PRE FA CE

“
The following book, Your Psychic Powers : and How
”
to Dev elo p T hem , was origi nally written for circulation
semi privately among the m embers of a number of
-

psychical a nd sp iritualistic Soci eti es in N ew York and

vicinity and is for that reaso n decidedly positiv e a nd
, , ,

spiritisti c in to ne It stat es fa cts d ogmati cally and

. ,

does not attempt to d efend th e stateme nts made by any

show of argum ent The read er is asked to bear in mind
. ,

t hro ughout the following ( 1 ) T hat th e present work

, .

does not necessa rily represent m y ow n vi ews in al l

respects but rath er the tea ching: whi c h are generally
,

acc epted regard ing the facts T hat is to say I have

.
,

merely endeavou red to stat e th e traditional a nd acc epted

th eo ri es without in all cases endorsing th ese views m y
,

self ( 2 ) For this reaso n those who mi ght be ap t to

.
,

crit icise c ertai n vi ew s advanced in this book a nd ,

“ ” “
brand th em as rankly credulous quacky or
,
“ ”
sp iritualistic are h ereby warned that th ey a re de
,

p r i ved of that w eapo n for th e s im pl e reaso n that as

, ,

before said the t eachi ngs put forward d o not in ev ery

,

cas e rep resent my own vi ews but th e traditio na l a nd

,

ac cepted o nes whi ch a re more or less preval ent in psy

"
,

c hical a nd spiritu alistic circl es ; and I hav e been care ful ,

“
in nea rly all su c h cases to state that , it is taught ,
“ ”
or w e a re tol d or w o rds to that effect I have
, .

summarized these tea ch ings ; a nd th e re ad er must use

his own judgment in sel ecti ng those w hich appeal to

 YOR K
E AD AN D CO MPANY
Y O U R P SY C H I C P O W E R S
AND H O W TO D EVE L O P TH E M
 CO NT E N TS

CHAPT E R X IV

S ubjec t i ve Cla irvoym ce —Ob ect i ve —

C la i rvo
a nce X Ra y
v
C la irvoyance —C a ta leptic Cia i rvoya nee i ra noe Contro l -

C la irvo ya nee —Tel epath i c C la i rvoyance — Dream C lai r

voy ance — —
C lai rvoyant iagnosi s Th e E xplanation of
D
C la i r oyan
v — Tuhea Thou h t Forms a nd D i rec t Per
ce
g
-
,

c apt ion— W a nd Ho w Vi e See

“
in C la i rvoyance
”

Deve loping erc i see — T o la riza tion a nd Ho w to U se

‘ ”

—
I t Fac tors i n th e Dov e men t of C la i rvoyance How -

—
to D i st i ngu ish True from also Th e Mystery Sol ved .

C HAPTER XV
Dan na
W hat I s S l ee i Th e Seven Co mmon Dreams Cam s
- —
of Dream s c I nterpretation of Dream s — How to An
m D eams — Th e Sy bo l ism
m i Drea ms— S ee i d
g
y r o a n
ca r ng in D eam s
i
.

r — Persistent Dream l magea t

Is —
Somnam b ul i sm i S upernormal Drea m s— Experi
—
menta lly Induced Drea ma Remem hering Dreams .

C HAPTER XV I

AUTOMATIC W arrm o
Ho w to Obta i n Automati c W ritin Tw o I m portant
R ul es to Fo ll ow — How A utom a t ic y i t i I s A ecom
li h ed— Th c C h a rac ter of t h e M R ec e i v ed— P ine
p a
nom ena W h ic h M a y Oc c ur D uri ng e W ri t i ng
— Mo re
Phenomena— Ho w tto o DevclOp t h e Pow er .

C HAPT ER X VI I
C av ern G am es m
. SH ELL HEARIN G -

—
Ho w to Beg in Ex planation o i ata l G azing — Super
-

norma l C rystal V i s i ona — How to ve lo p th e P ow er

—
C loud i ng a nd V i sua l izat ion She l l Hearing
Warni ngs a nd A d vi ce .

CHAP TE R X VIII
Semi m ax. HEALIN G
-

What is S i ritua l Heal ing i—

—
H ow Cu res Are Efl ec ted
”—
’

Th e Coa m c, Vi tal Ener “

Hea l i ng M i rac l es Poa
aib le E xpl anation o f 8 —
Cures Ho w to Draw U pon
— —
th e Cosm ic Energy P rogressive Ex rc i ses The
e Func
 C O NT E N TS xi ii
rm
tion of the V i tal Body — How to Become a Spir i tua l

C HAPTE R X IX

Tm : Cmm vsrron or Sax srrrvsrxsss

How to Dist ingu ish True from Fa lse —Th e F irst Step
Ex erc i ses in
—
Sensi t i eness Co l
v

Express ion of Im pressions

C HAPTE R XX

t— Li a nd Dp T —Spiri t Cn
t
ee rancs o
trol Dum g Tra n
gn e
Di fl ere nce Between Somna m
'

huliam d —
Tranco Various M ethods of Co nveying I n .

—
formati on Dur i ng Trance Different Types o f Co ntro l
Th e Best W ay to E nte r Trance— How to E xperiment
—
-

w i th th e Trance How to Ente r Trance by Yoursel f

Symptoms o f Early Trance M edi umsh i p— Th e Three
Rul es to Foll ow — Im portant Cond i tions
Develo pi ng Exerc i ses .

C HAPTER XXI

Im u s noun Srn x m o m
-
. Trs r Massm s -

On the R ostru m — How to B egin— C o l ours and Auras

—
Their Inte rprotation Ho w to I ncrease Your Pow er h

—
He l from Your Spiri t Gui des Im portant R ules
to Fe c v ow to Receive Im pressions .

C HAPT ER XXII

Why Strangers Often —

Communic at The Condi t ions
e for
Ch mm n ca
u i tion— Why Lo w or Evi l“ ”
iri ts Oi
Com munic ate — H igh rite a nd th ei r Hel p 1 Messag s
e
—G uard ian S pi rit s Ma k e th e Bes t Comm uni
”—
cate rs 1— Haunted Houses and Pac ts
“
Possihly U n

Dressers: a m) Iu sm rr
'

i
.

—
Th e Real i ty o f Spi ri t Obsession Exam pl es of Ol aes o

aim — I s
t D ang ers— H ow Obaesai ng S piri ts Ga in Co ntro l
my CO NT E NT S

— Poi soned Magne ti sm —Obsession verses Medi umshi p

— —
How S piri ts Influence U s Th e Magneti c Link Early

to U se the
—
M i nd Di oai s a nd Treatm ent — S pi ri tual Tm tm ent
-
Th e B ter S ide 0! th e Subjec t .

CHAPT E R XXIV

W hat Th e Si l ence rea l ly 8 i iiee— The

“

cen trati on— C o ncentrat ion xerci ses—The Dynam i c

— —
Pow er of th e M ind Tho Val ue of Prayer Prayer in

CHAPTE R XXV

Nature a nd Propert i es o f th e Fl ui d to
Prove th e Exi stence of th e F l ui d— How Ma
Water— Life Preserved by t h e Hum an Fl u i d g
—
gi?
s
of th e Human Fl ui d How Mate ri al Objec ts
Ch arged by th”e Flui d Exteriori zation oi Sena
—
rc us sion — How the H uman F l ui d May

p h i c Plates .

CHAPTER XX VI
&mn fiw n mmm
Of What th e Is Co mposed— Inner Finer
.
Ho w they a re Overcom e
a re B ui l t U p—How the
for

C HAPTER XX VII

Ma teri al ined Ph anto ms —Phantasms Created by Though t

— Phanto ms Wh i ch I rt I nform at ion— Experimw u l
Appa ritione—How to te Thought Form s -
,
 CO N TE N TS

C HAPTER XX VIII PM

Expla na ti H o
of ” aunted H uses —Telepathy an
—
d
“
Psyc h ic Atm osphere Astral Bodies and Though t~
— o h u —
forms Th e Nature f t e Fig res Seen Proofs o i
— e i un —
Rea l i ty S ana s n Ha ted Houses C lai m
nosis o f Haunted H ouses— How to
?

C HAPT ER XX IX

Fac tors Afl ecti Oomm unica ti on— Dific ulties of the

Communi —
iri s Why M' an Mem ges a re h ivi al
' '

— Influw ee
Nessa-a
m
e M di
e um s
ass o f N am es
tely Afte r Des
h a i sm
n
s
Da
— S lism
m uni

C HAPTE R XXX

I nfluences — An Impor

C HAPTER XXXI
Psasonan Maonm xsx
-
.

— Th e Physi cal Fac tor— Th e

Mental Factor —Th e tua l Factor —How to I nfluence
Others —The U se of th e es— How to Deve lop
c G u s — Passes and na— How to Prevent
Infl uence of Others—He p

C HAPTER XXXII
xvi CO NT E N TS

CHAPTER XXXIII rm

Rmx cm amox a n Emm y Pn no eovm r

to for Re in .

"
—
io n Life,
Pe st t r
a nd —
F u e Th e
u —
Vorte x of Life How
W e Rem em ber Past
“
h ere a nd How These
“
M emori es Originate
”
.

C HAPTE R XXXIV
E m ma or Srmrm m sn

Is i t B h t to I nvest igate Psych i c Ph enomena l — C o n

cerning ud and Error I s i t H ea l thy and Norm al 1
-

Does S i ri t Co mm uni cation Retard on ?

Shou ld h e Dead Kno w Our So rrow s l
“ ”
Eth i cal
Teac h ings o f Spiri tua l iem— Sh ould M edi um Accept

C HAPT E R XXXV
Wu r
'
HAPPt NS Am Du m l
The My
—
Death A C “Death— Why W e Should Not F ear
—
y t Desc ri pt ion of Deat“h Format”ion
a n
—
of the Sp iritua l Body Ho“w I t Fee l s to Pass Over
Nove l Ex ri c uoce on th e Oth er S ide — Ho w W e h m

W cl to unica te — Ho w W e Progress in the S piri t

ori d

C HAPTE R XXX VI
w e v m m) U ses or Srmxm a u su
'

How Invocat ions Are —

Perform ed An la na tio n of
—
W i tc h cra ft Devi l W o rsh
i res . a nd Ho w Th ey A
w to Protec t Yoursel f from Occu l t and E

C HAPTE R XXX VII

Sum s w e Prru nns ro Avom
o —
The Ove r Nega t i ve Condi ti on Abuse of t h e
“
S i x th
—
Sense O u C h gi g M d i s and Cir les Sensi
”
a n n e um c —
ti vi ty a nd Med ium sh i Th i ngs a Psyc h i c Should Avoi d
— How to Di st ingui t h e True from the False— How
to G uard i nst Outside I nfluences—Th e Val ue of
P syc h i c Dev opm ent to th e I nd ivi dual .
 C O NT E N TS

Phenomena w i th P ysi ca l Contac t— Tab e Ti pping and

h l -

— —
In vi tations Ho w the Pow er I ncreases Ho w Ph im i
—
Ph enomena Are Produc ed External i zed V ital argy
—C ontro l li ng the P henomena— The Efl ect of Light
Fi rs t 8 p to m s a nd
P he no mena— Dev elo ping in th e
Dark w to Dev elo in th e L ight — Instruments for
Tes Y our Pow er o w to Beg in Ho w to Obta in the -

—
Fi rst h enomena How to Construct the V i tal Threads
—
or Ri id Rays Tran f rring th Po r Gathering
“
s e e w e —
V i ta l ergy from th e Ci rc l e .

C HAPTER XXX IX
Sm u m Tnouonr Pnoroow nr -

H
.

How 8 ir i t P h o to gra hy I s Possibl e — ow to

Your ve lo pment t”
Ra d io t o
“ ”
p h s , a n d Ho w Ob ta i n
ts in h t-Pho hs — A not h er W a y to Produc e
Th m ot o ra hs h o f Psyc h ic Forms
gm g p p s
o m
C HA PT ER XL

The Mar ve ls
Materia l i
of —
Necessary
ation The
z
—
tors to Insur Success Eth eri al izat ion and Transfl
e
ura tio n — —
Ho w Som e Form s Are Created Ho w Ma
a liza t io n l s Aecom pl h ed
is — “
Repercussion — How th e ’

—
Fi gures re Formed Th e Cl ot hes o f Ma te ria l ized l ig
A i '
'

urea — How to n Y our Deve lo ment — Ea rly Sisj

and ”r ene w
p
Sensatio n of Co hrw hs a nd
” ‘
t
I t Means —Why Some Forms Resem b l e th e M edi um .

C HAPTE R XLI

Cul ti va th e
“
s "
S i xth Sen e — P ychi c B ree
s Ex
c roises w to A w aken t h e C hakras or 7 V i
“ ”

—
tree The Im portance of Aw a keni in the R h t Or
'

—
der The Sac red Word OM and
“ ”
ta ti on ternal
or S piri tual Respi n fiM h Any Part of the
Bod y— Th e Development of fl
h
c C onsc iousne ss

hy th e Pow er of W i ll .
Y O U R P SY C H I C P O W E R S
AND H O W TO D EV ELO P THEM
2 YOUR PSYC H IC POWERS

though as a matter of fac t they are also an indica tion of

psychic power having but littl e to do with tru e m edium
,

isti c messag se — that is they are the result o f remarkabl e

, ,

powers within ourselves Al l who obtain ph enom ena of .

this nature should make it a point first of all to maintain , ,

th e p hysical health at the hi gh est possibl e standard so ,

that th e energi es are no t drained and th e body remains ,

healthy and the mind clear in its judgment It is a .

senti al to reduc e the amou nt of a ny stimul ants w hich may

be tak en to the lowest possibl e quantity or if possible , , ,

omit them altogether This applies not o nly to alcohol

.

in all its forms but also to tea a nd coffee

, T hese sti m .

ul ants excite the nerves and th e im aginati o n and often ,

“ ”
induce manifesta tions w hi c h a re not tru e psychic
phenomena at all but m erely th e results of a diso rd ered
,

nervous system Th e subject should not eat too much

.

m eat On the oth er hand fruits o f all kin ds pa rti cu

.

larly acid f ruits 4uch as th e p ee r p each plum orange

, ,

, , , ,

and l emon are especially suita ble since th e juices of

,
-
,

these fruits act upon the liver and t end to cleanse th e

b lood Of course th ese precautions a re only for those
.
,

who are serious in th eir study and who are determined ,

to obtain th e best possibl e phenomena .

The mind should be ex ercised in all h ealthy chann els .

“
Do not introspect or refl ect too mu c h on your ow n
i nner m enta l co nditi o ns Y o u must l ea rn to liv e outside
,
.

u r h d so to speak — in the out er world D o not

y o ea , , .

constantly wonder what is going on w ithin your own

brain If you do you will surely l ead yourself i nto
.
,

dificulti es lat er on I n short you should l ead a hea lt hy

.
, ,

acti ve life and be tween those tim es wh en you expe rience

, ,

ph enomena you shoul d think about them as appli ed to

, ,

yourself as littl e as possibl e

, .
 HOW TO D EV E L OP 3

If you desire to obtain ce rta in manifesta tions it is not,

advisable to sit for th em or try and obtain them for

longer than tw enty ( 20) minutes to half an hour each
day A t first five or ten minutes would M oe a nd this
.
,

time ca n gradually be lengthened as you progress T his .

is especiall y i m por ta nt and th e neglect of this rul e is

,

o ne of the great reasons for the dangers which m ediu m s

ex peri en ce lat er on in th ei r d ev elopment Suppose fo r

.
,

exa mpl e that som e one appeared to you and gav e y ou

,

certain advice as to your course of action It w ould .

certa inly be unwise for you to follow this advice in ev ery

ca se wi thout i nqui ring wh ether or not it would be just
.

and sensibl e and wi thout usi ng your own judgment

,

wh en the advice was given Even suppod ng that the

.

person who appea red to you were real ly th e spirit it

claimed to be th ere is always th e possibility that this
,

sp irit may be mistaken and th e further possib ility tha t

,

som e mali cious and lying spirit was coming to you ,

pretendi ng to giv e advice whi le in reality it was o nly

,

leading you astray Th ere is this furth er possib ility

.

that the figure you saw was not really a spirit at all ,

but m erely th e product of your own subconscious im a gi

natio n O fte n this is th e case and y et th e figure has
.
,

gi ven true and sound advice ! All that w e are stating

now is that th e judgment of the individual who re
cei ves such mes ag es or ad vice must al w ays be exercised
, ,

upon the message receiv ed If you do not cul tivat e this

.

ha bi t you wi ll find that mm ges often become more

,

and more insist ent wh en th ey a re not followed and

, ,

will som etim es giv e untrue or lying information They .

may ev en urge you to do certain th ings which are against

4 YOUR PSY CHIC PO W ERS

y ou r own w elfare A ll thi s can only

. be settled by the
ex ercise of right judgment and by asking th e advi ce of ,

those who know how much to beli ev e in these m em ges .

It is for this reason that th e counsel and h elp of one

who has h ad lo ng trai ning and exp erience in thi s subject
is most desirabl e during th ese ea rly stages of medium
,

THE PROPER FORM A TION O F TH E CIRCLE

The proper formati on of the circl e is of the utmost
importance and upo n it depends the excellence of the
,

ph enomena and wheth er or not h elpful personalities are

,
“ ”
dra w n into your aura and environm ent The best .

results may be obtained by closely obeying the fo llowing

F rom six to ten persons usually consti tute a c ircl e .

T hey should range on an average from twenty to fi fty

years of age Of these half sh o uld be gentl emen and
.
,

half ladies Th ey should sit alt ernately round a tabl e

.
,

—
o r round the room ia ca se one of th e party enters
the cabinet It is desirabl e to join hands in ord er to
.
,
“ ”
form a battery ao called and th e f eet sh o uld be
,
-
,

kept flat on th e floor The c ircl e should not last more

.

than two hours and not less than half an hour An

, .

invocation or short earnest prayer should begin th e pro

c eedings followed by slow and quiet music which may
, ,

or may not be accompanied by singing according to th e ,

“ ”
ex p rmsed wish of th e co ntrols or the experi enc e of
those formi ng th e circl e Th e light should be subdued
.
,

b ut absolut e darkness should not be p em itted — unl ess ,

strict instructions are given to tha t efiect A void dark .

séances if possible at a ll times !

, ,
 H OW TO D E V E LOP 5

THE VALUE OF FLOWERS

It is advisable to hav e flow ers in th e séance room ,

wh enev er pomible as their presence is said to att ract

,
“ ”
spiri ts in a pecu liar mann er The spirits say that
.

“ ”
th ey see th ese flowers as li ghts Plenty of fresh air
.

should be allowed to enter th e séance room If any .

member of th e circl e be ill he or she should not be per

,

mitted to sit in th e circl e until well again .

A developing circle should meet in the same room ,

“ ”
since this room tends to become mediumized or soaked,

with magneti c influ ences given 03 by th e sitters The

, .

chai rs on which th e members of th e circl e sit should be

wood or can e bottomed ; the use of upholstered ch airs is
-

generally inadvisabl e The tabl e round which the m em

.

bers of the ci rc le sit sh ould be free from meta l T h e .

chair on which the medium sits must be can e or wood ,

and, as al rea dy said free from all cushions or up holstery

,
.
6 YOUR PSYCHIC POW ERS

in their pre per places to adjust th e amount of light re

,

quired etc H is word must be followed at once and

,
.
,

“ ”
without questio n ; otherwise the necessary harmony
will be d estroyed and the circle will fail to obtain as
,

good results .

E xcitem ent in all its forms should be avoided If .

one Of the c ircl e dev elop m ediumistic power h e should ,

be placed next to a more fully d evel o p ed medium ,

u nl ess i nstructions a re received not to do so In this .

way the power is conc entrated and focussed at one

point .

MISUSE o r srraxr
'
ADVICE
N ever attempt to use psy chic power for worldly pur -

poses ! If you do yo u wi ll i nvite m isc hi evous and lying

,

intelli genc es to your circ le and the medium wi ll pos ,

sibly l ose what medi umship h e already possesses

.
.

D o not sit too frequ ently E v ery oth er ni ght at most

.
, ,

should sittings b e h eld o r even twic e a w eek See that

, .

th e ro o m is n o t too cool and is not u nduly heat ed As .

soo n as th e first manifestations have been rec eived en ,

“ ”
co ura ge th e spirits by ta lking to th em in a natural
'

to ne or voice as y ou w ould if th ey w ere visibly present

,

in th e room Sp eak to th em as you wo uld if th ey had

.

returned to earth in bodily form B e na tura l in fact ! .

,

You wil l get the best results in this way .

Many of those w h o a re i nt erest ed in spiritualism a re

so situated that th ey cannot joi n c ircl es but wish to de ,

v elo p al o ne .T his is as a ru l e u nwise u nl ess so m e one ,

is p res ent w h o u nd erstands th e ph enom ena which are

lik ely t o d ev elop a nd wh o c an h elp and c a n g iv e good
advice wh en requi red You may do so if the fo llowing
.

instructions a re kept carefully in mind If you can p ro .

 H OW TO D E VE LOP 7

vide yourself with a cabinet it would be very ad ,

visabl e to do so Sit i nside th e cabinet on a co mfo rtabl e

.

chair and relax yourself thoroughly N ote whatev er im .

pressio ns co m e to you Pay particular att entio n to yo ur

.

bodily feelings no l ess than to your mental states D o

, .

not exaggerat e h ere o r let your imaginatio n have too

,

free play If your l egs should happ en to tingle o r th e

.

chair to creek do not put these down to spiritual in

,

fl uence . They may be due to perfectly normal causes .

SYMPTOMS OF O N COMING MEDIUM SHIP

For the first few evenings you will probably noti ce
nothing much of i nterest though v ery psychic persons
,

begin to dev elop almost at once A peculiar li ght ness .

and buzzi ng is som etim es exp eri enced in th e h ead to ,

geth er wi th a sense of numb ness in the hands a nd arms ,

and sometim es in th e feet a nd legs Th e resp iration .

seems to bec om e slower and so does th e heart Tiny

,
.

lig hts and spo ts a nd light or dark spots appear in th e

, ,

ai r at a dista nce of one o r two feet in front of the sub

ject A pec uliar pressure is som etimes experienced on
.

th e top of th e hea d or on th e base of th e brain or in th e ,

“ ”
solar pl exus ; swishing sounds as of the sea breaking ,

upon the sea shore may be h eard and a sensation that

-
,

som ething inside of the h ead is going round and round

in spirals The h ead th e hands and sometimes th e whol e
.
,

body break out into a profuse perspiration at this point .

T hese are the first sensati ons of o ncomi ng m edium ship .

Very oft en th ey a re not pleasant for th e first few weeks ,

but if this period be passed th e unpl easant sensatio ns

,

wil l as a rule vanish and the subject will th en d evelop

,

true medi umship of one ch aracter or another .

8 YOUR PSYC HIC POWERS

Just here it is advisable to sta te that th e would be -

medium should not at first sit for th e express purpose of

cul tivating any pa rticula r phase of mediumship H e .

may d esire to obtain materialization but unl ess h e is

,

naturally endow ed in this matter he mi ght sit for ev er

,

a nd obtain nothing ; wh ereas if he dev eloped whatever

ph enomena presented th emselves h e might v ery soon

,

dev elop into a striking medium in some oth er line .

To return however to th e ea rly developm ent of

, ,

mediumsh ip : Soon after these early impressions have

been noticed th e subj ect may note for th e first time that
,

his mind is peculi arly susc eptibl e to influ ences of all

“
kinds H e feels as if his mind has been skinn ed so to
.
”
,

speak and that h e is now exp osed to the psy c hic breezes
,

from every direction ! H e may becom e erratic and irrit

“ ”
able and d ev el o p moods which h e himself cannot
understa nd Peculiar buzzings in th e h ead are some
.

times heard som etim es cloudlike masses seem to fo rm in

,

space before him twisti ng and tu rning and moving up

,

and do w n and round about with a very irregular motion

, .

A s a rul e th ese clouds appear to be of the consist ency of

,

vapour though th ey may in time becom e m ore and more

,

solid unti l they becom e bu ilt up i nto d efinite forms O f

,
.

this howev er later .

EARLY SIGNS A ND m om

A t this phase o f th e d ev elopm ent th e subject may feel

c oo l b reezes blowi ng upo n his hands and fac e from
—
various di recti ons breezes whi ch appear to be perfectly
physical in charact er H e may also experi ence a p eculiar
.

sticky sensation on his hands and face as th o ugh cobwebs

10 YOUR PSYC H IC POWE RS

If these manifestati ons d eve lop an unp leasant charac

ter at this ti me th ey should be checked instantly T he .

subject may do this in several ways F irst of all he .

should build up his phy sical h ealth Second he should .

,

see to it th at h e obtains pl enty of sl ee p Third h e . ,

should ex ercise his brai n as littl e as possibl e on anything

of thi s unpleasant character F ourth he should keep
.
,

busily occupi ed in material practical things and leave

,

hi mself no time to ponder a nd dwell upon these unpleas

ant occurre nc es F ifth h e sh o uld avoid by all m eans
.
,

day dreaming and nev er allow the mi nd to becom e passive

-

or absent minded H e shoul d cultivate his obj ective at

-
.
.

tention and interest , in sh o rt and focus his whol e person

,

al ity as it were between his eyes so as to h ave it under

, , ,

t horou gh control If h e does this and ref uses to sit fo r

.
,

d evel o pment for a short t ime he will find that these

,

early unpleasant symptoms ( should th ey d evelop ) will

soon wea r off ; and this advi ce h olds good at any sta ge
of the d ev elopm ent of m ediumship .

H AGG ER ATION AND IM AG INA TION

Many of those who d evelop psychic phnenomena are
inclined to exaggerate the importance of th e manifesta
tions th ey r eceiv e during the early stages of their
mediumship E v erything seems so new a nd stra nge to
.

them so remarkable so una ccou ntable so beyo nd the

, , ,

experi enc e of th e av erage p erso n that they f eel bo und to

,

tell it to ev ery one th ey meet a nd usually it loses noth ing

in th e t elli ng ! T hey fail to r ealize that ev ery medium
who has been developed has go ne through these same
 II OW T O D E VE L OP 11

early sta ges but has p rogressed b eyond th em years

,

before ! In observing these phenomena in yourself you

must be very ca refu l to distinguish between the facts
which really occur and th e phantasies of your own ex
,

cited imagination which is inclined to extend and

,

amplify these facts beyond all recognitio n Thus sup .

,

p ose a blurred outline of a fac e presents itself to you ;

th e next day you meet your cousin on th e street You .

instantly com e to th e conclusion that the face you sa w

w as tha t of your c o usin —whil e as a matt er of fac t
, , ,

it mi gh t not hav e borne th e l east resemblance t o him .

T his is a ve ry simple case but will serv e to explain

,

the point in question .

WHY AND HOW YOUR POWER M AY BE !D ST

I f you obtain su ch ph enom ena you must be v ery ,

careful not to exaggerate th em for if you do yo u will

,

qui te possibly lose th e real sensiti veness that you a re

begi nning to acq uire and this w il l be replac ed by the
,

p roducts of an ov erexcited imagination .

T his is a truth well know n as you may see by th e

, ,

following quotatio n from a work which appeared in 1 81 3 ,

“ ”
entitled Ani mfl Magnetism by D eleuze for in it h e ,
“
says : D o not press th e somnambulist too much for ,

if you do you will gain nothing ; you will ev en lose the

advantages which you might deriv e from his lucidity .

It is possi bl e that you could ma ke him speak upo n all

the subjects of your personal curiosity but in that case ,

y ou wi l l mak e him leave his own sph ere and introduce

him in yours h e will no longer hav e any oth er resources
,

than yourself be will utter to you very eloquent dis

,

courses but th ey will no more be dictated by th e ext ernal

,

inspi rati ons they wi ll be th e product of his recollec

,
12 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

tions or of his imaginatio n Perhaps you will also rouse

.

his v anity and th en all is lest he will not t e e nter th e

,
-

circle from whi ch h e has w andered T he two states

.

cannot b e co nfounded .

Th e stud ent who cultivates m ediumsh ip shou ld th ere

, ,

fore be careful to preserv e a cl ear h ead a nd a mod est

,

estimate of his own phenomena .If h e does he will

,

doubtl ess progr ess rapidly and favorably .

 C H A PTER II
“
H A RMO NI O US CO NDITI ONS ”

Ir w e exert ourselves in any way whatever we desire ,

“ ”
certai n conditio ns in ord er to bring our powers and
,

facul ti es into play to the best advanta ge If w e are .

und ertaking to perform any feat of physical strength of ,

i nte llectual or spiritual achi evem ent we desi re to be ,

free from care and worry distractio n and irritation

,

to be enab led to centre and focus the whole of our

en ergy in th e channel desired It is the same with .

mediumship .

CO NDITIO NS FOR THE EXER CISE OF PSYCHI C POWERS

Pro fm F lourney of G eneva writ es in this co nnec
or , ,
“
tion : As to th e infl uenc e of variou s physical and
m enta l conditions upo n th e exercise of m ediumship my ,

correspondents a re unanimous in co nd emning as abso

lute hindrances or at least grav e obstacl es to th e produc
tion of ph enom ena all su c h causes as physical exhaus
,

tio n disturbing emotions uneasinem absorbing thoughts

, , , ,

fatigue enervation etc Th e co nditions requi red for

, , .

the successf ul exercise of mediumistic pow ers are the

same as for th e voluntary exercise of any other pow er ,

— a sta te of good health nervous equilibrium ca lm the

, , ,

absence of care good h umour sympatheti c surround

, ,

ings etc
, Many insist upo n moral el evation purity of
.
,

co d ct noble asp iratio s altruism etc

n u , n — saying that
, ,
.
,

these things strength en medi umship while the lower ,

sentim ents such as cupidity pride jealousy etc are the

, , , .

I3
1 4 YOUR PSYC H IC POW ERS

cause of much loss of power O th ers have insisted that .

c ertain physical condi tions have a prop itious efl ect ,

”
-
silence semi o bscurity good v entila ti on fasting etc
,
-
, , , .

w om en s '
FOR CO NDITIO NS
Those who do not understa nd the laws of Sp iritual ism
“ ”
hav e co ntended that th e conditions demanded by
m ediums a re oft en absurd for th e reason that they per ,

mit tri c kery If the condi tions permit the prac tice of
.

fraud they should not b e allowed Beyond th is any

, .
,

co nditi ons required by the medium should b e gra nted ,

for th e m edium alone is the one to know what th ese con

“
ditions should be M edi umship doubtless has its con
.
, ,
»

d i tio ns — —
its ow n psychic laws just as any other ex ~

c r eias of th e i nner pow ers Many sc epti cs do not see .

“
t his Th ey say
. If you can p roduce th ese ph enom ena ,

you must be abl e t o produce th em at any tim e just as ,

w e can always produce th e sam e effects in a ch emica l

or physical laborato ry ! Why all this fu ss about con
”
ditions etc !
, But th ey fail to ta k e into consideration
h uma n na tur e and th e fact that psychic laws and
,

physical laws a re difl erent W e can easily prove this . .

CO NDITION S IN ART

T ake any musical composer or any artist who paints ,

and seat him at a tabl e with instructions to compose

a sona ta or pai nt a wonderful pictu re wi thin half e u ,

-

hour ! Suppose that during all the tim e the work is in

progress noise a nd flurry is consta ntl y going on in the
,

sam e room th e desk at which th e artist works is bei ng

,

shaken c h il dren a re co nti nually ru nni ng in and out

,

o f th e room etc Do y ou thi nk that und er such con

, .
,
 ”
HA RMO N IOUS CO N D I T IO N S 15
‘

ditions, a mast erpi ec e in eith er music or art could be

produced ! Could a poet c ompose a sonnet und er such
conditions ? Ce rtainly he could not ! The exercise of
m ediumistic pow er is assuredly as d elicate as subtle , ,

as refi ned as ea sily disturbed as any of these produc

,

tions of the genius of man H ow absurd th erefore to

.
, ,

pretend or c ontend that m ediums sh ould be able to ex

c roise th eir powers ,wh enever th ey want th em u nder ,

any co nditio ns ! And to cont end furth er that if they

, ,

fail to d o so they are therefore f rauds and h umbugs !

F or th e successful exerc ise of mediumship or psychic
po w er in any direction the essentials w hi c h hav e been
,

mentioned above must be fulfill ed as well as any others

,

which th e medium may feel a re requi red Th ese must .

by all means be granted fo r if th ey are not it is highly

, ,

p robable that no phe nomena at all w ill be obtained .

Ha rmony is the keynote of successful mediumship ,

harmony of physical mental and spiritual life This

,
.

is onl y carrying to its logica l co nclusio n what w e ob

serve every day all arou nd us H ave we not all fel t
.
,

immediat ely upon m eeti ng certain perso ns that th ey ,

were att ractive or repellent to us ? W e felt eith er drawn

or repulsed i nwardly for no reaso n that w e could d efine .

Many th eori es have been advanced to exp lain this fact ,

but the most probabl e is that surrou ndi ng each i ndi

,
“ ”
vidual th ere is an aura or psychic atm osph ere which
,

surrounds him like a halo or sh eath ext endi ng som e

,

distance ou tward from the body and varying with th e

indi vidual t empe ram ent emoti ons and th e physica l and
,

menta l h ealth If th ese auras are sympath etic if th ey

.
,

blend one wi th another th en w e have attraction l eading

, ,
16 Y O UR PSYCHIC POWE RS
“
in many cases to love at first sight ; if th e opposi te
conditions exist; w e hav e instinctive dislik es w hich are
generally correct As th e poet said
.

“
I do not l ike you Dr Fell .
,

Th e reason w hy I cannot tel l

, .

N ext to physical harmo ny com es menta l harmony and ,

h ere is a wid e fi eld for observation and experim ent .

All Spiritualists know that persons of certain t empera

ments must be ex clud ed from serious circles if th e ,

better class of ph enomena a re to be obtained Su c h .

p erso ns in clud e th e fiip pa nt th e arroga n,

t th e u nduly ,

sc eptical th e frivolous etc In addition to this how

, ,
.
,

e ver , finer and more subtl e points of mental harmony

must be adjusted in our menta l scal es It is advisabl e .

,

wh enever possible to bring togeth er persons having more

,

or l ess th e sam e point of vi ew interests and sympathi es

,
.

Sympath etic peopl e always obtain bett er phenom ena tha n

the extrem ely intellectual ones In the latt er th e mi nd
.
,

is so to speak hard unyi elding and tends to build up

, , , ,

a wall or barri er between itself and th e medium wh ich ,

it is diflicult or even impossibl e for th e la tt er to break

th rough W e have known of several cases in w hich
.

mediums were unabl e to obtain any results at all for

i ndividuals of th e v ery intell ec tual and so to speak , ,

critical type of mi nd wh ereas th ey could obtain an

,

abundance of striking manif estations for the sympathetic

and more congeni al natu res .

A t th e same tim e extrem e gravity and seriousness

,

o n all occasions is to be avoid ed Every perso n who .

18 YOUR PSYC H IC POWE RS

stantl y vibrate in unison if the two a re attuned one to

th e other But unl ess the tuning forks a re adj usted at
.

precisely th e right pit c h th ey will not respo nd and a

, ,

thousa nd tuning fo rks may be plac ed around th e room

but non e o f th em will respond in any way to th e vibra
tion of th e first T his crude analogy drawn from the
.
,

physical world will show us h o w esse ntial ha rmo ny is ;

,

a nd if this b e tru e in mat erial ph enom ena more ce r

, , ,

ta inly is it tru e in th e m ental and spiritu al real ms .

H AR MONY AND VIBRA TIO N

E very ind ividual is said to vibrate at a certa in rat e ;
“ ”
this is his o wn pitch so to say and no two h uman
, ,

beings a re alik e T his d efinit e rate of vibration doubtl ess

.

c o rr esponds to th e personality of th e in dividual and , ,

though no two can be absolutely alik e those who ,

a pproxi ma te each o th er th e nearest would be th e m ost ,

sym path etic and woul d be th e most drawn one to th e

oth er And if this is tru e of spirits incarnate h ere in
.

this li fe it is doubtl ess tru e wh en applied to th e rela

,

tio ns between our ow n spirits and the spirits o f those

who hav e passed o ver Th ere is an old sayi ng that
.

“ ”
L ike attracts Lik e If th e tone of th e circl e a nd
.
,

of th e individuals composi ng it is hig h th e aspirations , ,

“ ”
el evated and pure th at ci rc l e will attract to it
,
spirits
from th e oth er side havi ng th e same vibrations as it
,

self Th e circl e will in fact only come in contact with

.
, ,

good a nd not evil spi rits C ertainly there are excep.

,

ti o ns to every rul e ; but th e abov e is th e general law

which may be stated in broad terms as tru e For were .
,

th is not th e case w e might co ntend that no such thing

,

as justice existed in th e U niv erse and that Chance ,

and not Moral Law held all in its sway But w e know .
 ”
HA RMO N IOUS C O ND ITI ON S 19

that this is not the case inasmuch as w e feel amured in

,

our h ea rt of hearts that beauty truth and justice are the

, ,

foundation ston es upo n which th is universe is built .

“
W e might rightly suppose that this is in ev ery case the
t ruth and that a circl e formed by serio us mi nded i a
,
-

vest igators having in vi ew only th e highest and best

,

mot ives wo uld draw to th em h elpful a nd loving spiri ts

,

from th e great beyo nd And the history of Sp iritualism

.

”
proves thi s to be the fact .

HOW TO FIT YOURSELF FOR A CIR CLE

The method you should follow to fit you rsel f most
efl ectua lly for becomi ng a member of one of these ad

v anced circles is as fo llows : You should p erfect and

make as wholesome as possible th e physical body in
which you li ve ; this is brought about by pa ying partien
lar attenti on to th e diet and by taking an abundance
,

o f exercise d eep breathing and freque nt baths Ma ny

, .

spi ritualism have becom e v eg etarians with t h is object in

view and also non smok ers and absta iners from alcohol
,
-
.

Tea and eofiee are also d ebarred in som e quarters ; but

such stri c t measu res are usually advised only for those
who a re striving fo r individ ual spiritual perfectio n ,

a nd need not necema rily be followed by one who is a

m ember of a large circl e O f course such m easures can

.

not fa il to benefit an individu a l in any case .

THE KEYSTO NE O F THE A RCH

Cultivate cheerful ness altruism and a simple whol e
, , ,

—
some po inb of vi ew bani shing fear as you w ould th e
-
,

D evil and never all owing it for a m o m ent t o domi nat e

,

or enter into you ! Preserve a sane religious bala nce ,

20 YOUR PSYC H IC POW ERS

and e ndeavour in every w ay possible to cultiva te

p athy for the poi nt oi view of others no m atter how
- -
,

p rejudiced and na rrow it m ay be Keep you r mind

.

lifted up el eva ted ; and as Andrew J ackso n D avis sa id

, , ,
“ ”
Under all ci rcumsta nc es keep an even m ind . If y ou
do not natu rally possess it culti vate an insight i nto
,

things spi ritua l and above al l t rue benevolence and

,

symp ath y This is the keysto ne of the arch erected to

.
,

and su pporting self perfection

,
-
.
 C HA PT ER III
FE AR AND H OW TO BANISH IT

W E are our ow n greatest enemi es W e creat e the ma

.

j ori ty of th e ills from w hich w e sufier ! I n psychic i n

v esti ga ti on m o re p eopl e hav e snfiered from fear th an
,

from any oth er d epressi ng emoti o n ; but in ni ne cases ,

out o f ten th ese fears hav e been pe rfectly groundless

, ,

a nd th e subj ect has had all his fears and worry for

nothing ! He has crossed his bridges before coming to

them Were he to refl ec t for a m o m ent he woul d find
.
,

that the terribl e thi ngs h e feared v ery rarely came to

hi m ; that th e majority of the ex periences w hi ch h e actu
’
ally went through w ere of such a natu re that he needn t
hav e fea red th em at all .

m s w a s, FAITH savzs

F ear is not o nly usel ess ( for th e reason that it pre

vents nothing ) but it is actually h armful from this
doubl e standpoint : I n the first place it h elps to induce ,

“
the condition w e a re fearing A s J ob sai d T hat whi ch
.
,
”
I greatly feared has come upon me He thought about
.

and dread ed certain co nditio ns so much that he doubt

l ess crea ted th em while had h e not do ne so th ey would

, , ,

never have come upo n him Professor W illiam Jam es

.

gives us a very good illustration of th e way i n which

fear sometimes brings about its ow n fu lfilm ent He .

“
says Suppose that for exampl e I am climbi ng in
, ,

th e Alps and hav e th e ill luck to work myse lf into a

position from which the o nly escape is by a terrible
21
22 Y O UR PSYC H I C P OWE RS

l eap B eing without similar experi ence I ha ve no evi

. ,

d ence of my ability to pe rform it succ essfully but hope ,

and confi dence in mys elf mak e m e sure that I shall not
miss my aim and nerv e my feet to execut e what with out
,

those subj ective emotio ns w ould perhaps have be en im

p OM bl e .But supp ose that on t h e co ntrary th e em o

tions of f ear and m istrust pred o minate or suppose that , ,

I feel that it w ould be si nful to act upo n a n assump

tio n unv erified by previous experi enc e why th en 1 , ,

shal l h es itat e so long that at last exhausted and trem ,

b ling and launching myself in a moment of despair I

, ,

miss my foothold a nd roll into th e abyss In this case .

( and th is is one of an immense class ) the part of wis

dom clearly is to believe what one d esires for the beli ef ,

is one of th e indispensable prelimi nary co nditi ons for

th e realizati on of its object There a re th en cases wh ere
.

faith creat es its own v erificati on B eli ev e and you .

‘

D oubt
’
shall b e right for you sha ll sav e yourself
, .
‘

and you shall again b e ri ght for you shall p erish

, .

T he only diff erenc e is that to beli eve is greatly to your

,
”
advantage .

Th e obvious lesson to be drawn from this is that you , ,

should not fea r the unknown or u nseen u ntil you have

had just cause to do so If you do it wil l predispose
.
,

you to experi ence the very manifestations you most

dread .

M M CTS OP FE AR U PO N TH E RODY

In the second place F ear has a destructive and de

,

pressing efiec t upo n th e body It depl etes th e vitality

.
,

lowers th e respirati o n and doubly incapacitates you from

performing any serious ratio nal work or carrying on any
,

rational common sense tra in of thought F ear th ere

- .
,
 F E A R AND H OW T O B AN ISH IT 23

fore is certa inly to be avoided for it h el ps nobody

, ,

”
and harms eve rybody But th e read er may obj ec t
.
, , ,

“
I cannot co ntrol my fear so easily it is a thi ng b eyond ,

my po w er I do not pursu e fear it pursu es and overtakes

, ,

me . To a ce rtain ext ent this m ay be tru e ,

.

T h ere a re tw o ki nds of F ear the unreasoni ng instinc ,

tive fear and the consci o us refl ective fear The form er
, , .

is a reli c of our low ly ancestry and is shared by all ,

the h igh er ani mals W e ca nnot help that but such f ear
.
, ,

as a rul e is only momentary and is over in a few in

,

sta nts — w e have th e imp ulse to fl ee etc which dem ands .

, ,

imm ediat e expressio n but this instinctiv e fear may be

,

overcome by th e mi nd Our reason t ells us upon second.

,

thought that w e have no cause to fear and w e stop

, ,

abashed and asham ed of ourselv es This is not th e f ear .

w hich we have to combat as a rule since it is bodil y , ,

rather than mental a nd of short d urati on , .

THE KIN D OP FE AR TO PE AR

The conscious m ental fea r is that which bothers us

.

and whi ch we should l earn to cure We a re sumci ently .

advanced in civili zation and in the und erstandi ng of

thi ngs sp iritual to know that all is natural N oth ing is .

supernatu ral E v en if a spirit re turns to us that is a

.
,

natu ral ev ent th ou gh it may not be a commo n or ordi

"
.
“
nary eve nt and fo r this reaso n w e c all it su per
, ,

normal . But why should w e b e afraid of th e s pirit

o f a dearly beloved fri end o r relative or even the spirit ,

of a stranger coming to us in this way any more than ,

w e sh o uld be afraid o f it wh en co mi ng to us in th e
flesh ? —
It is th e same spirit in one case possessing a ,

physical body in th e oth er case animati ng only a n

,

ethereal body Of what is th ere to be afraid ? Spirits

.
2 4 YOUR PSYC H I C P O W E RS

a re but human b eings such as o urselves W e are sp irits

, .

h ere and now j ust as much as w e ev er will be Spirits

"
, .

are in fac t human beings w h o have passed throug h a

, ,
“
ce rtain experi ence call ed d eath a nd as Professor
, ,
“ ”
Minot Savage said T h ey a re j ust folks ,
Why th ere ,

fo re should we be afraid o f th em ?

TE E POWERS OF DA RKNESS
We must school th e mind to refl ection and by due ,

ex erci se of th e reaso n and the wi ll not to be afraid of ,

such happe nings but rath er to ac ce pt th em a nd be

,

thankful for th em and to trea t th em either as sc i entific

,

happen ings or as spiritual ev ents of great sig nificance

and h elp In eith er case th ere is truly no cause to fear
.
,
.

I t is true that in th e case of ma ny p erso ns darkness ,

brings with it a peculiar sense o f dread w h ich is ex ,

p e ri enc ed by ne arly all chil dre n and which is to a c ertai n

extent shared by many animals A dog will go to th e.

door o f a dark room peer in and sl ink away E v en ,

.

insects often refuse to go into dark places The cat .

a lone seems to enjoy the unca nny se nsation which aecom

p anies darkness a nd w e know tha t ca ts are proverbial

,
”
ghost lovers while dogs are th e reverse !
,

It may be that there is more truth in th is beli ef than

many realize W e kno w that th e orthodox d evil was
.

“ ”
known as Th e K i ng o f the Powers o f D arkness and .

all evil things a re associated with that state On th e .

“
oth er hand J esus was said to b e Th e Li ght of the
,
”
W o rld and ligh t always accompani ed spiritual mani
festations— as it does today Th e expr ess i o n mad e use
.

of by Mr Hamli n Garla nd som e years ago in his book

.

“ ”
The T yranny of th e D ark may theref o re have a , ,
“
certai n foundation There a re perhaps principalities
.
26 YOUR PSYCHIC P OWE RS

lowed by fatal a naemia mal formatio n of th e embryo

,
-
,

and eve n ski n and oth er dis eases apparently mor e re ,

m ov ed than th ese from th e eff ects of th e mind w ere ,

traced to th e eff ects of fear and other m ental disturb

anccs . He point ed out also that epid emics su ch as
, , ,

chol era small p ox diphth eria a nd oth er maligna nt

, ,

diseases obtai n a footi ng in a commu nity largely thro u gh

,

the fear of the inhabita nts a nd that hu ndreds and ev en

,

thousa nds of perso ns fall vi c tims to th eir ow n me ntal

conditions .

HOW FEA R C A USES SICKNESS

How does fear operate upo n th e body to produce
si ckness ? Largely by paralyzi ng the nerv e centres ,

especial ly those of th e v s mot o r n rv

a e e es— thus produc
-

ing not o nly muscular relaxati o n but capillary con ,

gestio ns of all kinds It is an int eresting fact that fear

.

a nd all d epressi ng emotio ns of a similar natur e se rv e

—
to co nstrict or co ntract the body whil e mirth lov e , ,

altruism and al l the higher emoti o ns serve to produce

,

—
both physical and m ental relaxatio n o pening up th e
m ental and physiological doorways of th e organism .

”
The t erm fright ened to d eath is not a m ere expressi on ,

but is founded upon valid physiological and psy ch ologi

cal laws .

A South ern physician h as report ed an i nte res ting case .

I t was that of a big burly negro who supposed that

, ,

he had bee n fatal ly shot Fear had seized him with

.

trem endous pow er h e shook l ike an aspen leaf h e bor

, ,

d ered on th e state of collapse and d eath seemed immi nent .

N ot finding any blood th e e xami ning physician ordered

,

all his cloth es removed and whil e he was bei ng un dressed

, ,

a flatte ned bullet fell u pon the floor Th e doctor ex .

 F EA R AND HOW TO B AN ISH IT 27

hibi ted th e bu ll et
to th e frightened patient, explaining
that he had had a miraculous escape whereupon his ,

ci rculation w as immediately m tored his countenance ,

im proved his temperatu re became normal and th e look

,

of life returned to his eyes which had been fixed wi th

th e gaze of death whil e a broad grin crept ov er his
,

face Th e n egro got down from th e operating table and

.

drem ed apologized for the fuss he ha d caused and walked

,

hom e !
m s i s oom m xo s s
Fear has th e pec ul ia r power of being extremel y
'

tagious Under th e p roper conditions fear manifested

.
,

by one person is instantly communicated to the enti re

company T h ey feel little chills run up and down th eir
.

spines th eir hair begins to sta nd on end and a co ld

, ,

perspiration breaks out here and th ere over the body .

This shows the profound efiect which this emotion has

upo n th e bodily functions and also how ea sily it may
,

be acqui red wi thout reason F ear has th e power of .

al most stopping the heart and paralyzing the entire

nervous system A peculiar fati gue is also caused by
.

fear as has been proved by delicate experiments A

, .

natural and normal way to overcom e fea r under such

conditi o ns is to Ope n the mind to natural faith and
normal trust Let the psychic forces be allied with
.

faith and health let fear be fi nally and for ev er ca st down

,

a nd b anished from th e m ental domain T h is may often .

be brought about by reasoning t hough an efiort of will ,

is generally necessary also A d eterm ined opposition

.

accomp anied by trust faith in wise protection faith in

, ,

your own pow ers and in the h elp of fri en dly spiritual
mon itors a re o f the greatest use and be nefit in overcom
,

“ ”
ing this gr eat monster F ear .
 28 YOUR PSYCHIC PO WE RS

T HE FE AR OF EV IL SPIRITS

M y peopl e are afraid of evil spirits being ,

alarmed lest th ey should influ ence th em ag ainst their

wil l and cause them to do certain thi ngs whi c h th ey
would not normally care to do even to the poi nt of ,

obsessing th em T h ere is a real danger here to a certain

.
,

extent whi ch will be dwelt upon and explained in th e

,
”
chapter on O bsessio n But let it be po i nt ed ou t
.

that the o nly way to prevent such things is to keep up ,

a normal h ealthful resistant attitude of mi nd and not

,

to give way to fear which would be doing th e v ery thi ng

,

to invit e attack Let us rec all o nce more th e words

.

of Job in this connecti on So long as th e sea w alls or .

-

dykes of H o lland are so und and unim paired the ocean ,

is kep t within its p roper limits and cannot break th rough

and flood th e land as it som etim es do es wh en th ese walls
are destroyed As w e know a tiny li ttl e hol e th rough
.
,

which th e m erest trickl e o f water can pass will u nl ess , ,

rep aired soo n becom e a w id e crevic e and th en a roaring

,

torrent Th e most important th ing to do is to ch eck this

.

in its inception for it is easy to prev ent the ingress of

,

th e water if taken in tim e ; bett er sti ll it w o uld be far ,

easi er to k eep the sea walls in such re pair that accidents

-

“
of this kind would be impossibl e for prev ention is ,
”
better than cur e .

A pplyin g this to the ca se before us w e ca n see that ,

the very fi rst symptoms of fear must be ch eck ed as

soo n as th ey arise for if th ey are allowed to continue
, , ,

th ey w ill sprea d and work havoc in th e mi nd just as ,

the wat ers would work havoc upon th e land Th e thi ng .

to do is to keep th e mind so guarded streng th ened and ,

repaired by h ealthful ex ercise intel ligent cul tivati o n and

,
 F EA R AND H OW TO B AN I SH IT 29

cont rol and th e exercise of th e will that fear ca n never ,

ba tter down its ramparts and ev en should it attack

, ,

the cita d el of th e mind it would be quite unable to find

,

a lodgmen t with in this impregnabl e fortress .

T H E FE AR OF BEI NG HYPNOTIZ ED
What has bee n said appli es also to th e actio n of hyp
uo tie influ ences which many perso ns fear grea tly Th ey
,
.

“
a re afraid of being h y p notized by som e distant opera
tor and this fear som etim es becomes w ith them a v erit
,
”

able phobi a so that w e occasi onally find insane asylum

,

patients who hav e b ecom e compl etely unhinged on a c

count o f this fear W e can see from this how useless
.
,

how exceedingly h armful fear of th is ch aracter is and ,

it is more than uselem it is ridi culous ! N o one ca n

,

be hyp notized against his own will by a distant operator

in this w ay as many suppose
, If th ey feel influen ces
.

of this characte r th ese feelings are th e result of th eir

,

own disorde red imagination and a re not due to any

,

outsid e i nflu ence whatev er An individual really h yp no

.

tires hi msel f th e ope rator directing his ow n m enta l

,

powers into certain chann els so that this is brou ght about .

If he resists th e suggestion as ev ery one can do at first

, ,

it is impossibl e for any one to hyp notize hi m .

WHY SUCH FEARS ARE G ROUNDLESS

The only way in which a person can be hyp notized
from a distance is the foll o wing : If an o perator has
hypnotized his subject a great many times and re peatedly
suggested to him when in th e hyp notic trance that h e
, ,

is becomi ng more suggest ibl e that h e can ea sily go off

,

to sleep that h e has onl y to thi nk of the o perator in

,
 YOUR PSYCHIC PO W E RS

o rder to fall asleep etc h e m ay succeed in m aki ng th e

,
.
,

subj ect so sensitiv e a fter a c erta in l en gth of ti m e th a t

, ,

th is condi tion is rea lly b rough t a bou t . Th e subj ec t

tends to fa ll into trance on the sligh test p rovoca tio n .

B ut such cases a re ab norm al a nd are rarely m et wi th ,

a nd as I h a v e just sa id thi s co ndition cannot b e b rough t

, ,

a bout u ntil th e subject h as b een hyp no tized seve ral

t i m es a nd th ese suggestio ns given to h im .T hes e are

w ell known fac ts which any experi enc ed hyp notist will
susta in. T his being so it m ay readily b e seen how
,

ab su rd it is to fea r telepathic suggestio n from a di st ant

O p era to r whom perh a ps you ha v e nev er seen ! I t is

,

enti rely illuso ry and you need in rea li ty h av e no fea r

,

whatev er in this connection The wi ll if exerc ised is

.

sup rem e !
 CHA PT E R I V
THE suc ces sc rous

IN this chapter I shall tak e up and try to mak e plai n

to the student the nature and fu nct ions o f th e sub
c o nsci ous mind This is th e greatest of all stumbli ng
.

bloch to many sp iritualists Its possibiliti es and at

-
.
,

th e sam e ti m e its limitations shoul d be mad e cl ear to

,

th e student at th e beginnin g o f h is studi es o th erw me ,

h e is su re to get in trouble later on no t onl y with him ,

self and wi th th e phenom ena he is studying but wi th ,

a ll perso ns who discuss these subjects with him and try ,

to persuad e h im that th e whole of Spiritu alism may be

a ccounted for by t h e pow ers of the subconscious .

w na r r
s THE SUBCON SCI OUS i tt

F irst of all what is th e sub conscious mind ? W e do

,

not know exact ly but a gr eat d eal has b een fou nd out
,

concerning it withi n th e past quarter of a centu ry .

T w enty years ago whe n Thomso n J H udso n wrote

, .

“ ”
his famous work The Law of Psychic Ph enom ena
, ,

very li ttl e w as known of the subco nsci ous N early .

eve ryth ing whi c h has been discovered about it h as b een

learned since he wrote Hi s a ttitude is doubtl ess w ell

.

know n to th e majority of my readers It is that man

. .

“ ”
has two mi nds the co nscious and th e subconscious ;
,

“
or as he preferred to exp ress it th e objective and
,
”
,
“ ”
th e subjecti ve minds The first of these is the con
.

—
scious mind the ev ery day r eason ing mind ; th e seco nd
, ,

is that vast realm in which occ ur th e ph enomena of

31
32 Y O UR PSYC H I C POWERS

dreams hyp notism insa nity hyste ria cla irvoyance

, , , , ,

tel epathy and all kindred psychic ph enomena H e .

“ ”
placed th e obj ective mind in th e cerebrum or fore ,
”
part of the brain and th e subjective mind in the
,

c erebellum or hinder part of th e brain

, .

rw o m uss, o s o u s t

But this dual conception of th e mind is today given

u p by practically all psychologists Th ey admit that .

the mi nd is in a ce rtain s ense dual but it is b elieved

, , ,

that both minds are in reality one a part of wh ich is ,

consci ous and o f th e greate r part of w hich w e know

,

nothi ng T he a nal ogy of th e i ceberg has often been

.

used A small pew sfitag e of this emerges abov e th e

.

water and this we see and know ; but the grea ter part
,

of th e mo unta in o f ice is below the surface and this ,

w e do not kno w through our senses Y et it is all one .

iceberg ! I n th e same w ay th ere is only o ne m ind but ,

wh en th e searchlight of co nsci o usness is turned upon

certain areas those areas become illuminated and we
, ,
“ ”
know or are conscious o f those parts All else t e
, ,
.

mai ns in the di m obscu rity b eyond in the great sto re ,

house of the subconscious mi nd .

THE POWERS OF THE SU RCONSC IOUS

I t may easily be proved that th e subconscious mind

acquires far more informatio n even through th e senses , ,

tha n do es th e conscious mi nd Th e followi ng simple .

experim ent will prove this : Lead a p erson into a strang e

room a nd ask him to observe as many thi ngs in it as

he possibly can Suppose h e remains fiv e seconds in

.

that room He is th en quickly removed and the door

.
34 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

THE MEMORY OF T HE SUBCO N SCIOUS

The powe rs of th e su bco nscious mi nd are indeed great .

I t forgets nothing and facts which hav e entirely slipped

,

from the c o nscious mi nd are retained within it and may ,

b e recall ed y ears lat er o r may suddenly fiash into th e

,

m em o ry of their own accord T hey may come i nt o the

.

mind in the form of some simple thought or m em ory .

just as any o th er thought or mem ory would ; or th ey ,

may com e to us in more startling form Th ey may be .

,
”
as w e say externalized ; that is projected upward ,

from the su bconscious into th e conscious mind forcibly ,

a nd dramatically as a bomb shell might be expl od ed

,
-

within it I n these cases the thought may strike us as

.
,

coming wh o lly from wi thout and not from within our,

selv es at all One or tw o exampl es will mak e thi s clear

. .

Y o u hav e mislaid a book ; you cannot remember wh ere

“ ”
it is Th e natural process would be to r ecollect
. In .

the case of an individual who is psychic or mediumistic ,

“ ”
t he ext ernalizati o n may take mo re startling form .

H e m a y h ear a voice telling him to look under c ertain

pap ers upo n the li brary tabl e and sure enough upo n , , ,

looking th ere th e book is found ! Or h e may have a

, ,

m ental p icture of himself leaving th e book in that plac e .

O r he may feel a hand gently pushi ng him i n the di rec

, ,

tion o f the tabl e O r h e may see a figure standing before

.

him and po inti ng to th e hidd en boo k I n all th ese cases .

it is im p robable that the v o ic e the touch and th e figure

, , ,

—
were ras h that is that th ey came from some spirit
,

fri end T hey ma y hav e d one so but it is tru e that i n

.
, ,

many cases at l east th ey a re m ethods by which the sub

,
“ ”
consc ious mind ext ernalizes or reproduces its hidden
m em o ri es in dramatic form just as they a re reproduced
,

in dreams or in visio ns of the crystal ball .

 THE SUBCO N SCIOUS 35

THE PSYCHIC DIAPHR AG M

Th e subconscious mind th erefore ma y be looked upon
, ,

as composed of a number of stra ta like a layer cake ,

-
,

whic h are normally more or l ess separate d from one

, ,
“ ”
anoth er by a sort of p sychic m embrane or diaph ragm
w hi ch is impe rvious A t tim es th is
. psychic dia
”
p h ra gm becom es th inn ed I n that cas e w e rem.embe r ,

our dreams of the previous night or w e have wo nd erful ,

construc tions of genius the productions o f musi cal

,

p rodigies etc Th e subco nscious m ind works out the

, .

problems and the fi nished product is proj ected into the

,

conscious mind in its completed fo rm T hat is why it .

a ppears to us so ma rvellous On the oth er hand if a .

,

part of th e subconscious mind is diseas ed as may some ,

times happen then we hav e hyste ria obsession a nd

, ,

It will be seen th erefore that both good and ev il

, ,

may resul t from this thinning or pu ncturin g of th e

“ ”
psychic diaphragm separating the co nscious from
,

the su bconscious mind If the mind be h ealthy and is

.
,

k ept so only good will result Psychic pow ers will b e

,
.

culti vated and h elpful advice will be giv en to the su bj ec t

thenceforward If on th e oth er hand th e mind b ecom es
, ,

in a ny way d eranged or diseased th en harm may result , ,

and th e individual may b e so rry that h e has ruptu red

this dividing di aphragm instead of prese rving it i ntact .

It is all a qu estion o f care go od h ealth good judgment

, , ,

and a h ealt hy psychic m ental and physi cal lif e

, .

Once this psych ic m embran e has b een so to say , ,

”
punctured it is very dific ul t to heal it up ag a in
, ,

a nd great care must be ex ercised in d ev eloping these

subconsci o us ph enom ena W e shall discuss this more

.
36 YOUR PSYCHI C POW ERS
“
fully how ever in the chapter devoted to Obsession
, , .

T he su bconscious mind shoul d be mad e our fri end

and not our enemy W e should trai n it ca reful ly for
.
, ,

though it is a good servant it is a bad master ! It ,

should al w ays be k ept in ch eck and dominated and con

tro ll ed by th e co nscious mi nd When this is the w e .
,

all goes well .

HOW THE BU BC ONSCIO US B EC KO NS TIME

The subconscious has among oth er faculti es th e power
, ,

of reckoni ng tim e in a most remarkabl e mann er Many .

of my rea ders hav e doubtlesss co nducted the following

expe rim ent for th emselves On going to bed you have .
,
“
said to yourself Now I wish to awake tomorrow mom
,
’
ing at se ven o clock promptly beca use I have such ,
”
and such a train to catc h
-
T h ere is no alarm clock
.

in th e house but promptly at sev en you awake ! That

, , ,

this is no m ere chance coi ncid ence has been prov en by a

num be r of cases which have be en coll ect ed and th e fact
, ,

has also been proven experim enta lly on hypnotic sub

j ects . Thus th ey hav
, e b ee n told that in ( say )
seco nds they would perform a certain action : th en they
w ere imm ediately awakened As soon as awak e they .
,

knew noth ing o f th e suggestion which had been give n

t o th em and nothi ng of the action th ey w ere to p erform
, ,

and y et precisely in seco nds th ey p erformed the

action in question ! W e see th erefore that th e sub , ,
.

c onsci o us mind has the faculty of reckoni ng time in a

v ery remarkabl e manner and this is but one of its mys,

tarions pow ers .

 TH E SUBCO NSCIOUS 37

THE SUBCON SCIOUS s um THE BODY

Anoth er of its remarkabl e m anifesta tions is the power
w h ich it poa ceaes over the bodily o rganization By .

means o f suggestion the pul se has been ra ised or slowed

, ,

th e temperature has bee n el evated or low ered th e various ,

sec reti o ns of th e body hav e bee n altered and many ,

similar ph enom ena w hich a re well known to any one who -

has rea d upo n this subject .

One of th e most striking cases doubtless, is that of ,

Ml le Ilma X A pair of cold sci ssors was applied to

. .

h er chest and it was suggested that these were red

,

hot and that th ey were burning the flesh I n a few .

moments an angry red mark appeared corresponding ,

to the shape of the scissors, and the next day a genuin e

blist er h ad been created which took several days to h eal !
H ere we see th e power of th e subconscious mind in
afl ec ti ng th e body , and ev en the local tissues to a re
~

markable extent .

I f this is true, and th e body can be harmed in this

way it can doubtl ess also be cured W e here enter
,
.

th e fi eld of suggestion and psy choth erapy which wi l l be ,

treat ed more fully in Chapt er X X X .

HOW TO GIVE YOUR OWN SUBCO NSCIOUS MIND

SUGG ESTION 8
O ne of th e best met hods of t reating yourself is by
suggesting ce rta in desirabl e things just as you are fall
ing ofi to sl eep Thus if anything is wrong with you
.
,

p hysica lly m entally o r spiritually su ggest to yourself

, , , ,

th e la st thing at ni ght as you are falli ng to sleep that

, ,

all will be well that th e troubl e will b e removed during

,
38 YOUR PSYC H I C POWERS

the night that you will wake up refresh ed and inv igo
,

rated that th ere be no p ain no unpleasa nt feelings o r

, ,

emotions in th e morni ng etc Suggest in fact whate ver

,
.
, ,

yo u d esire to hav e ac complish ed and you w ill find that

, ,

during the ni ght this will have b een efiected and that
,

your bodily or m ental ills will have disappeared as the

result of your auto su ggestion duri ng the hours o f sl eep
-
.

H ere again w e shall be enabl ed to see the rem arkable

powers o f the subco nscious mi nd brought into play and
clearly d emonstrated .

SPIR IT MESSAGES AND T HE SUBCON SCIOUS

Now these faculti es of the subc onscious mi nd explain a
“ ”
certai n number o f spirit messages which are rec eived ,

at séances Let m e illustrate this in th e followi ng m an

.

ner : Just before l eaving your home to join a circl e ,

you glance at th e ev eni ng pap er Your att enti on has .

been attracted to the l eadin g articl es ; appare ntly you

have seen nothi ng else At the séa nce that ev en ing
.
, ,

the nam e of a fri end o f y ours is spe lled o ut and th e ,

announcem ent that th is fri end h as been kill ed that day ,

by falling from th e fourth st o ry o f his residence ! A t

first si ght this seems a very good t est m essage but ,

on go ing h om e a nd agai n looki ng at your ev ening paper ,

you find a small arti c l e tu cked away in th e corner o f

the pape r stati ng th ese facts
, Th erefore pro bably what
.
,

happ ened was this : Your subco nsci ous mind perceived
“ ”
and took in th ese fac ts w ith out th eir even rising
to consc i ousness and at th e séance th ey w ere given
, , ,

out eith er by yourself or by the m edium w h o obtained

,

them from your m ind by t elepathy In th is way m a ny .

mm agcs ha ve bee n ex plained a nd sh o w n t o be due to

the workings of the subco nscious mi nd and not to spiri ts ,
 T H E SUBCO N SCIOUS

at all W e must th erefore always be on our gua rd

.
, ,

against th ese possibiliti es .

THE STRUCTURE OF THE MIND

T he older conceptio n of th e human mi nd was that it
was a si ngl e entity a n individual thi ng a sort of, ,
“ ”
sph ere incapabl e of division T his was in fact one .
, ,

of Plato s mai n argum ents for th e Immortality of th e

’

Soul Unf o rtu nately mod ern sci enc e has destroyed this
.

illusio n W e now know that th e hu m an mi nd is a co m

.

posits and not a sim pl e thi ng To use a rou gh analogy .

,

it has been prov ed that th e mind is somewhat lik e a

rope composed of a numb er of strands twisted togeth er
, ,
.

U nder normal healthy conditions this rope remains

, ,

one ; th e strands a re unit ed ; but und er c ertain ab normal

“ ”
states or co nditi ons th ese strands may be divided up
,

i nto several g roups and they would all pull in difierent

,

di rectio ns What holds th es e strands together normally ?

.

Fi rst good health ; th en ch eerful ness attention con

, , ,

centratio n wil l and an i nterest in obj ectiv e th ings

, , .

“
What fav o urs this disintegrati o n process — this disso
”
c ia tion of th e mind as it is c all ed ! Th e exact oppo
,

e —
sit o f al l this a run d own o r fati gued condition in -
,

trospecti on a nd parti c ularly all co ntinu ed subj ectiv e

,

p ractic es a nd th e too passive attitude o f th e m ind If

-
.

w e lw e c o ntact with and i nt erest i n th e obj ective world

, , ,
“ ”
if w e go inside our heads and spi n romanc es and
dream dayd reams to too great an ext ent if w e gaze ,

blankly i nt o spac e thi nki ng o f nothin g in particular

, ,

if w e all o w th e mi nd to becom e too passiv e and do not

exerc ise our int ell ect in a normal h ealthy manner this
, ,
“
disi nteg ration is likely t o take p la ce Th e strands ”
.

of the rope beco m e separated a nd th en th e mind may ,

40 YOUR PSYCHI C PO WE RS

go to pieces and spirit obsessi on and even insanity

H OW TO H E AL A SI C K M IN D

Of course this is only a crud e analogy The mind .

is not like a rope and cann o t be divided int o strands

in th e sam e way but it is an analogy which will h elp
,

us Th e onl y way to heal and resto re a m ind in this

.

condition is to weave or weld together th ese separate

strands and bind them up again into one solid single
“ ”
rope as it w ere T his may oft en be done by hypno
, .

tiam but great care must b e exercised in doing this for

, ,

if it is not rightly applied by an expert operator the ,

“
mind m ay become still more disintegrated and th e ,

last state of that m an shall be w o rse t h an the first

"
.

N ow th ese separat e str ands of the mi nd ( to return

,
“
to our analogy of the rope ) may fo rm difierent sel ves .

Each sel f may possess a certai n id entity and i ndivid

u a l ity of its o wn and th ey may all pul l in di ff erent dirce
,

—
tio ns that is th ey may all ex erc ise their own functions
,

and pow ers and thi nk th eir own thoughts T h ere is

,
“
no one self any mo re ; it has go ne to pi eces Th ese .

va rious selves may alt ernate one w ith a noth er in th e

sam e i ndividual and th en w e hav e those interesting
,
“ ”
c ases known to us as alt ernatin g personality If .

th ere are two of these w e have double pe rso nality ; if

,

th ere a re three o r m o re of these p erso naliti es w e have ,

a case of m ultip le perso nality T h ere a re som etimes six.

or seven of th ese a nd in one case it is re ported that

,

e e —
th r w ere tam a ll in th e sam e individual all alter ,

nating with one anoth er all having th eir ow n prej a

,

dices lik es dislik es i nt erests po ints o f vi ew a nd knowl

, , , ,
- -

edge of persons and thi ngs ! Many such cases have been
42 Y O UR PSYC HIC POWE RS

way from normal stat es o f mind t o th ese dimoci ati ons .

I n day d reami ng and absent mi ndedness w e see th e first

-

of th ese st eps When w e hyp notise a subj ect and sug

.

gest to him that h e is N apoleo n Bo napart e or J uli us

Os car and he enacts th e part wi th due gravity w e c an
, ,

hardly suppose that N apol eo n Bo naparte or Julius

Caesar r ea lly returned to manifest through him ! And
sh o uld a ny be i ncli ned to acc ept th is view it may b e ,

said that th e hyp notic su bj ec t will just as easily carry

out th e su ggestion that h e is a lion o r a bear o r a bi rd
—
flying in th e air a nd no o ne w e imagi ne would contend
, , ,

that a lio n or a bear or a bird really manif ested at

such tim es ! So th erefore w e see th at one part o f th e
, ,

mi nd may enact a little comedy by itself with out th e ,

knowledge o f a noth er pa rt ; and fro m this simpl e fact

,

to the most st riking ph enomena of the subconscious w e

can trace a definite chain of connection .

THE PICT URE FOR MING FACULTY OF THE MIND

-

One of th e most striki ng powers which the subconscious

mi nd possesses is its ab ility to rec o nst ruct m ental pic
tures or photographs o f distant or imagi nary persons .

Y o ur mind co ntai ns a whole pi cture gallery o f all your -

“
fri ends w hich you see as it w ere in your mind s ey e
, , ,
’
.

This is limited not o nl y to your fri ends a nd relativ es ,

but to h eroes of books you hav e read and even to imagi ,

nary p erso nages Th ese p ictur es a re not set and inert ;

.

but live and move ; a nd w e place th e charac te rs in various

situations and cause th em to mov e, act and talk as human
“ ”
beings would do T hus suppose your fri end A or
.
,

D avid Harum or som e imaginary personage were

, ,

thought by you to be on a journey You would imagin e .

th em to be in various situations and would picture to,

 T H E SUBC O N SCI O US 4
3

yours e lf precise ly how th ey would ac t in each situation ,

and would put into th eir mouths arguments and con

versatio ns whi c h th ey would carry on with those about

T his faculty which the mind possesses is a very

peculiar one and its fu ncti ons a re t ech nically k nown
,
“ ”
as Sp irito id functi ons Th ey hav e a great beari ng
.

upo n Sp iritism .

HOW DREAM PERSO NALITIES TALK

These ph eno m ena show us how easy it is for th e sub
consci ous to imagi ne that various personages a re present ,

ca rrying o n a co nv ersatio n with us etc , whereas as a

, ,

ma tt er o f fac t th ey a re not present at all but w ere

, ,

inv ented by us I f th erefo re at a séance som e exalt ed

.
, , ,

personage appears a nd clai ms to communicate we must ,

always ass ure ourselves first o f al l that this perso nage is

not one of th ese semi c o nsci o us or su bc o nsci o us crea
- »

tio ns and must mak e him giv e proo f o f his ow n identity

, .

This facul ty o f the mi nd is aga in seen in dreams .

In dreams w e creat e situatio ns in a similar manner ,

a nd imag i ne that o th er pe rso nag es a re prese nt talking to

us W e hav e l o ng d ebates a nd arguments with suc h

.

perso nag es and so m etim es th ey bea t us out ! So you

,

see ho w importan t it is to be sure that the Intelligenc es

w hich comm unicate at séa nces a re not creati ons but are ,

really i ndi v idualiti es as th ey claim to be

, .

HOW TO DISTING UI SH TR UE FROM FALSE

H ow we to prove this a nd make this distinc
are
”
tion ? you may say Th e following is the first m ethod
.

A ll o ur knowledge wh eth er it is co nsc ious or sub

,

c o nscious is supposed t o be obta ined through th e five

,
4
4 YOUR PSYC H IC P OW ERS

senses The subco nscious is built upo n th e facts obta in ed

.

by means of hearing sig ht touch etc No w if the, , , .

,

co mmu nicating Intelligence tells us many facts ( as proof

of its identity ) which the mind of the medium sever
knew we hav e fairly good proof of id entity o r at —
,

least that th e knowl edge given was obtained by som e

supernormal means .

But decisive proof is not y et obtai ned ! W e know

,

that th ere are oth er m ethods of obtaining supernormal

informatio n for instance telepathy clai rv oyance etc
, , , , .

Adding th ese pow ers to th e subconscious faculti es of the

m edium w e have oft en a difiicul t ta sk to prov e that
,

th e I nte lligence wh ich communi c ates wi th us is really

th e personage it claims to b e Re peated qu estions must .

be ask ed absolute proof of identity must b e insisted

,

upo n and in this way only ca n w e be sure that w e have

,

pa ssed beyond th e limitati ons of the subco nsci ous mind

of th e medium and that w e a re rea lly obtaining mes
,

sages direct from th e Spirit W orld .

WHY AND HOW SPIR I TS PROVE THE E IDEN TITY

This proof of identity is r eally th e great probl em and
th e first poi nt to solve Let m e mak e this p lain
. Sup .

pose that a cousin of you rs had disappeared twelve y ears

ago One day you receive a call ov er the telephone and
.

“
a voice says to you I am yo ur cousin ao and so I
, ,
- -
.

” ’
demand my share o f your unc l e s will ! N aturally ,
“
you w o uld reply H o w do I know that you a re ao
,

und so t
-
I n daily life it w o uld be an easy matte r to
,

prove this ; h e could appear be fore you in h is physica l

—
ody and y ou could identify him more or l ess easi ly
b
i n most cases But suppose h e were so placed that h e
.

could nev er see you personal ly I n such a case how .

,
 TH E SUBCO N SCIOUS 4
5

could he prove to you that h e really was the person

in questi o n ?
He would have to relat e to you a number of personal
and deta iled incid ents in his past life which h e would ,

b e the o nly likely person to know ; or relate fa cts which ,

only h e a nd you knew ; or t ell yo u th ings which you did

,

not know but which you afterwards found out to be

,

correct If you receiv ed a number of th ese replies you

.
,

would be right in concludi ng that he really was the

“ ”
perso n at th e oth er end of th e l ine ; and th is is th e
way in which spirits prov e to us th eir identity U ntil .

th ey do so we can nev er be sure that the teachings th ey

,

g ive a re correct If th ey succeed in proving th eir iden

.

tity w e may then accep t their word as to the co nditions

'

of th e n ext life and other matt ers since th ey w ere al

, ,

ways truthful peopl e ih this life and w e have no reason ,

to suppose that th ey are other than truthful now .

HOW WE OBT AIN SPIRIT M E SAG ES T HROUG H THE

SUBCO N SCIOUS
Th e subconsci o us is th e channel through which w e
obta in spirit messages in nearly all cases T hat is th ey
, .
,

com e th roug h or by means of th e subconscious mind

, , ,
“ ”
and it th ere fore assists the
, , spirits to communicat e .

Th e spirit can manipulat e or act upon the subconsci o us

while it cannot r eadily affect the conscious mind This .

w e can see ourselv es in th e foll ow i ng way : Many of

us ha ve noticed that just as w e are dropping 03 to sleep ,

a forgott en memory has flash ed into th e mind It could .

not find its way to our co nscious attentio n whi le the

’
latter was busy with the day s activi ti es but as soo n ,

as th e conscious mind b ecam e passive then th e su b con ,

scious had th e power to send up this m emory or message

46 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS
”
of warning It is the same in the case of spirits who
.

communi cate T hey are o nl y enab led to do so wh en the

.

n —
abeya ce quieted or abstracted ,
, ,

more or less comp l ete ly as in a trance Then the spirit

, .

is enabled to act upon the subconscious mind of th e

medium and th rough it to reach us still in the body
, , .

The subconscious is t herefore th e true medium or

, ,

v eh icl e for th e m anifesta tion of discarnate spirits and

,

this will become more apparent when we com e to con

sider the phen omena of trance, w hich will be dealt with
more fully in a la ter chapter .
 CH APTER V

m srmrr WO RLD

Om theo logy has always taught us that when w e

onox ,

“ ”
die we pass into eith er one o f tw o places : H eaven
,

or H ell Th e Cath o lic church introduces a t h ird inter

.

mediary state Purgatory ; and wh en in this state, souls

,

may be hel ped either by those who have passed over

or by the pray ers of th e living It will thus be seen that
.
,

in this respect at least th e Catholic church approa ches

,

near er than any other religio n the doctrines of Spi ri t

Info rmation regarding the spirit world has come to

us in vari o us ways Seers or clairvoyants have gone
.

“ ”
on spiritual excursions into the spiritual world and ,

have told us on coming back what th ey have remem

, ,

bered of th eir clairvoyant visions Moses St John .

, .
,

Swed enborg Andrew Jackson D avis and others were

,

seers of this typ e .

On the other ha nd w e hav e th e direct statements of

,
”
spirits who have come back and related to us th e pre
cise conditions existing in th e next world From both .

these sources spiritua lists have succeeded in constructi ng

a fairly complete representative pictur e of th e next life
and its various acti vities I propose h ere to give a rapid
.

and more o r l ess dogmati c resume of these teachings

without fully endorsi ng th em myself but merely asking ,

the reader to form his own opinion concerning them .

There are various contradictory teachings regarding ,

th e futurc state, w hich ha v e been given us from time

7 4
48 Y O UR PSYCHI C POW ERS

to time in th e past and it has been h eld by many that

, ,

because of th ese contradi ct ions no ne of them ca n be

trusted ; consequently no ne o f th e d escriptions can be
“ ”
tru e ! T hus spirits
, who return through many
French m ediums declare that reinc arnation is a fact ,

while those who return through E nglish and A m erican

mediums dec lare that it is not a fac t ; etc How a re w e .

to account for th ese discrepanci es ! As this is a stu m

bli ng block to many spiritua lists the reaso n for these ,

contradi ctio ns must be giv en at once .

Th e answ er is as a matter of fact simpl e enough

, ,
.

”
Sp irits t ell us that after death th ey a re by no means
, ,

omnisci ent On th e contrary th ey enter th e next lif e

.
, ,

as befo re said ca rry ing with th em all th eir p rejudices

, ,

beli efs and pre co nceived opi nions N ow this being th e .

,

case w e can see that a spirit who wh en alive believ ed

, , ,

in rei ncarnati on would after death conti nu e to b eli eve

, ,

in it and he would naturally gath er round him or drift

,

into th e company of those who also b eli eved in it In .

retu rni ng th rough a m edium th erefore he would state , ,

dogmatical ly that reincarnatio n was tru e ! H e would

merely express his ow n belief w hi c h might or might ,

not be tru e On many points of th is na tu re w e hav e

.

“ ”
no absolute m eans of a rriving at th e truth Spirits .

tell us their convictions their beli efs and th ese are

, ,

founded on observation or th e w isd o m o f those spirits

,

who have progressed greatly sinc e th ei r departure from

earth .

“
m noeram s or 2.0a m
ar
“
arm s
“ ”
Many sp irits teach us that the spirit world is
“ “ ”
composed o f a numb er of zones and spheres one ,

upon the oth er Some hav e stated that there a re thirty

.
50 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

vancement Th e next wo rld is said to b e more or lem

.

a duplicate of this one T hose who are interested in

.

lea rning may attend lectu res or schools of instruction ,

m sy resd w rite co m pose pa in t play et c just as they

, , , , , .
,

do b ere The scenery is more or less similar to the

.

scenery on this ea rth , al th ough more b eautiful and pcr

fect in every resp ect. W e are told tha t chil dren nev er
ent er the lower sph eres ; nor are th ere any flow ers in
these spherm they am fou nd onl y in th e high er spheres
or more advanced sta ges T h me spheres can influence
one another more or less di rectly to a g rea t extent, a nd
pa rticula rl
th e high er spheres ca n exert a h el pful in
y
fluence om the low er onm F or this reason progrem is
.

always pos ibl e for 3 Sp irit who desires it . He on

t han he is in th e spiritual world His progrm would . .

therefore be rapid ; and it all depends upon individual

,

efl ort how rapid this will be The soo ner a spirit realis es
.

his own pomibilities a nd the fact that his own futu re

,

happiness or unha ppi nem depends upon himsel f the ,

Spirits tell us tha t w e inh ab it in th e next life,

a
th e glow of youth in i ts strength and purity . Th e
”
sp iri t of ms n is ever y ou ng, a nd th st being so, it
am umes that reju venated outward appearance upo n ,

entering the new life This etheric body is incapa ble

.

of fatigue and is fed by the magnet ic and spi ritual

,

forc es w hi ch surround it in tha t sph ere Ch il dren . ,

ente ring th e new life gradua lly grow to ma turity thou gh

, ,
 THE SPIRIT W ORLD 51

swifter . A t the age of grea test mental a nd spiritual

in tha t perfected condition .

Upon entering the next life the human spirit is met by

,

friends or relativ es who have before pa ssed ov er and

who are drawn by natural magnetic attraction and
,

symp athetic interest to those who have just entered

“ ”
the Spirit World W hen th e spirit enters the next
.

“
lif e it undergoes in a way a new birth
,
and is for ,

some tim e bewildered T his is o nly natural after the

.

shock and wrench of death When we hav e had an .

acci dent in this life and hav e been knocked unconsci ous
, ,

the process of regaining consciousness is peculiar .

Wh en such a m an opens his eyes objects are presented ,

“
to him vaguely indistinctly H e would see men as
, .

”
trees walking . Sounds would be heard but faintly .

There would be a va gue jumbl e of noises and no definite ,

a nd articulat e sounds would be recognized at drat ,

unti l consciousn ess was more ful ly res tored T houghts .

would be scattered incoheren t and only th e strong u t

, ,

stimuli would focus th e attention on any definite object

for lo nger than a few moments at a time .

Wh en a man di es th e departure of the soul from th e

,

body must be as great a strain upon the surviving con

scio usness as any accid ent coul d be espec i al ly in cases ,

of sudden dea th suicide and in those ca ses where the

,
“
pa ti ent is said to di e hard O f course after a l ittl e
.
,

time th e spirit survives the ini tial shock and soon be

, ,

com es adjusted to the new environment and condition ;

a nd this fact w ould a ccount for the bewilderment and
 52 YOUR PSYC H IC POWE RS

confusion whi ch many s p irits seem to expe ri ence upon

th eir en tering i nto the n ext life It is o nly nat ural .
,

and what we should expect .

SEX I N THE SPIR IT WO RLD

Many hav e ask ed wh eth er th e dist inction o f sex is
ma intained in th e next life ; wh eth er ma n c o ntinu es to b e
man and wo man w oma n H ere ag ai n ma ny di ff erent
.
, ,

opinions have been expressed by those wh o hav e p assed

over but th e majority seem to c o nt end that the disti no
,

ti o n b etw een m al e and femal e is fundam ental m en ,

-

tall y and sp irituall y no l ess tha n p hysical ly and for ,

this reaso n th ey a re d esti ned to be more o r l ess difl erent ’

for all time Th is does not m ean as many thi nk that

.
, ,

woman is th ere ( as sh e is h ere too o ft en ) in a co nditi on

,

o f subservi ence or inf eriority On the oth er h and she

. ,

is man s equal in many particulars ; in so m e ways in

’

ferior to him and in so m e ways su pe ri o r

,
I t is a ques .

tio n of difiering vi ewpoint a nd constitution E ac h may .

attain perfection and ultim at e com pl ete ha pp iness in

—
th eir ow n parti c ular way just as ev ery individual h ere
,

must obtain it in his ow n way .

A s to the r elations of th e sex es in th e next life the ,

teachi ng of the high est spirits is that th ere is l o ve ,

harmo ny sympat hy c o o p eration and a mental and

, ,
-

spiritual bl endi ng togeth er o f th eir natures which cor

respo nds to physical l o ve on th is plan e .

“ ”
E arth bound sp irits
-
in th e low est plane are said
“ ”
to be unabl e t o get away from the atm os ph ere and .
“ ”
magneti c attraction of this earth and do not care to , ,

ev en if th ey c ould T h ey are th e cause o f mu c h of the

.

troubl e which m edi ums exp eri ence o fte n causi ng obses ,
~

sion by delivering false or lying messages .

 THE SPIRIT WORLD 53

There seems to be a law which permits spirits from

th e high er zon es to descend into the low er zo nes but ,

the reverse of thi s does not tak e place Thus th ere are .
,

good or spi ritual influ ences always playi ng upon the

lower sph eres from the higher sph eres and progress ,

is thus rendered easy to those who care to take advantage

of their opportuni ti es .

W HERE AN D H OW SPIRI TS LIV E

Many of th e descriptions which hav e been gi ve n to

“ ”
us indicate that spirits inhabit h o uses or ma nsi o ns
v ery similar to our own and tha t th e scenery of th e
, .

spirit land is also similar to that of the earth plane

-
,

— onl y more beautiful “

G arm ents .of variegated
colours are said to be worn as w el l as ornam e nts for
,

those who care for th em The occupati o ns of spirits

.

a re many and varied Time is not spe nt in the spiritual

.

sph erm as many imagine in idlen ess or in religious

, ,

devotio ns .

HOW SPIRITS TALK

” “
The spirit body in th e spirit h eav en is thus as
- -

mat erial t o th em as our world only it exists on a di ff er

,

ent pl a ne o f activity a nd vibrat es at a di ff erent rat e of

,

—
activity from ours h ence it is invisibl e to us as w e
, ,

are usually invisibl e to th em and it requires c lairv oy,

ance on th e part of spirits to perceive th e material

wo rld just as it does on th e part of m o rtals to perceive
,
”
t h e spiritua l world C o nv ersatio n b etween spirits
.

is carried on by a sp eci es of thought exchange or telep -

athy though the co nversatio n app ears p erfect ly natural

,

and as though delivered by means of mouth as it is ,

with us We can form som e id ea as to how natural this

.
5 4 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

oul
w d be from ou r dr a —
ma when the exchange of
thought is purely mental , y et the wo rds spoken to ea ch
oth er by the dream figures seem -
as natur al and as
sono rous as our usual conversati on .

IN SANH Y AN D SPIRITS
'

There are stri ctly speaking no insane spiri ts it is

, , ,

said except in th e ea rth sp here and these previous

, , ,

to thei r insanity we re degraded spiritually and morally

,
.

T h ey frequ ently c ontinue in som e degree insan e for

a lo ng p eri o d of tim e thei r sp iritual co ndition not being
,

favourabl e to th eir restoration and h ere th ey are often

,

attracted to mortals with lik e tendenci es whom th ey

obsess and through wh om th ey ventilate their own dis
ordered fancies and ev en imp el th em to acts of v io
l ence However as much insanity is caused by disorders
.
,

of th e links betw een body and mind and as these are , ,

all sev ered at th e m om ent o f death th e mind is usu all y ,

normal a nd soun d as soo n as it ente rs th e spirit world ,

and in a ny case it recov ers very rapidly upon its en

trance into that realm .

HOW SPIRITS TRAVEL

Spirits are said to possess th e ability to move from
— “
plac e to plac e with extreme rapidity th e fact as , ,
”
q uick as thou ght as the saying is It is as easy for
, .

one to im agine on esel f in China or in E ngland as it is

to imagine ones elf in Brooklyn if one is living in N ew

,

York Th e one process takes no longer than th e other

.
,

and as y ou a re ( in th e spirit world ) wh ere your thoughts

,

and interests a re you may rea dil y p erceiv e that it takes

,

you no longer to r each one place than it does anoth er .

Howev er incredi ble this may seem at first sight it is , ,

 THE SPIRI T WORLD 55

quit e intelligibl e wh en w e rem emb er th e rapidity with

—
which wi rel ess m essages trav el flying through space
,

at the speed of light miles a second ) this would

carry th ese wav es nearly m tim es around the world
in one second and it has bee n exp erim entally proven
,

that th ese el ectric waves do travel at that rate Such .

being th e ca se w e can at least co nceiv e that thought

,

can trav el at as qui c k a rate how ev er inco nceivable it

,

may appear to our reaso n .

GOOD AND EYIL SPI RITS

W e hav e heard much o f obsess ing and lyi ng spirits,

o f evil spirits and those who work harm but w e must ,

rem ember that th ere are spirits of quite another char

“ ”
acter in th e H eavens who a re said t o protect and
,

guard us give us wise counsel and advi ce and are in

, , ,
“ ”
fact v eritabl e G uardian Ang els
,
Their duty is to
.

imp ress our minds and by this m eans to instruct and

,

guide us to instil good thoughts and rw olves admonish

, ,

us o f our faults rep rov e us wh en we go astray and

,

assist in th e development o f special talents They do .

not int erfere di rectly in the physical world but im ,

press our minds influ enci ng them in this way or in that

,
.

“
coaa nsrormm i cm
”
ra n DOCTRINE or

Th ere is said to be a definite agreem ent or correspond

ence between th e material and sp iritu al ord er of things
. .

What w e perc ei v e as a tree in this world is only th e out

ward m anif estati on of th e real spiritual tree lying within
it and this is t ru e of all physica l manifestat ions and
,

facts which w e see in nature Every physical body has

.

a corresponding spiritual body behind it a nd this fact ,

“ ”
ga ve rise to th e fam ous doctri ne of Corresponde n ces
56 YOUR PSYCHI C POW ERS

e laborated by Swed enborg T his corr espondence throws .

a littl e light o n th e bewilderi ng fact that spirits o ften

speak of spiri t gold spirit marbl e spirit h o uses spi ri t
o

,
-
,
-
,

—
books etc as if th ey w ere tangibl e realiti es not o f
, , ,

course that th ese a re sublimations of corresponding

,

obj ects of earth existent throughout but difl erent as to

'

material y et suflic iently alike to be called by th e same

,

name I n oth er words th ese spirit o bj ects are exp rm ed

.
,
-

in a di fferent v ehicl e of the natu re w h ich is to us ex ,

t ernal ized as gold marbl e etc , , .

W e must end eavour to realize the reality of th e spiri t

ual world which w e have bee n unaccustomed to thi nk
,

of as in any w ay substantia l o w ing to the tea chings

of th eology .

THE DIFFICULTY OF DM IB ING THE SPIRIT WORLD -

It is impossibl e to express th ings psychic adequately

in di rect languag e fo r th e s impl e reaso n that our w ords
are images drawn from material thi ngs and th eir efiects .

Immateri al thi ngs and th e lif e beyond must th erefore , ,

generally be d escribed by symbols rath er than by words ,

a nd th es e symbols ( wh eth er seen in visio n or representing

th emselves to th e mi nd in th e normal state ) partak e l ess

o f th e seer s idiosync rasi es than a ny dir ec t language
'

w ould d o T his symbolism is o fte n carried to a high

.

—
pl ac e in i nterpreta ti o n ao much so that th e o riginal is
a lmost lost si ght of Of this how ev er w e shall speak
.
, ,
“
at l ength in th e chapter devoted to Symbolism .

T h ere is much evid ence t o sho w that sp irits can c reate

fo rms a nd obj ec ts by th e m ere exerc ise o f th eir v o lition .

T h ey build u p w hat app ear to b e so lid objects by th e

use o f th eir mi nds and th ese o bj ec ts a re o ft en mistaken
,

by th e spirits fo r realities T hus tho ught forms may .

,
-
58 Y OUR PSYCHIC POWER S

is the —
spirit unti l, in deep trance, th e spirit is some
tim es entirely withdrawn In d eep sleep also the spirit
.
, ,

occasionally goes on clairvoyant excursions and comes ,

—
back to its no rmal body remembering much that it has
,

“ ”
seen in the spiri tual realms In th e state of ecstasy
.

th ese v oy ages m often made and the seer will reta in

,

a c erta in amount of co nsci ousness of th is earth and be

able to dictate to those about him his impressions whil e
vi siting the spiritu al world and whil e seeing more or
,

l ess clearly what is happeni ng th ere .

“ ”
Spirits a re said to exercise free will and have far
-

more liberty of choic e in th e next world than they do

h ere— wh ere they are bound by habit and tradition no
l ess than by m ental and physical obstructions and dim
culti ce Th e psychic gifts of spirits are far more highly
.

developed th an they were when on th is earth and they ,

are frequently capabl e of exercising the fac ul ty of fore

know l edge or p revision as w ell as other supernormal
e —
pow rs such as t elepathy, clairvoyance and clairan
,

di ence .

They are also abl e to perceive the general Plan of

N ature far more th oroughly and efiectively than w e ,

because th ey have so to speak a greater m ental grasp of

, ,

the U niv erse in its entirety ; a nd many spirits who have

died while disbeli eving in an I nfinite Intelli gence have ,

as time p rogressed shown that they ha ve more or lem

,

chang ed th eir viewpoint and now are m ore defini tely

rel igious than th ey w ere before As D r Crow ell says
. .
,
“
I have constantly been impressed with the numerous
proofs of th e c reafiv e and sustaining pow er of Deity ,

and step by step I have be en led to undoubti ngly be

lieve that He though not in human form, is everywhere
,
 THE SPIR IT WORLD ,
59

present ,
—the Creator Prese rver and Controll er of all
,

—
things literally God in the most comprehensive sense
,

of the term with whom a ll wisdom and power and

,

Infinite Lov e ext ends to all his creatures This is the .

efl ect of these investigations upon my mi nd and I am ,

disposed to believe that similar and more extended t e

sea rch es by oth ers in the future wi ll lead all true earnest ,

spiritualists to th e sam e belief and thus modern Spirit

,

ualism will b e stamped with th e high er polity of

true reli gion w ith a correct though nec essarily limited

, ,

conception of God s character and of his rela tions to

’
,
”
us and of ours to him .

“ ”
SH ALL WE am son ?

However this may be it is claimed that sp iri ts

,

for some time after transition at least do not definitely

know anything more about th e na ture or extent of this
In finite Intelligence than we do Th ey do not paw .

di rec tly into the presence of any D ei ty as theology tells ,

“
us Q uestioned on this fact th ey reply
.
, I do not ,
”
know ! However as they progress in sp iritual per
,

the Universe instead of being a Chaos due to chance

, ,

is orderly and systematic and governed by a Suprem e

,

or Infini te Intelli gence which is th e G uiding Principle

invol ved and tha t it would only be lg ical to believe tha t
, ,

THE SPIRIT w oa nn T HE SOUR CE OF ‘

ENERG Y
The sp iritual w orld is the sou rce of all energy Even in .

this lif e our energy is deri ved from som e spiritual sou rce .

The nature of lif e is as y et unknown and there is ev ery ,

indicati on tha t it is due to some sp iritual infl ux acting

60 YOUR PSYCHI C PO WE RS

upo n and through the ma terial world One proof of .

this is that during the ho urs of sleep when the body

, ,

is ra ting and passiv e th e nervou s or spiritual en ergy

,

is reviv ed th e body is recharged as it were in th e sam e

, , ,

way as a storage battery might be recharged with elec

-

tric energy Th is process does not d epend upo n any

.

material co nditio n for sleep ca n often revive us in

,
-

stantly as many can attest In mom ents of ext reme

, .

exhaustio n the h ead may drop to th e breast for a fraction

,

of a second a nd a m om ent lat er co nsciousness be re

,

gained y et in that mom ent of tim e som e complet e

, , ,

spiritual revi vi fica tion has tak en pla ce The energy of .

th e body seems to have been recha rged or replenish ed ,

a nd new energy infused fro s m e spiritual source in a

mo

phenomena and teach ings of Spiritualism alike

The
constitute a great solace and comfort to many soul s
in distr ess and sorrow T he proof that d eath does not
'

end all and that th e i ndividual h uman spirit co nti nu es

to exist as an entity and in precisely th e sam e form

as it is now is a g reat comfort to th e majority of
,

persons I n this way th e teachi ngs of Spiritualism

.
,

are a solac e to those who accept them To those who .

not onl y believe but are enabl ed to obta in some of th e

,

vari ed ph enomena this assurance and consolati on is

,

doubly true .

“
ra n mrrm nr xnm s or SPIRITU AL -
s ir rs
”

“ ”
Th ere are many spiritual gifts as St Paul says in , . ,
“
his message to th e Corinthians H e wrote N ow there .
,

are di versiti es of gifts but the sam e Spirit, And th ere

,
 THE SPIRIT W ORLD 61

a re difierences of administra tions but the same Lo rd

, ,

and there are diversiti es of Operations but it is the same

,

God whi ch work eth all in all But the manifestation of

,

th e Spirit is given to ev ery man to profit withal F or .

to one is given by th e Spirit the word of wisdom to ,

anoth er th e word of knowledge by th e sam e Spirit to ,

a nother faith by the sam e Spirit to another the gi ft

,

of heal ing by th e sam e Sp irit to anoth er th e working

,

of miracl es to anoth er prophecy to a nother discerning

, ,

of spiri ts, to anoth er diverse kinds of to ngu es to anoth er

,

the interpreta tion of tongues ; but all these worketh that

one and th e self sam e Spirit dividing to ev ery man
-

severally as he will ( 1 Corinthia ns Chap XII )

. .
, . .

H ow any one ca n disbeli ev e in spirit communicatio n

on th e ground that it is co ntrary to Bibl e teachings after ,

—
th e above passage it is hard to comprehen d since here
,

are a large number of spirit manif esta tio ns cl early out

lined and stated by the A postle to be manifesta tions of

the D ivine Spirit !
 CH A PTER V I

THE health— bodily m ental and s p mediums —

iritual o f
,

is a very important fac tor in all medi umistic and psychic

—
dev elopm ent far more so than is usually realized In .
,

th e first place w e have a certain amount of bodily energy

,

in order to accomplish anythi ng w e d esi re in life and ,

this em ery com es l argely from physical health .

Mediums have found to th eir cost that th e production

of phenomena ( especially of the physical order ) is at
tim es a very exhausting process and unless they keep ,

themselves in good bodily h ea lth th ey discover that they,

bec om e run down and nervously exhaust ed in which ,

case th ey ren der themselves subject to insomnia de ,

p rm i ng m enta l emotions and if this gets worse to

, , ,

obsession and even greater dangers and diflicul ties It .

is very important therefore for all mediums to keep

, ,

up their physical hea lth .

A HE ALTH Y BR AIN

The mind of man dep ends largely upon th e condition

of his brain and, if this is not rested, fresh ened and

su ppli ed in abundance with rich healthy blood his , ,

mental life sufl ers in consequence for we know that

'
,

a ny poiso nous substance mixed with th e blood

,
imme ,

di ately afiects the mind by circulating through the deli

ca te substance of the brain Th e tiny nerv e cells all
.
-
,

over the body which are th e stor ehouses of energy may

, ,

be compa red to a number of tiny cups which we fill ,

02
 HE AL TH O F ME D IU M S AND PSYCHICS 63

with energy every night during sleep and more or less

empty ev ery day Our duty is to keep these littl e cups
.

b rim full and if w e allow th em to become too emptied,

,

so that nothing is left we run into danger of nervous

,

exhaustion neurasth enia etc The first thing which th e

, , .

m edium must pay atte ntion to is therefore th e state

, ,

o f his physical health : and the following rules will be

found h elpfu l by all those who wish to atta in this con
dition .

In the first pl ac e a c ert ain number of deep breathing

,
-

exe rcises sh o uld be tak en ev ery day Th ese serve to

.

keep th e l ungs active and to massage th e internal organs .

But d eep breathi ng exercises hav e a more potent and

fa r reaching eff ect t ha n th is There is a pecu lia r life
-
.

giving property in fresh ai r and if w e do not b reathe

,

this fully w,
e nev e r li ve as compl etely and receiv e as
large a su pply of th e vital and magnetic currents of
th e uni veme as w e oth erwise would If any one doubts
.

thi s h e has but to stand erect and ta ke half a dozen

deep breathing ex ercises as directed below and he wi ll
, ,

feel energized from t0p to toe Th e way to tak e these

.

breathing ex erc ises so as to get the beat resul ts is as

follows :
HOW TO BREA THE
1 Stand before an op en window or out of doors
.
,

free h om all restrictive clothing B efore beginn ing.

,

exhal e forcibly be nding th e body forward and rela xing

, ,

the muscles Place both open hands over the abdomen

. .

N ow breath e as deep ly as pomible agai nst these ha nds ,

expandi ng the abdomen as much as possibl e without ,

all owing th e chest or ribs to expand in the least In .

64 YOUR PSYC HI C PO W ERS

oth er words breath e with abdom en only Afte r yo u

, .

have done this fiv e or six tim es plac e both your hands ,

against you r ribs on eith er sid e N ow breath e in d eeply.

,

pressing out th e ribs but without allow in g either the

,

abdom en or th e upper ch est to expand A fter you have .

done this fiv e or six times place your hands on the ,

upper chest just below th e neck and breath e with this

, ,

portion o f th e lungs wi thout allowi ng eith er the ribs

,

o r th e abdom en to expand A t fi rst you will find it

.

v ery difiicult to c ontrol your breathing limiting it to ,

these parts of the lungs : but thi s will com e with practice ,

and it will b e sh o wn lat er in Chapt er XL I how important

th ese breathing ex ercises a re wh en th e psychic side of

,

the breathing ex ercises is u nd erst ood .

m s Pev em o ( co u rt s rs ) B REA TH
-

A fter you have mast ered th ese three separate ste ps

"
,
“
you will b e enabled to take what is known as a com pl ete
breath — that is one which expands first th e abd o m en ,
, ,

th en th e ribs then th e upper chest You sh ould by

,
.
,

this tim c have su ch co ntrol o ver your breathing that

,

you a re enabled to do this in three disti nct stages or ,

merg e th em togeth er i nto one as you w ish I n all these

, .

br eathing ex erc ises th e back of th e nasal pam ga should

,

be relax ed and you should breath e through th e nose

,

( never the mouth ) as though you w ere smelli n g a flow er .

If you do this and relax i nwardly you will find that th e ,

air strikes th e ba ck of the throat before it is felt at all ,

and you will n ev er notice the ai r i n the nose itself .

Practice this every day unti l you become pro ficient .

The best way to insure this is to close th e lips whil e keep ,

»

ing the teeth separated ; the n throw down the under por
tion of the jaw .
66 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

1 . E at as little red m eat as y o u ca n, since this is

acknowledged by all to retard psychic d evelopment .

2 E at a certain amount of fruit ev ery day not in

.
,

addition to oth er food but in place of it A cid fruits

, .

4
3 . D rink
at least a quart of water each day .

A ccustom th e body to cool b aths I t is best to begin

. .

these in the summer time and co ntinue th em in the

-

winter .

5 W ear as little clothi ng as you ca n consist ent with

.
,

warmth The skin breathes as wel l as th e lungs and

.
,

free circula ti on of air on th e surface is essenti al .

THE PO W ERS OF TH E M IN D

We now come to th e mental facto r F ew realize h ow .

important this is in th e developm ent of pmchi c gifts

,
.

If th e mind be depressed worri ed scatt ered and unable

, ,

to co ncentrate upon any definite thing good resul ts can

:

h ardly be hop ed for in th e way of psychic development !

Many psychi cs can obtain good results for individua l
sitters but as soo n as th ey mak e a public appearance
,

th ey fail more or l ess compl et ely W e can hardly doubt .

that th e reaso n for this is th eir apprehensi on for the

results fea r that they wi l l not su c ceed etc T his p re
, ,
.

v ents all f ree communicati on : it shuts th e doors of th e

soul as it were against a ny outside influences I n ord er
, ,
.

to be receptiv e and sensitive w e must have a free mi nd , ,

and give ourselv es up wholly to those fo rc es and vibra

tions which play upon us If you watch yourself you .

wi ll find that your body t ends to c on tract all ov er as

soon as you th ink certain thou ghts o r exp eri ence c ertain
em otions such as j ealousy hatred envy etc On th e
, , , , .

oth er hand as soon as you send out thoughts of friend

,
 HE AL TH O F ME D IU MS AND PSYCHI CS 67

ship , love sympa thy etc you find that your whol e
, ,
.
,

being expands and relaxes If this is true of the muscles

.

“
of th e body how much more tru e is it of th e muscles
,
” “
of th e soul if I may so express it !
, The imagi
“
natio n it has been said is th e lungs of the spiritua l
”
life,
and in ord er to hav e free play th ey m ust be ,

unrestricted just as our physica l lungs are The essence

, .

of psychic d evelopm ent is this complete su rrender a nd

quiescence and until this is insured full development
, ,

“
ca n hardl y be expected Th ere is such a thing as spiri t
.

ual contractio n W e hav e all heard of the man with

.

“ ”
th e ingrowing co nsci ence T his means simply that
.
, ,

this man is dwarfed contracted and unsympathetic in

,

his attitude to all that h e meets Gentleness and cheer

.

” “
fulness said Ro bert Louis Stevenso n are the perf ect
, ,
”
duti es ; and we ca nnot do bette r than advise the medi um
to follow this motto in his daily life .

PSYCHIC GONTAGIZON

harm ful w h en experi enc ed in oth ers and they are con ,

tag ious to a r emarkabl e d egree All experi enced spirit

.

“ ”
ualists know that a medium is liabl e to tak e on th e
co nditions of a sp irit or of anoth er pe mo n wh en in a ,

sensitiv e state and this is true of his m ental and spiritu al

,

life as well as his p hysical health W e can acquire the .

oth er s irritable disposition his sc um

’
and lack of
,

balance for th e tim e being just as easily as w e can

, ,

acquire oth er symptoms ; and unl ess this is recognized

a nd th e medi um takes care to throw ofi these i nfl u ences ,

they are liabl e to remain with him mo re or less and

—
i nfl uence him j ust as w e someti mes experience the after
infl uence of a ba d dream in th e day tim e -
.
 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

HOW TO C HOOSE A GOO D V OPIN G

DE EL M EDIU M

The p ractica l conclusion to be drawn from al l this

is th a t it is very dange rous to the menta l and moral
hea lth of a psy chic to develop under the gui dance of a
medi um w ho is menta lly morally physica lly or spi rit
, ,

ually ill — for th ese conditions will possi bly sooner or

”
late r be ta ken on and they are liable to infl uence
,

th e m edi um to h is own detrim ent Be most ca reful

.
,

therefore in sel ec ting th e p sy chi c und er whom you de

,

v elop f or you r own f utu re p rogress and h a ppin ess will

,

depend largely
 CHA PTER V II
saw AND 80 01. C ULTU RE

KNOW thyself was the mandate of the Delphic Oracle !

Before m an ca n underta k e to gov ern and control external
forces h e must l earn to contro l those within himself for
, ,

only by doi ng this can succ ms be attained .

Ma n uti lizes his mi nd as h e woul d a tool every day

of his life Th e better w e understand our tools the
.

better workm en w e a re Hence h e who would succeed

.

must understa nd the workings of his own natu re .

THE OOBM I C OU RRENTS

F irst of all w e are to ld that there are Cosmic cu rre nts

playing to and fro in the world contradicto ry curre nts
,

or streams of thought into which w e are liable to enter

unconsciously ev en against our will Some of th ese
,
.

currents are benefi cial others are harmful Som e na

, .

tures are strong to stem the tid e and achi eve success
against th e greatest obstacl es ; oth ers ca n extricate th em
selv es but partially oth ers do no t do so at all F or this
,
.

reaso n w e hav e th e ancom es and the failures in life .

It depends partly upon outside influ ences partly upo n ,

oursel ves Th e first w e cannot cont rol except indi rectly

.
,

through ourselves .

HOW TO M AKE A SUCCESS OF YOUR LIFE

Here is the expla nation of a great fallacy which many
peopl e make Th ey imagin e that th ey can by th eir ow n
.

wi ll mould ci rcumsta nces to suit themselves This is .

69
70 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

only p artly true Let me explain W e must not turn

. .

our power of mind upon others we must turn it upon ,

ourselves in su ch a w ay that it w ill make us stronger,

more pod tive more capable and more eflici ent ; and as
,

w e d evelop in this mann er success will com e of itsel f .

T he way to control ci rcumstances is to control the forces

within yoursel f to make a greater ma n of yo urself and
, ,

as you becom e greater and more competent you will ,

na turally gravitate into better c ircumsta nces W e .

“ ”
sh ould remember that like attracts l ik e F or as .
,
“
Dr Larson says those people wh o fail and who continu e
.

to fail all along the line fail beca use the power of thei r
,

minds is eith er in a habitual negative state or is al ,

ways misdirected If th e power of m ind is not working

.

positiv ely and constructively for a certain goal you are ,

not going to succeed If your mind is not positi ve it is

.

negative and negative minds float with th e strea m

,
.

We must rem ember that w e are in the midst of all kinds

of circumstances some of which are for us and some of
,

whi ch are agai nst us and w e will ei ther hav e to make

,

our own wa y or drift and if we drift we go wh erev er

, ,

th e stream goes But most of th e strea ms of hum an life

.

a re found to flow into th e world of the ordi nary and

th e inf erior
. T h erefore if you drift you wi ll drift with
”
th e inferior and your goal will be failure
, .

THE THREE LAWS OF SUCCESS

In ord er to achieve m ental and spiritual success ( and
th e sam e rul e app lies also to worldly success ) th ree
rules must be observed which are o f prim e importance :
Th e first is that you must ha ve i n your ow n mi nd a
c lear conc ep tion of w hat you want If you hav e not .

a ny d efinite goal in vi ew , you cannot ex pect to achieve

 SE LF AND SOUL CU L TURE 71

any great success, beca use y ou will be constantly w ast

ing your energy in byways with out di recting it all
,

tow ards one certain point The second is : You must

.

mak e you r thinking positive and not negativ e This .

does not mean that you must grind your teeth frown ,

and try to domin ate every one you meet It means .

that you pm ess a calm sel fa ssu rance and the inner
convict ion and certainty th at you will succeed Physi .

cally this sta tc things may be f elt in

of a full, firm
sensa tion throughout th e nervous system The third .

rule is : A ll your thinki ng must be construc tive that is , ,

b uilt about th e goal or object you have in mind If .

you spend only a fraction of your en ergy of thought

in any one di rection you cannot expect to progress
,

v ery far in that lin e The runner who tries at th e same

.

time to work out a ma thematical problem in his head

wi ll not be fi rst in th e rac e ! Constructiv e thinking
means that you must consistently and co ntinually think
of and about what you wish to accomplish .

The sooner you learn to do this the soo ner will success
be yours Obstacl es in life present grea t M ea l ti es
. .

Up to a certain point they may be looked upon as helps

to cha rac ter and progress and the more these are over
co m e th e stronge r wil l your character ultimately be .

A t the sam e tim e this may be ove rdone and there is ,

“ ”
such a thing as K icki ng against th e pricks .

m w m o WIT H m m
If you are striving your best ( and every man knows
in his hea rt when h e is doing his best ) to accomplish
a certa in thing and more and more difliculti es seem
,

to multiply the further you p rogress you may und er , ,

certain conditions assum e that it is not meant for you

,
72 YOUR PSYC HI C POWE RS

at this particul ar tim e to do this pa rticular th ing and ,

you may shortly look back and see how you were p re

"
v ented from undertak ing som ethi ng that might h ave
proven disastrous In thi s way it is possible to fl oat
.

“
with th ese Curre nts instead of st emming th em to
advantage Mrs T owne tells us that she at one p eriod
. .
,

of h er life c o uld do nothi ng on account of her desire

,

to rest and sl eep She det ermin ed that she would giv e
.

this f ull play ; she w ent to bed and stayed there for
fourteen days and nights ! A t th e end of tha t tim e
sh e f elt that at last sh e had had enou gh rest and thence
, , ,

forward work becam e a joy inst ead of a burde n It .

proved to be the turni ng point in h er life -

.

AC TING FOR OUR ULTIMA TE 0000

There a re th er efore Cosmi c Curr ents swaying to and

, ,

fro flowi ng back and forth through out the Psychi c U ni

,
“ ”
verse a nd th e more w e can sense or b ecome receptiv e
,

to th ese cu rrents the more will our life be guided and

,

directed for us by a n Intelligent Control greater than ,

our ow n W e all thi nk that w e know exactly what w e

.

—
want to do and what is b est for na yet this is not
, ,

alwa ys th e case ! T o a mi nd vast er and more i nclusive

than ours th e very oppo site of this may seem better
for our ultimat e good F or exampl e a dog has to have
.
,

a tooth extract ed Th e painful o peration of r emoving

.

th e tooth is all th at th e dog can see. To hi m it is all

painful ,
beneficial T o us on the contrary who
nothing .
, ,

see not o nl y what a dog sees but more it is cl ear that , ,

the dog will eventually be better for the removal of his

—
tooth though it is a painful expe ri ence A ppli ed to .

ou rselves it is most probably tru e that our painful ex

,

per i ences in lif e ca n be interpret ed in a similar mann er ,

7 4 YOUR PSYCHI C POW ERS

it is unwise to gi ve too f ull directions th us ea rly in your

d ev elopment This is a question which will be discussed
.

more fully in Chapter XL I F or the present a few .

p ractical poi nts may be h elpful both in your daily l ife

and your psychic unfoldment .

R ULE N FOLLOW

1 . As is so often i nsisted upon, the health must be

maintained I f this is not done yo u render yourself
.
,

liabl e to nervous exh austion and through thi s to oh , ,

session .

2 Your cl ear common sense and interest in the things

.
-

of th e world must t o a certain extent be kept Oth er

, ,
.

wise th e judgm ent wi ll bec om e unbalanced .

3 Cultivat e sympathy harmo ny interest in your fel

.
, ,

low beings
4
-
.

Cultivate your own sensitiveness along ordi nary

.

psychic lines by various special exerc is es When you

, .

obtain a certain number of psychic ph enomena in this

w ay you will be far more recep tiv e than you were b efore
,
.

5 Cultivate at all tim es what may b e ca ll ed a listeni ng

.

atti tude of the soul This is particu larly important and

.

prac tically valuabl e When you are in dou bt upo n any

.

question re tire to a quiet room and ask your own hi gher

,

self w hat is the best thing for you to do A t first th ese .

repli es will be v ery vague and indistinct but as you ,

progress in y our development you will find th at they

wi ll become clearer and clearer and you will soo n get ,

definite and clearly formed repli es in answ er to this

m ental q uestioning A s soon as you have progressed
.

thus far yo u may be sure that you have begun to sense

,
“ ”
the Cosmic Currents which flow about you ; and when
 SE LF AND SOUL CU L TURE 75

once you h av e done this it is th enceforward only a

, , ,

ma tter of p ersonal development . This w il l be dealt w ith

m ore f ully in sev eral of the ch apters w hich follow .
 CH APT ER V III
ms C ULTI V A TI ON or SPIRI TU AL em s

Tum s a retw o ways of regarding any particular fact ;

th e first is to observ e it from without th e second is to
,

experi ence it from within If w e look at a n orange

.
,

w e observ e it from without and w e could nev er experi

,

ence it from with in unless w e were th e orange The

,
.

only things that can experi ence sensations from within in

this way a re m inds E ac h mi nd c an i nwar dly experi
.

ence and see o bjectively its ow n sensations and so far , ,

as w e know it is th e only thing in th e world which can

,

do so All psychic experi ence is th ere fore inward or

.
, ,

sensitiv e and can never be felt by anoth er person but

, ,

must be expe ri enced by him in ord er that h e should

appreciate and understand the m ental sta te you yourself
a re experi encing .

It is the same with psychic ph enomena If any one .

experiences any phenom ena of this charact er h e can ,

nev er imp art th is kn owl edge to oth ers except in a v ery

,

roundabout way and fo r th ese oth ers to understand th e

,

phenomena th ey th emselves must experi ence th em It .

is for this reaso n that it is so diflic ult for psychics to

expr ess and ex plain to ou tsid ers th e characte r of the

sensations and ph enomena they are experiencing .

Everything being so largely symbolic and our language

,

being so poor in this direction it is o fte n very dificult

,

for th em to explain precisely what th ey m ean .

78
 CUL TI VA TIO N O F SPIRITU AL G I F TS 77

DEVELOPIN G MEDIUMSHIP
We do n ot know as yet exactly what mediumship is .

Th ere is much evidence to show that it is very often

h ereditary and runs through three or four ge nerations ,

just like any oth er gift W ith som e mediumship ap

.
,

pea rs in c hil dhood and seem s to be a v ery pa rt o f th ei r

constitution The maj o rity h owev er develop it later
.
, ,

on in life as th e result of comi ng into co nt act with

,

mediums or developing it within th emselv es by experi

,

m ents Some retain th eir m ediumship throughout life

.
,

oth ers experience it onl y for a few months a few weeks , ,

a few da ys in som e cases on ly a few seconds

, .

I n so me cases mediumship is t erminated suddenly in ,

oth er cases it is gradually lost through a period o f y ears .

One wh o has at any tim e experi enced medi umsh ip can

usually recall it by reaso n of its persistence no matter

CONTROLLING PHE NOMZ EN A

In Mediumship or wh en obtaini ng psychic ph enomena

,

of any charact er w e a re as y et experim enti ng as it

, ,

w ere with fo rces and laws as y et largely u nkno wn

,

just as the early scientists ex periment ed with el ectricity

( i ndeed w e do not y et know what e l ectricity is ) H ow .

ev er at the present day w e can co ntrol it perfect ly and ,

it is to be hoped that the tim e wil l com e wh en m edium

ship and all psychic ph enom ena can b e co ntroll ed in
a similar manner ev en th o ugh w e may n ever know
,

th e innermost essence of psychic power If w e could .

“ ”
do that it wo uld be at any rate o n a workabl e basis
, , ,

so to spea k.
78 YOUR PSYCHI C POWE RS

A ll mediumistic ex ercises develop this power to some

ext ent but in difierent direc tions The following are
,
.

a few of the methods whi ch may be pursu ed in cultiv at

ing and d eveloping th e psychic self and the inner spirit ~

ual centre of our being as distinct from purely psychica l

,

ph enom ena :
As before said it is essenti al that we shoul d under
,

sta nd and control ourselves before w e endeavour to con

trol outside forc es .

Much may be learned th rough w hat is known as in

trospection tha t is the turni ng inward of the attention
,

upo n th e inner self instea d of outward upon th e ex

, ,

ternal world If you close your eyes and do this and

.

try to find out th e nature of your tru e inner being ,

y ou will probably experience a peculiar se nsation You .

will find that like Happ iness it conti nually eludes you
, , ,

and that wh en you thi nk you have grasped your own

,

Sel f it is only a state of mind whi ch has since pa ced

, ,

and is now onl y a m emory !

Practice this introspection for a few minutes ea ch day
a nd before long you will be surp rised at your develop

m ent in this di rection f or you will be enabl ed to com e

,

i nto far closer touch with yourself than formerly The .

inner sel f will become illumina ted as it w ere ,

.

This practice will l ead to th e habit of escaping from

our sense perceptions to whi ch most of us a re sla vm
, .

As you get away from these and a re enabled to with ,

draw more and m o re fully into your inn er self you will ,

experi ence a sensati o n of reality and the ability to

 CU L TIVA TIO N O F SPIRITU AL G IF TS 79

perceive the truth of th ings in a manner hi therto un

drea med of .

T ru th exists ; w e do not perceive it f or the simple

reason th at the veil of sense is betw een it and us L if t .

this vei l and you will perc eive truth clearly as in the ,

light of day .

This practice of acquiring greater mastery over self

wi ll also put you more clomly in touch with th e gr eat
magnetic power currents of th e uni verse so that you
-
,

will never f eel exhausted or in need of n ervous energy ,

— there bei ng an unlimited supp ly of en ergy in this

uni verse All we have to do is to learn to tap i t

.
,

which we ca n do by th ese methods of psychic develop

—
m ent and w e can draw upon it in any quantity w e
choose .

W e will also be put in to uch with hi gh er condi tions .

HOW SPIRIT U NI TE US
With increased spiritual dev elopmen and spiritual t

li fe w e will perceiv e that there is a universal brother

,

hood of mankind and that noth ing is really separated

from anyt hing else ; that w e are not separated from
our neighbour but that we are u ni ted in the great uni
,

versal Infini te Intelligence wh ich combines all W e may .

compa re ourselves to trees in this respect E ach tree

,
.

is apparently a separat e bei ng whose leaves whisper to

, ,

one another and whose branches sometimes to uch in

,

the swaying of the ev ening breezes : b ut th eir roots are

sunk deep into the ground and are often intertwi ned
one with anoth er whil e th e commo n ea rth unites them
,

all I n a similar way w e are united in the spiritual

.
,

universe of which w e form a part F undamentally

, .
,
80 YOUR PSYC HI C PO WERS

MEDITATIO N
Medita tion may be consi dered one of the methods by
m eans o f whi c h w e awak en th e inn er self and frequently
a w ak en our spiritual or astral senses so as to caus e th em
,

to fu nctio n o n ano th er plane .

A t the sam e tim e if this d eveloping process is done

,

pro p erly w e build u p wall s of power abo ut ourselves

, ,

whi ch others will find it impossibl e to break through ,

by m ental or hyp notic i nflu ence even should th ey de

,

si re to do so W e cover o urselves with a sphere of

.

en ergy through which noth ing ca n pass against our wi ll , .

T HE POWER OF THOU G H T
A ll thoughts sent o ut by us into the u niv erse have
som e d efinit e purp os e and hav e a certain efiec t both upon ,

ourselves and upon o thers .

“
T houghts a re thi ngs !”
W e c an create a thought as
surely as w e ca n creat e a house o r a chair a nd o nce , ,

created th ere is no t ell ing wh ere this thought may stop

or h o w lasti ng its acti o n may be If th ese thoughts
.

a re good,
h elpful and useful th ey o ft en return to us
,

l ik e boom erangs w ith the added happiness and power

,

whi ch th ey hav e a cc umulated from oth ers of a similar

character in th eir flight throu gh spac e On the co ntrary
.
,

evi l thoughts com e back t o us in the sam e w ay and it ,

will be found that th ey always return to th eir sender ,

with added pow er for evil or fo r good See to it th ere.

,

fo re that you only se nd out thoughts of the highest a nd

,

— —
Some people when th ey first realize this fact are
almost afraid at first t o thi nk at all for fear of th e,

ej ec ts their thoughts may have ! But this is a great

 YOUR PSY CHI C POWE RS

u mpathy , understanding and intui ti on .If w e do not

p o sses t hese q ua liti es, w e sh a l l never bec ome m ediu ms

on thc highest pl ane On the contra ry , w e may draw

.

to ours el ves, w hile develo pi ng m ed i umshi p , h arm f ul or

ly ing intclligc nces, w hich wc ha ve attractcd into our

So l tm m gb advme m
'

ea nnot md m y o to

ex ternal m eh ie or m ed i umistic pow ers . H edinm hip

h aw fitfl e contm h m d w c m m t bc m thnt before

the dw m of the m nl m m ng hw h n m ust be p re

I n gi fing th ese v u n ings l do not w ish to frigh t m

th m derm i na there m no nec as ity to h em a h rm i .
'
 CH APT E R IX
Psvcs onsrs v

W HA T is Psych om etry l D r J R hodes B uch anan says

4
. .

“
The w o rd Psychometry
‘
coined in 1 8 2 to express ,
’

th e character of a new science and art is th e most ,

pregnant and important word that has been added to

th e E nglish languag e coined fro m the G reek ( p sy c h e
,

— s oul and matron— measure ) It li tera lly si gnifi es .

’
‘
Soul Mea suring
-
In our modern use of the word
.
,

howev er it means som ething a little difierent from this

, .

A psy c hic w ho picks up an object and in co nnection ,

with it gets certain psychic ini pressions is said to

, ,
‘ ’
psychom etrize the object and thi s p rocess is known ,

as psychometry .

Th efamo us Professor D ento n a min eralogist whose , ,

wife pomessed remarkabl e pow ers in this dim ction con ,

ducted a numb er o f experiments som e of which a re

desc ribed as follows : He gav e his wi fe a specimen
from the carbo ni ferous formation Closing h er ey es .
,

sh e described swamps and trees with th eir tufted h ea ds

and scaly trunks with th e great frog l ik e animals that

,
-

H e got a specim en of th e lava

4
existed in th at age .

that flowed from the volcano in H awa ii in 1 8 8 H is .

“
sister by its m eans d escribed a bo iling ocean
, ,
a ,

cataract o f gold en lava that almost equalled N iagara

in size A small fragm ent of a Meteorite that fell at
.

Pa inevill e Ohio was given to his wife s mo th er a sen

, ,
’
,

83
84 YOUR PSYC H IC P OW ERS

sitive, who did not th en beli ev e in psychomet ry This is .

what she said I seem to be trav ell ing away away ,

throu gh not hing right forward I see w h at looks like

, .

sta rs a nd mi st I seem t o be taken right up th e oth er

.
,

sp ecim ens take m e dow n His wi fe i nd ep end ently gave

a si milar dm ription but saw it revolving and its tail
,

of sp arks .

NOT one To TELEPA THY

Pro f D enton took st eps to pro ve that this was not

.

mind read ing by wrapping th e specimens in paper

-
, ,

sh aki ng th em up in a hat and all owing the sensitiv e to

'

pick o ut one a nd desc ribe it without any one knowi ng

,

which one it was Amo ng th em was a fragm ent of brick

.

from anci ent Rome Antimony from Borneo Silver from

, ,

Mexi co Basalt from Fi ngal s Cav e Eac h place was

,
'
.

described correctly by th e sensi tive in th e most minute

d etail .

T hese are but exam m es which c ould be multipli ed ,

did space p ermit N early every one possesses a certain

.

amount of pow er in this d irection and it only needs ,

cultivation to bring it to li ght .

B efore proceedi ng to th e practi c al sid e of this ques

tio n a few w o rds of expl anati o n of th e th eory in
,

volved will doubtless be of interest to th e student .

THE EXPLANATIO N
It has been sai d that ev ery object possesses its own
peculiar psychic influence fluid or aura which may b e
, ,

recognized by one sensitive enough to perc eive it H u .

ma n bei ngs may transfer a certai n amount of this

“ ”
flui d to obj ects , leaving th em impressed with th eir
i nflu ence W e see this in th e case of magnetic cures
.
“ ”
,
“ ”
and in som e cases of haunted houses In fact .
,
86 YOUR PSYC H IC POWE RS

vital energy should be enable d to o se wi thi n th e

ar u

psychic the fl ood of information he receives .

“
AR ABIC asc oans

“
Professor D raper has said A sh adow nev er falls
upon a wall without leaving th ereo n a permanent trace
-
a trac e mad e visibl e by resorti ng to proper p rocemes .

On the walls of private apartmen ts wh ere w e think th e

,

ey e of intrusion is altogether shut out a nd our retire ,

m ent ca n never be profaned th ere exist th e records of

,

our acts silhouettes of whatev er w e hav e done It is

,
.

a crushing thought to whoever has com mitted secret

—
crim e that th e picture of his deed a nd th e very echo
,

of his words may be seen and heard countless years

”
after he has go ne th e w ay o f all flesh !
T h ere are certain analogi es for this in th e physical
world If sunlight falls upo n a sheet of pa p er and w e
.

place upon it a key the outline of this key will be marked

,

upo n th e pap er and may be recovered years later by

su itabl e means .

“
I f thoughts are things, they doubtl ess impress our
su rroun di ngs in much th e sa me way : a nd th e obj ects
which w e psychometrize are influ enced by mea ns of our
thoughts and th e human aura or fluid so that th ey
, ,
“ ”
retain them wi thin it and may be rea d back by th e
,
-

s ensi tive .

THE W RET ATIO N OF IM PR ESSIO NS R ECEIVED

In psychom etry w e must rem ember that th e in
a ll

tcrp retation of th e impressions received is largely sym

bolic — just as the printed word of a book is symbolic
,

of the thought of t e author lyi ng beh ind it So

h ,
— .
,
“ ”
im p ressions stored wi thin objects and sensed by th e
 PSY CHOME TRY 87

psychi c must also be symbolic and must be suitabl y

, ,

interpreted by the psycho metrist T hus when he pl aces.

,

a geological specim en on h is fo rehead and describes an

“ ”
antediluvian monster roaring and walking about no
, ,

one but a v ery shallow individual would imagi ne for a

mom ent that the psychom etrist was actually seeing th e

original ! H e simply got an impressi on of that era
of th e world s history and symbolized it subconsciou sly
’
,

in the fo rm of this roa ring monste r .

In obta ining impressions from an object w e must en ,

dea vou r to becom e as rec eptiv e and sensitive as possible .

A few pre liminary exercises will enable you to do this

be enabled to .

1 Cultivat e th e sensitiveness of your finger tips You

.
-
.

may do this efl ec ti vely by placing in a bowl water of

th e same temperatur e as th e body N ow close your eyes
.
,

a nd pl a ce your fi nger tips just above the surface of th e

-

wate r W ithout looki ng very gradu ally lower the

.
,

finger tips unti l they com e into co ntact with th e water

-
.

See wheth er you can t ell wh en this is the case You .

will be surprised to discover that at fi rst you are quite , ,

un abl e to tell when you have touched the water !

2 An o ther good exercise is to ta k e a pair of com
.

passes and opening them a quarter of an inc h or so

, ,

touch th e finger tips with th e two sh a rp points the

-
,

eyes bei ng closed See if you can te ll how far apart

.

—
these po ints are be fo re looki ng at th e com pames I n
,
.

this way your fingers will acquire a sensitiv enem of

their ow n .

3 Learn to act upo n first impressi ons

. Do not hesi .
88 YOUR PSY CHI C PO WE RS

tate or be a fraid to express exactly how you feel and the

—
impressi on that comes to you no matter how ridicu “
,
”
lous it may b e There is a usefu l saying which may
.

h elp you in this respect I t is : .Th e first thought is

th e spirit s th e seco nd is your ow n So l earn to act
’
.
,

on first impressio ns and put i nto executi o n imm ediat ely

,

4
anything which comes to you .

.A nalyse your ow n se nsations and emotions as best

you can aft er the first immession has been received
, ,

and see what you feel or expe ri ence withi n yoursel f .

Then ex press this in words to th e best of your abi lity .

These emotions often express in that form facts which

, ,

could not well be exp remed in any oth er way though ,

th ey apparently hav e no co nnectio n with the obj ect .

For example : If you are fee ling a watch and you ,

g et in c o nnectio n with that watch t h e f eeling of de

pression and pa in in th e throat state this fully since

, ,

th e perso n w h o owned th e watch may have strangled

himself in a fit of m elancholy In th is way the emotions
.

you perc eive are fully in accord with th e sensations whic h

you rec eive from th e object .

ITS PRA CTICAL VAL UE IN DAILY LIFE

Th e practice of psychom etry w ill oft en enable you
to tell th e characteristi cs o f anoth er living person a nd ,

by this m eans you wi ll be enabl ed to t ell w h ether or

not you will lik e such a perso m because you may b e
—

attrac ted or repell ed by th e psychic impressions you re

c eive in co nnec tio n with th e object su c h a pe rso n has

been w earing I n practical life inf o rmation of thi s

.

charact er is at times very useful

, , .

I n addition to all this the c ultivatio n of psychometry

,
 C HAP TER II

Suasom m o every living body ( and some non livi ng -

“ ”
mat erials ) there is a halo or aura which may be ,

seen under certain exceptional condi tions Clairv oy

,
.

a nts have always co nt end ed that th ey could see this

aura surround ing human bei ngs but they were laugh ed
, ,

at for their pains by the majority of scientists who ,

continued to disbelieve i n its ex ist ence About the .

middle of the 1 9th century Baron von Reich enbach

,

published a book on th e aura paying particular atten

,

tion to the emanations which his sensitives had seen

com ing from crysta ls and th e poles of ho rsesh oe m agnets .

It is now known that both magnets and crystals give 03

a very noticeabl e aura and th is may be seen by any one
, ,

p osseming ev en mod erate psychic d ev elopme nt if they ,

observe these objects wh en placed in a darkened room .

H OW STU DIED BY TH E AID OF C HE M I CAL SCRE NS

N eedl ess to say all this was disbelieved at th e ti me ,

a nd it was not until 1 91 1 that th e existence of th e aura

was p roved sci entificall y by means of mechanical and

chemi ca l means D r Kil ner th e el ectrician of St
. .
, .

’
Thomas H ospital London th en showed that it is pos
, ,

si ble for any one to see th e aura issuing from a livi ng ,

h uman being by means of esp ecially prepared glass

,
“ ”
slid es containing a chemical named
,
D icyanin
, .

The subject of the experiment is pla ced aga inst a whit e

or black cloth bac kground in a nearly darkened room
, ,

and must be at least partially nude as the aura cannot ,

be seen through th e clothing The investigato r then

.

l Dic a nin is a coa l tar rod u t d e

y p c or y
-
.

90
 THE HU MAN AURA 91

looks through one of th e ch emical sc reens at the day

li ght : then closing hi s eyes pu l ls dow n the blind so as
, , ,

to mak e th e room nea rly dark I n this light the figure .

of th e model can be seen only faintly and if the subject ,

is look ed at through th e glass screen the aura may be ,

seen by nearly any one posseming good eyesight

,
In .

this case th e investi gato r does not h ave to be a clairvoy

ant si nce th e ey es are rend ered susceptible to certain ar
,

tific i al light waves by means of the chemical screens .

Usually our eyes cannot perceiv e these waves .

I n th is way th e scepti cal world h as been convince d

of the reali ty of the h uman aura and it is now considered ,

a proved scientific fact .

TH E THREE AU RAS TH U S DISCLOSED

The human aura or atm osphere consists of a number

of laye rs or strata one beyo nd th e oth er extending out ,

into space By means of D r Kil ner s ch emica l screens

. .
’

three of these divisions may b e cl early percei v ed .

“ ”
First what is call ed th e eth eric do uble
, T h is is .

seen l ike a dark lin e sli ght ly gr eyish in colour which

, ,

ext ends ov er th e whol e surface of th e body co nfo rmi ng ,

exactly to its shape D oubtless th is is one manifesta

.

tio n of th e double or etheric body .

“
Beyond this ext ends th e inner a ura which is usu ,

ally two or three inch es broad It co nforms to th e con

.

to ur of the body through out and is more or lem coloured

by th e health o f th e individual and by the mental or
emotio nal states which may be p resent at that time
, .

“
Beyond this again is the outer aura, beginning
where th e inner aura ceases a nd extending from three
,

to six inches as a rule bef ore it becomes invisible It

, , .

exte nds slightly furth er in the case of women than it

 YO UR PSYC H IC POWERS

d oes in m en T hi s a u ra is very vari abl e and is grea tly

. .

influenc ed by all th e menta l a nd p sy c hic co nditions of

t he pe rso n to w h om it bel o ngs I ts c olou rs v a ry a lso
.

v ery grea tl y b ut thi s cannot as a rul e be seen th ro ugh

,

the sc reens beca u se t hey themselves a re eith er dark

red or blu e It ta kes a tra ined c la i rvoyant to see all
.

t he sub tl e grada tio ns and v a ri a tions of c olour in the

a u ra .

HOW TO TR AI N YO U R PSY C HI C SIG HT

Th e best w ay to tra i n y ou rse lf to see a uras of th is
cha rac ter is, perha ps, t h e fo ll owi ng
1 . da rkened ro om st udy th e aspect of a good
In a

horsesh oe ma gnet eit her sus pend ed in th e air b y a sil k

,

t hrea d o r p la c ed on a su p po rt w it h pol es up and vary

. ,

th e posi t ion o f th e observ a t io n u nt il a faint l umi nosity is

observed a t t he pol es and a lo ng th e edges of t he m a gnet .

2 I n th e li gh t repeat th e sa me p rocess trying to make

.
.

o ut t hese l i nes and t h e extensi o ns a nd l im ita tions of

th e a ura .

I t m ust be d o d t hat th is v isio n can be ob tained

st o
u n er

artificia lly only th ro ugh t h e a c tio n o f th e w ill a nd b y a ,

ro p er f u i n f t h e y es — th e p e rc e p t io n of e u ros
p oc s g o e

requiri ng a v ery d ifierent foc us from o rdina ry sight ,

a nd t his fo using is v e ry o ft en
c — nea rly a l wa ys in fa ct
.

— d ifierent i n eac h o f th e t w o ey es .

The a tt emp t ed foc usi ng o f th e si gh t must th erefore , ,

be ma de w i t h ea ch ey e se pa rat elv and t h en w it h b oth

c om bi ned I t m a y h a p pen t h at one ey e onl v ca n b e
.

foc used for this spe i al v ision or w h en bot h are found

c
.

a v ai l a bl e if b t h fo uses a re no t id ent i ca l t h e a c t i v e use

c
.
o .

f b t h ev es at one t im e m a v d est roy t he psy ch ic sigh t

o

o f t h e se n i t i v e ey e
s .
94 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

THE STBU OTU RE OF I HE AU R A ' ‘

After the aura has been p erceived and its general ,

lay ers distinguish ed the student must turn his atte ntion
,

t o its structure and colou r v ariations T he questio n .

o f colour will be treated in th e next chapter which is ,

dev oted enti rely to that subj ect .

As to th e st ruct ure or composition of the aura : If

this be st udied ca refully it w ill be found tha t it is
,

composed in a gr eat vari ety of difl erent ways accordi ng ,

to th e object or p erson emitting it Thus the aura of .

,

flowers is v ery different to that of magnets or human

THE A URA OF M W EBS

It is a very interesting study to try and perceive ,

psychi cally t he compositio n of th e aura of various

,

fl o wers For instance that of th e violet is about one

.
,

eighth of an inch in thi ckn ess and composed first of a ,

bright li gh t then a line of dark blu e shading away

, ,

i nto a v ery light blu e all th w e following th e contour of

,

the edge of th e l eaf A bov e these lines is a scallop ed

.

or semi li near string or border of two rows of little

-

purp lish red figures diam o nd shaped very regularly

-
, ,

distributed so as to form two sets of fourteen littl e dia

,
»

monds ov er the space of each small lobe of t he leaf .

T h en above th ese a wave of dark blue mist in crescent

, ,

form shading 06 into light blue

,
.

This is only a sampl e reading of one flower Eac h .

flower h as its ow n parti cular aura ( some of them being

very complex ) but it w ill se rve to show the student how
int eresting a study this ca n be made The study of th e .

au ra o f plants alo ne carefully undertaken would occupy

, ,

consid erabl e tim e .

 THE HUMAN A UR A 95

THE H U H AN AU R A AND H OW TO BI U DY IT ’ ‘

A fter you hav e studied the auras of magnets and

plants in th is way you should turn your attention to
,

the auras of living human beings

, .

Children may easily be studied and the ir auras are

,

exceedi ngly int eresting .

Developed clairvoyants are enabled to see sev eral di f

—
feront auras each of them being composed of a number
,

of sub divisions and each sub division having a different

-
,
-

structure and colour .

It is a good plan to begin the study of th e aura by the

aid of th e ch emical screens before m entioned in semi
, ,

darknem : a nd th en to practise viewing th e aura without

the screens a nd as th e eyes gain sensitiv eness to a dmit
, , ,

more and more light unti l it can be clearly seen in the

,

daylight .

In this way your psych ic sight w ill be gradually and

 CH A PTER XI
com ma AND ITS mm arssrartos

I N th e last chapt er w e l ear ned that th ere is a psychi c

“ ”
atmosph ere or aura surrounding each animate oh
,

j ect a n
,d particularly huma n b ei n gs a nd that b o th t h e ,

structure a nd th e colour of this vari es greatly W e must .

‘
now inquire first into the na ture o f th ese co lo urings and ,
“
sec o ndly try to solve the qu esti o n what do they m ean 1
H ow are w e to int erpret th ese colours realizing that ,

th ey are but symbols of som ethi ng which they m erely

express ? Th e colour of every indi vidual is doubtless
somewhat difl erent and with the same individual it
,

difiers at vari o us tim es a ccording to his state of h ealth

, ,

th e m ental a nd psychi cal changes etc Th e majority ,

.

of highly d evel oped clairvoyants agree however with

-
, ,

C W Leadbeater that th e fol low i ng colours may be

. .
,

distinguish ed and that th ey signify th e existing p hysi

,

cal m ental a nd spiritual conditio ns as follows :

, ,

BLA CK : indicates hatr ed and malice ; anger and hate

thought forms are like heavy smoke R an : deep red
-
.

flash es on black ground show anger : lurid red indicates

sensuality B so w rr: dull brown red shows avarice ; dull
.
-
,

hard brown grey selfish ness ; Gam m a!! B sow N : with

-

red or scarl et flashes deno tes jealousy G m : h eavy

, .

lea den shows d eep d epression ; li vid grey shows fear .

Cam eos : indicates love Ow es : pride or ambiti on . .

Yaw ow : shows intell ectuality ; duller tints show it is

so
98 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

directly with th e psychical co ndition of the subj ec t .

The innermost aura will be found to co nsist of five

difl erent colour ed bands Th e first will b e pure whi te
.
,

the seco nd light blue th e third dark er blu e th e fourth

, ,

lemon y ellow the fif th dark red

,
.

The second layer of the aura will be found to be

bluish violet merging into rose T hose two inter pene
, .
-

trat e one another forming very beauti ful combinations

,
.

T he third layer consists of three cloudy zo nes the ,

first pink the second vi ol et and th e third orange

, , .

Th e fo urth lay er consists of green cloud like waves ,

-
,

tinged with yellow resembling the go lden edges of clouds

, ,

behind which the sun is sh ining .

Th e fifth will be seen to be slate or indigo in colour ,

wi th silver edges .

Th e si xth will co nsist of a beauti ful li ght blu e, with a

whitish go lden fri nge .

Th e seventh or outermost aura will be seen to b e a

greyish mist of a light violet tint
,
.

Th e outer aura completes the au ric emana tion of man ,

and is th e out er sh ell as it we re co nstitu ting the ao

, ,
“
called auric egg surrounding every human being
, ,

of which more will be said later .

CHANGE IN THE OOW U RS

When a gold en y ellow light is seen about the hea d ,

it may be assumed that suc h an individual has grea t

int ellec tuality combined with spirituality ; and in some
,

cases it has bee n sa id that this co ntains a cloud of

“ ”
gold dust each sp eck revolving spira lly on itself
,
.

T h ese colours of th e various auras are not unchang

ing as befor e said so that th e student must not ex pect
, ,

to see them exactly as described T hey are greatl y .

 CO LOUR AND ITS IN TERPRETA TIO N 99

modifi ed by the menta l and psychi cal condition of the

subject ; and th e thoughts and emotions which the latter
may be experiencing at the ti me of observation will also
afl ect the aura .

THE C OI D URS OF THOUG HTS

Thus fear gives rise to circ les of bright rings spread ,

out in th e form of a cone of varying sh ades of grey

, ,

pink and purple .

A beautiful devotional thought may be ex prem ed in

the form of a star of bluish mist ti nged with y ellow ,
.

Pi ty may be see n as a reddish violet cloud from which ,

issu e pointed co nes of a b rig hter pink .

D eception will give rise to a steel bl ue mist tinged -

,

with pink and ta king the shape of any regular spiral .

F ear may give rise to balls of grey pink and yellow ,

mist ; whil e fear combined with anger will give forth

a blackish grey mist from which red electrica l flashes
,

appear to issue .

“
ra n s om e see

These colours extend over th e whol e of the auric egg ,

and may b e seen by th e clai rvoyant to be influenci ng

it th roughout.

This auric egg which is formed rou nd an individual

by the atmosph ere or aura emanati ng from him exte nds
, ,

both above and below his body as well as si deways and

, ,

is from nin e to ten feet in height and five feet in diam e

,

ter. If the colours of this auric egg be examined by

a cl airvoyant characteristics of the indi vidual may be
,

clearly defi ned afte r th e necessary p ractice and de

v elopm ent a nd the gene ral charac ter of th e subj ect may
,

in this way be discovered and interpreted .

100 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

THE COLOURS OF VARIOUS INDIVIDU ALS

Of course, it is necema ry to make
the a long study of

aura and to attai n a good deal of psychic dev elopment

befo re all th e d etails contain ed in this c hapt er can be
discovered by th e student in actual p ractice Am un .

ing howev er that you hav e p rogremed su ffici ently i n

, ,

your studi es to be enabled to see th e au ra of any ia

di vidual yo u may proceed to examin e the whol e auric
,

egg w ith its varied colours If you do this you will

, .
,

find th em to be abou t as foll ows

A highly d eveloped individual wi ll have a haze of
gol den light i ssui ng from th e h ead and extending alm ost
,

to the top of th e egg . Above th is w ill be a fai nt p urplish

light On ei ther side of t his golden aura and issuing
.
,

o utwards and upwards from the shoulders will be a ,

bluish light w hich m erges into pink as it descends to

, ,

th e breast F rom that point to the thighs a pinkish

.

—
light may b e seen light in som e cases darkish red -
, ,

in oth ers A bout the knees this pink shad es ofi into a

.

delicate green a nd th is green covers th e feet and extends

,

downward almost to th e lower margin of the auric eg g ,

wh ere it becom es a darkish blu e .

W ith l ess highly d evelop ed individuals these colours

-

will vary accordi ng to the tabl es above given In some

, .

cases t he auric egg will be composed almost entirely of

greys, greens and browns !

T HE P RIH AR Y COLOURS AND ra ms MEAN INGS

In general it may be said that yellow a nd any bright
cl ea r colours wh en seen in th e au ra of an individual
, ,

d enot e stro ng vitality and active intellectuality L ila c .

,

blue a nd violet have to do with spiritual characteristics .

 CHAP TER x 11
S YM BO LIS M

Sru somsu is of th e most importa nt and at th e same

one

tim e one of the least und erstood subj ects in the whol e
rea lm of psychics and spiritualism A p rOper under .
~

standing of what it means and the adequate interpre

,

ta tion of symbols , as presente d to the psychic would ,

prov e o f grea t value to every stu dent and to all those

,

who are underta king their own psychic d evelopment .

Fi rst of all it is necm ary that you sh ould understa nd

,
“ ”
exactly what symbolism means A symbo l is a sign
.

for something else which it expresses in a more or l ess

parti al and incomplet e manner Usually a symbol is
.
,

a sign which appeals to one of th e five senses but de ,

notes not a sensual thi ng but the thought lying behind

,

it Thus th e printed word on th e page is th e symbol

of the author s thought expressed in that word T he
’
,
.

’
poem is th e expression of th e poet s mind and sp iri t ,

as set forth i n the words and metre of the poem etc , .

Thus symbols are always onl y parti al and incomplete

,

a nd represen t but a small fractio n of th e thing th ey

stand for and w e should always be in error if w e tri ed

,

to reco nstruct th e w ho le o f the thi ng symbolized from

what w e perceive by means of our senses
,
.

Before w e proceed to the subject of symbolism as

studied in psychics and in th e phenomena of spiri tualism ,

102
 SYMBO LI SM 1 03

one other point should b e explained : We never see an

object in th e physi c al world as it really is !

W e o nly perceiv e or realize through our five senses

, ,

various aspects or qualities of the object T hus if you .

,

are looking at an orange your sense of sig h t gives you

,

th e impressi o n of a reddish yellow sph ere rather irregu

-
,

lar on its surface Your sense of touch tells you that

.

this t h ing is round that it is somewhat rough and cool

, .

Your sense of sm ell suppli es you with the inf ormation

that it has a pleasant odour unlike anything else which ,

is confirmed by your taste In this p articul ar insta nce

.

'

th e sense of heo n ug does not ent er into the questio n ,

as it would m many other instances .

N ow all these things which appeal to our senses

colour odour texture etc are
, ,
— ,
“
qualities ”
of the
orange and not the orange itself T he orange is al ways
, .

so mething different from all of th ese above and beyond

.
,

th em and is more inclusive than any of these qualities

,

and symbols .

T hus suppose you took away one of those symbols,

,

its colour — th e orange would immedi ate ly become in

,

visible to you ; y et it woul d continu e to en st though we

'

coul d nev er kno w of its exist en ce .

T his shows a s clearly that symbols are very inadequate

“ ”
and imperfect r epresenta ti o ns of a vaster something
lying behind th em and th ey represent only a small
,

fracti on of th e totat of th e thing as it rea lly exists .

As ap plied to th e sp irit of man, we must begin by

admi tting the rath er sta rtling fact that no man h as ev er
104 YOUR PSYCHI C POW ERS

see n it,— no man has ev er seen anoth er ! All h e has

ev er seen a re the ou twa rd f eatures the fo rm th e faci al , ,

exp rem ions o f th e oth e r ; a nd wh en our s p irits hold

communication with one anot h er in this world they do ,

so by wri tten symbols by motions of th e hands o r head

, ,

or by means of air waves, passing from the th roat of

-

o n e h h e —
to t e ear of t e oth r all but exp rem ions or
symbols wh ich a re interpreted by us acco rding to a
,

ce rta in p re arrang ed cod e

-
.

If w e did not hav e this pre arranged code it would ,

be impossibl e for two int elligent being s to converse one

—
with anoth er as may readily be seen wh en a China man
and an Ame rican meet f o r th e first tim e neith er of ,

t h em speaking the langu a ge of the oth er T hey try .

as best th ey can to make eac h other understa nd what

they are thinking ab o ut what thoughts are in th eir
,

mi nds but th ey succeed v ery im mrfectly or not at

, ,

all ! The symbols employed a re too inadequate to exp ress

their thoughts .

SY MB OLISLI IN SPIR IT COMMUNICA TIO N

-

N ow all th ese di flicul ties w e encounter when a spirit

,

endeavours to communicate with us through a medium ,

or directly It ca n express itse lf as a rul e onl y very

.
, ,

imperfectly ( as wi ll be explained in a later chapter ) ,

and must resort largely to symbols to co nv ey its mea n

ing . H ence w e sh o uld be v ery mistak en if w e were to
int erp ret this symbo lism lite rall y or to assum e that it
,

represented th e w h ole of th e subj ect matter which th e -

spirit d esired to co nv ey .

As I said in my book Th e Probl ems of Psychical Re

” “
search : Our dreams as w e know are largely sym
, ,

—
bolic th e wo rk of F reud and oth ers having proved this
1 06 Y OUR PSYCHI C POWERS

unnost dific ulty in m veying y our meaning to hin ,

and sqna l M ca lty in telling him to fet ch th e wm h

m m m i i i h m
'

r rtcd t o b y a s p r t n n atte p t t o w cy
th e m d n mh w
‘ ’
m rm find the étter of a
fi m
‘

h m T i
’

p a r c u r w a te h h e d t o r h e.s p n t m g h t w ell

p roc eed as fol low s : ‘

He ta ps his stomac h a d looks
at a spot over h n left side He seems to w ish to m vey
'

p erhaps a ca nc er on the lef t side . Yq he scems to be

M enu fio n his body ; fl idm fl y they
h ing aw ay

m oved w me M m d h s w iaha to eonvey th e idca

that m ething m ta hm from him No w he n en m
'

mmg his hand ; he is looking intm tly ; now he is doing

M m g w ith his fing u a l can t sce v ha t it ig a
’
’

in
l if e ?

Snch m inta p m fim of the ft d a it w fll he obsefl ed,

w h fl e da ermi ng fi a M is ' h y m l ad ng u t o
oll i c i /

in interp retation nhe qyn hol n n hu hcen w holb mis

'

confl m cd ; and. im sn nch as the suhjeet probably m

is highly pm babl e that the m m ld be put dov n

v h ol b to th e m edm s snb com ei m h m ginah m or m
'

to gna l ing or com eiom frm d ! Ym it v m bs ob

“ th e m e “ in in incepfion ' h olly m fieal
m m m h m m w wm
Th ere in e vidm ce to d ow fifi oth u form of v n
 SYMB OLI SM 1 07

hol ism are —

adopted also , app lying to th e audi tory as
well as to the visual presenta tio n of ima ges It is well .

known that nam es are very M oul t to obtai n by me

di ums and this is probably due to the fact that names
,

a re not pictures or visual symbols and in themselves

, ,

mean n o thing as a rul e Th ey are merely a combina

, .
~

tion of letters having a certain sound

, .

THE FOBM B OF SYMBOL!“

It is generally easi er for the spirit to impress a par
tia lly dev eloped psychic by means of a picture than in
any other way a nd for this rea so n nam es are dificul t
,

to get . Sti ll, in m any cases, na m es are ob tained by

a picture shown T hus the nam e Merrifield was
.
,
“ ”

in one case given to th e psychic as a picture of a num

ber of children ha ppily playing in a green field
, .

Amo ng oth er forms of symbolism are the following

A l arge key ma y be sho w n to th e psyc hic . This may
not mea n a key at all but a symbol of —
success, th e
,

key being the m eans by which the door of prosperity

is opened .

Colou rs are freq uently shown and nearly all colours

are symboli c of something or oth er and hav e their deh ,

nite m eaning as w e saw in th e last chapter Strange

, .
,

weird and ho rribl e figures do not necessarily m ean any

thing bad or anyt hing evil ; th ey may be sym bolic of
som ething entirely difl eren t and this is freq u ently seen ,

in dreams whi c h are composed almost enti rely of sym

Moat psychics when th ey a re developing see peculiar

, ,

specks clouds and forms shaping th emselves before th em

,

in space T hey are naturally at a loss to interpret and

.

explain these images Wh il e there is much latitude

.
 1 08 YOUR PSYC HI C POWERS

of interpretati on al w ays in symbolism th e foll owing

, , ,

simple suggestions based on tradi tional teac hings may ,

be found h elpful .

CLOUDS AND LIG H TS

C louds, if white m ay be int erpreted as signifying
,

happiness and p rosperity eith er to the psychi c or to

, ,

one near and dear to them .

If these seem to reced e rapidly and fade away in th e ,

distance a jou rn ey is often indicated I f the clouds

, .

appear to be advancing toward you it indicates that ,

—
n ws wil l shortly reach you good if the clouds are
e , ,

white bad if th ey a re dark If red and lurid ill

, , .
,

fo rtun e is upon you r h o rizo n for which yo u must be ,

on constant guard Black clou ds symbol ize troubl es

of the heart .

Ti ny moving sp ec ks of ligh t, if they truly result from

—
psy chic d evelopm ent a re said to indicat e that you are
p gro rem i ng favourably in yo ur psy c hi c sensitiv en ess If .

these specks are da rk howev er evil or harmful influences

, ,

—
may be about you for w hich you must be on a constant
“ ”
look out A l igh t w i thi n a ligh t is said to symbolize
-
.

“ ”
the presenc e of some spirit desi rous of comm uni cat
,

ing. Should su ch a sign appear to you try at once to ,

enter into communication with t he spirit int elli gence by -

asking quw tions and note wh eth er th e light you see en

deavours to reply to you by m eans of som e simpl e code .

R ep til es and oth er unpleasant signs usu ally sym

, ,

bolize th e hidden fe ars of th e psy c hic ; they a re symbol

“ ”
i zed i n this way ext ernalizing the subco nscious fear
thought of th e subject Root out your hidden f ear and
.

appreh ension ; amert your maste ry and fearlessn ess and

th e unpleasant sign will always disappear .
 TE LEP A THY

transference are all terma m u ning v ery much the same

,

—
thi ng namely the ability to impress th e mind of an
, ,

other person with a definite tho ught or tho ughts with ,

out travel ing through th e usual av enues of sense Th e .

“ ”
word t el epath y was coined by Mr F W H Myers m . . . .

1 882 and is d eriv ed from two G reek words : ( Tale— at

,

B OW TELEP A THY OPERA TES

How telepathy tak es place we cannot as yet say wi th
certa inty Some sci en tific m en such as Sir William
.
,

Crookes are inclin ed to believe that vibrati ons in th e

,

et her trav el from brain to brain very much l ike th e mes

,

sages in wi reless telegraphy Oth ers on the cont ra ry

.
, ,

contend that th is explanation is insufic ient and that ,

we have no p roof tha t su c h brain wav es exist As Mr -

. .

Myers expressed it : L ife has the pow er o f m anifest

”
ing itself to li fe, a nd th is is as fa r as w e can go as
yet by w ay of scienti fic explanati on of th e facts
,

It is almost certainly true that tel epathy takes place

not between the conscious minds of two individuals but ,

by way of the subconscious that vast fi eld which we

,

described in Chapter IV ( The Subco nscious ) so that if a ,

message is sent from one conscious mind to anoth er ,

1 10
 T E L EPA THY 111

it would travel in rath r a r u d about fashion as fol

e o n -

lows : F rom th e co nsci ous to the subconscious mind

of A ; fro m that to the subconscious mind of B and ,

from the subconscious mind to the co nscious mi nd of

B In B the process by which it was co nveyed from
.
,

the subconscious to th e ordinary mind wou ld be that

'

“ ”
o f externalization so frequ ently seen in dreams crys
, ,
~

tal gazing and oth er phenomena

-
.

T his fully explains to us why it is that w e frequently

receiv e tel epathi c messages at th e moment w e are falling
—
to sleep o r at least appea r to do so W e may have
, .

receiv ed the message an hour or tw o before this but ,

its externalization was im pomib le until t he ordi nary

consciousness m d to be so active wit h th e afia irs of
th e day ; and than th e subconsci o us mind had a chance
—
to deliver its m essage received some ti me before from
,

some distant mind .

THE VAR IOUS KINDS OF TELEPA THIC MESSAGES

“
T elepathic messages may be vis ual in which ca se ,

th ey tak e the form of pictures figures writte n or printed

, ,

words etc , .

T h ey may be auditory in which case they take

,

the fo rm of spoken words .

“
Th ey may be emotional in which case the subject
,

may feel a peculiar depression or excitemen t

“
T hey may be volitional in whi ch case the subject
,

is seized with th e imw rati v e desire to perform a c erta i n

action etc,
.

T elepathic messages may originate either in the living

or in the dead As they are transmitt ed from the sub
.

conscious m ind ( perhaps und er the supervision and di

rection of the conscious mind ) they are ofte n trans ,
112 YOUR PSYC HI C POWERS

m itted most efiectua lly during sl eep trance under the

’
, ,

influence of some drug in delirium at th e moment of

, ,

death etc These messages are most easily received

, .

at such times wh en the conscious m ind is asl eep or

, ,

in abeyance and for this reaso n w e have ao ca ll ed

,
-

“ ”
visions of the dying ecstasy trance speaking and
, ,
-

revelation etc,
.

TELEPAT HY FROM SPIRITS

”
It is probably tru e that spirits co nverse with one
another di rec tly by m ea ns of telepathy though they ,

understand fully the thou ght of the oth er as though

th e sentence had b een fully spok en Sw ed enborg te lls .

us that this is the ca se and that th e tel ep athic thoughts

,

sent out by a spiri t appe ar to oth er spirits or to me

“ ”
di ums in t rance as c lear a nd so norous as spoken
,

words If spi rits in th e fl esh can co nverse at tim es with

.

one anoth er by means of t el epathy and if disem bodi ed ,

sp irits converse with one another by this means it is ,

o nl y natural to su ppom that this is frequently th e

method of communication resorted to between embodied
and disembodied spirits and all trance m ediums know ,
-

tha t t his is in fact th e case ( Th e larg er m eani ngs

, , .

a nd app lications of telepathy will be discussed more

fully in the cha pter d evot ed to Prayer etc ) ,

.

Th e following p ractical exercises wi ll enabl e you to

prove to your own satisfacti on that telepathy exists ,

and th at it can be reduced to a more or less simple

,

process by continued practice .

Select a fri end with whom you are in sympathy ,

physically me ntally and morally One of you must be

, .
11 4 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

him in a definite form eith er in the sha p e of the obj ect

,

i tself or in the w ord square circle etc though i n

, , , , ,

that case you must be careful that you do not uncon

sciously whi sper the wo rd so that h e hears it !
The recipient on his part should make his mi nd as
, ,

blank as possibl e and no te down any pictures o r im

,
“ ”
premi ous th at come to him no matter how wild th ey ,

may appea r A bove all you must not be discouraged

.
,

by early non successes for these you must expect

-
,
.

MORE COMPLICA TED EXPERIMENTS

Afte r y ou have succeeded wi th th e diagrams you may ,

try m ore complicated pictures su ch as playing cards , ,

which are very good fo r t his purpose as the deck may ,

be sh umed betwee n each draw and it is easy to calcu ,

late the percentage of guesses si nc e chance wo uld always ,

be 5 1 to 1 against the subject hi tting upon the correct

ca rd by ac cident .

A ft er th ese experim ents you m ay try som e in th e

transference of pain Prick yourself lightly in various
.

parts of th e body with a sharp needl e or pinch your ,

self and see whethe r th e subjec t can locate the pain

,

correctly on himself If he is a good subj ect he will

.
,

do so in very many insta nces as though the pain were ,

transferred direct ly to him and you were pricking or ,

pinching him .

N ext you may try a number of experiments in sm ell

and taste P rocure a nu mber o f substances such as
.

cloves nutmeg p epper sugar etc a nd sm ell or ta ste

, , , , ,

these in turn being careful that you are far enough

,

removed from your subject to prevent hi m from sm ell

ing th ese in the usual way Many go od subjects can .

tell immedi ately th e substance you are putting into

 TE LEPATHY 115

your mouth th e insta nt you ha ve placed it th ere After

,
.

you hav e succeeded thus far, you shoul d try to incm e

th e d istan ce between you unt il you can perform the
,

same feats though miles apart

, .

These simple experiments will prove to you and to ,

the sceptic th e existence of telepathy They will render

,
.

you more se nsitiv e to the r eception of messages from

distant living mi nds and also m an ages from the dis
,

carnate In th is way you wi ll cultivate your sensitive

.

ness to messages of this ch a racter, and th is w ill be

benefi c to you prov ided that you do not carry these
,

p rac t icm too far and cul tivate your sensitiveness undu ly
in wrong directions .

Und er normal h ealthy conditions your mind will not

,

be afiected by impressions of this c ha racter since it ,

w ill be m ost di ficul t for y ou to receive th cm, as a rule,

no matt er how hard you may try The mind always .

protects itself against too easy acces by outside minds .

It is very rare ind eed that subjects a re imp ressed against

th eir will Some persons it is tru e b eli ev e that others
.
, ,

at a distance are influ enci ng th em in this manner and ,

impressing them to do certain things Many believe .

that they a re hyp not ized etc But in nearly all cases
, .

these be li efs are illusory ; th ey have no founda tion in

fact Wh en examined th ey are found to rest wholly
.
,

quently but th e indications of an unbalanced m ind This .

does not mean that such persons are necessarily insane ,

but they would becom e so were they to dwell upo n th eir

im agin ed grievance long enou gh and believe i n it after ,
11 6 YOUR PSYC H IC POWE RS

they have been shown rep eatedly that such w as not th e

case It is this persistent will to believe in a thing which
.
- -

is not t ru e tha t is one of th e ca uses of insanity

, .

T he student who practises telep athy within reason

and who ha s foll owed th e instructions conta ined in th e

ea rly chapters of th is book as regards fo rtifying and

p rotecting h is own inner natu re need ha ve no fea r th at

,

tel ep a thic influenc es or imp ressions from oth ers will

ever afiect him against his ow n wi l l In nearly all cases
.
,

th ese ao call ed infl uen ces are i maginary ; and ev en should

-

they exist th e subject wh o h as mastered hi mself and

, , ,

who h as strength ened h is soul from wi thi n is ca pable

,

of ov erc om ing and repulsing any ou tsid e forces of this

ch aracter and of p rev enting any tel ep athi c infl u ence

,

from reachi ng him no matter wh ether this comes from

,

th e living or from th e dea d .

objective clairvoy ance wo uld be impossibl e But few .

persons are born with this po w er in some it is developed ,

and in ot h ers it has but a cas ual quick ening Its exte nt .

is governed by th e ate of vib ration under which it

r

X RAY
-
CLAIRV OYAN CE
3 . XClai rvoyance is a form of clai rvoyance which
-
ray

partakes of th e characte ristics of the x ray and seems -

to be obj ective Th e clairvoyant w ho pomemes this

.

power is abl e to see p hysical objects throu gh intervening

physi cal matter can perceive the internal parts of the
,

human body diagnose disease and obse rve the opera

,

ti ons of h ealing and decay .

4Catal pti c
. Clai rvoyanc e occu rs wh en the body is
e

in a t rance sta te resembli ng sl eep induced by hypnotic

, ,

power exerc ised by a n i nca rnate or decarnate spi rit or

, ,

i t may be self—induced ; when in this sta te the spirit

leaves th e body and is abl e at its own will or the sug,

gestion of th e hyp notist to travel to rem ote places a nd

,

to see cl early what is transpi ring in the places it vi sits

and to observ e spiritual as w ell as mate rial things in o

its environm ent Wh il e in this state it someti mes hap

.

p ens that th e thoughts of th e spirit in its travels are

exp ressed by th e lips of th e physical body and tha t
thought images a re co nv eyed to it through the physica l
-

body This is due to the fact that there is a spi rit

.
 C LAIRV OYANCE 1 19

cord which connects th e body and th e spirit and

transmits vib rations betwee n them As lo ng as this .

cord is not se vered th e spirit can return to the body

.
,
“ ”
bu t should it be severed th en wh at w e call , d eath
.

would at once ensu e U nder this form of clai rvoyance

.

t here is an interblm ding of subjective and objectiv e

TR AN CE CO NTRO L CLAIRV OYAN CE

-

5 .Trance control Clai rvoyance is that psychic state

-

under whi ch th e control of the physical body o f th e

medi um is assum ed by a spirit intelli gence and the ,

consc iousn ess of the medium is for the tim e bei ng de , ,

throned In this case the controlling spirit is really th e

.

cla irvoyant and simply uses th e m edium s body as a

,
’

means of communicating what th e spirit sees and th ere ,

fore the question of subj ective and objective spiritual

sight in so far as th e m edium is co ncerned cannot be
, ,

ra ised To some persons who go to mediums for rea dings

.

and who may become witnesses in trials at law it may

not be kno w n that under trance control the medi um
is to all intents and purposes absent th eref ore in deali ng ,

with defini ti ons o f clai rvoyance to be used for th e en

ligh tenm ent of thinking people judg es and juries it , ,

seems necessary for th e protectio n of suc h m ediums to

“
explain wha t is here termed T rance Control Clairvoy -

rma m rm c cu mvors s cs , are .

6 Telepathic Clairvoyance is th e subj ective percep

.

ti on in picture form of tho ught transmi tted from a ,

Th e type of clairvoyance ill ustrated in class

“ ”
is 4
freq uen tly call ed Travelling Clairvoyance because
 12 0 YOUR PSYCHI C POW E RS

th e spirit appea rs to travel after leaving its body and , ,

visit distant sc enes A ccording to the above defini

.

tions this type of clairvoyance is c lamified under defi

,

nition N o 1 but oth er authorities would gi ve it a

.
,

separate c lass by itself W hen the psychi c s mind seems

.
’

to trav el backward along th e strea m of ti m e and re ,

members eve nts whi ch wer e beyond its normal recollec

”
tion w e have ca ses of so called
, retrocognition .

Wh en on th e other hand th e psychic s mind seems

’
, ,

to travel forward into th e futu re and sees scenes and

eve nts which of cou rse he was otherwise unable to fore
, ,

tell w e hav e cases of previsio n prophecy and precog ni

, ,

tion This la tter subj ect will be dealt with more fully
.

“
in th e chapt er devoted to Proph ecy e m u: F ortu ne
”
T elli ng .

W e also have spo ntaneou s and experimental clair

voyance th w e definitions expla ining th emselves
,
.

Th en direct and indirect clairvoyance : D irect when

,
'
no oth er min d or ag ency is involv ed but the psychi c s
ow n ; indirect w h en it goes th rough a roundabou t chan

nel and i nvolves som e oth er mi nd incarnate or M m em , .

“ ”
As o p posed to tel epath ic clairvoyance w e have
“ ”
ao call ed
-
I ndep endent Clairvoyance A lso there are .

”
cases of Reciprocal Clairvoyance in which two per
so ns see one another at the sam e time and as it w ere , ,

exchange th eir c lairvoyant vi s ions .

Th e typ e of clai rvoyanc e which is ch a ract erised by

leaving the body and visiting the spiritual sph eres ( after
wards returni ng to reanimate the body ) is called
”
ec stasy
1 :
.

Mr Lea dbeat er divides Clai rvoyance into three sub

.

divisions : clairvoyance in tim e clairvoyance in spa ce , ,

and direct clai rvoyance in which the astral or spi rit ual
,
1 22 YOUR PSYCHIC POW E RS

fact by Sir W illiam F Barrett Professor of Physics in

.
, ,

th e Univ ersity of Dubli n .

O f late years a new and peculiar type of clairvoyanc e

has been d eveloped by Mr V incent N T urvey of Lon . .

don a fri end of Mr W T Stead He termed this

, . . . .

“ ”
Phon e voyance
-
for the reason that he receives his
,

im pressions and intuitions etc wh en he is conversi ng ,

.
,

with a distant fri end ov er th e t el ephone and then only , .

Th is is a form of sensitiveness which could be obta ined

by many psychi cs if th ey dev eloped it .

THE EX PLANATIO N OF CI‘AIRV OYANCE

Clairv oyance has been explained in a variety of ways .

W e may bri efly summarize th ese theories as follows

1 Th e Astra l or Spi ri tual Sensc Th eory
. This m ay - -
.

b e stated as fo llows : C o rr espo nding to ea ch physical

sense organ ( th e ey e ear etc ) th ere is a corresponding
-
, , .

spiritu al or astral sense organ W e see physical objecm

-
.

by m eans of th e physical ey e and h ear th em by means

of th e physica l car Wh en w e see clairvoyantly on the
.
,

contrary w e see by means o f our spiritu al ey e and when

,

w e h ear clairaudi entl y w e h ea r by m ea ns of th e spiritu a l

or astral ear These spiritu al sense organs function in
.
-

a spiritual wo rld ( and of course serve the spiritual

body when w e die as our physical organs now se rv e us )
a nd operate on th e spirit plane of acti vity If their .

use is not cul tivated in precisely th e right direction ,

it may l ead to di fficulti es for the reason that both the

,

astral a nd spiritual sig ht may be used at th e same timc ,

they may becom e mixed up and you may see tw o worlds ,

at once instead of one so that you cannot be sure when

,

you go outs ide th e door wh ether you are going to step

 CLAIR V OYANCE 123

on the pavement or into a great ditch both of which you ,

see equally clearly before y ou Many persons have got .

into this condition which takes some tim e to outg row .

“ ”
2 The Spiritu al Influ ence T h eory
. A ccording to .

this th eory c lai rvoyance is accomplished not by means

of the subjects ow n unaided pow ers but always through
’
,

the instrum enta lity of a spirit who sees the distant

’
scenes etc and impresses th em upo n th e subjects mind
,

TUBES, T HOU G HT -
FORMS AND DIRECT PERCEP TION
“ ”
3 . Astral T ube T h eory
Th e A ccording to this .

vi ew th e clairvoyant co nstructs a sort of telescope or

,
“ ”
tub e for h imself out of astral matter and through ,

this he looks Th e figum in this case, always appear

.
,

small and far c m

4
-
,
“
. By the Creation of a T houg ht Form On this .

theory we crea te a though t form for ourselves in the

,

locality w e desire t o visit a nd uti lize it for the purpos e

,

of observatio n ; w e look out of its eyes hear with its ,

ca rs, etc .
“
5 The Direct Perception Theo ry
. This th eory .

says that outside influences play no pa rt in th e ph e

nom erm but that we perceive distant scenes ourselv es
, ,

by means of some process of self proj ection But h ere -

.

w e are met with th e diE culty that if the psychic is

absent vi ewing the distant sce ne how can he also be
, ,

present in the room animating h is own body and speak

,

ing through it as he undoubtedly does in many cases ?

Most psy chics wh en th ey begin their d ev elopm ent
, ,

see shapes and figures more frequently than they experi

ence any other p h enomena T hey wonder w hy this .
124 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

sh ould be Why should n early all of us see ? ( N ow

.

and the n it is tru e w e com e across one who hears more

, ,

easi ly than sees but h e is the exception not th e rule )

, , .

“
w a r AND now w e ass IN su mm on s es
T he explanation of this fact is probably the follow
ing : W e use our eyes more than w e do any oth er one
of o ur senses W e feel that our ac tiv e co nsciousness
.

is more co nnected with sight than with a nythi ng else .

Th e sight c entr es in th e brain a re more used tha n any

-

of th e others and this fact is proved by dreams in

, ,

which we see figures but very seldom h ear spoken words .

A gain our memory consists mostly of visual symbols I f .

w e think of a perso n w e call up his image before us ,

“ ”
this being a memory ima ge N ow as these parts of
.
,

th e mind a nd brain a re so activ e it is only an exten ,

sio n o f this faculty of induc ing m emory images whi c h -

,

enables us to see obj ects and figur es in clai rvoyance .

W e only hav e to force this faculty of the mind a little

more th an usual to ca rry it beyo nd th e limitations of
physica l sense ; wh ereas with the oth er senses much less
, ,

used w e have to do a great deal more of this culti vating

,

or forcing process in o rder to develop th e correspondi ng

-
,

spiritual organs C lairv oyance and similar faculties de

.

pend in many cases u pon th e parti al liberation or free

ing of th e spirit from th e body and th e stimulation of
,

th e correspo nding psychic sense o rgans into a high er -

deg ree o f activity and so pe rmitting their use The

, .

followi ng are a few ex ercises whi ch will be found h elpful

in developing this f acu lty of clairvoyance according to ,

o ur m ethods of d evelopm ent .

1 26 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

ultimately achiev e success being abl e , to infl uence per

sons without doubt .

“
c om mu n e s
”
111m now re use rr

This ability to influence a distant person or object by

means of your will wh en directed toward h im has been
, ,

t ermed a polarization because you polarize a path

,

or chan nel th rough th e astral atmosph ere toward the

desired point and this cha nnel fac ilitat es psychic com
,

m uni ca tion in both directions A great deal d ep ends .

,

during th ese experim ents upon your abi lity to h old the
,

object clea rly in your mind s ey e and to conce ntrate ’

u po n it If you do not do this your efiorts wi ll be lost

.
, ,

si nce you wi ll find th ere are a great many astral cur

rents playing to and fro which tend to disintegrate
, ,

your own curre nts set up by you and unl ess these ,

are strong you will not succeed in overcoming the astral

“
cross currents .

In co nducting these experiments you must be sure,

mpeci ally at fi rst always to keep your consciousness
,

cent red in your own body and not to let it go outward ,

into space along with your thought ; your will alone

m ust trav el outward ; you must keep your consc iousnem
withi n your ow n p hysical body If you do not do th is .

you will b e apt to get into trouble Your starti ng point .

-
,
“
your focal centre as it is called,
must always be ,

maintained .

I n dev elop ing clairvoy ance you should rem ember that
faith and be li ef tend to open up your late nt pow ers and
f aculties whi l e disbeli ef has th e cont rary efiect of clos
,

ing them and shutting 06 all furth er developm ent .

This is tru e in all li nes of psychic unfoldment .

Clai rvoyance is a fa culty possessed by th e whole hu

 C LAI RVOY AN CE 1 27

man rac e in varying d egrees and th ere are indi catio ns ,

that wi th each generati on its power is becoming greater

,

a nd great er so that the tim e will doubtless come when

,

ev ery one wi ll see clai rvoyantly just as w e now see with

our o rdi nary eyes I n fa ct the possession of strong

.
,

intuitio ns and sentime nts sensing th e feeli ngs and emo

,

tions of others etc are but undeveloped clairvoyant

, .
,

flash es giving you an insight into the mind of the

,

perso n with wh o m you a re conversing .

FA CTO RS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF C LAIBVOY ANC B

C onc entra tio n is an important factor in the cu lti

vati on of clairvoya nce You must train your mind
.

so that you can think of a particul ar object for several

mi nutes withou t relaxing or all o wi ng any oth er thought
to ent er your consciousness You must practise gazing .

at an obj ect until you can do this for two or three

mi nut es without moving your eyes and without fatigue .

You should cultivate deep breathing exercises and dur -

,

ing inspiration think that you are drawing on the vital

,

energy of th e univ erse while with each breath you exh a le

,

you are throw ing ofl any adverse influ ences which may
have come to you .

“ ”
V isualizing is an important factor in d eveloping
cl ai rvoyance You should get into th e habit of calling
.

up before your mind a face you have seen or a sce ne you

hav e witnessed that day trying to remember every detail
,

and making it clearer and clearer unti l you have every

’
d etail clear in your m ind s ey e You should th en en .

deavour to proj ect it ou tward into space as though you ,

w ere seeing th ese pictures outside your head as real

entities and not merely as mem ory pictura
, .

C rystal gazing etc will greatly help in th is

-
, .
, .
1 28 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

HOW DISTINGUISH TR UE FROM FALSE

One quest ion which always presents itself to the mind
“
of the stud ent is this : H ow ca n I distinguish the
true from th e false real clai rvoyant visions from m em ory
,

pictures and hallucinations ? ”

It is extrem eL
y difii cul t
to do this particul arly for th e beginner and this ability
, ,

to d istinguish comes o nly with prolo nged practice a nd

experi ence A lady of my acquaintance has all h er
.

life been enabled to distinguish betw een phantasmal

figures of th e living a nd those of th e d ead That is .
,

sh e co uld t ell by loo king at th e figure wheth er it repre

sented a living or a dea d person A ga in sh e w as al .

ways able to t ell w hether this was a genuine or h elpful

intelligence or whether it was an evil or lying one .

This ability to disti nguish ca nnot be gai ned in a day ,

it must com e by practise and th e beginni ngs o f genuine

,

clairvoyance can only be asc erta ined by expe riment and

by following up th e visions and figures which appear
to one and see whether th ey lea d to anythi ng definite in
,

the way of progress and enlightenm ent or not .

As to the various symbols a nd colours wh ich appear

to th e clairvoyant th ese should b e int erpret ed accordi ng
,

to th e rules laid down in Chapters XI and XI I devo ted ,

to th ese su bjects C la irvoya nce in dreams w ill be dis

.
.

cussed in the next ch apt er .

A few words in co nclusion as to th e theory of clair

,

4
voyance : It will be remembered that I enum erated be
fore ( pp 1 1 7 2 ) the various th eori es w hich have be en
.
-

advanced to explain Clairvoyance the astral sense theory

,
-
,

tlw direct vision theory etc Our own view of th e ma tter

,
.

is tha t all of the explanations p reviously proposed are

1 30 YOUR P SYCHIC POWE R S

there is no in for all we see but

,

is not su ch an advanc ed typ e of clai rvoyance as

th e former in whi ch th e psychi c sel f l ea ves th e body
, ,

and goes on tri ps and ex cursions of its own .

 CHA PTER XV
D RE A M S

DREA MS usually ta ke place duri ng sleep though there ,

is a peculiar fo rm o f imagi native picturing w hich may

occu r som etim es during th e waking hours and whi ch w e
“ ”
call day dreami ng
-
O f th w e I shall treat in another
.

place Sp eaking first of ordinary dreams I may be

.
,

g in by pointi n g o ut that before we

, can u nderstand
th em w e must know a littl e of the nature and ph enomena
,

of sleep in which th ey occur W e all spend about one

.

third of our liv es in sleep so that this is a conditi on

,

whi c h w e sho uld certainly know something about if we

possibly can !

WH AT m SLEEP ?
Various theori es have been advanced in the past to
explai n sl eep but no satisfacto ry th eory has ever been
,

“
fully accept ed Th us w e hav e the ao called ch emical
.
-

”
th eori es whi ch endeavour to account for sl eep by as
,

sum ing that certa in poiso nous subst ances are formed

in th e body during waking hours a nd are elimi nated

during sl eep Others have suggested that sleep is due
.

to peculiar conditions of the circu lation o f blood in th e

brain ; sti ll others that the actio n o f certain glands
explains sl ee p ; oth ers that muscular relaxation ac cou nts

fo r it ; oth ers that the l ack of exte rnal stimuli is sufi

ci ent to induce profou nd slumb er A ll of these theori es
.

have been shown insc i ent to explain th e facts W e .

shall nev er arriv e at a satisfactory theory of sleep ,

doubtless until we admit th e presence of a vital force
,

13 1
1 32 YOUR PSYC H IC POWE RS

and th e existe nce of an indi vidual huma n spirit whi c h

.
,

withdraws more or less completely from th e bo dy during

th e h o urs of sleep and d eriv es spiritual i nvigoratio n
,

a nd no u rishm ent duri ng its sojourn in th e spiritual

world W e shall spea k of th is more fully presently

. .

THE SEVEN COMMO N M A ME

For the present w e must explai n to beg in w ith the , ,

c omm o n typ es of dreams a nd sh o w h ow th ey are to be

,

acco unt ed for

T h ere a re sev en typ es of dreams whi ch it is said , ,

ev erybody experi ences at one tim e or another in his

Th ese are
1 Th e falling dream
.
,

2 Th e fly i ng dream
.
,

4
3 The dream of inad eq uate cloth ing
.
,

Th e d ream of not being abl e to get away from

.

som e beast or injurious perso n or thi ng that is

pursuing.
5 Th e dream of be i ng drawn i rr esistibly to som e
.

da ngero us place ,

6 Th e dr eam that som e d arling wish has been g rati

.

fied ,
7 . Th e dream of bei ng about to go on a j ourney a nd
being u nabl e to get your th ings into your tru nk ,

etc .

Som e of these dreams a re to be explained in one way ,

som e in anoth er ; but bro adly spe aki ng it may be said ,

that all ord inary dreams su ch as the abo ve or oth ers

, ,

of a lik e type are due to one of three causes :

,

1 Physica l stimul i
.
,

2 Subconscious m ental associatio n

.
,

3 Subconscious imagina tion

. .
13 4 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

a si mation m y be it nev er seems so to us until w e are

aw ak e and able to reason over it Th e cu rious m edley .

of thoughts com posing most dreams p resents a striking ,

m emb lance to the ravings of deli rium and i nsanity a nd ,

various m edica l authors have writt en books aimin g to ,

show th e close simil arity between dreams a nd such insane

“ ”
wanderings .

It has been shown of lat e years that almost all dreams

, , ,

ho w ever illogical th ey may appear a re in reality more ,

or less co nsist ent and that a logical strai n or under

,

c urrent may be found runni ng throu gh them if they ,

are analysed and exami ned carefully eno ugh Th e cel e .

b rated D r F reud of V i enna has work ed out an elaborate

.

system of dream i nterpreta tion based on his exploration

-
,

of th e su bconscious mind and those who may be in ,

“ ”
terested may consult h is recent work on D reams .

H e traces most dreams to early ch ildhood impressions ,

and beli ev es that th ey express as a rul e suppressed , ,

wish es which have slumbered in the subconscious mind

“ ”
of th e dream er and are exte rnalized in this form .

D reams have in fact been compared to the bubbl es

, ,

whi ch break upon th e surface of a pond of water In .

both casm th ey hav e risen upwards through the lower

strata a nd we see th e finish ed product only What gave .

rise to this ? This is a subject for further invmtigati on .

now ro ANALYSE oc ea n s
If you wish to ascertai n th e causes o f ce rtain dreams ,

you may often do so in th e follo w i ng ma nner :

Place your subject who w ish es his dream a nalysed
, ,

in a comforta bl e c h air seated in a qui et room in semi

,

darkness Set go ing a m etro nom e or ask him to list en

.

to th e tick of a large clock W hil e d o ing this certai n

.
 D RE AMS 1 35

images and impressions will arise b efore his mi nd Ask .

him to tell you what th ese a re As soo n as h e has done .

so qu estio n him as to th e o rigin of these etc and by

, , .
, ,

co nt inu ed questioni ng ( going deep er all the time into

his mi nd ) you will ultimat ely find out the origin of
his dream An exampl e will p rov e this
.

A lady of our acquai nta nce went into hyst erics ev ery
time sh e sm elled plum puddi ng ! She could not account
-

fo r this One night sh e had a dream in which sh e saw

.

h erself cooking puddi ng in th e kitchen and woke up ,

in a great stat e o f fear a nd excit ement Analysis o f .

this dream show ed that when she was a littl e girl she ,

had been left alo ne in the kitch en while puddi ng was

cooking and that th e puddi ng had burnt and n early set
,

the ho use on fire She sa w hersel f running from the

.

kitc hen and screaming As soon as th is was discovered.

she no lo nger experi enced an fea r or u npl easant se nsa

y
tions while smelling any kind of pudd ing ; sh e was in ,

fact complet ely cu r ed ! Th e subconsci ous fear had been

,

removed and its evil efiects ceased .

Many similar fears which t errorize ou r dreams and

,

cause nightmare could be shown to b e due to these early

,

c h ildish impressions w ere w e t o analys e carefully enough

,

such dreams .

Th e main characteristi c o f nearly all dreams is their

sym bolism Of all our experi ences dreams a re doubt
.
,

less th e m ost symboli c T h ey represent c erta in wish es

.
,

desi res em oti o ns thoughts etc which fill the subc on

, , ,
.
,

scious m ind a nd which becom e associat ed t oge th er f o rm

, ,

“ ”
ing what are kno wn as compl exes Th ese thou ghts .
,

as they becom e ext ernalized are presented in symbolic ,

1 36 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

w hy this shoul d be so we do not exactly know but some,

w ho deal a great deal in c olour, experienc e dreams

a rtists,

in w hich all th e cha racten are cloth ed in gorgeous a nd

h ighl y coloured roha . This, however, is th e except ion ,

dreams ? W e very sel dom hm either music or spoken

conversation Wo rd s are more m e thanpictura
. The .

reason for this is p robab ly tha t we use our ey es more

and for this reason the visua l images are mo re easily

ex p remed than th e auditory sy mbo ls. Sm elL taste a nd

touch are even mo re rare factors in dreams th a n hea ri ng .

Many persons experience peculiar visions while falling

to slee p . Th ey see h undreds of tiny faces before them
in th e dark, which may eond ense into one, and this
becomes large r and larger and finally vanish es , etc .

On the oth re hand, drea m p ictures

~
or i mages may

called
a re persist ent
d e m imag r aThus D r Aber es. , .
~

crombie m entions an instance of a medi ca l fri end of his ,

 138 Y O UR PSYC H IC POWERS
“
I must now speak of superconscious dreams in ,

wh ich w e are brought into contac t w ith a higher plane of

life and ac tivity in th e sam e way that w e a re in co ntact
with a low er plane during many o f our ord inary dreams .

W hen this happens w e expe ri enc e so c all ed, sup er -

”
normal drea ms of which the following are typ es

1 . The
t elepa thi c dream in w hich tel epathy occurs
,

during sleep between a distant living mind a nd th e

sleeping mi nd of th e subj ect Informatio n is th ereby .

imparted which th e sl ee per could not possibly have

,

known For instance in one case the sleeper s broth er

.
, ,
’

app eared to him and notified hi m of his ow n recent acci

dent whic h proved to be t rue In another case the .

sl eeper dreamed that a fri end of his told h im something

w hi c h also pro v ed to be true etc These a re ao called ,
.
-

t el epathi c dreams .

2 Cl airvoyant d reams in which th e subject sees dis

.

tant scen es and his vision suMequently proves to be

tru e In su ch cases th e dream er apparently leaves his
.
,

body and travels to the locality in question .

3 Premo nitory dreams in which a vision of th e futu re

.

is obtai ned I n a few days w eeks or mo nths as th e

.
, ,

case may be t h is dream vision is fulfilled to th e l ett er

4
-
.
,

. Spi rit Com munica tion during dreams in which a

-

discarnat e spirit appare ntly app ears a nd gives a messa ge

to the sl eeper eith er o f c o nso lati on or perhaps tells
, ,

him an importa nt it em of news which he should know .

In ca se of this c h aract er w e bord er very closely up o n

th e medium tranc e a nd tru e mediumship
-
I n rare cases .
,

communication has appa re ntly been established in this

manner .
 D RE AM S 139

W ALLY INDUCED a
p g an s

It is pomible to i nduce t el epathic dreams experim ent

‘

ally in an o th er and you will find it most i nteresti ng

,

to endeavour to do this or to serve as th e subject for

,

oth ers who endeavour to induce certain dreams i n you

duri ng your sleeping hours .

I n such cases th e sl eeper has only to describe as care

ful ly as possib le his dreams on awakeni ng T hose who .

endeavour to impress the dreams upon him must pict ure

i n their minds a clearly fo rmed seri es of images al

- —
l owi ng these to float before them in space endeavouring ,

to impress each one in turn upon the sleeper by the

power of wi ll A ft er a littl e pract ice these ex perim ents
.

will oft en be fou nd to succeed .

It is possibl e to co ntrol our own dreams to a certain ,

extent if w e d esire to d o so T hus on falling to sl eep

,
.
, ,

you m y wi ll that you ex perien ce dreams of a certain

charact er and if you set abou t it rightly you ca n obtain
,

th m in ma ny i nstances H el p is frequ ently given in

.

this w ay I know of sev eral cases in which a subject

.

has fallen to sl ee p aft er mentall y sugg esti ng to h erse lf

that she woul d receive enlightenm ent help and cou nsel ,

through her dreams co nc erning the dimcult probl ems of

her daily li fe I n practically ev ery case this was given
.
,

tho ugh often in som ew hat symbolic form I f this were .

cultivated it would prov e a useful adj unct to our daily

,

W O DRE AH S

Anot her good experim ent wh ich the interested pupil

,

should make would be to endea vour to catch hi mself

,

falli ng asl eep that is to analyse th e gradual low of

, ,

consciousnem in his own person whi c h occ urs as h e is

 4
1 0 Y OUR PSYCHI C POWE RS

falling into sleep Some peopl e can catch th emselves in

.

this way and others cannot Those who are wid e awake
.

one mi nute and asl eep th e next will probably neve r

make first c lam mediums T hose who linger in the bor

.

derland th e longest are those who are natural ly most

,

psychic .

Another test is that of rememb ering dreams If you .

can rem emb er clearly a large pe rcentage of your dr eams ,

y ou a re probably quite psychic On the oth er hand

.
,

if you remember not h ing that has occ urred du ri ng

sl eep you a re more or l ess matt er of fac t and unl ess
,
- -
, ,

you are the exception probably will not attai n a ny

,

very gr eat dev elo pm ent along psychic li nes It is nu .

wise however to cultivate to too great an extent this

, ,

habit of rem embering your dreams If y ou d o you .

,

will thin th e wal l which separat es your dream e from -

“ ”
yo ur waking life a nd if this becomes perforated
-
, ,

troubl e may result K eep th e two distinct therefore

.
, ,

after your first initi al experiments at introspec tion and

 4
1 2 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

ever way is most convenient to you should be adopted

in cultivating automatic writing .

M ake th e mind as blank as pomib le After a tim e you

.

may be able to think of other things at th e same t im e ,

carry on a trai n of conversation read a book etc at

, , .
,

th e sam e time that your ha nd is w riti ng the m essages ;

but it is improbabl e that you will be able to do this at
first The chief thing is to make th e mind blank and
.

await results .

TWO IMPORTANT ULE TO FOLLO W

R

Wh en developing automatic writing you should sit ,

for no t longer than fifteen or tw enty minutes daily and ,

if possibl e alw a ys a t the some time It is very impor

, .

tant that these two rules be obse rved fo r two r easo ns ,

I n th e first place y our spirit fri ends wh o are we are , ,

told trying to h elp you in your writing would come to

, ,

assist you at certain stat ed tim es more easily than irreg u

larly especially if you told them exactl y at what tim e
,

to come It is a good plan to say aloud just when you

.
,
“
have finished the writing : Good by e tomorrow at th e
-
,
”
sam e tim e w e w ill sit again for the messages !
I n th e second plac e the ti m e should be li mited Wh en .

y ou obtai n writing of this ch a ract e r you a re apt to get

so interested in the resu lts when once m essages begin to
,

com e and so c urious in seeing what your hand says

, ,

that you wi ll lose all account of time and if you have, ,

noth ing urgent to do are liabl e to run on hour aft er

,

hour writing automatically and replying t o the mem es

you rec eive If yo u do this for any l ength of time you
.

”
will break down th e wall of defence which normally
e xi sts against outsid e i nflu enc es a nd of th e importanc e
,
 A UTOMA TIC WRITI NG 4
1 3

of wh ich I hav e spoken so oft en in th e preceding

chapte rs Mr W T Stead th e w ell known journalist
. . . .
,
-

and spiritualist once stated tha t h e consid ered th ese

,

two warn ings of th e utmost impo rtance a nd att ributed ,

his own suc cess ( a nd the fact that he had nev er en

count ered any dific ul ties or any troubl e in h is automati c
writing ) to th e fac t that he had heed ed strictly this
advice .

HOW A UTOMA TIC WRITING IS A CCOMPLISHED

A ut o mati c writing is doubtl ess pe rfo rm ed by th e sub
conscious muscular acti on on th e part of th e hand and
arm o f the writ er tha t is in th e maj o rity of cases But
,
.

“ ”
this does not serv e to explain it as ma ny people ,

beli eve G ranting that th e actual writing is obtained

.

“
in this way th e qu estion remains
,
H ow about the
i nformation which is oft en obtained by means of t he
writi ng information which th e writ er could not possibly
,
”
have known by any no rmal means ? F or instance ,

suppose you are sitting at your tabl e penc il in hand , ,

“
waiting to see what is written Your hand writes : . I
am J am es Valenti ne I was killed in a railroad accident
.

t h is a ft ernoon at four o clock G ranting that your

’
.

own hand actually moved th e pencil to write this m es

sa ge w h er e did this piece of information com e from !
,

How did your mind know what to write a nd the fact ,

tha t Jam es V alentine had been kill ed ? T hat is th e qu es

ti on which remains to b e solved a nd is th e one which ,

th e majority of sci enti sts wh o hav e u nd ertaken to in

v est iga te and explai n these phen omena slur ov er and

leave altogether un explained I n many other cases also

.
, ,

th e po w er seems to be greater than the medium alone

1 4
4 YOUR PSYC H IC PO WERS

could hav e produce d and in such cases an outside pow er

,

was doubtl ess em woy ed as in ma ny physical pheno

“
,
”
m ena .

THE CH AR ACTER O F THE W A ESG ECEIVED

R

Many o f th e m essages you receive espec ially at first , ,

w ill d o ubtless prov e incoh erent and disco nnected lik e ,

dreams ; in fact th ey a re dreams only instead of seei ng ,

th ese thoughts in v isions th ey are written out by your

,

ow n hand In both cases however it is your dream

.
, ,

consciousness ( subc onsciousnem ) which originat es th e

messages or th e visions .

In many cm h o w ev er clea r and co nsist ent messages

, ,

are writ ten and th ese may b e su pe rno rmal a nd sh o w

evid ence of telepa thy clai rvoyance premonitio n or

, , ,

Sp irit com m u ni ca ti on
o
just as dreams do Ma ny m e
, .

d iums obtain thei r messages direct by automatic writing .

Mrs Pi per of Boston in many w ays the most fam ous

.
,

medium in th e history of Psych ics obtained nearly all ,

h er communicati o ns in this manner In h er c ase sh e .

,

passes into v ery deep t rance whil e writing a nd has t o

be suppo rted by cushions I n your own case it is im
.
,

robabl that you will in to tranc at fi rst — th o ugh

p e go e ,

you may have a t end ency to do so and if you begin to ,

feel sl eepy or drowsy during th e writi ng you should ,

giv e w ay to this and allow yourself t o pass into the

tran ce condi tion In this stat e m y of th e best m es
-
.

sa ges are obtained It is advisabl e however to do this

.
, ,

for th e first f ew tim es only in th e presence of a n experi

enced medium or psychic who ca n att end to y o u d uring
,

th e pe riod of tranc e and who will ask questio ns for

,

your hand to reply to, etc .

 4
1 6 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

clai m to give them On th e oth er ha nd many of them

.
,

are foolish lyi ng or merely sill y so that h ere as i n

, , ,

all oth er cases discriminatio n must b e used

, and you ,

must ex ert your own commons ense and judgment in th e

matter of accepting th ese messages and you must see ,

to what extent you may be willing to abide and profit

by th e advice gi ven .

It somet imes happens that automa tic w riting forms

l etters but these appear cu riously shaped and th e words
,

cannot be read ; sometimes it begi ns at th e right hand

si de of th e age a nd writes toward th e l eft lik e H ebrew
p
.
,

Wh en this is th e case it is always a good pla n to hold

th e sheet of paper up to a mirror to see wheth er th e
wri ti ng ca n be rea d m th is way If so the writing has
.
,
“
been m erely rev ersed and is what w e term mirror
,

Some p ersons ca n writ e wi th the l eft hand as well

as with th e right but usually this is not th e case except
, ,

with l eft handed perso ns Th e reason seems to be that

-
,

t h e l eft hand is poorly developed as a writi ng machi ne .

F or this reason w e can hardly expect any intellig ence

my
,

w ho a desire to give m essages, to find this an easy

way of expressi ng th em ! Still it may be tried after writ
ing has been obtained by th e ri ght h and .

O cca sio nally m essages a re giv en in forei gn languages

or in qu eer to ngues u nknown to th e sitt er T h ese inay
,
.

be genui ne m essages a nd if th ey com e in a language

unknown to you you may be more or l ess assured that
,

th ey ema nat e from som e spirit fri end wh o speaks t h e

language in qu estio n O ccasi onally however yo ur hand
. , ,

“
will write gibberish and th ere a re ma ny cases o n
,

record wh er e this has been do ne and no true language

h as been written .
 A UTOMA TIC WRI T ING 4
1 7

HOW TO DEVELOP THE POWER

It is a good plan to sit in a semi darke ned room whil e o

obtaini ng automatic writing in a comfortable position ,

a nd w ith the mi nd as free from ca rs and preoccupatio n

as possibl e A utomatic writing may howev er be oh

.
, ,

ta ined in a l ight room if desired , .

T elepa thic experim ents may be tried in this manner

A fri end of y o urs may try to impress upon you certain
words cards figures etc whi ch your hand writes auto
, , ,
.
,

ma tica lly .

The writ ing y ou must rem ember is only another

, ,

method fo r the subco nscious to express itself to the con

scious mi nd and happens to be a motor ch a nnel rath er
,
-

than a sensory chann el If it were th e latt er you woul d

-
.
.

see or hear th e m essag e inst ead of writing it In both .

“
cases h owever the phenomena represent mere emer
, ,

genes .

It is not necessary to writ e automatica lly with a penc il,

for a Pla nchette Board O uija Board or some oth er ap
-
,
-

paratus may be used for this purpose Indeed this is .

,

a mu ch simpl er m ethod to begin wit h and writing is ,

obta ined more easily than by the pe ncil alon e Mon .

peopl e find it more satisfactory h owever to discard , ,

th ese instruments lat er on a nd employ th e pencil direct,

.

The abo ve rul es should enabl e th e student to obtain

automati c writing in a comparati vely short time .

Pa tience is required h ere as elsewh ere H old the mind .

in a rec eptive attitud e send out a m ental call for guid

,

ance and w isdo m a nd do not com e to th e conclusion too

,

quickly that th e messag es you rec eive are nonsense .

Often a jumbl e of letters that at fi rst sigh t mea n noth , ,

ing may fo rm a very significant message when rightly

. ,

interpreted .
 C HA PTER XV II
c av ern s u -
ms AND SHE LL HE AR IN G -

Cum a u o azm s m eans simply th e practice of looki ng

, ,

into a ball o f crystal glam o r some sim ila r substance

,

and endeavouri ng to see withi n it pictures o r imag es

whic h appare ntly prese nt themselves to th e eye whil e ,

thus gazing at it .

Crystal G azi ng is v ery anc i ent Th e E gyp tians used

-
.

it in their practices of divination and throughout , ,

anci ent history w e find traces o f this magical art I n

, .

the middl e ag es it w as revived esp ecially by the l earned

-
,

D r D ee who lived in th e rei gn of Q u een E liza beth in

.
,
“ ”
E ngland and who employed a seer o r scry er by th e
,

nam e of K elly D r Dee wrote a book on his researches

. .
,

which work is now classical .

In m ore recent tim es Crystal G azi ng has been mad e -

a subject of special study by th e Psychi cal Re search

Soci ety and sev eral books may now b e had upon the
question It is a very simpl e and at the sam e tim e one
.

of th e safest means of psyc hi c d evelopm ent It is not .

nec essary as a matt er o f fact t o employ a c rystal or

, ,

even a gl ass ba ll parti cu larly if you a re a good subj ect

~
, ,

but it would greatly h elp matt ers if you di d possess

one a nd w e sh o uld advis e th e stud ent t o procure one
,

if possible and use this for purp oses of exper im entation .

HOW TO BEG IN
T he best w ay to begin is to procure a crystal of at
least three i nch es in diam et er larger if pomible a nd
4
, ,

1 8
1 50 YOUR PSYCHIC P O WERS

ing and for th e sam e length of time eac h day Th is .

ti me may be l engt h ened as you p rogrem though it is ,

usually found unnecemary to look into the crystal for

more than a f ew minut es at a time fo r you c annot get ,

consistent, long drawn ou t visions as you can Automatic

- -
,

EXPLANATION O F CRYST AL—

M G

C rystal G azing depends largely upo n the ability pos

-

“ ”
sessed by the w ch ic to visualize or express in pic
torial form thoughts and images which arise from the
,

subconscious mi nd Th e majority of cryst al visions a re

.

of thi s chara ct er You must not assume that because

.

you see figures in the ball that these figures a re reall y

in that pla ce that is that they are obj ectiv e or ext ernal
-
,

—
and exist withi n the crystal No th ey a re m enta l .
,

pictures or hallucinations but they are exp ressed or

,

ext ernalized in th is way .

F or exampl e : Y ou may thi nk of a fri end s fac e and ’

bri ng it up vividl y before your mi nd s ey e as a m emory ’

,

picture N ow in o rdinary life th e pro cess o f exter

.
, ,

nal iza tion ends there but if y o u a re a good visualizer

,

y o u ca n ca rry it furth er a nd actually proj ect i nto th e

,

crystal the picture of your thought placing it in the ,

ball where yo u w ill see your fri en d s face clearly re

,
’

fiected fro m w ithin its depths But your fri end is not .

really in th e ball ; it is merely your m ental co nception

or picture of h im N early all crystal visions are of this
.

character as b efore said

, .

SUPERNO RM AL CR YSTAL VISION S

Crystal visions howev er oft en contai n information
, ,

a nd messag es which th e sitter could not possibly ha ve

 CRYST AL GAZI NG-
151

known no rmally and which are co nveyed to him by

,

this means F or instance you may look into th e ball

.
,

one day and see acted before you in the crystal visio n
,
-
,

a tragedy in which some fri end of yours plays a part .

You know noth ing whatever about th is y et later on you ,

receive from this fri end a letter telling you of the de ,

tails of th e tragedy in question Your visi on has proved

.

”
correct It is auth entic a nd supernormal in char
.

act er Thus you wi ll see that crystal visions are more

.
-

than mere empty visio ns or halluci nations The char .

acter and content of these pictures often convey striking

informati on and they may be telepathic clairvoyant or ,

— —
p remo nit o ry just as dreams are or th ey may rep re
, ,

sent genuine spirit messages co nveyed from ,

deceased fri end or relativ e It is no unknown thi ng

.

to see words written in the ba ll as though y ou were

reading handw riting A fri end of mine once looked
.

i nt o h er crystal ball and saw withi n it a new spaper

noti ce of the death of h er d earest friend She was .

totally ignorant o f th e fact and o nly lea rned it lat er

on T his same lady who is a w riter has th e power of
.
,

proj ecting or placing in the crystal at will figures or , ,

scenes which she conjures up befor e her and when they

a re in th e ball th ey will co nti nue acti ng out th e pa rts
,

assigned to th em just as th ey w o uld in a dream for

,
— ,

th e fi gures seen in th e crystal are not i nert and motion

less but move about and appear to have life and motion
,

of th eir ow n On many occasions wh en this lady placed

.

th e c harac t ers of a no v el sh e was wri ting into the cryst al

by an effort of will sh e was e nabled to see th em th ere
, ,

and they frequentl y ena cted certai n sc enes which gave

h er a good idea for th e conti nuation of th e plot of the
story !
1 52 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

such a case you will see crystal gazing performed

In , ,
-

a v ery useful and p ractical service .

HOW TO DEVELO P T HE POWER

You may develop the power of visualizing in your
self which 13 extrem ely im m tant by such simpl e 1magi
,
r ,

” ”
dog ! Was Jack the G iant kill er dark or fair ?
,
-
,
”
Was H el en of Troy tall o r small and sl end er ?
, Such
’
qu estions as these should bring up before your mind s
ey e an immediat e ans w er in th e form of a m ental pic

ture of the perso n or event in qu estio n and if th ey do ,

not do so yo u may be su re that your power of visualizing

,

is not good and will hav e to be devel o ped before you

can hav e clear crystal visions If your power o f visu aliz
.

ing is extrem ely good you wi ll probably be enabled ,

after a certai n length of tim e t o disp ense with th e ,

ball altogeth er and see your visi ons upon a whit e or

,

black background by concentrating upo n it and final ly

, ,

anywh er e in space that you may choose to induce th em .

When you have arriv ed at this stag e of d ev elopm ent ,

howev er you are v ery far along th e path o f successful

,

mediumship !

CLOUDING AND V ISU ALIZ AI ION

' '

If you are to obtain crystal visions you will pr o bably

no tic e that just b efo re th e vision app ears th e ball w ill
, ,

c loud ov er as thou gh a blackish grey mist w ere fi l ling

it o r w ere int erpo

, betw een your ey es and it This .

“ ”
c loudin g as it is c al led is well known and is a sym p
, ,

t o m of oncomi ng visi o ns .

If aft er sitting for five minutes every day for a couple

,
154 YOUR PSYCH IC POWERS

A s in th e case o f Crystal Gazing D reams and A uto

-
,
“
matic W riti ng Sh ell H earing is a m ethod of exte r
-
,
-

”
nal izing o r exp ressi ng in out w ard fo rm th e thoughts
, ,

a nd audit ory messages of the subco nscious mind But .

th ey may b e more th an th is Th ey may at times em

.

body t elepathic clairvoyant or premonito ry messages

, ,

or they may rep rment genuine spirit communi cati on .

It all depends on the content o f th e message and upo n ,

the charac ter of the w ord spoken, just as in Planchett e

W riting If you obtain a j umble of nonsense yo u may
.

b e sure that it is th e p roduct of yo ur ow n subc onscious

activity but if you obtain a charact eristi c a nd d irect
,

m emage you may hav e reaso n to beli ev e it emanates

,

from the friend it purports to proceed from In Sh ell .

H earing it is the sam e .

If the messages are nonsensical th ey should be dis

regarded ; if on th e oth er hand th ey are i nt eresting ,

clear cut and are prov ed to be correct you should regard

-
,

th em as possibly genuine m ediumisti c messag es and th ey

should be judged and valu ed by you accordingly .

I n all cases of this character h ere as elsewh ere you

, ,

must use your own critical judgment and common sense -

upon the m essages you receiv e Sh ell H earing is cer

.
-

ta inly one of th e cl earest at the sam e tim e one of th e

,

most pl easant methods of r eceiving communicati ons that

ca n be em m oy ed The voices which y ou h ear may be
.

recognizable or unrecognizabl e It is the fo rmer that

.

a re a good proof of auth enticity They may develop .

by th emselv es or em erge from a confused babbl e of

sound U nrecognized voices will often utter w arnings
.

or convey information of this characte r H uman voices .

 CRYST AL GAZIN G
-
1 55

a re notalways h eard in th e shell but occa siona l musical

,

and oth er so unds w hi c h c an not easi ly be described .

F inally a n important warning should be h eeded If

,
.

“
after discontinuing Shell H eari ng you continue to h ear
-
,
”
voices you sh o uld imm ediately drop all experiments for
“ ”
some days as this phenomenon of insist ent voices
,

is one of th e first symptoms of danger As long as .

t h e manifest ati o ns are w ell controll ed you may feel

,

that you are on the safe road and developing as you

,

shoul d ; but if th ey begin to get beyond your control ,

you shoul d stop Sh ell H earing for some tim e until you
-
,

have strength ened yo ur inner self to such an extent

, ,

that you think it ad visable to continue experimenting

again in this di rection.
 CHAPT E R XV III
SPI RI TU AL HE A LIN G

Srmt ruan H ea ling

'
m eans that m entally or physicall y
sick p ersons may be and are h eal ed by th e po w er o f
, ,

a sp iritu al energy operating t h rou gh th e b ody o f a

,

certain m edium o r mo re or l ess directly without h is

, ,

agency It 18 distinct from hyp notism m esmerism mag

.
, ,

netic h ealing faith cure mind cur e o r any oth er ki nd

,
-
,
-
,

o f heali ng whatev er and must not be confused w it h

,

th em A ll th ese oth er curative m ea sures depend upon

.

suggestion or upon the hidden and unknown powers

,

of th e human body to efl ect the cu re But spiritual

'

healing is mo re di rect ; it is not the medium who h eals

in this case but a form of spiritual energy whi c h
, ,

o perates through him .

wu r IS SPIRI TU AL HEALING ?
Spiritual hea ling is efl ected in vario us ways as th e ,

following definitions adopted by th e N ational Sp irit

,

ual ists Am d a tion will sh o w :

’
,

a
( ) By the sp i ritual i nflu ences working through the
body of th e medium and thus infusing curativ e stim u ,

lating and vitalizing fluids and en ergy into th e diseased

parts of th e pati ent s body ’
.

b
( ) By th e spiritual influences illuminat ing th e
brain of the healing medium and th ereby intensifyi ng ,

the pe rcepti o n o f th e m edium so that th e case nature ,

and seat of th e disease in th e patient becom e known to th e

1 56
1 58 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

In th e case of spiri tual healing on the oth er hand , ,

it is very difl erent Vi tal energy is imparted to th e

.

system from without ; it fills th e nerve centres and lit - .

erally adds new life to th e w h ol e body T h ese n erve .

centres being aroused t he vari ous functions of the body

,

a re stimulated in turn and in this manner the patient

,

is cu red .

This vital energy which is impart ed by m eans of

sp iritual healing is a great Cosmic p ower which per ,

vad es the whole Universe It is ev erywh ere ; it is back

.

“
of ev ery ph enomenon : In it w e live and move and
”
have our being It is il limitabl e in extent and in
.

powe r ; w e simply hav e to draw upon it to th e extent

“ ”
we can ; and the more we can draw the more rapidly ,

do w e becom e w ell ; the speedier th e cu re T here is .

”
no reaso n to suppose that if w e could tap this great
,

Reservoir in the right way w e should not becom e well ,

i nstantl y— a nd i ndeed th ere are many cases of this

chara ct er w here apparently this has been donfi ia
, , ,
-

“ ”
stanc es of ao c alled miraculous cures being of this
-

nature . W e must l earn to tap th e source of spiritual

ene rgy ,
and wh en w e have reached this inexhaustible
fo untain then health a nd strength are ours !
,

n am es m
”
ou se

Th e facts of spirit ual healing are as old as hi story .

“ ”
The layi ng on of b ands was one of the most an
ci ent modes of treatm ent and was employed by th e ,

E gypti ans Ch rist empl oyed it frequently When a

. .

“
woman touch ed th e h em of his garm ent and b e per ,
”
ceiv ed that th e virtu e had go ne out of him h e doubt ,
~
 SPIRITUAL HE ALI NG 1 59

lem felt a loss of th e preci ous vital magnet ism by m eans ,

of which he efl ected his marvell ous cur es The h eal ing .

miracl es in th e New Testam ent are full of c ases o f this

charact er ; and in our ow n day w e oft en read of w on
drous cur es efl ected by those who have som ehow learned
,

—
to com e in touch with a Higher Pow er some source
—
o f energy not available to all of na and to draw upon ,
“ ”
it for th e purposes of their heal ing mi racl es .

T o a ce rtain extent doubtless w e draw upon th is

, ,

fund during our slee p ; but it may be dra w n upon in

far larger quantiti es by those who have the secret of
h o w to do so Som e spiritual heal ers ca n do this ; but
.

di scarnat e sp irits ca n apparently direct a nd ma nipulate

this vital en ergy far more effec tively a nd to better pur
pose fo r t he reaso n that living as th ey do in th e world
, ,

—
of spiritual energy th ey und erstand more of its laws
, ,

and ca n better co ntro l and govern th em H ence th ey .

can efl ect a cure v ery often when ev ery other means

, ,

has failed .

POSSIB LE EX PLANATION O F SUCH CURE

Wh ile it is true that most cures d epend upo n this
vita lizing magnetic current it is possibl e that in certa in
,

cases ac tual p hysical transformations are efl ected

, .

T h ere are many cases on record in which actual tissue

has been re plac ed apparently instantaneously by some
, ,

extraordinary mea ns In th ese cases it is pomible that

.
,

the sp iritual energy has actually built up a part of the

body ou t of matter and th e vital forces which were em
,

pl oy d
e
“
—
materialized it in fact and l eft this part
,

of the body whole and sound as before T o those

’

.
,

who beli eve in the rea lity of ma terializatio n — that hu

man bodies of fleah and blood ca n be built up out of
1 60 YOUR PSYCHIC PO W ERS
"
m ib l
vx
x e clem enta— there ia not hm g i nc redi blc
' ' °

in thia
suggesno n. B ut it is only a dva nced as a tentativ e and
’

this great store of energy l If w e a re alone, how effect

a cure w ithi n o urael ves l And if y ou a re a mediu m,

how cultiv ate and develop th e pow er of drawing upon
this Coami c E nerg y, to such an ex tent ma y
tha t cures
efiected by the means o f you r in
'

th ereby bc t hrough or

Let us ta ke th e former question first . We w ill su p

pose y ou are al one, h elp you

w ith no one nea r to .

You dm ire to be h el ped m d cured by sp iritua l mea ns .

What a re you to do i
In th c fl rst plac c , y ou m ust l earn h ow to relaz If .

any influ x of spiritual energy . You shut it out since ,

the re ceptive attitude is th e only one in w hich this energ y

ca n be obtained . So y ou must insure

a ha rd couch with no support for the h ead Relax all

, .

over as completel y as pomib le Then think of your .

neck .You wil l probably find it tense and stifl when ,

ing your hea d on your shoul ders ! —

Relax it allowing
the h ea d to sink into th e couch and support it
. W hen

a nd rela x tha t ; then the left arm,

th en the right leg ,
then th e l eft leg, and flna lly th e w hol e trunk After .

you have encirc led th e body in this w ay tw o or thres

1 62 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

grea t reservo ir o f sp iritu a l enc rg on th e oth er.

I t m uat be adm itted that w e do not kno w exa etly how

this ia done, in th e p resent age of the w orld s apiritual
’

evol utio n I f w e did, w e ah oul d be enabled to perform

.

of C hrist, w ho doubtl w pm ed a w onderful knc wl

edge of these la ws I f the law is t o be diacov ered at

.

fore ; and w hen y ou hi t upon c erta in poait iv e resul ta , y u

o

may be sure tha t you hav e diacov ered a po rt ion o f th e

G reat Truth . Do not m e how ever on th at acc ount
ut , , ,

Now let us suppose tha t you are a m edium , and that

y ou a re treating som e one else. You dw ire to gain this

pow er and to obt ain assista nce from the sp irit world .

This is ho w you sb ould p roceed .

You m ust flrst of all see to it th at you are in good

Furth er, as
'
a pt to b e ta inted and inju rc th e patient .

h i b d
’
y ou o fte n d ra w t e p a ti ent s ills fro m h s o y in to

y ours , y
ou m u st b e in go o d h ea l th to d o th is Nex t , y ou r .

mind must be recepti ve ,

ympa thetic and
s in an att itude

up a barrier or w alh w h ieh you w ill be unab le to brca k

diumship m ust be dev eloped, to a certa in extent, to m ahle

“ ”
you to practice this phase with any hope of sum
The methods which you must follow to increase you r
medium istic power have been ex plai ned in some of the
 SPIRI T UAL H E AL I NG 1 63

p revious cha pters and will b e mo re fully exp lai ned in

,

those which follow .

Now assuming that you hav e your pati ent before you
, .

Place your h ands on his foreh ead and mak e gentl e ,

stroki ngs Th en place one ha nd on his fo rehead and one

.

on his solar pl exus Tak e a number of d eep breaths

.
,

asking your patient t o close his eyes a nd b rea th e with

you in pe rfect rhythm I n th is w ay yo u get into uniso n
, .

a nd sympathy T h en make yourself negative and ask

.
,

th e Sp irtu al Power to com e and h elp and assist y o u in

your process of cure Make yourself a ch a nnel for it
. .

You will feel tingli ng sensations in your arms and the ,

pati ent wil l feel th em in his body T his is th e be gi nni ng .

o f th e process T ry to find just th e right m ental and

.

spiritual attitud e and power will certai nly come F rom

, .

day to day your ability to draw upon the great Cosmic

,

E nergy wi ll i ncrease You will get great er and greater

.

pow er and as this d evelops you will be abl e to handl e

, ,

and co ntrol it more an d m o re Your power as a spiritual

.

h ealer will in this mann er increa se from day to day .

 CHA PTE R XIX
ms C ULTI V ATI ON o r sss sm vss sss

“
8m m means the ability to sense or perceive
in some subtle mann er auras impressions and infl u , ,

ences eithe r iss ui ng from another living pe rson

, or ,
“ ”
from some thing or e manating from sp irits
, In so .

far as a sensitive o r medium can sense or feel these influ

ences h e is a psy c hic ; and the cultivatio n of this pow er
,

is in a sense th e smence of all t rue progress in medium

, ,

ship T his is th erefore one of the most immrtant L es

.
, ,

so ns wh ich can be learned for as y ou progress in psychic

,

sensitiveness, you also p rogrem in mediumship — o th er ,

The first chapt er of this book was devoted to D evel

“ ”
opm ent ; but that ga ve o nly th e outward form as ,

it w ere of the process ; and did not enter in any way

,

fully into its essenc e W e cannot pret end to do so even

.

—
in this c hapt r s ince th e subject is too vast and too
e ,

delicat e But I may take th e student som e di stance

.

—
furth er alo ng th e road fo r after he has mast ered the
, ,

p rec ed ing chapte rs h e wil l b e more

,
e nabl ed to und ertake

these ex ercises than h e was at th e b eginni ng of his de

v elopment.

HOW TO DISTING UISH TRUE FROM FALSE

One of th e greatest diE culties d oubtl ess in the cul , ,

tivation of sensitiveness is how to distinguish tru e from

false—hallucination from reality A t first this will
,

.
,

doubtless be next to impon ible and many false steps

4
,

16
1 66 YOUR PSYCHI C PO WER S

in th is w ay gett ing further alo ng the ro ad Try to sec .

and to feel the em ana tio n com i ng frmn peo ple you meet ;

look at th em steadily and see w heth er you cannot dis

,

c ov er a sort of hot ai r or vaporous emanation m uing

from thei r bodi es and radisting out into space

, As soou .

as y ou h ave suc ceeded in th is , beg in to ana lyse y our

feeli ngs and em oti ons , a nd inte rpret th em Do this, .

1
( ) when you touch th e perso n in qu esti o n ; ( 2 ) when
you receiv e a l etter from h im w hich you should hold in ,

4
y o ur ha nd o r betwe en both ha nds ; ( 3 ) wh e n you hear
him speak ; and ( ) wh en you m erel y see him When .

“ ”
trying these experiments assume a listeni ng attitude
, ,

as befo re explained and breathe slowly and deeply .

( Thi s bre a th in g m ust no t b e m o con s c io ua so as to ta ke

possibl e during th is period Try . in th e dark or semi

dark at first ; in th e light lat er on
,
.

Wh en you are w alking along the street cultiv ate the ,

practi ce of sensing persons and seeing th eir aura You

, .

w ill soon be abl e to feel a sort of ai r or atm osph e re about

—
ea ch individual just as there is a defi nit e air or at
mosph ere about a house or a town Thus a m anufac .
,

turing town has quite a d ifierent atm osph ere from ”

one whi ch is no t .You wil l soo n be able to get this ,

in a general manner .

A fter y ou hav e p rog rm ed thus far you should en ,

deavou r to feel any cuts bruises pains etc which may

, , , .
,

be upo n a person s body Yo u sh oul d do this at first

’
.
, ,

by passing your open hands gently o ver t he surface of

the body , and, as soon as y ou come to th e spot w hic h is
 T H E CU LT IVA TI O N O F S E N SI T I V E N E SS 1 67

sensitive and sore you wil l feel a slight pain in your

,

ow n body in th e correspo nding plac e Before you a re .

abl e to do this w ith mu ch success howev er, you shou ld ,

e e —
d v l o p ce rtain phases of psychometry as for instance ,

th e followi ng .

Make a number of small pa per packages all exact ly ,

alike in appea rance I n these place salt pepper mus

.
, ,

tard clov es nutmeg sugar cayenne etc Mix these

, , , , , .

all up so that you cannot t ell whi ch is which Now .

practise feeli ng o r handling th ese until you can tell the

cont ents of any giv en package by merely feeling the
pap er in which it is wrapped As soon as you have done
.

this you are re ady for more advanced practices

, .

Havi ng progressed thus far you a re in a position to,

try yo ur fi rst exp eriments in psych ical diagnosis Pass .

your hands over th e body of your pati ent ( who should ,

be divest ed of as ma ny cloth es as possibl e ) and if your ,

sensitiven ess has begun to d ev elop y ou will feel a pain ,

or som e sensati on in yo ur hand o r arm or in some cor ,

respo nding part o f your own body as you reach the ,

d iseased spot in your pati ent s body Cul tivate th is

’
.

until yo u can su cceed with more or l ess certainty and

precisi o n The more yo u practise this th e more perfect
.
,

you w ill b ecom e and th e more rapid your adva ncement

,

Wh en you hav e reac h ed this sta ge you must go one ,

st ep furth er H avi ng l ocated th e seat of the trouble,

.

and its general nature y ou must seek to know how to

,

cure it H old th e mi nd in a receptive attitud e wh en

.
,

doi ng th is a nd y ou w ill soo n b egi n to receiv e the distinct

,

im messi on that you must do som ething fo r the pati ent

but yo u will not know as y et w ha t it is A fter a littl e .

time you will get the distinct impressio n what to do

,
1 68 YOUR PSYCHI C PO WE RS

to make certa in passes or manipulat ions to prescri be ,

a certain drug to apply certain water appli cations etc

, ,
.

As soon as you have reached this stage you are on th e ,

“ ”
high road to becomi ng a su cc essful spiritual h eal er
-
,

and your power will d evel o p with every sitting It .

would be well fo r you at th is stage to sit by yourself

, ,

especially for dev elopm ent in th is direc tio n ; a nd added

power will doubtless be given you with whi c h to work
your cures .

PROG RESSIVE EXER CISE I N SELF DEVELOPMEN T -

It may be h owev er that you do not care to develop

, ,

you r sensitiveness in this direction Y o u wish only to .

develop it for yo ur own progress and not for the pur ,

pose of becoming a h eal er at all I n that case you must .

follow a slightly di fierent method of d evelopm ent

th ough all the exe rcises w e ha ve d escribed will be fo und
helpful and advantageous .

If you desire to cultivate your own sensitiveness the ,

following exercises will be found v ery useful in this

connection
1 T ry to analyse your ow n emoti o ns wh en in th e
.

prese nce of ( a ) a large com pany of p eopl e and ( b ) ,

a small gath ering You will probably find that yo ur

.

impressions a re v ery diff erent and that a large crowd

,

will give you th e impressio n of b eing more scatte red in

mind than a small o ne In other words you will begi n
.
,
“
to sense or feel the mi nd of th e c rowd It is well
i —
known that such a th g exists for crowds will often
n ,

do things and pe rf o rm acti o ns which no i ndivid ual in

it w ould perform alone If you can sense this mind
.

of th e c rowd your sensitiveness is progressing favour

,

ably and rapidly .

1 70 YOUR PSYC HI C PO WE RS

and furth er away until you are som e distance from

,

th e m etal After a tim e you should be enabl ed to do

"
.
,

all this from a co nsiderable distance It is only an ex .

“
t ension of this po w er which enables dow n or metal
a nd wate r finders to loc at e th e wh ereabouts of m etal and
-

water und er th e ground by walking ov er th e spot above

, ,

ground with ha nds outstretched or with a divi ning

, ,

o r dow ning rod h eld in th eir hands .

7 Al ways hav e flowers in yo ur sleepi ng room

. T h ey .

a re a go od i nflu enc e A nalyse th e difierence betw een

.

yo ur imp ressi ons w h en th e flowers a re removed ; and

when they are in the room .

COLOURS AND EMOTIO NS

8 . Procure som e at r colours and
w e -
paint solid strips
of colour on a pi ece of white paper Make th ese about .

half an i nch broad and three inch es lo ng On one pi ece .

paint a bri ght red strip on an oth er a vivid blue on, ,

anoth er em erald green on another b lac k etc Blind

, ,
.

fold your ey es shume th e papers and th en place your

, ,

hand on th e topmost one and see w heth er you ca n tell

,

from y o ur imp ressio ns what col our you a re touchi ng .

Red will giv e you a sensatio n o f w armth li ght blue of ,

col d etc — “
as exp lained in the chapt er devoted to Col
.
, ,

our and I ts I nt erpretation

"
.

9 T ry to cul tivate what is known as Sensiti veness

.

to psychic contagion You must rm em ber that

.

thoughts and em otions a re just as co ntagious as diseases ;

“ ”
and that you can ca tch them in just th e same way !
Wh en in th e company of other perso ns therefore en , ,

dea vour to catch or feel thei r emotions and fee lings .

You will probably get at first the though ts etc they

, , ,
.
,

are expressi ng ; then those which t hey are just about to

 T H E CUL T IVAT IO N O F SE N SITIVE N E SS 17 1

express — ao that you take the wo rds out of th eir

”
mout hs . Th en you will begin to sense th e feelings and
emotio ns of the speak er before they are put into wo rds ;

finally you will be ena bled to appreciat e his whole feel

ing a nd thinking Sel f — by a species of intuition or im
,

p ression E nd eavour to dra w this out of your subject

.
,

and do not let it com e to y o u without any efl o rt on

’

your part B e a c tive that is instead of m erely pasd ve

.
, , .

I n this way li es saf ety and success .

THE M N 0? IK PRE SION S R ECEIVED

10 . Fi nally you must teach yoursel f to express what
,

you feel O ften this is m ost dificult You may feel

. .

a t h ing and feel inc lined to say it but someth ing seems
, ,

to ho ld you back until it is too lat e Ov erco me this .

restrict iv e feeling It is important you should do so ,

.

for this is one of th e most important t h ings to learn

in the cultivation of medi umship When you have .

learned to exprm your impressions 1 011 have PN K ,

'

reseed far alo ng th e Ro ad

Th ese p ractices in th e cultivation of sensi ti venem are
the most valuable y ou can have as a preparati on for the
cultivatio n of true mediumship A t the sa me time they
.
,

are safe ex erc ises to follow Prac tise them therefo re

.
, ,

befo re you att empt any definitely mediumistic exercises ;

and y ou w ill be rew a rded by a sa fe and sane increase
of your inner spiritual faculties
, .
 CHA PTER XX

in order to recei ve m em ages and giv e them in th e form

of speaking or writing N o one knows at the p resent
.
,

time w ha t the medi um trance is or for that matter

, , ,

a ny other kind of trance ! D r George Moore in his .

,
“ ”
Use of th e Body in Relation to th e Mind says :
T rance is a state of body som etim es produced in man
a condition utterly i nexplicable by a ny principl e taught

in the schools . Prof W illi am Jam es stated his beli ef

.

that the medium trance was difierent from any other

-

trance of wh ich we have any knowl edge and this seems ,

to be borne out by th e fact that spirit messages a re -

given in t h is co ndition as w ell as t el epa thic clairvoyant

, ,

and premonito ry m emages of all kinds .

“
WHA T 18 m os 1

Both Trance and Catal epsy occur spontaneously ;

both may also be i nduced artificially by hyp notism .

Both a re mistaken for death and m m any respec ts th ey

,

ing the chi ef mark of distinction ( ext ernal indication )

between the two states What th e i nternal difierences
.

are w e do not know Va rious attempts h ow ever have

. , ,

been made to define th em D r F ranz H artmann e g

. .
,
. .
,
“
thus distinguish es th em : Th er e seems hardly any limit
to the time during which a perso n may rem ain in a
172
17 4 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

an expert could detect any tranc e at all.

Yet, in many
m ch m m ma nory of th e c ondition rem ains aft er th e

f om cases of day d e ms absent mindednm etc wh en

r -
r a ,
-
, .
,
“
w e say to a person half in joke :
, You m in a trance !”

strata of th e subcom ci ous m ind are reac hed. hi rs Pip er

“ ”
h ad th ree distinct layers of this cha rac ter . The first
difl ered
'
slightly from th e w aking sta te . In th is con

dition sh e ta lked Th e seeond condition w as fa r deeper

.

trance and in this sta ge spirits w ere sem instea d of

hnm an beings . In the third o r deepeat sta ge speech

m ohm h n of the mc dim to b ring about the dcsired

m a lts ! Wh at parts of the b rain are used and how l ,

Thesc and m ny shnilar qua tiom remain to be a nswu e d ;

snd it may take m ny yea rs of scientific rcaea rc h befi
ore

w e m m abled to answer queri m such as these with any

dcgrc e of confidcnc e .
 TRAN CE 175

THE DIFFEREN CE BET WEEN SOM NA MBULISM AND TRAN CE

The di fference betw een Somnambulism and the
M edi um T rance seems to be that in th e former we
-
, ,

remain en ra ppor t with ourselv es and in th e latt er we

are in touch with th e Spirit W orld
-
Many medi ums who
.

give i nspiratio nal messages or lectures from the platform

a re in a co ndition o f light tra nce a nd children hav e been
,

known t o pam i nto this conditio n a nd giv e a large amount

o f valuabl e i nfo rma tion unknown to th eir seniors and
, ,

which certainl y could not have been known to th emselves .

Properly managed the trance conditio n is not harmful

, ,

thoug h it may becom e so in the hands of blundering

“ ”
perso ns . The Spiritualist s Manual
’
gives four chief
reaso ns why th e trance state should not be harmful to
those who enter it Th ese are
.

VAR IOUS METHO DS O F CO NVEYING I NFO RM A TIO N D URING

TR AN CE

( 1 ) Th e intelligences act ing upo n th em ( th e mediums )

a re almost invariably of a supe rior character and there

fore must moul d th e organism by co nstant use for the

expressio n of hi gh er fo rms of thou ght .

( )
2 T h e re lati o n o f th e m edium to the mani fest ing

intelligence is that of pupil to t ea cher sometim es that

,

of a child to a wise and l oving pare nt and someti m es ,

both th w e relations combined with a subtle and ennobling

spirituality .

3 ) T here is always a mutual spiritual relation even ,

though th e m edium is not humanly conscious of it ; and

no one can b e a med ium for the perfect expression of
spiritual messages or discourses who does not consent to
th e procedure and coo pe rate with the mani festing spirit .
17 6 Y O UR PSYC H IC POW E RS

( 4
) A s t master musician improves the instrum ent
he -

he p lays upon, so also a spirit co ntroll ing a human

organism for the purpose of exp ress ing wholesome
thought imparts a grea ter power bot h to the brai n and
,

spi rit of th e m edi um It is often dificult for spirits

.

to cont rol a medium sufllc iently to manifest in any way

DIFFERENT TYPES O F CO NTROL

There are various types of control which are used by
spirits in trance m ediumshi p
-
.

a
( ) Th er e is t h e tel epathic method i n which th e
,

thou ght is co nveyed direct to th e m ind of th e medium ,

wh o is sna ci ently awak e in light trance to receive this ,

th ought and give it out to th e sitt er in speech or writing .

”
b
( ) T her e is t h e pictur e or picto graphic m ethod ,

in wh ich th e spirits p resent ce rtain images or pictures

to th e clairvoyant eye of the m edium and these pictures
,

a re se en a nd interpreted eith er directly or symbolically .

( c ) Ther e is th e se nse impression m et hod in which

-
,

general sensations or im prew ons a re conv eyed to the

m edium who takes on th e co ndit ion of th e communi c ating
,

spirit d escribes pai ns felt in va rious parts of th e body

, ,

et c
.
,as th e case may be .

There is th e direct control method in which the

-
,
’
spirit apparently removes the medium s own spirit more
or less from the body in deep trance a nd manipulates
, ,

it as he would an instrum ent by acting upon the n ervous

,

system direct in much the same way that we act upon

,

our own n ervous syst ems th roughout life .

Thi s latter m ethod is v ery rare and is only fou nd in

cases of very deep trance Doubtless th ere are o ther
.
,

meth ods whi ch spirits employ at tim es and pro bably com
1 78 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

death imelg w hich has been called ita tw in broth er .

Aa w e ha ve see m ho wever, i t di fl ers fm m all these very

mo nly exp erienced a nd is th e one w hic h y ou sho uld

to you If your hand writes auto ma tically you will

. ,

probably note tha t it becom es mo re or 1m sensitive or

ane sthet ic as exp la ined in t h e ch a pter on Autom stic
Writi ng . If speech is induced as m ult of tranc e,
,
the
thin may be striking and c oherent or quite possib ly mere ,
“ ”
nonsense a nd gibberish If the latte r develops you
.

may be su re that somet hi ng is w m ng a nd y ou ahou l d ,

strive to m ertain w h at th is conditi on is, and correct

it if pom ib le Hem as eh ewh ere y ou m ust be careful

.

and exercise your own judgment a nd discretion on the

m m ag es received , and not to ac cept all th ese as absolute
truth , fo r i f you do, you are likely to be greatl y deceived
— e specially at th e beginn in of yo ur medi umship where
g ,

everything is fa ulty and dificult Th e clearer th e com.

m unicat ions, generall y speaking , th e surer th e m m ges,

“
but those coming th rough what might be call ed Am
”
atcur Medi ums
-
are to be trusted only wh en th ey have
been verified !

You may experim ent with your ow n trance condition

—
-

profitably in th e follo wing mann er Sit with pencil in

hand for A ut omatic W riting and indu ce one or more
-
,

friends of yours to do the same thing at the same ti m e .

See whether there is any connection bet ween your writ

 TRAN CE 1 79

ings when they are compared the next day In m any

,
.

instan ces where thi s has been tried striking coincidental

, ,

m essages have been rec ei ved partly through one medium

,

a nd partly through anoth er T hey thus tend to confi rm

.

each oth er and show that the same spirit intellige nc e is

a ctive and manifesting th rou gh both mediums at the

—
same tim e almost o r one directly after the other
, , .

HOW TO EN TER TRAN CE BY m m

In order to induce trance spontaneously in yourself
—
you should proceed more or less as follows c Begin by
,

gazing for some time at a bright object such as a reflected ,

light comi ng from a mirror crystal ball etc T his will

, ,
-
, .

tend to ti re th e eyes and nerves slightly and bring about ,

a dn ed condition which is usually the beginning of

trance While looking at th e b righ t object breath e
.
,

deeply and regularly through the nose and from the

diaphragm as ex plai ned b efore in Ch apter V I You
, .

must not let this distrac t your attention however as all , ,

th e bodi ly processes should be unconscious If you have .

al ready p rac tised deep breathi ng as before explained , ,

you should by th is tim e be so far advanced that you can

do so at will without co nsciously thi nking of it .

W hil e looking at the bright object do not co ncentrate ,

or thi nk o f anything in particular beyond keeping your ,

self consci ous and rememberi ng all the time that you
‘
yourself that you a re not leavi ng your body and
,

that you are not going to becom e totally unco nsci ous .

Dnring thi s process th e room should be as qui et as

possible though some monotonous so und such as the

,

ticking o f a larg e clock migh t assist matters Do not

, .

list en to this co nsciously how ever ; abolish all feelings

,

o f fear and all a nxiety as such mental sta tes will

,
1 80 Y O U R PSYC H IC P OWE RS

eff ectually prev ent you from entering th e trance co n

dition Let yourself go and devel op as fa r as possible
‘ ’
. .

SYH PTOH S OP EA RLY TRAN CE MED IUMSHIP -

You must not imagine that th e beginnings of your

mediums hip will b e eith er profitabl e or pleasant because ,

th ey probably will not be N early all su c cessful m ediums

.

wi ll t ell y ou that th ey hav e passed t h rough a period at ,

th e beginning o f th eir m e diumship when they thought ,

th emselves in danger and beli eved that th eir mi nds w ere

,

being impaired for th e tim e b ei ng T his however passes .

, ,

o ff as you magma provided that you progress along

—

th e right road at the begi nni ng o f your m ediumship and ,

this you shou l d end eavour in ev ery way to do If you .

ca n co nsult an experi en ced m edium or still b ett er if you , ,

ca n sit with hi m during yo ur developm ent or induce h im ,

to be prese nt du ring your psychic unfoldment things ,

will be far easier for you and far saf er than they would
be otherwise .

Th e oncoming of trance is often signified by ce rtain

physical and psych ical manifestations w h ich must not ,

—
alarm y ou when th ey app ear as th ey someti m es but ,

n o t always do Hi ccou ghs sudden and spasm odic pains

.
,
“ ”
a nd cramps a feeli ng of
,
all goneness nausea flash es
-
, ,

o f light or th e sensatio n o f faintness and that everyt hing

,
—
is turning black b ef ore you th w e a re a few o f th e
symptoms which you a re li abl e to experi enc e during yo ur
early developm ent ; a nd th o u gh th ey may not be pleas
,

ant you had better be warned of th em in advance and

, ,

not be a larm ed when they appear .

Someti m& how ever none o f th w e signs are ma nif a t

, ,

-
o nl y a delightful sensatio n of falli ng asl eep upon a

bed of m ass In these cases th e psychic has developed ,

1 82 YOUR PSYCHI C PO W ERS

have a band o f spirits o r co ntrols on th e oth er sid e

pone your dev el opm ent until this co ndition cha nges If .
,

on th e co ntrary th ey a re described as good and h elpful

, ,

you may proceed subject to th e abov e precautions a nd

,

advice .

IM PORTANT CO ND ITIO NS 10 BE FU IJ IL LED

'

It is impo rtant to have a plentiful supply of fresh air

in th e room wh en entering trance and aft er you a re in ,

t hat co nditio n A lso the light should be so regulated

.

as to afl ect you most agreeably T his may be semi .

darkn ess though many trance m ediums d ev elop in full

,
-

li ght Soft music may be found benefici al in some cases

.
,

thou gh not in all .

—
You should hav e ev eryt hi g rea dy t o hand such as
n

,
—
pencils paper e c b efo re you ent er the t ra nce c ondi
t ,
-

tion D uring th e tra nce stat e you will p robably be more

.
-

or l ess sensitive to obj ects plac ed in your hands ,

that is you will be enabl ed not o nly to psychometrize

,

th em but in co nnectio n with th e obj ec ts given you

, , ,

you will get spirit m essa ges a nd i nformatio n concern

-

ing th e individuals to whom they fo rm erly belo nged .

All obj ects o f this character carry th e aura or influence

of th e person with wh om they have com e into contact ,

a nd for this reaso n th ose o bj ects whi c h have b een next

, ,

the skin a re t h e best fo r this purpose : gloves head

, ,

bands etc are especially valuabl e T h ese should be

,
.
, .

wrapped as before explained in oil silk and they should

, ,
-
,
 TRAN CE 1 83

be handled as little as possible aft er th e death of the

perso n to whom th ey belonged .

DEVELOPI NG m m
A very good pra c tice in dev elop ing trance m edium

“
your own falling asleep process T ry to catch your "
shi p in yourself is to cultivate th e habit of analysing
.

self as you fall asleep and h old on to yourself when

i n this semi sl eeping co ndition as l o ng as you can before
-
,

finally dropping off t o slumber T his you w ill find very .

di ficul t at first but it ca n be mast ered more or l ess in

,

If you can succeed in ca tch ing yourself in this man

ner when near ly asl eep and retaining a certai n degree
, ,

of co nscious cont rol you may rest assured that you wil l
,

not onb be a go od tranc e m edium but that you wi ll

r -

be abl e to prot ect yourself whil e m the tranc e stat e -

,

and that ha rm ca n hardly come to you wh en in this .

condi tio n .

This is a very exc ell ent practice and has given many
psychics tha t pow er over themselv es which they formerly
lacked .

Spiritual repow is w ential for the tranc e medium -

who would d evel o p simply h a rmo niously i nto practical

,

and wise medi umship In this manner y o u a re said

.
,

to come in tun e or harmony with the great Cosmic Cur

rents of truth and wisdom which fl o w hith er a nd thither
in our world a nd to and fro from th e Spiritual Sou rce
,

of love w isdom and i nt ell igence O nce get into har

, .

mony with this stream and your p rogress not o nly as

, ,

a medi um but as a Supreme Psychic is assu red

, , .
 CH APTER XXI
m srms rl os sn se sa m e AND rssr massa c as
-

INSPIR A TIONAL speaki ng d epends partly upo n the activity

of your ow n subco nscious mind and partly upon th e
amount of h elp you rec ei ve fro m the spirit world .

I n speaking before public audi ences fo r th e first few

tim es you had best thi nk ov er what you are to say a nd
,

prepa re yo ur talk a littl e in adv a nc e th en depend upon ,

th e h elp and inspirati o n you rec eive for th e elaboration

‘

of these notes which you hav e made As you progress

, .

you w ill find that l ess and less of this prepa ratio n is
necessary and after a tim e you will be enabled to dis
,

p ense wi th it altoget h er and know nothi ng more of

,

the subject of your discourse than the m ere titl e .

O N THE OSTR UM
R

Wh en on the rost r um you can clom your eyes and the

,

discourse more or less eloqu ent will flow from yo ur

, ,

lips Wh en you are stil l more advanced you will be

. ,

enabled t o allow persons in th e audi ence to choose su b

j eeta and you will th en be abl e to talk upo n these at

,

g re at l en gt h and oft en with a profu ndity of kn owl edge

a nd beauty o f styl e which surprises n o t o nly yo urself

bu t your audito rs Many of th e best and most profound

.

o bj ect lesso ns and instru cti o ns have been rec eived in

this manne r and much of the p hi low ph y of Spi ritual ism
,

has been propounded and explained in this w ay .

Test Messages a re of a som ewhat difl erent order and

-

a re given in a di ff erent manner Th ey relat e to persons

4
.

18
1 86 YOUR PSY CHIC POWERS

z h a ddi fion w thh l rc c fi m in m eefion v ith

to Co lour a nd I ts I nterp rcta ti on ) . Th ns if l see bcfore

me a dirty —
slate grey l n y that th e condifiom hefo re

m a ch b righ tc r and better and th at the pcrson in quu

tion may eh ec r np , a s better conditiom m eoming, ctc .

in this f om as the resnlt of the physical vihn tion of

the reice, and v h ich seems to be caused by it, l M

Af ter seeing the fira set of colonrs l elose m ey es for

a m m h th cn op m th a n a nd look a t th e sccond aet .

I f they are fonnd to a gree with one xnother, l kno w

openly th at such and such conditions are ao. Ky m

experienc e has been that if these tw o sets of auras agree

"
mt m d h d
’

h m
’

i
’

xp -
g ss ) t e i agnosu or s
p y c nc u npc on s cor

M m d l am vm y seldom wm g in my statemm t of
'

thc f act .
 TES T ME SS AG ES
- 1 87

is the colour seen ; this indicates depression Having .

arrived thus far the questio n is : how to get out of t his

,

condition That is suggest ed partly by common sense

. .

Havi ng p roposed this qu estion to myself I close my eyes

and loo k at a di ff erent place in space I n this third .

place I th en see presented to my psychic sight a symbol .

This symbol tells m e how to escape from th e present

difliculty . A fte r I have expla ined th e symbol and in ,

terpret ed it to the best of my ability I th en look ba ck ,

at th e colours and see wh eth er or not they have changed .

If th ey have become bri ghter th en I know t hat this ,

is th e correct path to fo llow and that go od will result

,

from th e course of ac tion advised If there is no ch ange .

,

I state that th ings wi ll co ntinu e for som e time to come

in th is depressed con di ti on and that the best that can
,

be done for the ti m e being is to hope and work on ,

pa ti ently .

R OW 7 0 m ess ag e YOUR ro wan

Th ese auras colours and symbols may be impeded

,

or shut 03 by certain psychic co nditio ns on th e part

of th e sensitive F or exampl e : You may hold on to
.

them too tightly as it were and this tenaciou s grasp

, ,

for too long a time wi ll have the cfl ect of shutting them

ofi altogether You must l earn to let go as soo n as the
.

symbol has been perceived or the colour seen ,

.

As these colours are present ed to you you may how , ,

ever see a cha nge going on and in that case you should
, ,

watch it intently and see what the change m ay be Thus .

,

grey may change to white as a si gn o f sp irituali ty and

, ,

you ca n sta te that the person is becoming more spiritual

and ch anging his point of vi ew in life c lingi ng to his ,

ideals etc and that if he conti nues to do so success

, .
,

will reward him .

1 88 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

If you see tinges of golden yellow you may be sure ,

that th e individual in questi on is cultivating his i ntell ect

and that he is indep endent in thought and a more or
law clever , intellectual person .

GETTING HELP FROM Q IRIT G UIDES

addition to these colours and symbols other ph e
In ,

nom ena ma y occur T hus in my own case I always see

.
, ,

my guides who sta nd by my sid e telling m e wha t to

say If I speak aloud just what th ey t ell me it is
.
,

usually correct If I endea vour to elaborate or extend

.

it it is ofte n wrong This is an error which should

,
.

b e avoided . T hus : th ey may say three T his may ‘

.
’

mean th ree minutes three hours th ree days th ree weeks

, , , ,

three months th ree years etc A t the time I h ear th e

, ,
.

figure I do not kn ow what its meani ng is I therefore .

say to the person receiving th e messag e : My guides ‘

“ ”
say to m e three and I th en wait for further info rma

tion .

“
As explai ned in the lesso n on Symbolism th e dif ‘
,
’

ference betw een the two consists in distinction between

impression and exp ressio n I receive th e impressio n cor
.

rectly but must be caref ul not to give it wro ng expression .

What one sh o uld do th erefore is to wait for fu rther im

, ,

pressions befo re expressing anything In such a case as .

th e abov e I would after h earing th e word three spoken

‘ ’
, ,

turn to my guide and ask wha t th e thre e signifi ed On .

rec eiving an answ er I wo uld stat e this also and th en

, ,

go ba ck for furth er informati o n etc If you p roceed , .

in thi s mann er you will rar ely go wro ng .

“
Th e more anxio us you are to receive psychic im
pressi ons and to give ta ts the more fluctuat ing o r
,

chang ing will your impressio ns b e T he colours of the .

1 90 YO UR PSYCHIC POWE RS

p roba bly to not m o re than 5 per cent of the tests I give

.

in public .

In all inspirational and test messages you should

-
,

throw yourself as completely as pomible upo n your

, ,

spirit fri ends aft er you have o nce asked their assistance ,

and should be as resp o nsive as you c an D o not wait .

for them to hammer any impress io n into your head

before you state what it is but hold you rself rath er in
,

the attitude of an empty vessel and imagin e a funnel

,

in th e top o f your h ead into which ideas and impressions

of all kinds are bei ng pour ed As th ey ent er your
.

m ental and psychi c lif e you shou ld int erp ret and express
”
them as best you c an .

T he foregoing is an exact account of D r Sc hleusner s .

’

m ethod of d eliv ering Publi c T ests a careful study of

,

which will doubtless p rove h elpful to the earnest stu

dent ; and I beli eve will result in a corresponding de
, ,

grc e of development in a ll like cases .

 CHA PT ER XXII
MO RE AND LE SS DEVE LO P ED srm rrs

h u mm er! as we a re said to be spirits h ere and now ,

— j ust as much as w e ever will be — w e sh o uld begin th e

,

c o urse o f p rogressive d ev elop ment here in this lif e wh ich ,

w e intend to fo llow la ter Anything we learn here

.

wil l doubtl ess help us in any future development what

ever that may be W isdom knowledge und ersta nding
.
, , ,

sympathy and penetratio n of perception will all help ,

assist and adva nce us no matter w ha t world w e may

,

i nhabit or w hatev er its nature may be This being th e .

ca se w e should en dea vour to d evelop our own inner

,

nature here a nd now as suggested especially in the

,

chapter on Self and Soul Culture and we should con ,

tinus this so far as li es within our power even after

, ,
”
we have c rossed the G reat D ivid e .

Just as there are all ki nds of characters and natu res

in th is life, so th ere are said to be individuals of all

ki nds in th e next ; and the unfortunate part of it is that

many of those who can most eas ily com e back and com
m uni ca te are thom on the lo west rung of the ladder
, ,

th ose w h o are th e most earth bound -

and belong to the
lowest strata of society . T hey a re
h
nea rer the ea rt th an
 1 92 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

th e ea rth and
t ha t
“
strangers
"
felt les hound to it It is for this reason
.

often com munica te w it h us m o re easily

t han our nearest and dea rest, — tha n our friends or rela ~

t ivsa . The latt er may feel for and w ith us most keenly ,

e rto undream ed of may p rev ent them from doing ao .

They thm fini fo r th e first time and to their m

ishment , that the di fic ulties o f comm nni cati on are so
g rea t th a t th ey a re una bl e to send m essa g ,
es how ever

m uch th ey may desim to do so , and even if they

find a medium sui tab le to receive them .

THE CO NDI TION S m OOH I U NI OAM N

You, on y ou r si de,
may be recep ti v e to theae m di
tions, and again you may be unfitt ed to sense anyt hing
of the kind . The combinati on o f c ircumstances for the
transm imion of spirit m essages is rare
-
, and , in order
for thu e mm ges to be c lea r, as w e sh oul d desire them
— thcre m ust be an efiort both on this si de and on the
oth er, ma de at the sa me moment, also th ere m ust be th e
“ ”
medium . As this combination is naturally lac king ,
in the majority of cases, y ou ca n see w hy it is that a u
t h enti c ca ses of spirit ret urn a re, com pa rativ ely spea king ,
“
so rare and w hy it is tha t m ore persons do no t com e

that if Spiritualism were true out of all the millions

, ,

o f people who have died wishing to communicate there

, ,

m ust be many thousands w ho could return di rectly m d

sai d abov e w ill explain th e rem n w hy this is not th e

Th e ab ili ty to transm it a m essage from the ot her si de

may be as rare as th e ability to recei ve it on this si de .

19 4 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

f orcib le m ethods had to be resorted to, in o rder to j

e ec t

"
restored !
“
m en srm rs m rm m um sm

W hen pirit s
s of a hi ghcr order come, all this is

natu res and help

, ,
c omfort sympa thy and sound advic e
,

are given Wh en . once y ou are amured of the assifl nnce

aster, your tim e of tribnlation as a medi um is more or

l em over , and thenceforward you may depend u pon

st eady and ha m onious p rogression a nd ad va ncem ent in
y ou r m ediumship .

You must be ca refu h h om h ow you receiv e

er, as to

mm agm cla iming to com e from exa lted persona ges u

grea t na m es w ill be giv en w h en the individuals
o ften

in question are not there at all Th is m ay be du e at.

nm es to ac md ent and m i snnderstandi ng , but th ere is

sort to this stratage m to gain your confidence . You

ahould, in this case, rely on y ou r o w n com m on sense

a nd judgment a nd insist upon proof of ident i ty and

,

di rect evid ence be fo re you believ e that th e individual

in qu estion is real ly th ere .

G U ARDIAN SPIRITS
There is sect o r di vision o f sp irits w hose ofice
one

and general work and interest is p a rticul arly h elpfu l

 MORE AN D L ESS D E VE LOPE D SPIRITS 1 95

“
to m ortals and that is the ao called G uardi an Angels
,
-

or G uid es who help govern and advise f ri ends of th ei rs

,

still in the body Th e sympathy and cou nsel ofl ered by

.

these Gua rdian Spirits is at times very great ; these

, ,

spirits are said som etimes to p revent accident suicide ,

and ev en murd er by th eir kindly h elp and assistance .

It is one of th e most beautiful and insp iring thoughts

in th e Spiritual istic Ph ilw ophy to believ e that those
w e love a re co nstantly about helping and cheering us , ,

alo ng our hard and narrow way ; and tha t th ey see our
trials and tribulations and share th em with us just
, ,

as th ey did on earth W e must feel too that they are

.
, ,

preparing a plac e for us and that when it com es time ,

to solve the G reat Myst ery we shall find helpful and ,

loving assistance , instea d of a foreign land into which ,

w e shall th en ent er .

w no M AKE TH E BEST co mm en ces ?

T hose who pomem a impl ope candid child like

s e, n, -

nature are d o ubtl ess t h ose who mak e the best

,
communi
ca to rs — o th er things b eing equal It is beca use of this .
,

that Indians who liv ed close to nature so co nstantly

, ,
“ ”
c o mmunicate a nd act as guides and doubt less for the ,

same reason N egroes a re v ery psychic and receive many ,

psychic phenom ena .

T h ere is a great dea l of evidence also as we know , , ,

to show us that animals p erceive spirits and psychi c

“ ”
manifestati o ns a nd that they also sense phenom ena
,

more keenly than human beings Bet w een animals and .

ourselves th ere is doubtless a l ink whi ch unit es us all

—
into one c onsc i ous whol e this being the life of the
,

univ erse which ru ns thro ugh every senti ent thing .

“ ”
It is not uncommon for spirits to return at séances
1 96 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

and seek th e pray ers or the help of the living They .

ex p rm themselves as being 111 trouble and as req uiring

am ista nce before they ca n free t hemselv es and proceed

on th eir way T his is doubtless an important mission

.

to fulfil and wh en any wandering and distm

, sp irit
mak es i tself manifest in this way it shoul d ce rta inly ,

be amisted in every way pomibl e in th e ful filment of

its desire and the discharge of its burden .

“
Many cm of so called hau nted h o uses doubtl ess
~

exist beca use of th e pe rs istent inab ility of th e returning

,

sp irit to make any one prese nt see its wants and attend
to them Were a good psychi c or medium introduced
.

int o such a house who could ge t into comm unication

,

with the ret urning spirit and wh en communicati on ha d

, ,

,
—
been established h el p it there is no doubt tha t th e
,
“ ”
haunting w oul d cease and tha t th e returning spirit

"
would be greatly helped in its progress and advancement .

”
m vrrrsn HOUSES AND FA CTS
All this is espec i ally important in th ose cw es of so
”
call ed pac ts, w h ere an agreem ent is m ade before
d eath to appear afterwards if that be pomi ble Many , .

cases of t h is characte r are o n reco rd and wh enever such , ,

an agreement is ma d e it is most important that th e

,

l iving person on earth should fulfil his part towards th e

fulfilment of such a plan By doing so h e may as iat .

to an extent h e perhaps does not realize in freeing the

spirit s mind from earthly ti es and conditions
’
.

LY UN CO NSCIOUS W SAGEB
W E

In consideri ng th is qu esti o n of r eturni ng sp irits ,

one final a nd important fact must not be lost sight of ,

and that is : That messages may often b e given through

 C HAP T E R XXI II
o sssssmN AND INS A NITY

IN this chapter I d esire to place b ef ore th e read er in

,

a fair and c l ear manner facts w hi ch a re too o ft en neg

lec ted by Spiritual ists but w hi c h those w h o d ev elop or
,

becom e m ediums a re apt to find o ut to th eir cost later

in th eir dev el o pment u nless they a re awar e of th e facts
,

“ ”
at th e beginn ing . T ruth is always best and it is ,

accordingly best for th e stud ent to know the dangers

a nd difi ic ul ties attendant upo n Spiritualism as w ell as
th e bright sid e . W e do not wish to alarm or divert
from interest any stud ent by this and the following
“
chapte rs Precisely th e reverse But inasmuch as fo re
. .

”
warned is forearm ed th e stud ent sh o uld b e familiar
with all th e possibl e risks he is runni ng ; as there are
such risks if h e does not devel o p his mediumistic power
systematically and along th e right lin es as so o ften ,

pointed out b efore in this book .

THE R EALITY O F SPIRIT OW N

As w e saw in th e last chapter it is often easi er for

,

the low and less d eveloped sp irits to com e in tou c h with

us t han those mor e highl y d evelop ed ; and thi s is espe
cially the on e where m edi umistic d evelopm ent has not

bee n such as to bring the st udent in touch w ith the

higher forces and int elli gences Mod ern sci ence does not
.

acc ept the doctrin e of sp irit obsessi o n as tru e c laiming

-
,

that the cases of so call ed sp irit i nfluence a re really onl y

-

cases of diseased mind and body requiring for their ,

1 98
 OBSESSIO N AND IN SAN ITY 1 99

cure proper medical attention Experienced Spiritual .

ists how ev er know that whil e many c u ss of appar

, ,

ent obsemion may be account ed for in this mann er th ere ,

are also cases o f real infiuence c o ming from less devel

oped disembo di ed spirits and as great a psyc hol o gist
, ,
“
as Prof W m Jam es said shortly before h is death :
. . Th e
refusal o f mod ern enlight enment to treat pow essi on as a
hypot hesis to b e spok en of as ev en pos ible in Spite of ,

th e massive human tradi tio n b w ed on co nc rete exp e ri en ce

in its fav o ur has always seem ed to m e a cu rious example
,

of th e pow er o f fashi o n in thi ngs sci ent ific T hat th e .

demon theory ( not necessarily a devil th eory ) will have

- -
,

its innings again is to my mind absolutely certain One .

has to be scientific indeed to be b lind and ignorant

‘ ’

enough not to suspect any such p ossi bility Dr L . . .

Nevi ns after an exhaustive study o f th e cases of d emon

,

possessi on in C hina and aft er a n exami nati o n o f con

,
~

t rary theori es stated his co nclusio n that genui ne cases

,

of obnossion w ere to be fou nd and that th ey could not ,

be accounted for by any oth er th eory satisfactorily .

T ake again th e case recorded by D r J Godfrey

, ,
. .

“
Ra upert in his D ange rs of Spiritualism H e giv es .

th e ew e of a fri end o f his M w h o after att empti ng , .

, ,

automatic writi ng and obtai ning it succemf ull y was un

-
,

able to l ea ve off th e practice when h e d esired to E ven .

at night wh en retiring t o rest M had habitually placed

, ,
.

paper and p encil by his bedside in ord er to be abl e to

write at once when summoned to do so a nd h e had
, ,

frequently bee n awakened from his sl eep fo r this pur

—
pose t to the det rim ent of course of his m ental , ,

and physical hea lth After this th ere had come a st ill
.
,
200 YOUR PSYCH IC PO WERS

furth er dev elopment of the mystical power of writing ;

th e pencil too had been di scarded and M had begun
, , .

to trace the writing with his finger in the air He could .

thus it appears write out a message at some length

, ,

and was ful ly able to read it afterwards just as though ,

th ere was a piece of paper suspended in the air .

T hi ngs had thus gone o n for m any mo nths wh en M at , .

last awakened to the fact that a great transformatio n

was passing ov er his moral a nd i ntellectual nature and ,

that som e oth er mind had p ermeated his entire being ,

a nd h e was now conscious that h e was c easing to think

his own though ts ; in short th ere could not be any doubt

,

that fett ers were being woven around him which he was ,

growi ng daily m o re incapab le of breaking The con .

dition of servility and sub mimion w hic h th e co ntrol at

first effected was now thrown OR and the latter showed
,

signs of absolute power N o treatm ent eith er hyp noti c

.
,

or m edi cal had the slightest influence upo n th e strange

,

ph enomenon and M had now given up all h o pe fro m

, .

this quart er Som e of th e authorities whom he had con

.
,

sul ted di d not bel i ev e in obsession or possessi o n

, Oth ers .

e e —
ascrib d it to hyst ria and fixed ideas hel p there w as
no ne D r Ra upert goes en z
. .

ITS DANGERS
I t ried to argu e with th e person ality and proved to
him that h e was m erel y a subco nscious product on th e
part of M Wh en I persisted in denying th e presence
.

of a perso nality oth er than and difierent from that of

M a v ery frenzy seemed to shake th e f ram e o f M and
.
,
.

words of the most abusive ki nd were l ev ell ed at m e :

“ ” “
What fools you a re it ex cla imed
,
to tamper with
,

th ings you do not understand to facilitate the invasion

,
202 YOUR PSYC HI C POW E RS

a co ndition of mutual rec eptivity being established be

,

tween the m em be rs of a circ le but few reflect that th e

,

bl end ing o f magnetisms with those who form the spirit

side of that circl e is no less a part of th e p rocess and
, ,

that without the aid of the magnetism of t he sitters

present nothing belonging to th e spirit si de of life would
~

be obtained N ow in forming a circl e how a re you to

.

insure abso lute freedom fro m th e influe nce of the low

o r evil earthbound spirits who crowd th e st reets of a
, ,

large city ? The magn etic aura created by th e circl e

, ,

hangs in a cloud aro und it and draws spirits to ward

,

it even as a magnet draws 1 ro n and st eel a nd everything

,

—
bright and rusty useful tools a nd dangerous weapons
”
will be attracted by the powerful magnet .

If you once admit that the a ura of a pure a nd good

perso n ca n und er certa i n co nditions be p oiso ned by
, ,

absorbing th e tainted mixture from a mi xed circl e of

a ll sorts of mortals and spirits you also admit that the
,

good p ersons can carry hom e with them a suficient

portion of that poisoned magn etism to form the nucleus
of a magnetic state congenial to th e low and depraved
,

spirits a nd into w hi c h a ny of th em can enter a second

,

tim e without the aid of the c ircl e F or this reason w e

.

a re o pposed to mix ed or misc ellaneous c ircles especially ,

wh en sitters are not sin cer e and known to one anoth er .

W e beli eve that possession is not always evil and indeed,

it is oft en necessary But it is the conti nued control of

.

a h ighly sensitive medium whi c h does the harm by ah

sorbing his finer life essence A n eart hbound spirit is
.

lik e one wh o belongs to neither earth nor heaven no r ,

G ehenna He has lost h is hold on the ea rt h l ife an d

.
 O B SESSIO N AND I N SA NI TY 203

has not y et attained to th e spirit w orld He lives in .

his astral body and having noth ing of his ow n must ,

borrow from those both above and below hi m on the

ladder of dev elopment .

O BSE SIO N VERSUS M EDIU H BH IP

M edium ship is necessary ! Without it th ere would

be no m eans of knowledge no instrum ents th rough which
,

to study th e psychi c pla ne ; but m ediumship in exact ,

proporti o n to th e magnetic powers it confers becom es ,

a greater and ever great er so urce of danger th e further ,

its development is carri ed unless th e control of those

,

powers can be handled with a firm hand and understood

in a ll its aspects Knowledge is the best safeguard
.
,

and knowl edge will be best obtained b y those who can

study all the co nditio ns of psychi c developm ent .

It is said tha t th ere are tw o forms of magnet ism the ,

astral and the physica l T he fundamental difierence

.

between them is due to th e difl erent conditions under

whi ch the astral plan e and th e physical plane function .

“ - ”
now sma t s
r m o s s es us

It must not be thought h ow ever th at all I have said

, ,

on obsessio n relat es entirely to Sp iritualism or to dev elop

m ent in circl es or i n pri vate We live all th e tim e in

.

a spiritual world as w ell as in a material one and hence ,

are O pen to the possib iliti es of obsessio n or influ ence ,

both good or bad , and ma ny sh o w in daily lif e th e fact

that this influ ence 13 stro ng fo r o r against , .

Invisibl e intelligences are said to be with us much of

—
the tim e some urging us on to false and w ro ng deeds
, ,

oth ers helping and encouragi ng us in actio ns o f ki ndness ,

sympathy and benevolence It is our duty to get in

.
204 YOUR PSYCHI C PO WE RS

touch with th e latter as muc h as possible and then we ,

shall receiv e inspiration and enlight enm ent from hi gher

sources than any at present about us T he dificulty is .

to know how to do this without risk for as St Paul , , .

“ ”
said we must try th e sp irits and endeavour to prove
,

to o ur own satisfactio n wheth er they are good or bad .

T here are various types of obsessi on but for our ,

p resent purposes we shall omi t many of th e odd and

exceptio nal phases suc h as vampires which w ill be
, ,

discuss ed later on in this book and shall speak only of

,

th e ordina ry type of sp iritistic obsession .

“
m m -
os s rte LIN K
Th e body and mind are doub tl ess connected by a sort
o f magnetic li nk Th e mi nd and the physical body are
.

co nn ect ed by means of a fl uidic or etheric body ( in shape

th e doubl e of th e physical body ) It is owing to the.

fact that this body becomes deta ched from the physical
frame at tim es that ma ny of the ph enomena of obses
, ,

sion and insa ni ty occur The lines of force are broken

.
,
“ ”
and the et h eric body becomes first of all loose ned
inside the physical body and th en separated more or
,

law altogeth er from it wi th ou t the wish of the subject

, ,

who may even be al togeth er unco nscious of th e procca ,

and not know wha t is going on within him H e only .

exp eri ences th e resultant phenomen a a nd it is for this ,

reaso n that h e do es not know what m ethod or course of

t reatm ent to pursu e in order to get bett er or becom e
cu red A ll ordinary treatment is for t h is reason use
.
, ,

l ess M edical and p hysiological treatm ent for the

.
,

reason that it acts only on th e physical body not on th e ,

mind ; and hyp notic or oth er psychologi c al treatment is

almost equally usel em for the reason tha t it acts on the
,
206 Y OUR PSYC H IC PO W ERS

hss been p ractising automa tic writi ng, l et us sa y , h e w ill

begin to h a ve a mo re or lm persiste nt desire to w ritc .

to try w ha t he w ith pencil or p ls nch ettc

ca n get .

Tho m
ts seem put int o his h m d id im p rm ions and m
impulses w hich urge h im to perform certa in actions or do
certa in things . Thm wil l increase in

From this point onward great ca uti on should be ,

used as th e danger point or dividing of the w ays has

,

now been rea ched A careful student of the occult might

.

point out tha t th e sympto ms mentioned above and in th e ,

first cha pter are al armingly sim ilar to th ose in the early
,

sta ges o f some types of insanity This is true ! I de .

~

scribed them earli er in this book be it unde rstood not , ,

as desira b le symptoms b ut as those which are likely to

,

a ppea r and for w h ich the student should be on th e look

,

out Th e facts sho uld be placed bef ore hi m and w hen

.

b e h in possemion of th e know ledge concerning them he ,

w ill know h ow best to m eet th em fl f h c observes such

symptoms .

W e see th erefore th e importance of ca reful and

, ,

syste mat ic development in the cultivatio n of medium

shi p as I have so often pointed ou t befo re in th is book
,
.

After th e abov e stage has been rca ch ed, it is p robahlc

th at th e stu dent, w h o is on th e w rong road, w ill hm
w ords as though inside his h ead, or ext ernally in space,
—
or pom ibly in his solar plexus though th is is m o re rare .

Or the ph enomen a may take the visual turn, in whi ch

“ ”
ca se the pati ent will see th ing mostly of a n um ,

plea sant na ture such as snakes devils or monstrous or

, , ,
 O BSESSIO N AND INS AN ITY 7

grotesque living objects Thenceforward u nfavou rable ,

symptoms wi ll probably develop rapidly until the patient

is completely obm ed and under co ntrol Th e l in e to .

be pursued in cases of this character is twofold F irst .

p rev ention second cure !

,

PREVENTIO N O F OBSESSION
P revention Sound physica l health is essential for
.

all w holesome spiritual and mediumi stic advancement ,

and if the patient is sick or ill and especially if run down

or depleted nervously h e sh o uld stop all med iumistic
,

practices until he is again restored to heal th Plenty of .

outdoor ex ercise of as rugged a nature as possi bl e would

do wonders in cases of this c haract er F resh ai r both
.
,

da y and night is emential,

Tea cod es and alcohol
.
,

should be avoided Plenty of mi lk shoul d b e drunk by

.

the pati ent as this bot h rest o res and builds up th e

,

nervous system in a way that noth ing else can Above .

all p lenty of sleep must be obtained and no ma tter

, , ,

wheth er th e patient desi res ten hours or more at ni ght ,

this should be allowed and plenty of rest at all oth er

,

times This is v ery m ential at this stage of the pro

.

The mental and spiritual heal th must be maintained

equ ally with the physical Y o ur critical judgm ent and
.

common sense must be ex ercised now as alw ays both in

-
,

judging the messages received and in the general con

duct of life Do not beli eve everythi ng which is told you
.
,

as t here are many lying and deceiving intelligences as

well as useful and good ones Abov e all do not act
.
,

upo n or obey messages which do not strongly appeal to

your own good sense and worldly j udgm ent If you .

keep up your mediumistic pr acti ces, sit only a sh ort time

208 Y O UR PSYCHIC POWE RS

each day ( not more tha n 1 5 or 20 minutes at the

longest ) and if pomib le at th e same tim e eac h day
, , .

Th ese two rul es as before po int ed out are very im

, ,

port ant N ev er allow yourself to co ntinue beyond th e

.

time limit you have set you rself no matt er how in

"
-
,

t erest ing th e communicatio ns may be but say in a firm , ,

loud voic e W e must stop now or I will sit again at

“
,
“
,

th e sa m e tim e tomorrow for th e c ontinua tio n o f th e

”
m m age .You should then disco ntinue th e writing .

IMPORTAN T WA R NI NGS AND PRECA UTIO NS

N ever go i nside you r o wn h ead and examine its pro
cesses or i ntrosp ect fo r too long a time Th e wonders of .

brain and th oug ht may app eal to your imagi nation but ,

nev er let th em influ ence you or ca use you to turn your

th o u ghts inward in the attempt t o solve th em If you .

do it is sure to end disastrously a nd th ere is no more

, ,

reaso n why you should b e co nscious of your thinki ng a p .

paratus th an of your digestive or circulat o ry apparatus ,

whi ch is equally myst eri o us and wonderful Let th em .

go on by th emselves w ith out thinki ng anythi ng about

th em but usi ng th em rat her as instrum ents for your life
,

purposes .

Al ways keep an int erest in ext ernal things and live ,

as it w ere outside your h ead in th e outer world all th e

, ,

time Become interested in ma tt er of fact and worl dly

.
- -

obj ects and interests as this wil l t end to distract your

,

mind from yo u rself and restore you to a co ndition of

normal h ealthy mindedn ess -
.

Cul tivate a sense of humour and never take yourself

,

or your mediumship so seriously that you cannot see th e

humorous sid e of a situation wh en it may a rise E u .

dea vour to harden the inner self so to say and focus and , ,
21 0 YOUR PSYCHI C POWE RS

t he aura By proper concentration and practise you

.

will be enabled to h arden or tough en the outer sh ell ,

as it w ere ,
—
of this auric egg rendering it impervious,

to ext raneous psychic or spi ritual influ ences This you .

shoul d always practice before dropping off to sleep .

Those who have dev el o ped this power in a p roper and

adequat e manner a re absolut ely impervious to any evil
,

or malign influences from without .

THE CURE OF OBSE SIO N

C ure . Supposi ng now that you hav e not taken these

p recautio ns in time and that you hav e become actually
obsessed for th e time being or that you meet one who
,

is unf ortunate enough to be in that condition What is .

to be done ?
The advice which was giv en under th e last heading
should be foll owed h ere t o som e exte nt Th e physical .

h ealth should be built up by all means in your power .

Sl eep is absolutely essential and as m uc h of it must be

secured as M b l e It may be necessary ev en t o rm rt
.

to sleep ing draughts or powders in ord er to secure th e

necessa ry sleep T h ese should b e prescribed by you r
.

regular physician howev er While drugs are doubtlem

,
.

ha rmful bromid e and similar m edicin es can be taken

,

with benefit at such a tim e since th e evil effects o f th e

,

drug are mo re than count erbal anced by th e benefits

d erived by mi nd and spirit Al co hol must be dis .

cont inued at once and a milkd ict substituted Y o u .

must impress upo n the pati ent ( for such h e is now ) that
no one c an h elp hi m beyo nd a c ertai n limit ed point ; h e
must help himself The cure must come from withi n
.

rather th an from without .

 OBSESSIO N AND I N SAN ITY 21 1

H OW TO USE TH E H IND

D ist ract hi s mind by all possibl e methods so as to make ,

it objective instead of introspective D o not l et him go

.

insi de hi s h ead for a mom ent to listen to the voices or

to see the visions which float before hi m ; but imm edi ,

atel y anyt h ing of the kind occurs distract his attenti o n

,

and interest hi m in something whi ch is going on about

him and of as dramati c a nature as possible so as to
, ,

insure att ention Do not let him go inside his h ea d

.
,

for the more h e lives withi n himself th e more dimcult ,

will h e b e to cure You must teach him to disregard or

.

to deny th e voices or impressions which insistently com e

,

to him If they flatter hi m and tell him to do certain

.

things teach him that th ese vo ices are evil and lying
, ,

and are not to be trusted ; for if they were otherwise

he would not be in his present condition .

Never imagine for a moment that an c hew ed person

is illogical or is not open to reason His reasoning .

faculti es are often keenly ale rt and have oft en to be

,

app ea l ed to to efiect a ca re
,

T h ese m ental devices a re very important though th ey ,

do not as before said go to the root of the matter

, ,
.

DIAGNOSIS AND “ FA W N

Clairvoyant diagnosis is very valua bl e and a trained ,

clai rvoyant can som eti m es see th e c hees ing spirits and
describe th em When this is t he case the problem of
.
,

cure becom es more rea l and more appa rent If the .

pati ent beli eves in th e eflicacy of pray er thi s is doubtl ess

,

a potent method of cure Th e re ligious nature is one of

.

the most fundamental sid es of our charact er a nd is a ,

factor which is capabl e of ex erti ng an imm ense p rm ure

21 2 YOUR PSYC HI C POWERS

wh en properly brought to bear Encourage th e patient

.
,

therefore to pray if h e is at all of a rel i gious turn of

, ,

mi nd .

Magnetic treatm ent such as passes etc is often v ery

, .
,

va luable and wil l assist in restoring th e patient to health

,
,

by acting upo n the etheric body dir ect as before ex ,

plained C o mbined w ith suggestion this is one o f th e

.
,

most pot ent w eapo ns that can be used in our present stat e
of kno wledge By these m ethods also w e ca n in som e
.
, ,

cases tough en th e out er protec tive auric sh ell if th e ,

pati ent is unabl e to direct his mi nd su flici ently to do this

himself By proper striving however he will soon place
.
, ,

himself in the direction of th e great h eali ng C osmic Cu r

rents and when o nce he has do ne so will begin to improve
,

immediately and mak e rapid progress .

Th e most important remedial measure must now be

“
spirits "
described I nasmuch as th e obsessing int elligences are
.

usually of an evil or lying nature ( though

,

th ey may be only ignorant or bungling ) who have

’
wrecked the medium s nervo us m echanism through thei r ,

ignorance of how to operate it they are capabl e of be

,

—
ing rea c h ed and removed by oth er spirits that is w e ,

shoul d approach th em not from the physical or even th e

m ental plane but from th e spirit side of life One of
,
.

th e best ways to do this is to secur e th e services of a

reliable trance —o r c lairvoyant m edium w ho in th e , ,

m ediumistic co ndition is capabl e o f discerning the

,

spirits a nd influ encing the pati ent An experi enced

"
.
,
“ ”
medium of this character has with him certain guides
“
or controls who are h elpful and fri endly Th ese .

guid es if ca lled upon will assist by arguing with or if

, , , ,
 YOUR PSYCHIC PO WE RS

non e of th ese da ngers or dificul ties but sh oul d on th e

, ,

c ontrary , bring the stu dent into touch wi th high er

p la n es of t ho ugh t an d ac t i v i ty a nd e n a bl e h im to a p
p r o a ch t h e mor e a ng elic s phe r e of bei ng , a s by ca rel ess

or wrong d ev elop m ent h e w ill as su rely com e in conta ct

with sp iri ts of the opposite nature For this reason I

.

aga in urge th e stu dent to study a nd prac tice ca ref ully

and ca ut iously as he p roc eeds so th at none of t h ese nu

, ,
pleasant or terri fying exp eriences may at any
c om e to hi m .
 C HAPT ER XXI V
PRAYER cos csnm , rl os AND S ILEN CE

Tm : subj ects treated in this c ha pter will p robably be

of special v alue to the student, after that immediately
precedi ng it W e hav e already spoken of th e valu e of
.

prayer in certain cases and it may be said that both

, ,

si lence and co ncentration u nder certain conditions will

, ,

—
always prov e of great value not only in the cure of oh ,

sw ion but at all oth er times when dark clouds loom up

on th e horizon In order to secure the best results from

.

these pn chological processes however they sh ould be , ,

practised according to certain laws and the reason for ,

th eir operation shoul d be thorough ly u nderstood by the

student .

“
wu r m smss cs m om rms
'
y sx

Wh is called “
silence in general N ew Thought
th e
peculia r psychic stat e into w hich th e
stud ent enters in ord er to secu re certain results As th e .

term imp lies qui et or sil ence are necessary fac tors but
, ,

they are mere m eans to an end ; silenc e in itself would

achi eve not hing It m eans that in this co nditi on th ereby
.
,

induced certai n practices may be foll owed w h ich pro

, ,

duce th e desired results .

Concentration is the focusing of th e entire being at

any given moment upon a central point of interest eith er ,

inward or outward as th e case may be It may be upo n

, .

som e obj ect o r some inner t hought or psychic condition

, .

Concentration upon objects is usually employed as a

2 16
21 6 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

mere outward exercise to train th e mind to act according

to i nstructions so to speak so that when th e time comes
, ,

it may be employed in useful and helpful psychi c

a ctivity
.

T H E VAL UE or CO N CEN TRATIO N

Concentration mea ns power The mor e w e coneen

.

trate on anythi ng th e more c ertain it is to b e aecom

p li sh ed and the better will th e resu lts be Just as a num .

ber of streams meeti ng at a c ertain point will create a

rushing mighty current so in th e sam e manner will
, ,

scattered psychic activity and forces if brought to a ,

common point produc e cert ai n pow erful results which

, ,

may be centred or tu rned into one di rection or into

another One of th e chief p ractical uses of concentra
.

tion is the use it may be put to to hold or bind the self

together W e should nev er let it be sc att ered in a va
.

riety of separat e cha nnels of expressio n but rather con ,

centrated into one sin gl e pow erful unit,

J ust as th e .

strands of a rop e may becom e separated so th e mind ,

may becom e disintegrated and lose its i nitial power In .

this wea kened co ndition it can b e ac ted upo n by other

,

mi nds and forces just as th e si ngl e strands of ro p e can

,

be broken ; but the wh ole rop e would r esist any strai n

put upo n it The mi nd wh en concentrated and ac t ing
.
,

under prope r directi o n and control is si m il a rly im ,

p ervious to all outside i nflu ences which ma y not be de

si red ; and at th e same tim e is itself a powerful factor
either for good or evil .

CON CENTRA TIO N m ac x

sss

A f ew simple ex ercises in co ncentration may h ere be

given whi ch will be found useful not only in psychi c de
v el opment but in every p hase of life .
218 YOUR PSYCHIC PO W E R S

attention ope n your psychic or m ental ears so to spea k

, , ,

a nd see if you ca n receive a ny message from the person

whose fac e is before you T h is will be found a very use

.

ful practice on occasio n at th e beginning o f yo ur

, ,

medi umship and will enable you possibly to receive di

,

rect comm unications when you have tried in every oth er

way and failed You will not be able to do so however
.
, ,

u ntil you have mastered fully this facul ty of coneen

trati on .

THE DYNA MIC POWER OF TH E MIND

H aving progressed so far, you may now concentrate
upo n c ertain m ental or psychi c proc esses whil e ,
“ ”
wil ling or d emanding that smne return he ma de as a
result of your voliti onal activity Remember that ev ery .

thought you send out into the u niverse attrac ts to itself

oth ers of a like nature and ultimat ely returns to th e
,

—
sender with added pow er just as a boom erang re ,

turns to th e thrower A ltruist ic thoughts such as l o v e

.
, ,

justice forgiv eness

,
etc , will therefore return to the
, .

owner and make him happi er for having thou ght th em

, .

Evil and malev olent thoughts will on the contrary , ,

retu rn and make the send er more unhappy and m o re

innately evil in consequ ence The path w e travel .
,

whether it be upwa rd or downward always gets easi er ,

as w e proceed W e are h elped along not o nly by the

.

powers of good or darknem but by our own thoughts and ,

th eir results .

T houghts are things ! N o th ought is ever annihila ted ,

and there is evidence to show that thought can take m a

t erial form on occasion and i nfluence either for good or
, ,

evil those at a distance This will be more fully ex

,
.

plained however in subseq uent chapters

, , .
 PRA YE R CO N C E N TRA TIO N , SIL EN CE
, 21 9

THE VALUE O F PRAYER

We must now say a few words on prayer and its ,

great valu e to one who sends out th e prayer thought .

“
T here are many who beli ev e that prayer is superati
”
tio n si nce th ey do not beli ev e in a perso nal God who ,

grants or answ ers p rayers but rather in an impersonal , ,

“
Creative Power which ord ers all things according
,

to unvarying laws E ven on this th eory however

.
, ,

prayer under certai n co nditions is fully justified ; for

, , ,

in th e first plac e as w e hav e j ust seen h elpful and whole

, ,

some thoughts tend to bring th eir own rew ard In the .

n ext place; pray er is an auto suggestion of great value -

,

and its in flu ence upon the m ental and physica l life is

frequ ently very g reat I n th e third plac e prayer will
.
,

help and buoy yo u up by giving you added confidence

°

and belief in y our powers In the fourth plac e inas .

,

much as telepat hy is a fact in nature you may wh ile , ,

in that co ndi tion rea ch the minds of other human be

,
.

ings who can help you and will actually do so without

, ,

knowing why Th e many int eresting cases which may

.

“ ”
be found of answ ers to prayers ( bri nging a mate rial
,

return ) fully j ustify its use from that po int of vi ew .

Fifth you can doubtl ess r ea ch by tel epathy friends in

, , ,

th e sp irit life who may be brought i nto more or less

-
,

direct touch with you during the prayerful condition of

,

mi nd which is certainly c losely akin to certain phases of

subjective m ediumship Th ey may in this mann er he .

mad e aware of your co nditi o n for the first time and will ,

th en endeav our to help you .

Sixt h by prayer you may b ring yourself into har

,

mo ny with the great Cosmic Currents of Good which as , ,

befo re explained a re playing hither and thith er upon

,
220 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

our Universe in much th e same way as l ight heat gravi , ,

ta tion electricity and other material forces play or act

,

upo n it and us .

A ll these material factors must be tak en into accou nt ,

apart from th e possibility tha t there is a

loving and protecting power in th e world which is ,

capable of helping us in t ime of need .

PRAYER IN OBSESSIO N
In obsemi on cases particularly prayer is of valu be ,
e, .

ca use of th e reli ef from t ension and th e w hol esome

m ental attitud e induced Just as a drowning m a n will
.

clutch at a straw so those who are in t erribl e distrm

,

will frequ ently resort to this practi ce wh en they would ,

not think of doi ng so at any other time ; and in a se nse , ,

they are justified in so doing Th ere is an old sayi ng

.

“ ”
that Man s extremity is God s opportunity
’
It may
’
.

b e that prayer in the ordi na ry sense of th e w o rd is not

, ,

needed during an ordi nary h ealthy li fe provid ed that ,

it is li ved in accord ance with the laws of natu re and as

cordi ng to its own high est m ental and spiri t ual insight .

A t the sam e time there may b e oc casi o ns wh en it is justi

,

fied and h elpful and certai nly it has proved so in c ertain

,

cases of M culty and obsessio n .

The benefi cial efl ec ts of prayer may be explained in

many cases quite simply As exp lained i n th e chapter
, .

devoted to th e Subconscious Mind certain groups of ,

—
thoughts tend to become bou nd togeth er forming what ,
“ ”
is known as a compl ex If this activity be whol esom e
.
,

the resu lt is be nefici al , and in fact all our educational

, ,

processes depend upon this compl ex formation On the -

.
 T IIE h uman body is charged with a certain magnetism
whi ch difiers from all oth er forms of magnetism and
’

electricity in th e world . A ll oth er forces of whi ch w e

,

have knowledge are non-i ntelligent, and have to be

,

guided and directed by mind or by so me law . in o rder

to bring abou t any definit e or desired resul t It is there.

fore m eaningl ess to explain the co nti nued and consecu

tiv e m ovem ents o f th e pla nchette board or any simi lar
“
instrument by saying that it is due to magnetism or
“ ”
"
to el ect ri city or to any similar power Thmc are all
.

blind forces and must be di rected in order that any in

,

tel li gent result may be obtained . Th e vital magnetism ,

which is present in th e body is also a blind force but is

, ,

under th e co ntrol of the subconscious mind and under , ,

certain condi tions to be spoken of later may be played

, ,

upo n or manipulated by external intelligencm In this .

way th e various results are obt ained .

NATURE AND PRO PER TIES OF THE FLUID

This vit al magnetism appears to be fl ui dic or semi
fl uidic in form and capabl e of flo w ing from one organism
into another It is upon this principle that the various
.

—
magnetic cures are based the fluid running from the
,

operato rs fi ngers into th e body of the patient treated

’
.

That this fluidic energy is present in any human body

may be proved in a number of ways :
 “ ”
THE HU M AN FL UID 223

In the first place the human aura which I d escribed

, ,

in an earli er chapt er is partly a manifestation of this

,

vital activity th e co lours being the varying vib ratory

,

counterparts of the en ergy radiated .

I n Psychom etry again it is this vital energy which

, ,

passes into objects impregna ting them with its fl uidi c

,

E ach individual has his own peculiarly constituted and

personal vital magnetism and this di fl ers from all oth ers
,

in quality and properties A fully d ev eloped psychic

.

is ena bl ed to distinguish th ese one from anoth er and a

, ,

medi um in trance may be enabled to get into co mmuni

ca tion with a deceased person th rough or by means of
this flui di c impression left upo n it as explained in the ,

chapter devoted to T rance One or two practi cal ex.

amples or exercises may serve to show th e student th e

reality of this fl ui dic emana ti on and h e may employ ,

these to convince his sceptical friends also of its rea lity .

EI PERI I ENT N PRO VE TIR EX ISTEN C E OF THE FLUID

'

1 .A v ery simple test is th e followi ng a dead — Hang

black cloth over th e back of a chair and see that no light
fa lls direct ly on the cloth Th e light in the ro om should
.

be somewh at subdued and you should stand between it

and the cloth so as to throw your hands h eld against the
, ,

latter into shadow N ow approach your two hands one

,
.

to the oth er and touch the finger tips togeth er the h ands -
,

being otherwise Opened wide palms turned towa rds ,

yoursel f and th umbs pointing toward the ceiling In .

this condition you will probably find that as the fi rst ,

and fourth finger ti ps touch the second and third fingers

-
,

hav e to be bent consid erably to touch one another The .

hands should be at a dist ance of about th ree inc hes from

224 YOUR PSYC H I C PO W ERS

th e bla ck cloth and about 1 5 in ch es from your face .

H old the finger tips togeth er for about 30 sec o nds ; then
-

v ery gradually pul l them apart and you will see coming ,

from and joini ng your fingers st reams of whitish misty

, ,

vapour whi ch is th e fluid conn ectio n bet w een the b ands

, ,

w hich y o u have established by the previous conta ct If .

you mov e th e fi ngers sli ghtly up and down after th ey ,

hav e been separated an inch or so yo u will find that th e ,

streams or bands of light follow th e fingers still con ,

e

nect ing th em which will prov e that it is not due to hal

,
“
l ucination or to what is called p ersist ence of vision .

HOW TO M AONU I IZ E W ATm

’

2 Pl ace two glasses of water side by side on th e table

. .

Over one of these place the ti ps of your fi ngers h eld ,

togeth er so as to form a point as much as possible H old .

th ese over th e water in one glass for four or five

minutes w il ling that your vital magnetism should pass
,

into the wat er and ni ce! it If now you ask a sensitive

.

p erso n who
,
has not seen you p erform th e experim ent to ,

pick out the glass of wat er w hich has been treated mag
netica lly h e will be abl e to do 80 M ost invariably a nd
, ,

will t ell you that th e wat er sparkl es as though charged

with some efl ervescent gas
’
.

LIFE PR E ERV ED B Y TH E HU MAN FLU ID

Som e r ec ent experim ents conducted by a group of

,

sci entific m en in Bordeaux F rance have prov ed con

, ,

el usively that the human body radiates a fo rm of vita l

energy which may be extremely powerful in its results .

A lady possessing the pow er of projecting or exter

,

nalizi ng thi s vital energy in a remarkabl e degree dis ,

covered that by placi ng h er hands for fifteen or twenty

226 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

in th e above unique case Many persons have the power

.

o f preserving the life of flowers by treati ng them with

th eir hands in a simi lar manner every day and th e ,

student mi ght well try this experiment and see to what

ext ent h e can preserv e the lif e of ce rtain flo w ers— others

of a like na tu re being p reserved at th e same ti me by

a noth er pemo n and under similar co nditions to note the
d ifference if any between th e two sets
, , .

It is this vital magnetism whi ch projected beyond

, ,

th e bodily limits under th e action of the will is respon ,

sibl e for many physical phenom ena as we shall see in ,

Chapter XXXVI II .

HOW M ATERI AL OBJECTS BECOME CHARGED BY THE FLUID

M aterial objects parti cularly of a sponge like nature
,
-
,

such as wood a re ca pabl e of being charged up very

,

hi ghly by this vital magnet ism and wh en this is the case

,
”
th ey com e en rapport with th e m edium who is enabled ,

to mov e or ma nipulat e th em from a distance by his power

of will because of this vital fl uidic co nnect ion W e
, ,
.

shall speak more fully of th is however in th e c hapter de

, ,

voted to physical phenomena .

It may be proved experim entally also that this fl uidic

, ,

magnetism is eith er capabl e of sensing pain or is the

m eans wh ereby pai n is carried from th e nerve c entres -

to th e consciousness .

EXTERIORIZ ATION or sas smm rv

U nd er c ertain co nditi o ns th e fl ui dic body w h ich is th e

“
in ner part of th e physi c al body and acts as its doubl e
,

,
"
may by hyp notic and magnetic p rocm es be rem oved
entirely from th e physica l body in which c ase it may
,

be act ed upo n by su ggestio n from others present at the

 “ ”
T H E HU MAN FL UI D 22 7

tim e For
.
m cexam Colon el A lbert-
D e Rochas o f ,

Paris succeeded in entirely disengaging or separating

,

th e fl uidic body of his subj ect from th e physica l body ,

and grad ual ly rem o v ed it to greater and great er dis

tances until it stood several feet from th e entranced

subject s physical o rganism ! He th en pricked the sur
’

face of the fiuidi c body with needl es and th e sleeping ,

subject experi enced th ese sensations o f pain in her ow n

physical body at a spot or point exactly correspondi ng
to the part pricked on the etheric body .

asrsac m os

This seem s that there is a direct vital or mag

to show
netic link betw een th e etheric and the p hysical organ
isms and that injury done to th e one t e acta upon th e
,
-

“ ”
other by means of what is known as reperc ussion .

T his is a very significant fact wh en w e rem ember tha t

,

in materialising séa nces it sometimes happens t hat th e

,

figure is seized or in som e way inj umd by th e sitt er and ,

th e entranced medium is inj ured in exactly th e sa me

way tha t the m aterialized fig ure is injured This fact .

has long been known to experi enced spiritualists .

This curious fact has also great significa nce and th rows
an i nteresting side light on many of the phenom ena of
-

ao call ed
-
“
witc h craft ”
W e know that many of these
.

stori es relat e that the witch aw n ing another form

, ,

visited oth er scenes or localities and if cut shot o r , ,

injured th ere sh e herself w as found next day to have

,

received th ese exact injuri es th ou gh lying in h er bed

,

at som e distance from th e scene of the e vent i n question !

Such stori es certa inly app ear more credibl e wh en w e ,

take into consideration the abov e facts for bot h sets of ,

“ ”
phenomena seem to depend upon repercussion .
228 Y O U R PSYC H IC POW ERS

P H OTOG RAP HI C PLATES

T he human fluid may also be proved to exist by means
of photography If a sensiti ve plate b e wrapped in black
.

paper and th e hands o f th e psych ic or medi um of suitabl e

temperam ent be placed upon it th e fiuidic radiatio n com
,

ing from th e hand a nd fingers will influ ence th e plate

throu gh th e enveloping black pap er and th e impress
,

of th e hand wi ll be found upon th e plate This can o nly

.

b e ac counted fo r by suppos ing that th e fingers becam e in

some way radi o activ e during the experim ent
-
.

Many psych ics can go furth er than this and can im ,

press upon th e plat e an image or figure o f their thought

at th e tim e T hus wh en holdi ng th e pla te between
.
,

th ei r palms or on th eir forehead or aga inst the solar

plexus and thi nki ng of a sh eep a eat a chair etc
, , , , .
,

th e ima ge of a sheep cat or chair is im pressed upo n th e

,

plate E xperiments su ch as these may b e tried by any

.

stud ent a nd a re o f extrem e int erest and a lso of valu e

, .

sci entificall y wh en th ey are successful It is to be hoped

,
.

that many read ers of this book will try exp erim ents of
this charact er and report any results they may obtain !
230 YOUR PSYC H IC P OWE RS

co rresponding to th e number o f physical cells it is oh ,

vions that th ere a re millio ns of vital cells whic h co nform

exactly to th e shape of the body since th ey correspo nd
,

to its physical cel ls in life T h ese psychic centres hav e

.

“
been ca lled psych omeres and th ei r bulk is estimated
,

at abou t one mil li o nth that of the physical b ody The .

density of the eth eric double th erefore wou ld be about

, ,

sent th e weight of th e
“
astral "
or etheric body and ,
18

physica l atmosphere as would a balloon Th is fact

, .

coincides with what we know of the gradual floating

upward of th e spiritual body after death .

It is this body which w e inh abit aft er w e discard the

denser physical frame It is not necessa ry t o suppose
.

tha t our consciousness is scatt ered throughout th e w h ole

of this body any more than it is at present Th e centre .

of spiritual activity and the pow er of the will and mind

may b e a point of force so to speak within this eth eric
, ,

double and w e may utilize and animate it just as w e

utilize and ani mate the physical body in this lif e After .

a time it is p robable that w e discard this eth eric body ,

to assume one of even l esse r density and that thi s ,

p roc ess co nti nues a number of tim a until th e spirit ,

ultimat ely inhabits one o f su c h infinit ely fine matter ,

if such it c a n be called — that it is practi cally a men tal

“ "
or spiritual body T his is what we l earn from many
.

spirits who ha ve communicated such facts to us It .

 SE LF PROJ ECTIO N
- 23 1

is this body therefore which becm

, disengaged from
,

th e physical body during life and goes on trips or excu r

—
sions c arryi ng wi th it the consciousness of th e individ
u al and returns to animat e the physical body at the end

of a certain period of time .

POSSIB LE DANC ERS AND HOW THEY AR E OVEROOME

Wh en t his d isunio n or sev erance takes place th ere is ,

“
always a co nnecting link a magnetic cord ,
which ,

unites th e physical and th e etheric bodies If this cord .

were to get broken for any reason re animati on would

, ,
-

be impossible and th e death of the body would take

,

place T his is the great danger attendant upo n exp eri

.

ments of this character ; but such a ph en omenon is on ly

possi ble in cases of very deep trance where the separa ,

tion is almost complete and v ery littl e serves to dis

,

connect it entirely It is h igh ly improba bl e that any

.

but the most advanced stud ent could reach this sta ge ,

and wh en h e has reach ed it certain mystical inn er , ,

practices may be resorted to which would oflset thi s ,

possible danger .

It is this body which is occasiona lly photographed ,

and many ao called spirit photographs are in rea lity

- -

photog raphs not of discarnat e but of incarnat e spirits ;

,

— “ ”
that is th ey a re wandering doubl es of spirits still
,

in the flesh .

A gain many appariti o ns and figures seen in haunted

,

houses are of this nature They co nsti tute the p rojec

.

tio ns of li ving perso ns rath er than those who have passed

o ver and it takes an experi enced psychic stud ent to dis
,

t inguish betw een th e tw o types of figures They have .

bee n known to appear at séances, also in the form of ,

ma terializations .
232 Y O UR PSYCHI C POWERS

In addi tion to theae et hc ric bodies or doubles, " there

by th e mi nd and w ill of th e snb ject . Th us, in a case

know n to m a cla irvoy ant w as sent on a trip to th e

h ouse of a friend and aaked to deacribe th e indi vidua l
whom she found there . Sh e desc r1b ed a certa in perso n
in deta il
W hen th e psy chic ha d finished a nd recovered full con
sciousnen , sh e was told that h er description w as en

house in questi on , and that her descript ion was through

out erroneous. In order to p rove this a journey w as ,

made at once to the bouse o f the subject in questi on .

Wh en the facts we re stated, he replied, that although

he himsel f did not in any way resembl e the clairvoya nt
descriptio n this corresponded exa ctly and in minute
,

d etail to a ch aracter he was c reating and writi ng about

in his book ! I n oth er words : hi s though ts had m a ted
the figure so vividly that it actually lived for th e t ime
bei ng as an objective entity and was seen as su ch by ,

th e entranced clairvoyant .

W e can see from this th en that thoughts are things

“
, ,

They assum e sha pe and, in a certa in sense, live in tb e

physical world A ll our thoughts have a definite sh ape
.

as well as a definite colour and th e more advanced stm

,

dents along th e Path of Dev el o pm ent ca n see and de

scribe th ese thoughts we are tol d as clearly as we see
, ,

I f this be true, it h as a v ery signifl ca nt bearing upon

cases w hich occur and ha ve b een reported in th e past .
23 4 YOUR PSYCHIC PO W ERS

T h is inner etheric body which is exp elled to a dis

, ,

tanc e by the power of will , in cases of self projection -

,

may be relew ed and projected by the student afte r a

certain amount of pra ct ice H e sho uld go about this
.

cautiously feeling h is w a y as it were but proceeding

, , ,

more or l ess alo ng the following lin es

Place y ourself i n a perfectly composed attitud e either ,

on a couch or in a larg e chair Close th e eyes and

.

breath e d eep ly fo r a few minut es, all th e tim e holding

th e mi nd on a cent ral point o f co ncentratio n T ravel .

ov er your body in thought and at each point or spot

,

dwelt upo n by y ou w ill t hat your eth eric body b ecom a

,

detached or loosened fro m its co nnection with the physi

cal body As you begin to gain co ntrol of this procca ,
.

“ ”
you may hear or rather sense a process of separation
“ ”
taking place resembling a c lick a nd inwardly feeling
, ,

like th e disco nnecti on o f an electric curre nt When .

thi s has been compl et ed at one poi nt trav el to anothe r

, .

D o not t ry too many on any one occasion and always ,

b e su re to restore by an efl ort of w ill th e original con

u seted condi tion before you termi nate the exp erim ent .

FURT HER DIRECTIO NS AND ADVICE

After you have gon e round you r body in this way ,

and hav e su cceeded in disco nnect ing it more or m

compl etely you should th en call up before you in space

, , ,

a certain distant loca lity su ch as th e room of a friend

, ,

and ,
throwing the whole force of your being into a
singl e determined efiort of will force yourself mentally
,

to leav e your body and travel to the locality before

y ou . If you feel that you are losi ng consc i ousness, or ,
 SE LF PROJECTIO N
-
235

”
that ev erythi ng is goi ng black before you discontinue ,

the exp erim ent at once and return to your physical body .

If yo u can keep your self c ousc iousnem active you may

-
,

—
safely travel t o a y distance feeling assu red that you
n ,

will b e abl e to return wh enever you wa nt to and re a

a nimat e yo ur own physical fram e A ll this of course .

, ,

tak es t im e and persist ence of d evelopment and cannot ,

be acquired in a few days Moreov er I would advise

.
,

t he stud ent not to attempt this process until he has ,

progressed furth er i n h is studies and read th e advice

contained in th e last c hapter ‘
.

Should h e however make up his mind to do so he

, , ,

should proceed along the above lines advancing cau ,

tiously all the time and never sh owing h imself to lose

consciousness at any stage of th e proceedings .

Wh en he has acq uired th is power he will have in his ,

p o m essi on a w o nd e rful kno w l edge a nd a means

,
of a cq u i r

ing inform ation and spiritual insight which ot h ers w ho ,

have not developed it a re totally unabl e to comp rehend

,
.

l Furt he r a d vice la to b e found in m y boo k

“
Modern Psyc h ic al
Phenomena in w hi c h a chapter is devoted to th is question
,
”
.
 CH APTER X X V II
A PP A R I TI ONS

AN apparition is a phantasmal being , commonly called

“
a ghost which 18 seen by sensitiv e individuals under
,

c ertain conditi ons Before we can sp eak more fu lly

of appariti ons, w e must answ er the qu est ion whi ch natu
rally occurs ; namely :
“ ”
WHAT rs A ss osr ?

Mod ern th eori es a nd ideas on this questi on hav e

changed greatly wit hin th e past quart er o f a centu ry .

A t that tim e if an o rdinary sci entific m a n were qu es

,

tioned on this subj ect h e would probably reply that it

,

w as a hall ucination — th e result o f a diseased mi nd a nd ,

,

had no existence in reality outside th e imagi nation of

th e subject wh o perc eived it But i n th ese days th is
.

idea has been great ly modified a nd it must now be ad ,

“ ”
m itted that ghosts are v ery much more complicated

In the first place when the Society for Psychical Re

,

search b egan its investigations in 1 882 it w as fou nd ,

that a large percentage of cases of a pparitio ns occurred

at or about th e tim e of death So me occurred before .

and so me after but most of th em w ere approxi mately

,

at that time Furth er th e subj ects wh o perceived or

.
,

saw th em were not diseased or imag inative persons ,

and probably nev er had anoth er experi enc e of this char

a ct er either bef o re or aft erwards The questions natu .

“
rally arose Why this connectio n ? What is the bon d
,

236
238 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

time of the individu al But how about th ose whi ch

.

occ ur after death ? H ere we shoul d have to assume that

some oth er procem w as involved, or else ext end our belief
so as to cover and embrac e the actio n of discarnate spi rits .

PHANTASMS O F THE DEAD

One theory of these apparitio ns ( seen after th e d eath
of the person th ey represent ) is that th ey embody the
thought of the dead p erson For exampl e : an individu a l
.

sp irit may conti nu e to think ov er its lif e and the scenes

of its varied activities and these recoll ectio ns and
,

thoughts influ encing the minds of thom still living by

, ,

means of tel epathy would cause them to see th e phan

,

tasmal image of th e perso n thinking th e th o ughts This .

,

however is a q uestion which we shall disc uss more full y

,

in the next cha pt er Fo r th e present it may b e said that

"
.

this is one theo ry advanced to explai n so called ph an

“
tasms of th e dea d or ghosts as o pposed to pha ntaams
, ,

of the li ving and phantasms of th e dying

, .

o nosrs rm r m en !
'

Th ere are many cases of apparitions how ev er whi c h , ,

cannot be thus easily explained by assuming that th ey

are th e proj ection or t elepathi c influ enc e of a livi ng
mind or th e mind of a discarnat e spirit In ma ny cases
, .
,

they seem to be real substantial beings —to occu py space ,

and exi st as real semi solid or mat erial phantoms

-
,
.

Those who hav e be en convinced o f th e reality of an

etheri c or spiritual body need have no diE c ul ty in
,

s u nn ing that it is this body which is seen at su c h t im es ,

an d in many cases w e find stro ng evidence for supposi ng

tha t a body of this charact er ac tually exists F or ex .

amp le : In one historic insta nce a doctor and his w ife

,
 APPARITIO N S 239

both saw the figu re of a woman standi ng at the foot of

th eir bed a nd saw it cross th e room and place its fingers
,

ov er a small night light which was burning on th e

-
,

mantelpi ece At the mom ent the phantom thus placed

.

his hands ov er the light it was extinguished and the,

room was left in darkness !

“
or tel epathic hallucinatio n of any character existed "
H ere it is dificu lt to suppose that any thought creation -

for the reaso n that a physica l phenom enon w as produced

and no hall ucination could have do ne this .

M A TERIALIZ ED PH ANTOMS
A gain in many cases th e phantasmal form or appari
, ,

tion is seen to o pen doors lift curtains raise bed clothes

, ,
-
,

etc. and in such c ases again w e must assume that a

, , ,

real phantom exists The probl em is thus more com

.

pli cat ed than at first appears and as M! Andrew Lang , , .

“
remark ed Co nsequ ently if these stori es are true some
, , ,

—
appariti ons a re ghost s real objective entiti es filling
space H all ucinations c annot draw curtains or open

"
.
,

—
doors or cause th um pk not rea l thumps hallucinato ry
,

thumps are difl erent .

D r Burns t ells of a gentleman w ho in a drea m

.
, , ,

pushed against a door in a distant house so that those ,

i n the room were scarcely able to resist th e pressure !

N ow if this rath er staggering anecdote be true the
, ,

spirit of a living man bei ng abl e to afl ect matter is

, ,

also , so to spea k, materia l and is an ac t ual entity , a n

astral body T h ese arguments then make in fa vour of

.

th e old fashioned theo ry o f ghosts and wraiths as things

-
,

objectiv ely existing rather than the view that all these
,
“ ”
ghosts a re necessa rily subjective in origin .
 4
2 0 YOUR PSYCHI C PO WE RS

PH ANTASMS CR EATED BY THOUG HT

Th ese phantasms are doubtless thought bodi es in many
-
,

cases construct ed by the operating intelligence itself .

One interesti ng fact in this connection is this : t h at it

is near ly always stated by thou who have seen fi gures
of this kind that the phantom is clear and plainl y
visibl e about the head and th e upper part of th e body ,

but that the apparition dwindl es down to a vaporous

fi lm toward th e feet I n oth er wo rds the upper part
.
,

of th e body is much clearer than th e lower part .

If the phantom were a definite thought creation this -

,

is only wha t w e should expect F or w e think of th e

.

upper portion of our bodi es much more than the l o wer

portion ; w e are m ore conscious of our h ead and shoulders ,

and th e upper po rtion of th e trunk and th e hands and

arms and onl y vagu ely consciou s of th e l egs and l ower

,

portions of the body Th is is exac tly what w e find in

.

apparitions ; and it would there fo re seem that the figures

are cl ear in outli ne j ust to th e extent that th e ope rati ng

intelligence is in tensely conscious of th e appearance o f

the body h e is creating or building up .

PH ANTOMS WHICH IMPAR T I NFO RM ATIO N

There are also certain cases on record in which the
phantom has gi ven the reci pi ent of the experi ence some
i mporta nt informatio n whi ch h e did not know p rev iously
,

-
where certain papers are hidden etc Su ch ca ses cer
, .

tainly prove that an indep end ent intelli genc e is there

a spirit which is thus manifesting its presence It must .

be admitted howev er that most apparitions are pur

, ,

p osel ess and meaningl ess ; but this is ea sily accou nted
for by supposi ng that w e see at such t imes not the
, ,
 4
2 2 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

The same laws which p rev ail in many of th e previ o us

exercises also rul e h ere .

Th e st udent sho uld w e to it th a t he reta ins a grasp

of his own personality and does not lose co ntrol o f his
inner self at any stage of th e proc eedings As h e prog .

resses in his d evelo pment along th ese li nes h e should ,

“
endea vour to make th e apparitio n which appears at
”
t h e other end of th e line so to speak more or l ess
, ,

solid After h e has once succeeded in th e pro cess of

.

p rojection h e should throw all his will into t he efiort

,

to make the projected form more and more substantial ,

and to wil l that his self co nsciousness and activity be

-

actually transferred to th e distant scen e In this way .

h e is not only seen by others who may happen to be

,

present but is also enabled to see for himself what is

,

actually going on in that place and obtains at the , ,

sam e tim e a clairvoyant vision of th e surro undings in

,

whi ch he has appeared I n this way both th e psychic

.

and those who perceiv e the created figure mutually ex

change experi ences ; and this process shou ld be conti nued
until the projected doubl e becomes so solid in structure
that it cannot be distinguish ed from a real physica l
being Th ere are many advanced psyc hic stud ents who
.

c laim that th ey can actua lly c reat e and project to grea t

dist ances material bodies of this nature .

 CHA PTER XXVI II
H A UNTED HO USE S

As expla ined in th e last chapter when apparit io ns be

,

c om e fixed or attached to o ne locality they constitute

,
“ ”
what is called a local haunting and the pla ce they in
,
“ ”
fl uence is co m m only call ed a haunted house This is .

th e o rdi nary or common th eory of haunted houses and ,

th e av erage pe rso n probably assumes that th e fi gures seen

in such houses a re mat erial and the picture he forms
,

of the ghost is that it is a sh eeted figure walking about ,

u p and downst airs and cl ankin g chai ns after it ! There

,

are probably few if any psychic students who believe

, ,

that hou ses a re h aunted by figures of th is description ,

and opposed to thi s view is that of ordina ry science ,

which co ntends that there are no haunted houses at all

— th e figures seen within them being m erely the p ro duct
o f expectancy suggestion and excited imagination !
,

THE EXPLANA TION OF m um HOUSE

All th ose w h o have carefully invest igated the subject ,

however com e to th e co nclusion soon er or later that

, , ,

ther e are genui ne haunt ed houses The question is.

w hat co nstitutes the haunti ng a nd how a re such cases

to be explained ? Many psychi c students have special
ized so to spea k in this subj ect of hau nted houses and
, , ,

hav e formulated various th eori es to explai n cases of

this character Th e following are th e most importa nt
.

th eori es whi ch have b een advanced

1 T hat one person or group of persons forming a
4
.
,

2 3
24
4 YOUR PSYC H I C POW ERS

family have experienced certain psychic phenomena in

,

th e house i n questio n and th ese formed the nucl eus round

,

which gath ered impress ions no ises and psychic ex peri,

ences o f all kinds . F ro m a sma ll beg inning grea t resul ts

sprang elaborated by thei r own mi nds N ow wh en

, .
,

th ese people moved away from th e house in qu estion ,

and oth er t enants occupi ed it this second group was ,

influenced by the thoughts em oti ons and impressions of

,

those who had moved away so that th ey in th eir turn ,

began to see signs and hear strange sounds — inquiry

reveali ng th e fact that th e house had the reputa tion o f
“
being haunt ed and th eir ow n imaginati o ns would
,

magnify the significance of all they had seen or hea rd .

I n oth er w o rds this theory contends that t elep athy or

,

infl uence fro m li ving minds is the afl m fic ient explana

tion and alone serves to ac count for th e facts .

m am m AND
“
rsrc m o a m osrm s

2 Th e
. second theo ry advanced is that t el epathy from
—
the d ead is th e true explanation the phantoms seen ,

etc being p roduced by the influ ence of m inds o f de

.
,

ceased persons On this th eory th e figures and phantoms

.

are not o bj ectiv e o r real any more than in t he first case ,

but are tel epathic halluci nations just as truly though , ,

th ey ha ve an objectiv e b asis of reality i nasmu c h as ,

they have originated in the mi nd of a deceased person .

D reams or thoug hts of th e dead constitute th eref ore , ,

the basic p rincipl e of explanation On this theory .

3 Th e n ext theory which is advanced is that some

.

subtl e psychic atmosph ere pe rmeates the walls of th e

house in question and t hat this atmosph ere i nfluences
,

or impresses all those who live wi thin it There is .

much to say in favour of such a theory and the pre ,

 4
2 6 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

plai n th e fa cts F or examp le : th ese phantasms often

.

produ c e physical phenomena as befo re explained — such ,

as opening doors lift ing curtains snumng ca ndl es et c

, , , .

M ental images or pictu res could not do this Again .

,

animals o ften see or appea r to see apparitions in

, .

haunted h ouses and show all th e signs of fear such as

, ,

trembling sweati ng etc

, ,
.

I n th e thi rd plac e figures a re often desc ribed difier

,
»

ently by d ifl erent individuals F or exampl e : A would . .

desc ribe a full face vi ew of the figure whil e B woul d , .

describe th e figure in p ro fil e . If a rea l fig ure w ere

m

that a real figureand no mere hallucination was pres

, ,

ent.

In th e fou rth place apparitions have been seen by

,
“
two three or more perso ns at once T h es e collective
,
.

”
h allucinatio ns as they are call ed strongly suggest
, ,

ext ernal phantom and no m ere m ental picture .

PROOFS OF RE ALIT Y

In th e fift h plac e app a ri tio ns w h i c h hav e appeared

,

to stran gers occupyi ng haunted houses hav e afterwa rds

been id entified on being sh o wn th e ph o tograph of th e
perso n Fo r exampl e : a gentleman sl eep ing in a house
.
,

reputed to be haunted sees a certain figure bending , ,

over him w h en he awak es at mi dnight He not es de .

tails of dress feature et c and also notes that he has

, ,
.
,

never seen this perso n befo re in his l if e Th e next day .

h e is sh o wn t w enty photographs F rom among the .

tw enty h e sel ec ts one as bei ng th e phanto m seen in the

house The owner of the house th en tel ls him th at th is
.
 H A U NT E D H O US E S 4
2 7

is the person said to hau nt th e locality in quest io n !

A gai n w e a re driven t o beli eve that more than mere
hallu c i nation is at work .

In th e sixth place th ese figures see n in hau nt ed

, ,

houses have occasi onally been photograph ed and this

, ,

object ive and physical proof of th eir reality is stro ng

evid enc e that they a re more tha n m ental products .

Seventh : figures seen in haunted h ouses o ften con

v ey, to the seer definite i nfo rma ti on o r giv e messages
,

which th e indi vidual in questio n could not hav e kno w n .

This stro ngly indicates not only th e reali ty of th e appari

tion but th e fact that it is a discarnate spirit
, .

F or th ese reaso ns therefore we must assume that

, ,

haunted houses are actual realiti es and that th e figures ,

seen th erein are at tim es at l east outstanding entiti es

, ,

a nd represent more or l ess directly th e indi vidual th ey

appear to portray .

st an c es IN m ou rns a oussa

Psychic stud ents can test th eir pow er and at the same
tim e condu ct many i nt eresting and valuabl e exmm m
in haun t ed houses I n an atmosph ere of this so rt whi c h
.
,

is more hi ghly charged wi th magnetism than the ordi

nary sco nce room
- psychic pow ers of a ny character
,

should be qui ckly augmented and increa sed so that mes ,

sages coul d be obtained by speech visio n automati c writ , ,

ing crystal visio n etc

,
W he nev er you h ear of a case
, .

o f a haunted house th erefo re you sho uld make it a

, ,

po int to visit this house at once It is not necessa ry to .

sleep in it a night as many suppose in order to test

, ,

its character H old a séa nce in that house in the eve

.

ning and striking ph enomena will probably result

,
Or, .
 4
2 8 YOUR PSYCHI C POWE RS

if you cannot gathe r togeth er a group of interested stm

d ents sit by yoursel f and see wheth er you cannot obtain
,

direct m essa ges from t he intelligences present E xperi .

m ents in auto matic writing crystal gazing etc may

-
,
-
,
.
,

also b e tri ed .

Clai rvoyants may also render useful se rvice by visiting

clairvoyantly haun ted houses and ascertaining and de
sc ribing if p ossibl e th e source and cause of the haunting
, , .

V isit th e house by means of a c la irvoyant excursio n

-

eith er spo ntaneously or wh en i n

and usey our psychic powers to th e M ost to ,

this house Wh en .

out and see whether you can

p h ere of t
within it .

necessarily b e so but the individuals themselves may be

,

—
unbalanc ed or o bsessed for some reason in which case ,

the h o use itself would be free except from those infl u

enc es which were drawn to it by the individuals resi d ing

th erein .

Many p ersons, living in haunted houses wish to be ,

free fro m th e d epressi ng influences which so metimes hang

about h o uses of this charact er yet do not know how to
,

proceed in ord er to rid th emselves of th ese haunting

presen ces T his is a v ery com p li c at ed questio n and one
. ,

to whic h psychic students have in th e past given far

“ ”
too little att ention In my book The Comi ng Sci ence
.

“
th ere is a c hapte r entitled H aunt ed H ouses and t h eir
”
Cure and I would refer all thow interest ed to th e
 THE D I FF I CU LTI ES OF C Ohfl l U NI C ATION

THE p rocess o f co mmuni ca tion is doubt less far more difi

cu lt and com p lica ted th an the av erage person bel i ev es ,

a nd is e ven mo re co m p lica ted t h a n most sp iritu a lists

beli eve As stated in a p rev ious c ha pt er one of th e

.
,

g r ea t o bj ecti o n s to t h e r ea li ty of sp i ri tua l ism u rg ed i n

t h e past is t h at if true m a ny mo re p ersons must com
, , ,

m unica te th an no w a p pea r to do so and t h at of th e

,

thousands w h o die more m ust com e bac k t ha n th e few

,

w ho re tu rn t hrou gh m ediu m s ! It w as th ere po inted

out th at th e reason for this c onsists pa rt ly in th e fa ct
“ ”
t h at g oo d c omm u n ica tors are co m p arat ively ra re ,

a nd tha t t h ere is necessa rily a p ec uli ar psych i ca l c o ndi

ti o n w h i c h ena bl es th em to co m munica te t hrou gh

m ed iums . In a d di t ion to this a m edi um m ust b e p resent
a t t h e t im e t ha t a n efio rt to c o mm unica te is being

m a de a nd in m a ny c ases the reci p i ent of th e m essage

,

m u st a lso be rea c hi ng o ut to receive it before it ca n ,

be giv en sa t isfa cto rily . I n oth er w ords th e send er and

,
“
receiv er of th e m es a g e must st retch out th ei r m enta l
a rm s so to sa v a t t h e sa me mo m ent befo re t h e
. , y
sh ak e h a n ds a c res th e G rea t G ul f ; a nd if o nl y one
does so h e fai ls to rea c h th e one on th e oth er si de
, .

FA CTO RS AFFECTI N G m H H U NI CATION

t he fa c ts h as been p ro ved does th eir deta iled

, tu dy
s
 D I FF ICU L TIES O F COMMU N IC ATIO N 251

begi n Fo r exam fl e : Supposing that a spirit ca n

.

—
w rit e th ro ugh a n entranc ed medi um s h e giving the

messages in automatic writ ing The fact o nce admitt ed

.
,

th e sci entific study o f th e ca se will only hav e begun ,

and such qu estio ns as th ese would th en have to be

answered : To what ext ent is th e m edi um s spirit dis '

connected from th e body whil e the commu nicati on is

taking place ? W hat is th e d egree of mental activity
’
of th e medium s spirit during the com municatio n ?
Does th e communicating intelligence act directly on th e
b rai n and nervo us centres of the medium or in a mo re ,

roundabout manner and if the former upon what brain

, ,

centres does th e intelligen ce act and how ! ,

If a communica tor was in li fe a good Visualizer o r had

a good mem o ry etc wo uld th ese factors amist him in
, .
,

the p roc em o f communi cation — a nd if so how ?

, ,

Th ese and many similar questions would have to be

, ,

answered and it is upon questio ns su ch as these that

,

many psychical research ers have bent th eir energi es fo r

some tim e past It is probabl e that seve ral hundred
.

y ears will have to elapse before these questions can be

answered fully and th e facts explained in detail .

DIFFIC U LTM OF THE ( ” H M U NI C ATING SPIRIT

Let us enum erate some of th e difiic ul ties which a
communicat ing spirit probably has to co ntend with in ,

sending m essages throu gh m edium s to th e livi ng T here .

is much evid en ce to sh o w that th e process of c ommuni

cation is a v ery d ifficult one for as soo n as a spirit gets
, ,

in c o ntact with a medi um and begi ns to transm it mes

sages he becom es mo re o r l ess exhausted and sufl oc ated
, ,

so to spea k by th e dense aura or atmosph ere with

,

w hich h e is called upon to com e into contact In many .

2 52 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

instanc es we read that sp irits have to go away sev eral

tim es duri ng th e course of a séance to revive themselves, ,

a nd aft erwards re turn ref resh ed and cl ear brained

,
to -
,

continu e the communications T hey experience g reat

.

difii cul ty in hold ing thei r thoughts togeth er connected ly , ,

during th e process of communication This does not .

m ean that th ey a re ordinarily in this confused sta te ,

but ( very o ft en) as soo n as they come into co ntact with

the m edium s psychic atm osph ere and magnetism th ey
’
,

becom e confused and thei r minds tend to wander as th ey

w o uld in deli rium o r in a state of trance It is because .

o f this that many of th e messages we rec eive comm ence

w ell but afterw ards dwindle ofi into incoh erence and
triviality .

”
w nv nm nm sa oss ann rom an

“
This qu estion of triviality howev er is often mis
, ,

understood Th e obj ection is raised that spirits if they

.
, ,

really communicate would tell us something more i m

,

portant than th ey usual ly do As a matter of fact

"
.
,

h ow eve r this is only t rue in a certai n sense T he or

, .

“
dina ry social co nversation between spirits in th e flesh
is not as serious as it might be and it has been shown ,

by actual exp erim ent that human beings wh en called ,

upo n to prove th eir ow n id entity to ano th er do dalib ,

e rat ely choose trivial i ncidents by means of which to

identify th emselves .

Anoth er po int is th at trivial inciden ts serve best to

prove id entity as som e great philosophi cal discourse
,

might be gi ven by any intelli gence either in or out of ,

th e body and would prov e nothing to one longing to

,

hear from his own d ear one I n suc h a case perso nal
.
,

detail ed and so t o say trivial m essm are often the

, ,
25 4 YOUR PSYCHI C PO WERS

which exist h ere that th ey have to be explained in

roundabout and symbolic language If you had to ex .

plain col o ur t o a bli nd man you would find great dim

,

culty in doing so I f you had to explain th e feelin gs

.

experi enced whil e givi ng psych o metric te sts to one who

had n ev er experi enced them yo u would also find co n

,

sidera b le di fficul ty It is much th e same in this case

. .

T h ere are no imm ediat e a nalogi es whi c h can be drawn ,

a nd th e result is that symbolism and a languag e which

appears to us v agu e a nd unsat isfactory is oft en em

pl oyed in describing th e other side of l ife and the con
ditions which prevail th erei n .

DIFFI CU U I IE S OB ' ‘
NA MES AND DATE
N ames and dat es furnish great difiiculty for return
ing spi rits . D at es because of the fact that tim e is not
,

recognized by th em in th e same way that it is with us .

N ames fo r th e reaso n that th ey do not represent con

,

cret e pictures or meanings bu t are as a rul e only a com

,

bination of l etters having a certai n sound Th e word .

“ ”
chair calls u p to th e mi nd a certai n p ict ure whi ch
“
can be visu alized On th e other hand th e nam e Rob
.
,
”
i nson calls up no such p icture except perhaps the ,

m emo ry imag e of some fri end of yours by that name .

I f that m em o ry picture is revived in t he com m uni w

-

t o r s mind th e m edium can see thi s and describe it

’
, ,
“
which is precisely w hat he does ; but th e nam e Robi n
”
so n canno t be presented in p ict ure form ( th e most
c ommo n form of representation ) and consequently is not
easily commu nicat ed .

As explai ned in th e chapter on D reams our hearing ,

c entres a re l ess d ev el o ped than our sight ce ntres and for -

,

this reaso n verbal messag es a re l ess easily given and t e

 D IFF I CU LTIE S O F COMMU N ICA TIO N 2 55

c eiv edthan pictu red or visualised m a ssa ges The diffi .

c ulty in receiving names is explained largely because of

th is fact .

COMMU NIC ATION S IM MEDIA TE LY AFTER DEATH

Fo r som e days aft er d eath these dificulties are par ,

tic ula rly g reat and especially in th e case of su icid es

, .

D r H odgson in his Report of the case of Mrs Pip er

.
, .
,

T hat p ersons just d ecea sed should be extrem ely

, ,

co nfus ed and u nabl e to communicate directly or even at

all seems perfectly natural after th e shock a nd wrench
,

of death T hus in o ne case th e spi rit was unabl e to

.
, ,

w rit e th e seco nd day after his death I n anoth er case .

,

a fri end of mi ne whom I may call D wrot e wi th — .

, , ,

what appeared to be much difiiculty his name and the ,

words : — I am all right A di eu withi n tw o or three

‘
, ,
’

days aft er his deat h In anoth er case F he was unabl e

.
,
.
,

to write on the morning aft er his death A few days .

lat er when a stranger was present with me for a sitti ng

, ,

h e wrote two or th ree se nt ences saying : I am too weak

‘
,
’
to articul at e clea rly a nd not many days lat er h e wrot e
,

fairly w ell and quite accurately dictating also to Mm e , .

E liza the amanuensis an ac count of his feeli ngs when

, ,

finding himself amid new surroundings Both D and . .

F becam e very clear in a short time D communicated

‘
. . .

”
frequently later on both by writing and speech
, , .

O ther dimc ulties re main , -such as the probable ia

ability of the communicating spirit to see the material
w o rld as we see it especi ally at the time of communies
,

ti on th e di fficulty of holding the mi nd together while

.
 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

comm unica ting the M culty of manipulat ing th e me

,

dium s organism and the intra cosmic M oulues whi ch

’
-
, ,

exist between this wo rld and th e next .

Because of all these hin drances and impediments ,

spi rits find great di fl culty in direct communi c ation and

because of th ese facts messages are co mp aratively sp eak

, ,

ing few and in so m any cases in conclusive

, , W h en a
.

good medi um a good communicator and a sym p ath etic

,

si tter get together however very st riking and con vi ncing

, ,

resul ts a re obtained as w e k now from th e history of

,
258 YOUR PSYCHIC PO WERS

As befo re stated however w e b eliev e that there is a

, ,

di fference between th e two processes a nd that hyp notism ,

is due sol el y to psychical causes but that in m esm erism , , ,

the huma n fluid before spok en o f plays a pa rt As proo f ,

.

of this I may cit e ( among other proofs ) th e fact t h at

,

clai rvoyance and many of th e so call ed hi gh er ph enom ena -

are f requ ently obtained in mesmeric trance whil e th ey ,

a re extrem ely rare in hypnoti c trance Oth er ph en om .

ena could be m entio ned but this will sufice for the
,

present .

PASSES AND SU GGESTIO N

M esm erism being due to th e passage of a vital flui d
from th e body of th e o perator into the subj ect ; contact
a nd passes are esse ntial I f th erefore yo u wish to m es
.
, ,

m erize your subject you should m ak e passes over his

,

h ead foreh ead ey es and down th e fro nt o f the body

, ,
.

A ll dow nward passes are sleep passes and all u pwa rd -

passes are waki ng passes Placi ng th e hands on ce rtain

-
.

nerve c entres of th e forehead and particularly betw een ,

t he ey es and over th e temples will h elp t o i nduce sl eep ;

,

also clasping the pati ent s hands and placing the point
’

of your thumb in c o ntact wi th the po int o f his thumb

establish es th e current and serv es to induce th e m esm eric

trance .

In Hyp notism on th e oth er hand passes a re no t

, ,

essential though th ey oft en h elp In hyp notizing a sub

, .

jcet it is commo n to ask him first o f all to gaze at a bright

—
object until th e eyes ti re wh en th e lids a re closed
, ,

suggestions of sleep a re giv en o r th e subj ect may open ,

and close th e eyes a number o f times as y o u count and ,

this will serve to indu c e the i ni tial stag es o f hyp notic

trance ; the d eep er st ages a re i nduced by m eans of sug
gestio n .
 HYP N OTISM AND M SME RI SM 259

EM ARKABLE HYPN OTIC PHEN OMENA

R

Post hyp noti c suggestion is a form o f treatment often

-

resort ed to a nd is a good subject for experim entation .

It m eans that the subj ect performs after a wakening ,

from trance certain ac tions 13d

, to him wh en en
tranced He rem embers noth ing o f the suggestions but
.

carri es th em out to the l etter .

Many hypn otic subj ec ts have extraordinary ability

in calculatin g t im e and can gu ess to a seco nd the l ength
,

of time whi c h has elapsed between certain intervals or

“ ”
carry out post hyp noti ca lly a suggestion given th em
-

n —
in tra ce d ays or ev en weeks before
, .

H yp notism is a useful method of Openi ng up a nd

expl o ring th e subco nscious mi nd W e are enabled to .

“ ”
ta p it as it were and get in touch with hidden
, ,

portions of our being which w e could oth erwise nev er

reac h D reams may be analysed in this manner ; also
.

u npl easant tho ughts impressio ns emotio ns et c removed

, , ,
.
,

a nd frequ ently und esirable influ ences banish ed by

hyp notic suggesti o n Hypno tism seems to reach a
.

deeper stratum o f our mind than ordi nary waki ng sug

g estio n ,
a nd bec ause o f this fac t it is at t im es so useful .

Fo r i nsta nce the drink habit has often been cured by

-

hyp noti c suggestion .

THE POWER O F HYP N OTIC SUGG ESTIO N

H ence w e that th ere must be more in th e hypnotic
see

comm and tha n mere advice or persuasion because thou ,

sa nds o f drunkards have been advised not to drink but ,

they continu e t o do so neverth el ess ! By mea ns of ,

hyp no tism w e are enabled to reach a porti on of the

mi nd so deep that it controls the whol e being and the ,
260 YOUR PSYCHIC PO WERS

resul t is that th ese deep -

rootcd hab its may at tim es be
remov ed and eradicated .

T his is one of th e distinguish ing marks of the hyp

notic sta t e — that a mo re fundam ental contro l over the
body and mi nd is obtai ned and by reason of this fact
, , ,

many cures of diseased conditions and abnormal states

—
of mind have been re cord ed which have been othen ,

wise treated inefl ec tually .

T h ere is a difl erence between th e hyp notic and th e

'

m ediumistic trance thou gh not so great as that em st

’

ing b etween the latt er a nd th e m es meric sta t e In both .

t h e m ediumistic and t he mesm eric trance a form of

“ ”
magnetism is do ub tl em employed and this connec ts ,

them in a su btle bond of u nion It is because of this .

that telepathy clairvoyan ce etc are so of ten obtained

, ,
.
,

in th e m esm eric tranc e which is closely akin to th e

,

co ndition secured by m ediums in which they obtain ,

ge nuine m ediumisti c messages .

T HE FEAR O F BEIN G HYPNOTIZ ED

Many persons a re afraid of being —
hyp notized , this
fear be ing based partly upo n valid reaso ns and partly
upo n superstition Properly i nduc ed by a n ex p ert th e
.
,

hyp no tic trance is not i njuri ous ; on the co ntrary it is ,

oft en extrem ely b eneficial and as before poi nted o ut

, , ,

quick ens th e m ental and physi cal powers remo ves ba d ,

habits effects cures etc On the oth er hand w h en hyp

, , .
,
o

notism is appli ed by an ignorant or bu ngling op erator ,

who does not know his b usiness the result may be very ,

detrim ental to th e health of the p erso n hyp not ized A .

stat e may be induced which neith er th e operator nor

anybody else fully u nderstands for no one at the pres ,

ent tim e fully compreh ends th e nature of th e c o nditi on

262 YOUR PSYCHIC PO W ERS

to ofiset it or even seriously believ e that such infl uence is

being di rec ted toward you .

HOW TO OVERCOME SUCH INFL UEN CE

When o nce you have beco me satisfi ed that influ ences
o f this character a re being direct ed toward you take
"
,

—
imm ediat e steps t o prot ect yourself such as those ou t
“
lined in Chapter XXIII Ohssession and I nsanity
,
.If
promptly applied thi s w il l eff ectually o ffset suc h c ondi
,

tions com ing fro m outsid e mi nds If you are in th e pres

.

en ce of a p erson whom you f eel t o be i nflu enc ing you it ,

would th en be best to take th e precautions and steps out

“
lined in th e next chapt er devoted to Personal Magnet
,
”
ism . T his will prevent your passing und er th e influ
ence of such a pe rso n You need nev er fear that hyp no
.

tic sl eep even if induced w ill last a great l ength of time

, ,

a nd that th e su bj ect cannot be awak ened therefrom .

Sl eeps of this character always t erminat e spo ntaneously

—
if th ey are let alone th ough it is always best to see that
,

a hyp notic subject is thoroughl y awak ened befo re h e

l eav es th e care and supe rvisio n of th e operato r oth erwise
,

h e may go about in a somewhat dazed co nditi o n fo r a

time and may not be altog ether respo nsibl e for h is ac
,

tions .

AN IMPORTANT WAR NING

Somnambulism is a variati o n o f hyp notic sl eep w here
the subject spo ntaneously performs a number of com
plicated actio ns and the subc onscious muscular acti vi
ti es play a large part A p erso n who is subject to
.

somnambulistic attacks sh ould never u nder any circum

st ances be awakened sudd enl y It is a good plan to
.

sp eak to such a perso n and suggest to him as to one in

,
 HYP N OTISM AND MESMERI SM 263

hypnotic trance that he return to bed ; and this don e

, , ,

suggest to him that it is impossibl e for such a co ndition

t o again occur etc Somnambul istic attacks o f this
, .

charact er may often be cured by hyp notic treatm ent and

properly direct ed suggestion .

PREVEN TIO N OF ‘
HYPNOTIC I NFLUEN CE
An op erator may prevent his subj ec t from being hyp
11 0t by any oth er p erso n throu gh fo rceful suggest i ons
t o his subj ect that h e will be enabl ed to resist sugges
—
tio ns from any other operator that h e will ha ve no
effec t o n him etc
, .

If you do not wish to be hyp notized at all you may

"
,

give similar su ggest ions to yourself T h ese Self sugges

.
-

“
tions are called A uto Suggestions
-
Lightly given and
.

persist entl y repeat ed they will efl ect ually prev ent you
,

from being infl uenced by any oth er person .

 C H APTER XXXI
P ER SONAL M A G NETIS M

W e all know the difl erenc e b etween a positive and nega

tive perso nality ; between an individual who is natur
ally successful and one who is not Th e form er m oms .

to attract to himself succm happ iness and prosperity ;

,

th e latter seems to repel it It is not nec emary for a

.

naturally positi ve pe rson to say anythi ng or to perform

a ny actio n in ord er to m ake us feel this pow er within

hi m. It seems to ra diate sil ently from him as a form of

power Many times doubtless we have all stepped
.
, ,

into a room an el evator etc and immediately felt th e

, , .
,

stro ng p erso nality and prese nce of an i ndividual of

this character possessing much natural magnetism
,
.

—
T h ey may know nothi ng o f this power perhaps hardly ,

—
realize that th ey possess it although th ey do in many
, ,

cases to a rema rkabl e degree Prop erly dev eloped and

, .

utilized this pow er h elped to mak e th e great nam es in

,

histo ry W e may all of us culti vate and develop this

.
, ,

power to a great ext ent by proper practice and th e ,

degree to which w e can devel o p it will make us succem

ful acco rdingly not only in the mat erial things of this
,

world but will also enable us to achieve m ental and

,

spi ritu al h eights which th e o rdinary perso n cm not

“
T HE mm m srmns SUPPLY
W e must constantly bear in mind that there is an un
l imited supply of Cosmi c Energy a nd this will dev elop
4
,

26
266 Y O UR PSYC H IC PO WE RS

to expand the lungs chest and diaphragm are to be

,

recomm ended and i f yo u ca n stimulat e the solar plexus

,
-

and i nt ernal organs by d eep br eathi ng ex ercises t h is

-
,

w ill go a l ong w ay toward rousing th e vital currents

of the body Th e inn er psychical causes for this wil l
.

be explained more fully in subsequent chapte rs .

THE MENT AL FA CTOR

N ext th e m ind must be trai ned and culti va ted in
,

certai n di rections and channels Just h ere the stud ent .

would do well to turn back a nd re read the directi ons -

“ ”
giv en in C h apter V II Sel f and Soul C ultur e wh er e
, ,

p ractical advice on success and its atta inm ent is given .

Th e prac tice of C o nc entrati o n ( Chapt er X X I V ) would

prove very h elpful h ere ; re laxation both of body and
mi nd should follow this .

Th e im prov em ent of memory by various methods

w oul d greatly add to th e strength of th e psychic per
sonal ity si nc e it is upo n memory that th e thread o f
,

p erso nality depends A tt enti o n u pon any given subj ect

.

should be cultivat ed and you should never allow your

,

self to p erform any acti o n automatical ly which sh o uld

b e co nscious For instance if you put an object in
.
,

t he drawer o f your d esk make a co nscious m ental no te

,

of this at the t im e so that you aft erward remember

,

wh ere it is placed and nev er all ow y oumel f to place

,

t he obj ect th ere w ithout paying pa rticular attenti on to

it Many peopl e do this and it is indicative of a weak
.
,

pow er of attentio n and a scatt ered mind Th e degree to .

which you can overcome this indicates co ncentration and ,

h ence power N othing gives power and strength to th e

.

mind so much as conti nued exercise and concentrati on .

 P E RSO NAL MA G NE TI SM 26 7

THE SPIRI TUAL FA CTO R

Spirit ual d ev elopment w ill also assist in the culti va
tion of perso nal mag netism by drawi ng to your aid c er
,

n n h
tai spiritual e ergi es which rec a rge you that is— ,

charge yo ur body in m uch the sam e way that an electric

motor is charged by external energy T his power you .

dra w by placi ng yourself in a certain receptive condi

tio n which in vites its influx .

A ll negativ e thou ghts t end to erect a wall between

y ou rself a nd h el pful ext ernal guidance and on th e , ,

oth er hand an amrmative and positive attitude will

,

have the efiec t of attracting or drawing to you this

additional power .

T hou ghts and emotio ns also have this effect If you .

wi ll carefully analyse your ow n inner sensations whil e

thin ki ng certai n thoughts or expe ri enci ng c ertain
emotions , you will find that selfish selfc entred im ,

pulses t end to contra c t you m ental ly a nd physically .

You feel yo urself tighteni ng u p all ov er as it w ere -

, ,

and thi s int ernal acti o n shuts 0 6 all o utsid e aid and

influence On th e oth er hand if you think thoughts

.
,

o f fri endship lov e etc, you w ill find your bei ng tends
, .
,

to expand and it is this feeling which o pens th e gates

,

of your soul to an influx of higher power .

HOW TO INFL UEN CE OT HERS

Personal Magnetism is practically useful in the afiairs
of this life If you wish to a c hi ev e a ce rtain object
.
,
’

you will be far more likely to do so if you have a good

magnet ic p ersonality than otherwise The fo llow ing .

sim p le rul es if followed will probably greatly assist

, ,

you in the d ev elopm ent of perso nal ma gnetism

268 YOUR PSYCHI C PO W ERS

L Just befo re entering into th e p resence of thc per

son w h om you arc about to interview , call np tha t per
'
so n s image befo re your m ind, a nd m ume tow u w d it
a poaiti v e m enta l attit ude If y ou do this you w ill
.

son w hen you meet him . If you sm ume at th e outnet

( flg urativ ely speaking ) only lea ve the other person w

or 25 95 of th e ground lying bet w een you which he ,

ca n possi bl y occupy ! Your b usinm is to m ums at

the outset as large a percentage of th e positive rel ation
ship as possib le, and by doing so, you force the oth er
person to m um s the minor q uantity .

TB UBE OP THE M

2 . Wh en in the presence of the person wh om you are

to interview , look him squa rely in th e ey es, and hold his

If possible do ,
not all o w his attenti on or his ey es to

his interest and sympatheti c cc o peration It is im

"
-
.

portant to catch the ey e at the moment you are making

“
a particula r point so as to drive it h om e as it were
,
.

You ca nnot sta re a person in the ey e a ll th c w hil e yon

are talking to him and you sho uld look away pa rt of
,

—
the ti me when you are discuming unimportant points
,

or leading up to th e clima x. Ms ny salesmcn util in

this principle in making a sal e Th ey will draw at ten .

tio n to a book or an illustration at which they ask you ,

to look and talk about it for a mom ent ; then close the
,

book and make a short quick remark which will draw

, ,

your att ention to his face and ey es spo ntaneously A t .

that moment when he has gained your ful l attenti on,

27 0 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

speech and im press th e person to w hom y ou are talk

ing Do not gesticulate overmuch, however, as this
.

w ill detract rath er tha n add to w hat you ha ve to aay .

4 . Do not speak
hnrriedly , for if y ou do you w ill giv e
th e im pression that y ou are in a h urry , and your hearer

do not drawl your words but spea k naturally wit h a

,

cl ear forcef ul enuncia ti on The more reposefu l and

, .

be to h ea r w ha t you ha ve to say . At th e same tim e,

H OW TO PW E NT THE IN FLUE NCE W OT HM

I f you w ish to oh t the infl uence of w me w e w h o is

sp ea ki ng to yom and p rev ent you m elf fro m being

infl uenced by h im, yon sh ould see to it that y ou do not

all ow him to ca tc h y our ey e at the psy ch ol ogic al clima x

time, and ca refull y thi nk ov er and analyse w ha t h e

is say ing to yon, w ith out allow ing you rsel f to be sw ay ed

between these clima xes, when he will probably he look

ing awayfrom you Hold your m ind in a poaitive at
.

ti tude, and nev er all ow yourself to b e h urried into any

“
thing ! Th e ability to say No and stick to it , w hen
”

occasi on dema nda has been dec lared one of the greateat
m enfials to m
by many m en w ho have att ained

"
su

grea t eminence As Abraham Lincol n once

. remarked :
“
Be sure you are righ t and then go a head l A clear

m ind and inner mental repose w ill greatly add to your

 PERSO NAL MA G NE TISM 27 1

HELPFUL APPLICATlO N

These ex ercises in th e development of Personal Mag

netism will be found especial ly h elpful to all psychics,

for th e reason tha t they tend to ofl set and counterbal

ance to a great ex tent the subjective practices of me
, ,

d iumsh ip and hence balance up the personality by sc

,
-

centuating th e objectiv e as well as the subjectiv e side

of one s inner self A ll those who are developing psy

’
.

chic pow ers and mediumship should th erefore while

, ,

leadi ng their daily lives endeavour to follow the prin

,

c iples herein laid down and dev elop th eir o wn natures

,

alo ng these lines They will find that it will prove v ery
.

“
helpful to them and preserve tha t just balance we
 CH APTER XXXII
PROPHE CY vs rosrm
. rs t t m c

THE s ubject with whi ch this chapter deals is a v ery im

portant one for th e Sp iritu alist for the Psychi c and
, ,

abov e all for th e Public Medi um for th e reason that

,

it concerns him in a v ery practi cal manner .

It would seem as if Spiritual ism although an organ ,

ised religiou s body international in scope and influence

, ,

had no standing in th e ey es of som e p eopl e nor that

its accredi t ed mediums were entitl ed to any more consid
“
orat ion t han ordinary fortu n e tell ers
-
Fortune Tell .

ing ( ao called ) is against th e law and in many cities

-
,

th e auth orities are v ery severe on anything which can

in a ny way be co nstru ed as fortune telling -
.

Truly one may b e pardoned for believing that there

,

is a power back of it whi ch is opposed to ao call ed -

“ ”
—
Modernisms to the several movem ents of a spiritual
a nd re ligious natu re that are frmhly putting forth real

knowledge of our tru e relations to this life and th e life

beyond It is not merely a mo ral wave not m erely
.
,

ig norance of th e difl erence betw een t rue and honest me

di umship and fortune telling but an efiort to retard and
-
,

c rush th e truth F rom th e present standpoint of th e

.

court Jesus, when h e told the woman at th e w ell about

,
“
certain matters in her life w as a fortun e t eller
, The -
.

peopl e marvelled over H im beca use of what He could

tell and do To Sp iritualists H e was a medi um but a
.
,

Master and one so quali fi ed by time and dista nce as

,

2 72
27 4 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

p mvisions of th e future , and have felt com pelled to

“
Between P roph ec y and Fort une T elling
-
there
is, th erefore, a v ery fine line to be drawn, fo r th e o ne

is dependent upon su pers tition to a grea t exte nt whil e ,

th e other is a genui ne psychical faculty whi ch requi res

our recognition and study .

WHA T PRO PHECY IS

So far as we can define tb e distinction betw een th e
two, it may be said that p rophecy depends upo n in
ternal spirit ual p rom ptings, or the reception of definite
mm relating to th e future whi ch a re told the m e
dium by external sp irit ua l intellig enc es He acts .

merely as a medium for transm imion in the latter ca se

and simply gives out what he receives This is th e type .

o f spiritual premonition as distinct from clairvoyance

,

of the future whi ch w e have already discum ed in Chap

,

ter X IV In this latter case the power appears to

.

depend upon internal and spontaneous qui ckening of

spi ritual faculti es and seems to be self originated as it -
,

wer e It is very similar to spo ntaneous premoniti ons

.
,

t herefore ; and in fact th ese su bj ects are so v ery closely

, ,

connected that only an expert can define th e difierences

between them .

Unless one has had conside rable experi ence and knowl
edge in this field h e is totally incapabl e of judging
"
,

w heth er a giv en set of phenomena a re of the type of

“ ” “
genuine prophecy or mere fortune t el li ng and h e ,

should study the su bject thoro ughly before h e is capabl e

of expressing an o pinion upo n it .

It may be well to co nsider the meaning of the word

 PROPHECY V S FORTUN E TE LL I N G .
-
27 5

prop h ecy It is derived from the Greek word

.
,

r
p p
o h em i ; p ro — meaning ,
“
before and p h en i
“
to say ,
”
or tell There 18 another wo rd prop heteuo of similar , ,

import and derivatio n and means, to prophesy divine

, , ,

foretl predi ct presage ; to explain or apply prophecies

, .

— I n G reek classica l literature the word pro het mea nt

p , ,

a declarer foretell er, divi ner a harb inger a forerunn er

, , , ,

a priest teacher in tructor interpreter ; a poet a ha rd

, ,
s , , .

connected with the aspirations and longings of mankind .

The Standard D ict ionary has defi ned prophecy as

2 To speak or utter for God

. .

3 To speak by divine influence or as a medium of

.
,

communication between God and Man Speci fica lly : T o .

speak to men for God ; decl are or interpret the divine

4To
. predict fu ture e vents by supernatural influ
ence real or professed : T o foretell the future ; utte r
,

predictio ns as to prophesy a disaster

, ,
.

5 ( A rchaic ) T o interpret scripture ; explain religious

.

subjects preach ; exhort

, .

U nder the hea d of Synonyms the Standard D ictionary ,

“
giv es : A ugur divin e foret ell predi ct prognosticate
, , , , .

Proph ecy difl ers from pre dict by assuming a claim to

’

supernatural or divine i nspiration To prognostica te .

27 6 YOUR PS Y CHI C POWERS

is to predict from observed signs indications or con , ,

ditions To prophesy in th e scriptu ral sense is to utter

.

religious truths under divine inspirati on not simply al ,

ways to foretell future ev ents but to warn exhort com , , ,

”
fort etc by special message or impulse from G od
,
.
, .

Thi s scriptu ral definition meme wel l a dapted to th e

spi ritualist sense of the word wh en w e i nterpret G od ,

to m ean the In finite Spirit of Good Th e verb prophesy .

is also used in the New Testa ment in th e sense of re

veali ng somet hing which had happened and was un
known to the person reveal ing it except through some
ao call ed sup ernatural sourc e ; as fo r instanc e
-
after ,

Jesus was pronounced gui lty of death by th e hi gh pri est ,

some o f th e ru mans who have th eir count erpart in this

,

day spat in his face and b ufl eted him ; and oth ers
'

smote him with the palms of thei r ha nds saying ,

“ —
Prophecy unto us thou Christ Who is h e that smote
, ,
”
thee ? Matt Ch ap 2 6 v 65 to 68
. . .

Jesus ignored this cha ll enge Could they hav e under .

stood or would th ey hav e beli eved in his mission if h e

had co rrectly pointed out the m an who had amaulted
him l
“
m ea s u r
e s or rosrm rm
-
c

It is tru e however that the method o f arrivi ng at th e

, ,

knowledge given is in itself an indication of th e char

, ,

act er of th e knowledge imparted T hus fortu ne t elli ng .

, ,

in th e hands o f charlatans and quacks is oft en co n ,

nected with such superstitious practic es as reading the

futu re from tea or cofl ee grounds ; from cards ; allowing
-

bi rds to pick out env el opes containi ng writt en messages ,

r elating to the future etc Such pra ctices a re certainly

, .

to be deprecated by every sincere sp iritualist and truth

seeker though it should be said just h ere that many
, , ,
27 8 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

D isbeli ev ers in spirit oft usayalism If your as

en .

sert ions a re tru e why do not the spirits warn and advise
,

you more freq u ently and why do th ey not h el p yo u fina n

,
”
c ia lly or oth er w ise m o re than they do ?
,
Th e answe r is
sim m y as before sai d that you are not a creator but a n
, , ,

instrum ent A knife may be sharp but it could not

.
,

cu t bread without a po w er behi nd it A soldi er may.

go to war and fight brav ely without knowi ng the real

r ea sons for th e war You are the knife or th e soldi er
. .

You cannot act by yourself or achi eve desirable resu lts

unl ess th e power be imparted to you from beyo nd and ,

ev en th en th e pow er is supplied for o th er purposes and

centred upo n oth er things The knife does not cut it

.

self but the bread Clairv oyant power does not ben efit
,

th e c lairvoya nt directly but som e third p erso n a nd

, , ,

in cases wh ere th e stud ent has fou nd it poa i ble to p er

v ert its use and turn it i nto selfish channels the power ,

has i nvaria bly been lost It m ay also be said that Spi rit
.

u al ists may err in th eir sel ectio n of spirit adviso rs as

“
w ell as in th eir means of int ercommuni cati o n T hat .

is tru e fo r w e a re not endo w ed w ith p erfect judgm ent

,

ev en in sel ecti ng in this life our m edi c al o r l egal a d

visors or our governm ental repres entativ es a nd ofiic ials

, ,

our business partners or o ur fri ends or the perso n to ,

advise us as to wh ere w e can get the best advice in a

given matter Th e Sp irtualist m erely claims th e right to
.

act for himself without let or hindrance from those who

difl er with him in religious views If h e makes mis
.

takes which cause him loss or sufl ering it must be re ,

membered that ev en J esus w ith his extraordinary psychic

,

powers made a mista ke when h e selected Judas Iscariot

,
 PROPHECY VS F ORT UN E TE LL I NG .
-
27 9

as one of the twelve If it be said that this seeming

.
,

mista ke was a part of a divine plan th en it may also be ,

said that the Spiritualist s seeming mistakes may a lso

,
’

”
be a part of a divine plan .

There ca n be no doubt that p rophecy has existed in

all ages and has had its ow n uses as w ell as its abuses .

M any spiritu alists beli eve that prophecy is i nvariably

c onnected with spirits a nd that th e expla nati on depends

u po n t heir communication On the other hand many .

,

orthodox religious persons believe that p roph ecy depends

enti rely upo n th e influx of t he divine spirit and that ,

th e ability to predict or foret ell comes direc tly from

God This is the manner in w hich it is regarded by
.

many people and in many religious books There are .

many references to proph ecy and to proph ets bot h in the

O ld and th e N ew T est ame nt and any one who ac cepts th e ,

t eachings of the Bibl e as in any way true and valuabl e

, ,

can hard ly fa il to be li ev e that prophecy is a genuin e

psychical fac ulty which has been ex ercised by men in

4
all ages and is undoubtedly bei ng exercised by th em
now Thus : in l et Co rinthians Chap 1
. . v 3 we ,
.
, .
,
“
read But he that proph esi eth speaket h unto men
”
to edifl cation and exhortatio n and comfort
,
A gain in .
,
“
the sam e Chapt er v 1 w e read : , . F ollow aft er charity
,

and desire spiritual gifts but rather that y e may p roph

,

esy . And agai n in the same Cha pter verses 3 1 , , ,

“
32 and 39 w e read
, ,
F or y e may all p rophesy one
by one that all may learn and a ll may be comf orted
, , .

And t he spirits of th e pro p are subject to th e p roph

ets. Wherefore brethren covet to p rophesy and

, ,
”
fo rbid n ot to spea k w i th tongu es On e mor e quo .
280 YOUR PSYCHI C POWE RS

ta tion :
“
In l st Corint h ians Chap 12 v
. rea d
,
.
, . 4
—1 2, w e
N ow th ere are diversiti es of gifts but th e same sp irit , ,

and th ere are differences of admi nistrations but the ,

same Lord and there are diversiti es of operatio ns but

, ,

it is the same God whi ch worket h all in all but th e ,

manifestation of th e sp irit is given to ev ery man to

profi t with all F or to one is given by th e spirit th e
.

word of wisdom ; to another th e word of knowl edge

by the same spi rit ; to another faith by th e same spirit ;
to another the g ift of healing by th e same spirit ; to
anot h er the working of miracl es ; to a no th er prop hec y ;
to another discerning of sp iri ts ; to another diverse
kinds of tongues ; to another the interpretatio n o f
tongues ; but all th ese wo rketh that one and the sel f
same Spirit abidi ng in every ma n as h e will
,
Many .

oth er referen ces of thi s character could b e given but it ,

is hardly necessary for every stud ent knows that every

,

religious book in th e world ac cepts th e genuineness of

proph ecy and in fact all religions are based on th e
, ,

revela tions of score or prophets !

now rs rsoea sc r rossmns t

Prophecy is a facul ty which usually comes unsought

and spo ntaneously Wh en th e future is seen in an
.

isol ated pictu re or ev ent it is usua lly call ed a premo ni

,

tion or p ro visio n a nd many exa mpl es of this charact er

-
,

hav e been collected and p ublish ed by th e Societi es fo r

“
Psychical Research It may be ask ed :
. H ow is it pos
sibl e to see into the fut ure to lift the veil of futurity
,

and glanc e forward as we glanc e backw ard in readi ng

”
history ? C ertainly at first sight such a thing ap
,

pears not only impossibl e but absurd Nev erth elem it .

is an undoubted fact and numbers of cases of this

,
 282 YOUR PSY CHIC POWERS

or be enabled to see further than th e psychic himsel f ,

and there is much evidence that this is in fact th e case ,

o n numerous occasio ns F or exampl e if w e see a spid er

.
,

walki ng across the tab le we know that wh en it reaches

,

th e edge it will eith er stop or fall over though th e

, ,

spider cannot formee these facts and continu es to w alk

quite ignorant of the fate in sto re for it ! A gai n to ,

use a m ore forceful exampl e supposing a fri end of

,

yours is walki ng down the street and is comi ng to a

c ross street down
~ which a strong wi nd is blowi ng .

Being in possessio n of this kno wledge you can pred ict ,

with more or l ess certainty that when your fri end reach es
this crosss tmet his hat will be blown OK and in fact
, , , ,

thi s actually happens N ow you will see in this cm

.
, ,

your ability to predict this fact ( or partly see i nto

th e future ) was based on your la rger know ledge o f
certai n factors playing about his life It is only logical .

to suppose th erefore that sp irits who may b e a nd

, ,

pro bably are in possessio n of greater psychic po w ers

than w e can foresee tendenci es and destinies to a cer
, ,

tain extent towards wh ich human beings are tending

, .

This being so th ey are enabled at tim es to communi

,

cate ( perhaps t el epa thically ) stat em ents regarding the

future which often turn out to be tru e T his would be .

a logical explanation of many cases o f prem onition of

this type and would explain to us in a p erfectly si mpl e
, ,

mann er why it is that mistak es and errors so often

,

occur in prem onitions of this kind It would be only .

what we shou ld expect .

It must be admitted however tha t there are many

, ,

cases of premonitions which cannot be explained in this

simple way and which we cannot in any manner accou nt
for in the p resent state of science and of our limited
,
 PROPH E CY V S F ORTU N E T E LLI NG
.
-
283

knowledg e of psych ic phenomena These cases we m ust

.

sim ply record a nd hop e th at th e tim e may come some

day when we will be enabled to comp rehend clea rly th e

,

underlying ca usa l explanation whi ch will make clear

to us th e real m ech anism by m eans of whi ch p remoni
tions and prophec i es are fulfiled
.
 C H APTER XXXIII
R E IN CARN A TI ON A ND EAS TE RN P HILOS OPH Y

MOST r eligious philosOphi es of th e East are based on the

reality of reinca rnati o n or th e embodiment of the sam e
,

soul in a variety of physical bodi es living on this earth

,

’
at various sta ges of the world s histo ry often separated ,

from each oth er by a numb er of years The doct rine

"
.

contends t hat th e sam e i ndividuality is mai ntained

“
throughout all these lives as a backgrou nd but that
, ,

each life is also an individual experi ence which is dea

t ined to teach th e soul one or more partic ul ar lessons ,

which it need ed to l earn fo r th e purposes of its ultima te

progression and perfection Th e doct rine is based
.

la rgely upo n th e La w o f Compensation wh ich says that , ,

inasmuch as there is in this life so much obvious

, ,

inequality as regards the material returns rewards and ,

happiness there must b e an oth er chance for that soul at

,

another time and under other circumstances and that ,

the poverty and oth er co nditions which may be p resent

in this life are for a purpose and tea c h a lesson and
, ,

that quite possibly in som e past life the sam e individ ,

ual has been extraordinarily wealthy and has misused

the rich es and power entrusted to him .

THE MEMORY OF PAST LIVES

T his is a fascinati ng doct rine and one whi ch, at first
sight , asks us to yield our consent to it ; yet th ere are
many objections to this theory of reincarnation as we
4
28
,
286 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

strong one is that life must necessarily be eternal and

,

immortal inasmu c h as it is indestructibl e by dea th

, ,

and co nt inu es to exist to all eternity in the future and ,

"
,

for the same reason it must also have existed from

,
“
et ernity in the p ast and it is inco nceivable that such
,

a thing as an individual human spirit should continue

to exist for ev er a fter th e momen t of birth while it did ,

not exist at all previ ous to that ev ent .

T hese are th e main arguments which are b rought

,

forward m favour of the doctrine of reincarnation and ,

w e may add to th ese one argument based upo n experi

m ental evid enc e It is this : tha t many o f those who
.

have progressed suficiently in thei r psychic develop

— —
ment can s o th ey say remember th eir past lives ,

eith er fracti o ns of th em o r i ncid ents in th em or th e ,

whole life may be remembered as a consecuti ve series

of scenes and events Many o f th e l eaders of T heosop hy
.

a nd oth er religious systems of this charact er co ntend

that th ey ca n actually do so The majority of spirit

.

ua lists ho w eve r are opposed to this view and con ten d

, , ,

t hat reincarnation is not a fact though it must b e a d

,

m itted that in the past th ere has been a great diversity

of opini o n on this subj ec t Th e F rench School of Sp irit
.

ista fo rm erly h eaded by A llan Kardec cont ends that

, ,

r einca rnationis a fact and Kardec s work T he Spirit s

,
“
’ ’

”
Book is based entirely upon teachi ngs of spi rits who ,

claim that rei ncarnation is true ! On th e oth er hand ,

th e majority of G erma n E nglish and American mediums

,

co ntend that rei nca rnation is not tru e and spirits w ho

,

return th rough th em also assert emphatically that it is

not a fa c t ! Th e reaso n of this apparent co ntradictio n
was explained in a n earlier c hapter ( T he communi.

catora m erely stated th eir o wn vi ews and opi nions ) .

 R EIN C ARNA TIO N 287

EASO NS
R FOR DOU BT IN O REI NOARNATION

N ow in co nsidering this doctri ne of re incarnation

, ,

th ere a re certain factors whic h w e must bear in mi nd

1 The a v erage sci entific inquirer begi ns by doubti ng
.

the reality of survival at all a nd co ntends that nothi ng

,

persists aft er th e chang e call ed d ea th F or him it is .

annihila tion ! The first poi nt to be proved th erefore , ,

is that anyt hing at all ex ists after death and the phe ,

nom ena of spiritu a lism are th e o nly o nes which prov e

th is as before pointed out U ntil it is thoroughly
, .

“ ”
established that spirit of any character co nti nu es to
exist after d eath it is uselem to argue whether or not
,
“ ”
such a sp irit is reincarnated for the reason that ,

th e avera ge sceptic wou ld co nt end that th ere is no such

thing as a spirit to reincarnate ! U ntil this primary
fact of sp irit exist ence is proved th erefore it is usel ess , ,

to argu e concerni ng this question of rei ncarnatio n

"
.

2 Am um ing that th is is grant ed sti ll there is no

.
,
“
proof that reincarnation is a fact if w e demand proof ,

in th e sci ent ific sense of the world In order to estab .

lish su ch a doctrine as this, a trem endo us mass of testi

—
mony wo uld be necessary far more than the ordi nary
,

ph enomena of sp iritualism which c laim to w ab hsh a

,

comparatively simple truth Yet , as a matter of fact

.
,

th ere is far less evid ence as we all know f o r the reality

, ,

o f reincarnation than th ere is for spirit r eturn A s -

.

“
the strength of th e eviden ce should be proportio ned
”
to th e straugeness of the facts it w ill be seen tha t w e

are as y et very far from proving reincarna tio n acco rd

ing to this standard A . v ast m am of w ena ttested evi

dence w ould have to be forth coming, and this has not

288 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

3 .It is not necessarily tru e that beca use the hum an

spi rit co nti nues t o exist for all eternity in th e fu ture ,

it must necessaril y have existed from all et ernity in the

past Phys ics teaches us that a body set in motio n
.

com es to rest beca use of the hindranc e or fri ction from

outsid e forces act ing upo n it If th ere be no fricti o n
.

to retard su ch a body it would theoretica lly go on fo r

, ,

ev er i n a strai ght lin e O nce give a ball an initial

.

push and pro vided th ere is no frict ion it w ould ro ll

, , ,

on for ev er without coming to a stop It might well he .

,

th erefore, that th e human spirit o nce initiat ed would ,

continu e in th e sam e fashion since w e can see no hin

,

drances to its progress resem bli ng those acti ng in our

physical world A gain a speck of mud thrown off from
.
,

a revo lving wh eel only exists as an individual speck ,

aft er it was th ro w n on in this manner ; before it was a ,

part of th e general m m
Assumi ng therefore that an individual human spirit
, ,

is in som e way se parat ed and in dividualised at birt h

from th e general stock o f c om ic life en ergy at th e mo -
,

ment of conception it might be that it continued as an

,
’

i ndividual t hing th ereaft er for all eternity wi thout ,

necessarily ha ving exist ed as such in the past .

THE SPIRAL OR VOR TEX OP LIFE

In the next place assumi ng that li fe is an individ

,

ualised force we can quite conc ei ve that this force

, ,

ascen ding in a se ries of spirals tends to becom e mo re ,

d eta ched and indi vidualized with each revoluti on

throu gh which it pumas and that ultimat ely it wi ll tend
,

to become detach ed and thrown off as it w ere from th e , ,

290 YOUR PSYCHIC POWER S

and in some cases at least it has been proved beyond ,

“ ”
all question of doubt that these past liv es w ere in
,
“ ”
reality fictitious and that the m emory of th em so
, ,
.

call ed was certainly and purely subconsci ous imagina

,

tion T hose who may be interested in obtaining th is

.

“
proof are referred to Professor F lournoy s book F rom ’

”
I ndia to th e Planet Mars .

“
w nss s m o n ow runes m om omum a rs

Th ere remain those cases far less sati sfactory a nd ,

co nvincing but far more num erous in which isolat ed ia ,

cidents of pa st liv es hav e be en rem embered or in which ,

scenes hav e flashed up before the mind tog eth er with ,

the im p ression amounting to a c ert a inty that th e in

, ,

di vidual has experienced or lived through that scen e

before Most ca ses of this charact er may be exp l ain ed
.

in a p erf ectly natural manner and d o not afiord any ,

direct proof of th e doctrine of reincarnati o n .

Let m e explain a few of th e caus es whi c h may be

“
operating inducing su ch apparent m emori es of past
,

”
lives .

I n th e first place many of them are due to ao call ed

,
-

— “
illusions or hallucinati ons o f m em o ry ao called pseu do -

”
presentim ents in which th e event and th e feeling that
,

it has transpired becom e rev ersed or tra nsposed in the

mind so that one remembers the impression as occurri ng
,

befor e th e real ev ent whil e in reality it happened after

,
»

wa r d .T ha t this occurs in many cases has bee n scien

t ifically prov ed .

I n th e seco nd plac e dreams or subconsciously noted

,

impressions which nev er c o m e into consciousness ma y ,

su dd enly flash up i n connecti on with a c ert ai n mental

,

ev ent and this would giv e rise to a feeli ng ( tru e in a

, ,
 RE I N C ARNA TIO N 29 1

sense ) that we had experi enced it befo re W e had .

,

but in a drea m and not in a previous life !

,

T hirdly many expe ri ences conversations etc over

, , ,
.
,

seen or o verheard before th e age of four w hen the

"
,

personality is in the process of formatio n and wh en ,

“
consecutive memory and co nsci ousness of self is said
to begin may be rem embered as isolated experie nces
, ,

and th ese may also giv e rise to th e impressio n that w e

had seen th em or experienced th em befo re Again

, .
,
“
th is is a fac t but it was not in a previous life
, .

Lastly th ere are many cases in which the subconsci ous

,

mind noted a sc ene or event a fraction of seco nd or ,

perhaps several seconds or even minutes before the , ,

conscious mind did ; and when th e latter became aware of

“ ”
it th ere would ag ain be this sense of fami lia rity
, ,

and the feeling that w e had seen or experienc ed this

event bef o re T his is tru e but it was only a short time
.
,

before the actual experience .

Fo r all th ese reasons th erefore and others which it

, ,

wo uld take too lo ng to giv e th e majority o f spiritual ,

-

“ ”
ists and psychical research ers do not at prese nt re
gard t he doc trine of reincarnati o n as tru e or in any way ,

adequat ely proved and prefer to beli eve unti l this

, ,

proof b e fo rthcoming that th e indi vidual human spirit

,

is initiat ed at birth builds up its o wn life by its own

,

efl orts and expe rie nces a nd that it co ntinu es to improv e

'

upon th is life by co ntinu o us striving after it h as reached

, ,

th e spiritual world in th e same manner th at it does h ere

,

on earth .
 C H APT E R X X XIV
ms E THI C S or sma rm a msu

As exp lained at th e beginning of th is Book of Instruo

tion Spiritualism is not o nly a sci entific question but
, ,

it is al so a philosophical and a reli gious qu estion It is .

approa chabl e from the point of view of phenomena ;

also that of th eology and ethics Th e student who has
.

followed th e work thus far h as doubtless p rogressed

to som e extent in the understandi ng if not in the ,

co ntro l o f psychic ph enom ena and fi el ds of knowl edge

, ,

have be en opened up be fore him of which h e had p re

,

vi ously b ee n mor e or less unaw are But all th is would

.

not w h y he unavaili ng but

, harmful if Spiritualism w
, er e

not ethi cally and spiritually rig ht as well as p h eno men

ally tru e It is no good d evelop ing som ething w hi ch

.

leads one ultimately only into a mi re of harmful results

and a false philosophy If Spiritualism cannot be j us
.

t ified from th e religious and ethical standpoi nt it should ,

be let en tir ely alone by all sav e th e few sc rupulously

sci entific inv estigators who approach th e subject from
that point of view a nd not as a b elief It is very im .

portant th erefore for the Spiritualist to have hi s beli ef

, ,

founded in correct ethical principles fo r as I have , ,

before pointed out th e reproach has been raised against

,
“ ”
Spiritualists that th ey are everythi ng but spiritual .

Unfo rtunately the re a re many of this type, but th ey are

doubtless in the minority and the majorit y of Sp irit
,
294 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

Again the objection has been raised against sp i rit

ual ism on th e ground th at it encourages fraud and

charlatanism T o some extent this is true bu t other

.
,

cu lts hav e suffered in the sam e way and all s incere ,

spiritualists a re th e first to expose falsity and fraud

when th ey meet it T h ere a re Spi ritualists it is tru e
.
, ,

who end eavour to sh elter fraudulent m edi ums and p re

t end that this fraud does not exist Such a method is .

a great mistake and only t ends to degrad e and lowe r

Spiri tualism as a religi ous beli ef in the eyes o f the pub
“ ”
lic
. Truth is mighty and sh all prevail and Truth ,

should abov e all else be the watch word of the true -

Spi ritualist .

IS rr a s s t rm a rm N ORM AL ?
-

Then there is th e obj ection th at spiritualistic p rac

tices encourag e morbid and ab normal stat es and condi
tions and h elp to induce insanity A gain th ere is som e
.

excuse for this argum ent but as so oft en pointed o ut it is ,

the co nscious or unconsc 1ous a buse of psychic and m edi

umistic pow er rather than its use which is so dangerous
,

a nd d etrim ental In t h e ini tial experimental stm

.

of Spiritualism some harm has do ubtl ess resulted to

,

some experiment ers but this is only a stronger reason

,

for urging us to discover and rightly understand the

laws and c onditio ns u nd er which psychic ph eno m ena
and spirit c o m munication may operat e Wh en th ese
-
.

are o nce understood th ey a re th ereby re nd ered safe and

, ,

th encef orw ard th ere is no reaso n why spiritualisti c p ra c

—
tices shoul d be u safe sav e for those who neglect its
n
well ascertained laws
- .

A gain it has bee n urged that it is wrong to communi

cat e with spirits of the d eparted for the reason that
 THE ETHI CS O F SPIRITU AL I SM 29 5

such communicati o n is not natural and tha t by doing

so w e interfere with th e progression and spiritu al de
velop m ent of those wh o hav e passed ov er But th e reply .

to this is two fold : I n th e first place the ma ny cases

-
,

of spirit return which are record ed prov e that these

-

phe nom ena are far m o re c ommo n than is usually sup

posed and fo r this reason it is not so exceptional a
,

thing but almost a common occurrence It partakes

,
.

more of th e nature of natural law than of an ex peri

m ental or miracul o us event If such is the case it can
.
,

hardly be d et rim ental or unnatur al since none of na

,

ture s laws are unnatural

’
.

Do s s
s e mrr-
oo nn um c a mou am ass ra ooa sssw n t

Again, th ere is no reason to su ppose that communies ~

tio n retards th e spiritual progress o f those who have

—
di ed o n th e co ntrary w e might suppose t hat in many
, ,

ca ses at least such communicatio n would certai nl y he lp

,

the spirits ; and in many cases as we know th ey have

, ,

repeatedly com e back for the express purpose of asking

th e living to carry out som e mission for th em which
w ei ghed upon their minds and th ey have stated that
,

they could get no rest or co mfort until this missio n

has been fu lfilled T h ere are many cases, again as we
.
,

know wh ere in the retu rning sp irits have request ed help

,

and the prayers of th e living to assist th em in thei r

p rog rem and
, ma ny Spiritualists hav e devoted th eir li ves
—
to this work nam ely assist ing earthbou nd spirits and
,

h elping th em in th eir natural spiri tual progress Many

‘

spirits hav e r eturned to impart certain informati o n or ,

to g ive counsel warning or advice to fri ends a nd rela

,

tives of th eirs st ill livi ng ; and w e ca nnot but beli eve

,

that they are far happi er in doi ng so th an if th ey were

296 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

obliged to sta nd by a nd see som e unhappiness accident ,

or ca tastroph e overtake their loved ones on ea rth whil e ,

th ey themselves were obl iged to remain inactive Were .

th ey still alive th ey would l ike to feel that th ey had

prevented su c h a catast roph e and it is only natural to
,

suppose that th ey co ntinu e to liv e in this way and

co ntinue to take a n i nt erest in th eir lov ed ones afte r
th ey hav e passed ov er I n this way spiritual comm uni
.

cation b ecom es a natu ral a nd beaut iful beli ef .

SHOULD TH E DEAD KNOW o va so aao w s t

T hi s brings us to anoth er important qu estion from

t h e ethi cal poi nt of vi ew and this is that th e ao call ed
,
-

D ead a re in c o nstant sympath etic co m municati o n with

those still living and that th ey after th ey have di ed
, , ,

ha v e a kno w led ge of our lives our trials and our tribu

,

la tions Many religious perso ns co ntend that this is

.

a very unet hi c al b eli ef and that th ey should know noth

ing of those on th is earth aft er o nce th ey have died .

Yet thi s is surely contrary to all human sympathy a nd

,

exp eri ence A moth er wrapped up in th e interests of

.
,

h er ch ild w oul d surely prefer to remai n near it and

,

watch o ver guard and guide it if possibl e fo r a few

, , ,

y ears rath er than to desert it who lly a nd be totally igno

rant o f its life and pro gr ess Y et this is what o rtho
.
,

dox religi o n cont ends th ey should do ! Spiritualism is

far m o re ethical in this respect than the o rdinary re
ligious tea chings s ince it t ells us that constant sympa
, ,

theti c rap p ort exists b etw een th is world and the next ,

and that th ere is no abrupt severing o f the ti es of human

sympathy and l o ve at th e m o ment o f d eath T his .
,

s urely is a comforting thou ght for th e bereaved

, .
2 98 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

cise sh all become easy and pleasurable N ei ther pun .

ishm ents nor rewards are m eted out by an externa l

’
power but ea ch one s co ndition is th e natural and in
, .

evita bl e sequ enc e of his co nditio n h ere He starts again

.

from th e l ev el of moral and int ell ec tual develop ment

”
to which h e has raised himself while on earth .

sn ouno maom u s s oc c er mom ?

One oth er poi nt remains to be consid ered It is this .

,

that mediums acc ept m o ney for th eir services and inas ,

much as this is a spiritual gi ft it is wro ng ! Yet th is

, ,

is co mmo n to all oth er rel igions D o not the ministe rs

.

of all o th er religions receive compensati on in som e

fo rm or o th er for their services ? As long as mediums
are livi ng in this mat erial world th ey are ob liged to
,

m eet th e costs of living like all oth er h uman beings ,

no matt er h o w spiritual th eir w ork or th ey th emsel v es

m ay be If mediums possess genui ne power it is only
.
,

natural in a sense that they should utilize it and turn

’

, ,

it to account and it is certai nly tru e that by doing so

,

they h elp th eir fellow m en and help those w ho come to

th em as much or more than m en in any other walk in life .

T his bei ng so it can hardly be said that any aspect of

,

Spiritualism is in itself unethical It is on the con ,

trary th e most sensible ratio nal and ethical religion in

, ,

the world !
 CHA PT ER X XXV
W HAT H A PP ENS A FTER DEATH ?

Pascmsnr w hat happens at th e m oment of d eath is one

of the most dramati c ally i nt eresting and one of the most
striking insolubl e probl ems in the w o rld today ; it re
,

mains for us th e p roblem o f all probl ems th e mystery ,

of the universe th e sci ence of being One mom ent we

, .

see a figure befo re na— a muscu lar powerful man cap

, ,

abl e o f h eroic efforts great intellect ual flights lofty

, ,

aspirations delivering an oration which st irs the hearts

,

of thousands and perhaps helps to sway the desti ny of

nations and change the map of th e world ! The next
moment he is lying on the floor a corpse lif elw s inani
, , ,

ma t e incapable of the slightest t houg ht the sli ghtest

, ,
“ ”
muscular exertion He is th e victim of heart failure -
.

THE M YSM Y O F DEATH

A second and all has changed ! Noth ing ca n now be
i nfluenced by him ; nothing is now possible but the
gradual decomposition of th e body and its return to the
dust from whence it sprang Co uld any change he more
.

—
pro fo und or m o re last ing since it ca n occur p resum ,

ably but o nce in all et ernity ? Th e slightest anato mi cal

’
—
variation in the m an s bo dy ao small perhaps that even ,
,

—
a mi c roscope cannot d et ec t it a nd w e th en behold th e
m ost m ighty change whi c h occurs in nature th e p ro ,

fo u ndest of trag edi es a nd wo nders ! W e behold th e tran

sit ion from t he livi ng to th e lifel ess w e pass fro m life
,

to death What is this change w e have seen before

.
300 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

us t Can w e in way und erstand it ! Wha t can w e

a ny

learn ! What see ? T hese are questions over w hich m en

have ponde red fo r centuri es and which still fo rm the
most fasci nating problem in th e realm of spiritual in

WHY WE SHOULD N OT FEAR DEATH

Many p ersons fear death ; but th ey sh oul d not do so
for the reaso n that on a ny th eo ry it is not a thing to
, ,

be feared . It has been proved abundantly that with ,

t h e exceptio n of v ery r are cases th e re is no pain at th e

,

mom ent of death and no c onsciousness of dying Both .

a re obliterated by th e ki nd hand of nature Th e suf

.

fering which goes before b elo ngs rath er to lif e than to

death and in fact many of those who have sufl ered
, , ,

f rom some torturing d isease ha ve died with a smile o f

happiness and co ntentm ent on th eir faces O f th e .

p h y sical body w e need thi nk litt l e sinc e,

t h e spiritual
body separat es itself from this body aft er death a nd ,

thenceforward is as unconscious of it as w e are of a

finger or any part of our body whic h has been cut 03
during li fe The human spi rit takes som e tim e to b ecom e
.

reason it should not b e buri ed or c re mat ed too soo n

after death But with these ex ce ptio ns w e need t h in k
.
,

littl e of th e stat e of t h e physical body since w e sever

,

our c onnecti o ns with it entirely as so on as w e pass into

th e sp irit world What happ ens aft er w e hav e efiec ted
.

this separation is naturall y a questi o n of abso rbing in ~

tersat to many m inds since all of us have to look for

"
,

ward to this experi ence .

Th e sta t em ents o f c l a irvoyants and o f those s p irits

wh o hav e returned to t ell us of th ei r passage into the
302 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

l ife th read N ow the body of the emana tion m a d e

-
. .

Then appears something white and shining like a h u ,

man head ; next in a v ery few moments a faint outli n e

,

of the face divine then the fair neck and shoulders

, ,

th en in rapid succession come all pa rts of the new

body down to the feet— a bri gh t shini ng image, a litt le
smaller than its p hysical body but a perfect prototyp e ,

or reproductio n in al l except its disfig urements Th e

, .

fine life threa d continues attached to th e o ld brain .

The next thi ng is the withdrawal of the elect ric princi

p le
. When this thread snaps the sp iritual body is fre e ,

and prepared to accompany its guardians to the Sum

me rla nd Yes th ere is a spiritual body— it is sown in

.
,

dishonour and ra ised in brightn ess .

H OW IT FEEIB TO PM OVEB

Hear again what a returning spirit says who h as

,
“
,

passed through the V alley of th e Shadow o f Death

,
"
and has apparently returned to t ell us his experi enc es :
“
Wh en I awoke in th e sp irit h f s and pe rceived tha t I -

had h ands and feet and all that belongs to th e huma n

body I cannot express to you in the form of words th e
,

feel ings which at that moment seemed to take possession

—
of my soul I realized that I had this body a spiritua l
.

body . Imagine if you can what the surprise of a

, ,

spirit must be to find after th e struggle of death tha t

, , ,

he is a new born spirit free from the decaying taber

-
,

na cle of fl esh , th at he leavea behind him . I gazed on

weeping friends with a saddened heart mingl ed wi th ,

—
joy knowing as I di d that I could be with th em and
, ,

beh old them daily though unseen and unknown and

, ,

as I gazed upon the lif eless t enement of clay and could

behold the bea uty of its mechanism I felt impelled to ,

 WHA T H APP EN S A F T ER D E A TH ? 303

seek the A uthor of so much beauty and youth and

prostrate myself at his feet I felt a light touch on my
.

shoulder and joy unspeakable ! I b held the l oved ones

, ,
e

N OVEL m m rmwm ON T HE OTHER SIDE

So the human spi rit issuing from th e body grad
, ,

ually rises high er and h igher and com es into touch and
,

harmony with those about it and with those w ho pos

"
,

seas sympathy and mutu al interest As ex p lained in th e .

“
chapt er devoted to the Spirit World it is highly im

"
,

probable that there are any p hysic al barriers between

th e spheres one from anoth er ; but they are doubt
,

l ess separated neverth eless by walls of ment al and

, ,

spiritual origin If we are in one of these planes we

.
,

m ust p rogress upw ard, bef ose w e oan rcach

'
or re

m ain with those whom we desire most ; and for this

“ ”
reason there is a hell so to say for those who can
, ,

—
not attain what they desire whi c h can only be by
continu al striving upward and onward In this how .
,

ev er they are constantly helped and amisted by spirit

,

guides and helpers ; so that progress is rapid wh en it ,

is rea lly d esired and worked for .

H OW W B TU RN BAOK TO OOH U NIOATB

On the lower plan es of existence communi cation with

those of t he earth is, it is said, comparati vely easy ; but ,
30 4 Y OUR PSYCHIC POWERS

th is becomes increasingly difl cult as we ascend in the

upw a rd aca le. I t h aa often been point ed out tha t
desce nding to communicate w ith those on earth is som e
thing li ke go ing down to the bottom of a m uddy pool
and those who desire to go to the bottom of muddy
poo la a re ver y rare, even on this eart h l St ilh p
s i rit a

moved by ti es of love for those l eft behind make the ,

—
attempt from time to time succemful or unsuccm f ul
in proportion to favourable or unfavourabl e conditions .

This howev er w e discussed in former cha pters .

As w e pm grm w e a re sa id to aequire m ore interest

—
in th e new world ; and lose interest in this just as w e
gradually lose i nterest in one country when we mov e
into another New scenes new intera ts and the new
.
, ,

environment gradually alter our li ne of thought ; but

just as w e are always glad to see a relative or an old
“ ”
friend from the home town or the motherland so a re
, ,

“ ”
we most happy to meet and greet those who pass over ,

when their turn comes to join us in the spirit world .

H OW W E PROGR ESS IN TH E SPIR IT W ORLD

A fter th w e initial stages have paw ed upward progress

,

and d evel opment begin For many how ev er th e shock

.
, ,

of death has a very sev ere efiect, especially in cases of

sui cide and those who have met wi th sudden and vio
lent deaths In such cases these spirits require some
.

time to recover thei r norm al selves and have to be,

nursed back to heal th as it were on th e oth er side

, , .

T e same is t rue of those sp irits who have had their

h
 CHA PTER XXXVI
B AD AND rs a vs s rs n uses o r sp m rruamsu
'

Em r if
g t or pow er can be ab used ; m any in th e past
have turned their increa sed psychic powers into evil
channels ( at various times in th e world s h ist ory ) and
’

who co ntinu e to do so today They are known as .

magici ans witch es vampires possesso rs of th e evil ey e

, , , ,

et c
.
, etc For th e moment it may be pointed out that
.

psychi c unf oldm ent and increase of psychic power brings

with it added responsibility As our pow er in this di .

recti on is increased, so also we are expected to use it

rightly If much has been give n us much is expected !
.
,

It is q uite possibl e it is true for these pow ers to be

, ,

t u rned to bad account and others injured w ealth ac , ,

qui red etc temporarily by th eir use But if these

, .
, .

po wers are used for th ese p urposes th ey are usually soon ,

lost and th en the student is in a far worse conditio n

,

than before for th e reaso n that he is not o nly wit hout

,

the added power which h e craves but also has deteri ,

o rated m entally morally and physically as th e result of

,

their harmful use .

T HE DIFFEREN CE BET WEEN M AGIC AND MED IUMSHIP

In the middl e ages psychic pow ers w er e undo ubtedl y
used for good and bad purposes Whit e magic was bene

"
o
.

fl cial and bla ck magic harmful White Magic i nvoked .

“ ”
angels ; Black Magic i nvoked d evils I n neith er .

case were the sp irits of departed human bei ngs call ed

 PERVERTE D U SE S O F SPIRITU AL IS M 307

—
upon but rather intelli gences ei ther lower or hi gher
, ,

than man in the h uman scale of evolution .

Anoth er thing which distinguishes m ediumship from

magic is that mediumship is more in the nature of a
,

—
request a calling upon human intel ligences for help
,

a nd advice Magic on the other hand d epends upo n in

.
, ,

vocati on or de mandi ng the presence and assistance of

,

other intell igences di fl ering from th e human and th eir ,

assistanc e in the work to be performed .

HOW INVOC ATIO NS ARE PERFORMED

For the purposes of t his in vocation various magi cal ,

pra ctices were undertaken such as prayer the saying

, ,

of certain words and sentences preparation of the magic

,

circle with its pentagram sea l of Solomon etc as

, , , .
,

well as utilizing various m agical preparations secured

from dead bodies and th e poisons of anim us and rep
tiles etc T h ese magical practices were usually under
, .

taken at certain seasons and p hases of the moo n after ,

long training on th e part of the magician and in spe ,

cia lly prepared rooms o r locali ties which had been kept ,

apart only for magical purposes Exact descriptions of .

such invocations and the metho ds employed are to be

found in certain rare books on th e Ritual of Magic ;
but inasmuch as th ey are n either h ealthy nor d esirabl e ,

w e do not deem it wise or right to place th ese teachi ngs

before the stu dent who might be tempt ed did h e pos
, ,

sees the knowledge to put them into operation and

, ,

—
thus inj ure hi mself menta lly and moral ly perha ps be
yond repair ( Stud ents wh o are int erested may con
.

sult — A E W ait e .
“
Th e Book of Black Magic and of
.
,
” “
Pacts ; Levi The Doctrine and Ritual of Transcen
,
”
d ental Magic etc ) , .
308 Y OUR PSYCHIC PO WE RS

AN EXPLAN ATION OP w rrc nmm

D uring the middl e ages also witchcraft flourish ed

-
, ,
.

It dep end ed upo n the use of certain psychic powers

which witch es were said to pm — o nl y in their cases
“ ”
this power c am e directly from th e d evil himsel f ,

heing bestowed upon them in person by his Satani c

Majesty ! The w itch es w ere all said to m eet two or tln ee '

times a year on som e lonely mountain top at midnigh t ,

— th ese meetings being called “ ”

Sabbaths A t these .

sabbaths all sorts of magical and anti religious cere -

moni es were h eld The sacrament was moc ked th e

.
,

devil was wo rshipped etc The witch was said to swea r

, .

allegiance to th e devil who th ereupo n touched her on

,

some part of th e body which b ecame ane sthet ic ,

lacking all sensation Th ese m arks occu rred in vario us

"
.

parts of the body and such marks were conseq uently

,
“
known as witch marks The probable explanation
.

of such ca ses is that in co nnection with the abnorma l

mental and physica l states induced by witches there ,

resul ted a pecul i ar form of hysteria in w hi ch sm a ll

zones or patches on the body becam e anmsth etic Mod .

ern science now reco gnizes th e exist ence of such in

“ ”
sensibl e patch es and calls th em ane sthetic zones .

They are typ ical of this form of hyst eria T h is is .

the modern scientific explanation of th e so call ed witch o

m arks.

Th e journeys to the sabbaths were doubtless f o r ,

the most part imaginary fl igh ts — resulting from th e ,

,

administration of o piates and oth er drugs which they

were known to tak e and with which th ey anoint ed
,

their bodies A t the same tim e it is probable that

.

th ere were many genui ne supernormal psychical ph e

nom ena connected with witch craft and t his is becom ,
 3 10 YOUR PSYCHI C PO WERS

s ors of the evil e e

en y
—
e seco nd a nd t h ird fin gers
th
bei ng folded ov er into th e palm o f the hand and kep t
’

there by the thumb In this position th e outer fi n ge rs

.

somew hat resembl e t e horns of a bull and if the ha n d

h ,

th y
e willusually turn and fly from the sign m a ke r ! -

Many E uropeans use this knowledge to rid them selv es

of pestil ent beggars !

VA MPIRES AND HOW THEY ATT ACK

Another form of evil influ ence which is said to ex ist
and is particularly beli ev ed in by the nati ves of S il es i a ,

Moravia and South ern Carpa thia is that cover ed b y

“
th e gen eral word V ampire . In our ordina ry l a n
u
g ga e a v am p ire is a s pe cie s of ba t and th e ,
w o r d is

empl oyed beca use human vampires were said to assu m e

th e shape of large ha ts at times flying in the w i nd o w

,

w h en th eir victims a re asleep A vampire is o ne w h o

.

sucks th e life blood of his victi m through tw o sm a ll

-
,

hol es pu nctured i n the skin in v ery much t h e sa m e

,

way that a mosquit o su cks our blood aft er pu n ct uri n g

th e epid ermis Th ese holes are said to oc c ur usu a l ly
.

in th e th roat and the victim is of course a tt a ck ed

, , ,

as a rul e during sleep .

Those who are vampires after th ey are de a d a nd

bu ri ed are enabled in som e miraculous way it is sa id , ,

to l eav e thei r cofllns and t ombs and wander abo u t se e k

i g
n victims . W h en th ey a re dug up th ey a re fou n d
,

fresh wi th a pink complexion and th e whol e b o dy en

"
g orged with blood T
. h e o nly sure way to kill v a m p i res ,

it is said is to drive a stake through the h ea rt o r c ut

,

o fi th e head wh,
en a q u antity of fresh blood w il l g m
 P E RV ERTE D USES O F SPIRITU ALISM 31 1

forth and the vam pire is killed for ever ! Tradition also
says that those who are bitt en by vamp ires becom e vam »

pires in turn .

V ampires of a certain sort howev er are not unknown

, ,
“
in ou r own day I n an i nt eresti ng articl e on Vam
.

”
pi res
, in the Occul t R eview Jun e 1 908 D r Franz , , , .

H artmann described a method of w hat might be term ed

natural v am pirage He refers to the Bible ( 1 K ings
. ,

1 ) and also alludes to certain processes by which one

person is enabled to draw vital energy from anoth er ,

by establishing close co ntact This pro cess of N ature

.

is governed by well fin d laws Through ignorance .

of th m laws many peopl e hav e becom e victime of

,
“ ”
M odern V am pirage Anoth er fo rm of perverted os
.

cultism whi ch remains is th e employm ent of charms ,

amulets talismans et c which are oft en sold for th e

, , .
,

purpose of inducing m ental and physical disease and

”
B lack Magic which has existed throu gh all ages .

“
We must not forget ; also the ao called V oodoo p rac
,
-

tices of t he natives of W m A frica whi ch are said to ,

be rema rkable by those who have witnessed th em .

HOW TO PROTEC T YOURSELF FROM OCC ULT AND EVIL

It is of ten a little dificult fo r the mod ern stud ent of

the occult to determine just how much h e is to beli ev e
in th ese stori es U ndoubtedl y most o f them are based on
.

superst ition fanati c ism and imagi natio n A t the sam e

, .

tim e th ere is enough truth in th em to make us be

cautio us and put us on ou r guard N ever under any .
,

circumstances sh o uld you undertake to practise any

,
 YOUR PS YCHIC POWE RS

of them for low selfish pu rposes In order to p rotect

,
.

you rself from influ ences of this sort if you feel th a t

,

they are bei ng w ielded against you resort to the m eas

,

ures outli ned in p revious ch apters and you may be sure

t h at if you do this you will be
, to all
influences of this
31 4 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

thus An intellig ence has ofl ered me cert ain ad v iee.

I f that person w ere yet aliv e and ofiered me the sa m e

”
advi ce, would I take it f You should accep t the adv ie e
o f sp irits as y u
o w ul d th at of h umm beingg w b o m
me rely spi rits still in the fl esh I n other wordq as .

so often pointed out b efore in previous cha pters —use

,

y ou r o w n j udg ment and discriminati on on a ll mm ges

rec eived . If the messages are of an erra tic nature, suc h

as thoae w hi c h u k y ou to gi ve up y our posifiom go on

a long journey etc you should be most cautions and

, .
,

only accept such advice after you have fu lly prov ed

to your own satisfaction that it is wise and bene fic ia l .

w uss or m su rn am es
“
Do not depend upon your sixth sense until y o u

refuse to lct these w ork, you ca n hardly suppose tha t

h elp and assistance will come from outsi de . N o seed
,

w il l not grow in a soil that is not p repa red, neit he r

will sp iritual help be planted in your mental soil if yo u
have not worked to p repare it for this spirit ual in fl ux .

As a rule, our ow n individual sp irit is the beet gu ide .

We must consult th is first After that, if you see k

.

addi ti o nal advice and h elp , this may often be obta ined
from wise and expe rienced psychics but I canno t too ,

strongL
v warn th e stud en t aga inst accept ing th e a dvice
of poorly developed medi ums either profm ional
-
,

I t is not a good thing to ch ange developing mediu ma,

if this can be avoided . If you ha ve fou nd one me d ium
 SNARES AND PITF ALL S TO AV OID 3 15

who can amist you to develop and who is apparently

doing so hel pfully and rightly stick to him through
”

thick and thi n until h is advice or h elp fails you Th e

, .

mixtu re of magnet ism which is introduced with change

of dev eloping medi ums may be at times v ery harmful
, , .

“ ”
T he same thing may be said of ci rcles O nce a .

circle of sitters is formed this same group should sit

,

night after night and it is not at all a good practice

,

to allow strangers co nstantly to i ntrude i nto th e circl e

and take th e places of oth ers If changes must be .

made let one at a time assum e the place of the abse nt

,

sitter and let him get thoroughly fam iliar with th e

surroundings and conditio ns before a seco nd change

is made .

You would be wise to mistrust names of important

histo rical persons if they appear in your own speech
,

or writing or if th ey are obtained at séances O ur

,
.

n atural vanity may l ead us to h0pe and expec t that

such personages may be present but th ere is evid ence ,

th at in many cases lying spi rits hav e taken th e places

, ,

of th ou wh ose names th ey gave In th is connection it

.

may be said that historical personages are not as a ,

rule most desirable The best help and the greatest

, .

teac h ings have bee n obtained from simple people who

are now on the other side .

SENSITIVITY AN D MEDI U MSHIP

Do not try from th e first to d ev elop as a medium .

Try rath er to cultivate you r ow n psychic powers and

strengthen your own inner natu re A ft er you have .

developed psychica lly and spi ritually in this way you ,

wil l be far better enabled to receive and transmit gen

316 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

uiuc mediumistic me s g s a es—

better enabled also to
interpret them better able to withstand the stra in of
,

mediumship and run far less danger of obsemion a nd

,

other unpleasant symptom which badly dev eloped m e

diums are liable to encounter Cultivate you r psychic .

self therefore and after t his has been duly trained,

, ,

begin to train yo ur mediumistic powers Be on the .

lookout for evil and lying spirits who will constan tly ,

deceive you , if you are not prepared for th em and re ,

main too open and receptive Study your own phenom ena .

um istic mani festations from those due to your own sub

conscious mi nd T his is nu excellent and very help ful
.

practice which will prove useful to you as you progrm .

D o not m ume that all figures which you see are

sp irits Th ey may be thought forms doubl es, eth eri c
.
,

bodies or imaginary creations of your own

, .

T HINGS A PSYCHIC SHOULD AVOID

cha in and separate the true from the f alse after mont ha
and perhaps years of study observation and experimen t
, .

A bove all rem ember that symbolic figures and rep resen
,

n ever be accep ted as representing the truth as it ,

actually exists One of the great dangers to the am a

.

tsur medium as befo re explained is that of ext ending

, ,

his symbolic, intuitiv e impressions beyond the pro per

point If h e stated only what w as given him, he woul d
.

usually be right but if he endeavours to interpret the m

,

himself find their expla nations etc , he very often go es

, , .

“ ”
wrong Do not hang on too lo ng so to say to the
.
, , ,

impressions and images you perceive L et them fl oat .

 31 8 Y O UR PSYC HI C PO W ERS

ea rly stages of dev elopment .

HOW 10 G UAR D AGAINST OUTSIDE INFLU EN OK

The seco nd important step w hi ch th e stud ent tak es

'

after h e has onc e passed this stage is that while h e wil l

be sensitive and receptiv e to tel epathic clairvoyant a nd ,

ot her forms of pe rception and also to spirits both i n ,

and out of the body he will b e practically imperviou s

,

to harmful or malicious tho ughts and influ ences whi c h

may be impelled against him not only on this sph er e ,

bu t by the spirit world as well If a trance cl airvo y

.
-

ant during a sta te of ea ts sy leaves his body and

, ,

wanders 03 into space without having previously gai ne d

,

sufic ient knowledge and h ence control of the situa tio n

, ,

he is liabl e to be blown hit her and thithe r ( figurative ly

speaking ) like a soap bubbl e by th e breezes and w ill
-
,

be open to impressions from all sources These he m ay .

not feel or know at the tim e but h e may carry th ese

,

back w ith him into his body and afterw ards they m a y
a ffect h im to the detrim ent of h is o wn m ental and spiri t
ual h ealth In other words, h e has not l earned to p ro
.

tect himself whil e sev ered from th e body as h e can whi l e

in it . T his is one of the greatest dangers whi ch t h e
advanced psychi c is liable to en counter and at t h e , ,

sam e tim e after he has o nce l earn ed the secret of p ro

,

teeting himself in this manner h e may be assured th a t

,

th ence forward his progress will be most marked a nd

rapid not o nly in psychi c and medium istic d ev elop m ent
, ,

but in the spirit world after h e has entered it perm a

-
,

uently at death
,
.
 S NAR E S AN D PIT F ALL S TO A VO I D 31 9

THE VAL UE OF PSY CHIC 0m m TO T HE

Psychic development is therefo re of inestimabl e

, ,

worth if rightly cultivated for the rapid progression

, ,

—
of th e individual h uman spirit just as much as the
,

same pow er ba dly employed is harmful to the huma n

spirit both h ere and h ereafter It all depends on th e
, .

manner in w h ich th ese forces and powers have been

cultivated and are utili zed ; and w hile too much ca nnot
be said agai nst their imprope r use a great deal may
,

he said in favour of their proper application and de

vel opm ent in th e right di rectio n It is my hope that
.

every read er of this book will d evelop himself alo ng

th e right lines and that h e may r eceiv e help advi c e

, ,

and encourag ement at al l stages of h is spiritual nu

—
foldment, both here and hereafter !
 CH APT ER X XXV III

THE physical phenom ena of spiritualism as dist in ct ,

from the m ental or psychical p h en o m ena are those w hi c h ,

relate to the physica l w orld and m whi ch some m ech a ni

,

cal or p hysical movement of matt er tak es p lace In

clairvoyance for exampl e no such physical phenomena
, ,

occur so far as we ca n see ; but if a ta bl e be lif t ed

,

into th e air by supernormal m eans w e h ere com e in t o ,

co ntact with mechanical a nd p hysica l forces and w ith

th ese w e have to reckon .

M OMM A WITH PHYSICAL CONT ACT

We must begi n at th e begi nni ng in tr eat ing of physi
cal ph enomena and go back first of all to those wh i ch
, , ,

involve some form of contac t D oubtless you have see n .

performances of ao call ed mind readers who found l ost

- -

articles which w ere hi dd en in various p arts of th e ro om

or hall wh en one who knew their hiding place held
,
-

th e psychic s hand or plac ed it to his forehea d etc In

’
.
,

most of these performances it is not mind reading at -

all strictly speaki ng which w e see but what is te ch

, , ,

nica lly known as

“
muscl e r ca di ng
”
— that is the fa int , , ,

unconsc ious twitchings of the muscl es of th e person h old

ing th e psychic s hand are felt and interpreted by hi m
’
,

consciously or unconsciously and these guide h im to th e ,

spot wh ere the article is hidden Incredibl e as it m ay .

appea r this is the correct explanation of th ese ca ses

, ,

and you may easily test it for yourself by asking a

322 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

ca n ti lt and tip it as m any of yo u hav e doubtl ess seen

, .

Th e first simple mov ements h ere as fo rm erly are p rob

, ,

ably due to the unconscious musc ular pressures of th ose

ha ving th eir hands on th e table ; bu t later on as th e ,

psy c hic force dev elops and charges th e table it seems ,

t o assum e an independent character and the tabl e oft en

co ntinues to mov e wh en all hands are withdrawn from
it In fact as an expert psychic stu dent has po inted
.
,
“
out in many instances and especially under unfavou r
abl e conditions the ph enomena d o not rise above th e
initial stage ( of simple non intel ligent movements )
-
,

leaving the impressi on on th e mi nds of the i nvestigato rs

that th e force exhibited is if at present unknown and
,

unaccounted for nev erthel ess a natural and a mecha ni

,

cal one and th at th e action of independent int elligen c e

,

in connection with it ca nnot be co nceiv ed T his h a s

, .

been the experi ence and has been th e v erdict of ev en

sci enti fic inquirers who have not h esitated to give tha t
,

verdi ct to th e worl

HOW THE Pom IN C RE A

Such a conclusion is based upon inaccu rate knowledge

and upon imperfect and superficial observatio n All .

e xp eri en ced psychi c stud ents a re awar e that it is often

o nly aft er repeated and prolonged sittings that th e ,

full devel opment of the psychic fo rce is obta ined an d

that i ndependent int elligence is exhi bited in connectio n
with it and that in by far the larger number of i nstances
that stage of the expe rime nt is nev er reached at all .

That it is however th e ulti mate issu e o f th e experim m t

, ,

is now admitted by all pati ent and pai nstaking students ,

who have d evoted sufiicient time to th e observation of

the phenomena and who have carri ed on th eir inv est i ~
 PHYSI C AL PHE N OME NA 323

gati ons with an open mi nd and in a systematic mann er .

As will be seen later on it is fully admitt ed that th e

,

mysterious fo rce thus called into operation in some

,

unknown way imu es from th e physical organism of the

,

sensitive and the sitte rs and is in itself an unintelli

,

gent force ; but it is with eq ual confidence asserted that

wh en it is avail abl e m sufici ent quantity and is wholly
deta ched from th e physical organism it can be and ,

beyond all d oubt is frequently manipulated by intel li

gen ces independent of and other than tha t o f the psychic
,

and th e i nvestigators ass isting in th e experiment .

HOW PHYSICAL PHEN OMENA ARE PRO DUCED

The pr incipl e u pon wh ich many physical phenomena
are based th en is simply this : There is a vital or a
, ,

nervous forc e existing in many of us as described in ,

an earli er chapter whi ch is usua ll y limited to the sur

,

face of our own bodi es so that u nless we tou ch th e

,

obj ect in question w e cannot move it U nder certain

,
.

con ditions h o w eve r this vital en ergy or fluid is capable

, ,

of being proj ected outward beyond th e normal bodily

limits into space and wh en powerful enough is ca p
, , ,

able of movi ng physica l obj ects with which it com es

into co ntact ; or if it b e a rapid outward projectio n of
t his force it produces percussive sounds or raps well
,

known to Spiritualists T his psych i c forc e is often un

.

controlled and th en objects are moved without th e knowl

edge of and even against th e wish of the medium W e
then hav e th e ao called spo ntaneous Poltergeist Phe
-
" .

nomena etc A t oth er times this force may be guided

,
.

and manipulated by th e conscious or u nconscious mind

o f the medium Beyo nd this stage again is one in
.
, ,

which the medium is un conscious of what is occurring ,

32 4 Y O UR PSYC H IC POWERS
— havi ng passed into trance, etc and it is th en t h at
.
,

many of th e m ost striki ng p hysical ph enomena occu r .

A t such tim es co mplica ted and intelligent physical ma ni

festations a re produced which are not due either to th e
mi nd of the medium or to any person present .

W e h ere ent er th e rea lm of genuin e physica l p h e

nom ena produced by spirit inte lli gences Most of the
-
.

communica tions are o btained through raps foll owing ,

a c od e Playing upon musical i nstrum en ts et c are

.
, .
,

due to this sourc e I n oth er words after a certain

.
,

external int elli gence and th ey ca n even create fo rms

,

or phanto ms by utilizing it as will be exp la ined in t h e

,

chapter devoted to Materialization .

CO NTROLLING T HE PHEN OMENA

V ery interesting experiments hav e been conducted i n
the past in co ntroll ing th ese physical ph enomena bu t ,

not mu c h success h as y et been attai ned in this d irecti o n .

T here is h ere a wide fi eld fo r expe riment whi ch t he

thoughtful stud ent might ent er T hus on one occa.
,

sio n a medium who had the power o f producing raps

,

was hyp notized and it w as suggest ed tha t raps should

,

be produced at will ac c ording to th e su ggestion of th e

hyp notist T his was complet ely su cc essful It was also
. .

suggested that raps be obtai ned on any articl e of fu rni ~

ture which th e hyp notist would suggest T his also suc .

ceeded T he range and variety of physical phen o men a

.

are very great i ncluding manifestations such as : ra ps

, ,

table l evitati ons movem ents of obj ects without cont a ct

-
, ,
32 6 YOUR PSYCHI C POWE RS

an d will probably bcg in to assume the shs pe of a pha n

tom or form standing before you Wh en this stag e
.

ha s been reached you should concentrate your recepti v e

fac ulti es and endeavour to get an ra pport with this
form ( for such it now is ) and aft er a ti me you wil l
doubtless be abl e to a tablish more or lem intel ligent
m ental communicat ion and exch ange m essages Th is .

will usually appear befo re physical ph eno mena becom e

ma nifest thou gh in certain cases it m ay be later on
, .

D r Ba radu c of Paris succe eded o n several occasio ns

.
, ,

in photog raphing those groups of light o r m m es of

matt er which thus floated before him a nd th e stu dent
,

who has on ce succeeded in rec eivi ng manifestat ions of

a like nature might w ell co nduct similar expe rimen ts
, ,

if he be sufic iently al ert and abl e to d o so If not a .

,

friend who is wi th hi m and ha s attend ed his prom

of developm ent might endeavour to take these photo
graphs at th e mom ent wh en the psychic states they are
vividly p rw ent before him .

T h ere are thus two ways of cultiva ti ng physical m e

dium shi p O ne is to sit in th e dark ; th e ot he r is to ex
.

p e rim en t mor e or less co nsci ously in light or semi d a rk- t

ness and wh en a certain am o u nt o f pow er has been

,

ga ined in this direction to endeavo ur to transfer or

,

ca rry this over into th e dark séance and to transmi t

this power to a sp irit who will thencefo rth util ize it and
by its aid produce physical ph enomena .

If you sit for physical development in the dark you ,

a re never su r e what kind of ph enomena you a re to oh

tain I n a séa nce thi s is beneficial si nce you should

.
,

never aim to get one type of phenom ena as before ex ,

 PHYSIC AL PHE N OME NA 327

plained for if you do you shut out by your attitude

,

all other ph enom ena which might spont aneously develo p .

A t the sam e tim e it is always satisfactory for the be

ginne r to be abl e to co ntrol his ph enom ena a littl e ,

especially at first and for this reaso n th e seco nd method

,

o f experim entation is advisabl e and if desired mi ght

,

be carried out at t h e same ti me as the other method

of dev elop ment so that the two progress side by sid e
, .

If you sit in the dark you should by all means pro vide
yourself with a cabinet since this will tend to co ncent rate
,

th e force and much l ess en ergy wi ll hav e to be exp ended

,

by y ou for th e producti o n o f any ph enomena you may

obtain A lso you should abstain from usi ng your will
.

or thi nking co nsciously of practical ev ery da y a ff airs ,

.

Make th e mi nd a blank holding only the thought of

,

HOW TO DEVEID P IN rm : LI G HT

In developing your power for the production of physi

cal phenomena alo ng th e other line menti oned it is ,

ba t to begin with si mple expe riments and gradually

work up to the more complicated o nes For example : .

Begin with a planchett e or ouija board placing th e ti ps

-
,

o f the fingers on th e board and aft er it has begun t o

,

move rapidly to and fro or rou nd a nd rou nd v ery grad ,

ua l ly wit hdraw th e ha nd and see whether or not the

,

board co ntinu es to mov e about A gain wh en th e table

.
,

has begun to tip a nd rise into th e air ( tw o o r three

l egs ) as th e result of placi ng your hands upo n it ,

gradually withdraw your fin gers and see wh eth er th e

tabl e remains suspended or w hen it is at its high est
,

point and you feel that it is thoroughly c harged with

“ ”
your fluid drop th e whol e force of your be ing int o
,
 32 8 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

your Wil l and see if you cannot levitate the table co m

p lete ly fr
om th e floo r . Agaim if m ps are coming on

o r a sound in the table top -

w xll come fol lowing this
,

movement .

A number of simple d evices have been constructed

with th e obj ect of test ing mediumshi p in its early stages ,

and one or two of t h ese you could m ake at home and t his ,

would prove very helpful to you Thus : You might .

suspend a small pith or cork ball by m eans of a silk -

thread fiv e or six i nches long from a b ook If now you

, ,
.

pla ce the fingers of one hand al most touchi ng this ball

and leav e it th ere for some moments you may if su ccess , ,

ful succeed in causing this ball to move either to wards o r

,

away from y our fingers as yo u w ill Thi s is a very use .

ful li ttle experim ent which ma y be tried on many ocea

sions a nd wi ll be found very benefi cial in developing sim ~

ple ph ysical ph enomena Anoth er device which may be

.

employed is the following : Procure a straw such as un d

at the soda fountains and pass a needl e through it
-
,

directly in th e cent re Prm the lower end of the needl e

.

into a la rge fiat cork ; see that the straw revolves easily
,

upon th e slightest pressure Place your fingers nearly.

touch ing one end of th e st raw and w ill that it shall

move either to the right or to the l eft This instrument .
330 YOUR PSYCHI C POWE RS

HOW TO OBTAIN T HE R
FI ST P HE N OME N A

We hav e seen in an earli er chapter that the a u ra

extends from th e body and particularly the fl ugen ti ps ,

a nd that this huma n fluid is capabl e of proj ec ti o n at

will Now it is th is fluid which is th e basis or substa nce

.
,

out o f whi c h the psychi c th reads o r rays are spu n a nd ,

th ese th rea ds wh en th ey hav e stretch ed from finger to

,

fi nger a nd ga ined su ffici ent solidity a re capable of lift

, ,

ing quite h eavy obj ects Dr Och orovi tz w ho h as

. .
,

“ ”
studi ed these rays for y ea rs calls them ri gid rays and
,

m erts that his m edium Mademoi se ll e To m ezyk can

, ,

by an eff o rt of wi ll co nstruct a psychic th read so str ong

that it can be h eard sc rapi ng agai nst solid objects and
v
e e n seen occasion ally — y et it does not e xist as a physi
,

cal reality fo r th e space betw een th e fi ngers and th e

,

obj ect may be ou t without severing the connecti on !

N ow these psychic threads a re woven not o f physica l
,

but o f eth eric or astral matt er and as w e d o not know

,

as y et how to mou ld or manipulate this accurately w e ,

have to do the best w e ca n by the pow er o f th e hu man

will Th e prom t o be foll o w ed th erefore is : first vivid
.
,

imagina ry const ruction of these rays or threads ; second ,

proj ectio n of th e vi tal fluid ; and third th e weavi ng o f ,

this t ogeth er i nto th e rigid rays by an eff ort of will .

If t he stud ent can follow t h is proc ess and persi stently

carry out the i nstructio ns h e will doubtl ess succ eed in
,

tim e in moving small l ight obj ects that is if h e is

, ,
-
,

at all gift ed with this phase of medi umship .

HOW TO CONST U CTR T HE V ITAL THR EADS OR RI G ID RA YS

The details of this process may now be given First .

of all place yourself in a relaxed, restful condition

, .
 PHYSICAL PHE N OME NA 331

Then think intently of the threads or rays w hich you

wish to produce Imagin e these j ust li ke any oth er
.

threads coming from your fing er ti ps and becoming more -

and more dense and solid as they emerge Think of the .

strips of fluid you saw between your finger ti ps in tryi ng -

th e ex periments mention ed in Chapter XXV d evot ed to ,

“ ”
th e human fluid When y ou have formed th ese vital
.

rays cl early in yo ur m i nd and hav e th em all ready to

project so to say ext end the fingers and by a stro ng
, ,

efio rt of wi ll end eavour to project this en ergy

,
into ,

space bey o nd th e finger tips After a v ery few trials

,
-
.
,

you will do ubtl ess beg in to do so T his you w ill fee l in .

“ ”
th e form of pins and needl es sensati o ns i n the finger
tips Th ey will also get warm perhaps pe rsp ire Wh en
.
, .

this seco nd sta ge has been reac h ed yo u are ready to ,

proceed wi th th e third The fluid thus projected is not

.

in the form of rigid rays or threads but rath er a vapor ,

,
—
,
—
ous mass a soft cloud if th e term be all owed and you ,

must toug hen and strengthe n this by will power A fter -

.

th e p rojecti o n has tak en plac e think a nd w ill i ntent ly ,

that this shall happen and is happening and at th e , ,

sam e tim e i magi ne your co nsciousness in y o ur finger

“
tips th emselves moulding and tougheni ng th ese vital
,

rays I f you d o this you wi ll surely succ eed i n tim e

.
, ,

provided you go at th e exercise in the right manner ,

“ ”
and stick to it persistently .

TR AN SFERRING Tn PO WE R
Wh en the student has progressed thus far the final ,

step must be t ake n nam ely th e transferri ng of this power

,

“ ”
to th e contro l of a spirit or outsid e i ntelligence .

Th is is a very d elica te and subtl e p roc ess which is v ery ,

little understood ev en by m ediums The best process

,
.
332 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

is gradually to dev elop the pow er of going int o tranee

coincidentally with the development of these physic a l
ph enomena Once you have gained the pow er of pro
.

j ec tingy ou r fiuid at will and m ov ing materia l ob jects b y

its aid ( which is proba bly attained by an ex treme efiort
of will ) y ou should endeavonr to ha nd ov er this ma ni pu
la tive power to another intell igence . You ca nnot do this
consciously so y ou can only hope that the transfcrenc e
w ill ta ke plac e when you h ave pamed into t ranee You .

should endeavour, therefore, to pm into trance wh ile

actually conducting the abov e mentioned experimen m ,

and th e p roof of th e fact that th is transference does ta ke

place is found in the fact that the most striking p hysia l
phenomena at a séance always occur wh en th e medi um is
in deep tr ance . The deeper the trance th e bet ter th e
,

phenomena ! In other words the more the medi um s

,
'

will is in abeyance th e more o pportunity is there giv en

,

to the exte rnal will of the spirit to b ecom e activ e and

bring about the required resul ts This fact is ve ry
.

strikin gly proved by nea rly all the ba t physical mediums

in th e history of Spiritualimn .

GAT HERING VIT AL W Y FROM THE C IRC LE

If you are unable to mov e material objects al one y ou ,

may pe rhaps be enabled to do so after gath ering strength

from others You may do this either by forming a chain
.

and gathering this en ergy by an efiort of wil l before ,

you make your experiment or by plac ing your hands in

,

positio n and asking th e two m embers of th e chain ne ar

est to you to place th eir hands upon you r t emples or ,

one on your forehead ,and th e oth er ov er t h e sola r

pl exus I n this way a vital magn etic current is estab

.
a l b ody ,
t i ieh is m fi m t ly n fid to br w

Th e n cdi m sam s to a ct s a m t of m nec fing link

enee is as y et nnknom Hm is a fid d for st m b

'
by

To mm y it m y ap pea r inm dib le th at any sp iri tnal

b ody is snficiently m teri a l to b e pb ot c g n ph ed by t h e

refl ec ti ng ligh t -
w a ves, t his being t h e p rim arr a w a it:
in obta ining p hot o n
g p h s n a ll Y et .as Si r O liv er

Lodg e has pointcd out , t h ere is h ardly an n h ing m ore

b le . In t h is case t h ere is no so lid j

ob ect p h o t o g ra p h ed
— mere l y t he refl ec t ed lig h t w av es w h ch a re th em sel v es
-
i

in t a ngibl e a nd inv isi bl e .

W e know from exp eriment t ha t t h e ph ot o g ra phi c

 THOU G HT PHO T OG R AP H Y
-
335

camera is far more sensitive tha n the human eye Physi .

ci a ns tell us that it is possibl e to photograph an erupti o n

o n the body before it actually occurs that is bef ore it is , ,

visibl e to us ( such as sma llpox ) .

On the oth er han d it is also possi ble to photograp h

,

thousands of stars in the h eavens which are invisibl e ,

to the ey e ev en wi th the most powerful telescope A

, .

photographic plat e can th erefo re d etect objects insensi

ble to th e ey e and hence it is reasona ble to suppose
,

inasmuch as spiritu al bodies doubtless exist but are just ,

beyo nd the range of our vision that the ca mera shoul d

,
-

be quite able to dete ct them a nd spirit photographs are

,

the result .

TW O SOURCES 09 3 3 8 08 , AND HOW TO OU AR D AGAIN ST rm

In obtaining spirit photographs you must be on your
-

gua rd against two possibl e sources of error The first .

is that you are liabl e to see faces and likenesses in the

,

—
photograph which do not really exist at all you con
struct them in imagination as y ou woul d faces in a coa l
fire The seco nd danger to be avoided ( if you are deal
.

ing with a professio nal spirit photograph er ) is that of

-

fraud T here has doub tless been much tri ckery in this
.

department in the past and if you wish to be sure

,

that you are not victimized y o u should tak e your own

plates with yo u see th em inserted in the camera and
,

watch th eir development after th e picture has been

ta ken E ven in this case you are li able to be imposed
.

upon un less you are very careful

,
.

H OW TO BEG IN YOUR m m
Th e most satisfacto ry cou rse to pursue is to exp eri
ment yourself and not d epend upon a professional spi rit
3 36 YOUR PSYCHI C POWE RS

ph otograp he r for yo ur resul ts . If you are at all sensi

spirit photographs at the end of a certa in period of tim c .

Many hundreds of persons have done so and t heme is

.

The best m ethod 13 to sit privately with a fri end of

yours who 18 both sympath etic and more or less m dium
,
~

ist ic and hold a short séance seated at the table, before

, ,

you begin yo ur exp erim ents in photography If y ou oh .

tain messages by m eans o f tippi ngs of the table raps , ,

automatic writing etc so much the better and if intel

-
,
.
, ,

l igent communicatio n is thus established ask your sp iri

friends to appear for you on the plate when th e ex peri
t ,

m ents are being held T h ey may promise to do so but

.
,

fail to appear Do not be discouraged by this as they

.
,

may be perfec tly willing to h elp yo u but for some rea ,

son or oth er are unable to make th eir forms visib le on

th e photographic plate If you persist however y ou
.
, ,

will doubtless obtain interesti ng results in a short ti me .

HOW TO rm THE PHOTOGRAP HS

A fter this preliminary séa nce you shoul d seat your ,

subject in a chair ag ainst a dark background and focus ,

the cam era as you would were you taking his pi ct ure
in the ordinary w ay T he photographi c plate should if
.
,

possible be h eld by bot h of you between your hands in

,

th e dark room before being inserted in th e camera so

, ,
“
as to get it immegnated with y our magn etism ”
After .

he has taken up his position and the camera is pro perly ,

focussed you should th en ask your spirit fri ends to com e

,
-

and appear on the plate if possible Do not exercise, .

your will, how ev er nor thi nk of any special object in

,
338 YOUR PS Y CHIC PO WERS

HOW TO OBT AIN THOU G HT PH OTOGR APHS -

Th e third and most interesting phase, in a sem e, for

th e xperimenter is that of
e

The most sensiti ve plates that can be procured should be

used for this purpose and the experiments conducted in
the dark ( as indeed should th e Rad iograph experi
,

m ents ) Th e plate may be h eld between the palms of

.

th e hands or placed against th e foreh ead or ov er the

solar pl exus next to the skin and must be left th ere
, ,

for a co siderabl e tim

n e — half an hour or longer if pos ,

sible D uring this time th e subject should think in

.

tensely of a certa in figure or object such as a cat a , ,

,
—
chair a shi p as the case may be H e should keep this
, .

before his mi nd vi vidly and intensely and never allow

it to becom e blurred or indistinct H olding it th ere by .

an efl ort of will he sh o ul d next e ndeavour to im prem

,

this upo n th e photograp h ic p late, and should also try to

n th —
feel i wardl y e process going on within him th e flow
o f th e magn etic current to the spot beneath the p late ,

etc.

ANOTHER W A Y TO PRO DUCE THOU GH T PHOTOGR APHS -

Anoth er way of obtaining thought ph o tographs is to -

place a p lat e wrapped in black paper or placed in an ,

opaqu e blac k enve10pe on th e tabl e and over it place

, ,

th e finger tips for some tim e

- — usually from 5 to 1 0
,

mi nutes T h en think or will that a certain thought or

.

image will be im p remed upon th e plate ; and if you are

at all developed al o ng this lin e the impress wi ll be l eft
,

on th e plate through th e paper Any obj ect ca n be

,
.

selected— a ro und ring of li ght a triangl e a face et c , , , .

It is best to begin with simpl e objects because the min d ,

 THOU G HT P H OTO G RAPHY
-
3 39

seems able to impress th is upon th e pl ate more readily

and clea rly than a more complex object of which it can ,

not form so cl ear an outline .

You must not be disappointed if you do not succeed

at first in this and you may have to d ev elop ( and thus
,

spoil ) a number of plates before you get any im messi on

at all upo n th em The first thing you will get probably
.
, ,

will be a spot of light or a series of small spots as the

, ,

fluid finds its way thro ugh th e opaque paper unto th e ,

plate You must rem emb er that the human fluid is the
.

instrum ent or int ermediary through which photographs

,

of this c haract er are made, and h ence you must learn

th e art of th e projection of this fl uid as outlined in th e ,
“ ”
chapter devoted to Physical Phenomena b efore you ,

ca n hope successfu l ly to im prm a photographic plate .

Once you have do ne so the rest will be simply a matter

,

of developm ent ; and you will find it one of the most in

teresting and fascinati ng subjects for investigation in

"
the whole realm of psychics .

PHOTOGRAPHS OI PSYCHIC POM S AND M OTIO NS

In many ew es photographs of emotions have been su c
c essf ul ly taken especially of late and Monsieur B urget
, ,

has n a rrated a number of experiments of this character

to th e F renc h A cademy of Sciences which has accepted ,

h is report as auth entic It is thus evident that T hought

.

Phot ography has at l ength claim ed a place in th e sci en

tific world and this being so it is only a matter o f car e
, , ,

ful experim enting on the student s part before he obtains

’

photographs of this charact er .

An interest ing seri es of experim ents might be tried

by the scientifi cally minded inq ui rer nam ely to oh , ,

ta in phot ographs of medium s in tranc e whil e th ey ,

 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

a re obta ining A utomatic Writing C rystal Gazing etc

-
,
-
, .
,

and also of those who a re on th e point of dying . Su c h

exp erim ents w ould doubtless revea l many changes in th e

Aura and also the p resence of Though t Images and pos

,
-

sibly Spi rit F o rms which woul d ot h erwise be quite unsus

-

p ect ed by tho se p resen

.t
 4
3 2 YOUR PSYCHI C P OWERS

few minutes before nothi ng existed in th e cabinet save

, ,

th e entranced medium N ow th ere is a solid tangibl e

.
, ,

form possessing all th e properti es and appearances of

matt er often having solid flesh and bo nes just as a
,

—
h uman being would th e fl esh being w arm and life
,

like th e hand pomessing nails hair etc lik e an o rdinary

, , ,
.
,

hand and being appare ntly composed of cells and tis

,

sues such as any material body woul d be composed of !

,

H ow account for this ? It is surely one of th e most be

wildering and incredible facts in N atu re .

T HE W Y FACTO RS 10 IN SU RE SUCCE S
F rom the point of vi ew of spiritu alism and psych ic
- -

d ev elop m ent many factors p la y a part There is first

,
.

of all th e p hysical body of th e m edi um secondly his vital ,

magnetism th irdly the magnetism of the sitters form

,

ing the circl e fourthly magnetism from disembodi ed

, ,

spirits whi ch m ingl e together and h elp to create the

,

phantoms that a p pear at séances The vital energy .

which seems to be drawn from the circl e and chi efly ,

from th e m edi um duri ng th e séances is utilized or

, ,

m anipulated by t he disembo died spirits who b uild up ,

by its aid the materialized fo rm w e see befor e us This .

is a very di mc ult and complicat ed process and not all

sp irits are comp etent to do this F or this purpose what .

“ ”
are known as spirit ch emists are ofte n employed those
-
,

who possess th e knowledge of how to build up th ese

forms In the dee pest stag es of trance when th e medi um
.
,

is unconscious the communication throug h m ate rial ized

,

figures becom es cl earer and cl earer and the forms more

d ense and ma t erial This is true of many psychic ph e
.

nom ena : th e deeper th e trance the better the results oh

'

,
 MA T E RIALIZA TIO N 3 3 4
In th e lighter stages of trance however only port ions
, ,

of th e figure may develop such as hands facw etc or

, , , ,

v ery shadowy and vagu ely defined outlines of human

farms T hese latter are not st ri ct ly speaking ma
.
, ,
“ ”
terialis ed but are known as etherialized forms They .

a re less solid than the materialized figures and it is ,

often possibl e to pass the hand and arm through one

of th ese figures wi thout dist urbing it In the case of .

th e m ateria lized figure on th e other hand they are

, ,

just as solid and tangible as any human form and it

would be impossibl e to make any oth er solid object pass
through any part of them In many c ases the p hysical
.

body of t he medi um is more or less al tered by th e spirits

without any oth er p h antom being created Such cases .

“
are known as transfig uration Wh en the figure cre
ated at the séance is not dense and full y formed it does ,

not possess either a compl ete or matured i ntel ligence .

“ ”
It is not all there so to speak mentally o r physically
, , .

There is evidence to show that many of these forms

are crea wd by the w ill o f th e m edium or by discarnate

spirits and that they are more truly though t fo rms than
,

mat eria lized sp irits A gai n many of these figures are

.
,
“ ” “ ”
doubl es or astral bodi es belonging to living peo
p l,
e wh o happen to appear at the séanc e or proj ect ions ,

from disc arnate spirits I n such case th e i ntelligence

.
,

manipulating the phantom is not that of a mature spirit

but is a creation so to speak elaborat ed by th e subcon
, ,

sci ous thoughts of th e m edium or by th e mentality of the

sitters forming the circl e Th e psychic atmosph ere
, .
34
4 YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS

created by the mi nds in th e circle h as in other words , ,

produced the mi nd of the phantom in th e sam e way that

the combined vital ma gnetism of the sitters has produ ced
the material body of the app arition .

HOW MA TERI ALIZ ATIO N IS A CCOMPLISHED

The procem of materialization seems to be somewhat
as fol lows —Th e vita l ener gy bei ng drawn from th e sit
ters into the body of the medium th e latter projects it
,

outward into space togeth er with a large portion of his

,

own vital energy or it is drawn out by the operating

,

intelligences Wh en in space at a short distance from

.
,

the medium s body this vital energy is moul ded so to

'
, ,

say into th e shap e of the materialized form It is built

, .

up or created by the operating intelligences Bet ween .

this form a nd th e medium s physical body th ere exists

’

“ ”
a subtle co nnectio n or rapport which has been de
scribed as a threa d or bo nd of union though it is not a
,

p hysical connection of any kin d or one that has ever b een

detected Y et that su ch a connection exists is p roved
.
,
”
by th e phenom ena of repercussion referred to in ,

Chapter XXXVI where it was shown that any injury

,

done to the proj ected form reacted upo n the body of

th e medium and l eft its mark upo n it just as thou g h th e
,

physica l form had sufl ered the injury T his is one of .

th e most striking ph enom ena in th e who le realm o f

spiritualism and a case of this charact er is thus vividly
,

described by the V en A rchd eacon Coll ey in his ad drem

.

“ ”
on Spiritualism be fore th e Churc h Congress wh i c h
met in O ctober 1 905 and subseq u ently pub lished by him
, ,

in p amphlet form He then said

.
 4
3 6 YOUR PSY CHI C POWERS

natu rally a companion for others of our frequent psychi c

visitors For as a cloud received one out of their sight
.
‘ ’

when th e disciples at Beth any ga zed on their ascendi ng

Lord so as from a cloud th us inexplicably evolved from
, ,

th e medium came our m aterialized friends and vanished

, ,

aga in to invisibil ity in a cloud ( sucked back withi n his

own body ) wh en th ey wer e withdrawn from us wist ,

fully gazing on the myst erious departure and noting

this or that pa rticular phase o f it withi n a few inch es
o f the point of th eir inscru tabl e disapp earance and am
”
ishm ent .

The questi on is o ften asked : H ow is it possibl e for

sp irits to become clo t cd h f— the old qu esti on o f th e
“ ”
cl o thes of ghosts being oft en raised among material
istic sceptics of th e last ce ntury T he same questi on
.

might be raised ag ainst th e cl oth es of materialized fig

ures But there is a ready answ er to th is which ful ly
.

explains it Those who deny and ridicul e the possibility

.

of M am mo th ” of rai ment ( as w ell as bodi es ) mi ght

“
ask themselves the question W hence cam e th e clothing
,

which Christ wore after his resu rrection 1 ”

— for w e a re
’
distinctly told that th e Mast er s raim ent had been parted
“
a mong th e Roman sol di ery and upo n his cloak had th ey
”
cast lots Th is historical inci dent furnishes us with
.

a n i llustra tio n of the case in point and th e r ea lity of

,

this fact is amply hom e out by many modern insta nces

of a like character .

HOW TO BEGI N YOUR DEVELOPM ENT

In sitting for mat erialization th e medi um should sit
,

inside the cabinet , which shoul d not be too l arge so as ,

 M A TERI ALIZA TIO N 4
3 7

to concent rate and focus the energy obta ined fro m th e

circle Th e medium should sit on a cane bottomed chair
.
,

suficiently comf ortable to a fiord perfect relaxatio n wh en

th e tranc e superv enes A t fi rst th e medium should hold

.

th e h ands of th ose in the circl c, bu t after a tim e theae

may he released The light should be almost totally ex
.

t inguish ed for reasons giv en before in this book

, .

It must b e rem emb ered that there are all ma de of

light visibl e and invisibl e We also have infra red rays
, .
-

and ultra viol et rays the former being below the lowest
-
.
-

form of visibl e vibratio n and th e latter above the high ,

est I t is because red is so low in th e scale of vibrati on

.

t hat mediums employ it during the scenes Photo .

graphs may he tak en by infra red and ultra violet light - -

.

Light has a very disintegrating efl ect on these subtle

forms and would doubtless serve to disintegrate many
of th e ma terialized forms upon their initial appea r
ance Th e medium should make his mind as blank as
.

possibl e holding only the central idea of self and men

, ,

tally call upo n his sp irit friends to help i n th e produc

tion of ph enomena .

EARLY SIGNS AND PHEN OMENA

Among the initial sensations which the medium will
experi ence are probably flash es of h eat and cold black
, , ,

ness before th e eyes ( in whi ch possibly there may be

“
specks of light da ncing hither and thither ) and a cob
”
wehby sensation over the hands and face w hi ch is al ,

most invariable and v ery noticeable .

Madame D E sp era nce a materializing medium of in

’
,

terna tional fam e has stated that in her ex perience this

,

cobwebby sensation was present on practically every

 4
3 8 YOUR PSYCHI C POWERS

ocm ion . Speaking of the ph eno m ena and symptoms of

If a few persons have gathered together in a half

darkened room th e e manations from th eir bodies cm
,

—
be seen by many not necessarily clairvoyants It a p .
.

p eers as a slightly luminous haze about th e h ea d shoul ,

d ers and sometimes the knees and feet F requ ently it .

gathers slowly at th e fingers increasing in density till

,

cotton wo ol T his is ofte n perceptible to th e eyes of all

-
.
,

but it ofiers no resistance to th e touch By some force .

of attractio n eith er inherent or exc

, upo n it by som e
outside agency , this mass appears to mingle and draw
toget h er, to become more d ense and at this stage has
been found to b e decidedly perceptibl e to th e touch It .

resembles as n early as can be described the gossamer web ,

”
seen on trees and bushes on a n early summer morning .

“
m ss nsa rxon or c os w sss, AN D WHAT rr MEANS
Many persons in a materialization séance are sensi
ble of a feeling as of cobw ebs being on their faces and
hands I hav e myself not onl y felt the sensation but
.
,

wh en brushing my face or hands hav e distinctly felt

what seemed to be fine filaments of the gom mer wh ic h
clung to my fingers Th e attention of the sitters has
.

been freq uently drawn to this almost impalpabl e sub

stance which has vanished as soon as the light has been
brought near it Th is emanati on from th e sitters in
.

a séance is generally if not always, accompa ni ed by a

,

sensatio n of chill or draft similar to th at felt by a per

,

son in a slig htly fe verish co ndition The head will

.

be hot there wil l be a h eavy throbbing in th e templ es

, .
 CHA PT ER X L I
AD VAN C ED STUD IE S

Tun subject matter and advice contain ed in the p resen t

-

c ha pt er is advanced o nly for those who hav e car e fu lly

read through and p ractised the preceding chapters o f

this book Those who have not done so are strongly
.

advised not to undertak e som e of th e experiments here i n

described unlem th ey hav e carefully carried out the
instructions contained in the earli er chapt ers and pa r ,

ticula rly t he warni ngs h erein given T h ese advanc ed

.

studies are suitable o nly for those students who ha v e

su cc eeded in att ai ning a ce rta in mastery of th e inner
self and wh o hav e developed a certain amou nt of psych i c
,

force or power wh ich is und er th eir own control In a .

certain sense they may he considered more o r less da n

g er o u, s but th ey are no t so to one who has p rogrm ed
su fi i c iently to be in a positio n to fo llow t h em Progrm .

is necessa ry in psychi c developm ent as in every other

fi eld of endeavour and those wh o have gone thus fa r
,

should try to advance th ei r pow ers and faculties yet e u

o th er st ep forward into tha t vast and mystic beyon d
—
which encircl es us on every side not only in th e l ife to
come but here and now .

C U LTIVATING T HE SIX TH SENSE

The first th ing for the student to do is to culti vate as
“ ”
far as possibl e his Sixth Sense already m entioned
,

briefl y in Chapter XI X ( devoted to the Cultivation o f

3 50
 ADV AN C E D S T UD I E S 35 1

Sensitivenem ) This sixth sense is a gene ral feel ing o f

.

“
aw a renm
”
of surrounding powers and entiti es a —
knowledge whi ch is not depen dent on any of the fiv e
senses Some of the p reliminary exercises for cul tivat
.

ing this sense have already been given and w e shall ,

now proceed to giv e a few mo re leading th e stud ent y et

,

furth er alo ng th e path to self real ization and power .

He shoul d first o f a ll begi n with d ee p breathi ng exer -

cises accom panied by c ertai n psychica l processes and

,

practices The process of taking th e com m

.
“
et s breath
”

has alrea dy been dw c ribed in Chapter V I and whil e the ,

student is in th e relaxed conditi o n previously m en

,

tioned h e should concentrate his mind and carry out

,

the following psychic form ula

Breath e rhyt hmi cally un til the rhythm is perfectly os

,

tab lish ed then inhaling and exhaling fo rm th e mental

, , ,

image of th e br eath being drawn up through th e bo nes

of th e legs and then forced out through th em ; then
through th e bo nes of th e arms ; th en th e top of the
skull ; th en through the stomach ; th en through the re
p roductiv e region ; the n as if it w ere travelling up ward
and downward al ong the spinal col umn and th en as if ,

the breath w ere being inhaled and exhaled through

ev ery pore of the skim — th e whole body being filled with
“ ” —
prana ( vital energy or life ) and breathing rhyth
, ,
“ ”
mically send th e curre nt or prana to th e sev en vital
,

centres in turn as follows using the sam e mental pic

, ,

ture as in the previous exercises .

F irst to the very end of the spinal cord ; second to

,

th e reproductive region ; next to the centre of the abdo

men ; next to the sola r plexus ; then to the h ea rt ; then to
352 YOUR PSYCHIC PO W ERS

th e throat ; th en to a spot betw een th e ey es, low dow n

on forehea d ; finally to a spot at the very ta p of t he
th e ,
“ ”
brain Finish by sweeping th e current of p rana to
.

and fro fro m h ead to foot several tim es .

“
no w ro a w am m om m s os 7 vrran c nm ass

T hese seven vital centres in the body are kno w n as

”
chakras and have very great interest and importance
in all hi gher psychic dev elopment and in all occult p rac
tice It is upon th e awakening of th ese Seve n Centres
. ,

in fact that all the higher clairvoyance and psychical

,

faculties depend They are supposed to be th e li nks of

.

co nnection between th e physical and th e astral bodies ,

and if th ey are not awakened in precisely th e right ord e r ,

and in th e ri ght mann er grav e M ea lties may m u lt ;

,

whil e on th e oth er hand if th ey are awaken ed correctly

, , ,

th e stu d ent who has done so is insta ntly gifte d with

extraordinary clairvoyant a nd high er psychical faculties ,

— enabling him not only to see th e past and the future ,

but also all those spiritual bein gs who are constantly

—
around him th e thoughts and em otions of oth ers pic
, ,

tu res of their past li ves etc I n other words much

,
.
,

depends upon th e awak ening of th ese centres ! In East

“ ”
ern Phil osophy they a re symbolized as Lotus F lowers ,
“
and the highest and last in the brain is ca lled th e
”
Thousand and One Peta lled Lotus .

IMPORTAN CE O F AWAK ENING IN THE RI G HT ORDER

Th e V ital E nergy which passes upward through th ese
centres is symbolized as a Fi ery Serpent which in p am ,

ing upw ard, ani m ates eac h in turn, and w akes them into
activity , and it is highly important that this current of
35 4 YOUR PSYCHIC POWE RS

refuge in the Lord whose heart has becom e pu rifie d

"
, ,

with whatsoever desire h e comes to the Lord he will ,

grant tha t to him .

A nother valuabl e practice in connection with breath

“ “
ing is that whi c h is known as inte rnal or sp iri tu al
"
respiration .The idea 18 based upo n th e belief that i n ,

addition to our p hysi cal lungs th ere are also spiritual,

lungs and that just as the physical lungs recei ve energy

,

and are pur ified by th e air w e breathe ao also are th e ,

-

spiritual lungs en ergized and filled by th e power of Spirit ,

when accompanied by suitabl e psychical and ment al

“ ”
processes The pow er of the word o n so often t e
.
,

peat ed in E ast ern Philosophy may b e perc eived faintly

,

by any one pro nouncing the word slowly several tim es ,

in succemion wh en it will be seen that it has a peculiar

,

psychical efl ec t u pon th e individual and that it sets up ,

remarkable rhythmic vibrations throughout th e who l e be

ing which bw om e more and more noticeabl e as th e wo rd

,

is repeat ed This is th e most holy w o rd of the Vedas

"
.

or sacred books of th e E ast and its symbolic m eaning

,
“ ” “
is Th e Suprem e Being T he Ocean o f Knowledg e
,

or Bliss Absolute .

SE EIN G W IT H ANY PABT OF THE BODY

One oth er valuabl e ex erc ise whi c h should be p rac

t ised is that o f seeing o r end eavouri ng to see wi th any
, ,

part of th e body as th o ugh eyes were situated at any

,

po int upo n which you c oncentrate yo ur fo rces and tha t ,

you wer e actually looki ng outward from that point .

This power has been c ultivated to an ext raordi nary ext ent
by som e of th e East ern A depts and is recorded as hap .
 ADVAN CE D STUD IES 35 5

pening spontaneously now and then even now in th e- -

, ,

E ast . The pow er is cultivated by an efiort of attenti o n ,

coupled by will and sho ul d be prec ed ed by the practice

,

n n t —
of travel li g arou d h e body in thought menti oned ,

—
before in this book and then h olding yourself co n
,

sciously on one particula r po int in your circuit of the ,

body , and concentrating yourself on that poi nt .

A t this stage of you r dev el opm ent you may begin to ,

prac tic e an exercise whi ch wou ld be of great benefit ,

not o nly to yoursel f but to oth ers also After you have .

—
fallen alseep a nd th e astral body is th ereby loosen ed
,

from the physical body you sh o uld learn to make use

,

of this astral body during th e hours of sleep and send ,

it on joum eya to hel p those w h o ma y be in need of

this help You may after a certain am o unt of efl ort
.
, ,

thus project the astral body and ca use it to ret ain full
,

self co nsciousness Wh en this has bee n acquired this

-
.

projected body can assist those who hav e recentl y died ,

comfort ing and co nsoling them and can carry messages ,

fro m su ch a perso n to those stil l living It can assist .

those in dan ger and h elp along h um anity in a thousand

,

di ff erent ways Wh en you hav e learned to project yo ur

.

astral body i n this mann er during sl eep you a re kno w n ,

as one of the I nvisibl e H elpers and many perso ns

a re said to make it a b usinem to pe rform at lea st one

g o od acti on ev ery ni ght durin g sl eep , .

T HE DEVELOPMENT O F COSMIC CONSCI OU W

Two remarkabl e psychi cal manifestations wi ll result

from these sp iritual practices, if correctly and carefully
perfo rmed The first is th e enlargem ent of th e Self
.

until it attains a vast a rea so to speak which has been

, ,
”
called Cosmic Consciousness by those who have ex ,
and ma tter is also clea r to them .

Th e seco nd remarkabl e developm ent from the awak

ening of these higher spiritu al faculti es will be th e

greater power you possess over an imate and inani mti te

nature You will find that you exert a peculiar infl u
.

en ce over all anim als with wh om you com e into con

tact and that they not only know and u nderstand you
, ,

but i f th e an imals are wild they wi ll not harm you

, ,

in any way It is stated that many of the Yogis o f

.

I ndia ca n walk uni njured through dense jungles fill ed

with ti gers and ve nomous snakes These facts throw a
.

“
new and int eresti ng light upon the account of D ani e l
”
in the den of li ons Do ubtlem all th e Biblical narra
.

t ives of this ki nd can be rationally accounted for wh en

,

we have acquired sc i ent knowl edge of psy chic and

spiritual science Even th e case of the three m en w h o
.

wer e cast into the fiery furnace and esca ped uni nju red !
Several m ediums have don e the same thing on a small
scal e Sir W illi am Crookes h as reported that h e ha s
.

seen th e medium D D H om e ext ract red hot coals from

. .
-

the fire and hold t hem in h is hands without injury .

Similarly the ma gicians or witch doctors of many of th e

-
 YOUR PSYCHIC POW ERS

o to th e advi ce c ontained therein he wil l be

attenti n ,

enabled to d ev elop h is psy chi c powers to a very great

ext ent and will thereby be fitted to undertake sti ll m ore

,

be taken up very