible,since it had been sufficient to cause suchevident emotion in our usually self-containedcomrade. But neither tiger nor cobra wasvisible—nothing but Cameron pointing withghastly haggard face and starting eyeballs atsomething we could not see."'Cameron! Cameron!' cried I, seizing his arm,'for heavens sake speak! What is the matter?'Scarcely were the words out of my mouth


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when a low but very peculiar sound struckupon my ear, and Cameron, dropping hispointing hand, said in a hoarse, strainedvoice, 'There! you heard it? Thank God it'sover!' and fell to the ground insensible. Therewas a momentary confusion while weunfastened his collar, and I dashed in his facesome water which I fortunately had in myflask, while another tried to pour brandybetween his clenched teeth; and under coverof it I whispered to the man next to me (oneof our greatest skeptics, by the way),'Beauchamp, did you hear anything?' 'Why,yes,' he replied, 'a curious sound, very; a sortof crash or rattle far away in the distance, yetvery distinct; if the thing were not utterlyimpossible, I could have sworn that it was therattle of musketry.' 'Just my impression,'murmured I; 'but hush! he is recovering.'"In a minute or two he was able to speakfeebly, and began to thank us and apologizefor giving trouble; and soon he sat up, leaningagainst a tree, and in a firm, though low voicesaid: 'My dear friends, I feel that I owe you anexplanation of my extraordinary behavior. It isan explanation that I would fain avoid giving;but it must come some time, and so may aswell be given now. You may perhaps havenoticed that when during our voyage you alljoined in scoffing at dreams, portents andvisions, I invariably avoided giving anyopinion on the subject. I did so because,while I had no desire to court ridicule orprovoke discussion, I was unable to agreewith you, knowing only too well from my own


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dread experience that the world which menagree to call that of the supernatural is just asreal as—nay, perhaps even more realthan—this world we see about us. In otherwords, I, like many of my countrymen, amcursed with the gift of second-sight—thatawful faculty which foretells in visioncalamities that are shortly to occur."'Such a vision I had just now, and itsexceptional horror moved me as you haveseen. I saw before me a corpse—not that ofone who has died a peaceful, natural death,but that of the victim of some terribleaccident; a ghastly, shapeless mass, with aface swollen, crushed, unrecognizable. I sawthis dreadful object placed in a coffin, and thefuneral service performed over it. I saw theburial-ground, I saw the clergyman: andthough I had never seen either before, I canpicture both perfectly in my mind's eye now; Isaw you, myself, Beauchamp, all of us andmany more, standing round as mourners; Isaw the soldiers raise their muskets after theservice was over; I heard the volley theyfired—and then I knew no more.' As he spokeof that volley of musketry I glanced acrosswith a shudder at Beauchamp, and the look ofstony horror on that handsome skeptic's facewas not to be forgotten."Omitting the somewhat long recital of eventswhich followed, I would say that later in thesame day the party of young officers andsoldiers discovered the body of theircommanding officer in the shocking condition


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so vividly and graphically described by youngCameron. The story proceeds as follows:"When, on the following evening, we arrivedat our destination, and our melancholydeposition had been taken down by theproper authorities, Cameron and I went outfor a quiet walk, to endeavor with theassistance of the soothing influence of natureto shake off something of the gloom whichparalyzed our spirits. Suddenly he clutchedmy arm, and, pointing through some ruderailings, said in a trembling voice, 'Yes, thereit is! that is the burial-ground of yesterday.'And, when later on we were introduced to thechaplain of the post, I noticed, though myfriends did not, the irrepressible shudder withwhich Cameron took his hand, and I knewthat he had recognized the clergyman of hisvision."The story concludes with the statement that inall the little details, as well as the main points,the scene at the burial of the commandingofficer corresponded exactly with the vision ofCameron. This story brings out the fact thatthe Scotch people are especially given tomanifestations of second-sight—particularlythe Highlanders or mountain people of thatland. It is hard to find a Scotchman, who, inhis heart, does not believe in second-sight,and who has not known of some wellauthenticated instance of its manifestation. Inother lands, certain races, or sub-races, seemto be specially favored (or cursed, asCameron asserted) with this power. It will be


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noticed, usually, that such people dwell, orhave dwelt in the highlands or mountains oftheir country. There seems to be something inthe mountains and hills which tends todevelop and encourage this power in thosedwelling among them. The story is alsoremarkable in the fact that the impression wasso strong in the mind of Cameron that itactually communicated itself by clairaudienceto those near to him—this is quite unusual,though not without correspondence in othercases. Otherwise, the case is merely a typicalone, and may be duplicated in the experienceof thousands of other men and women.George Fox, the pioneer Quaker, had thisfaculty well developed, and numerousinstances of its manifestation by him arerecorded. For instance, he foretold the deathof Cromwell, when he met him riding atHampton Court; he said that he felt "a waft ofdeath" around and about Cromwell; andCromwell died shortly afterwards. Fox alsopublicly foretold the dissolution of the RumpParliament of England; the restoration ofCharles II; and the Great Fire of London—these are historical facts, remember. Forthat matter, history contains many instancesof this kind: the prophecy of Caesar's death,and its further prevision by his wife, forinstance. The Bible prophecies andpredictions, major and minor, give ussemi-historical instances.A celebrated historical instance of remarkablesecond-sight and prevision, is that of Cazotte,


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whose wonderful prediction and its literalfulfilment are matters of French history.Dumas has woven the fact into one of hisstories, in a dramatic manner—but even so hedoes not make the tale any more wonderfulthan the bare facts. Here is the recital of thecase by La Harpe, the French writer, who wasa personal witness of the occurrence, andwhose testimony was corroborated by manyothers who were present at the time. LaHarpe says:"It appears as but yesterday, and yet,nevertheless, it was at the beginning of theyear 1788. We were dining with one of ourbrethren at the Academy—a man ofconsiderable wealth and genius. Theconversation became serious; muchadmiration was expressed on the revolution inthought which Voltaire had effected, and itwas agreed that it was his first claim to thereputation he enjoyed. We concluded that therevolution must soon be consummated; that itwas indispensible that superstition andfanaticism should give way to philosophy, andwe began to calculate the probability of theperiod when this should be, and which of thepresent company should live to see it. Theoldest complained that they could scarcelyflatter themselves with the hope; the youngerrejoiced that they might entertain this veryprobable expectation; and they congratulatedthe Academy especially for having preparedthis great work, and for having been therallying point, the centre, and the primemover of the liberty of thought.


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"One only of the guests had not taken part inall the joyousness of this conversation, andhad even gently and cheerfully checked oursplendid enthusiasm. This was Cazotte, anamiable and original man, but unhappilyinfatuated with the reveries of the illumaniti.He spoke, and with the most serious tone,saying: 'Gentleman, be satisfied; you will allsee this great and sublime revolution, whichyou so much desire. You know that I am alittle inclined to prophesy; I repeat, you willsee it,' He was answered by the commonrejoinder: 'One need not be a conjuror to seethat.' He answered: 'Be it so; but perhaps onemust be a little more than conjuror for whatremains for me to tell you. Do you know whatwill be the consequences of thisrevolution—what will be the consequence toall of you, and what will be the immediateresult—the well-established effect—thethoroughly recognized consequences to all ofyou who are here present?'"'Ah' said Condorcet, with his insolent andhalf-suppressed smile, 'let us hear—aphilosopher is not sorry to encounter aprophet—let us hear!' Cazotte replied: 'You,Monsier de Condorcet—you will yield up yourlast breath on the floor of a dungeon; you willdie from poison, which you will have taken inorder to escape from execution—from poisonwhich the happiness of that time will obligeyou to carry about your person. You,Monsieur de Chamfort, you will open yourveins with twenty-two cuts of a razor, and yetwill not die till some months afterward.' These


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personages looked at each other, and laughedagain. Cazotte continued: 'You, Monsieur Vicqd'Azir, you will not open your own veins, butyou will cause yourself to be bled six times inone day, during a paroxysm of the gout, inorder to make more sure of your end, andyou will die in the night.'"Cazotte went on: 'You, Monsieur de Nicolai,you will die on the scaffold; you, MonsieurBailly, on the scaffold; you, Monsieur deMalesherbes, on the scaffold. 'Ah, God bethanked,' exclaimed Roucher, 'and what of I?'Cazotte replied: 'You? you also will die on thescaffold.' 'Yes,' replied Chamfort, 'but whenwill all this happen?' Cazotte answered: 'Sixyears will not pass over, before all that I havesaid to you shall be accomplished.' Here I (LaHarpe) spoke, saying: 'Here are someastonishing miracles, but you have notincluded me in your list.' Cazotte answeredme, saying: 'But you will be there, as anequally extraordinary miracle; you will then bea Christian!' Vehement exclamations on allsides followed this startling assertion. 'Ah!'said Chamfort, 'I am conforted; if we shallperish only when La Harpe shall be aChristian, we are immortal;'"Then observed Madame la Duchesse deGrammont: 'As for that, we women, we arehappy to be counted for nothing in theserevolutions: when I say for nothing, it is notthat we do not always mix ourselves up withthem a little; but it is a received maxim thatthey take no notice of us, and of our sex.'


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'Your sex, ladies' said Cazotte, 'your sex willnot protect you this time; and you had farbetter meddle with nothing, for you will betreated entirely as men, without anydifference whatever.' 'But what, then, are youreally telling us of Monsieur Cazotte? You arepreaching to us the end of the world.' 'I knownothing on that subject; but what I do knowis, that you Madame la Duchesse, will beconducted to the scaffold, you and manyother ladies with you, in the cart of theexecutioner, and with your hands tied behindyour backs. 'Ah! I hope that in that case, Ishall at least have a carriage hung in black.''No, madame; higher ladies than yourself willgo, like you, in the common car, with theirhands tied behind them.' 'Higher ladies! what!the princesses of the blood?' 'Yea, and stillmore exalted personages!' replied Cazotte."Here a sensible emotion pervaded the wholecompany, and the countenance of the hostwas dark and lowering—they began to feelthat the joke was becoming too serious.Madame de Grammont, in order to dissipatethe cloud, took no notice of the reply, andcontented herself with saying in a carelesstone: 'You see, that he will not leave me evena confessor!' 'No, madame!' replied Cazotte,'you will not have one—neither you, nor anyone besides. The last victim to whom thisfavor will be afforded will be—' Here hestopped for a moment. 'Well! who then will bethe happy mortal to whom this prerogativewill be given?' Cazotte replied: 'It is the onlyone which he will have then retained—and


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that will be the King of France!'" This laststartling prediction caused the company todisband in something like terror and dismay,for the mere mention of such thing was akinto treason.The amazing sequel to this strange story isthat within the six years allotted by theprophecy, every detail thereof was verifiedabsolutely. The facts are known to allstudents of the French Revolution, and maybe verified by reference to any history of thatterrible period. To appreciate the startlingnature of the prophecy when made, oneneeds but to be acquainted with the positionand characteristics of the persons whosedestinies were foretold. This celebratedinstance of highly advanced future-timeclairvoyance, or prevision, has never beenequalled. The reason, perhaps, is that Cazotteindeed was an advanced and highly developedoccultist—the account mentions this, you willnotice. This class of persons very seldomprophecy in this way, for reasons known to alloccultists. The ordinary cases recorded arethose in which the manifestation is that of aperson of lesser powers and less perfectdevelopment.Advanced occultists know the danger of acareless use of this power. They know that(omitting other and very important reasons)such revelations would work a terrible effectupon the minds of persons not sufficiently wellbalanced to stand the disclosure. Moreover,they know that if the average person knew


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the principal details of his future life on earth,then he would lose interest in it—it wouldbecome stale and would lose the attraction ofthe unknown. In such a case, the pleasantthings to come would lose their attractivenessby reason of having been dwelt on so longthat their flavor was lost; and the unpleasantthings would become unbearable by reason ofthe continual anticipation of them. We are aptto discount our pleasures by dwelling toomuch upon them in anticipation; and, as weall know, the dread of a coming evil often isworse than the thing itself—we suffer athousand pangs in anticipation to one inreality. But, as I have intimated, there areother, and still more serious reasons why theadvanced occultists do not indulge in publicprophecies of this kind. It is probable thatCazotte decided to, and was permitted to,make his celebrated prophecy for someimportant occult reason of which La Harpehad no knowledge—it doubtless was a part ofthe working out of some great plan, and itmay have accomplished results undreamed ofby us. At any rate, it was something verymuch out of the; ordinary, even in the case ofadvanced occultists and masters of esotericknowledge.Another case which has a historic value is thewell-known case concerning the assassinationof Spencer Perceval, the Chancellor of theExchequer, in England, which occurred in thelobby of the House of Commons. The personswho have a knowledge of the case report thatsome nine days before the tragic occurrence a


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Cornish mine manager, named John Williams,had a vision, three times in succession, inwhich he saw a small man, dressed in a bluecoat and white waistcoat, enter the lobby ofthe House of Commons; whereupon anotherman, dressed in a snuff-colored coat, steppedforward, and, drawing a pistol from an insidepocket fired at and shot the small man, thebullet lodging in the left breast. In the vision,Williams turned and asked some bystanderthe name of the victim; the bystander repliedthat the stricken man was Mr. SpencerPerceval, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.The valuable feature of the case, from ascientific standpoint, lies in the fact thatWilliams was very much impressed by histhrice-repeated vision, and was greatlydisturbed thereby. His anxiety was so greatthat he spoke of the matter to several friends,and asked them whether it would not be wellfor him to go to London for the purpose ofwarning Mr. Perceval. His friends ridiculed thewhole matter, and persuaded him to give upthe idea of visiting London for the purposenamed. Those who had a knowledge of thevision were greatly startled and shocked whenseveral days afterward the assassinationoccurred, agreeing in perfect detail with thevision of the Cornishman. The case, vouchedfor as it was by a number of reliable personswho had been consulted by Williams,attracted much attention at the time, and hassince passed into the history of remarkableinstances of prevision.In some cases, however, the prevision seems


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to come as a warning, and in many cases theheeding of the warning has prevented theunpleasant features from materializing asseen in the vision. Up to the point of theaction upon the warning the occurrence agreeperfectly with the vision—but the moment thewarned person acts so as to prevent theoccurrence, the whole train of circumstancesis broken. There is an occult explanation ofthis, but it is too technical to mention at thisplace.What is known to psychic researchers as "theHannah Green case" is of this character. Thisstory, briefly, is that Hannah Green, ahousekeeper of Oxfordshire, dreamt that she,having been left alone in the house of aSunday evening, heard a knock at the door.Opening the door she found a tramp who triedto force his way into the house. She struggledto prevent his entrance, but he struck herwith a bludgeon and rendered her insensible,whereupon he entered the house and robbedit. She related the vision to her friends, but,as nothing happened for some time, thematter almost passed from her mind. But,some seven years afterward, she was left incharge of the house on a certain Sundayevening; during the evening she was startledby a sudden knock at the door, and herformer vision was recalled to her memoryquite vividly. She refused to go to the door,remembering the warning, but instead wentup to a landing on the stair and looked out thewindow, she saw at the door the very trampwhom she had seen in the vision some seven


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years before, armed with a bludgeon andstriving to force an entrance into the house.She took steps to frighten away the rascal,and she was saved from the unpleasantconclusion of her vision. Many similar casesare recorded.In some cases persons have been warned bysymbols of various kinds; or else have hadprevision in the same way. For instance,many cases are known in which the vision isthat of the undertaker's wagon standingbefore the door of the person who diessometime afterward. Or, the person isvisioned clad in a shroud. The variations ofthis class are innumerable. Speak to theaverage dweller in the highlands of Scotland,or certain counties in Ireland, regardingthis—you will be furnished with a wealth ofillustrations and examples.This phase of the general subject ofclairvoyance is very fascinating to the studentand investigator, and is one in which thehighest psychic or astral powers of sensingare called into play. In fact, as I have said,there is here a reflection of something verymuch higher than the astral or psychic planesof being. The student catches a glimpse ofregions infinitely higher and grander. Hebegins to realize at least something of theexistence of that Universal Consciousness "inwhich we live, and move, and have ourbeing;" and of the reality of the Eternal Now,in which past, present and future are blendedas one fact of infinite consciousness. He sees


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the signboard pointing to marvelous truths!

LESSON XIV.ASTRAL-BODY TRAVELING

There is much confusion existing in the mindsof the average students of occultismconcerning the distinction between astralvisioning by means of the astral senses inclairvoyance, and the visioning of the astralsenses during the travels of the astral bodyaway from the physical body. There is such aclose connection between the two severalphases of occult phenomena that it is easy tomistake one for the other; in fact, there isoften such a blending of the two that it isquite difficult to distinguish between them.However, in this lesson I shall endeavor tobring out the characteristics of astral bodyvisioning, that the student may learn todistinguish them from those of the ordinaryclairvoyant astral visioning, and recognizethem when he experiences them.The main points of distinction are these:When visioning clairvoyantly by means of theastral senses, as described in the precedingchapters of this book, the clairvoyant usuallyperceives the scene, person or event as apicture on a flat surface. It is true that there isgenerally a perfect perspective, similar to thatof a good stereoscopic view, or that of a


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high-grade moving picture photograph—thefigures "stand out," and do not appear "flat"as in the case of an ordinary photograph; butstill at the best it is like looking at a movingpicture, inasmuch as the whole scene is all infront of you. Visioning in the astral body, onthe contrary, gives you an "all around" view ofthe scene. That is to say, in such case yousee the thing just as you would were youthere in your physical body—you see in frontof you; on the sides of you, out of the cornerof your eye; if you turn your head, you maysee in any direction; and you may turn aroundand see what is happening behind you. In thefirst case you are merely gazing at an astralpicture in front of you; while in the secondplace you are ACTUALLY THERE IN PERSON.There are some limitations to this "seeing allaround" when in the astral body, however,which I should note in passing. For instance,if when in the astral body you examine theakashic records of the past, or else peer intothe scenes of the future, you will see thesethings merely as a picture, and will not beconscious of being present personally in thescene. (An apparent exception is to be notedhere, also, viz., if your past-time visioningincludes the perception of yourself in a formerincarnation, you may be conscious of livingand acting in your former personality; again, ifyou are psychometrizing from fossil remains,or anything concerned with a living creature ofthe past, you may "take on" the mental oremotional conditions of that creature, andseem to sense things from the inside, rather


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than from the outside. This, of course, is alsoa characteristic of the ordinary clairvoyantvision of the past.) But when, in the astralbody, you perceive a present-time scene inspace, you are, to all intents and purposes, anactual participant—you are actually present atthe place and time. The sense of "beingactually present in the body" is the leadingcharacteristic of the astral body visioning, anddistinguishes it from the "picture seeing"sensing of ordinary clairvoyance. This isstating the matter is as plain and simple formas is possible, ignoring many technical detailsand particulars.You, being a student of occultism, of courseknow that the astral body is a fine counterpartof the physical body, composed of a far moresubtle form of substance than is the latter,that under certain conditions you may travelin your astral body, detached from yourphysical body (except being connected with itwith a slender astral cord, bearing a closeresemblance to the umbilical cord whichconnects the newborn babe with the placentain the womb of its mother), and explore therealms of the astral plane. This projection ofthe astral body, as a rule, occurs only whenthe physical body is stilled in sleep, or intrance condition. In fact, the astral bodyfrequently is projected by us during thecourse of our ordinary sleep, but we fail toremember what we have seen in our astraljourneys, except, occasionally, dim flashes ofpartial recollection upon awakening. In somecases, however, our astral visioning is so


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distinct and vivid, that we awaken with asense of having had a peculiar experience,and as having actually been out of thephysical body at the time.In some cases, the person traveling in theastral is able to actually take part in thedistant scene, and may, under certaincircumstances actually materialize himself soas to be seen by persons in their physicalbodies. I am speaking now, of course, of theuntrained person. The trained and developedoccultist, of course, is able to do these thingsdeliberately and consciously, instead ofunconsciously and without intention as in thecase of the ordinary person. I shall quote herefrom another writer on the subject, whosepoint of view, in connection with my own,may serve to bring about a clearunderstanding in the mind of the student—it isalways well to view any subject from as manyangles as possible. This writer says:"We enter here upon an entirely new varietyof clairvoyance, in which the consciousness ofthe seer no longer remains in or closelyconnected with his physical body, but isdefinitely transferred to the scene which he isexamining. Though it has no doubt greaterdangers for the untrained seer than either ofthe other methods, it is yet quite the mostsatisfactory form of clairvoyance open to him.In this case, the man's body is either asleepor in a trance, and its organs areconsequently not available for use while thevision is going on, so that all description of


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what is seen, and all questioning as to furtherparticulars, must be postponed until thewanderer returns to this plane. On the otherhand, the sight is much fuller and moreperfect; the man hears as well as seeseverything which passes before him, and canmove about freely at will within the very widelimits of the astral plane. He has also theimmense advantage of being able to takepart, as it were, in the scenes which comebefore his eyes—of conversing at will withvarious entities on the astral plane, and fromwhom so much information that is curious andinteresting may be obtained. If in addition hecan learn how to materialize himself (a matterof no great difficulty for him when once theknack is acquired), he will be able to take partin physical events or conversations at adistance, and to show himself to an absentfriend at will."Again, he will have the additional power ofbeing able to hunt about for what he wants.By means of the other varieties ofclairvoyance, for all practical purposes he mayfind a person or place only when he is alreadyacquainted with it; or, when he is put enrapport with it by touching somethingphysically connected with it, as inpsychometry. By the use of the astral body,however, a man can move about quite freelyand rapidly in any direction, and can (forexample) find without difficulty any placepointed out upon a map, without either anyprevious knowledge of the spot or any objectto establish a connection with it. He can also


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readily rise high into the air so as to gain abird's eye view of the country which he isexamining, so as to observe its extent, thecontour of its coastline, or its generalcharacter. Indeed, in every way his power andfreedom are far greater when he uses thismethod than they are in any of the lesserforms of clairvoyance."In many well authenticated cases, we maysee that the soul of a dying person, onewhose physical end is approaching, visitsfriends and relatives in the astral body, and inmany cases materializes and even speaks tothem. In such cases the dying personaccomplishes the feat of astral manifestationwithout any special occult knowledge; theweakened links between the physical and thehigher phases of the soul render thetemporary passing-out comparatively easy,and the strong desire of the dying personfurnishes the motive power necessary. Suchvisits, however, are often found to be merelythe strongly charged thought of the dyingperson, along the lines of telepathy, as I havepreviously explained to you. But in manycases there can be no doubt that thephenomenon is a clear case of astral visitationand materialization.The records of the Society for PsychicalResearch contain many instances of this kind;and similar instances are to be found in otherrecords of psychical research. I shall quote afew of these cases for you, that you may geta clear idea of the characteristics thereof.


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Andrew Lang, an eminent student andinvestigator along the lines of the psychic andoccult, gives us the following case, of whichhe says, "Not many stories have such goodevidence in their favor." The story as relatedby Mr. Lang in one of his books is as follows:"Mary, the wife of John Goffe of Rochester,being afflicted with a long illness, removed toher father's house at West Mailing, about ninemiles from her own. The day before her deathshe grew very impatiently desirous to see hertwo children, whom she had left at home tothe care of a nurse. She was too ill to bemoved, and between one and two o'clock inthe morning she fell into a trance. One widow,Turner, who watched with her that night, saysthat her eyes were open and fixed, and herjaw fallen. Mrs. Turner put her hand to hermouth, but could perceive no breath. Shethought her to be in a fit, and doubtedwhether she were dead or alive. The nextmorning the dying woman told her motherthat she had been at home with her children,saying, 'I was with them last night when I wasasleep.'"The nurse at Rochester, widow Alexander byname, affirms that a little before two o'clockthat morning she saw the likeness of the saidMary Goffe come out of the next chamber(where the elder child lay in a bed by itself),the door being left open, and stood by herbedside for about a quarter of an hour; theyounger child was there lying by her. Her eyesmoved and her mouth went, but she said


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nothing. The nurse, moreover says that shewas perfectly awake; it was then daylight,being one of the longest days of the year. Shesat up in bed and looked steadfastly on theapparition. In that time she heard the bridgeclock strike two, and a while after said: 'In thename of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,what art thou?' Thereupon the apparitionremoved and went away; she slipped out ofher clothes and followed, but what becameon't she cannot tell."In the case just mentioned, Mr. Lang statesthat the nurse was so frightened that she wasafraid to return to bed. As soon as theneighbors were up and about she told them ofwhat she had seen; but they told her that shehad been dreaming. It was only when, lateron, news came of what had happened at theother end of the line—the bedside of the dyingwoman, that they realized just what hadhappened.In a work by Rev. F.G. Lee, there are severalother cases of this kind quoted, all of whichare stated by Mr. Lee to be thoroughly wellauthenticated. In one of the cases a mother,when dying in Egypt, appears to her childrenin Torquay, and is clearly seen in broaddaylight by all five children and also by thenursemaid. In another, a Quaker lady dying atCockermouth is clearly seen and recognized indaylight by her three children at Seattle, theremainder of the story being almost identicalwith that of the Goffe case just quoted.


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In the records of the Society for PsychicalResearch, the following case appears, theperson reporting it being said to be of goodcharacter and reputation for truthfulness andreliability. The story is as follows: "Onemorning in December, 1836, A. had thefollowing dream, or he would prefer to call it,revelation. He found himself suddenly at thegate of Major N.M.'s avenue, many miles fromhis home. Close to him was a group ofpersons, one of whom was a woman with abasket on her arm, the rest were men, four ofwhom were tenants of his own, while theothers were unknown to him. Some of thestrangers seemed to be assaulting H.W., oneof his tenants, and he interfered. A. says, 'Istruck violently at the man on my left, andthen with greater violence at the man's faceon my right. Finding, to my surprise, that Ihad not knocked down either, I struck againand again with all the violence of a manfrenzied at the sight of my poor friend'smurder. To my great amazement I saw myarms, although visible to my eye, werewithout substance, and the bodies of the menI struck at and my own came close togetherafter each blow, through the shadowy arms Istruck with. My blows were delivered withmore extreme violence than I ever think Iexerted, but I became painfully convinced ofmy incompetency. I have no consciousness ofwhat happened after this feeling ofunsubstantiality came upon me.'"Next morning, A. experienced the stiffnessand soreness of violent bodily exercise, and


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was informed by his wife that in the course ofthe night he had much alarmed her by strikingout again and again in a terrific manner, 'as iffighting for his life.' He, in turn, informed herof his dream, and begged her to rememberthe names of those actors in it who wereknown to him. On the morning of thefollowing day (Wednesday) A. received aletter from his agent, who resided in the townclose to the scene of the dream, informinghim that his tenant had been found onTuesday morning at Major N.M.'s gate,speechless and apparently dying from afracture of the skull, and that there was notrace of the murderers."That night A. started for the town, andarrived there on Thursday morning. On hisway to a meeting of magistrates, he met thesenior magistrate of that part of the country,and requested him to give orders for thearrest of the three men whom, besides H.W.,he had recognized in his dream, and to havethem examined separately. This was at oncedone. The three men gave identical accountsof the occurrence, and all named the womanwho was with them. She was then arrestedand gave precisely similar testimony. Theysaid that between eleven and twelve on theMonday night they had been walkinghomewards altogether along the road, whenthey were overtaken by three strangers, twoof whom savagely assaulted H.W., while theother prevented his friends from interfering.H.W. did not die, but was never the sameman afterwards; he subsequently emigrated."


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Stead, the English editor and psychicalresearcher, relates the following case, whichhe accepts as truthful and correct, aftercareful investigation of the circumstances andof the character and reputation of the personrelating it. The story proceeds as follows:"St. Eglos is situated about ten miles from theAtlantic, and not quite so far from the oldmarket town of Trebodwina. Hart and GeorgeNorthey were brothers, and from childhoodtheir lives had been marked by the strongestbrotherly affection. Hart and George Northeyhad never been separated from their birthuntil George became a sailor, Hart meantimejoining his father in business. On the 8th ofFebruary, 1840, while George Northey's shipwas lying in port at St. Helena, he had thefollowing strange dream:"Last night I dreamt that my brother was atTrebodwina Market, and that I was with him,quite close by his side, during the whole ofthe market transactions. Although I could seeand hear which passed around me, I felt surethat it was not my bodily presence which thusaccompanied him, but my shadow or rathermy spiritual presence, for he seemed quiteunconscious that I was near him. I felt thatmy being thus present in this strange waybetokened some hidden danger which he wasdestined to meet, and which I know mypresence could not avert, for I could notspeak to warn him of his peril."The story then proceeds to relate how Hart


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collected considerable money at TrebodwinaMarket, and then started to ride homeward.George tells what happened to his brother onthe way, as follows:"My terror gradually increased as Hartapproached the hamlet of Polkerrow, until Iwas in a perfect frenzy, frantically desirous,yet unable to warn my brother in some wayand prevent him from going further. Isuddenly became aware of two dark shadowsthrown across the road. I felt that mybrother's hour had come, and I waspowerless to aid him! Two men appeared,whom I instantly recognized as notoriouspoachers who lived in a lonely wood near St.Eglos. They wished him 'Good night, mister!'civilly enough. He replied, and entered intoconversation with them about some work hehad promised them. After a few minutes theyasked him for some money. The elder of thetwo brothers, who was standing near thehorse's head, said: 'Mr. Northey, we knowyou have just come from Trebodwina Marketwith plenty of money in your pockets; we aredesperate men, and you bean't going to leavethis place until we've got that money; so handover!' My brother made no reply except toslash at him with the whip, and spur the horseat him."The younger of the ruffians instantly drew apistol, and fired. Hart dropped lifeless fromthe saddle, and one of the villains held him bythe throat with a grip of iron for someminutes, as thought to make assurance


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doubly sure, and crush out any particle of lifemy poor brother might have left. Themurderers secured the horse to a tree in theorchard, and, having rifled the corpse, theydragged it up the stream, concealing it underthe overhanging banks of the water-course.Then they carefully covered over all marks ofblood on the road, and hid the pistol in thethatch of a disused hut close to the roadside;then, setting the horse free to gallop homealone, they decamped across the country totheir own cottage."The story then relates how George Northey'svessel left St. Helena the next day after thedream, and reached Plymouth in due time.George carried with him a very vividrecollection of his vision on the return voyage,and never doubted for an instant that hisbrother had been actually murdered in themanner and by the persons named, as seen inthe vision. He carried with him thedetermination to bring the villains to justiceand was filled with the conviction that throughhis efforts retribution would fall upon themurderers.In England, justice was at work—but themissing link was needed. The crime arouseduniversal horror and indignation, and theauthorities left nothing undone in the directionof discovering the murderers and bringingthem to justice. Two brothers namedHightwood were suspected, and in theircottage were found blood-stained garments.But no pistol was found, although the younger


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brother admitted having owned but lost one.They were arrested and brought before themagistrates. The evidence against them waspurely circumstantial, and not any too strongat that; but their actions were those of guiltymen. They were committed for trial. Eachconfessed, in hopes of saving his life andobtaining imprisonment instead. But bothwere convicted and sentenced to be hanged.There was doubt in the minds of some,however, about the pistol. The storycontinues:"Before the execution, George Northey arrivedfrom St. Helena, and declared that the pistolwas in the thatch of the old cottage close bythe place where they had murdered HartNorthey, and where they had hid it. 'How doyou know?' he was asked. George replied: 'Isaw the foul deed committed in a dream I hadthe night of the murder, when at St. Helena.'The pistol was found, as George Northey hadpredicted, in the thatch of the ruined cottage."Investigation revealed that the details of thecrime were identical with those seen in thevision.It is a fact known to all occultists that manypersons frequently travel in the astral bodyduring sleep; and in many cases retain a faintrecollection of some of the things they haveseen and heard during their travels in theastral. Nearly everyone knows the experienceof waking up in the morning feeling physicallytired and "used up;" in some cases a dimrecollection of walking or working during the


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dream being had. Who among us has not hadthe experience of "walking on the air," or inthe air, without the feet touching the ground,being propelled simply by the effort of thewill? And who of us has had not experiencedthat dreadful—"falling through space"sensation, in dreams, with the suddenawakening just before we actually struckearth? And who has not had the mortifyingdream experience of walking along the street,or in some public place, and being suddenlyovercome by the consciousness that we werein our night-clothes, or perhaps without anyclothing at all? All of these things are more orless distorted recollection of astraljourneyings.But while these dream excursions in the astralare harmless, the conscious "going out in theastral" is not so. There are many planes of theastral into which it is dangerous andunpleasant for the uninstructed person totravel; unless accompanied by a capableoccultist as guide. Therefore, I caution allstudents against trying to force developmentin that direction. Nature surrounds you withsafeguards, and interposes obstacles for yourown protection and good. Do not try to breakthrough these obstacles without knowledge ofwhat you are doing. "Fools rush in whereangels fear to tread," remember; and "a littlelearning is a dangerous thing." When youhave reached the stage of development inwhich it will be safe for you to undertakeconscious astral explorations, then will yourguide be at hand, and the instruction


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furnished you by those capable of giving it toyou. Do not try to break into the astralwithout due preparation, and full knowledge,lest you find yourself in the state of the fishwho leaped out of the water onto the banks ofthe stream. Your dream trips are safe; theywill increase in variety and clearness, and youwill remember more about them—all thisbefore you may begin to try to consciously"go out into the astral" as do the occultists.Be content to crawl before you may walk.Learn to add, multiply, subtract and divide,before you undertake the higher mathematics,algebra, geometry, etc., of occultism.

LESSON XV.STRANGE ASTRAL PHENOMENA.

There are several phases of astral phenomenaother than those mentioned in the precedingchapters, which it will be better for thestudent to become acquainted with in order toround out his general knowledge of thesubject, although the manifestations arecomparatively rare, and not so generallyrecognized in works on this subject.One of the first of these several phases ofastral phenomena is that which may be calledThought-Form Projection. This manifestationcomes in the place on the psychic scale justbetween ordinary clairvoyance on the one


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hand, and astral body projection on the other.It has some of the characteristics of each, andis often mistaken for one or the other of thesephases.To understand this phenomena, the studentshould know something regarding the factthat thought frequently takes on astral form,and that these manifestations are known asthought-forms. I have spoken of these insome of the preceding lessons. The ordinarythought-form is quite simple, as a rule, anddoes not bear any particular resemblance tothe sender thereof. But in some cases aperson may, consciously or unconsciously,strongly and clearly think of himself aspresent at some other place, and thus actuallycreate a thought-form of himself at that place,which may be discerned by those havingclairvoyant vision. Moreover, thisthought-form of himself is connectedpsychically with himself and affords a channelof psychic information for him. As a rule thesethought-forms are only projected by thosewho have trained their minds and will alongoccult lines; but occasionally under the stressof strong emotion or desire an ordinaryperson may focus his psychic power to suchan extent that the phenomena is manifested.Here I will quote from an English investigatorof astral phenomena, who has had muchexperience on that plane. He says: "Allstudents are aware that thought takes form,at any rate upon its own plane, and in themajority of cases upon the astral plane also;


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but it may not be so generally known that if aman thinks strongly of himself as present atany given place, the form assumed by thatparticular thought will be a likeness of thethinker himself, which will appear at the placein question. Essentially this form must becomposed of the matter of the mental plane,but in very many cases it would draw rounditself matter of the astral plane also, and sowould approach much nearer to visibility.There are, in fact, many instances in which ithas been seen by the person thoughtof—most probably by means of theunconscious influence emanating from theoriginal thinker. None of the consciousness ofthe thinker would, however, be includedwithin this thought-form. When once sent outfrom him, it would normally be a quiteseparate entity—not indeed absolutelyunconnected with its maker, but practically soas far as the possibility of receiving anyimpression through it is concerned."This type of clairvoyance consists, then, inthe power to retain so much connection withand so much hold over a newly-createdthought-form as will render it possible toreceive impressions by means of it. Suchimpressions as were made upon the formwould in this case be transmitted to thethinker—not along an astral telegraph line, butby a sympathetic vibration. In a perfect caseof this kind of clairvoyance it is almost asthough the seer projected a part of hisconsciousness into the thought-form, andused it as a kind of outpost, from which


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observation was possible. He sees almost aswell as he would if he himself stood in theplace of his thought-form. The figures atwhich he is looking will appear to him as oflife-size and close to hand, instead of tiny andat a distance as in the case of some otherforms of clairvoyance; and he will find itpossible to shift his point of view if he wishesto do so. Clairaudience is perhaps lessfrequently associated with this type ofclairvoyance than with the others, but itsplace is to some extent taken by a kind ofmental perception of the thoughts andintentions of those who are seen."Since the man's consciousness is still in thephysical body, he will be able (even whenexercising this faculty) to hear and to speak,in so far as he can do this without anydistraction of his attention. The moment thatthe intentness of his thought fails, the wholevision is gone, and he will have to construct afresh thought-form before he can resume it.Instances in which this kind of sight ispossessed with any degree of perfection byuntrained people are naturally rarer than inthe other types of clairvoyance, because thecapacity for mental control required, and thegenerally finer nature of the forces employed."I may mention that this particular method isfrequently employed by advanced occultists ofall countries, being preferred for variousreasons. Some of the reasons of thispreference as follows: (a) The ability to shiftthe vision, and to turn around almost as well


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as in the case of actual astral-bodyprojection—this gives quite an advantage tothis method over the method of ordinaryclairvoyance; (b) it does away with certaindisadvantages of "going out into the astral" inthe astral-body, which only trained occultistsrealize—it gives almost the same results asastral-body clairvoyance, without a number ofdisadvantages and inconveniences.In India, especially, this form of clairvoyanceis comparatively frequent. This by reason ofthe fact that the Hindus, as a race, are farmore psychic than are those of the Westernlands, all else considered; and, besides, thereare a much greater number of highlydeveloped occultists there than in the West.Moreover, there is a certain psychicatmosphere surrounding India, by reason ofits thousands of years of deep interest inthings psychic and spiritual, all of whichrenders the production of psychic phenomenafar easier than in other lands.In India, moreover, we find many instances ofanother form of psychic, or astralphenomena. I allude to the production ofthought-form pictures which are plainly visibleto one or more persons. This phase of psychicphenomena is the real basis for many of thewonder tales which Western travellers bringback with them from India. The wonderfulcases of magical appearance of livingcreatures and plants, and other objects, outof the clear air are the result of this psychicphenomena. That is to say, the creatures and


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objects are not really produced—they are butastral appearances resulting from theprojection of powerful thought-forms from themind of the magician or other wonder-worker,of whom India has a plentiful supply. Even theignorant fakirs (I use the word in its truesense, not in the sense given it by Americanslang)—even these itinerant showmen ofpsychic phenomena, are able to producephenomena of this kind which seemsmiraculous to those witnessing them. As forthe trained occultists of India, I may say thattheir feats (when they deign to produce them)seem to overturn every theory and principle ofmaterialistic philosophy and science. But innearly every case the explanation is thesame—the projection of a strong and clearthought-form on a large scale.Although I have purposely omitted referenceto Hindu psychic phenomena in this book (forthe reason given in my Introduction), I find itnecessary to quote cases in India in thisconnection, for the simple reason that thereare but few counterparts in the Westernworld. There are no itinerent wonder-workersof this kind in Western lands, and the trainedoccultists of the West of course would notconsent to perform feats of this kind for theamusement of persons seeking merelysensations. The trained wills of the West aregiven rather to materializing objectively on thephysical plane, creating great railroads,buildings, bridges, etc., from the mentalpictures, rather than devoting the same time,energy and will to the production of astral


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though-forms and pictures. There is a greatdifference in temperament, as well as adifference in the general psychic atmosphere,between East and West, which serves toexplain matters of this kind.An American writer truly says: "The firstprinciple underlying the whole business ofHindu wonder-working is that of a strong will;and the first necessary condition of producinga magical effect is an increase in the power ofthought. The Hindus, owing to that intenselove for solitary meditation, which has beenone of the most pronounced characteristicsfrom time immemorial, have acquired mentalfaculties of which we of the Western andyounger civilization are totally ignorant. TheHindu has attained a past master's degree inspeculative philosophy. He has for yearsretired for meditation to the silent places in hisland, lived a hermit, subdued the body anddeveloped the mind, thus winning control overother minds."In India, I have seen scenes of far distantplaces appearing as a mirage in clear air, eventhe colors being present to the scenes. This,though some what uncommon, was simply aremarkable instance of thought-formprojection from the mind of a man highlydeveloped along occult lines. You mustremember that in order to produce a picturein the astral, of this kind, the occultist mustnot only have the power of will and mind tocause such a picture to materialize, but hemust also have a remarkable memory for


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detail in the picture—for nothing appears inthe picture unless it has already been picturedin the mind of the mind of the man himself.Such a memory and perception of detail isvery rare—in the Western world it ispossessed by only exceptional artists;however, anyone may cultivate thisperception and memory if he will give the timeand care to it that the Hindu magicians do.You have heard of the Hindu Mango Trick, inwhich the magician takes a mango seed,plants it in the ground, waves his hands overit, and then causes first a tiny shoot to appearfrom the surface of the ground, this followedby a tiny trunk, and leaves, which grow andgrow, until at last appears a full sized mangotree, which first shows blossoms and thenripe fruit. In short, in a few moments themagician has produced that which Naturerequire years to do—that is he apparentlydoes this. What he really does is to produce awonderful thought-form in the astral, fromseed stage to tree and fruit stage; the astralpicture reproducing perfectly the picture in hisown mind. It is as if he were creating amoving picture film-roll in his mind, and thenprojecting this upon the screen of the air.There is no mango tree there, and never was,outside of the mind of the magician and theminds of his audience.In the same way, the magician will seem tothrow the end of a rope up into the air. Ittravels far up until the end is lost sight of.Then he sends a boy climbing up after it, until


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he too disappears from sight. Then he causesthe whole thing to disappear, and lo! the boyis seen standing among the audience. The boyis real, of course, but he never left thespot—the rest was all an appearance causedby the mind and will of the magician, picturedin the astral as a thought-form. In the sameway the magician will seem to cut the boy intobits, and then cause the severed parts tospring together and reassemble themselves.These feats may be varied indefinitely but theprinciple is ever the same—thought-formprojection.Western visitors have sought to obtainphotographs of these feats of the Hindumagicians, but their plates and films invariablyshow nothing whatever except the old fakirsitting quietly in the centre, with a peculiarexpression in his eyes. This is as might beexpected, for the picture exists only in theastral, and is perceived only by the awakenedastral senses of those present, which havebeen stimulated into activity by the power ofthe magician—by sympathetic vibration, to beexact. Moreover, in certain instances it hasbeen found that the vision is confined to alimited area; persons outside of the limit-ringsee nothing, and those moving nearer to themagician lose sight of what they hadpreviously seen. There are scientific reasonsfor this last fact, which need not be gone intoat this place. The main point I am seeking tobring out is that these wonderful scenes aresimply and wholly thought-form pictures inthe astral, perceived by the awakened astral


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vision of those present. This to be sure iswonderful enough—but still no miracle hasbeen worked!I may mention here that these magiciansbegin their training from early youth. Inaddition to certain instruction concerningastral phenomena which is handed down fromfather to son among them they are set towork practicing "visualization" of thingspreviously perceived. They are set to workupon, say, a rose. They must impress upontheir memory the perfect picture of therose—no easy matter, I may tell you. Thenthey proceed to more difficult objects, slowlyand gradually, along well known principles ofmemory development. Along with this theypractice the art of reproducing that which theyremember—projecting it in thought-formstate. And so the young magician proceeds,from simple to complex things; from easy todifficult; until, finally, he is pronounced fit togive public exhibitions. All this takes years andyears—sometimes the boy grows to be amiddle-aged man before he is allowed topublicly exhibit his power. Imagine a Westernboy or man being willing to study from earlychildhood to middle-age before he may hopeto be able to show what he has been learning!Verily "the East is East, and the West isWest"—the two poles of human activity andexpression.Another phase of psychic astral phenomenawhich should be mentioned, although it ismanifested but comparatively seldom, is that


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which has been called "Telekinesis." By theterm "telekinesis" is meant that class ofphenomena which manifests in the movementof physical objects without physical contactwith the person responsible for themovement. I understand that the term itselfwas coined by Professor Cowes, with whoseworks I am not personally familiar. It isderived from the two Greek words TELE,meaning "far off," and KINESIS, meaning "tomove."This class of phenomena is known better inthe Western world by reason of itsmanifestation in spiritualistic circles in themovement of tables, etc.; the knocking ortapping on tables and doors, etc.; all of whichare usually attributed to the work of "spirits,"but which occultists know are generallyproduced, consciously or unconsciously, bymeans of the power in the medium or otherspresent, sometimes both. I would say herethat I am not trying to discredit genuinespiritualistic phenomena—I am notconsidering the same in these lessons. All thatI wish to say is that many of the phenomenacommonly attributed to "spirits" are really butresults of the psychic forces inherent in theliving human being.Under certain conditions there may appear inthe case of a person strongly psychic, andalso strongly charged with prana, the ability toextend a portion of the astral body to aconsiderable distance, and to there producean effect upon some physical object. Those


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with strong clairvoyant vision may actuallyperceive this astral extension, under favorablecircumstances. They perceive the astral armof the person stretching out, diminishing insize as it extends (just as a piece of flexiblerubber shrinks in diameter as it expands inlength) and finally coming in contact with thephysical object it wishes to move or strike.Then is seen a strong flow of prana along itslength, which (by a peculiar form ofconcentration) is able to produce the physicaleffect. I cannot enter into the subject of astralphysics at this place, for the subject is far tootechnical to be treated in lessons designed forgeneral study. I may at least partially explainthe phenomenon, however, by saying that theprojected astral arm acts in a manner almostprecisely like that of an extended physicalarm, were such a thing possible in nature.This astral-body extension produces spiritraps on tables; table-tilting and movement;levitation, or the lifting of solid objects in theair; playing upon musical instruments such asthe guitar, accordian, etc. In some cases it isable to actually lift the person himself from thefloor, and carry him through the air, in thesame way. It may also cause the movementof a pencil in a closed slate, or bit of chalkupon a blackboard. In fact, it may producealmost any form of movement possible to thephysical hand. In the case of the levitation ofthe person himself, the astral arms, andsometimes the legs as well, extend to thefloor and push up the physical body into theair, and then propel it along. There are many


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complex technical details to thesemanifestations, however, and in a generalstatement these must be omitted.Some who are firmly wedded to the spiritistictheory resent the statement of occultists thatthis form of phenomena may be explainedwithout the necessity of the "spirits." But thebest ground for the statement of the occultistsis that many advanced occultists are able toproduce such phenomena, consciously, by anact of pure will, accompanied by the power ofmental picturing. They first picture the astralextension, and then will the projection of theastral and the passage of the prana (or vitalforce) around the pattern of the mentalimage. In the case of some very highlydeveloped occultists the astral thought-formof their body becomes so charged with pranathat it is able to move physical objects. Thereare not mere theories, for they may beverified by any occultist of sufficiently highdevelopment.I do not wish to intimate that the mediumsare aware of the true nature of thisphenomena, and consciously deceive theirfollowers. On the contrary, most of themfirmly believe that it is the "spirits" who do thework; unaware that they are unconsciouslyprojecting their astral bodies, charged withprana, and performing the feat themselves.The best mediums, however, will generally tellyou that they strongly "wish" that the thing bedone, and a little cross-examination will revealthe fact that they generally make a clear


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mental picture of the actual happening justbefore it occurs. As I have already stated,however, the best proof is the fact thatadvanced occultists are able to duplicate thephenomena deliberately, consciously, and atwill. I do not think that detracts from thewonder and interest in the so-called"spiritistic" phenomena; on the contrary, Ithink that it adds to it.Again invading the realm of the "spirits," Iwould say that occultists know that manycases of so-called materialization of "spirit-forms" take place by reason of theunconscious projection of the astral body ofthe medium. Moreover, such a projection ofthe astral body may take on the appearanceof some departed soul, by reason of themental picture of that person in the mind ofthe medium. But, it may be asked if themedium has never seen the dead person, howcan he or she make a mental picture of him orher. The answer is that the minds of thepersons present who knew the dead persontend to influence the appearance of thenebulous spirit form. In fact, in most casesthe medium is unable to produce thephenomenon without the psychic assistanceof those in the circle. In this case, also, Iwould say that the advanced occultist is ableto duplicate the phenomena at will, as all whohave enjoyed the privilege of closeacquaintance with such persons are aware.The fact the medium is usually in a trancecondition aid materially in the ease with which


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the phenomena are produced. With theconscious mind stilled, and the subconsciousmind active, the astral phenomena areproduced with much less trouble than wouldbe the case if the medium were in theordinary condition.Now, I wish to impress upon the minds ofthose of my readers who have a strongsympathy for the spiritistic teachings that Irecognize the validity and genuineness ofmuch of the phenomena of spiritism—I knowthese things to be true, for that matter; it isnot a matter of mere belief on my part. But Ialso know that much of the so-called spiritisticphenomena is possible without the aid of"spirits," but by, the employment of thepsychic astral forces and powers as stated inthese lessons. I see no reason for any honestinvestigator of spiritism to be offended at suchstatements, for it does not take away fromthe wonder of the phenomena; and does notdiscredit the motives and power of themediums. We must search for truth whereverit is to be found; and we must not seek tododge the results of our investigations. Thereis too much wonderful phenomena in spiritismto begrudge the explanation that the occultistoffers for certain of its phases.While I am on the subject of materializationhowever, I would direct the attention of thestudent to my little book entitled "The AstralWorld," in which I have explained briefly thephenomena of those planes of the astral inwhich dwell the cast-off shells of souls which


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have moved on to the higher planes of thegreat astral world. I have there shown thatmany astral shells or shades, or other astralsemi-entities may be materialized, and thusmistaken for the "spirits" of departed friends.I have also explained in the same little bookhow there are certain powerful thought-formswhich may be mistaken for spiritmaterializations. I have also shown how manya honest medium is really a good clairvoyant,and by reading the records of the astral lightis able to give information which seems tocome from the departed soul. All of thesethings should be familiar to the earnestinvestigator of spiritism, in order that he maybe able to classify the phenomena which hewitnesses, and to avoid error anddisappointment.In this connection, before passing on to theconsideration of other phases of psychicphenomena, I would say that one of the bestmediums known to the modern Westernworld—a medium who has been consulted byeminent men, university professors,psychologists, and others—and whoserevelations regarding past, present and futureastounded careful and intelligent men ofinternational reputation—this medium at theheight of her professional success made apublic announcement that she felt compelled,from conscientious motives, to assert that shehad come to the conclusion that her messagecame not from departed "spirits" but ratherfrom some unknown realm of being, broughthither by the exercise of some faculty inherent


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in her and developed to a high power in herfor some reason, which power seem tomanifest more effectively when she shut offher ordinary physical faculties and functionedon a plane higher than them. I think that thestudent of the present lessons will be able topoint out the nature of the phenomenamanifested by this medium, and also thesource of her power. If not, I shall feeldisappointed at my work of instruction.

LESSON XVI.PSYCHIC INFLUENCE; ITS LAWS ANDPRINCIPLES

One of the phases of psychic phenomena thatactively engage the attention of the studentfrom the very beginning is that which may becalled Psychic Influence. By this term is meantthe influencing of one mind by another—theeffect of one mind over another. There hasbeen much written and said on this phase ofthe general subject in recent years, but fewwriters, however, have gone deeply into thematter.In the first place, most of the writers on thesubject seek to explain the whole thing bymeans of ordinary telepathy. But this ismerely a one-sided view of the truth of thematter. For, while ordinary telepathy plays animportant part in the phenomena, still the


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higher form of telepathy, i.e., astral thought-transference, is frequently involved. Thestudent who has followed me in the precedinglessons will understand readily what I meanwhen I say this, so there is no necessity forrepetition on this point at this place.At this point, however, I must ask the studentto consider the idea of psychic vibrations andtheir inductive power. It is a great principle ofoccultism, as well as of modern science, thateverything is in a state of vibration—everything has its own rate of vibration, andis constantly manifesting it. Every mentalstate is accompanied by vibration of its ownplane: every emotional state or feeling has itsown particular rate of vibration. These rates ofvibrations manifest just as do the vibrations ofmusical sound which produce the severalnotes on the scale, one rising above the otherin rate of vibration. But the scale of mentaland emotional states is far more complex, andfar more extended than is the musical scale;there are thousands of different notes, andhalf-notes, on the mental scale. There areharmonies and discords on that scale, also.To those to whom vibrations seem to besomething merely connected with sound-waves, etc., I would say that a general andhasty glance at some elementary work onphysical science will show that even thedifferent shades, hues and tints of the colorsperceived by us arise from different rates ofvibrations. Color is nothing more than theresult of certain rates of vibrations of light


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recorded by our senses and interpreted byour minds. From the low vibrations of red tothe high vibrations of violet, all the variouscolors of the spectrum have their ownparticular rate of vibration. And, more thanthis, science knows that below the lowest redvibrations, and above the highest violetvibrations, there are other vibrations whichour senses are unable to record, but whichscientific instruments register. The rays oflight by which photographs are taken are notperceived by the eye. There are a number ofso-called chemical rays of light which the eyedoes not perceive, but which may be caughtby delicate instruments. There is what sciencehas called "dark light," which will photographin a room which appears pitch dark to thehuman sight.Above the ordinary scale of light vibrations arethe vibrations of the X-Rays and other fineforces—these are not perceived by the eye,but are caught by delicate instruments andrecorded. Moreover, though science has notas yet discovered the fact, occultists knowthat the vibrations of mental and emotionalstates are just as true and regular as arethose of sound or light, or heat. Again, abovethe plane of the physical vibrations arisingfrom the brain and nervous system, there arethe vibrations of the astral counterparts ofthese, which are much higher in the scale. Foreven the astral faculties and organs, whileabove the physical, still are under theuniversal rule of vibration, and have their ownrate thereof. The old occult axiom: "As above,


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so below; as below, so above" is always seento work out on all planes of universal energy.Closely following this idea of the universalityof vibrations, and intimately connectedtherewith, we have the principle of"induction," which is likewise universal, andfound manifesting on all planes of energy."What is induction?" you may ask. Well, it isvery simple, or very complex—just as youmay look at it. The principle of induction (onany plane) is that inherent quality or attributeof energy by which the manifestation ofenergy tends to reproduce itself in a secondobject, by setting up corresponding vibrationstherein, though without direct contact of thetwo objects.Thus, heat in one object tends to induce heatin another object within its range ofinduction—the heated object "throws off" heatvibrations which set up correspondingvibrations in the near-by second object andmake it hot. Likewise, the vibrations of lightstriking upon other objects render themcapable of radiating light. Again, a magnet willinduce magnetism in a piece of steelsuspended nearby, though the two objects donot actually touch, each other. An objectwhich is electrified will by induction electrifyanother object situated some distance away.A note sounded on the piano, or violin, willcause a glass or vase in some distant part ofthe room to vibrate and "sing," under certainconditions. And, so on, in every form or phaseof the manifestation of energy do we see the


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principle of induction in full operation andmanifestation.On the plane of ordinary thought andemotion, we find many instances of thisprinciple of induction. We know that oneperson vibrating strongly with happiness orsorrow, cheerfulness or anger, as the casemay be fends to communicate his feeling andemotions, state to those with whom he comesin contact. All of you have seen a whole roomfull of persons affected and influenced in thisway, under certain circumstances. You havealso seen how a magnetic orator, preacher,singer or actor is able to induce in hisaudience a state of emotional vibrationcorresponding to that manifested by himself.In the same manner the "mentalatmospheres" of towns, cities, etc., areinduced.A well-known writer on this subject hastruthfully told us: "We all know how greatwaves of feeling spread over a town, city orcountry, sweeping people off their balance.Great waves of political enthusiasm, orwar-spirit, or prejudice for or against certainpersons, sweep over places and cause men toact in a manner that they will afterward regretwhen they come to themselves and considertheir acts in cold blood. They will be swayedby demagogues or magnetic leaders who wishto gain their votes or patronage; and they willbe led into acts of mob violence, or similaratrocities, by yielding to these waves ofcontagious thought. On the other hand, we all


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know how great waves of religious feelingsweep over a community upon the occasionof some great 'revival' excitement or fervor."These things being perceived, and recognizedas true, the next question that presents itselfto the mind of the intelligent student is this:"But what causes the difference in power andeffect between the thought and feeling-vibrations of different persons?" This questionis a valid one, and arises from a perception ofthe underlying variety and difference in thethought vibrations of different persons. Thedifference, my students, is caused by threeprincipal facts, viz., (1) difference in degree offeeling; (2) difference in degree ofvisualization; and (3) difference in degree ofconcentration. Let us examine each of thesesuccessively, so as to get at the underlyingprinciple.The element of emotional feeling is like theelement of fire in the production of steam. Themore vivid and intense the feeling or emotion,the greater the degree of heat and force tothe thought wave or vibratory streamprojected. You will begin to see why thethought vibrations of those animated and filledwith strong desire, strong wish, strongambition, etc., must be more forceful thanthose of persons of the opposite type.The person who is filled with a strong desire,wish or ambition, which has been fanned intoa fierce blaze by attention, is a dynamic poweramong other persons, and his influence is felt.


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In fact, it may be asserted that as a generalrule no person is able to influence men andthings unless he have a strong desire, wish orambition within him. The power of desire is awonderful one, as all occultists know, and itwill accomplish much even if the otherelements be lacking; while, in propercombination with other principles it willaccomplish wonders. Likewise, a stronginterest in a thing will cause a certain strengthto the thought-vibrations connectedtherewith. Interest is really an emotionalfeeling, though we generally think of it asmerely something connected with theintellect. A cold intellectual thought has verylittle force, unless backed up by stronginterest and concentration. But any intellectualthought backed up with interest, and focusedby concentration, will produce very strongthought vibrations, with a marked inductivepower.Now, let us consider the subject ofvisualization. Every person knows that theperson who wishes to accomplish anything, orwho expects to do good work along any line,must first know what he wishes toaccomplish. In the degree that he is able tosee the thing in his mind's eye—to picture thething in his imagination—in that degree will hetend to manifest the thing itself in materialform and effect.Sir Francis Galton, an eminent authority uponpsychology, says on this point: "The free useof a high visualizing faculty is of much


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importance in connection with the higherprocesses of generalized thought. A visualimage is the most perfect form of mentalrepresentation wherever the shape, position,and relations of objects to space areconcerned. The best workmen are those whovisualize the whole of what they propose todo before they take a tool in their hands.Strategists, artists of all denominations,physicists who contrive new experiments,and, in short, all who do not follow routine,have need of it. A faculty that is of importancein all technical and artistic occupations, thatgives accuracy to our perceptions and justiceto our generalizations, is starved by lazydisuse instead of being cultivated judiciouslyin such a way as will, on the whole, bring bestreturn. I believe that a serious study of thebest way of developing and utilizing thisfaculty, without prejudice to the practice ofabstract thought in symbols, is one of thepressing desirata in the yet unformed scienceof education."Not only on the ordinary planes is the formingof strong mental images important and useful,but when we come to consider thephenomena of the astral plane we begin tosee what an important part is played there bystrong mental images or visualized ideas. Thebetter you know what you desire, wish oraspire to, the stronger will be your thoughtvibrations of that thing, of course. Well, then,the stronger that you are able to picture thething in your mind—to visualize it toyourself—the stronger will be your actual


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knowledge and thought-form of that thing.Instead of your thought vibrations beinggrouped in nebulous forms, lacking shape anddistinct figure, as in the ordinary case; whenyou form strong, clear mental images of whatyou desire or wish to accomplish, then do thethought vibrations group themselves in clear,strong distinct forms. This being done, whenthe mind of other persons are affected byinduction they get the clear idea of thethought and feeling in your mind, and arestrongly influenced thereby.A little later on, I shall call your attention tothe Attractive Power of Thought. But at thispoint I wish to say to you that while thoughtcertainly attracts to you the things that youthink of the most, still the power of theattraction depends very materially upon theclearness and distinctness of the mentalimage, or thought visualization, of the desiredthing that you have set up in your mind. Thenearer you can actually see the thing as youwish it to happen, even to the general details,the stronger will be the attractive forcethereof. But, I shall leave the discussion ofthis phase of the subject until I reach it in itsproper order. For the present, I shall contentmyself with urging upon you the importanceof a clear mental image, or visualized thought,in the matter of giving force and direction tothe idea induced in the minds of otherpersons. In order for the other persons toactually perceive clearly the idea or feelinginduced in them, it is necessary that the ideaor feeling be strongly visualized in the mind


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originating it; that is the whole thing in onesentence.The next point of importance in thought-influence by induction, is that which isconcerned with the process of concentration.Concentration is the act of mental focusing, orbringing to a single point or centre. It is likethe work of the sun-glass that converges therays of the sun to a single tiny point, thusimmensely increasing its heat and power. Or,it is like the fine point of a needle that willforce its way through where a blunt thingcannot penetrate. Or, it is like the stronglyconcentrated essence of a chemicalsubstance, of which one drop is as powerfulas one pint of the original thing. Think of theconcentrated power of a tiny drop of attar ofroses—it has within its tiny space theconcentrated odor of thousands of roses; onedrop of it will make a pint of extract, and agallon of weaker perfumery! Think of theconcentrated power in a lightning flash, ascontrasted with the same amount of electricitydiffused over a large area. Or, think of theharmless flash of a small amount ofgunpowder ignited in the open air, ascontrasted with the ignition of the sameamount of powder compelled to escapethrough the small opening in the gun-barrel.The occult teachings lay great stress upon thispower of mental concentration. All students ofthe occult devote much time and care to thecultivation of the powers of concentration,and the development of the ability to employ


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them. The average person possesses but avery small amount of concentration, and isable to concentrate his mind for but a fewmoments at a time. The trained thinkerobtains much of his mental power from hisacquired ability to concentrate on his task.The occultist trains himself in fixing hisconcentrated attention upon the matter beforehim, so as to bring to a focal centre all of hismental forces.The mind is a very restless thing, and isinclined to dance from one thing to another,tiring of each thing after a few moment'sconsideration thereof. The average personallows his involuntary attention to rest uponevery trifling thing, and to be distracted by theidlest appeals to the senses. He finds it mostdifficult to either shut out these distractingappeals to the senses, and equally hard tohold the attention to some uninterestingthing. His attention is almost free of control bythe will, and the person is a slave to hisperceptive powers and to his imagination,instead of, being a master of both.The occultist, on the contrary, masters hisattention, and controls his imagination. Heforces the one to concentrate when he wishesit to do so; and he compels the latter to formthe mental images he wishes to visualize. Butthis a far different thing from theself-hypnotization which some personsimagine to be concentration. A writer on thesubject has well said: "The trained occultistwill concentrate upon a subject or object with


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a wonderful intensity, seemingly completelyabsorbed in the subject or object before him,and oblivious to all else in the world. And yet,the task accomplished, or the given timeexpired, he will detach his mind from theobject and will be perfectly fresh, watchfuland wide-awake to the next matter beforehim. There is every difference between beingcontrolled by involuntary attention, which isspecies of self-hypnotization, and the controlof the attention, which is an evidence ofmastery." An eminent French psychologistonce said: "The authority of the attention issubject to the superior authority of the Ego. Iyield it, or I withhold it, as I please. I direct itin turn to several points. I concentrate it uponeach point, as long as my will can stand theeffort."In an earlier lesson of this series, I haveindicated in a general way the methodswhereby one may develop and train hispowers of concentration. There is no royalroad to concentration; it may be developedonly by practice and exercise. The secretconsists in managing the attention, so as tofix it upon a subject, no matter howuninteresting; and to hold it there for areasonable length of time. Practice upon somedisagreeable study or other task is goodexercise, for it serves to train the will in spiteof the influence of more attractive objects orsubjects. And this all serves to train the will,remember; for the will is actively concerned inevery act of voluntary attention. In fact,attention of this kind is one of the most


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important and characteristic acts of the will.So, as you see, in order to be successful ininfluencing the minds of others by means ofmental induction, you must first cultivate astrong feeling of interest in the idea which youwish to induce in the other person, or astrong desire to produce the thing. Interestand desire constitute the fire which generatesthe stream of will from the water of mind, assome occultists have stated it. Secondly, youmust cultivate the faculty of forming strongand clear mental images of the idea or feelingyou wish to so induce; you must learn toactually "see" the thing in your imagination,so as to give the idea strength and clearness.Thirdly, you must learn to concentrate yourmind and attention upon the idea or feeling,shutting out all other ideas and feelings forthe time being; thus you give concentratedforce and power to the vibrations andthought-forms which you are projecting.These three principles underlie all of the manyforms of mental induction, or mentalinfluence. We find them in active operation incases in which the person is seeking to attractto himself certain conditions, environment,persons, things, or channels of expression, bysetting into motion the great laws of mentalattraction. We see them also employed whenthe person is endeavoring to produce aneffect upon the mind of some particularperson, or number of persons. We see themin force in all cases of mental or psychichealing, under whatever form it may be


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employed. In short, these are generalprinciples, and must therefore underlie allforms and phases of mental or psychicinfluence. The sooner the student realizes thisfact, and the more actively does he sethimself to work in cultivating and developingthese principles within himself, the moresuccessful and efficient will he become in thisfield of psychic research and investigation. Itis largely in the degree of the cultivation ofthese three mental principles that the occultistis distinguished from the ordinary man.It may be that you are not desirous ofcultivating or practicing the power ofinfluencing other persons psychically. Well,that is for you to decide for yourself. At anyrate, you will do well to develop yourselvesalong these lines, at least for self-protection.The cultivation of these three mentalprinciples will tend to make you active andpositive, psychically, as contrasted with thepassive, negative mental state of the averageperson. By becoming mentally active andpositive you will be able to resist any psychicinfluence that may be directed towardyourself, and to surround yourself with aprotective aura of positive, active mentalvibrations.And, moreover, if you are desirous ofpursuing your investigations of psychic andastral phenomena, you will find it of greatimportance to cultivate and develop thesethree principles in your mind. For, then youwill be able to brush aside all distracting


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influences, and to proceed at once to the taskbefore you, with power, clearness andstrength of purpose and method.In the following chapters I shall give you amore or less detailed presentation of thevarious phases or forms of psychic influence.Some of these may seem at first to besomething independent of the generalprinciples. But I ask that you carefully analyzeall of these, so as to discover that the samefundamental principles are under and back ofeach and every instance presented. When youonce fully grasp this fact, and perfectyourselves in the few fundamental principles,then you are well started on the road tomastery of all the various phases of psychicphenomena. Instead of puzzling your mindover a hundred different phases ofdisconnected phenomena, it is better tomaster the few actual elementary principles,and then reason deductively from these to thevarious manifestation thereof. Master theprinciples, and then learn to apply them.

LESSON XVII.PERSONAL PSYCHIC INFLUENCE OVEROTHERS

Psychic Influence, as the term is used in thisbook, may be said to be divided into threegeneral classes, viz., (1) Personal Influence,


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in which the mind of another is directlyinfluenced by induction while he is in thepresence of the person influencing; (2)Distant Influencing, in which the psychicinduction is directly manifested when thepersons concerned are distant from oneanother; and (3) Indirect Influence, in whichthe induction is manifested in the minds ofvarious persons coming in contact with thethought vibrations of the person manifestingthem, though no attempt is made to directlyinfluence any particular person. I shall nowpresent each of these three forms of psychicinfluence to you for consideration, one afterthe other in the above order.Personal Influence, as above defined, rangesfrom cases in which the strongest control(generally known as hypnotism) ismanifested, down to the cases in whichmerely a slight influence is exerted. But thegeneral principle underlying all of these casesis precisely the same. The great characters ofhistory, such as Alexander the Great,Napoleon Bonaparte, and Julius Caesar,manifested this power to a great degree, andwere able to sway men according to their will.All great leaders of men have this powerstrongly manifested, else they would not beable to influence the minds of men. Greatorators, preachers, statesmen, and others ofthis class, likewise manifest the powerstrongly. In fact, the very sign of ability toinfluence and manage other persons isevidence of the possession and manifestationof this mighty power.


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In developing this power to influence othersdirectly and personally, you should begin byimpressing upon your mind the principlesstated in the preceding chapter, namely (1)Strong Desire; (2) Clear Visualization; and (3)Concentration.You must begin by encouraging a strongdesire in your mind to be a positive individual;to exert and manifest a positive influence overothers with whom you come in contact, andespecially over those whom you wish toinfluence in some particular manner ordirection. You must let the fire of desire burnfiercely within you, until it becomes as strongas physical hunger or thirst. You must "wantto" as you want to breathe, to live. You willfind that the men who accomplish the greatthings in life are those who have strong desireburning in their bosoms. There is a strongradiative and inductive power in strong desireand wish—in fact, some have thought this themain feature of what we generally call strongwill-power.The next step, of course, is the forming of aclear, positive, distinct and dynamic mentalpicture of the idea or feeling that you wish toinduce in the other person. If it is an idea, youshould make a strong clear picture of it inyour imagination, so as to give it distinctnessand force and a clear outline. If it is a feeling,you should picture it in your imagination. If itis something that you wish the other personto do, or some way in which you wish him toact, you should picture him as doing the


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thing, or acting in that particular way. By sodoing you furnish the pattern or design for theinduced mental or emotional states you wishto induce in the other person. Upon theclearness and strength of these mentalpatterns of the imagination depends largelythe power of the induced impression.The third step, of course, is the concentrationof your mind upon the impression you wish toinduce in the mind of the other person. Youmust learn to concentrate so forcibly andclearly that the idea will stand out clearly inyour mind like a bright star of a dark night,except that there must be only one starinstead of thousands. By so doing you reallyfocus the entire force of your mental andpsychic energies into that one particular ideaor thought. This makes it act like the focusedrays in the sun-glass, or like the strongpipe-stream of water that will break down thething upon which it is turned. Diffusedthought has but a comparatively weak effect,whereas a concentrated stream of thoughtvibrations will force its way through obstacles.Remember, always, this threefold mentalcondition: (1) STRONG DESIRE; (2) CLEARMENTAL PICTURE; and (3) CONCENTRATEDTHOUGHT. The greater the degree in whichyou can manifest these three mentalconditions, the greater will be your success inany form of psychic influence, direct orindirect, personal or general, present ordistant.


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Before you proceed to develop the power toimpress a particular idea or feeling upon themind of another person, you should firstacquire a positive mental atmosphere foryourself. This mental atmosphere is producedin precisely the same way that you induce aspecial idea or feeling in the mind of the otherperson. That is to say, you first stronglydesire it, then you clearly picture it, and thenyou apply concentrated thought upon it.I will assume that you are filled with thestrong desire for a positive mentalatmosphere around you. You want this verymuch indeed, and actually crave and hungerfor it. Then you must begin to picture yourself(in your imagination) as surrounded with anaura of positive thought-vibrations whichprotect you from the thought forces of otherpersons, and, at the same time impress thestrength of your personality upon the personswith whom you come in contact. You will beaided in making these strong mental picturesby holding the idea in your concentratedthought, and, at the same time, silentlystating to your mind just what you expect todo in the desired direction. In stating yourorders to your mind, always speak as if thething were already accomplished at thatparticular moment. Never say that it "will be,"but always hold fast to the "it is." Thefollowing will give you a good example of themental statements, which of course should beaccompanied by the concentrated idea of thething, and the mental picture of yourself asbeing just what you state.


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Here is the mental statement for the creationof a strong, positive psychic atmosphere: "Iam surrounded by an aura of strong, positive,dynamic thought-vibrations. These render mepositive to other persons, and render themnegative to me. I am positive of their thought-vibrations, but they are negative to mine.They feel the strength of my psychicatmosphere, while I easily repel the power oftheirs. I dominate the situation, and manifestmy positive psychic qualities over theirs. Myatmosphere creates the vibration of strengthand power on all sides of me, which affectothers with whom I come in contact. MYPSYCHIC ATMOSPHERE IS STRONG ANDPOSITIVE!"The next step in Personal Influence is that ofprojecting your psychic power directly uponand into the mind of the other person whomyou wish to influence. Sometimes, if theperson is quite negative to you, this is a verysimple and easy matter; but where the personis near your own degree of psychicpositiveness you will have to assert yourpsychic superiority to him, and get thepsychic "upper hand" before you can proceedfurther. This is accomplished by throwing intoyour psychic atmosphere some particularlystrong mental statements accompanied byclear visualizations or mental pictures.Make positive your psychic atmosphere,particularly towards the person whom youseek to influence, by statements and picturessomething along the following lines: "I am


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positive to this man"; "He is negative to me";"He feels my power and is beginning to yieldto it"; "He is unable to influence me in theslightest, while I can influence him easily";"My power is beginning to operate upon hismind and feelings." The exact words are notimportant, but the idea behind them givesthem their psychic force and power.Then should you begin your direct attackupon him, or rather upon his psychic powers.When I say "attack," I do not use the word inthe sense of warfare or actual desire to harmthe other person—this is a far differentmatter. What I mean to say is that there isusually a psychic battle for a longer or shorterperiod between two persons of similardegrees of psychic power and development.From this battle one always emerges victor atthe time, and one always is beaten for thetime being, at least. And, as in all battles,victory often goes to him who strikes the firsthard blow. The offensive tactics are the bestin cases of this kind.A celebrated American author, Oliver WendallHolmes, in one of his books makes mention ofthese duels of psychic force betweenindividuals, as follows: "There is that deadlyIndian hug in which men wrestle with theireyes, over in five seconds, but which breaksone of their two backs, and is good forthree-score years and ten, one trial enough—settles the whole matter—just as when twofeathered songsters of the barnyard, gameand dunghill, come together. After a jump or


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two, and a few sharp kicks, there is an end toit; and it is 'After you, monsieur' with thebeaten party in all the social relations for allthe rest of his days."An English physician, Dr. Fothergill by name,wrote a number of years ago about thisstruggle of wills, as he called it, but which isreally a struggle of psychic power. He says:"The conflict of will, the power to commandothers, has been spoken of frequently. Yetwhat is this will-power that influences others?What is it that makes us accept, and adopttoo, the advice of one person, while preciselythe same advice from another has beenrejected? Is it the weight of force of will whichinsensibly influences us; the force of willbehind the advice? That is what it is! Theperson who thus forces his or her advice uponus has no more power to enforce it thanothers; but all the same we do as requested.We accept from one what we reject fromanother. One person says of somethingcontemplated, 'Oh, but you must not,' yet wedo it all the same, though that person may bein a position to make us regret the rejection ofthat counsel. Another person says, 'Oh, butyou mustn't,' and we desist, though we may,if so disposed, set this latter person's opinionat defiance with impunity. It is not the fear ofconsequences, not of giving offense, whichdetermines the adaption of the latter person'sadvice, while it has been rejected when givenby the first. It depends upon the character orwill-power of the individual advising whetherwe accept the advice or reject it. This


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character often depends little, if at all, in somecases, upon the intellect, or even upon themoral qualities, the goodness or badness, ofthe individual. It is itself an imponderablesomething; yet it carries weight with it. Theremay be abler men, cleverer men; but it is theone possessed of will who rises to the surfaceat these times—the one who can by somesubtle power make other men obey him."The will-power goes on universally. In theyoung aristocrat who gets his tailor to makeanother advance in defiance of his convictionthat he will never get his money back. It goeson between lawyer and client; betwixt doctorand patient; between banker and borrower;betwixt buyer and seller. It is not tact whichenables the person behind the counter toinduce customers to buy what they did notintend to buy, and which bought, gives themno satisfaction, though it is linked therewithfor the effort to be successful. Whenever twopersons meet in business, or in any otherrelation in life, up to love-making, there is thiswill-fight going on, commonly enough withoutany consciousness of the struggle. There is adim consciousness of the result, but none ofthe processes. It often takes years of theintimacy of married life to find out with whomof the pair the mastery really lies. Often thefar stronger character, to all appearances, hasto yield; it is this will-element which underliesthe statement: 'The race is not always to theswift, nor the battle to the strong.' In Middle-march' we find in Lydgate a grand aggregationof qualities, yet shallow, hard, selfish


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Rosamond masters him thoroughly in the end.He was not deficient in will-power; possessedmore than an average amount of character;but in the fight he went down at last under theonslaught of the intense, stubborn will of hisnarrow-minded spouse. Their will-contest wasthe collision of a large warm nature, like acapable human hand, with a hard, narrowselfish nature, like a steel button; the handonly bruised itself while the button remainedunaffected."You must not, however, imagine that everyperson with whom you engage in one of thesepsychic duels is conscious of what is goingon. He usually recognizes that some sort ofconflict is under way, but he does not knowthe laws and principles of psychic force, andso is in the dark regarding the procedure. Youwill find that a little practice of this kind, inwhich no great question is involved, will giveyou a certain knack or trick of handling yourpsychic forces, and will, besides, give youthat confidence in yourself that comes onlyfrom actual practice and exercise. I can pointout the rules, and give you the principles, butyou must learn the little bits of techniqueyourself from actual practice.When you have crossed psychic swords withthe other person, gaze at him intently but notfiercely, and send him this positive strongthought-vibration: "I am stronger than you,and I shall win!" At the same time picture toyourself your forces beating down his andovercoming him. Hold this idea and picture in


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your mind: "My vibrations are stronger thanare yours—I am beating you!" Follow this upwith the idea and picture of: "You areweakening and giving in—you are beingoverpowered!" A very powerful psychicweapon is the following: "My vibrations arescattering your forces—I am breaking yourforces into bits—surrender, surrender now, Itell you!"And now for some interesting and veryvaluable information concerning psychicdefense. You will notice that in the offensivepsychic weapons there is always an assertionof positive statement of your power and itseffect. Well, then, in using the psychicdefensive weapon against one of strong will orpsychic force, you reverse the process. Thatis to say you deny the force of his psychicpowers and forces, and picture them asmelting into nothingness. Get this idea wellfixed in your mind, for it is very important in aconflict of this kind. The effect of this is toneutralize all of the other person's power sofar as its effect on yourself is concerned—youreally do not destroy it in him totally. Yousimply render his forces powerless to affectyou. This is important not only when in apsychic conflict of this kind, but also whenyou wish to render yourself immune from thepsychic forces of other persons. You may shutyourself up in a strong defensive armor in thisway, and others will be powerless to affectyou.In the positive statement, "I deny!" you have


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the Occult Shield of Defense, which is amighty protection to you. Even if you do notfeel disposed to cultivate and develop yourpsychic powers in the direction of influencingothers, you should at least develop yourdefensive powers so as to resist any psychicattacks upon yourself.You will find it helpful to practice theseoffensive and defensive weapons when youare alone, standing before your mirror and"playing" that your reflection in the glass isthe other person. Send this imaginary otherperson the psychic vibrations, accompaniedby the mental picture suitable for it. Act thepart out seriously and earnestly, just as if thereflected image were really another person.This will give you confidence in yourself, andthat indefinable "knack" of handling yourpsychic weapons that comes only frompractice. You will do well to perfect yourself inthese rehearsals, just as you would in caseyou were trying to master anything else. Byfrequent earnest rehearsals, you will gain notonly familiarity with the process and methods,but you will also gain real power and strengthby the exercise of your psychic faculties whichhave heretofore lain dormant. Just as youmay develop the muscle of your arm bycalisthenic exercises, until it is able to performreal muscular work of strength; so you maydevelop your psychic faculties in this rehearsalwork, so that you will be strongly equippedand armed for an actual psychic conflict,besides having learned how to handle yourpsychic weapons.


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After you have practiced sufficiently along thegeneral offensive and defensive lines, andhave learned how to manifest these forces inactual conflict, you will do well to practicespecial and specific commands to others, inthe same way. That is to say, practice themfirst on your reflected image in the mirror. Thefollowing commands (with mental pictures, ofcourse) will give you good practice. Go aboutthe work in earnest, and act out the partseriously. Try these exercises: "Here! look atme!" "Give me your undivided attention!""Come this way!" "Come to me at once!" "Goaway from me—leave me at once!" "You likeme—you like me very much!" "You are afraidof me!" "You wish to please me!" "You willagree to my proposition!" "You will do as I tellyou!" Any special command you wish toconvey to another person, psychically, youwill do well to practice before the mirror in thisway.When you have made satisfactory progress inthe exercises above mentioned, and are able,to demonstrate them with a fair degree ofsuccess in actual practice, you may proceedto experiment with persons along the lines ofspecial and direct commands by psychicforce. The following will give you a clear ideaof the nature of the experiments in question,but you may enlarge upon and vary themindefinitely. Remember there is no virtue inmere words—the effect comes from the powerof the thought behind the words. But,nevertheless, you will find that positive words,used in these silent commands, will help you


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to fit in your feeling to the words. Alwaysmake the command a real COMMAND, never amere entreaty or appeal. Assume the mentalattitude of a master of men—of a commanderand ruler of other men. Here follow a numberof interesting experiments along these lines,which will be very useful to you in acquiringthe art of personal influence of this kind:

SEVEN VALUABLE EXERCISESEXERCISE 1: When walking down the streetbehind a person, make him turn around inanswer to your mental command. Selectsome person who does not seem to be toomuch rushed or too busy—select someperson who seems to having nothingparticular on his mind. Then desire earnestlythat he shall turn around when you mentallycall to him to do so; at the same time picturehim as turning around in answer to your call;and at the same time concentrate yourattention and thought firmly upon him. After afew moments of preparatory thought, sendhim the following message, silently of course,with as much force, positiveness and vigor aspossible: "Hey there! turn around and look atme! Hey! turn around, turn around at once!"While influencing him fix your gaze at thepoint on his neck where the skull joinsit—right at the base of the brain, in the back.In a number of cases, you will find that theperson will look around as if someone hadactually called him aloud. In other cases, he


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will seem puzzled, and will look from side toside as if seeking some one. After a littlepractice you will be surprised how manypersons you can affect in this way.EXERCISE 2: When in a public place, such asa church, concert or theatre, send a similarmessage to someone seated a little distancein front of you. Use the same methods as inthe first exercise, and you will obtain similarresults. It will seem queer to you at first tonotice how the other person will begin tofidget and move around in his seat, and finallyglance furtively around as if to see what iscausing him the disturbance. You, of course,will not let him suspect that it is you, but,instead will gaze calmly ahead of you, andpretend not to notice him.EXERCISE 3: This is a variation of the firstexercise. It is practiced by sending to aperson approaching you on the street, orwalking ahead of you in the same direction, acommand to turn to the right, or to the left,as you prefer. You will be surprised to seehow often you will be successful in this.EXERCISE 4: This is a variation of the secondexercise. It is practiced by sending to aperson seated in front of you in a public placethe command to look to the right, or to theleft, as you prefer. Do not practice on thesame person too long, after succeeding atfirst—it is not right to torment people,remember.


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EXERCISE 5: After having attained proficiencyin the foregoing exercises, you many proceedto command a person to perform certainunimportant motions, such as rising or sittingdown, taking off his hat, taking out hishandkerchief, laying down a fan, umbrella,etc.EXERCISE 6: The next step is to commandpersons to say some particular word havingno important meaning; to "put words in hismouth" while talking to him. Wait until theother person pauses as if in search of a word,and then suddenly, sharply and forcibly putthe word into his mouth, silently of course. Ina very susceptible person, well under yourpsychic control, you may succeed insuggesting entire sentences and phrases tohim.EXERCISE 7: This is the summit of psychicinfluencing, and, of course, is the mostdifficult. But you will be surprised to see howwell you will succeed in many cases, after youhave acquired the knack and habit of sendingthe psychic message. It consists ofcommanding the person to obey the spokencommand or request that you are about tomake to him. This is the art and secret of thesuccess of many salesmen, solicitors, andothers working along the lines of influencingother people. It is acquired by beginning withsmall things, and gradually proceeding togreater, and still greater. At this point I shouldwarn you that all the best occult teachingswarn students against using this power for


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base ends, improper purposes, etc. Suchpractices tend to react and rebound againstthe person using them, like a boomerang.Beware against using psychic or occult forcesfor improper purposes—the psychic lawspunish the offender, just as do the physicallaws.Finally, I caution the student against talkingtoo much about his developing powers.Beware of boasting or bragging about thesethings. Keep silent, and keep your owncounsel. When you make known your powers,you set into operation the adverse andantagonistic thought of persons around youwho may be jealous of you, and who wouldwish to see you fail, or make yourselfridiculous. The wise head keepeth a stilltongue! One of the oldest occult maxims is:"Learn! Dare! Do! Keep Silent!!!" You will dowell to adhere strictly to this warning caution.

LESSON XVIII.PSYCHIC INFLUENCE AT A DISTANCE

The second phase of Psychic Influence is thatcalled Distant Psychic Influence, in whichpsychic induction is manifested when thepersons are distant in space from oneanother—not in the presence of each other.Here, of course, we see the principle oftelepathy involved in connection with the


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process of mental induction: and in somecases even the astral telepathic sense is calledinto operation.The student who has followed my explanationand course of reasoning in the precedinglessons will readily perceive that the principleinvolved in this distant phase of psychicinfluence is precisely the same as thatemployed in direct personal psychic influence.As I have explained in an early lesson, itmatters little whether the space to be coveredby the psychic vibratory waves is but one footor a thousand miles, the principle is exactlythe same. There are, of course, otherprinciples involved in the case of two personsmeeting face to face and calling into forcetheir psychic powers; for instance, there isthe element of suggestion and association,and other psychological principles which arenot in force when the two persons are out ofthe actual presence of each other. But so faras the telepathic or astral psychic powers areconcerned, the mere extension of space doesnot change the principle.The student who has developed his power ofpsychic induction in the phases mentioned inthe preceding chapter, may begin toexperiment and practice psychic induction atlong-range, if he so wishes. That is to say,instead of causing psychic induction in theminds of persons actually in his presence andsight, he may produce similar results inpersons out of his sight and presence. Theperson may be brought into presence and


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psychic contact, for all practical purposes, byusing the visualizing powers for the purposeof bringing him into the en rapport condition.That is to say, by using the imagination tobring into the mind a strong clear picture ofthe other person, you may induce an enrapport condition in which he will bepractically in the same psychic relation to youas if he were actually before you. Of course, ifhe is sufficiently well informed regardingoccult matters, he may shut you out bydrawing a psychic circle around himself whichyou cannot penetrate, or by surroundinghimself with psychic armor or atmospheresuch as I have already mentioned inpreceding lessons. But as he will not likelyknow anything of this, the average personmay be reached in the manner justmentioned.Or again, you may establish en rapportconditions by psychometric methods, byholding to your forehead an article which hasbeen in the other person's possession forsome time; an article worn by him; a piece ofhis hair; etc. Or, again, you may use thecrystal to bring up his astral vision before you.Or, again, you may erect an "astral tube" suchas I will mention a little further on in thischapter, and thus establish a strong enrapport condition.Having established the en rapport conditionwith the other person, and having thuspractically brought him into your presence,psychically speaking, you may proceed to


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send him commands or demands, just as youdid in the phase of personal psychic influencepreviously mentioned. You act precisely as ifthe other person were present before you,and state your commands or demands to himjust as you would were he seated or standingin your presence. This is the keynote of thewhole thing; the rest is simply an elaborationand stating of details of methods, etc. Withthe correct principle once established, youmay apply the same according to your ownwishes and discretion.This phase of distant psychic influence is atthe bottom of all the wonderful tales, storiesand legends of supernatural powers,witchcraft, sorcery, etc., with which the pagesof history are filled. There is of course alwaysto be found much distortion and exaggerationin these legends and tales, but they havetruth at the bottom of them. In thisconnection, let me call your attention to avery important psychic principle involved. Ihave told you that by denying the power ofany person over you, you practicallyneutralize his psychic power—the strongerand more positive your belief in yourimmunity, and your denial of his power overyou, the more do you rob him of any suchpower. The average person, not knowing this,is more or less passive to psychic influencesof other persons, and may be affected bythem to a greater or less extent, dependingupon the psychic development of the personseeking to influence him. At the extreme ofthe sensitive pole of psychic influence, we find


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those persons who believe firmly that theother person has power over them, and whoare more or less afraid of him. This belief andfear acts to make them particularly sensitiveand impressionable, and easily affected by hispsychic induction. This is the reason that theso-called witches and sorcerers and others ofevil repute have been able to acquire such apower over their victims, and to cause somuch trouble. The secret is that the victimsbelieved in the power of the other person, andfeared their power. The greater the belief in,and fear of, the power of the person, thegreater the susceptibility to his influence; thegreater the sense of power of neutralizing thepower, and the disbelief in his power to affectthem, the greater the degree of immunity:this is the rule!Accordingly we find that persons in variousstages of the history of the world have beenaffected by the influences of witches,sorcerers, and other unprincipled persons. Inmost cases these so-called witches andsorcerers themselves were under the delusionthat they were assisted by the devil or someother supernatural being. They did not realizethat they were simply using perfectly naturalmethods, and employing perfectly naturalforces. For that matter, you must rememberthat magnetism and electricity, in ancientdays, were considered as supernatural forcesin some way connected with demonic powers.Studying the history of witchcraft, sorcery,black-magic, and the like, you will find that


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the devotees thereof usually employed somepsychometric method. In other cases theywould mould little figures of clay, or of wax, inthe general shape and appearance of theperson whom they wished to affect. It wasthought that these little figures were endowedwith some supernatural powers or attributes,but of course this was mere superstition. Thewhole power of these little figures arose fromthe fact that they aided the imagination of thespell-worker in forming a mental image of theperson sought to be influenced; and thusestablished a strong en rapport condition.Added to this, you must remember that thefear and belief of the public greatly aided thespell-worker and increased his power andinfluence over these poor persons.I will give you a typical case, taken from anold German book, which thoroughly illustratesthe principles involved in cases of this kind.Understand this case, and you will have thesecret and working principle of them all. Thestory is told by an eminent German physicianof the last century. He relates that he wasconsulted by one of his patients, a wealthyfarmer living near by. The farmer complainedthat he was disturbed every night by strangenoises which sounded like someone poundingiron. The disturbances occurred between thehours of ten o'clock and midnight, each andevery night. The physician asked him if hesuspected anyone of causing the strangetrouble. The farmer answered that hesuspected an old enemy of his, an old villageblacksmith living several miles away from his


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farm. It appears that an old long-standingfeud between them had broken out afresh,and that the blacksmith had made threats ofemploying his "hex" (witchcraft) powers onthe old farmer. The blacksmith was reputed tobe a sort of "hex" or male-witch, and thefarmer believed in his diabolic powers and wasvery much in fear of them. So you see theideal condition for psychic receptivity waspresent.The physician called on the blacksmith, andtaking him by surprise, gazing sternly into hiseyes and asked him: "What do you do everynight between ten and twelve o'clock?" Theblacksmith, frightened and disturbed,stammered out: "I hammer a bar of ironevery night at that time, and all the while Ithink intently of a bad neighbor of mine whoonce cheated me out of some money; and I'will' at the same time that the noise willdisturb his rest, until he will pay me back mymoney to get peace and quiet." The physicianbade him to desist from his evil practices,under threats of dire punishment; and thenwent to the farmer and made him straightenout the financial dispute between the two.Thereafter, there was no more trouble.So you see in this case all the necessaryelements were present. First there was thebelief of the blacksmith in his ownpowers—this gave him self-confidence andpsychic power. Then there was the belief andfear on the part of the farmer—this made himan easy subject, and very susceptible to


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psychic induction, etc. Then there was theaction of the blacksmith beating the iron—thisgave force and clearness to his visualization ofthe idea he wished to induce in the mind ofthe other. And, finally, there was his willemployed in every stroke, going out in thedirection of the concentrated wish andpurpose of influencing the farmer. You see,then, that every psychic element was present.It was no wonder that the old farmer wasdisturbed.Among the negroes of the South, in America;and among the Hawaiians; we find markedinstances of this kind. The negro Voodoo menand women work black magic on those oftheir race who are superstitious andcredulous, and who have a mortal fear of theVoodoo. You see the conditions obtained aremuch the same as in the case of the Germancase just cited. Travellers who have visitedthe countries in which there is a large negropopulation, have many interesting tales torecite of the terrible workings of these Voodooblack magicians. In some cases, sickness andeven death is the result. But, mark you this! itis only those who believe in, and fear, thepower of the Voodoos that are affected. InHawaii, the Kahunas or native magicians arerenowned for their power to cause sicknessand death to those who have offended them;or to those who have offended some client ofthe Kahuna, and who have hired the latter to"pray" the enemy to sickness or death. Thepoor ignorant Hawaiians, believing implicitly inthe power of the Kahunas, and being in


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deadly fear of them, are very susceptible totheir psychic influence, and naturally fall easyvictims, unless they buy of the Kahuna, ormake peace with his client. White personsliving in Hawaii are not affected by theKahunas, for they do not believe in them,neither do they fear them. Unconsciously, butstill strongly, they deny the power, and areimmune. So, you see, the principle workingout here, also. Once you have themaster-key, you may unlock many doors ofmystery which have heretofore been closed toyou.We do not have to fall back on cases ofwitchcraft, however, in order to illustrate thisphase of the use of psychic influence forselfish ends. In Europe and America there areteachers of a low form of occultism whoinstruct their pupils in the art of producinginduced mental states in the minds of others,for purposes of financial gain or other selfishends. For instance, there is a Western teacherwho instructs his pupils to induce desiredmental states in prospective customers, orothers whom they may wish to influence forselfish reasons. This teacher tells his pupilsto: "Imagine your prospective customer, orother person, as seated in a chair beforewhich you are standing. Make the imaginedpicture as strong as possible, for upon thisdepends your success. Then proceed to 'treat'this person just as if he were actually present.Concentrate your will upon him, and tell himwhat you expect to tell him when you meethim. Use all of the arguments that you can


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think of, and at the same time hold thethought that he must do as you say. Try toimagine him as complying with your wishes inevery respect, for this imagining will tend to'come true' when you really meet the person.This rule may be used, not only in the case ofprospective customers, but also in the case ofpersons whom you wish to influence in anyway whatsoever." Surely this is a case ofemploying psychic powers for selfishpurposes, if anything is.Again, in Europe and America, particularly inthe latter country, we find many persons whohave picked up a smattering of occultknowledge by means of some of the manyhealing cults and organizations which teachthe power of thought over physical diseases.In the instruction along the lines of distantmental healing, the student is taught tovisualize the patient as strongly and clearly aspossible, and to then proceed to makestatements of health and strength. The mindof the patient, and that of the healer,cooperate and in many cases work wonderfulcures. As you will see in the last lesson of thiscourse, there is great power in the mind toinduce healthful vibrations in the mind ofothers, and the work is a good and worthyone. But, alas! as is so often the case, thegood teaching is sometimes perverted, andapplied for unworthy and selfish ends. Someof the persons who have picked up theprinciples of mental healing have discoveredthat the same power may be used in a bad aswell as in a good direction. They accordingly,


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proceed to "treat" other persons with theobject of persuading them to do thingscalculated to benefit the person using thepsychic power. They seek to get these otherpersons under their psychic influence, and tothen take advantage of them in some way orother.I hope that it is practically unnecessary for meto warn my students against evil practices ofthis kind—I trust that I have not drawn anystudents of this class to me. In case,however, that some of you may have been, ormay be in the future, tempted to use yourpsychic powers improperly, in this way, I wishto caution and warn you positively against sodoing. Outside of the ordinary morality whichshould prevent you from taking advantage ofanother person in this way, I wish to say toyou that anyone so misusing psychic or astralpowers will inevitably bring down upon hishead, sooner or later, certain occult astralforces which will prove disastrous to him. Hewill become involved in the web of his ownmaking, and will suffer greatly. Never by anymeans allow yourself to be tempted intoindulging in any of the practices of BlackMagic, under any form of disguise. You willlive to regret it if you do. Employ yourpowers, when you develop them, for the goodof others; or at least, for purely scientificinvestigation and knowledge.The scientific investigator of this phase ofpsychic influence, will wish to becomeacquainted with what the occultists call "the


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astral tube." In this phase of the phenomena,you manifest upon the astral plane, ratherthan upon the physical. The astral form oftelepathy is manifested, rather than theordinary form. While there are a number oftechnical points involved in the production ofthe astral tube, I shall endeavor to instructyou regarding its creation and use in as plainwords as possible, omitting all reference totechnical occult details which would only serveto distract your attention and confuse yourmind. The advanced occult student willunderstand these omitted technicalitieswithout being told of them; the others wouldnot know what was meant by them, ifmentioned, in the absence of a long stage ofpreparatory teaching. After all, the theory isnot of so much importance to most of you asare the practical working principles. I ask yourcareful attention to what I have to say in thissubject of the astral tube.The Astral Tube is formed by the personforming in his imagination (i.e., on the astralplane by means of his imagination orvisualizing powers), a tube or small tunnelbetween himself and the person whom hewishes to influence. He starts by picturing it inhis mind a whirling vortex, similar to thewhirling ring of smoke emitted from a"coughing" engine, and sometimes by a mansmoking a cigar, about six inches to one footin diameter. He must will the imaginedvortex-ring to move forward as if it wereactually boring a tunnel through theatmosphere. When the knack of producing


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this astral tube is acquired, it will be foundthat the visualized tunnel seems to vibratewith a peculiar intensity, and will seem to becomposed of a substance far more subtle thanair. Then, at the other end of this astral tubeyou must picture the other person, the onewhom you wish to influence. The person willseem as if viewed through the wrong end ofan opera-glass. When this condition is gained,there will be found to be a high degree of enrapport between yourself and the otherperson. The secret consists in the fact thatyou have really established a form ofclairvoyance between yourself and theperson. When you have induced thiscondition, proceed with your mentalcommands and pictures just as if you were inthe presence of the person himself. That isthe whole thing in a nutshell.In order that you may have another viewpointfrom which to consider the astral tube, orwhat corresponds to it, I wish to give youhere a little quotation from another writer onthe subject, who presents the matter from asomewhat more technical standpoint. Readthis quotation in connection with my owndescription of the astral tube, and you willform a pretty complete and clear idea of thephenomenon. The writer mentioned says: "Itis impossible here to give an exhaustivedisquisition on astral physics; all I need say isthat it is possible to make in the astralsubstance a definite connecting-line that shallact as a telegraph wire to convey vibrationsby means of which all that is going on at the


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other end of it may be seen. Such a line isestablished, be it understood, not by a directprojection through space of astral matter, butby such action upon a line (or rather manylines) of particles of that substance as willrender them capable of forming a conductorfor vibrations of the character required. Thispreliminary action can be set up in twoways—either by the transmission of energyfrom particle to particle, until the line isformed, or by the use of a force from a higherplane which is capable of acting upon thewhole line simultaneously. Of course thislatter method implies far greaterdevelopment, since it involves the knowledgeof (and the power to use) forces of aconsiderably higher level."Even the simpler and purely astral operationis a difficult one to describe, though quite aneasy one to perform. It may be said topartake somewhat of the nature of themagnetization of a bar of steel; for it consistsin what we might call the polarization, by aneffort of the human will, of a number of astralatoms reaching from the operator to thescene which he wishes to observe. All theatoms thus affected are held for the timebeing with their axes rigidly parallel to oneanother, so that they form a kind oftemporary tube along which the clairvoyantmay look. This method has the disadvantagethat the telegraph line is liable todisarrangement or even destruction by anysufficiently strong astral current whichhappens to cross its path; but if the original


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creative effort were fairly definite, this wouldbe a contingency of only infrequentoccurrence. The view of a distant sceneobtained by means of this 'astral current' is inmany ways not unlike that seen through atelescope. Human figures usually appear verysmall, like those on a distant stage, but inspite of their diminutive size they are as clearas though they were close by. Sometimes it ispossible by this means to hear what is said aswell as to see what is done; but as in themajority of cases this does not happen, wemust consider it rather as the manifestation ofan additional power than as a necessarycorollary of the faculty of sight."I would feel that I had not done my wholeduty to the student, or reader of this book,were I to conclude this chapter withoutpointing out a means of protection against theuse of this phase of psychic influence againstthem on the part of some unscrupulousperson; or for that matter, against themeddling influence of any person whatsoever,for any purpose whatsoever, without one'spermission and consent. Therefore, I wishnow to point out the general principles ofself-protection or defense against this class ofpsychic influence.In the first place, you must, of course, refuseto admit to your mind any feeling of fearregarding the influence of other persons—forthat is the open door to their influence, as Ihave pointed out to you. If you have been, orare fearful of any persons psychic influence,


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you must get to work and drive out thatfeeling by positive and vigorous denials. Thedenial, you remember, is the positiveneutralizer of the psychic influence of anotherperson, providing you make it in full belief ofits truth. You must take the position (which isa true one) that you are immune to thepsychic attack or influence. You should say,mentally, "I deny to any person the power toinfluence me psychically without my consent;I am positive to all such influences, and theyare negative to me; I neutralize them by thisdenial!"If you feel sudden impulses to act in someway which you have not thought of doing, ortoward which you have had an aversion,pause a moment and say, mentally, "If this isan outside influence, I deny its power overme; I deny it, and send it back to its sender,to his defeat and confusion." You will thenexperience a feeling of relief and freedom. Insuch cases you may frequently be approachedlater on by the person who would have beenmost benefitted by your action; he will appearsurprised when you "turn him down," and willact in a confused way. He may not haveconsciously tried to influence you, but mayhave merely been wishing strongly that youwould do as he desired.It should encourage you to know that itrequires much less force to repel andneutralize psychic influence of this kind, thanis required to send forth the power; an ounceof denial and protection overcomes a pound


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of psychic attacking power. Nature gives youthe means of protection, and gives you "thebest end of the stick," and it is your own faultif you do not effectively use it. A word to thewise is sufficient.

LESSON XIX.LAWS OF PSYCHIC ATTRACTION

The third phase of Psychic Influence is thatwhich may be called Indirect PsychicInfluence, in which psychic induction ismanifested in the minds of other personscoming in contact with the thought vibrationsof the person manifesting them, although nodeliberate attempt is made to influence themind of any particular person or persons.Closely connected with and involved in thisphase of psychic influence, is that which iscalled the Psychic Law of Attraction. Soclosely are these two connected that I shallconsider them together in this lesson.The fundamental principle of this phase ofpsychic influence is the well-known psychicfact that mental and emotional states not onlyinduce similar vibrations in those who aresimilar attuned on the psychic vibratory scale,but also tend to attract and draw to theperson other persons who are vibrating alongsimilar lines, and also tend to repel those whoare vibrating in an opposing note or scale of


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psychic vibration.In the preceding lessons I have shown youhow by induction we tend to arouse in othersmental and emotional states similar to ourown. But there is a law in effect here, whichmust be noted if you wish to thoroughlyunderstand this phase of psychic influences.Omitting all technical explanations, andgetting right down to the heart of thephenomenon, I would say that the generalprinciple is this: Psychic induction is difficult inproportion to the opposing quality of thecharacteristic mental and emotional states ofthe person affected; and easy in proportion tothe harmonious quality thereof. That is to say,in plain words, that if a person's habitualthought and emotions are along the samelines that you are trying to induce in him, youwill find it easy to induce the same in him; if,on the contrary, they are of an opposingnature, then you will find it difficult to soinfluence him. The many degrees ofagreement and difference in the psychicvibrations of persons constitute a scale ofcomparative response to any particular formof mental or emotional vibrations.It is hard to change the spots of a leopard, orthe skin of an Ethiopian, as we are told onancient authority. It is almost as difficult tochange the characteristic mental andemotional states of a person by psychicinduction, except after long and repeatedefforts. On the contrary, let a person havecertain characteristic mental and emotional


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habits, then these may be aroused in themwith the greatest ease by means of psychicinduction. For instance, if a person ischaracteristically and habitually peaceful, mildand calm, it will be very difficult to arouse inhim by psychic induction the vibrations ofanger, fight and excitement. On the otherhand, if the other person is combative, fierceand easily excited to wrath, it is the easiestpossible thing to arouse these feelings in himby psychic induction. So much for ordinarypsychic induction; let us now consider indirectpsychic induction, in which the same principleoperates.In indirect psychic induction, that is to say incases in which psychic vibrations are arousedby induction without deliberate attempt ordesign to influence any particular person orpersons, there is noted the manifestation of apeculiar law of attraction and repulsion alongpsychic lines. This psychic law operates in thedirection of attracting to oneself other personswho, actively or passively, vibrate on thesame note, or on some note or notes ingeneral harmony therewith. In the same, way,the law causes you to repel other personswho vibrate on a note or notes in generalinharmony or discord to yourself. So, in short,we go through life attracting or repelling,psychically, others in harmonious orinharmonious psychic relation to us,respectively. An understanding of this law andits workings will throw light upon many thingsin your life which you have not understoodpreviously.


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You of course understand that you areconstantly radiating currents of psychicvibrations, some of which flow out to greatdistances from you, and affect others often farremoved from you in space. But you may notalso know that on the astral plane there ismanifesting a similar sequence of cause andeffect. A strong emotional vibration, or astrong desire or will, tends to manifest on theastral plane by attracting or repelling others inpsychic harmony or inharmony with you. Thisphenomenon is not so common as is that ofordinary thought vibrations from brain tobrain, but it is far more common that isgenerally supposed. It is particularly markedin cases of men of strong desire and will, andstrong creative imagination. These vibrationsawakening response in the minds of those inharmony with them, tend to draw to onethose other persons whose general characterwill fit in with the desires and ideas of the firstperson, or to repel those who are notharmonious therewith. This explains thepeculiar phenomenon of strong men inbusiness, politics and other walks of life,drawing and attracting to them other menwho will fit in with their general plans andaims.This law works two ways. Not only do youdraw such persons to you as will fit in withyour plans and purposes, but you areattracted to them by the same law. Not onlythis, but you will find that through the peculiarworkings of this law even things andcircumstances, as well as persons, will seem


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to be moulded by your strong desires andideas, providing your psychic vibrations aresufficiently strong and clear. Have you nevernoticed how a strong, resourceful magneticman will seem to actually draw to him thepersons, things and circumstances that heneeds to carry out and manifest his plans anddesigns. To many, not understanding thisgreat law, these things have seemedpositively uncanny and mysterious. But,now-a-days, the big men of business andpolitics are beginning to understand thesepsychic laws, and to apply them deliberatelyand with purpose.Some of the great leaders in the businessworld, and in politics, are known todeliberately start into operation strong psychicvibrations, and to send out strong psychiccurrents of attraction, by the methods that Ihave already explained to you. They, ofcourse, are filled with a more than ordinarydegree of desire and will and, in the secondplace, they create very strong and clearmental pictures of their plans working outsuccessfully to a finish; then concentratestrongly on the thing; and lo! the effect is feltby all hands and on all sides. They "treat thepublic" (to use the term favored by some ofthe metaphysical cults of the day) by holdingthe mental picture of that which they stronglydesire to come to pass, and by concentratingtheir thought and will strongly upon it.A favorite mental picture of some of thesemen (who have been instructed by teachers


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of occultism), is that of themselves as thecentre of a great psychic whirlpool, drawing tothemselves the persons, things andcircumstances calculated to bring success andrealization to them. Others picture theirthought-vibrations flowing from them like therings in a pond into which a stone had beendropped, influencing a constantly wideningcircle of other persons; then they picture thepersons being drawn to them in the mannerjust mentioned. They persist in this practiceday after day, week after week, month aftermonth, year after year—is it any wonder thatthey draw to themselves that which theydesire?Other persons of lesser caliber take similaradvantage of the law in the same way, but ona smaller scale. In every community there arecertain persons who seem to draw tothemselves the patronage and custom of thecommunity, in some peculiar way. In mostcases this may be traced back to some formof psychic influence. I do not mean that thesepersons consciously and deliberately set theseforces into operation. On the contrary, manyof them do so more or less unconsciously,and without a knowledge of the underlyingpsychic principles involved. Such personshave stumbled on a portion of the psychiclaws, and have used them more or lessunconsciously and without understanding thereal reason of the happening. They found outthat certain mental states and certain mentalpictures tended to produce certainresults—that they "worked out"—and so they


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continued them. Some of these men think ofthe whole thing as something supernatural,and get to believe that they are being helpedby some supernatural power; whereas, theyare simply operating under a universal psychiclaw of cause and effect.In America a number of teachers and writershave devoted much attention to this phase ofthe general subject of psychic influence. Cultshave been formed upon this general basis, themain idea of their followers being that ofattracting financial and other success bymeans of this phase of psychic force. One ofthe leading writers along this line, says: "Anindividual who has cultivated the faculty ofconcentration, and has acquired the art ofcreating sharp, clear, strong, mental images,and who when engaged in an undertaking willso charge his mind with the idea of success,will be bound to become an attracting centre.And if such an individual will keep his mentalpicture ever in his mind, even though it be inthe background of his mind, when he isattending to the details and planning of hisaffairs—if he will give his mental picture aprominent place in his mental gallery, taking afrequent glance at it, and using his will upon itto create new scenes of actual success, hewill create for himself a centre of radiatingthought that will surely be felt by thosecoming within its field of influence."Such a man frequently 'sees people ascoming to him and his enterprises, and asfalling in line with his plans. He mentally 'sees'


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money flowing in to him, and all of his plansworking out right. In short, he mentallyimagines each step of his plans a little aheadof the time for their execution, and heconcentrates forcibly and earnestly uponthem. It is astonishing to witness how events,people, circumstances, and things seem tomove in place in actual life as if urged bysome mighty power to serve to materializethe conditions so imaged in the mind of theman. But, understand, there must be activemental effort behind the imaging. Daydreamers do not materialize thought—theymerely dissipate energy. The man whoconverts thought in activity and material beingthrows energy into the task, and puts forthhis willpower through the pictured image.Without the rays of the will there will be nopicture projected, no matter how beautifullythe imagination has projected it. Thoughtpictured in mental images, and then vitalizedby the force of the desire, and will, tend toobjectify themselves into material being."The student will be interested in reading andhearing the various theories and explanationsgiven by different writers and teachers toaccount for the phenomena of psychicinfluence. Once he has grasped the realscientific principles involved, he will be able tosee the same in operation in all of the casescited by the different teachers and writers,and will find that this fundamental principlefully explains and accounts for all of thesecases, no matter how puzzling they mayseem, or how mysterious they may be


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claimed to be by those mentioning them.Truth is very simple when we brush away thefantastic dressings which have been placedaround it by those who have lackedknowledge of the true fundamental principles.We see this same law or principle operating invery many different ways from thosepreviously mentioned. For instance, wefrequently find cases in which one person hasa strong desire for a certain kind of assistancein his business or other work. He has almostgiven up hope of finding the right kind ofperson, for those whom he has tried havefailed to measure up the requirements of thesituation. If he will (and he sometimes does)follow the general plan just mentioned, he willset into operation the psychic forces whichwill attract that person to him, and him to thatperson. In some peculiar way, the two will bethrown together, and the combination willwork out to the best advantage of both. Inthese cases, each person is seeking the other,and the psychic forces of attraction, once setinto operation, serve to bring them together.In like manner, one often draws to himselfcertain knowledge and information that herequires or is desirous of gaining. But, andyou must always remember this, no miracle isworked, for it is simply a matter of theworking out of natural laws of cause andeffect—attraction and response toattraction—on the psychic or astral plane.Such a person will accidently (!) run acrosssome other person who will be led to give him


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the key to the knowledge he seeks. Perhaps abook may be mentioned, or some reference tosome writer be made. If the hint is followedup, the desired information comes to light.Many persons have had the psychicexperience of being led to some book storeand induced to examine a particular shelf ofbooks, whereupon a particular book presentsitself which changes the whole course of theperson's life. Or, perhaps, one will pick up anewspaper apparently at random, and withoutpurpose; and therein will find someinformation, or at least a hint in the directionwhere the information may be found. Whenone accustoms himself to the workings ofpsychic forces, these things soon becomeaccepted as a matter of course, and cease toarouse wonder or surprise. The workings ofthe Psychic Law of Attraction is seen to be asnatural and invariable as the law ofgravitation, or magnetic attraction, once onehas mastered its principles, and learned themethods of its application. Surely such awonderful law is well worth study, attention,investigation, and mastery, isn't it?A writer along the lines of Mental Science,which is really based on the principles whichhave been stated in this book, has thefollowing to say regarding his system:"Wonderful results arise by reason of whathas been called 'The Law of Attraction,' by theworkings of which each person is continuallydrawing to himself the people, things, objects,and even circumstances in harmony andaccord with his prevailing mental states. Like


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attracts like, and the mental states determinethat which one draws to himself. If you arenot satisfied with what is coming to you, startto work and change your mental attitudes andmental states, and you will see a changegradually setting in, and then the things thatyou want will begin to come your way. * * * Amost important fact about the effect of mentalvibrations upon people lies in the principlethat one is more affected by vibrations inharmony with his own accustomed feelingsand mental states, than by those of anopposite nature. A man who is full of evilschemes, and selfish aims, is more apt to becaught up by similar vibrations than one wholives above that plane of thought. He is moreeasily tempted by evil suggestions andinfluences, than one to whom these things areabhorrent. And the same is true on everyplane. A man whose mental attitude is one ofconfidence and fearlessness, is not apt to beaffected by vibrations of a negative,pessimistic, gloomy nature, and vice versa.Therefore, if you wish to receive the vibrationsof the thoughts and feelings of others, youmust place yourself in a mental attitudecorresponding with those vibrations whichyou wish to receive. And if you wish to avoidvibrations of a certain kind, the best way is torise above them in your own mind, and tocultivate the mental states opposite them. Thepositive always overcomes the negative—andoptimistic mental states are always positive topessimistic mental states."Another writer on, and practitioner of Mental


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Science, in America, several years ago,explained her theory and practice by means ofthe term "corelation of thoughts and things."She held that when one thought positively,clearly and forcibly of a thing, he "related"himself to that thing, and tended to attract itto him, and to be attracted toward it. She heldthat true wisdom consists in so managing ourthoughts that we shall relate ourselves only tothose things which we know to be desirableand beneficial to ourselves, and to avoidthinking of those which are harmful anddetrimental to us. The student of this bookwill see how this practical Mental Scientist wasreally using the same principles that we haveexamined and become acquainted within thisbook, although she called them by anothername, and explained them by another theory.At the bottom of all the teachings and theoriesyou will always find the one same basicprinciple and universal law.The advanced student of occultism knows thateach and every one of us is really a creator ofhis own circumstances, environment andconditions, to a great extent. Each of us isable to so modify our mental activities as tobring about such changes in our environmentand surroundings as to actually re-createthem. The things accomplished by successfulmen are really but materializations of thatwhich they have previously held in theirmental vision. Everything is first created onthe psychic plane, and then manifested in thephysical world. All the great works of man,the great bridges, great buildings, tunnels,


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machinery, cities, railroads, canals, works ofart, musical compositions, etc., first existed inthe mind of their creators, and were thenafterward materialized in physical form andshape. And, so you see we are proceedingwith our work of mental creations wheneverwe think and make mental images. This,however, is no new teaching. It is as old asthe race of mankind. Over twenty-fivehundred years ago, Buddha said to hisdisciples: "All that we are is the result of whatwe have thought; it is founded on ourthoughts; it is made up of our thoughts."I would be telling you but half the story did Inot warn you that strong Fear may play thepart ordinarily filled by Desire in theproduction of the psychic phenomena ofmaterialization of mental pictures. Strange asit may appear at first, a strong fear that athing will come to pass will act much the sameas a strong desire that the happening willoccur. Consequently, many persons bycontinually dwelling upon the thing that theyfear may happen to them, actually attract thatthing to them, just as if they had actuallydesired and wished for it. I cannot go intooccult technicalities in explaining this strangefact; but the gist of the secret may be said toconsist in the fact that the person clearly andvividly pictures in his mind the thing that hefears may happen to him. He thus creates astrong mental-picture or image of it, whichsets into forces the attractive power ofpsychic influence and draws the feared thinginto material reality. As Job said: "The thing


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that I feared hath come upon me." The moralof this is, of course, that persons should learnto stamp out fear and mental images of thingsfeared. Instead, they should make strongpositive mental denials of the things that theymay find themselves fearing. They shoulddeny the reality of the feared thing, and assertpositively their own superiority to the thing,and their power to overcome it.A great religious cult has sprung intoexistence which makes a leading doctrine ofthis ability to materialize the things which onedesires, and to deny out of existenceundesirable things. Many persons who havewitnessed the wonderful success of some ofthe followers of this cult or organization, havebeen puzzled to account for the same onscientific and rational grounds. A littleunderstanding of fundamental occult andpsychic principles, as given in these lessons,will show the "why and wherefore" of thesestrange and wonderful manifestations. In thisconnection you must remember that thecombined thought of the thousands ofpersons composing this cult or organizationundoubtedly gives additional psychic force tothe mental affirmations and denials of theindividual member thereof.In past and present, and probably in futuretime, there have been many instances ofmagical procedures tending to bring about theresults that we have herein seen to comeabout by reason of psychic influence, in someof its many phases. These magic procedures


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have usually been accompanied byincantations, ceremonies, strange rites,evocations, etc., which were supposed tohave great virtue in bringing about desiredresults. But the true occultists now know thatthese ceremonies and rites were merelyhopes to the imagination and aids to faith,and thus tended to bring about the psychicphenomena. There was no virtue in theseceremonies themselves, and the same resultsmay be secured by simply following theprocedure outlined in this book. The wondersof ancient magic have been reproduced by themodern occultists, without all themumbo-jumbo of the past rites andceremonies.A gifted English writer upon the subject of therelation of mysticism and magic, sums up thegist of the principles of Magic as follows:"The central doctrine of Magic may now besummed up thus:"(1) That a supersensible and real cosmicmedium exists, which interpenetrates,influences, and supports the tangible andapparent world, and is amenable to thecategories both of meta-physics and ofphysics." [This of course is the astral plane,which is the container of the subtle form orframework of all that exists on the physicalplane.]"(2) That there is an established analogy andequilibrium between the real (and unseen)


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world, and the illusory manifestation that wecall the world of sense." [By this of course ismeant the correspondence and balancebetween the subtle form of things and thematerial manifestation thereof. Things createdin the astral, tend to materialize on thephysical plane. All creation proceeds from theastral to the physical.]"(3) That this analogy may be discerned, andthis equilibrium controlled, by the disciplinedwill of man, which thus becomes master ofitself and of fate." [The essence of Willconsists of strong desire accompanied by aclear mental picture of the thing desired, andheld steady and firm by concentration.]So you see by reference to the above veryclear statement of the central doctrine ofMagic, and my explanations thereof, that inthese lessons you have been taught the veryessence of the wonderful, mysterious ancientMagic, and its modern counterpart. As for thevarious rites and ceremonies, as I have said,these are mere symbols and aids to mentalimaging and concentration. As an eminentoccultist once said, "Ceremonies being butartificial methods of creating certain habits ofthe will, they cease to be necessary whenthese habits have become fixed." The masterof occultism sees ceremonies, rites, and ritualas but the playthings of the kindergartenscholar—useful and important so far as theygo, but serving merely to teach the scholar,sooner or later, that he may proceed withoutthem.


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In this chapter I have condensed enoughinformation to fill a whole book. I trust thatyou will study it carefully, and not miss itsmain points.

LESSON XX.PSYCHIC AND MAGNETIC HEALING

Probably no phase of psychic influence ismore familiar to the average person of theWestern world than is that of the healing ofphysical ills and conditions by means ofpsychic influence under one name or another.Great healing cults and organizations havebeen built up upon this basis, and the interestin the subject has taken on the form of agreat popular movement.As is natural in cases of this kind, there havebeen hundreds of theories advanced toaccount for the phenomena of psychichealing, and a still greater number of methodsof treatments devised to carry out theprinciples of the theories. Ranging from theteaching of actual divine interposition andinfluence arising from certain forms of beliefand practice, covering many intermediatestages, the theories even include asemi-materialistic hypothesis in which mind isconsidered as an attribute of matter, buthaving a magic influence over the forms ofmatter when properly applied. But it is worthy


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of note that no matter what the general orparticular theory, or what the favored methodof application, these healing schools or cults,as well as the independent practitioners, meetwith a very fair degree of success and performquite a number of cures.Many of these Western advocates andpractitioners of psychic healing practicallyhold that the whole system is of very recentdiscovery, and that it has nothing whatsoeverto do with ordinary occult science. Theoccultists however are able to smile at theseideas and beliefs, for they not only recognizethe general principles involved, but they alsoare aware that these principles, and theirapplication, have been known to advancedoccultists for thousands of years. I do not saythis in any dispargement of the modernsschools of psychic healing, for I am in fullsympathy with their great work; I merelymention the matter that the student may getthe right historical perspective in consideringthis phase of psychic phenomena andinfluence.So far as the methods of application areconcerned, the true occultist recognizes thatmost of the methods and forms of treatmentare but outward cloaks or disguises for thereal psychic healing principle. The gist of thereal methods is to be found in the principles ofthe application of psychic influence which Ihave presented to you in these lessons, viz:(1) Strong desire to make the cure; (2) clearmental image or picture of the desired


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condition as actually present in the patient atthis time; and (3) concentration of theattention and mind of the healer, so as tobring to a focus to two preceding mentalstates. Here you have the real secret ofpsychic healing methods—the rest are allelaborations thereof, dressed up forms andceremonies which affect the imagination,faith, belief and confidence of the patient, andthus make the healing process much easier.In fact, with the proper degree of faith andconfidence on the part of the patient, there isbut little need of a healer, for the patient maytreat and cure himself. However, in mostcases, the presence of the healer aidsmaterially in arousing the fate and confidenceof the patient, and hastens the cure.Again, so far as the theories underlying thecures are concerned, occultists are able toreduce them all to a single working theory orprinciple, which includes all the rest. Brushingaside all technical details, and all attempts totrace back the healing process to the ultimatefacts of the universe, I may say that the gistof the principle of all psychic healing is that ofinfluencing the astral foundation of the variousorgans and parts, cells and centres, so as tomake it proceed to manifest a more perfectphysical counterpart. All psychic healing isreally accomplished on the astral bodyfirst—then the physical body responds to therenewed activities of its astral counterpart. Toget the real significance of this statement it isnecessary for you to realize just what theastral body really is. This once grasped, the


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difficulties vanish, and you are able to form aclear conception of the entire matter andprocess.The astral body is a precise counterpart of thephysical body, its organs, its parts, itscentres, and its cells. In fact, the astral bodyis the pattern upon which the physical body ismaterialized. The astral body is composed ofan etheric substance of a very high rate ofvibration. In one sense it may be consideredas a very subtle form of matter—in another asa semi-materialized form of force or energy. Itis finer and more subtle that the rarest vaporsor gases known to science. And, yet, it has astrong degree of tenacity and cohesivenessthat enables it to resist attacks from thematerial side of nature. As I have said, eachorgan, part, centre or cell, of the physicalbody has its astral pattern or basis. In fact,the physical body has been built up, in wholeand in all of its parts, on the pattern and baseof the astral body. Moreover, in case ofimpaired functioning of the physical organs orparts, and impaired activity of the physicalbody, its limbs, etc., if we can manage toarouse the activities of the astral body wemay cause it to re-materialize or re-energizethe physical body, and thus restore health andactivity to it. If the liver, for instance, is notfunctioning properly, we proceed to start upthe activities of the astral counterpart of thatorgan, to the end that the physical organ maybe re-energized, and recreated in a measure.All true psychic healing work is performed onthe astral plane, before it manifests on the


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physical.At this point, I should also call your attentionto the effect of "prana," or life energy, insome cases of healing. This prana is whatWestern healers mean when they speak of"human magnetism" in their healing work. Sofar from being an imaginary force, as claimedby the physical scientists and materialists, it isknown to all occultists as an active principle ofthe human body, and as of great efficacy inthe psychic treatment of disease. I shallmention the details of this form of treatmentas we proceed—I mention it at this placemerely to call your attention to the fact of itsexistence.Before passing on to the consideration ofother phases of the subject before us, I wouldlike to call your attention to the fact that fromthe earliest days of history there have beenrecorded instances of some form of psychichealing. In the earlier days the psychic healingwork was left entirely in the hands of thepriesthood of the various religions prevailingin the several counties of the world. Claimingto have an exclusive divine sanction toperform healing work, these priests usedvarious ceremonies, rites, incantations, etc.,in order to obtain their results. In many casesthese priests were ignorant of the real psychicforces invoked and set into operation; theymerely practiced methods which had beenfound to work out effectively, and which hadbeen handed down to them by theirpredecessors. In other cases, however, the


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priests undoubtedly were skilled occultists,and had a very full knowledge of the forcesthey were using; though, as the masses ofthe people were very ignorant it wasimpossible to acquaint them with these thingsso far above their understanding; and,consequently, the priests applied the healingforces under the disguise of their religiousceremonies and rites.From time to time, however, as civilizationprogressed, there came into prominencepersons who worked cures of physical ills bymeans of magical ceremonies and othersimilar methods, but who were outside of thepriesthood. Some of these men undoubtedlyhad a very fair knowledge of the real secret oftheir cures, though they disguised them tosuit the mental condition of their patients,and, also, probably for purposes of selfglorification. In other cases, however, it isprobable that these healers had merelystumbled across the fact that certain thingssaid in a certain way tended to work cures; orthat certain physical objects seemed to havetherapeutic virtue. They did not realize thatthe whole healing virtue of their systemsdepended upon the strong idea in their ownminds, coupled with the strong faith andconfidence in the mind of the patient. And sothe work went on.In some of the oldest records of the humanrace, the scriptures of the various peoples, wefind that "laying on of hands" was the favoritemethod employed by the holy men and


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priests, and other performing healing work.From the first there seems to have been analmost instinctive recognition on the part ofman of the fact that there is a healing powerin the touch of the hand. Even ignorant andsavage mothers instinctively apply their handsto the hurt bodies of their children—a customthat has its counterpart in civilized races, bythe way. The child is taught to expect physicalrelief from the application of the mother'shands, and its mind at once pictures relief.Not only is the mental picture created, but thedesire and confidence is established in theminds of both persons. The same thing is trueof all "laying on of hands," and thus are theprinciples of all psychic influence brought intoplay. But this is not all there is to it. In thefirst place, there is an actual transference ofprana from the body of the healer to that ofthe patient, which serves to energize andrevitalize the cells and centres of the body ofthe latter. In the second place, there is theeffect upon the astral body of the patient,which tends to materialize better physicalconditions. In the third place, there is thatcombination and union of the minds of thetwo persons, which gives extra force andpower to psychic influence. Is it any wonderthat cures take place under thesecircumstances?In the modern revival of the almost lost artand science of psychic healing among thegeneral public, there has been unusual stresslaid upon the feature of "absent healing," inwhich the patient and the healer are not in


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each other's presence. To many this hasseemed actually miraculous, and as a positiveproof of divine interposition. But a littlethought will show the student that such curesare not unknown in the pages of history, as acasual examination of the sacred books ofalmost any religion will show. Moreover, thestudent will see that to the effect of certainprinciples of psychic influence there needs butto be added the principles of telepathiccommunication, or, better still, the principlesof astral communication by some phases ofclairvoyance, to account for the entirephenomena of "absent healing."Space is no barrier on the astral plane, as youhave seen in the preceding chapters of thisbook. Once the en rapport condition isestablished between healer and patient, andthe rest is simple—the astral body is inducedto energize more actively, and as a result thephysical manifestation is improved and normalfunctioning restored. Of course, all this iswonderful enough—all psychic phenomena is,for that matter; but, we see that we do nothave to go outside of established occult laws,principles and facts in order to account forsome of these modern miracles which havepuzzled and perplexed so many good personswho have not known of the occult teachings,and who fear that the world is being turnedupside down, and Nature's laws overturned bythese "new fangled" ideas and methods.Perhaps the most simple method of healing bypsychic influence is that which is at the same


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time the oldest method, i.e., the "laying on ofhands." This method was revived abouttwenty years ago in America and Europe bythe new school of "magnetic healing" whichsprung rapidly into public favor. The otherschools of psychic healing, generally knownas "mental healing," "spiritual healing," "divinehealing," etc., generally frown upon the use ofthe hands in psychic healing, deeming it "toomaterial," and too much allied to hypnotism,etc. But this view is quite bigoted and narrow,for this method has no relation to hypnotism,and, moreover, it gives the patient the benefitof the flow of prana from the healer, while atthe same time producing the psychic effect onthe astral body, as I have just mentioned.I take the liberty of quoting here somethingon this subject from my little book entitled"The Human Aura." In the chapter of thatbook devoted to the consideration of thesubject of "Auric Magnetism," I said: "Incases of magnetic healing, etc., the healer byan effort of his will (sometimes unconsciouslyapplied) projects a supply of his pranic auravibrations into the body of his patient, by wayof the nervous system of the patient, and alsoby means of what may be called the inductionof the aura itself. The mere presence of aperson strongly charged with prana, is oftenenough to cause an overflow into the aura ofother persons, with a resulting feeling of newstrength and energy. By the use of the handsof the healer, a heightened effect is produced,by reason of certain properties inherent in thenervous system of both healer and patient.


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There is even a flow of etheric substance fromthe aura of the healer to that of the patient, incases in which the vitality of the latter is verylow. Many a healer has actually, and literally,pumped his life force and etheric substanceinto the body of his patient, when the latterwas sinking into the weakness which precedesdeath, and has by so doing been able to bringhim back to strength and life. This ispractically akin to the transfusion of blood—except that it is upon the psychic planeinstead of the physical."But the true "magnetic healer" (call him bywhatever name you wish) does not make thispranic treatment the all-in-all of his psychictreatment. On the contrary it is but the lesssubtle part, which leads up to the higherphases. While treating his patients by thelaying on of hands, he, at the same time,strives to induce in the mind of the patient themental image of restored health and physicalstrength; he pictures the diseased organ asrestored to health and normal functioning; hesees the entire physiological machineryoperating properly, the work of nutrition,assimilation, and excretion going on naturallyand normally. By proper words of advice Land encouragement he awakens hope andconfidence in the mind of the patient, andthus obtains the co-operation of that mind inconnection to his own mental efforts. Theastral body responds to this treatment, andbegins to energize the physical organs andcells into normal activity—and the journeytoward health is begun.


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[In the little book just mention, "The HumanAura," I gave some valuable informationregarding the influence of colors in psychichealing, which I do not reproduce here as it isoutside the scope and field of the presentlessons. Those who may feel interested in thesubject are respectfully referred to the littlemanual itself. It is sold for a nominal price bythe publishers of the present work.]In the form of psychic treatment which comesunder the head of Suggestive Therapeutics,great insistence is laid upon the verbalsuggestion to the patient, on the part of thehealer. The patient is told that he will get well;that his organs will function normally; etc.,etc. But the student of the present lessons willreadily see that the only virtue in the spokenwords consists in their power to evoke andinduce the mental image of the desiredcondition in the mind of the patient. Themental picture thus evoked produces acorresponding effect in the astral body of thepatient, and sets into operation thematerialization of desired results. In addition,the words produce a strong mental picture inthe mind of the healer himself, and thus giveform and strength to his psychic vibrationswhich are being poured out toward thepatient. This is really the secret of suggestivetreatment.The many cults of metaphysical healing, inAmerica and Europe, lay great stress uponwhat they call "affirmations," which are butstatements of the patient of his or her faith in


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the healing power of God, or of Mind, orSpirit, or Principle (different names are used).The patient naturally has confidence aroused,and as naturally begins to picture the desiredcondition; this in turn reacting upon the astralbody, and this upon the physical body ororgan. In addition, the healer's mind is alsoset to work in the same way, and sets intomotion the healing psychic forces in the wayjust mentioned. You will notice that the sameprinciple is always involved and set intooperation and manifestation.There is no particular virtue in the form ofaffirmation used by the healer or patient,except the important virtue of being able toarouse strong mental pictures of restoredhealth, proper functioning, etc. There is ofcourse this also: certain forms of affirmationsor mental statements are better suited thanothers to the particular wants of certainpersons. For instance, a very religious personwill be aroused better by affirmations andstatements filled with religious sentiments andideas; while a person of a purely scientificturn of mind will receive more benefit fromaffirmations in which the precise physiologicalfunctions are specifically mentioned; while theperson who is fond of mystery and strangeceremonies will be better served in theaffirmations or statements taken in the formof some magical incantation, etc. Thedifference, however, lies in the mind of thepatient, rather than in the words themselves.Words are merely invokers of ideas—symbolsof ideas. In themselves, words are nothing


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—ideas are everything.If you wish to treat yourself psychically forsome physical disorder, or if you wish to dogood to others in the same way, you have butto put into operation the general principles ofpsychic influence herein described. That is tosay, you must first be filled with the strongdesire and wish to make the cure; then youmust make a strong mental image of thedesired result, as actually present. (Do notthink of it as "going to be;" instead say andthink that it "is now!"); then concentrate theattention firmly and positively upon the idea.You may aid yourself and others byaffirmations or auto-suggestions (wordscreating desired ideas and mental pictures) ifyou wish—you may get better results in thisway. In this connection, let me remind youthat the healing work in many cases consistslargely in placing proper mental pictures in themind of the patient, thereby displacingimproper and harmful mental pictures ofdisease, etc., which have been givenlodgment there before. Many persons are sickbecause of improper and harmful mentalpictures that they have allowed to be placedthere by the suggestions of others. Fear anddread of disease often acts to bring about thefeared condition, for reasons that you canreadily see.And, now, finally for the work of "absenthealing" by psychic influence. I can state thisto you very simply; it is this: take what I havejust told you regarding personal treatments,


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and combine it with what I have told you inprevious lessons about "long distance psychicinfluence"—then you will have the wholething. Here is a sample of an effective distanttreatment; or "absent treatment," to use thepopular term—it may be varied and enlargedup to fit individual cases:Sit quietly in your own room, inducing a calm,peaceful mental attitude and state. Then (inthe way already told you in this book) make amental picture of the patient as sittingopposite to you, or lying down in front of you.If you have never seen the patient, makesimply a mental image of a man, or a woman,as the case may be, and think of the figure asbeing the patient. The best practitioners ofdistant psychic healing produce such a strongmental image of the patient that they canoften actually "feel" his or her presence. (Thisof course is the result of a simple form ofclairvoyance.) Then make a strong mentalpicture of the condition that you wish toinduce in the patient—the healthy physicalcondition of the organ, or part or body, as thecase may be. See this condition as existing atthe present time, and not as merely to comein the future. At the same time, you will dowell to mentally speak to the patient, just asyou would in case he or she were sittingbefore you in the physical body. Tell thepatient just what you would in such case.Pour in the suggestions, or affirmations, orwhatever you may wish to call them. In somecases in which an excellent en rapportcondition is established, patients become


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aware of the treatment, and sometimes canalmost see and feel the presence of thehealer.A prominent Mental Scientist, of America,instructs his pupils to consider each of theorgans of the patient, or of themselves, ashaving a separate intelligence; and, therefore,to "speak up to it" as if it really understoodwhat was being said to its organ-mind. Iwould say that such form of treatment wouldbe calculated to bring about very goodresults, indeed. The principle of concentrationand mental picturing would be invoked verystrongly in such a case, and the astralcounterpart of the organ should respond tosuch treatment quickly and effectively. It is anoccult fact that there is mind in every organand cell of the body, and if the same isawakened in the astral counterpart, it willrespond to the command, suggestion, ordirection. The writer in question evidently iswell acquainted with this occult law, judgingfrom his other writings, and has simply veiledhis knowledge with this easily understoodmethod of treatment which undoubtedly will"do the work," to use the American term.Finally, no matter what may be the theory, ormethod, given in connection with psychichealing of any or all kinds, you will find thesame general principles underlying it thathave been presented over and over again inthis book. In fact, many purely material andphysical remedies owe their success to thefact that they appeal to the imagination of the


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patient, and also inspire confidence in him.Anything that will inspire confidence, faith andhope in the mind of a patient, and will bring tohis mind strong mental pictures of restoredhealth and normal functioning of hisorgans—that thing will make for health forhim. So, there you have the whole theory andpractice in a sentence!

I would remind the student that these are notlessons to be read but once and then laidaside. In order to get from them all that theycontain for you, you will find it necessary toread them several times, with a reasonableinterval between readings for the knowledgeto sink into your mind. I feel sure that you willfind with each reading that there are manypoints that you over-looked before. Thelessons cover a wide field, with many littleexcursions into bye-paths and lanes ofthought. I trust that the reading and study willmake you not only a wiser person, but also astronger and more efficient one. I thank youfor your kind attention, and trust that we shallmeet again in the future.

FINIS.


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Clairvoyance and o p by panchadasi

Documents

ordinary senses

extra physical senses

theastral senses

superphysical senses

unfolding ofthe astral

organs of physical sense

common sense

sense of feeling