{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26633/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26633","id":"gutenberg_26633","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26633","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Psychiatry/Psychology","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Clairvoyance","Precognition"],"text":"E-text prepared by Ruth Hart\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustrations.\n      See 26633-h.htm or 26633-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/6/3/26633/26633-h/26633-h.htm)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/6/3/26633/26633-h.zip)\n\n\n\n\n\nSECOND SIGHT\n\nA Study of Natural and Induced Clairvoyance\n\nby\n\nSEPHARIAL\n\nAuthor of \"A Manual of Astrology,\" \"Prognostic Astronomy,\" \"A Manual\nof Occultism,\" \"Kabalistic Astrology,\" \"The Kabala of Numbers,\"\nEtc., Etc.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon\nWilliam Rider & Son, Limited\n1912\n\nRichard Clay & Sons, Limited,\nBrunswick Street, Stamford Street, S.E.,\nand Bungay, Suffolk.\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nIntroduction                                 7\nChapter I.     The Scientific Position      10\nChapter II.    Materials and Conditions     21\nChapter III.   The Faculty of Seership      29\nChapter IV.    Preliminaries and Practice   39\nChapter V.     Kinds of Vision              51\nChapter VI.    Obstacles to Clairvoyance    59\nChapter VII.   Symbolism                    67\nChapter VIII.  Allied Psychic Phases        76\nChapter IX.    Experience and Use           84\nConclusion                                  93\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nFew words will be necessary by way of preface to this book,\nwhich is designed as an introduction to a little understood and\nmuch misrepresented subject.\n\nI have not here written anything which is intended to displace\nthe observations of other authors on this subject, nor will it be\nfound that anything has been said subversive of the conclusions\narrived at by experimentalists who have essayed the study\nof clairvoyant phenomena in a manner that is altogether\ncommendable, and who have sought to place the subject on a\ndemonstrable and scientific basis. I refer to the proceedings of\nthe Society for Psychical Research.\n\nIn the following pages I have endeavoured to indicate the nature\nof the faculty of Second Sight or Clairvoyance, the means of its\ndevelopment, the use of suitable media or agents for this\npurpose, and the kind of results that may be expected to follow\na regulated effort in this direction. I have also sought to show\nthat the development of the psychic faculties may form an\norderly step in the process of human unfoldment and perfectibility.\n\nAs far as the nature and scope of this little work will allow, I\nhave sought to treat the subject on a broad and general basis\nrather than pursue more particular and possibly more attractive\nscientific lines. What I have here said is the result of a personal\nexperience of some years in this and other forms of psychic\ndevelopment and experimentation. My conclusions are given\nfor what they are worth, and I have no wish to persuade my\nreaders to my view of the nature and source of these abnormal\nphenomena. The reader is at liberty to form his own theory in\nregard to them, but such theory should be inclusive of all the\nknown facts. The theories depending on hypnotic suggestion\nmay be dismissed as inadequate. There appear to remain only\nthe inspirational theory of direct revelation and the theory of the\nworld-soul enunciated by the Occultists. I have elected in\nfavour of the latter for reasons which, I think, will be\nconspicuous to those who read these pages.\n\nI should be the last to allow the study of psychism to usurp the\nlegitimate place in life of intellectual and spiritual pursuits, and\nI look with abhorrence upon the flippant use made of the\npsychic faculties by a certain class of pseudo-occultists who\nserve up this kind of thing with their five o'clock tea. But I\nregard an ordered psychism as a most valuable accessory to\nintellectual and spiritual development and as filling a natural\nplace in the process of unfoldment between that intellectualism\nthat is grounded in the senses and that higher intelligence which\nreceives its light from within. From this view-point the\nfollowing pages are written, and will, I trust, prove helpful.\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE SCIENTIFIC POSITION\n\nIt would perhaps be premature to make any definite pronouncement\nas to the scientific position in regard to the psychic phenomenon\nknown as \"scrying,\" and certainly presumptuous on my part\nto cite an authority from among the many who have examined\nthis subject, since all are not agreed upon the nature and\nsource of the observed phenomena. Their names are, moreover,\nalready identified with modern scientific research and theory,\nso that to associate them with experimental psychology would\nbe to lend colour to the idea that modern science has recognized\nthis branch of knowledge. Nothing, perhaps, is further from\nthe fact, and while it cannot in any way be regarded as derogatory\nto the highest scientist to be associated with others, of less\nscientific attainment but of equal integrity, in this comparatively new\nfield of enquiry, it may lead to popular error to institute a connection.\nIt is still fresh in the mind how the Darwinian hypothesis was utterly\nmisconceived by the popular mind, the suggestion that man was descended\nfrom the apes being generally quoted as a correct expression of\nDarwin's theory, whereas he never suggested any such thing,\nbut that man and the apes had a common ancestor, which makes\nof the ape rather a degenerate lemur than a human ancestor.\nOther and more prevalent errors will occur to the reader, these\nbeing due to the use of what is called \"the evidence of the\nsenses\"; and of all criteria the evidence of sensation is perhaps\nthe most faulty. Logical inference from deductive or inductive\nreasoning has often enough been a good monitor to sense-perception,\nand has, moreover, pioneered the man of science to correct\nknowledge on more than one occasion. But as far as we know\nor can learn from the history of human knowledge, our senses\nhave been the chiefest source of error. It is with considerable\ncaution that the scientist employs the evidence from sense\nalone, and in the study of experimental psychology it is the sense\nwhich has first to be corrected, and which, in fact, forms the great\nfactor in the equation. A person informs me that he can see a vision in\nthe crystal ball before him, and although I am in the same relation\nwith the \"field\" as he, I cannot see anything except accountable\nreflections. This fact does not give any room for contradicting him or\nany right to infer that it is all imagination. It is futile to say the\nvision does not exist. If he sees it, it does exist so far as he is\nconcerned. There is no more a universal community of sensation than of\nthought. When I am at work my own thought is more real than any\nimpression received through the sense organs. It is louder than the\nbabel of voices or the strains of instrumental music, and more\nconspicuous than any object upon which the eye may fall. These external\nimpressions are admitted or shut out at will. I then know that\nmy thought is as real as my senses, that the images of thought\nare as perceptible as those exterior to it and in every way as\nobjective and real. The thought-form has this advantage,\nhowever, that it can be given a durable or a temporary existence,\nand can be taken about with me without being liable to impost\nas \"excess luggage.\" In the matter of evidence in psychological\nquestions, therefore, sense perceptions are only second-rate\ncriteria and ought to be received with caution.\n\nAlmost all persons dream, and while dreaming they see and\nhear, touch and taste, without questioning for a moment the\nreality of these experiences. The dreaming person loses sight of\nthe fact that he is in a bedroom of a particular house, that he has\ncertain relations with others sleeping in the same house. He\nloses sight of the fact that his name is, let us say, Henry, and\nthat he is famous for the manufacture of a particular brand of\nsoap or cheese. For him, and as long as it lasts, the dream is the\none reality. Now the question of the philosopher has always\nbeen: which is the true dream, the sleeping dream or the waking\ndream? The fact that the one is continuous of itself while the\nother is not, and that we always fall into a new dream but\nalways wake to the same reality, has given a permanent value to\nthe waking or external life, and an equally fictitious one to the\ninterior or dreaming life. But what if the dream life became\nmore or less permanent to the exclusion of all other memories\nand sensations? We should then get a case of insanity in which\nhallucination would be symptomic. (The dream state is more or\nless permanent with certain poetical temperaments, and if there\nis any insanity attaching to it at all, it consists in the inability\nto react.) Imagination, deep thought and grief are as much\nanaesthetic as chloroform. But the closing of the external\nchannels of sensation is usually the signal for the opening of the\npsychic, and from all the evidence it would seem that the\npsychic sense is more extensive, acuter and in every way more\ndependable than the physical. I never yet have met the man or\nwoman whose impaired eyesight required that he or she should\nuse glasses in order to see while asleep. That they do see is\ncommon experience, and that they see farther, and therefore\nbetter, with the psychic sense than with the physical has been\noften proved. Emanuel Swedenborg saw a fire in Stockholm\nwhen he was resident in England and gave evidence of it before\nthe vision was confirmed by news from Sweden. A lady of my\nacquaintance saw and described a fire taking place at a country\nseat about 150 miles away, the incident being true to the\nminutest details, many of which were exceptional and in a\nsingle instance tragic. The psychic sense is younger than the\nphysical, as the soul is younger than the body, and its faculty\ncontinues unimpaired long after old age and disease have made\nhavoc of the earthly vestment. The soul is younger at a thousand\nyears than the body is at sixty. Let it be admitted upon evidence\nthat there are two sorts of sense perception, the physical and the\npsychical, and that in some persons the latter is as much in\nevidence as the former. We have to enquire then what relations\nthe crystal or other medium has to the development and exercise\nof the clairvoyant faculty. We know comparatively little about\natomic structure in relation to nervous organism. The atomicity\nof certain chemical bodies does not inform us as to why one\nshould be a deadly poison and another perfectly innocuous. We\nregard different bodies as congeries of atoms, but it is a singular\nfact that of two bodies containing exactly the same elements in\nthe same proportions the one is poisonous and the other\nharmless. The only difference between them is the atomic\narrangement.\n\nThe atomic theory refers all bodies to one homogeneous basic\nsubstance, which has been termed protyle (proto-hyle), from\nwhich, by means of a process loosely defined as differentiation,\nall the elements are derived. These elements are the result of\natomic arrangement. The atoms have various vibrations, the\nextent of which is called the mean free path of vibration;\ngreatest in hydrogen and least in the densest element. All matter\nis indestructible, but at the same time convertible, and these\nfacts, together with the absolute association of matter and force,\nlead to the conclusion that every change of matter implies a\nchange of force. Matter, therefore, is ever living and active,\nand there is no such thing as dead matter anywhere. The hylo-idealists\nhave therefore regarded all matter as but the ultimate expression\nof spirit, and primarily of a spiritual origin.\n\nThe somewhat irksome phraseology of Baron Swedenborg has dulled\nmany minds to a sense of his great acumen and philosophical depth, but\nit maybe convenient to summarize his scientific doctrine of\n\"Correspondences\" in this place as it has an important bearing on the\nsubject in hand. He laid down the principle of the spiritual origin of\nforce and matter. Matter, he argued, was the ultimate expression of\nspirit, as form was that of force. Spirit is to force what matter is to\nform--its substratum. Hence for every spiritual force there is a\ncorresponding material form, and thus the material or natural world\ncorresponds at all points to the world of spirit, without being\nidentical. The apparent hiatus between one plane of existence and the\nnext he called a discrete degree, while the community between different\nbodies on the same plane he called a continuous degree. Thus\nthere is community of sensation between bodies of the same\nnature, community of feeling, community of thought, and\ncommunity of desire or aspiration, each on its own plane of\nexistence. But desire is translated into thought, thought into\nfeeling, and feeling into action. The spirit, soul (rational and\nanimal in its higher and lower aspects), and the body appear to\nhave been the principles of the human constitution according to\nthis authority. All spirits enjoy community, as all souls and all\nbodies on their respective planes of existence; but between spirit\nand soul, as between soul and body, there is a discrete degree.\nIn fine, mind is continuous of mind all through the universe, as\nmatter is continuous of matter; while mind and matter are\nseparated and need to be translated into terms of one another.\n\nTaking our position from the scientific statement of the atomic\nstructure of bodies, atomic vibration and molecular arrangement,\nwe may now consider the action exerted by such bodies upon\nthe nervous organism of man.\n\nThe function of the brain, which may be regarded as the\nbulbous root of a plant whose branches grow downwards, is\ntwofold: to affect, and to be affected. In its active and positive\ncondition it affects the whole of the vital and muscular\nprocesses in the body, finding expression in vital action. In its\npassive and negative state it is affected by impressions coming\nto it in different ways through the sense organs, resulting\nin nervous and mental action. These two functions are interdependent.\nIt is the latter or afferent function with which we are now concerned.\nThe range of our sense-perceptions puts us momentarily in relations\nwith the material world, or rather, with a certain portion of it. For\nwe by no means sense all that is sensible, and, as I have already\nindicated, our sense impressions are often delusive. The gamut of our\nsenses is very limited, and also very imperfect both as to extent and\nquality. Science is continually bringing new instruments into our\nservice, some to aid the senses, others to correct them. The\nmicroscope, the microphone, the refracting lens are instances. It used\nto be said with great certainty that you cannot see through a brick\nwall, but by means of X-rays and a fluorescent screen it is now\npossible to do so. I have seen my own heart beating as its image\nwas thrown on the screen by the Rontgen rays. Many insects,\nbirds and animals have keener perceptions in some respects than\nman. Animalculae and microbic life, themselves microscopic,\nhave their own order of sense-organs related to a world of life\nbeyond our ken. These observations serve to emphasise the\ngreat limitation of our senses, and also to enforce the fact that\nNature does not cease to exist where we cease to perceive her.\nThe recognition of this fact has been so thoroughly appreciated\nby thoughtful people as to have opened up the question as to\nwhat these human limitations may mean and to what degree\nthey may extend.\n\nWe know what they mean well enough: the history of human\ndevelopment is the sequel to natural evolution, and this\ndevelopment could never have had place apart from the hunger\nof the mind and the consequent breaking down of sense limitations by\nhuman invention. As to the extent of our limitations it has been\nsuggested that just as there are states of matter so fine as to be\nbeyond the range of vision, so there may be others so coarse as to be\nbelow the sense of touch. We cannot, however, assert anything with\ncertainty, seeing that proof must always require that a thing must\nbe brought within our range of perception before we can admit it as\nfact. The future has many more wonderful revelations in store for us,\nno doubt. But there is really nothing more wonderful than human\nfaculty which discovers these things in Nature, things that have\nalways been in existence but until now have been outside our\nrange of perception. The ultra-solid world may exist.\n\nThe relations of our sense-organs to the various degrees of\nmatter, to solids, fluids, gases, atmosphere and ether, vary in\ndifferent individuals to such a wide extent as to create the\ngreatest diversity of normal faculty. The average wool-sorter\nwill outvie an artist in his perception of colour shades. An odour\nthat is distinctly recognizable by one person will not be\nperceptible to others. In the matter of sound also the same\ndifferences of perception will be noted. On a very still night one\ncan hear the sugar canes growing. Most people find the cry of a\nbat to be beyond their range. The eye cannot discern intervals of\nless than one-fiftieth of a second. Atmospheric vibration does\nnot become sound until a considerable frequency is attained.\nEvery movement we make displaces air but our sense of touch\ndoes not inform us of it, but if we stand in a sunbeam the dust\nparticles will show that it is so. Our sense of feeling will not\nregister above certain degrees of heat or below certain degrees\nof cold. Sensation, moreover, is not indefinitely sustained, as\nanyone may learn who will follow the ticking of a watch for\nfive minutes continuously.\n\nBut quite apart from the sense and range of our perceptions, the\nequality of a sense-impression is found to vary with different\npersons, affecting them each in a different way. We find that\npeople have \"tastes\" in regard to form, colour, flavour, scent,\nsound, fabric and texture. The experience is too general to need\nillustration, but we may gather thence that, in relation to the\nnervous system of man, every material body and state of matter\nhas a variable effect. These remarks will clear the ground for a\nstatement of my views upon the probable effect a crystal may\nhave upon a sensitive person.\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nMATERIALS AND CONDITIONS\n\nThe crystal is a clear pellucid piece of quartz or beryl,\nsometimes oval in shape but more generally spherical. It is\naccredited by Reichenbach and other researchers with highly\nmagnetic qualities, capable of producing in a suitable subject\na state analogous to the ordinary \"waking trance\" of the\nhypnotists. It is believed that all bodies convey, or are the\nvehicles of certain universal property called od or odyle\n(od-hyle), which is not regarded as a force but as an inert and\npassive substance underlying the more active forces familiar to\nus in kinetic, calorific and electrical phenomena. In this respect\nit holds a position analogous to the argon of the atmosphere,\nand is capable of taking up the vibrations of those bodies to\nwhich it is related and which it invests. It would perhaps not be\namiss to regard it as static ether. Of itself it has no active\nproperties, but in its still, well-like depths, it holds the\npotentiality of all magnetic forces.\n\nThis odyle is particularly potent in certain bodies and one of\nthese is the beryl or quartz. It produces and retains more readily\nin the beryl than in most other bodies the images communicated\nto it by the subconscious activity of the seer. It is in the nature\nof a sensitized film which is capable of recording thought forms\nand mental images as the photographic film records objective\nthings. The occultist will probably recognize in it many of the\nproperties of the \"astral light,\" which is often spoken of in this\nconnection. Readers of my _Manual of Occultism_ will already\nbe informed concerning the nature of subconscious activity. The\nmind or soul of man has two aspects: the attentive or waking\nconsciousness, directed to the things of the external world; and\nthe subconscious, which is concerned with the things of the\ninterior world. Each of these spheres of the mind has its\nvoluntary and automatic phases, a fact which is usually lost\nsight of, inasmuch as the automatism of the mind is frequently\nconfounded with the subconscious. All purposive action tends\nto become automatic, whether it be physical or mental, sensory\nor psychic.\n\nThe soul in this connection is to be regarded as the repository of\nall that complex of emotions, thoughts, aspirations, impressions,\nperceptions, feelings, etc., which constitute the inner life of man.\nThe soul is none the less a fact because there are those who\nbandy words about its origin and nature.\n\nReichenbach has shown by a series of experiments upon sensitive and\nhypnotized subjects, that metals and other materials produce very marked\neffects in contact with the human body. The experiments further showed\nthat the same substance affected different patients in diverse manners.\n\nThe hypnotic experiments of the late Dr. Charcot, the well-known\nFrench biologist, also demonstrate the rapport existing between the\nsensitive subject and foreign bodies in proximity. A bottle containing\na poison is taken at random from a number of others of similar appearance\nand is applied to the back of the patient's neck. The hypnotic subject\nat once begins to develop all the symptoms of arsenical, strychnine or\nprussic acid poisoning; it being afterwards found that the bottle\ncontains the toxine whose effects have been portrayed by the subject.\nBut not all hypnotic subjects are capable of the same degree of\nsensibility.\n\nCommunity of sensation is as common a phenomenon as community of\nthought between a hypnotizer and his subject, and what are called\nsympathetic pains are included in common experience. Sensitive persons\nwill simulate all the symptoms of a virulent disease, _e.g._ mock\nmeasles. The phenomena of psychometry reveal the fact of bodies being\nable to retain records and of the human possibility of reviving these\nrecords as sensations and thought images, although there is no direct\ncommunity of sensation between an inanimate object and the\nnervous organism of a sensitive. It need not, therefore, be a\nmatter of surprise that the crystal can exert a very definite and\nsensible effect upon the nervous organism of a certain order of\nsubjects. It does not affect all alike nor act in a uniform\nand constant manner on those whom it does so affect. The\nmodifications of sensibility taking place in the subject or\nsensitive render the action of the agent a variable quantity.\nWhere its action is more or less rapid and remarkable, however,\nthe quartz or beryl crystal may be regarded as the most effective\nagent for producing clairvoyance.\n\nIn other cases the concave mirror, either of polished copper or\nblack japan, will be found serviceable. In certain cases where\nthe faculty is already developed but lying in latency, any\nshining surface will suffice to bring it into activity. Ecstatic\nvision was first induced in Jacob Boehme by the sun's rays\nfalling upon a bowl of water which caught and dazzled his eyes\nwhile he was engaged in the humble task of cobbling a pair of\nshoes. In consequence of this exaltation of the visual sense we\nhave those remarkable works, _The Aurora, The Four Complexions,\nSignatura Rerum_, and many others, with letters and commentaries which,\nin addition to being of a spiritual nature, are also to be regarded\nas scholarly when referred to their source. In Boehme's case, as in\nthat of Swedenborg, whose faculty did not appear until he was\nfifty-four years of age, it would appear that the faculty was\nconstitutional and already developed, waiting only the conditions\nwhich should bring it into active operation.\n\nThe agent most suitable for developing clairvoyance cannot\ntherefore be definitely prescribed. It must remain a matter of\nexperiment with the subject himself. That there are some\npersons in whom the psychic faculties are more prone to\nactivity than in others is certain, and it would appear also that\nthese faculties are native in some by spiritual or hereditary\nsuccession, which fact is evident from their genitures as\ninterpreted by astrology. Many planets in flexed signs and a\nsatellitium in the nadir or lower angle of the horoscope is\na certain indication of extreme nervous sensibility and\npredisposition to telaesthenic impressions, though this\nobservation does not cover all the instances before me. It is true,\nhowever, where it applies. The dominant influence of the planet\nNeptune in a horoscope is also to be regarded as a special\nindication of some form of psychic activity, as I have frequently\nobserved.\n\nIn cases where the subject is not prepared by evolutional\nprocess for the exercise of the psychic faculties, it will be found\nthat the same or similar indications will tend to the simulation\nof such faculties, as by mediumism, conjuring, etc., while they\nmay even result in chicanery and fraud.\n\nBut among those who are gifted in the direction spoken of,\nall are not clairvoyant. The most common form of psychic\ndisturbance is involuntary clairaudience, and telaesthesia is not\nperhaps less general. St. Paul indicates a variety of such\npsychic \"gifts,\" _e.g._ the gifts of prophecy, of healing, of\nunderstanding, etc.; but these may also be regarded in quite a\nmundane sense. The development among the early Christians of\nspiritual gifts, visions, hearing, speaking in foreign tongues,\npsychic healing, etc., appears to have given rise to a variety of\nexceptional experiences by which they were induced to say \"we\ncannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.\" \"One star\ndiffers from another in glory,\" says St. Paul, and this diversity\nof spiritual gifts proceeds from the celestial world, and is so\nordered that each may fulfil the part required of him in the\neconomy of life.\n\nPsychic tradition is as important a fact as is physical heredity.\nThe latter is a factor of immense importance as affecting the\nconstitution and quality of the organism in and through which\nthe soul is required to function. But psychic tradition is that\nwhich determines the power and faculty brought to bear upon\nthe physical organism. Past evolution is not a negligible\nquantity, and its effects are never wasted or lost to the\nindividual. We are what we are by reason of what we have\nalready been, as well individually as racially. \"The future is, the\npast unfolded\" or \"entered upon by a new door,\" as it has been\nwell said. We do not suddenly acquire faculties, we evolve them\nby effort and successive selection. In our upward striving for\nliberty we specialize along certain lines which appear to us to be\nthose offering either the least resistance or the most ready\nmeans of self-preservation, liberty and well-being. Hence some\nevolve a special faculty for money-making and, as schoolboys,\nwill be expert traders of alley-taws, jack-knives, toffee and all\nsorts of kickshaws. Others of another bent or list will traffic in\nknowledge to the abounding satisfaction of their masters and the\njealous pride of their form.\n\nSo that psychic tradition while disposing some to the speedy\nrevelation of an already acquired faculty, disposes others to the\nmore arduous but not less interesting work of acquiring such\nfaculty. And because the spiritual needs of mankind are ever of\nprimary importance, there are always to be found those in\nwhom the power of spiritual interpretation is the dominant\nfaculty, such persons being the natural channels of intercourse\nbetween the superior and inferior worlds. The physical body of\nman is equipped with a corresponding order of microbic life\nwhich acts as an organic interpreter, translating the elements of\nfood into blood, nerve, fibre, tissue and bone agreeably to the\nlaws of their being. What I have to say in this place is addressed\nespecially to those who would aspire to the faculty of clear\nvision and in whom the psychic powers are striving towards\nexpression. Every person whose life is not wholly sunk in\nmaterial and selfish pleasures but in whom the aspiration to a\nhigher and better life is a hunger the world cannot satisfy, has\nwithin himself the power to see and know that which he seeks\nbehind the veil of the senses. Nature has never produced a\ndesire she cannot satisfy. There is no hope, however vague, that\nthe soul cannot define, and no aspiration, however high, that the\nwings of the spirit cannot reach. Therefore be patient and strive.\nTo others I would say: Be content. All birds cannot be eagles.\nThe nightingale has a song and the humming bird a plumage the\neagle can never possess. The nightingale may sing to the stars,\nthe humming bird to the flowers, but the eagle, whose tireless\neyes gaze into the heart of day, is uncompanioned in its lofty\nloneliness amid the mountain tops.\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE FACULTY OF SEERSHIP\n\nUntil quite recently the faculty of seership has been associated\nin occult literature with various magical formulae. There are in\nexistence works by Tristemius, Francis Barrett, Ebenezer Sibley\nand others in which the use of the crystal is made by means of\nmagical invocations and a variety of ceremonial observances. It\nis not within the scope of this treatise to determine the\nvalue of such rites or the desirability of invoking extraneous\nintelligences and powers by the use of magical practices; but I\nthink we may conclude that communion of this order is not\nunattended by grave dangers. When the Israelites were ill-content\nwith the farinaceous manna they invoked Heaven to send them meat. They\ngot what they wanted, but also the dire penalty which it incurred; and\nit is quite likely that in invoking occult forces beyond one's power\nto control great evils may ensue. All action and reaction are equal\nand opposite. A child can pull a trigger but cannot withstand the\nrecoil of a gun, or by moving a lever may set machinery in motion\nwhich it can by no means control. Therefore without strength and\nknowledge of the right sort it is foolish to meddle with occult\nforces; and in the education of the development of the psychic and\nspiritual faculties native in us, it is better to encourage their\nnatural development by legitimate exercise than to invoke the action\nof a stimulus which cannot afterwards be controlled. Water will\nwear away a rock by continual fretting, though nobody doubts\nthat water is softer than a rock, and if the barrier between this\nand the soul-world be like granite, yet the patient and persistent\naction of the determined mind will sooner or later wear it away,\nthe last thin layer will break and the light of another world will\nstream through, dazzling our unaccustomed eyes with its bright\neffulgence.\n\nIt is my object here to indicate by what means and by what\npersons the natural development of the clairvoyant faculty may\nbe achieved. In regard then to the subject, medium or seer, there\nare two distinct temperaments in which the faculty is likely to\nbe dominant and capable of high and rapid development. The\nfirst is the nervous temperament, characterized by extreme\nactivity of body and mind, nervous excitability, dark complexion,\nprominent features, and wiry frame. Types of this temperament are\nto be seen in the descriptions of Dante, Swedenborg, Melancthon,\nEdgar A. Poe and others. This type represents the positive seers.\n\nThe other temperament is of the passive type and is characterized\nby a full lymphatic habit, pale or delicate complexion, blue eyes,\nstraight fine hair, small hands, tapering fingers, cold and fleshy to\nthe touch; usually a thin or high voice and languid manner.\n\nThese two types of seers--of which there are many varieties--\nachieve their development by quite opposite means. The positive\nseer projects the mental images by a psychic process impossible\nof description, but by a certain psychic metabolism by which the\napperceptions of the soul are transformed into mental images of a\npurely symbolical nature. The psychic process of picture-production\nis involuntary and unconscious, but the perception of the\nmental pictures is a perfectly conscious process and involves\nthe exercise of an introspective faculty. The passive seer, on the\ncontrary, is effortless, and receives impressions by reflection, the\nvisions coming imperceptibly and having a literal interpretation.\nThe vision is not in this case of an allegorical or symbolic nature,\nas is the case with the positive seer, but is an actual vision of a\nfact or event which has already happened or as it will transpire in\nthe future. Thus the positive vision consists in the projection of\nthe mind towards the things of the soul-world, while the passive\nvision in the result of a propulsion of the soul-world upon the\npassive sense. Of the two kinds of vision, the passive is the more\nserviceable as being the more perspicuous and literal, but it has\nthe disadvantage of being largely under the control of external\ninfluences and consequently of greater variability than the\npositive vision. It is, indeed, quite the common experience that\nthe passive medium requires \"conditions\" for the proper exercise\nof the faculty and where these are lacking no vision can be\nobtained.\n\nThe positive type of seer exercises an introspective vision,\nsearching inwardly towards the soul-world whence revelation\nproceeds. The passive seer, on the other hand, remains in a static\ncondition, open to impressions coming inwards upon the mind's\neye, but making no conscious effort towards inward searching.\nThose who have experienced both involuntary and voluntary\nvisions will readily appreciate the difference of attitude, which is\ndifficult to convey to others in so many words.\n\nNow the exercise of this faculty does not exist apart from some\ndefinite use, and it may be of advantage to consider what that use\nmay be. Primarily, I should be disposed to regard the mere\nopening up of a channel of communication between the material\nand psychic worlds as adequate reason for the exercise of the\nfaculty. The Gates of Heaven have to be kept open by human\nendeavour and the exercise of the spiritual and psychic faculties,\notherwise a complete lesion and cutting off of our source of\ninspiration would follow. Except we aspire to the higher world\nthat world will come no nearer to us. Action and reaction are\nequal and opposite. It was never said that the door would be\nopened to others than those who knocked. The law of spiritual\ncompensation involves the fact that we receive what we ask for.\nIf we get it otherwise, there is no guarantee of its continuance or\nthat its possession will be a blessing. But if we ask according to\nour needs and strive according to our strength there is no law\nwhich can prevent a commensurate response. The ignorance of\nour asking and the imperfection of our striving will modify the\nnature of the response, but they cannot be negative of results. We\ncan trust nature and there is a spiritual law in the natural world as\nwell as a natural law in the spiritual world, for they are\ninterdependent.\n\nBut even our daily life affords numerous instances wherein the\nuse of the clairvoyant faculty is attended by beneficial results.\nHow many people there are who have been warned in dreams--\nwherein all people are naturally clairvoyant--of some impending\ndanger to themselves or those around them, must have struck any\ncasual reader of the daily press; for during recent years much\ngreater interest has been taken in psychological matters and we\nare continually in hearing of new facts which give us knowledge\nof the power of the soul to foresee danger, and to know what is\ndetermined upon the world for the greater ends of human\nevolution. Some experiences of this nature will no doubt form a\nfit subject for a subsequent chapter. The qualifications which\nshould supplement and sustain the natural aptitude of the seer or\nseeress demand consideration in this place, and the following\nremarks may not be without value in this respect.\n\nMental stability, self-possession and confidence in one's own\nsoul-faculties must be the firm rock on which all revelation\nshould rest. The element of doubt either negatives results or\nopens the door to the ingress of all manner of deceptive\nimpressions.\n\nIntegrity of purpose is imperative. The purer the intention and\nmotive of the seer the more lucid will be the vision accorded. No\nreliable vision can be obtained by one whose nature is not\ninherently truthful.\n\nAny selfish desire dominating the mind, in regard to any thing or\nperson will distort the vision and render it misleading, while a\npersistent self-seeking spirit will effectually shut the door to all\nrevelation whatsoever.\n\nTherefore above all things it is essential for the investigator of\npsychic phenomena to have an unflinching love of truth, to be\nresigned to the will of Heaven, to accept the revelations accorded\nin a spirit of grateful confidence, and to dispel all doubt and\ncontroversy by an appeal to the eyes of one's own immortal soul.\n\nThese are qualifications with which the seer or seeress should be\ninvested, and if with these the quest of the vision is unsuccessful\nafter a period of earnest trial, it must be taken as sufficient\nwarrant that the faculty of clairvoyance is not in the category of\none's individual powers. Haply the same qualifications brought to\nbear on some other psychic faculty will result in a rich recompense.\n\nAs for those triflers who at odd moments sit for the production of\nwhat they call \"phenomena,\" with no other object than the\ngratification of an inquisitive vanity, I would drive them with\nwhips from the field of psychical research. They are people\nwhose presence in this area of serious enquiry does no good\neither to the cause of truth or the service of the race, and this\nloose traffic of sorts in the hope of finding a new sensation would,\nwere it transferred to another sphere of activity, deservedly\nreceive a very ugly name.\n\nThe suggestion that the clairvoyant faculty is latent in all of us\nhas no doubt been responsible for much misunderstanding, and\nnot a little disappointment; but I doubt if it is so far removed\nfrom the truth as that which makes the possession of the faculty a\ncertain sign of a superior degree of evolution. Although the\nfaculty of clear vision brings us into more intimate conscious\nrelations with a new order of existence, where the past and future,\nthe distant and the near, would seem to be brought into\nimmediate perception, it does not therefore confer upon us a\nhigher degree of spirituality. It may undoubtedly offer us a\ntruer perspective than that we may derive from the ordinary\ncircumstance of our lives, and may suggest good grounds for a\nmore comprehensive ethical system, but it cannot compel one to\ndo the right thing or to lead the virtuous life. Clairvoyance,\nindeed, is a faculty which has no direct moral relations. It is no\nmore the gift or property of the wise or the good man than\nextraordinary muscular power is an adjunct of high intelligence.\nAnd yet it is a curious fact that in all the sacred writings of the\nworld there is a suggestion that holy men, or \"Men of God,\" have\nthis and other transcendent faculties, such as clairaudience\nand the power of healing. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures\nclairaudience seems to constitute the peculiar authority of the\nteacher or prophet. Thus we have expressions such as: \"The\nWord of the Lord came to me saying,\" etc., and \"I heard a voice\nwhich said,\" etc., which is sometimes but not always associated\nwith direct vision. But because holy men of old were distinguished\nby this power of direct vision it is not to be supposed that all who\nhave it are equally sanctified. By natural gift or by such means we\nare here discussing, the faculty may be brought into active function,\nbut we should not lose sight of the fact that the attainment of\nrighteousness implies that \"all these things shall be added unto you.\"\n\nI think it right, therefore, to regard the quest of clairvoyance as a\nlegitimate occupation, providing that it is purposeful and carried\nout with a right spirit, while not being allowed to interfere with\nthe proper performance of one's ordinary duties in life. For it is\npossible to become over-zealous and even morbid over these\nmysteries of human life, and to become so obsessed by the idea\nof their importance as practically to render oneself unfitted for\nany ordinary pursuits, thereby producing an isolation that is in the\nbest sense unprofitable. Moreover, there are mental dangers as\nwell as spiritual and social to be feared, and it is unfortunately\nnot uncommon to observe that neuraesthenia, nervous corrosion,\nand even insanity attends upon the tireless efforts of the\nenthusiast in this direction.\n\nIf we regard clairvoyance as a normal faculty we are more likely\nto treat it normally than if we give it a paramount and exceptional\nvalue and seek to beatify those in whom it appears. I am\nconvinced from experience that it is both normal and educable\nthough not usually active in the large majority of people. I am\nalso of the opinion that it is not peculiar, except in its higher\nfunctions, to human beings. I have known animals to possess this\nfaculty; in a higher degree I have seen humans in the exercise of\nit. Perhaps even the archangels are yet seeking their vision of\nGod.\n\nBut to us as normal beings clairvoyance should appear a\npotentially normal faculty, to be studied and pursued by methods\nthat are efficient while yet harmless; and this is the purport of the\npresent treatise. I will therefore ask the reader to follow me in\nthese pages with a mind divested of all disposition to the\nsupernatural.\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nPRELIMINARIES AND PRACTICE\n\nThe first consideration by those who would develop clairvoyance\nby artificial aids is the choice of a suitable agent. It has been the\npractice for many years to substitute the original beryl or \"rock\ncrystal\" by a glass ball. I admit that many specimens I have seen\nare very creditable productions, but they are nevertheless quite\nworthless from the point of view of those who consider material\nagents to be important factors in the production of clairvoyance.\nThe glass ball may, however, very well serve the preliminary\nessential of concentration, and, if the faculty of clairvoyance is at\nall active, will be entirely effective as an agent.\n\nThose who have any experience at all in this matter will allow\nthat the rock crystal exerts an influence of an entirely different\nnature to that observable in the use of glass. Indeed, so far as\nexperiment serves us, it may be said that glass only produces\nnegative results and never at any time induced clairvoyance. If\nthis state followed upon the use of a glass ball I am sure that the\npatient must have been naturally clairvoyant, in which case a\nbowl of water, a spot upon a wall, a piece of polished brass or\ncopper, or a spot of ink would have been equally efficacious in\ninducing the degree of hypnosis required. That glass spheres are\nequally efficient as those of crystal is true only in two cases,\nnamely, when clairvoyance is natural, in which case neither need\nbe used; and when no results are observable after due experiment,\nfrom which we may conclude either that the agent is unsuitable\nor that the faculty is entirely submerged in that individual.\n\nIn hypnotic clairvoyance the glass ball will be found as useful a\n\"field\" as the best rock crystal. Yet it does not follow that because\nthe crystal is highly odylic and glass altogether negative the\nformer will induce clairvoyance. My own first experience with\nthe crystal was entirely disappointing, while very striking results\nfollowed immediately upon the use of a black concave mirror.\n\nThe mirror is usually circular in shape and about one-quarter-inch\ncurve to a six-inch diameter. This gives a long focus, so that the\nmirror may be hung upon a wall at about two yards distance from\nthe subject. A greater degree of concavity proportionate to the\ndiameter will produce a focus which allows the mirror to be held\nin the hand while resting in the lap.\n\nThis disposes to a very easy and passive attitude and helps\ntowards results. The base of the mirror may be of tin, wood or\nother material, and it is usually filled with a composition of a\nbituminous nature, the glass covering being painted with a\npreparation of coal-tar on its nether or convex side. The exact\nfocus and consequent size of the mirror employed as most\nsuitable to the individual is a matter of experiment. It is also to be\nobserved that the distance of the mirror, as also the angle of\nvision, are matters of experiment. Beyond a certain distance it\nwill be found that the mirror has no \"draw\" on the subject. If\nbrought closer its pull is immediately felt.\n\nIt is perhaps too early to theorize upon the _modus operandi_ of\nthe \"magic mirror,\" as it has been called. It appears to induce\nhypnosis and consequent elevation of nervous activity by\nrefracting and throwing back the rays of magnetic energy which\nemanate from the subject.\n\n[Illustration of magic mirror]\n\nIn the foregoing illustration let A-B be the mirror with F for its\nfocus. Let the subject be stationed at S. Then the rays directed\ntowards the surface of the mirror will be represented by RR-RR.\nThese rays impinge upon a diamagnetic surface which is concave.\nThe rays are therefore bent inwards and thrown back upon the\nperson at S in the form of a cone of energy which has the effect\nof producing auto-hypnosis. There are other forms of agency,\nsuch as the zinc disc with the copper centre as used by Braid to\ninduce the hypnotic sleep, but these appear to depend upon tiring\nthe optic nerves and thus, through their action upon the thalami to\nproduce temporary inhibition of the whole basilar tract of the\nbrain.\n\nThe mesmerist who throws streams of energy upon the patient\nwould appear to be working on the same principle as that by\nwhich the person using the concave mirror induces self-hypnosis.\nPossibly the latter method may be found to be conducive to the\nphenomena arising from auto-suggestion, while the conditions\ninduced by the action of the hypnotist may be less liable to the\neffects of auto-suggestion and more responsive to hypnotic\nsuggestion, _i.e._ the mental action of the hypnotist.\n\nThese, however, are considerations which need not trouble us\novermuch, since by whatever agent the subject is made clairvoyant,\nthe results are equally curious and informing. Auto-suggestion,\nat least, can hardly be regarded in the category of objections,\nsince we cannot auto-suggest that which does not first of\nall arise as an image in the mind. It is in the spontaneous and\nautomatic production of auto-suggested impressions that the\nphenomena of clairvoyance very largely consist; only we have to\nremember that the suggesting self is a more considerable quantity\nthan the personality to which these suggestions are made, and is\nin touch with a world immeasurably greater and in every sense\nless limited than that to which the person is externally related.\nLooked at from whatever point of view we may choose, the\nphenomena of clairvoyance cannot be adequately explained\nwithout recourse to psychology on the one hand and occultism on\nthe other. Psychology is needed in order to explain the nature and\nfaculty of the human soul, and occultism to define for us the\nnature of that universal mirror in which the whole category of\nhuman events, both past and future, are reflected. Having decided\nupon a course of experiments with a crystal or mirror, the best of\nthe kind should be obtained. A black velvet covering should be\nmade in which to envelop the crystal when not in use. Mirrors are\nusually made with a suitable lid or covering. Care should be\ntaken not to scratch the surface, and all cleaning should be done\nwith a dry silk handkerchief kept for the purpose. Exposure to the\nsun's rays not only scores the surface of a crystal or mirror, but\nalso puts the odylic substance into activity, distributing and\ndissipating the magnetic power stored up therein.\n\nAnd now a word or two about the disposition and attitude of the\nsubject. The visions do not occur in the crystal itself. They may\nappear to do so, but this is due, when it occurs, to the projection\nand visualization of the mental images. The visions are in the\nmind or soul of the seer and nowhere else. It is a matter of\nconstitutional psychism as to where the sense of clear vision will\nbe located. Personally I find the sense to be located in the frontal\ncoronal region of the brain about 150 to the right of the normal\naxis of vision, which may be regarded as the meridian of sight.\nOther instances are before me in which the sense is variously\nlocated in the back of the head, the nape of the neck, the pit of the\nstomach, the summit of the head, above and between the eyes,\nand in one case near the right shoulder but beyond the periphery\nof the body. The explanation appears to be that the nervo-vital\nemanations from the body of the seer act upon the static odyle in\nthe agent, which in turn reacts upon the brain centres by means of\nthe optic nerves. And this appears to be sufficient reason why the\ncrystal or mirror should be kept as free as possible from\ndisturbing elements. Water is extremely odylic and should never\ncome in contact with the agent employed as it effectually carries\noff all latent or stored imports. I am forced to use a crude\nterminology in order to convey the idea in my mind, but I\nrecognize that the whole explanation may appear vague and\ninadequate. It is of course at all times easier to observe effects\nthan to offer a clear explanation of them. Yet some sort of\nworking hypothesis is constructed when we collate our observations,\nand it is this that I have sought to communicate.\n\nFor similar reasons, when in use the crystal or mirror should be\nshaded and so placed that no direct rays from sun or artificial\nlight may fall upon it. The odyle, as Reichenbach so conclusively\nproved by his experiments, rapidly responds to surrounding\nmagnetic conditions and to the vibrations of surrounding bodies,\nand to none more rapidly than the etheric vibrations caused by\ncombustion or light of any kind. There should be no direct rays of\nlight between the agent and the seer.\n\nThe room in which the sitting takes place should be moderately\nwarm, shady, and lit by a diffused light, such as may be obtained\nby a light holland blind or casement cloth, in the daytime. The\nsubject should sit with his back to the source of light, and the\nillumination will be adequate if ordinary print can be read by it.\n\nIt is important that all persons sitting in the same room with the\nseer should be at least at arm's length from him.\n\nSilence should be uniformly observed by those present, until the\nvision is attained.\n\nIt will then be found convenient to have two persons present to\nact as Interrogator and Recorder respectively.\n\nThe Interrogator should be the only person whose voice is heard,\nand it should be reduced to a soft but distinct monotone. The\nRecorder will be occupied in setting down in writing all questions\nasked by the Interrogator and the exact answers made by the\nseer. These should be dated and signed by those present when\ncompleted. It is perhaps hardly necessary to remark that\nprecautions should be taken to prevent sudden intrusions, and as\nfar as possible to secure general quiet without.\n\nI may here interject an observation which appears to me\nsuggestive and may prove valuable. It has been observed that the\ninhabitants of basaltic localities are more generally natural\nclairvoyants than others. Basalt is an igneous rock composed\nlargely of augite and felspar, which are silicate crystals of\ncalcium, potassium, alumina, etc., of which the Moonstone is a\nvariety. The connecting link is that clairvoyance is found to be\nunusually active during and by means of moonlight. What\npsycho-physical effect either basalt or moonlight has upon the\nnervous system of impressible subjects appears to be somewhat\nobscure, but there is little difference between calcium light and\nmoonlight, except that the latter is moderated by the greater\natmosphere through which it comes to us. It is only when we\ncome to know the psychological values of various chemical\nbodies that we can hope for a solution of many strange phenomena\nconnected with the clairvoyant faculty. I recollect that the\nseeress of Prevorst experienced positive pain from the near\npresence of water during her abnormal phases. Reichenbach\nfound certain psycho-pathological conditions to be excited by\nvarious metals and foreign bodies when brought into contact with\nthe sensitive. These observations are extremely useful if only in\nproducing an awareness of possible reasons for such disturbance\nas may occur in the conditions already cited.\n\nAt the outset the sittings should not last longer than at most\nhalf-an-hour, but it is important that they should be regular,\nboth as to time and place. We are already informed from a number of\nobservations that every action tends to repeat itself under similar\nconditions. Habits of life and mind are thus formed so that in\ntime they become quite involuntary and automatic. A cumulative\neffect is obtained by attention to this matter of periodicity, while\nthe use of the same place for the same purpose tends to dispose\nthe mind to the performance of particular functions. In striving\nfor psychic development of any sort we shall do well not to\ndisregard these facts. For since all actions tend to repeat\nthemselves and to become automatic, to pass from the domain of\nthe purposive into the habitual, the psychic faculties will\nsimilarly, if actuated at any set time and place, tend to bestir\nthemselves to the same effects as those to which they were first\nmoved by the conscious will and intention of the seer. Until the\nclairvoyant faculty is fully assured and satisfactory results\nobtained without any inconvenience to the seer, not more than\ntwo persons should be present at the sittings. These should be in\nclose sympathy with the seer and with each other.\n\nWhen the sitting is over it will be found useful to repair to\nanother place and fully discuss the results obtained, the\nimpressions and feelings of the seer during the seance, and\nmatters which appear to have a bearing on the facts observed.\n\nA person should not be disheartened if at the first few sittings\nnothing of any moment takes place, but should persevere with\npatience and self-control. Indeed, if we consider the fact that for\nhundreds of generations the psychic faculties latent in man have\nlain in absolute neglect, that perhaps the faculty of clear vision\nhas not been brought into activity by any of our ancestors since\nremote ages, it should not be thought remarkable that so few find\nthe faculty in them to be practically dormant. It should rather be a\nmatter of surprise that the faculty is still with us, that it is not\nwholly irresponsive to the behests of the soul. While in the course\nof physical evolution many important functions have undergone\nremarkable changes, and organs, once active and useful, have\nbecome stunted, impotent, and in some cases extinct, yet on the\nother hand we see that seeds which have lain dormant in arid soil\nfor hundreds of years can spring into leaf and flower under the\ninfluence of a suitable climate.\n\nThe vermiform appendix, so necessary to the bone eaters of a\ncarnivorous age, has no part in the physical economy of a later\nand more highly-evolved generation. The pineal gland and the\npituitary body are adjuncts of the brain whose functions have\nlong been in latency. The _Anastatica hierochuntica_, commonly\ncalled the Rose of Jericho, is a wonderful example of functional\nlatency. The plant will remain for ages rolled up like a ball of\nsun-dried heather, but if placed in water it will immediately open\nout and spread forth its nest of mossy green fronds, the transition\nfrom seeming death to life taking place in a few minutes. The\nhygrometric properties of the plant are certainly exceptional.\nThey illustrate the responsiveness of certain natures to a\nparticular order of stimulus, and in a sense they illustrate the\nfunctions of the human soul. The faculty of direct vision is like\nthe latent life of the vegetable world. It waits only the conditions\nwhich favour its activity and development, and though for\ngenerations it may have lain dormant, yet in a few days or weeks\nit may attain the proportions of a beautiful flower, a thing of\nwonder and delight, gracing the Garden of the Soul.\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nKINDS OF VISION\n\nThere are two kinds of vision, and each of these may be\nperceived in two different ways. The two sorts of vision are\ncalled the Direct Vision and the Symbolic Vision.\n\nThe first of these is an exact representation of some scene or\nincident which has taken place in the past or will subsequently be\nexperienced in the future. It may have relation to the experience\nof the seer, or of those who are present at the sitting, or yet may\nhave a general or public application.\n\nThe second order of vision is a representation by ideograph,\nsymbol or other indirect means, of events similar to those\nconveyed by direct vision. The visions of Ezekiel and John of\nPatmos are of the symbolic order, and although to the seers\nthemselves there probably was a very clear apperception of their\nimport, yet for others they require interpretation. In most cases it\nwill be found that the nature of the vision has relation to that\nsphere of life and interest in which the seer or those for whom he\nis serving are concerned. But this is not always the case, for there\nare some peculiarly sensitive seers whose visions have a wider\nrange and a more general application. In the first case it would\nseem that the impressions latent in the individual sphere of\nsubconscious activity are brought into evidence, and in the other\ncase the seer comes into relations with the world-soul or\nearth-sphere, so that political, social and cosmic events\nare brought out of latency into conscious perception. In most\ncases it will be found that answers to questions are conveyed\nby symbols, though this is not an invariable rule, as will\nappear from the following remarks.\n\nThe vision, when it occurs, may be conveyed in one of two ways:\nfirst, as a vivid picture affecting the focus and retina of the eye,\nperfect in its outline and colouring, and giving the sense of\nnearness or distance; secondly, as a vivid mental impression\naccompanied by a hazy or dim formation in the \"field\" of vision.\nIn this latter form it becomes an apperception rather than a\nperception, the mind receiving the impression of the vision to be\nconveyed before it has had time to form and define itself in the\nfield.\n\nAs already intimated, there appears to be a connection between\nthe temperamental peculiarities of the two classes of clairvoyants\nand the kind of vision developed in them. Thus the direct\nvision is more generally found in association with the passive\ntemperament. The direct vision is neither so regular nor so\nconstant as the symbolic vision owing to the peculiarities of the\nnegative or passive subject. When it does develop, however, the\ndirect vision is both lucid and actual, and has literal fulfilment in\nthe world of experience and fact. It is an actual representation of\nwhat has actually happened or will have place in the future, or yet\nmay be presently happening at some place more or less distant.\n\nThe symbolic vision, on the other hand, is more generally\ndeveloped in the positive or active type of seer. It has the\nadvantage of being more regular and constant in its occurrence\nthan the direct vision, while at the same time being open to the\nobjection that it is frequently misinterpreted. Nothing shows this\nbetter perhaps than the various interpretations which have been\nmade of the Apocalypse.\n\nThe positive temperament appears to throw off the mental images\nas speedily as they are developed in the subconscious area, and\ngoes out to meet them in a mood of speculative enquiry. But the\npassive temperament most frequently feels first and sees\nafterwards, the visionary process being entirely devoid of\nspeculation and mental activity. In a word, the distinction\nbetween them is that the one sees and thinks while the other feels\nand sees.\n\nThe manner in which the visions appear to develop in the field\nrequires some description, and for reasons which will presently\nappear it is essential that the earliest experiments should be made\nin the light of a duly informed expectancy.\n\nAt first the crystal or mirror will appear to be overclouded by a\ndull, smoky vapour which presently condenses into milky clouds\namong which are seen innumerable little gold specks of light,\ndancing in all directions, like gold-dust in a sunlit air. The focus\nof the eye at this stage is inconstant, the pupil rapidly expanding\nand contracting, while the crystal or mirror alternately disappears\nin a haze and reappears again. Then suddenly the haze disappears\nand the crystal looms up into full view, accompanied by a\ncomplete lapse of the seer into full consciousness of his\nsurroundings.\n\nThis may be the only experience during the first few sittings. It\nmay be that of many. But if it occurs it is an entirely satisfactory\nand hopeful symptom. For sooner or later, according to the\ndegree of susceptibility or responsiveness in the subject, there\nwill come a moment when the milky-looking clouds and dancing\nstarlights will suddenly vanish and a bright azure expanse like an\nopen summer sky will fill the field of vision. The brain will now\nbe felt to palpitate spasmodically, as if opening and closing again\nin the coronal region; there will be a tightening of the scalp about\nthe base of brain, as if the floor of the cerebrum were contracting;\nthe seer will catch his breath with a spasmodic sigh and the first\nvision will stand out clear and life-like against the azure screen of\nspace.\n\nNow the danger at this supreme moment is that the seer will be\nsurprised into full waking consciousness. During the process of\nabstraction which precedes every vision or series of visions, the\nconsciousness of the seer is gradually but imperceptibly\nwithdrawn from physical surroundings. He forgets that he is\nseated in a particular place or room, that he is in the company of\nanother or others. He forgets that he is gazing into a crystal or\nmirror. He knows nothing, sees nothing, hears nothing, save that\nwhich is being enacted before the senses of his soul. He loses\nsight for the time even of his own identity and becomes as it were\nmerged in the vision itself.\n\nWhen, therefore, his attention is suddenly arrested by an\napparition, startling in its reality and instantaneous production,\nthe reaction is likely to be both rapid and violent, so that the seer\nis frequently carried back into full waking consciousness. When,\nhowever, the mind is previously instructed and warned of this\nstage of the process, a steady and self-possessed attitude is\nensured and a subconscious feeling of expectancy manifests at\nthe critical moment. I have known so many cases of people being\nsurprised out of clairvoyance and so to have lost what has often\nbeen an isolated experience, that this treatise will be wholly\njustified if by the inclusion of this warning the novice comes\nsuccessfully through his first experience of second sight.\n\nWe come now to the point where it becomes necessary to consider\nother important reactions which the development of any psychic\nsense involves. To some favoured few these supernormal faculties\nappear to be given without any cost to themselves. Perhaps they\nare direct evolutional products, possibly psychic inheritances;\nbut to such as have them no price is asked or penalty imposed.\n\nOthers there are who are impelled by their own evolutional\nprocess to seek the development in themselves of these psychic\npowers; and to these a word of warning seems necessary, so that\nat the risk of appearing didactic I must essay the task. To some it\nmay seem unwelcome, to others redundant and supererogatory.\nBut we are dealing with a new stage in evolutional progress--the\nwaking up of new forces in ourselves and the prospective use of a\nnew set of faculties. It is of course open to anybody to\nexperiment blindly, and none will seek to deter them save those\nwho have some knowledge of the attendant dangers, and which\nknowledge alone can help us to avoid. I should consider the man\nmore fool than hero who, in entire ignorance of mechanics and\naeronautics, stepped on board an aeroplane and started the\nengines running. Even the most skilful in any new field of\nexperiment or research consciously faces certain but unknown\ndangers. The victims of the aeroplane--brave pioneers of human\nenterprise and endeavour that they were--fell by lack of\nknowledge. By lack of knowledge also have the humane efforts\nof many physicians been cut short at the outset of what might\nhave been a successful career. It was this very lack of knowledge\nthey knew to be the greatest of all dangers, and it was this they\nhad set out to remedy.\n\nIt is not less dangerous when we begin to pursue a course of\npsychic development. The ordinary functions of the mind are\nwell within our knowledge and control. There is always the will\nby which we may police the territory under our jurisdiction and\ngovernment. It is another matter when we seek to govern a\nterritory whose peculiar features and native laws and customs are\nentirely unknown to us. It is obvious that here the will-power, if\ndirected at all, is as likely to be effectual for evil as for good.\nThe psychic faculties may indeed be opened up and the unknown\nregion explored, but at fatal cost, it may be, to all that constitutes\nnormal sanity and physical well-being; in which case one may\nsay with Hamlet it be better to \"bear those ills we have, than fly\nto others that we know not of.\"\n\nSome of the conditions imposed upon those who, not being\nnaturally gifted in this direction, would wish to experiment in\nclairvoyant development, may conveniently be stated and\nexamined in another chapter.\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nOBSTACLES TO CLAIRVOYANCE\n\nVarious impediments stand in the way of inducing second sight,\nand certain others may be expected to arise in connection with\nthe faculty when induced. Putting aside the greatest of all\nobstacles, that of constitutional unfitness, as having already been\ndiscussed in the preceding pages, the first obstacle to be\nencountered is that of ill health. It can hardly be expected that\nnew areas can be opened up in the mind without considerable\nchange and adjustment taking place by reflection in the physical\neconomy. The reaction is likely to be attended by physical\ndistress. But Nature is adaptable and soon accommodates herself\nto changed conditions, so that any results directly attributable to\nthe development of the psychic centres of activity is not likely to\nbe more than transient, providing that due regard has been given\nto the normal requirements of health.\n\nThe importance of a moderate and nourishing diet cannot be too\nstrongly urged upon those who seek for psychic development. All\noverloading of the stomach with indigestible food and addiction\nto alcoholic drinks tend to cloud the higher faculties. The brain\ncentres are thereby depleted, the heart suffers strain, and the\nequilibrium of the whole system is disturbed. Ill health follows,\nthe mind is centred upon the suffering body, spiritual aspiration\nceases, and the neglected soul folds its wings and falls into the\nsleep of oblivion.\n\nBut, on the other hand, one must not suppose that the adoption of\na fruit and cereal diet will of itself induce to the development\nof the psychic powers. It will aid by removing the chief\nimpediments of congestion and disease. Many good people who\nadopt this dietetic reform have a tendency to scratch one another's\nshoulder blades and expect to find their wings already sprouting.\nIf it were as easy as this the complacent cow would be high up in\nthe scale of spiritual aspirants.\n\nThe consciousness of man works from a centre which co-ordinates\nand includes the phenomena of thought, feeling, and volition.\nThis centre is capable of rapid displacement, alternating\nbetween the most external of physical functions and the most\ninternal of spiritual operations. It cannot be active in all parts of\nour complex constitutions at one and the same moment. When\none part of our nature is active another is dormant, as is seen in\nthe waking and sleeping stages, the dream-life being in the\nmiddle ground between the psychic and physical. It will therefore\nbe obvious that a condition in which the consciousness is held in\nbondage by the infirmities of the body is not one likely to be\nconducive to psychic development. For this reason alone many\naspirants have been turned back from initiation. The constitution\nneed not be robust, but it should at all events be free from\ndisorder and pain. Some of the most ethereal and spiritual natures\nare found in association with a delicate organism. So long as the\nbalance is maintained the soul is free to develop its latent powers.\nA certain delicacy of organization, together with a tendency to\nhyperaesthesia, is most frequently noted in the passive or direct\nseer; but a more robust and forceful constitution may well be\nallied to the positive type of seership.\n\nAs a chronic state of physical congestion is altogether adverse to\nthe development of the second sight or any other psychic faculty,\nso the temporary congestion following naturally upon a meal\nindicates that it is not advisable to sit for psychic exercise\nimmediately after eating. Neither should a seance be begun when\nfood is due, for the automatism of the body will naturally demand\nsatisfaction at times when food is usually taken and the\npreliminary processes of digestion will be active. The best time is\nbetween meals and especially between tea and supper, or an hour\nafter the last meal of the day, supposing it to be of a light nature.\nThe body should be at rest, and duly fortified, and the mind\nshould be contented and tranquil.\n\nThe attitude of the would-be seer should not be too expectant or\nover-anxious about results. All will come in good time, and the\nmore speedily if the conditions are carefully observed. It is\nuseless to force the young plant in its growth. Take time, as\nNature does. It is a great work and much patience may be needed.\nNature is never in a hurry, and therefore she brings everything to\nperfection. The acorn becomes the sturdy oak only because\nNature is content with small results, because she has the virtue of\nendurance. She is patient and careful in her beginnings, she\nnurses the young life with infinite care, and her works are\nwonderfully great and complete in their issues. Moreover, they\nendure. Whoever breathes slowest lives the longest.\n\nThis statement opens up a very important matter connected with\nall psychic phenomena, and one that deserves more than casual\nnotice. It has been long known to the people of the East that there\nis an intimate connection between brain and lung action, and\nmodern experiment has shown by means of the spirometer that\nthe systole and diastole motion of the hemispheres of the brain\ncoincide exactly with the respiration of the lungs. The brain\nas the organ of the mind registers every emotion with unerring\nprecision. But so also do the lungs, as a few common observations\nwill prove. Thus if a person is in deep thought the breathing\nwill be found to be long and regular, but if the mind is\nagitated the breathing will be short and stertorous, while if fear\naffects the mind the breathing is momentarily suspended. A\nperson never breathes from the base of the lung unless his mind\nis engrossed. Hard exercise demands deep breathing and is\ntherefore helpful in producing good mental reactions. It is said\nthat the great preacher De Witt Talmage used to shovel gravel\nfrom one side of his cellar to the other as a preliminary to his fine\nelocutional efforts. It is this obvious connection between\nrespiration and mental processes which is at the base of the\nsystem of psycho-physical culture known as _Hatha Yoga_ in\ndistinction from _Raj Yoga_, which is concerned solely with\nmental and spiritual development. The two systems, which have\nof late years found frequent exposition in the New Thought\nschool, are to be found in Patanjali's _Yoga sutra_. Some\nreference to the synchronous action of lung and brain will also be\nfound in Dr. Tafel's translation and exposition of Swedenborg's\nluminous work on _The Brain_. In this work the Swedish seer\nfrankly refers his illumination regarding the functions of the brain\nto his faculty of introspective vision or second sight, and it is of\ninterest to observe that all the more important discoveries in this\ndepartment of physiology during the last two centuries are clearly\nanticipated by him. The scientific works of this great thinker are\nfar too little known by the majority, who are apt to regard him\nonly as a visionary and a religious teacher.\n\n_Ad rem_. The vision is produced. The faculty of clairvoyance is\nan established fact of experience and has become more or less\nunder the control of the mind. There will yet remain one or two\ndifficulties connected with the visions. One is that of time\nmeasure, and another that of interpretation. The former is\ncommon to both orders of vision, the direct and the symbolic.\nThe difficulty of interpretation is, of course, peculiar to the latter\norder of vision.\n\nThe sensing of time is perhaps the greatest difficulty encountered\nby the seer, and this factor is often the one that vitiates an\notherwise perfect revelation. I have known cartomantes and\ndiviners of all sorts to express their doubt as to the possibility of a\ncorrect measure of time. Yet it is a question that follows naturally\nupon a clear prediction--When?\n\nIt is sometimes impossible to determine whether a vision relates\nto the past, the present, or the future. In most cases, however, the\nseer has an intuitive sense of the time-relations of a vision which\nis borne in upon him with the vision itself. It will generally be\nobserved that in ordinary mental operations the time sense is\nsubject to localization, and a distinct throw of the mind will be\nexperienced when speaking of the past and the future. Personally\nI find the past to be located on my left and the future on my right\nhand, but others inform me that the habit of mind, places the past\nbehind and the future in front of them, while others again have\nthe past beneath their feet and the future over their heads. It is\nobviously a habit of mind, and this usually inheres in the\nvisionary state so that a sense of time is found to attach to all\nvisions, though it cannot be relied upon to register on every\noccasion. But also it is frequently found that there is an automatic\nallocation of the visions, those that are near of fulfilment being in\nthe foreground of the field, the approximate in the middle ground,\nand the distant in the background; position answering to time\ninterval. In such case the vision has a certain definition or focus\naccording to the degree of its proximity. These points are,\nhowever, best decided by empiricism, and rarely does it happen\nthat the intuitive sense of the seer is at fault when allowed to have\nplay.\n\nThe other difficulty to which I have referred, that of interpretation\nof symbols when forming the substance of the vision, may\nbe dealt with somewhat more fully. Symbolism is a universal\nlanguage and revelation most frequently is conveyed by means\nof it. As a preliminary to the study of symbolism the student\nshould read Swedenborg's _Hieroglyphical Key to Natural and\nSpiritual Mysteries_, one of the earliest of his works and\nin a great measure the foundation of his thought and teaching.\nThe Golden Book of Hermes containing the twenty-two Tarots is\nopen to a universal interpretation as may be seen from the works\nof the Kabalists, and in regard to their individual application may\nbe regarded in a fourfold light, having reference to the spiritual,\nrational, psychic and physical planes of existence. It is by means\nof symbols that the spiritual intelligences signal themselves to\nour minds, and the most exalted vision is, as an expression of\nintelligence, only intelligible by reason of its symbolism.\nSomething more may be said in regard to the interpretation of\nsymbols which may possibly be of use to those who have made\nno special study of the subject, and this may conveniently form\nthe material of another chapter.\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nSYMBOLISM\n\nSymbols formed the primitive language of the human race, they\nspoke and wrote in symbols. The hieroglyphic writings of the\naborigines of Central America, of the ancient Peruvians, of the\nMongolians, and of the ancient Copts and Hebrews all point to\nthe universal use of the ideograph for the purpose of recording\nand conveying ideas.\n\nIf we study the alphabets of the various peoples, we shall find in\nthem clear indications of the physical and social conditions under\nwhich they evolved. Thus the Hebrew alphabet carries with it\nunmistakable evidence of the nomadic and simple life of those\n\"dwellers in tents.\" The forms of the letters are derived from the\nshapes of the constellations, of which twelve are zodiacal, six\nnorthern and six southern. This implies a superficial intimacy\nwith the heavens such as would result from a life spent in hot\ncountries with little or no superstructure to shut out the view. The\nwise among them would sit beneath the stars in the cool night air\nand figure out the language of the heavens.\n\nIt was God's message to mankind, and they sought not only to\nunderstand it but to make imitation of it. So they built an alphabet\nof forms after the pattern of things in the heavens. But when we\ncome to the names of these forms or letters we come at once into\ntouch with the life of the people. Thus _aleph_, an ox; _beth_, a\ntent; _daleth_, a tent-door; _lamed_, an ox-goad; _mem_, water;\n_tzadde_, a fish-hook; _quoph_, a coil of rope; _gimel_, a camel;\n_yod_, a hand; _oin_, an eye; _vau_, a hook or link; _heth_, a\nbasket; _caph_, a head; _nun_, a fish; _phe_, a mouth; _shin_,\na tooth; _resh_, a head; etc., all speaking to us of the\nordinary things of a simple, wandering life. These symbols were\ncompounded to form ideographs, as _aleph_ = a, and _lamed_ = l,\nbeing the first and last of the zodiacal circle, were employed for\nthe name of the Creator, the reverse of these, _la_, signifying\nnon-existence, negation, privation. In course of time a language\nand a literature would be evolved, but from the simple elements\nof a nomadic life. Knowledge came to them by action and the use\nof the physical sense. They had no other or more appropriate\nconfession of this than is seen in the root [Hebrew letters] yedo--\nknowledge, compounded of the three symbols _yod_, _daleth_, _oin_--\na hand, a door, an eye. The hand is a symbol of action, power,\nability; the door, of entering, initiation; the eye, of seeing, vision,\nevidence, illumination.\n\nHence the ideograph formed by the collation of these symbols\nsignifies, opening the door to see, _i.e._ enquiry.\n\nThe Chinese alphabet of forms is entirely hieroglyphic and\nsymbolical in its origin, though it has long assumed a typal\nregularity. What were once curved and crude figures have\nbecome squared and uniform letterpress. But the names of these\nforms bring us into touch at once with the early life of the\nMongolian race. We have, however, indications of a wider scope\nthan was enjoyed by the primitive Semites, for whereas we\nfind practically all the symbols of the Hebrews employed as\nalphabetical forms, we also have others which indicate artifice,\nsuch as _hsi_, box; _chieh_, a seal or stamp; _mien_, a roof;\n_chin_, a napkin; _kung_, a bow; _mi_, silk; _lei_, a plough, and\nmany others, such as the names of metals, wine, vehicles, leather\nin distinction from hides, etc. But further, we have a mythology\nas part of the furniture of the primitive mind, the dragon and the\nspirit or demon being employed as radical symbols.\n\nConsidered in regard to their origin, symbols may be defined as\nthought-forms which embody, by the association of ideas,\ndefinite meanings in the mind that generates them. They wholly\ndepend for their significance upon the laws of thought and the\ncorrespondence that exists between the spiritual and material\nworlds, between the subject and object of our consciousness, the\nnoumenon and phenomenon.\n\nAll symbols therefore may be translated by reference to the\nknown nature, quality, properties and uses of the objects they\nrepresent. A few interpretations of symbols actually seen in the\nmirror may serve to illustrate the method of interpretation.\n\nA foot signifies a journey, and also understanding. A mouth\ndenotes speech, revelation, a message. An ear signifies news,\ninformation; if ugly and distorted, scandal and abuse.\n\nThe sun, if shining brightly, denotes prosperity, honours, good\nhealth, favours.\n\nThe moon when crescent denotes success, public recognition,\nincrease and improvement; when gibbous, sickness, decadence,\nloss and trouble.\n\nThe sun being rayless or seen through a haze denotes sickness to\na man, some misfortune, danger of discredit. When eclipsed\nit denotes the ruin or death of a man. The moon similarly\naffected denotes equal danger to a woman. These are all natural\ninterpretations and probably would be immediately appreciated.\n\nBut every symbol has a threefold or fourfold interpretation and\nthe nature of the enquiry or purpose for which the vision is\nsought will indicate the particular meaning conveyed. For if the\nenquiry be concerning things of the spiritual world the\ninterpretation of the answering vision must be in terms of that\nworld, and similarly if the question has relation to the intellectual\nor the physical worlds. Thus a pain of scales would denote in the\nspiritual sense, absolute justice; in the intellectual, judgment,\nproportion, comparison, reason; in the social, debt or obligation,\nlevy, rate, or tax; and in the material, balance of forces,\nequilibrium, action and reaction. If the scales are evenly balanced\nthe augury will be good and favourable to the purport of the quest,\nbut if weighted unevenly it is a case of _mene, tekel, upharsin_;\nfor it shows an erring judgment, an unbalanced mind, failure in\none's obligations, injustice. A sword seen in connection with the\nscales denotes speedy judgment and retribution. This is an\nillustration of an artificial symbol.\n\nA ship is a symbol of trading, of voyaging, and is frequently used\nin the symbolical vision. If in full sail it indicates that\ncommunication with the spiritual world is about to be facilitated,\nthat news from distant lands will come to hand, that trade will\nincrease, that a voyage will be taken. If writing should appear on\nthe sails it will be an additional means of enlightenment. If flying\nthe pirate flag it denotes translation to another land, death. The\nland indicated may be the spiritual world itself, in which case the\ndeath will be natural; but if it should be a foreign country, then\ndeath will take place there by some unlooked-for disaster. The\nship's sails being slack denotes a falling off of afflatus or spiritual\ninflux, loss of trade, misfortune, delays and bad news, or if news\nis expected it will not come to hand.\n\nBlack bread denotes a famine; spotted or mottled bread, a plague.\nThis symbol was seen in June 1896, with other symbols which\nconnected it with India, and there followed a great outbreak of\nbubonic plague in that country. This symbol, however, was not\nproperly understood until the event came to throw light upon it.\nThe following note is from a seance which took place in India in\nthe spring of 1893: \"A leaf of shamrock is seen. It denotes the\nUnited Kingdom or the Triple Alliance. It is seen to split down\nthe centre with a black line. It symbolizes the breaking of a treaty.\nAlso that Ireland, whose symbol is the shamrock, will be\nseparated by an autonomous government from the existing\nUnited Kingdom and will be divided into two factions.\"\n\nIn this way all symbols seen in the crystal or mirror may be\ninterpreted by reference to their known properties and uses, as\nwell as by the associations existing between them and other\nthings, persons and places, in the mind of the seer. Nor is it\nalways required that the scryer should understand symbology, for\nas already said, the meanings of most of the symbols will be\nconveyed to the consciousness of the seer at the time of their\nappearance in the field. Experience will continually throw new\nlight upon the screen of thought, and a symbol once known will\nassume a constant signification with each seer, so that in course\nof time a language will be instituted by means of which constant\nrevelations will be made.\n\nIt will thus be obvious, I think, that symbolism is to a large extent\nsubject to a personal colouring, so that the same symbol may, by\ndifferent associations, convey a different meaning to various\nseers. This may arise in part from the diversities of individual\nexperience, of temperament, and the order to which the soul\nbelongs in the spiritual world. These dissimilarities between\nindividuals may be noted from their highest intellectual\nconvictions down to the lowest of their sensations, and it is\ndifficult to account for it. We all have the same laws of thought\nand the same general constitution. Humanity comprehends us all\nwithin the bonds of a single nature. Yet despite these facts we are\ndivided by differences of opinion, of emotion, of sympathy, of\ntaste and faculty. It is probable that these differences obtain in\nspheres immeasurably higher than our own, the sole element of\nconsent being the recognition of dependence upon a Higher\nPower. God is the co-ordinating centre in a universe of infinite\ndiversity.\n\nTherefore, despite the fact that symbolism is capable of a\nuniversal interpretation, it would appear that the images\nprojected by the magical power of the soul must have different\nsignifications with each of us, the meanings being in some\nmysterious way in agreement with the nature of the person who\nsees them. Hence we may come to the conclusion that every\nperson must be his own interpreter, there being no universal code\nfor what are peculiarly individualized messages. For although\nevery symbol has a general signification in agreement with its\nnatural properties and uses, it yet obtains a particular signification\nwith the individual.\n\nIt is within common experience with those who have regard to\nthe import of dreams, wherein the faculty of seership is acting on\nits normal plane, that a dream constantly recurring is found to\nhave a particular meaning, which however is not applicable to\nothers who have a similar dream. Every person is a seer in dream\nlife, but few pay that attention to dreams which their origin and\nnature warrant. The crystal or mirror is an artificial means of\nbringing this normal faculty of dreaming into activity in waking\nlife. Those who are capable of making the dream life normal to\nthe working consciousness, rise to a higher plane when they sleep.\n\nBut, as stated above, the differences of import or meaning, even\nin dream life, of any particular symbol is a common experience.\nOne person will dream of wading in water whenever there is\ntrouble ahead. Another will dream of a naked child, and yet\nanother of coal, when similar trouble is in store. Butchers' meat\nwill signify financial trouble to one person, to another the same\nwill denote a fortunate speculation.\n\nThe controlling factor in this matter would appear to be founded\nin the mental and psychic constitution conferred by physical\nheredity and psychic tradition, converging at the conception of\nthe individual and expressed in the birth. Probably an argument\ncould thence be made in regard to the influence of the planets and\nthe general cosmic disposition attending upon birth: I have\nfrequently found that dreams may be interpreted by reference to\nthe individual horoscope of birth, and if dreams, possibly also\nvisions, which are but dreams brought into the field of conscious\nreality. But any such argument, however tempting, would be\nbeyond the scope of this work.\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nALLIED PSYCHIC PHASES\n\nThe faculty of second sight is not by any means the most\ncommon of the psychic powers. Psychometric impressions which\nproceed by the sense of touch into that of a superior order of\nfeeling are far more general. We are affected much more than is\ngenerally recognized by the impressions gathered from the things\nwe have contact with, and it is quite a common experience that\nvery delicate and sensitive people take the \"atmosphere\" of places\ninto which they go. I have in mind an instance of an extremely\nhigh-keyed person who invariably takes on the atmosphere of\nnew localities, houses and even rooms. Going to view a house\nwith the object of taking it on rental, she will as likely as not\npronounce against the moment she enters on the ground that it is\na \"house of death\" or a \"quarrelsome house,\" full of sickness,\nintemperance or what not, and wherever enquiry has been\npossible it has invariably confirmed her impressions. On one\noccasion she had telegraphed to engage a room at an hotel in a\nseaside town, and on being shown to it by the maid found that it\nwas locked. While the maid went to fetch the key the young\nlady tried the door and immediately received a psychometric\nimpression. \"Oh, M--,\" she said to her companion, \"we cannot\npossibly have this room, there's a corpse in it!\" This was\nconfirmed, almost as soon as said, by the appearance of the\nproprietor, who explained that the maid had made a mistake in\nthe number of the room, and then, feeling that there was a state of\ntension, confidentially informed his visitors that the locked room\nhad really been booked to them but the old lady who was to have\nvacated it that morning had unfortunately died, and in order not\nto distress the other visitors the door had been locked pending the\nremoval of the body, and even the servants had not been\ninformed of it.\n\nThe experiments of Denton recorded in his _Soul of Things_ are\nfull of interest for those who would learn something more about\nthe phenomena of psychometry.\n\nThe suggestion is that every particle of matter has its own aura or\n\"atmosphere\" in which are stored up the experiences of that\nparticle. What is said of the particle applies also to the mass of\nany body, and in effect we get the aura of a room, of a house, of a\ntown, of a city; and so successively until we come to that of the\nplanet itself. These stored-up impressions are not caused by the\nmental action of human beings in association with the material\npsychometrized, they appertain entirely to the associations of the\nmaterial itself, and the psychometric sense consists in recovering\nthese associations and bringing them into terms of human sense\nand consciousness. The experience seems to suggest a nexus\nbetween the individualized human soul and the world-soul in\nwhich the generic life is included; also that the human soul is a\nspecialized evolution from the world-soul, and hence inclusive of\nall stages of experience beneath the human. I think it was Draper\nwho suggested in his _Conflict_ that a man's shadow falling upon\na wall produced an indelible impression which was capable of\nbeing revived. The cinematograph film is that brick wall raised to\nthe nth power of impressibility. The occultist will point you to a\nuniversal medium as much above the cinema film as that is above\nthe brick or stone, and in which are stored up the _memoria\nmundi_. It is this sensitized envelope of the planetary atom that\nyour sensitive taps by means of his clairvoyant, psychometric and\nclairaudient senses.\n\nClairaudience is far more general than second sight, but there is\nthe same variability in the range of perception as is seen in\nclairvoyance and psychometry. Thus while one hears only the\nevil suggestions of \"obsessing spirits\" or discarnate souls being\ndinned into his ears, another will be lifted to the third heaven and\nhear \"things unutterable.\" Brain-cell discharges will hardly\naccount for the phenomena of clairaudience. A brain-cell\ndischarge never goes beyond the repetition of one's own name in\nsome familiar voice, or at most the revival of a phrase or the\nmonotonous clang of a neighbouring church bell. These are not\nclairaudiences at all. Clairaudience consists in receiving auditory\nimpressions of intelligible phrases not previously associated with\nthe name of person or place involved in the statement. These\nimpressions may be sporadic or may be continuous. In the case of\na genuine development where the interior sense is fully opened\nup, the communication will be continuous and normal, as much\nso as ordinary conversation, and the translation of consciousness\ninto terms of sense will be so rapid and unimpeded as to give the\nimpression to an Englishman that he is listening to his native\nlanguage and to a Frenchman that he is listening to French,\nthough the communication may proceed from a source which\nrenders this impossible. The universal language of humanity is\nneither Volapuk, nor Esperanto, nor Ido. It is Thought, and when\nthought proceeds from a point beyond the plane of differentiation\nit can be determined along the line which makes for English as\nreadily as that which makes for French, or any other tongue. It is\nthey of the soul-world who convey the thought, it is we of the\nsublunary world who translate that thought into our own\nlanguage. The Hebrew prophets were almost uniformly instructed\nby means of clairaudience. But as I have already said there are\ndegrees of clairaudience, as of any other psychic faculty. The\ndanger is that a false value may be set upon the experiences,\nespecially during the early stages of development when everything\nis very new and very wonderful.\n\nTelepathy is another and yet more general phrase of psychic\nactivity. It may consist in the transmission from one person to\nanother of a feeling or impression merely, which results in a\ncertain degree of awareness to the state of mind in which the\ntransmitter may be at the time, as when a mother has a \"feeling\"\nthat all is not well with her absent child. Or it may yet take a\nmore definite and perspicuous form, even to the transmission of\ndetails such as the names of persons and places, of numbers,\nforms and incidents. Telepathy commonly exists between persons\nin close sympathy; and when two persons are working along\nseparate lines toward the same result, it is quite usual that they\nunconsciously \"telepath\" with one another, their brains being for\nthe time in synchronous vibration. Spiritual communication in\nany degree is nothing more or less than sympathy--those who feel\ntogether, think together. The modern development of the aerial\npost is a step towards the universal federation of thought, but it is\nnot comparable with the astral post which carries a thousand\nmiles an hour. In this sort of correspondence the communication\nis written like any ordinary letter designed for transmission, but\ninstead of stamping and posting it, a lighted match is applied to\nthe finished work. The material part is destroyed, but the\nintangible and only real and lasting part remains behind. This is\nattached, by the direction of the will, to a particular person and\nset in a certain direction. If all the conditions have been properly\nobserved it will not fail to reach its destination. I have fortunately\nbeen able to demonstrate this fact in public on more than one\noccasion. The phenomenon is repeated in a less striking\nform in every case of what is called \"crossing,\" as when one\ncorrespondent feels suddenly called upon to write urgently to\nanother and receives a reply to his enquiries while his letter is\nstill in course of delivery.\n\nNature is full of a subtle magic of this sort for which we have no\norganized science. It is said that if you put snails together and\nafterwards separate them, placing each upon a copper ground to\nwhich electric wires are attached, a shock given to one snail will\nbe registered by the other at the same moment. I have not tried\nthis theory, but the idea is fundamental to a mass of telepathic\nobservations which have found practical expression in wireless\ntelegraphy. Some thirty years ago, however, I made trial of the\ntwin magnet theory and was entirely successful in getting\nwireless messages from one room to another. The performance\nwas, however, clumsy and tedious, and I did not then know\nenough to see how it could be perfected. The idea is now in the\nvery safe custody of the Patents Office.\n\nCommunity of taste can be demonstrated under hypnosis. It is not\notherwise usually active in sensitives, and Swedenborg was\nhence of opinion that the sense of taste could not be obsessed.\nThis, however, is incorrect. I have illustrated community of all\nthe senses under hypnosis in circumstances which entirely\nprecluded the possibility of feint or imposition on the part of the\nsubject.\n\nAnother phase of psychic activity is that illustrated in \"dowsing\"\nor water-finding by means of the hazel fork. It may be accounted\na form of hyperaesthesia and no doubt has a nervous expression,\nbut it is not the less psychic in its origin. I have already referred\nto the action of water upon psychic sensitives, and there seems\nlittle room for doubt that it is the psychometric sense which, by\nmeans of the self-extensive faculty inhering in consciousness,\nregisters the presence of the great diamagnetic agent. Professor\nBarrett has written a most interesting monograph on this subject,\nand there are many books extant which make reference to and\ngive examples of this curious phenomenon. The late British\nConsul at Trieste and famous explorer and linguist, Sir Richard\nBurton, could detect the presence of a cat at a considerable\ndistance, and I have heard that Lord Roberts experiences the\nsame paralyzing influence by the proximity of the harmless feline.\nIf, therefore, one can register the presence of a cat, and another\nthat of a dead body, I see no difficulty in others registering water\nor any other antipathetic. All we have to remember is that these\nthings are psychic in their origin, and not ignorantly confound\nsensation with consciousness, or hyperaesthesia with the various\npsychopathic faculties we have been discussing. But it is\nnecessary to return to our main subject and consider where our\ndeveloped clairvoyant or second-sight faculty will lead us, and\nwhat sort of experience we may expect to gain by its use. These\npoints may now be dealt with.\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nEXPERIENCE AND USE\n\nFirst let us have the facts, we can then best see what use we can\nmake of them. This I think is the correct position in regard to any\nabnormal claim that is made upon our attention. Everybody has\nheard of the prophecies of the Brahmin seer, most people\nhave some acquaintance with the phenomena attending the\nclairvoyance of the seeress of Prevorst, while the experiences of\nEmanuel Swedenborg have been set forth in many biographies,\nbut in none more lucidly and dispassionately than that by William\nWhite. Traditions have come to us concerning the clairvoyance of\nthe Greek exponent of the Pythagorean teachings, Apollonius of\nTyana, and the case of Cavotte, who predicted his own death and\nthat of Robespierre and others by the guillotine, is on record. The\nillumination of Andrew Jackson Davis, the Poughkeepsie seer,\nand that of Thomas Lake Harris of Fountain Grove, are modern\nexamples of abnormal faculty of a nature which places them\noutside the field of direct evidence. A prophecy made from the\nuse of the super-sense which is followed by exact fulfilment\nappears to be the best criterion, though it is a very imperfect\nillustration of the scope of clairvoyance.\n\nThe following instances are within my personal experience, and\nbeing already on record and well attested, will serve equally to\nillustrate the fact of clairvoyance as would numerous others\nwithin my knowledge.\n\nIn June, 1896, a lady visited me in Manchester Square and, being\nanxious on several points, asked that I would scry for her. A blue\nberyl was used as agent. She was told that she would have news\nfrom a tropical country concerning the birth of a child, a boy,\nwho would arrive in the following year in the month of February.\nThat on a certain date while travelling she would meet with an\naccident to the right leg. Previous to this, in October she would\nhave a welcome surprise connected with papers and a contest in\nwhich her son was engaged.\n\nNow here was a network of disaster for any would-be prophet\nwho relied upon what is called the \"lucky shot.\" If we enumerate\nthe items of prediction, on any of which a fatal error could have\nbeen made, we shall find a very formidable list:--\n\n    A tropical country.\n    A birth.\n    A boy then unborn.\n    February, 1897.\n    A journey on a particular date.\n    The right leg.\n    The son.\n    October.\n    Papers.\n\nAt least nine points on which the faculty could have been wholly\nat fault. The fulfilment, however, came in due course. The lady\nheard that her sister, then vicereine of India, was about to have a\nchild, and in February, 1897, a son was born to Lord Elgin. In\nOctober the lady referred to was agreeably surprised to learn that\nher son had passed his examination for the military college with\nhonours. Further, while boarding a train at Victoria station she\nhad the misfortune to slip between the platform and the footboard,\nso that the shin of the right leg was badly damaged and severe\nmuscular strain was also suffered, in consequence of which she\nwas laid up for several days.\n\nMrs. H. was consulted by an authoress, her profession being\nunknown to the scryer. She was told that she would go up a dingy\nstaircase with a roll of papers under her arm; that she would see a\ndark man, thickset and of quiet demeanour. He would take the\nroll of papers and it would be a source of good fortune to her.\nThe prediction was literally fulfilled.\n\nThe first case cited is an example of the positive and symbolic\ntype of vision; the second being of the passive and direct type.\n\nMrs. A. was consulted by a lady of the writer's acquaintance and\nwas told that she would not marry the man to whom she was then\nengaged as there was a certain other person, described, coming\nacross the seas to claim her. She would meet him three years later\nin the month of January.\n\nThe event transpired exactly as stated, though nothing at that time\nappeared less probable, and indeed the lady was not a little irate\nat the allusion to the breaking off of the engagement and of\nmarrying a man whom she had never seen and for whom she\ncould have no sort of regard. In fact, the whole revelation was\nvery revolting to one so wholly absorbed as was she at the time.\nIt cannot be argued that this was a case of suggestion working\nitself out, for one cannot auto-suggest the arrival of a person\nof a particular description from a distant land to one's own\ndrawing-room at any time, and there is here a prediction as\nto the date which was duly fulfilled. This was a case of direct\nvision.\n\nMrs. G. consulted a seer on September 27, 1894. She was told\nshe would have sickness affecting the loins and knees; that she\nwould be the owner of a house in the month of December; that a\nremoval would be made when the trees were leafless; that there\nwould be a dispute about a sum of money.\n\nThis is positive or symbolical clairvoyance. The symbols seen\nwere as follow: a figure with a black cloth about the loins, the\nfigure stooping and resting the hands upon its knees. A house\ncovered with snow, bare trees around it. A bird on a leafless\nbranch; the bird flies away. Several hands seen grabbing at a pile\nof money.\n\nAll the predictions were fulfilled.\n\nInterpretations of symbols when made during the vision are\nfrequently far removed from what one would be led to expect.\nBut we have to remember that the seer is then in a psychologized\nstate, and there is reason to believe that interpretations made from\nthe inner plane of consciousness are due to the fact that the\nsymbols appear in a different light. Our ordinary dreams\nfollow the same change. While asleep we are impressed by the\nimportance and logical consistency of the dream incident, which\nassumes, possibly, the proportions of a revelation, but which\ndissolves into ridiculous triviality and nonsense as soon as we\nawake. The reason is that there is a complete hiatus between the\nvisionary and the waking state of consciousness, and even the\nlaws of thought appear to undergo a change as the centre of\nconsciousness slides down from the inner to the outer world of\nthought and feeling.\n\nIn the Eastern conception the three states of _jagrata_, waking,\n_swapna_, dreaming, and _sushupti_, sleeping, are penetrated by\nthe thread of consciousness, the _sutratma_, a node of complete\nunconsciousness separating one state from the next. The centre of\nconsciousness, like a bead on the thread, alternates between the\nthree states as it is impelled by desire or will.\n\n[Illustration of the three states of jagrata]\n\nI have known sickness predicted, both as to time and nature of\nthe malady; the receipt of unexpected letters and telegrams with\nindications of their contents and resulting incident; changes,\nvoyages, business transactions, deaths, and even changes in the\nreligious views of individuals, all by means of the crystal vision.\n\nIt sometimes happens that the visionary state is induced by\nexcessive emotion during which the prophetic faculty is\nconsiderably heightened. Some temperaments on the other hand\nwill fall into the clairvoyant condition when engaged in deep\nthought. The thread of thought seems suddenly to be broken, and\nthere appears a vision wholly unconnected with the subject but a\nmoment ago absorbing the mind. It is as if the soul, while probing\nthe depths of its inner consciousness, comes into contact with the\nthin partition which may be said to divide the outer world of\nreason and doubt from the inner world of intuition and direct\nperception, and breaking through, emerges into the light beyond.\nIn trance there is generally a development of other super-senses,\nsuch as clairaudience and psychic touch, as well as clairvoyance.\nExamples might be multiplied and would but serve to show that\nthe rapport existing between the human soul and the world soul,\nthe individual consciousness and the collective consciousness, is\ncapable of being actively induced by recourse to appropriate\nmeans and developed where it exists in latency by means of the\ncrystal, the black concave mirror or other suitable agent. As yet,\nhowever, the majority are wholly ignorant of the existence of\nsuch psychic faculties, and even those who possess them are\nconscious of having but an imperfect control of them.\n\nAs in the case of genius where nature is opening up new centres\nof activity in the mind, the casual observer notes an eccentricity\nhardly distinguishable from some incipient forms of insanity; so\nthe development of new psychic faculties is frequently attended\nby temporary loss of control over the normal brain functions.\nLoss of memory, hysteria, absent-mindedness, unconscious\nutterance of thought, illusions, irritability, indifference,\nmisanthropy and similar perversions are not infrequent products\nof the preliminary stages of psychic development. These,\nhowever, will pass away as the new faculty pushes through into\nfull existence. Nature is jealous of her offspring and concentrates\nthe whole of her forces when in the act of generation, and that is\nthe reason of her apparent neglect of powers and functions,\nnormally under her control, while the evolution of a new faculty\nis in process. Let it be understood therefore that the faculty of\nclairvoyance or any other super-sense is not to be artificially\ndeveloped without some cost to those who seek it. \"The universe\nis thine; take what thou wilt, but pay the price,\" says Emerson.\nThis is the divine mandate. It is not merely a question of the price\nof a crystal or a mirror, the sacrifice of time, the exercise of\npatience: it may mean something much more than this. It is a\nquestion of the price of a new faculty. What is it worth to you?\nThat is the price you will be required to pay. And with this\nequation in mind the reader must consider the use to which, when\nobtained, he will apply his faculty; for the virtue of everything is\nin its use. It is reasonable to presume that one's daily life can\nsupply the true answer. To what use are we employing the\nfaculties we already have, all of them acquired with as much pain\nand suffering, it may be, as any new ones we are ever likely to\nevolve? If we are using these faculties for the benefit of the race\nwe shall employ others that are higher to even greater effect. In\nother case it is not worth the effort of acquiring, nor is it likely\nthat anybody of a radically selfish nature will take the trouble to\nacquire it. Natural selection is the fine sieve which the gods use\nin their prospecting. The gross material does not go through.\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\nThe foregoing short treatise will gain some practical value by a\nstatement of the conditions most suitable for scrying.\n\nA diffused natural light, preferably from the north, is always\nbetter than an artificial light.\n\nThe subject should sit with his back to the source of light, at a\ndistance from the mirror determined by its focus; or if the agent\nbe a crystal it should be held in the hands, one supporting the\nother.\n\nSteady gazing in complete silence should be maintained for a\nquarter of an hour, which may be afterwards gradually extended\nto half or even a full hour. Success depends largely upon\nidiosyncrasy and temperamental aptitude. Seers are often to be\nfound among men and women of imperfect education owing to\nfitness of temperament; seers of this order are born with the\nfaculty. Others, seemingly non-sensitive at first, may develop the\nfaculty after a few short sittings.\n\nThe eyes should not be strained, but the gaze should be allowed\nto rest casually yet steadily on the agent as if one were reading a\nbook.\n\nIt will be found that the sight is presently drawn inwards to a\nfocus beyond the surface of the agent. This opening up of the\nfield of vision is the symptom of success. The next step is\nindicated by a change in the atmosphere of the field. Instead of\nreflecting or remaining translucent, the agent will appear to cloud\nover. This will appear to become milky, then to be diffused with\ncolour which changes to black or murky brown, and finally the\nscreen appears to be drawn away, revealing a picture, a scene,\nfigures in action, symbolical forms, sentences, etc.\n\nThe physiological symptoms are: first, a slight chill along the\nspine like cold water trickling from the neck downwards;\nsecondly, a returning flush of heat from the base of the spine\nupwards to the crown of the head; thirdly, a gaping or spasmodic\naction of the brain; and lastly, a deep inward drawing of the\nbreath, as if sobbing. When these symptoms follow closely upon\none another, vision will be assured. It generally happens,\nhowever, that the various symptoms are separately developed by\nrepeated sittings, only appearing in proper sequence when the\nexperiment is finally successful.\n\nOne of the most interesting phases of this development of second\nsight is the opening up of lost impressions, the revival of lapsed\nmemories; \"looking for one thing, you find another\" is an\nexperience in daily life which has a psychological application.\nThe things which pass into the limbo of forgetfulness are never\nlost to us. They remain stored up in latency and are ready to\nspring into activity as soon as the depths of the mind are probed.\nNecessarily this experience is more generally interesting than\npleasant, but it serves to give one a sense of the connectedness of\nlife's incident and to show a certain sequential necessity in the\ncourse of events. The \"whyness\" of our various experiences is\nrevealed when they are displayed in their true relations and given\ntheir true value in the scheme of individual evolution. As\ndetached experiences they appear without reason or purpose,\napparently futile, often painful and even cruel; but as a\nconsecutive scheme, completed by the revival of all the\nconnecting links, the wisdom, justice, kindness and beneficence\nof the Great Arbiter of our destinies are fully and conspicuously\nrevealed. My own first suspicions of a former embodied existence\nwere derived from psychic experiences, and later on were\nconfirmed by the course of events. I saw myself reaping that\nwhich I had sown, and I observed that what was sown in ignorance\nmight be reaped in the light of a fuller knowledge; only\nwe must henceforth be wise in the sowing. I would say in\nconclusion that it is the duty of man to himself and humanity not\nonly to hold himself in readiness, but also to fit himself for the\nreception of new light. Since evolution is the law of life and the\nglory of going on man's highest guerdon, and since we are all\ncandidates for responsibility, asking as reward for work well\ndone to-day a task of greater magnitude on the morrow, it appears\nthat the development of the psychic faculties may well form an\norderly step in the process of human perfectibility, and help to\nbring us nearer to the source of all good. If it serves only to keep\nopen the door between the two worlds it will have filled a good\npurpose, and if in the writing of this little exposition, I may have\ncontributed to the confidence and security of any who may\nadventure these obscure paths, I shall be well content.","title":"Second Sight: A Study of Natural and Induced Clairvoyance","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":19264}