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Your Psychic Powers and How to Develop Them_Part 2 · Your Psychic Powers and How to Develop Them

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  Speaker 1: Process. Two, you should be careful to keep your self
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  Speaker 1: consciousness active and alert when entering trance. Do not give
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  Speaker 1: yourself up completely or allow the mind to become a
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  Speaker 1: blank at first. Give yourself up in every other way,
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  Speaker 1: but this you must always keep in the background of
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  Speaker 1: your mind the thought I am I, I am so
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  Speaker 1: and so your name. I will remain in my body.
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  Speaker 1: I am strength and power. I will not be influenced
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  Speaker 1: against my will by forces other than good. I can
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  Speaker 1: always return to myself when I want to. These and
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  Speaker 1: similar suggestions you must give to yourself and hold them
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  Speaker 1: in your mind as a central point of force while
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  Speaker 1: entering trance, even while allowing yourself to become passive in
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  Speaker 1: every other way. If you do this, you will avoid
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  Speaker 1: a great deal of difficulty and danger. Three. If you
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  Speaker 1: can in any way assure yourself that you have a
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  Speaker 1: band of spirits or controls on the other side who
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  Speaker 1: are ready and willing to help you, this would mean much.
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  Speaker 1: A good medium or clairvoyant could probably tell you whether
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  Speaker 1: this is the case, and the nature of the intelligences
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  Speaker 1: who are trying to influence and act upon you. If
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  Speaker 1: these are described as evil, you had best postpone your
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  Speaker 1: development until this condition changes. If, on the contrary, they
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  Speaker 1: are described as good and helpful, you may proceed subject
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  Speaker 1: to the above precautions and advice. Important conditions to be fulfilled.
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  Speaker 1: It is important to have a plentiful supply of fresh
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  Speaker 1: air in the room when entering trance and after you
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  Speaker 1: are in that condition. Also, the light should be so
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  Speaker 1: regulated as to affect you most agreeably. This may be semidarkness,
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  Speaker 1: though many trance mediums develop in full light. Soft music
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  Speaker 1: may be found beneficial in some cases, though not in all.
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  Speaker 1: You should have everything ready to hand, such as pencils, paper,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera, before you enter the trance condition. During the
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  Speaker 1: trance state, you will probably be more more or less
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  Speaker 1: sensitive to objects placed in your hands. That is, you
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  Speaker 1: will be enabled not only to psychometrize them, but in
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  Speaker 1: connection with the objects given you, you will get spirit
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  Speaker 1: messages and information concerning the individuals to whom they formerly belonged.
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  Speaker 1: All objects of this character carry the aura or influence
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  Speaker 1: of the person with whom they have come into contact,
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  Speaker 1: and for this reason those objects which have been next
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  Speaker 1: the skin are the best for this purpose. Gloves, headbands,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera. Are especially valuable. These should be wrapped as
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  Speaker 1: before explained in oil silk, and they should be handled
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  Speaker 1: as little as possible after the death of the person
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  Speaker 1: to whom they belonged developing exercises. A very good practice
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  Speaker 1: in developing trance mediumship in yourself is to cultivate the
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  Speaker 1: habit of analyzing your own falling asleep process. Try to
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  Speaker 1: catch yourself as you fall asleep and hold on to
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  Speaker 1: yourself when in this semi sleeping condition as long as
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  Speaker 1: you can before finally dropping off to slumber. This you
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  Speaker 1: will find very difficult at first, but it can be
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  Speaker 1: mastered more or less in time. If you can succeed
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  Speaker 1: in catching yourself in this manner when nearly asleep and
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  Speaker 1: retaining a certain degree of conscious control, you may rest
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  Speaker 1: assured that you will not only be a good trance medium,
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  Speaker 1: but that you will be able to protect yourself while
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  Speaker 1: in the trance state, and that harm can hardly come
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  Speaker 1: to you when in this condition. This is a very
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  Speaker 1: excellent practice and has given many psychics that power over
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  Speaker 1: themselves which they formerly lacked. Spiritual repose is essential for
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  Speaker 1: the trance medium who would develop simply harmoniously into practical
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  Speaker 1: and wise mediumship.
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  Speaker 2: In this manner.
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  Speaker 1: You are said to come in tune or harmony with
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  Speaker 1: the great cosmic currents of truth and wisdom, which flow
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  Speaker 1: hither and thither in our world, and to and fro
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  Speaker 1: from the spiritual source of love, wisdom, and intelligence. Once
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  Speaker 1: get into harmony with this stream, and your progress not
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  Speaker 1: only as a medium, but as a supreme psychic is assured.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter.
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  Speaker 3: Twenty Chapter twenty one. Inspirational speaking and test Messages. Inspirational
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  Speaker 3: speaking depends partly upon the activity of your own subconscious mind,
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  Speaker 3: and partly upon the amount of help you receive from
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  Speaker 3: the spirit world. In speaking before public audiences. For the
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  Speaker 3: first few times, you had best think over what you
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  Speaker 3: are to say, and prepare your talk a little in advance.
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  Speaker 3: Then depend upon the help and inspiration you receive from
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  Speaker 3: the elaboration of these notes which you have made. As
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  Speaker 3: you progress, you will find that less and less of
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  Speaker 3: this preparation is necessary, and after a time you will
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  Speaker 3: be enabled to dispense with it altogether and know nothing
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  Speaker 3: more of the subject of your discourse than the mere
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  Speaker 3: title on the rostrum. When on the rostrum you can
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  Speaker 3: close your eyes, and the discourse more or less eloquent
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  Speaker 3: will flow from your lips. When you are still more advanced,
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  Speaker 3: you will be enabled to allow persons in the audience
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  Speaker 3: to choose subjects, and you will then be able to
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  Speaker 3: talk upon these at great length and often with profity
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  Speaker 3: of knowledge and beauty of style, which surprises not only
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  Speaker 3: yourself but your auditors. Many of the best and most
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  Speaker 3: profound object lessons and instructions have been received in this manner,
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  Speaker 3: and much of the philosophy or spiritualism has been propounded
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  Speaker 3: and explained in this way. Test messages are of somewhat
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  Speaker 3: different order and are given in a different manner. They
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  Speaker 3: relate to persons in the audiences or to objects brought
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  Speaker 3: by those persons, and the information concerns not an abstract
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  Speaker 3: subject or team, but individuals connected with the person to
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  Speaker 3: whom the message is given. It concerns spiritual personalities more
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  Speaker 3: directly than spiritual truth, and though both may have their
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  Speaker 3: origin in friendly helpers, they are nevertheless given for different
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  Speaker 3: purposes and in a different manner. How to begin. A
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  Speaker 3: very good way to begin training both for inspirational speaking
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  Speaker 3: and test messages is the following which doctor R. R.
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  Speaker 3: Schleussner enable trance and test medium personally followed in his development,
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  Speaker 3: and which he found gave most satisfactory results. In writing
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  Speaker 3: of this, doctor Schlustner says, first of all, I ask
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  Speaker 3: someone in the audience to speak to me a set
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  Speaker 3: or formal sentence, such as doctor help me or doctor
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  Speaker 3: reach me. From this I receive certain impressions, which I
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  Speaker 3: analyze somewhat as follows. One, I contend from the sound
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  Speaker 3: of the voice whether it is harsh and grating or
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  Speaker 3: whether it is soft, gentle, and harmonious, and from this
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  Speaker 3: the character of the speaker may be more or less diagonized. Also,
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  Speaker 3: the voice will tell me whether the person is nervous
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  Speaker 3: and irritable or self contained and controlled, whether the person
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  Speaker 3: is angry or is skeptical and merely asking for a test. Further,
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  Speaker 3: the voice will tell me whether the person is deep
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  Speaker 3: or strong, positive or negative, sensitive, or the rivers. These
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  Speaker 3: are the physical properties of the voice, so to speak,
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  Speaker 3: and from them I gather certain information more or less
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  Speaker 3: instantaneously and subconsciously, as to the sitter and dissatitude, colors
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  Speaker 3: and aurras. Two. In addition to this, I receive, in
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  Speaker 3: connection with his voice, certain psychic impressions. These take the
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  Speaker 3: form of auras or colors drawn up in a cloudly
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  Speaker 3: pillar like forms. These colors I interpret symbolically. Thus, if
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  Speaker 3: I see before me a dirty slate gray, I say
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  Speaker 3: that the conditions before me are at present very unfavorable
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  Speaker 3: and depressing. And if beyond this I see a yellowish
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  Speaker 3: gold rim, I say that the immediate future prospects will
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  Speaker 3: be much brighter and better, and that the person in
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  Speaker 3: question may cheer up as better conditions are coming, et cetera.
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  Speaker 3: Besides this color, which is drawn up before me in
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  Speaker 3: this form, as the result of the physical vibration of
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  Speaker 3: the voice, and which seems to be caused by it,
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  Speaker 3: I always see another series of colors and auras, in
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  Speaker 3: particular plays some distance from the first pace, which I
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  Speaker 3: compare with the former set and see whether or not
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  Speaker 3: they agree. After seeing the first set of colors, I
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  Speaker 3: close my eyes for a moment, then open them and
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  Speaker 3: look at the acaind set. If they are found to
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  Speaker 3: agree with one another, I know that my first impressions
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  Speaker 3: are correct, And then I stayed openly that such and
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  Speaker 3: such conditions are so. My own experience has been that
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  Speaker 3: if these two sets of hours agree with one another,
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  Speaker 3: the diagnosis or psychic impress is correct, and I am
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  Speaker 3: very seldom wrong in my statement of the fact their interpretation.
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  Speaker 3: Let us go back for a moment to the impression
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  Speaker 3: received by a heavy laden gray color. Suppose this is
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  Speaker 3: the color scene. This indicates depression having arrived thus far,
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  Speaker 3: the question is how to get rid of this condition
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  Speaker 3: that is suggested partly by common sense. Having proposed this
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  Speaker 3: question to myself, I close my eyes and look at
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  Speaker 3: a different place in space. In this third place, I
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  Speaker 3: then see presented to my psychic site a symbol. This
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  Speaker 3: symbol tells me how to escape from the present difficulty.
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  Speaker 3: After I explained the symbol and interpreted it to the
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  Speaker 3: best of my ability, I then look back at the
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  Speaker 3: colors see whether or not they have changed. If they
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  Speaker 3: have become brighter than I know that this is the
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  Speaker 3: correct path to follow, and that good will result from
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  Speaker 3: the course of action advised. If there is no change,
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  Speaker 3: I state that the things will come continue for some
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  Speaker 3: time to come in this depressed condition, and that the
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  Speaker 3: best that can be done for the time being is
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  Speaker 3: to hope and work on patiently how to increase your power.
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  Speaker 3: These aura's colors and symbols may be impeded and shut
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  Speaker 3: off by certain psychic conditions on the part of sensitivity.
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  Speaker 3: For example, you may hold on to them too tightly,
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  Speaker 3: as it were, and this tenacious grasp for too long
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  Speaker 3: a time will have the effect of shutting them off altogether.
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  Speaker 3: You must learn to let go as soon as the
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  Speaker 3: symbol has been perceived or the colors seen. As these
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  Speaker 3: colors are presented to you, you may, however, see a
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  Speaker 3: change going on, and in that case you should also
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  Speaker 3: watch it intently and see that what the change may be. Thus,
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  Speaker 3: gray may change to white, a sign of spirituality, and
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  Speaker 3: he can state that the person is becoming more spiritual
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  Speaker 3: and changing his point of view in life, clinging to
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  Speaker 3: his ideals, it's cetera, and that if he continues to
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  Speaker 3: do so, success will reward him. If you see tinges
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  Speaker 3: of gold and yellow, you may be sure that the
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  Speaker 3: individual in question is cultivating his intellect, and that he
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  Speaker 3: is independent in thought and a more or less clever
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  Speaker 3: intellectual person getting help from spirit guides. In addition to
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  Speaker 3: these colors and symbols, other phenomena may occur. Thus, in
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  Speaker 3: my own case, I always see my guides who stand
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  Speaker 3: by my side telling me what to say. If I
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  Speaker 3: speak aloud just what they tell me. It is usually correct.
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  Speaker 3: If I endeavor to elaborate or extend it, it is
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  Speaker 3: often wrong. This is an error which should be avoided.
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  Speaker 3: Thus they may see three. This may mean three minutes,
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  Speaker 3: three hours, three days, three weeks, three months, three years,
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  Speaker 3: et cetera. At the time I hear the figure, I
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  Speaker 3: do not know what its meaning is. I therefore say
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  Speaker 3: to the person receiving the message. My guide says to
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  Speaker 3: me three, and then I wait for further information. As
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  Speaker 3: explained in the lesson on symbolism, the difference between the
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  Speaker 3: two consists in distinction between impression and expression. I receive
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  Speaker 3: the impression correctly, but must be careful not to give
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  Speaker 3: it wrong expression. What one should do, therefore, is to
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  Speaker 3: wait for further impressions before expressing anything. In such a
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  Speaker 3: case as the above, I would, after hearing the word
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  Speaker 3: three spoken, turn to my guide and ask what the
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  Speaker 3: three signified. On receiving an answer, I would state this also,
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  Speaker 3: and then go back to the information, et cetera. If
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  Speaker 3: you proceed in this manner, you will rarely go wrong.
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  Speaker 3: The more anxious you are to receive psychic impressions and
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  Speaker 3: to give tests, the more fluctuating or changing, will your
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  Speaker 3: impressions be The colors of the auras will keep changing,
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  Speaker 3: and often you will see them constantly varying around any
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  Speaker 3: object based on your table, whereas if you are in
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  Speaker 3: a calmer fame of mind, these colors would appear stationary.
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  Speaker 3: Endeavor therefore in every way possible to control your apprehension
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  Speaker 3: and anxiety. In giving public tests of this nature important
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  Speaker 3: rules to follow. One very good method in giving tests
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  Speaker 3: to the public is to endeavor to force your clairvoyant
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  Speaker 3: perception before asking aid of your spirit friends. Thus, suppose
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  Speaker 3: some member of the audience asks the question how is
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  Speaker 3: my mother? In stop waiting for the direct impression. In
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  Speaker 3: this case, I would say, in reply to this, I
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  Speaker 3: will first try to find your mother and describe her.
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  Speaker 3: If I can do this, I will proceed with the test.
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  Speaker 3: This is far more satisfactory, both to the speaker and
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  Speaker 3: too yourself. I now force myself so to speak clairvoyantly
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  Speaker 3: and generally. In few moments, the form of a lady
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  Speaker 3: arises before me, which I described to the speaker in
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  Speaker 3: as much detail as possible, will giving also her surroundings
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  Speaker 3: and the description of any other persons I see with her.
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  Speaker 3: At the time. If this description is incorrect and not recognized,
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  Speaker 3: I then ask whether the description suits any other person
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  Speaker 3: known to the speaker, any person through whom the mother
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  Speaker 3: might be reached. If they reply in affirmative, I then
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  Speaker 3: endeavor to find a mother clairvoyantly, and if I cannot
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  Speaker 3: do this, I ask my guides to give me any
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  Speaker 3: information they can regarding her without this vision. If, on
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  Speaker 3: the other hand, the test is not recognized, I drop
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  Speaker 3: it and proceed to another case, as I know that
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  Speaker 3: I can get nothing definite for this individual. Instances of
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  Speaker 3: this character are, however, very rare, amounting probably to not
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  Speaker 3: more than five percent of the tests I give in
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  Speaker 3: the public. How to receive impressions in all inspirational and
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  Speaker 3: test messages, you should throw yourself as completely as possible
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  Speaker 3: upon your spirit friends after you have once asked their assistance,
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  Speaker 3: and should be as responsive as you can. Do not
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  Speaker 3: wait for them to hammer any impression into your head
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  Speaker 3: before you state what it is, but hold yourself rather
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  Speaker 3: in the attitude of an empty vessel, and imagine a
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  Speaker 3: funnel in the top of your head into which ideas
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  Speaker 3: and impressions of all kinds are being poured as they
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  Speaker 3: enter your mental and psychic life, you should interpret and
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  Speaker 3: express them at best as you can. The foregoing is
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  Speaker 3: an exact account of Doctor Steusner's method of delivering public tests,
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  Speaker 3: and a careful study of which will doubtless prove helpful
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  Speaker 3: to the earnest student, and I believe will result in
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  Speaker 3: a corresponding degree of development in all like cases. End
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  Speaker 3: of Chapter twenty.
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  Speaker 4: One, Chapter twenty two, more and less developed spirits. Inasmuch
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  Speaker 4: as we are said to be spirits here and now,
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  Speaker 4: just as much as we ever will be, we should
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  Speaker 4: begin the course of progressive development here in this life,
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  Speaker 4: which we intend to follow later. Anything we learn here
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  Speaker 4: will doubtless help us in any future development, whatever that
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  Speaker 4: may be. Wisdom, knowledge, understanding, sympathy, and penetration of perception
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  Speaker 4: will all help assist and advance us, no matter what
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  Speaker 4: world we may inhabit, or whatever its nature may be.
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  Speaker 4: This being the case, we should endeavor to develop our
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  Speaker 4: own inner nature here and now, as suggested, especially in
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  Speaker 4: the chapter on Self and soul culture, and we should
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  Speaker 4: continue this so far as lies within our power, even
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  Speaker 4: after we have crossed the great divide. Why strangers often communicate,
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  Speaker 4: just as there are all kinds of characters and natures
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  Speaker 4: in this life, so there are said to be individuals
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  Speaker 4: of all kinds in the next. And the unfortunate part
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  Speaker 4: of it is that many of those who can most
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  Speaker 4: easily come back and communicate are those on the lowest
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  Speaker 4: rung of the latter, those who are the most earth
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  Speaker 4: bound and belong to the lowest strata of society. They
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  Speaker 4: are nearer the earth than more advanced spirits, more in
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  Speaker 4: sympathy with it and its vibrations, and their character, being
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  Speaker 4: more earthly, is naturally more open to receive and send
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  Speaker 4: messages than those who, when alive, had less sympathy with
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  Speaker 4: the earth and felt less bound to it. It is
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  Speaker 4: for this reason that strangers often communicate with us more
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  Speaker 4: easily than our nearest and dearest, than our friends or relatives.
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  Speaker 4: The latter may feel for and with us most keenly,
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  Speaker 4: and may long to communicate, but often obstacles hitherto undreamed
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  Speaker 4: of may prevent them from doing so. They then find
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  Speaker 4: for the first time, and to their astonishment, that the
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  Speaker 4: difficulties of communication are so great that they are unable
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  Speaker 4: to send messages, however much they may desire to do so,
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  Speaker 4: and even if they can find a medium suitable to
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  Speaker 4: receive them the conditions for communication. You on your side
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  Speaker 4: may be receptive to these conditions, and again you may
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  Speaker 4: be unfit to sense anything of the kind. The combination
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  Speaker 4: of circumstances for the transmission of spirit messages is rare,
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  Speaker 4: and in order for these messages to be clear, as
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  Speaker 4: we should desire them, there must be an effort both
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  Speaker 4: on this side and on the other, made at the
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  Speaker 4: same moment. Also, there must be the medium, as this
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  Speaker 4: combination is naturally lacking in the majority of cases. You
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  Speaker 4: can see why it is that authentic cases of spirit
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  Speaker 4: return are comparatively speaking so rare, and why it is
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  Speaker 4: that more persons do not come back. No doubt, you
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  Speaker 4: have often heard the objection that if spiritualism were true,
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  Speaker 4: out of all the millions of people who have died
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  Speaker 4: wishing to communicate, there must be many thousands who could
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  Speaker 4: return directly and state clearly what they wish to send.
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  Speaker 4: What we have said above will explain the reason why
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  Speaker 4: this is not the case. The ability to transmit a
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: message from the other side may be as rare as
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  Speaker 4: the ability to receive it on this side. Good communicators
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  Speaker 4: may be as rare as good artists, painters, or sculptors.
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  Speaker 4: It may be a special faculty which we have to develop.
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  Speaker 4: And just as uneducated and ignorant persons often possess extraordinary
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  Speaker 4: gifts and talents in certain directions for no reason we
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  Speaker 4: can see, just so certain individuals may become good mediums
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  Speaker 4: or communicators after they have passed over simply by reason
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  Speaker 4: of their psychic constitution or makeup. The question of the
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  Speaker 4: difficulties of communication will be found fully discussed in chapter
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  Speaker 4: twenty four. Why low or evil spirits communicate? It is
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  Speaker 4: because of all this that we often reach or come
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  Speaker 4: into contact with persons of a low order in spirit communications.
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  Speaker 4: Mediums believe that there are tramps and hoboes on the
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  Speaker 4: other side just as much as there are in this life.
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  Speaker 4: By nature and by instinct, they remain the same, and
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  Speaker 4: they have to be gradually educated and trained in order
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  Speaker 4: to outgrow their natural instincts. And just as these tramps
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  Speaker 4: and hoboes would be insulting and often disgusting in this
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  Speaker 4: life and would swear, curse, and do other things unsuitable
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: for the family circle were they introduced into it, just
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: so they do this things when they communicate and get
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: once more into the earth atmosphere. These are the characters
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: who also harm mediums unconsciously by rough handling, so to speak,
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: and by damaging the delicate nervous organism upon which they
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: operate when sending messages. The best and safest way to
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: guard against personalities of this character, we are told, is
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: to call to your aid spirit controls, guides or advisors
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: who can assist you from the other side by arguing
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: with such personalities and by removing them from your aura,
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: more or less forcibly, should the occasion demand it. There
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: are many cases on record in which more gentle measures
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: did not bring about the required result, and, according to
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: accounts received, very forcible methods had to be resorted to
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: in order to eject these strangers. Before peace and harmony
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: were finally restored. High spirits and their helpful messages. When
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: spirits of a higher order come all this is reversed.
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: You then come into contact with spiritual natures, and help, comfort, sympathy,
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: and sound advice are given. When once you are assured
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: of the assistance and cooperation of one or more individuals
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: of this character, your time of tribulation as a medium
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: is more or less over and thenceforward you may depend
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: upon steady and harmonious progression and advancement in your mediumship.
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: You must be careful, however, as to how you receive
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: messages claiming to come from ignas exalted personages as great
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: names will often be given when the individuals in question
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: are not there at all. This may be due at
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: times to accident and misunderstanding, but there is also evidence, unfortunately,
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: that lying spirits will resort to this stratagem to gain
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: your confidence. You should, in this case rely on your
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: own common sense and judgment, and insist upon proof of
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: identity and direct evidence before you believe that the individual
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: in question is really there. Guardian spirits. There is one
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: sect or division of spirits whose office and general work
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: and interest is particularly helpful to mortals, and that is
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: the so called guardian angels or guides, who help govern
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: and advise for friends of theirs still in the body.
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: The sympathy and counsel offered by these guardian spirits is
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: at times very great. These spirits are said sometimes to
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: prevent accident, suicide, and even murder by their kindly help
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: and assistance. It is one of the most beautiful and
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: inspiring thoughts in the spiritualistic philosophy to believe that those
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: we love are constantly about helping and cheering us along
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: our hard and narrow way, and that they see our
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: trials and tribulations and share them with us, just as
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: they did on earth. We must feel too that they
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: are preparing a place for us, and that when it
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: comes time to solve the great mystery, we shall find
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: helpful and loving assistance instead of a foreign land into
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: which we shall then enter. Who make the best communicators,
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: those who possess a simple, open, candid, childlike nature are
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: doubtless those who make the best communicators, other things being equal,
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: it is because of this that Indians, who lived close
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: to nature so constantly communicate and act as guides, and
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: doubtless for the same reason, Negroes are very psychic and
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: receive many psychic phenomena. There is a great deal of evidence, also,
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: as we know, to show us that animals perceive spirits
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: and psychic manifestations, and that they also sense phenomena more
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: keenly than human beings. Between animals and ourselves, there is
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: doubtless a link which unites us all into one conscious whole,
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: this being the life of the universe, which runs through
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: every sentient thing. It is not uncommon for spirits to
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: return its seances and seek the prayers or the help
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: of the living. They express themselves as being in trouble
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: and as requiring assistance before they can free themselves and
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: proceed on their way. This is doubtless and important mission
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: to fulfill, and when any wandering and distressed spirit makes
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: itself manifest in this way, it should certainly be assisted
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: in every way possible in the fulfillment of its desire
• 27:36
  Speaker 4: and the discharge of its burden. Many cases of so
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: called haunted houses doubtless exist because of the persistent inability
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: of the returning spirit to make anyone present see its
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: wants and attend to them. Were a good psychic or
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: medium introduced into such a house who could get into
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: communication with the returning spirit, and when communication had been
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: established help it, there is no doubt that the haunting
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: would cease, and the returning spirit would be greatly helped
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: in its progress and advancement. Haunted houses and pacts all
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: this is especially important in those cases of so called
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: pacts where an agreement is made before death to appear afterwards,
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: if that be possible, many cases of this character are
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: on record, and whenever such an agreement is made, it
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: is most important that the living person on earth should
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: fulfill his part towards the fulfillment of such a plan.
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: By doing so, he may assist to an extent he
• 28:53
  Speaker 4: perhaps does not realize, in freeing the spirit's mind from
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: earthly ties and condition, possibly unconscious messages. In considering this
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: question of returning spirits, one final and important fact must
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: not be lost sight of, and that is that messages
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: may often be given through a medium or directly of
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: which the spirit himself may be totally unconscious. He may think,
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: or dream or visualize a certain thought or message, and
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: this may be reached or sensed by the medium and
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: given forth as a conscious and intentional message. The reverse
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: of this, however, is true. The mind of the discarnate
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: spirit has been read by the medium in trance, his
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: mental pocket has been picked, and he has given nothing voluntarily. Further,
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: his thoughts may have been reflected upon a sort of
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: psychic mirror or atmosphere, and they're seen and interpreted by
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: the psychic. This, however, is a difficult question which will
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: be discussed in a later chapter. For the present, it
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: should be borne in mind that all messages given by
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: mediums need not necessarily be direct or intentional. They may
• 30:24
  Speaker 4: merely have been obtained indirectly from the person in question,
• 30:29
  Speaker 4: and would not be at all the message he would
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: send were he aware of the fact that he was
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: transmitting one. It is because of this fact that many
• 30:41
  Speaker 4: of the messages appear to us so trivial and inconsequential.
• 30:46
  Speaker 4: End of Chapter twenty two.
• 30:49
  Speaker 5: Obsession and Insanity. In this chapter, I desire to place
• 30:55
  Speaker 5: before the reader in a fair and clear manner, facts
• 30:58
  Speaker 5: which are too often neglected by spiritualists, but which those
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: who develop or become mediums are apt to find out
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: to their costs later in their development. Unless they are
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: aware of the facts at the beginning. Truth is always best,
• 31:13
  Speaker 5: and it is accordingly best for the student to know
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: the dangers and difficulties attendant upon spiritualism, as well as
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: the bright side. We do not wish to alarm or
• 31:23
  Speaker 5: divert from interest any student by this in the following
• 31:26
  Speaker 5: chapters precisely the reverse, but inasmuch as fore warned is forearmed.
• 31:32
  Speaker 5: The student should be familiar with all the possible risks
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: he is running, as there are such risks if he
• 31:38
  Speaker 5: does not develop his mediumistic power systematically and along the
• 31:42
  Speaker 5: right lines. As so often pointed out before in this book,
• 31:48
  Speaker 5: the reality of spirit obsession. As we saw in the
• 31:52
  Speaker 5: last chapter, it is often easier for the low and
• 31:55
  Speaker 5: less developed spirits to come in touch with us than
• 31:58
  Speaker 5: those more highly developed, and this is especially the case
• 32:02
  Speaker 5: where mediumistic development has not been such as to bring
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: the student in touch with the higher forces and intelligences.
• 32:10
  Speaker 5: Modern science does not accept the doctrine of spirit obsession
• 32:13
  Speaker 5: as true, claiming that the cases of so called spirit
• 32:17
  Speaker 5: influence are really only cases of diseased mind and body,
• 32:22
  Speaker 5: requiring for their cure proper medical attention. Experienced spiritualists, however,
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: know that while many cases of apparent obsession may be
• 32:33
  Speaker 5: accounted for in this manner, there are also cases of
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: real influence coming from less developed, disembodied spirits. And as
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: great a psychologist, as Professor William James said shortly before
• 32:45
  Speaker 5: his death, the refusal of modern enlightenment to treat possession
• 32:50
  Speaker 5: as a hypothesis to be spoken of as even possible
• 32:54
  Speaker 5: in spite of the mass of human tradition based on
• 32:57
  Speaker 5: concrete experience in its favor, has always seemed to me
• 33:01
  Speaker 5: a curious example of the power of fashion in things scientific.
• 33:06
  Speaker 5: That the demon theory, not necessarily a devil theory, will
• 33:11
  Speaker 5: have its innings again, is to my mind absolutely certain.
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: One has to be scientific, indeed, to be blind and
• 33:19
  Speaker 5: ignorant enough not to suspect any such possibility. Doctor L. Nevaias,
• 33:25
  Speaker 5: after an exhaustive study of the cases of demon possession
• 33:28
  Speaker 5: in China and after an examination of contrary theories, stated
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: his conclusion that genuine cases of obsession were to be found,
• 33:38
  Speaker 5: and that they could not be accounted for by any
• 33:40
  Speaker 5: other theory satisfactorily. Examples of obsession take again the case
• 33:48
  Speaker 5: recorded by doctor J. Godfrey Roperer in his Dangers of Spiritualism.
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: He gives the case of a friend of his M, who,
• 33:58
  Speaker 5: after attempting automatic writing and obtaining it successfully, was unable
• 34:03
  Speaker 5: to leave off the practice when he desired to, even
• 34:06
  Speaker 5: at night, when retiring to rest. M had habitually placed
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: paper and pencil by his bedside in order to be
• 34:13
  Speaker 5: able to write at once when summoned to do so,
• 34:17
  Speaker 5: and he had frequently been awakened from his sleep for
• 34:19
  Speaker 5: this purpose, much to the detriment, of course, of his
• 34:23
  Speaker 5: mental and physical health. After this there had come a
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: still further development of the mystical power of writing. The
• 34:31
  Speaker 5: pencil too had been discarded, and M had begun to
• 34:34
  Speaker 5: trace the writing with his finger in the air. He could, thus,
• 34:38
  Speaker 5: it appears, write out a message at some length, and
• 34:42
  Speaker 5: was fully able to read it afterwards, just as though
• 34:44
  Speaker 5: there was a piece of paper suspended in the air.
• 34:48
  Speaker 5: Things had thus gone on for many months when M
• 34:51
  Speaker 5: at last awakened to the fact that a great transformation
• 34:55
  Speaker 5: was passing over his moral and intellectual nature, and that
• 34:59
  Speaker 5: some o their mind had permeated his entire being, and
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: he was now conscious that he was ceasing to think
• 35:06
  Speaker 5: his own thoughts. In short, there could not be any
• 35:10
  Speaker 5: doubt that fetters were being woven around him, which he
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: was growing daily more incapable of breaking. The condition of
• 35:18
  Speaker 5: servility and submission, which the control at first affected, was
• 35:22
  Speaker 5: now thrown off, and the latter showed signs of absolute power.
• 35:27
  Speaker 5: No treatment, either hypnotic or medical, had the slightest influence
• 35:31
  Speaker 5: upon the strange phenomenon, and M had now given up
• 35:34
  Speaker 5: all hope from this quarter. Some of the authorities whom
• 35:39
  Speaker 5: he had consulted did not believe in obsession or possession.
• 35:44
  Speaker 5: Others ascribed it to hysteria and fixed ideas help there
• 35:48
  Speaker 5: was none. Doctor ropererre goes on its dangers. I tried
• 35:56
  Speaker 5: to argue with the personality and proved to him that
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: he was merely a conscious product on the part of M.
• 36:02
  Speaker 5: When I persisted in denying the presence of a personality
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: other than and different from that of M, a very
• 36:09
  Speaker 5: frenzy seemed to shake the frame of M, and words
• 36:13
  Speaker 5: of the most abusive kind were leveled at me. What
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: fools you are, it exclaimed, to tamper with things you
• 36:20
  Speaker 5: do not understand, to facilitate the invasion of spirits, and
• 36:24
  Speaker 5: then to deny that they exist, to play with hell
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: fire and then be surprised that it hurts and burns.
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: I challenge you to propose any kind of experiment to
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: test my utter and entire independence of the person of
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: this idiot, with whom I can do absolutely as I please,
• 36:41
  Speaker 5: see how I can handle him and ill treat him.
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: I am now beating and hurting him, and he can
• 36:45
  Speaker 5: do nothing to defend himself. With this, there appeared red
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: spots in different parts of M's face, and he groaned
• 36:54
  Speaker 5: as if in physical pain. Upon this, I replied that
• 36:58
  Speaker 5: I should accept the notion of an independent intelligence if
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: it could be shown to be a fact and could
• 37:04
  Speaker 5: be clearly demonstrated. This he promised to do. Many similar
• 37:11
  Speaker 5: cases can be found in this author's works, particularly Modern
• 37:15
  Speaker 5: Spiritualism and the Supreme Problem, and though they are doubtless
• 37:19
  Speaker 5: colored to some extent by the author's religious prejudices, they
• 37:23
  Speaker 5: are nevertheless valuable as records or human documents, and should
• 37:27
  Speaker 5: be studied as much. There are other spiritualists who have
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: written much on this subject of spirit obsession, as for instance,
• 37:36
  Speaker 5: doctor J. M. Peebles, whose work The Demonism of the
• 37:39
  Speaker 5: Ages or spirit Obsessions should be read by all interested
• 37:43
  Speaker 5: in spiritualism. Many cases are given in this work How
• 37:50
  Speaker 5: obsessing Spirits Gain control. Madame Anita Silvani, who is an
• 37:55
  Speaker 5: experienced and cautious medium, makes the following wise statements concerned
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: the possibilities of obsession in those roughly are over hastily developed.
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: As to the evils experienced by some persons who have
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: sat in circles for development or for the manifestation of
• 38:13
  Speaker 5: psychic power, I would say that the whole theory of
• 38:16
  Speaker 5: magnetic control rests upon a condition of mutual receptivity being
• 38:21
  Speaker 5: established between the members of a circle. But few reflect
• 38:25
  Speaker 5: that the blending of magnetisms with those who form the
• 38:28
  Speaker 5: spirit side of that circle is no less a part
• 38:32
  Speaker 5: of the process, and that without the aid of the
• 38:34
  Speaker 5: magnetism of the sitters present, nothing belonging to the spirit
• 38:38
  Speaker 5: side of life would be obtained. Now in forming a circle,
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: how are you to ensure absolute freedom from the influence
• 38:46
  Speaker 5: of the low or evil earth bound spirits who crowd
• 38:50
  Speaker 5: the streets of a large city. The magnetic aura created
• 38:54
  Speaker 5: by the circle hangs in a cloud around it and
• 38:57
  Speaker 5: draws spirits toward it. Even as the magnet draws iron
• 39:01
  Speaker 5: and steel in everything, bright and rusty, useful tools, and
• 39:04
  Speaker 5: dangerous weapons will be attracted by the powerful magnet poisoned magnetism.
• 39:13
  Speaker 5: If you once admit that the aura of a pure
• 39:15
  Speaker 5: and good person can, under certain conditions, be poisoned by
• 39:19
  Speaker 5: absorbing the tainted mixture from a mixed circle of all
• 39:22
  Speaker 5: sorts of mortals and spirits, you also admit that the
• 39:26
  Speaker 5: good persons can carry home with them a sufficient portion
• 39:29
  Speaker 5: of that poisoned magnetism to form the nucleus of a
• 39:33
  Speaker 5: magnetic state. Congenial to the low and depraved spirits, and
• 39:38
  Speaker 5: into which any of them can enter a second time
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: without the aid of the circle. For this reason we
• 39:44
  Speaker 5: are opposed to mixed or miscellaneous circles, especially when sitters
• 39:48
  Speaker 5: are not sincere and known to one another. We believe
• 39:52
  Speaker 5: that possession is not always evil, and indeed it is
• 39:55
  Speaker 5: often necessary, But it is the continued control of a
• 40:00
  Speaker 5: highly sensitive medium which does the harm by absorbing his
• 40:04
  Speaker 5: finer life essence. An earth bound spirit is like one
• 40:08
  Speaker 5: who belongs to neither Earth, nor Heaven nor Gahenna. He
• 40:12
  Speaker 5: has lost his hold on the Earth's life, and has
• 40:15
  Speaker 5: not yet attained to the spirit world. He lives in
• 40:18
  Speaker 5: his astral body, and, having nothing of his own, must
• 40:21
  Speaker 5: borrow from those both above and below him on the
• 40:23
  Speaker 5: latter of development obsession versus mediumship. Mediumship is necessary. Without it,
• 40:32
  Speaker 5: there would be no means of knowledge, no instruments through
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: which to study the psychic plane. But mediumship, in exact
• 40:40
  Speaker 5: proportion to the magnetic powers it confers, becomes a greater
• 40:44
  Speaker 5: and ever greater source of danger the further its development
• 40:48
  Speaker 5: is carried. Unless the control of those powers can be
• 40:51
  Speaker 5: handled with a firm hand and understood in all its aspects.
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: Knowledge is the best safeguard, and knowledge will be best
• 40:59
  Speaker 5: of tained by those who can study all the conditions
• 41:02
  Speaker 5: of psychic development. It is said that there are two
• 41:06
  Speaker 5: forms of magnetism, the astral and the physical. The fundamental
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: difference between them is due to the different conditions under
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: which the astroplane and the physical plane function. How spirits
• 41:20
  Speaker 5: influence us. It must not be thought, however, that all
• 41:24
  Speaker 5: I have said on obsession relates entirely to spiritualism or
• 41:28
  Speaker 5: to development in circles or in private. We live all
• 41:32
  Speaker 5: the time in a spiritual world as well as in
• 41:34
  Speaker 5: a material one, and hence are open to the possibilities
• 41:38
  Speaker 5: of obsession or influence, both good or bad, and many
• 41:41
  Speaker 5: show in daily life the fact that this influence is
• 41:44
  Speaker 5: strong for or against. Invisible intelligences are said to be
• 41:49
  Speaker 5: with us much of the time, some urging us on
• 41:52
  Speaker 5: to false and wrong deeds, others helping and encouraging us
• 41:56
  Speaker 5: in actions of kindness, sympathy, and benevolence. It is our
• 42:01
  Speaker 5: duty to get in touch with the latter as much
• 42:03
  Speaker 5: as possible, and then we shall receive inspiration and enlightenment
• 42:07
  Speaker 5: from higher sources than any at present about us. The
• 42:11
  Speaker 5: difficulty is to know how to do this without risk,
• 42:14
  Speaker 5: For as Saint Paul said, we must try the spirits
• 42:18
  Speaker 5: and endeavor to prove to our own satisfaction whether they
• 42:21
  Speaker 5: are good or bad. There are various types of obsession,
• 42:26
  Speaker 5: but for our present purposes we shall omit many of
• 42:29
  Speaker 5: the odd and exceptional phases, such as vampires, which will
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: be discussed later on in this book, and shall speak
• 42:36
  Speaker 5: only of the ordinary type of spiritistic obsession. The magnetic link.
• 42:43
  Speaker 5: The body and mind are doubtless connected by a sort
• 42:46
  Speaker 5: of magnetic link. The mind and the physical body are
• 42:49
  Speaker 5: connected by means of a fluidic or etheric body in
• 42:53
  Speaker 5: shape the double of the physical body. It is owing
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: to the fact that this body becomes detached from the
• 42:59
  Speaker 5: physical frame at times that many of the phenomena of
• 43:03
  Speaker 5: obsession and insanity occur. The lines of force are broken,
• 43:07
  Speaker 5: and the etheric body becomes, first of all loosened inside
• 43:11
  Speaker 5: the physical body, and then separated more or less altogether
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: from it. Without the wish of the subject, who may
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: even be altogether unconscious of the process and not know
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: what is going on within him, He only experience is
• 43:26
  Speaker 5: the resultant phenomena, and it is for this reason that
• 43:28
  Speaker 5: he does not know what method or course of treatment
• 43:31
  Speaker 5: to pursue in order to get better or become cured.
• 43:36
  Speaker 5: All ordinary treatment is for this reason useless. Medical and
• 43:41
  Speaker 5: physiological treatment for the reason that it acts only on
• 43:44
  Speaker 5: the physical body, not on the mind, and hypnotic or
• 43:47
  Speaker 5: other psychological treatment is almost equally useless for the reason
• 43:52
  Speaker 5: that it acts on the mind without reaching the physical body.
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: Any form of treatment which really cures must aim to
• 44:00
  Speaker 5: act upon the etheric link or connection between mind and body,
• 44:05
  Speaker 5: and to act upon it in such a way that
• 44:06
  Speaker 5: it will become readjusted both to the mind and body,
• 44:10
  Speaker 5: and this, once accomplished, the mind will be restored to
• 44:14
  Speaker 5: its condition of health and sanity. One of the chief
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: things to do, therefore, is to act upon this magnetic
• 44:21
  Speaker 5: link and draw back the etheric body into the physical
• 44:26
  Speaker 5: We know that anesthetics of all kinds tend to drive
• 44:30
  Speaker 5: out or disconnect the etheric from the physical body, and
• 44:34
  Speaker 5: it is possible that some day in the future science
• 44:37
  Speaker 5: may discover a drug which will have the reverse effect
• 44:41
  Speaker 5: of driving or drawing back the etheric into the physical body.
• 44:46
  Speaker 5: When this has been discovered, it will doubtless be the
• 44:48
  Speaker 5: means of curing many cases of insanity at present held
• 44:53
  Speaker 5: incurable for the present inasmuch as this drug has never
• 44:57
  Speaker 5: been discovered, we must resort to magnetic and mesmeric treatment
• 45:02
  Speaker 5: and other methods of cure, to be enumerated more fully
• 45:05
  Speaker 5: later on in this chapter. Early symptoms of obsession. First
• 45:12
  Speaker 5: of all, let us consider some of the typical symptoms
• 45:15
  Speaker 5: of obsession when they occur. One of the primary things
• 45:20
  Speaker 5: which will be noticed, probably will be that the patient
• 45:23
  Speaker 5: will be unable to sleep properly. He suffers from insomnia
• 45:27
  Speaker 5: coupled with restlessness and irritability. Soon after this, he begins
• 45:33
  Speaker 5: to experience a dull ache or pain at the base
• 45:36
  Speaker 5: of the brain, sometimes at the base of the spine. Also,
• 45:41
  Speaker 5: these spots will be tender to the touch. A general
• 45:45
  Speaker 5: debilitated or run down nervous condition will be present, perhaps
• 45:49
  Speaker 5: unnoticed until attention be drawn to the fact. If the
• 45:53
  Speaker 5: subject has been practicing automatic writing, let us say, he
• 45:57
  Speaker 5: will begin to have a more or less persistent desire
• 46:00
  Speaker 5: to write. This will keep pressing him forward and urging
• 46:04
  Speaker 5: him to try what he can get with pencil or planchette.
• 46:08
  Speaker 5: Thoughts seem put into his head. Ideas impressions and impulses
• 46:13
  Speaker 5: which urge him to perform certain actions or do certain things.
• 46:18
  Speaker 5: These will increase in intensity and frequens danger signals. From
• 46:25
  Speaker 5: this point onward, great caution should be used. As the
• 46:29
  Speaker 5: danger point or dividing of the ways has now been reached.
• 46:33
  Speaker 5: A careful student of the occult might point out that
• 46:36
  Speaker 5: the symptoms mentioned above and in the first chapter are
• 46:40
  Speaker 5: alarmingly similar to those in the early stages of some
• 46:43
  Speaker 5: types of insanity. This is true, I describe them earlier
• 46:48
  Speaker 5: in this book. Be it understood not as desirable symptoms,
• 46:53
  Speaker 5: but as those which are likely to appear, and for
• 46:56
  Speaker 5: which the students should be on the lookout. The facts
• 47:01
  Speaker 5: should be placed before him, and when he is in
• 47:03
  Speaker 5: possession of the knowledge concerning them, he will know how
• 47:06
  Speaker 5: best to meet them if he observes such symptoms. We
• 47:12
  Speaker 5: see therefore the importance of careful and systematic development in
• 47:16
  Speaker 5: the cultivation of mediumship is I have so often pointed
• 47:19
  Speaker 5: out before in this book. After the above stage has
• 47:24
  Speaker 5: been reached, it is probable that the student who is
• 47:27
  Speaker 5: on the wrong road will hear words as though inside
• 47:30
  Speaker 5: his head or externally in space, or possibly in his
• 47:34
  Speaker 5: solar plexus, though this is more rare, or the phenomena
• 47:39
  Speaker 5: may take the visual turn, in which case the patient
• 47:42
  Speaker 5: will see things mostly of an unpleasant nature, such as snakes, devils,
• 47:47
  Speaker 5: or monstrous or grotesque living objects. Thenceforward, unfavorable symptoms will
• 47:54
  Speaker 5: probably develop rapidly until a patient is completely obsessed and
• 47:58
  Speaker 5: under control. The line to be pursued in cases of
• 48:02
  Speaker 5: this character is twofold first prevention, second cure, prevention of obsession, prevention.
• 48:14
  Speaker 5: Sound physical health is essential for all wholesome, spiritual and
• 48:17
  Speaker 5: mediumistic advancement, and if the patient is sick or ill,
• 48:21
  Speaker 5: and especially if run down or depleted nervously, he should
• 48:26
  Speaker 5: stop all mediumistic practices until he is again restored to health.
• 48:31
  Speaker 5: Plenty of outdoor exercise of as rugged a nature as
• 48:35
  Speaker 5: possible would do wonders. In cases of this character, fresh
• 48:39
  Speaker 5: air both day and night is essential. Tea, coffee, and
• 48:43
  Speaker 5: alcohol should be avoided. Plenty of milk should be drunk
• 48:47
  Speaker 5: by the patient, as this both restores and builds up
• 48:51
  Speaker 5: the nervous system in a way that nothing else can.
• 48:55
  Speaker 5: Above all, plenty of sleep must be obtained, and no
• 48:59
  Speaker 5: matter whether the patient desires ten hours or more at night,
• 49:02
  Speaker 5: this should be allowed and plenty of rest at all
• 49:05
  Speaker 5: other times. This is very essential at this stage of
• 49:09
  Speaker 5: the proceedings. The mental and spiritual health must be maintained
• 49:14
  Speaker 5: equally with the physical. Your critical judgment and common sense
• 49:19
  Speaker 5: must be exercised now as always, both in judging the
• 49:22
  Speaker 5: messages received and in the general conduct of life. Do
• 49:27
  Speaker 5: not believe everything which is told you, as there are
• 49:30
  Speaker 5: many lying and deceiving intelligences, as well as useful and
• 49:34
  Speaker 5: good ones. Above all, do not act upon or obey
• 49:38
  Speaker 5: messages which do not strongly appeal to your own good
• 49:42
  Speaker 5: sense and worldly judgment. If you keep up your mediumistic practices,
• 49:47
  Speaker 5: sit only a short time each day, not more than
• 49:50
  Speaker 5: fifteen or twenty minutes at the longest, and if possible,
• 49:54
  Speaker 5: at the same time each day. These two rules, as
• 49:59
  Speaker 5: before pointed out, are very important. Never allow yourself to
• 50:03
  Speaker 5: continue beyond the time limit you have set yourself, no
• 50:06
  Speaker 5: matter how interesting the communications may be. But say in
• 50:10
  Speaker 5: a firm, loud voice, we must stop now, or I
• 50:15
  Speaker 5: will sit again at the same time tomorrow for the
• 50:18
  Speaker 5: continuation of the message. You should then discontinue the writing.
• 50:25
  Speaker 5: Important warnings and precautions. Never go inside your own head
• 50:29
  Speaker 5: and examine its processes or introspect for too long a time.
• 50:34
  Speaker 5: The wonders of brain and thought may appeal to your imagination,
• 50:37
  Speaker 5: but never let them influence you or cause you to
• 50:40
  Speaker 5: turn your thoughts inward in the attempt to solve them.
• 50:44
  Speaker 5: If you do, it is sure to end disastrously. And
• 50:47
  Speaker 5: there is no more reason why you should be conscious
• 50:49
  Speaker 5: of your thinking apparatus than of your digestive or circulatory apparatus,
• 50:54
  Speaker 5: which is equally mysterious and wonderful. Let them go on
• 50:58
  Speaker 5: by themselves, without thinking anything about them, but using them
• 51:02
  Speaker 5: rather as instruments for your life purposes. Always keep an
• 51:08
  Speaker 5: interest in external things, and live, as it were, outside
• 51:12
  Speaker 5: your head in the outer world all the time. Become
• 51:15
  Speaker 5: interested in matter of fact and worldly objects and interests,
• 51:19
  Speaker 5: as this will tend to distract your mind from yourself
• 51:23
  Speaker 5: and restore you to a condition of normal, healthy mindedness.
• 51:28
  Speaker 5: Cultivate a sense of humor, and never take yourself or
• 51:31
  Speaker 5: your mediumship so seriously that you cannot see the humor
• 51:35
  Speaker 5: aside of a situation. When it may arise, Endeavor to
• 51:39
  Speaker 5: harden the inner self, so to say, and focus and
• 51:42
  Speaker 5: concentrate it at a given point, which is under your
• 51:45
  Speaker 5: conscious volition and control. Keep this center of consciousness always intact,
• 51:52
  Speaker 5: and be sure that the center is yourself. Do not
• 51:56
  Speaker 5: focus either the sight or the interest on external images
• 51:59
  Speaker 5: or pressions when these become persistent. When this is the case,
• 52:04
  Speaker 5: force yourself to banish them by an effort of will
• 52:08
  Speaker 5: and by deliberately turning the attention into other more practical directions.
• 52:14
  Speaker 5: Further advice when dropping to sleep, always keep your mind
• 52:19
  Speaker 5: centered on yourself, and never allow yourself any flights of imagination,
• 52:24
  Speaker 5: and never wonder what is going on or endeavor to
• 52:26
  Speaker 5: catch yourself falling asleep as you might with safety. Do
• 52:30
  Speaker 5: at other times value sleep and look upon it as
• 52:34
  Speaker 5: a kindly friend. Even those who are seriously obsessed are
• 52:38
  Speaker 5: safe when they are asleep, and no matter how terrifying
• 52:42
  Speaker 5: their daily experiences, voices, or visions may be, they very
• 52:47
  Speaker 5: rarely have unpleasant or terrifying dreams. Sleep is the resting
• 52:52
  Speaker 5: time of the soul, and if the spirit is en
• 52:55
  Speaker 5: rapport with itself as it should be, it will be
• 52:58
  Speaker 5: protected from all external influences during the hours of sleep.
• 53:04
  Speaker 5: Cultivate your own force of will and self possession. If
• 53:07
  Speaker 5: the emotional nature is too intense, This should, by all
• 53:11
  Speaker 5: means be calmed down, especially before going to sleep. A
• 53:16
  Speaker 5: prolonged warm bath will have a very good effect. In
• 53:19
  Speaker 5: such cases. One other preventative practice will be found very useful.
• 53:25
  Speaker 5: It is this. Seated in a dark room, concentrate your
• 53:29
  Speaker 5: will upon the outer limits of your aura, that is
• 53:33
  Speaker 5: the uric egg, which was described in the chapter on
• 53:35
  Speaker 5: the Aura. By proper concentration and practice, you will be
• 53:39
  Speaker 5: enabled to harden or toughen the outer shell, as it were,
• 53:43
  Speaker 5: of this uric egg, rendering it impervious to extraneous psychic
• 53:48
  Speaker 5: or spiritual influences. This you should always practice before dropping
• 53:52
  Speaker 5: off to sleep. Those who have developed this power in
• 53:56
  Speaker 5: a proper and adequate manner are absolutely impervious to any
• 54:00
  Speaker 5: evil or malign influences from without the cure of obsession.
• 54:07
  Speaker 5: Cure supposing now that you have not taken these precautions
• 54:11
  Speaker 5: in time, and that you have become actually obsessed for
• 54:14
  Speaker 5: the time being, or that you meet one who is
• 54:17
  Speaker 5: unfortunate enough to be in that condition, what is to
• 54:21
  Speaker 5: be done? The advice which was given under the last
• 54:25
  Speaker 5: heading should be followed here to some extent. The physical
• 54:29
  Speaker 5: health should be built up by all means in your power.
• 54:32
  Speaker 5: Sleep is absolutely essential, and as much of it must
• 54:35
  Speaker 5: be secured as possible. It may be necessary even to
• 54:39
  Speaker 5: resort to sleeping drafts or powders in order to secure
• 54:43
  Speaker 5: the necessary sleep. These should be prescribed by your regular physician. However,
• 54:49
  Speaker 5: while drugs are doubtless harmful, bromide and similar medicines can
• 54:53
  Speaker 5: be taken with benefit at such a time, since the
• 54:56
  Speaker 5: evil effects of the drug are more than counterbalanced by
• 54:59
  Speaker 5: the benefits drived by mind and spirit. Alcohol must be
• 55:04
  Speaker 5: discontinued at once in a milk diet substituted. You must
• 55:08
  Speaker 5: impress upon the patient, for such he is now that
• 55:12
  Speaker 5: no one can help him beyond a certain limited point.
• 55:15
  Speaker 5: He must help himself. The cure must come from within
• 55:19
  Speaker 5: rather than from without. How to use the mind? Distract
• 55:26
  Speaker 5: his mind by all possible methods, so as to make
• 55:28
  Speaker 5: it objective instead of introspective. Do not let him go
• 55:32
  Speaker 5: inside his head for a moment to listen to the
• 55:35
  Speaker 5: voices or to see the visions which float before him.
• 55:38
  Speaker 5: But immediately anything of the kind occurs, distract his attention
• 55:42
  Speaker 5: and interest him in something which is going on about him,
• 55:46
  Speaker 5: and of as dramatic a nature as possible, so as
• 55:49
  Speaker 5: to insure attention. Do not let him go inside his head,
• 55:54
  Speaker 5: for the more he lives within himself, the more difficult
• 55:57
  Speaker 5: will he be to cure. You must teach him to
• 56:00
  Speaker 5: disregard or to deny the voices or impressions which insistently
• 56:05
  Speaker 5: come to him. If they flatter him and tell him
• 56:08
  Speaker 5: to do certain things, teach him that these voices are
• 56:11
  Speaker 5: evil and lying and are not to be trusted, for
• 56:15
  Speaker 5: if they were otherwise, he would not be in his
• 56:17
  Speaker 5: present condition. Never imagine for a moment that an obsessed
• 56:22
  Speaker 5: person is illogical or is not open to reason. His
• 56:26
  Speaker 5: reasoning faculties are often keenly alert and have often to
• 56:30
  Speaker 5: be appealed to to affect a cure. These mental devices
• 56:35
  Speaker 5: are very important, though they do not, as before said,
• 56:39
  Speaker 5: go to the root of the matter diagnosis and treatment.
• 56:45
  Speaker 5: Clairvoyant diagnosis is very valuable, and a trained clairvoyant can
• 56:50
  Speaker 5: sometimes see the obsessing spirits and describe them. When this
• 56:54
  Speaker 5: is the case, the problem of cure becomes more real
• 56:57
  Speaker 5: and more apparent. If the patients in the efficacy of prayer,
• 57:01
  Speaker 5: this is doubtless a potent method of cure. The religious
• 57:05
  Speaker 5: nature is one of the most fundamental sides of our character,
• 57:09
  Speaker 5: and is a factor which is capable of exerting an
• 57:11
  Speaker 5: immense pressure when properly brought to bear. Encourage the patient
• 57:17
  Speaker 5: therefore to pray if he is at all of a
• 57:19
  Speaker 5: religious turn of mind. Magnetic treatment such as passes, etc.
• 57:26
  Speaker 5: Is often very valuable and will assist in restoring the
• 57:29
  Speaker 5: patient to health by acting upon the etheric body direct
• 57:33
  Speaker 5: as before explained, combined with suggestion, this is one of
• 57:37
  Speaker 5: the most potent weapons that can be used in our
• 57:40
  Speaker 5: present state of knowledge. By these methods also weaken, in
• 57:44
  Speaker 5: some cases toughen the outer protective auric shell. If the
• 57:48
  Speaker 5: patient is unable to direct his mind sufficiently to do
• 57:51
  Speaker 5: this himself. By proper striving, however, he will soon place
• 57:56
  Speaker 5: himself in the direction of the great healing cosmic currents,
• 58:00
  Speaker 5: and when once he has done so, will begin to
• 58:02
  Speaker 5: improve immediately and make rapid progress. Spiritual treatment, the most
• 58:09
  Speaker 5: important remedial measure, must now be described inasmuch as the
• 58:13
  Speaker 5: obsessing intelligences are spirits, usually of an evil or lying nature,
• 58:18
  Speaker 5: though they may be only ignorant or bungling, who have
• 58:22
  Speaker 5: wrecked the medium's nervous mechanism through their ignorance of how
• 58:25
  Speaker 5: to operate it. They are capable of being reached and
• 58:28
  Speaker 5: removed by other spirits. That is, we should approach them
• 58:32
  Speaker 5: not from the physical or even the mental plane, but
• 58:35
  Speaker 5: from the spirit side of life. One of the best
• 58:39
  Speaker 5: ways to do this is to secure the services of
• 58:41
  Speaker 5: a reliable trance or clairvoyant medium, who, in the mediumistic condition,
• 58:47
  Speaker 5: is capable of discerning the spirits and influencing the patient.
• 58:52
  Speaker 5: An experienced medium of this character has with him certain
• 58:56
  Speaker 5: guides or controls who are helpful and friendly. These guides,
• 59:01
  Speaker 5: if called upon, will assist by arguing with or, if necessary,
• 59:06
  Speaker 5: forcefully removing the obsessing intelligences who are influencing the psychic.
• 59:11
  Speaker 5: The case should be explained to the medium's guides when
• 59:14
  Speaker 5: the latter is in trance and their assistance asked. They
• 59:18
  Speaker 5: will then undertake to remove the obsessing spirits, and will
• 59:21
  Speaker 5: often succeed in doing so after a few trials, though
• 59:25
  Speaker 5: in some instances they are unable to persuade or induce
• 59:28
  Speaker 5: the obsessing spirits to leave, and are not powerful enough
• 59:31
  Speaker 5: to enforce their removal. This, however, is the most potent
• 59:37
  Speaker 5: and effectual method which we know at present, and should
• 59:40
  Speaker 5: be employed whenever possible. If a medium of this character
• 59:44
  Speaker 5: is unavailable, then a second person should speak to the
• 59:47
  Speaker 5: obsessing intelligences direct and reason with them as he would
• 59:51
  Speaker 5: with a human being, pointing out to them the uselessness
• 59:55
  Speaker 5: of the proceeding, the injury they are doing, the medium,
• 59:58
  Speaker 5: the harm to themselves, et cetera. It is rare, indeed,
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 5: that such measures, properly applied and coupled with a mental
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 5: and physical treatment described above, will fail to remove the
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 5: influences which are at work the brighter side of the
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 5: subject I have described fully and freely, the seamy side
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 5: of spiritualism and its possible dangers. The student must not
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 5: be discouraged, however, from this black outlook. The dangers exist, truly,
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 5: but they also exist in other lines of experimental research,
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 5: and many lives have been lost in attempts to perfect
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 5: some system of medicine or some antidote for poison, which
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 5: today we use with safety. It is the same here. Properly,
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 5: carefully and systematically developed mediumships should present none of these
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 5: dangers or difficulties, but should, on the contrary, bring the
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 5: student into touch with higher planes of thought and activity,
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 5: and enable him to approach the more angelic sphere of being,
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 5: as by careless a wrong development, he will as surely
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 5: come in contact with spirits of the opposite nature. For
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 5: this reason, I again urge the student to study and
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 5: practice carefully and cautiously as he proceeds, so that none
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 5: of these unpleasant or terrifying experiences may at any time
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 5: come to him. End of Chapter twenty three.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty four Prayer, concentration, and silence. The subjects treated
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: in this chapter will probably be of special value to
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: the student after that. Immediately preceding it, we have already
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: spoken of the value of prayer in certain cases, and
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: it may be said that both silence and concentration under
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: certain conditions will always prove of great value, not only
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: in the cure of obsession, but at all other times
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: when dark clouds loom up on the horizon. In order
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: to secure the best results from these psychological processes, however,
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: they should be practiced according to certain laws, and the
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: reason for their operation should be thoroughly understood by the student.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: What the silence really signifies, what is called the silence
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: in general new thought philosophy is a peculiar psychic state
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: into which the student enters in order to secure certain results.
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: As the term implies, quiet or silence are necessary factors,
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: but they are mere means to an end. Silence in
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: itself would achieve nothing. It means that, in this condition,
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: thereby induced, certain practices may be followed which produce the
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: desired results. Concentration is the focusing of the entire being
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: at any given moment upon a central point of interest,
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: either inward or outward, as the case may be, it
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: may be upon some object or some inner thought or
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: psychic condition. Concentration upon objects is usually employed as a
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: mere outward exercise to train the mind to act according
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: to instructions, so to speak, so that when the time comes,
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: it may be employed in useful and helpful psychic activity.
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: The value of concentration concentration means power. The more we
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: concentrate on anything, the more certain it is to be accomplished,
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: and the better will the results be. Just as a
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: number of streams meeting at a certain point will create
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: a rushing, mighty current, so in the same manner will
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: scattered psychic activity and forces, if brought to a common point,
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: produce certain powerful results, which may be centered or turned
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: into one direction or into another. One of the chief
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: practical uses of concentration is the use it may be
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: put to to hold or bind the self together. We
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: should never let it be scattered in a variety of
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: separate channels of expression, but rather concentrated into one single
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: powerful unit. Just as the strands of a rope may
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: become separated, so the mind may become disintegrated and lose
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: its initial power. In this weakened condition can be acted
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: upon by other minds and forces, just as the single
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: strands of rope can be broken, but the whole rope
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: would resist any strain put upon it. That the mind,
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: when concentrated in acting under proper direction and control, is
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: similarly impervious to all outside influences which may not be desired,
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: and at the same time is itself a powerful factor,
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: either for good or evil Concentration exercises. A few simple
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: exercises in concentration may here be given which will be
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: found useful not only in psychic development, but in every
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: phase of life. One read a page of some heavy
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: technical book, the meaning of which is not at all
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 1: clear to you. Reread the page with the determination to
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: understand what it means. Read this over a number of
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: times if necessary, never letting your will relax for a moment,
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: but determined to understand the thought of the author. If
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: you do this, you will, after a few readings the
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: number varies, be enabled to grasp fully what is meant.
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 2: Two.
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: Place a watch in front of you and look at
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: the second hand until it has completed the circle marking
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: the minute. During this process, never let your thoughts wander
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: from the second hand for a moment. Concentrate upon it fully.
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: You will probably find that your thoughts are wandering and
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: that you cannot, even for the space of a minute,
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: fix them absolutely under your control. Practice this until you
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: have succeeded in accomplishing it. Three. Call up before your
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: mind's eye a picture of a certain living friend. Hold
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: this image in front of you as long as possible,
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: making the details in every way as clear as you can,
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: by endeavoring to fill out mentally the collar, of the hair,
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: of the eyes, the complexion, and any peculiar markings that
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: you can remember. Now when the face is vivid before
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: your mind's eye, see whether you can discover any peculiarities
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: in the face hitherto unknown to you. If you know
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: anything of the kind, ascertain the next time you see
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: this friend whether or not these impressions are correct. Four,
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: Call up before your mental vision the face of some
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: dead relative or friend. Concentrate upon it, holding it firmly
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: before you in space, Study it closely, filling in all
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: details as before. Finally, when you have held this vividly
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: for a minute or so, without wavering in your attention,
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: open your psychic or mental ears, so to speak, and
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: see if you can receive any message from the person
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: whose face is before you. This will be found a
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: very useful practice on occasion at the beginning of your mediumship,
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: and will enable you possibly to receive direct communications when
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: you have tried in every other way and failed. You
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: will not be able to do so, however, until you
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: have mastered fully this faculty of concentration. The dynamic power
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: of the mind having progressed so far, you may now
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: concentrate upon certain mental or psychic processes, while willing or
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: demanding that some return be made as a result of
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: your volitional activity. Remember that every thought you send out
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: into the universe attracts to itself others of a like nature,
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: and ultimately returns to the sender with added power, just
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: as a boomerang returns to the thrower. Altruistic thoughts such
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: as love, justice, forgiveness, et cetera, will therefore return to
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: the owner and make him happier for having thought them.
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: Evil and malevolent thoughts will, on the contrary, return and
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: make the sender more unhappy and more innately evil. In consequence,
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: the path we travel, whether it be upward or downward,
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: always gets easier as we proceed. We are helped along
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: not only by the powers of good or darkness, but
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: by our own thoughts and their results. Thoughts are things.
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 1: No thought is ever annihilated, and there is evidence to
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: show that thought can take material form on occasion and influence,
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: either for good or evil, those at a distance. This
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: will be more fully explained, however, in subsequent chapters. The
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: value of prayer. We must now say a few words
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: on prayer and its great value to one who sends
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: out the prayer thought. There are many who believe that
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: prayer is superstition, since they do not believe in a
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: personal God who grants or answers prayers, but rather in
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: an impersonal creative power which orders all things according to
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: unvarying laws. Even on this theory, however, prayer under certain
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: conditions is fully justified for In the first place, as
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: we have just seen, healthful and wholesome thoughts tend to
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: bring their own reward. In the next place, prayer is
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: an auto suggestion of great value, and its influence upon
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: the mental and physical life is frequently very great. In
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: the third place, prayer will help and booy you up
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: by giving you added confidence and belief in your powers.
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: In the fourth place, inasmuch as telepathy is a fact
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: and nature, you may, while in that condition, reach the
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: minds of other human beings who can help you and
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: will actually do so without knowing why. The many interesting
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: cases which may be found of answers to prayers bringing
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: a material return fully justify its use. From that point
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: of view. Fifth, you can doubtless reach by telepathy friends
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: in this spirit life who may be brought into more
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: or less direct touch with you during the prayerful condition
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: of mind, which is certainly closely akin to certain phases
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: of subjective mediumship. They may, in this manner be made
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: aware of your condition for the first time, and will
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: then endeavor to help you. Sixth, by prayer, you may
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: bring yourself into harmony with the great cosmic currents of good,
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: which as before explained are playing hither and thither upon
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: our universe in much the same way as light, heat, gravitation, electricity,
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: and other material forces play or act upon it and us.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: All these material factors must be taken into account apart
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: from the possibility that there is a receptive, loving, and
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: protecting power in the world which is capable of helping
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 1: us in time of need. Prayer in obsession. In obsession cases, particularly,
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: prayer is of value because of the relief from tension
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: and the wholesome mental attitude induced. Just as a drowning
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: man will clutch at a straw, so those who are
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: in terrable distress will frequently resort to this practice when
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: they would not think of doing so at any other time,
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: and in a sense they are justified in so doing.
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: There is an old saying that man's extremity is God's opportunity.
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: It may be that prayer in the ordinary sense of
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: the word is not needed during an ordinary, healthy life,
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: provided that it is lived in accordance with the laws
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: of nature and according to its own highest mental and
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: spiritual insight. At the same time, there may be occasions
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: when it is justified and helpful, and certainly it is
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: proved so in certain cases of difficulty and obsession. How
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: prayer cures the beneficial effects of prayer may be explained
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: in many cases quite simply, as explained in the chapter
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: devoted to the subconscious mind. Certain groups of thoughts tend
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: to become bound together, forming what is known as a complex.
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: If this activity be wholesome, the result is beneficial, and
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: in fact, all are educational processes depend upon this complex formation.
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: On the other hand, these groups of thoughts may be harmful,
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: in which case they tend to press upon the mind
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: from beneath in much the same way that physical tumors
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: might press upon some healthy structure in the body and
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: impede its functional activity. The mind therefore becomes diseased by
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: reason of this pressure, and will only resume its wholesome attitude.
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: When this pressure is removed by means of hypnotic suggestion
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: and spiritual treatment, the mind may be opened up, explored,
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: and this complex found and removed. This once done, the
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: mind is restored to its wholesome activity and the cure
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: is complete. This is known in technical language as the
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: purging treatment. As soon as the unwholesome load is removed,
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: the mind is cured. Now in prayer, when a full
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: and free confession is made, this same purging process occurs.
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: The mind is freed from its burden and is consequently
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: restored to health by its own inner nature. This being so,
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: it may be seen that prayer as such is a
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: real curative process, and in many types of obsession and
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: similar cases it may be employed effectually, as before said,
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: as a therapeutic measure of great value in curing the
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: sick mind. End of Chapter.
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 6: Twenty four, Chapter twenty five. The human fluid. The human
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 6: body is charged with a certain magnetism which differs from
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 6: all other forms of magnetism tricity in the world. All
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 6: other forces of which we have knowledge are non intelligent,
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 6: and have to be guided and directed by mind or
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 6: by some law in order to bring about any definite
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 6: or desired result. It is therefore meaningless to explain the
• 1:13:14
  Speaker 6: continued and consecutive movements of the plant, chet board, or
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 6: any similar instrument by saying it is due to magnetism,
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 6: or to electricity, or to any similar power. These are
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 6: all blind forces, and must be directed in order that
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 6: any intelligent result may be obtained. The vital magnetism which
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 6: is present in the body is also a blind force,
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 6: but it is under the control of a subconscious mind,
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 6: and under certain conditions to be spoken of later, may
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 6: be played upon or manipulated by external intelligences. In this way,
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 6: the various results are obtained nature and properties of the fluid.
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 6: This vital magnetism appears to be fluidic or semi fluidic
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 6: in form, and capable of flowing from one organism into another.
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 6: It is upon this principle that various magnetic cures are based.
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 6: The fluid running from the operator's fingers into the body
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 6: of the patient treated. That this fluidic energy is present
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 6: in any human body may be proven in a number
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 6: of ways. In the first place, the human aura which
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 6: are described in an earlier chapter is partly a manifestation
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 6: of this vital activity, the colors being the varying vibratory
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 6: counterparts of the energy radiated. In psychometry. Again, it is
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 6: this vital energy which passes into objects, impregnating them with
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 6: its fluidic properties. Each individual has its own peculiarly constituted
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 6: and personal vital magnetism, and this differs from all others
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 6: in quality and properties. A fully developed psychic is enabled
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 6: to distinguish these one from another, and a medium in
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 6: a trance may be enabled to get into communication with
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 6: a deceased person through or by means of this fluidic
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 6: impression left upon it, as explained in the chapter devoted
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 6: to trance. One or two practical examples or exercises may
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 6: serve to show the student the reality of this fluidic emanation,
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 6: and how he may employ these to convince his skeptical
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 6: friends also of its reality. Experiment to prove the existence
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 6: of the fluid one, a very simple test is the following.
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 6: Hang a dead black cloth over the back of a chair,
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 6: and see that no light falls directly on the cloth.
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 6: The light in the room should be somewhat subdued, and
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 6: you should stand between it and the cloth, so as
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 6: to throw your hands held against the latter, into shadow.
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 6: Now approach your two hands one to the other, and
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 6: touch the fingertips together, the hands being otherwise opened wide,
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 6: palms turn towards yourself, and thumbs pointing towards the ceiling.
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 6: In this condition, you will probably find that as the
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 6: first and fourth fingertips touch, the second and third have
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 6: to be bent considerably to touch one another. The hand should
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 6: be at a distance of about three inches from the
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 6: black cloth and about fifteen inches from your face. Hold
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 6: the fingertips together for about thirty seconds, then very gradually
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 6: pull them apart, and you will see coming from and
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 6: joining your fingers streams of whitish misty vapor, which is
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 6: the fluid connection between the hands which you have established
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 6: by the previous contact. If you move the finger slightly
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 6: up and down after they have been separated an inch
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 6: or so, you will find that the stream or bands
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 6: of light followed the fingers still connecting them, which will
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 6: prove that this is not due to a hallucination or
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 6: to what is called persistence of vision. How to magnetize
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 6: water Two, Place two glasses of water side by side
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 6: on the table. Over one of these, place the tips
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 6: of your fingers held together so as to form a
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 6: point as much as possible. Hold these over the water
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 6: in one glass for four or five minutes, willing that
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 6: your vital magnetism should pass into the water and affect it.
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 6: If now you ask a sensitive person who has not
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 6: seen you perform the experiment to pick out the glass
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 6: of water which has been treated magnetically, he will be
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 6: able to do so almost invariably and will tell you
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 6: that the water sparkles as though charged with some effervescent gas.
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 6: Life preserved by the human fluid. Some recent experiments conducted
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 6: by a group of scientific men in Bordeaux, France, have
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 6: proved conclusively that the human body radiates a form of
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 6: vital energy which may be extremely powerful in its results.
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 6: A lady possessing the power of projection or externalizing this
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 6: vital energy in a remarkable degree, discovered that by placing
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 6: her hands for fifteen or twenty minutes daily for a
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 6: period of two or three weeks over certain dead objects
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 6: such as oysters, canary birds, fishes, and even larger animals
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 6: such as guinea pigs and rabbits, she was enabled to
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 6: preserve them indefinitely. That is, instead of decomposing as they
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 6: ordinarily would have done, they dried up or mummified and
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 6: were preserved for months with no changes whatever taking place
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 6: in their substance. They never decomposed, proofs of the human fluid.
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 6: This fact was fully endorsed by several chemists and physicians
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 6: who studied her case, and they stated that this was
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 6: due to the fact that the vital emanation coming from
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 6: her body killed or destroyed the bacteria usually present in
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 6: all these bodies after death. This could be traced with
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 6: the microscope. For example, six oysters were allowed to decompose
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 6: partially while six were treated by her. The six that
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 6: were treated never decomposed at all, but dried up or
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 6: desiccated without any putrefaction. Now, when the other half dozen
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 6: oysters had partially decomposed and bacteria could be seen under
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 6: the microscope, Madam X was requested to place her hands
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 6: over the oysters and treat them. After fifteen minutes treatment,
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 6: they were again examined and found that thousands of bacteria
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 6: had been killed. At the end of a few days,
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 6: it all disappeared and the oysters dried up, and thenceforward,
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 6: no decomposition whatever was noted. This is a very striking
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 6: proof of the reality of the human fluid and its
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 6: peculiar action in certain cases. There is evidence to show, however,
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 6: that in other instances its action is different from this,
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 6: and that it imparts life and energy rather than proves
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 6: destructive as in the above unique case. Many persons have
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 6: the power of preserving the life of flowers by treating
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 6: them with their hands in a similar manner every day,
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 6: and the student might well try this experiment and to
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 6: see what extent he can preserve the life of certain flowers,
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 6: others of a like nature being preserved at the same
• 1:19:23
  Speaker 6: time by another person and under similar conditions, to note
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 6: the difference, if any, between the true sets. It is
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 6: this vital magnetism, which projected beyond the bodily limits under
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 6: the action of the will, is responsible for many physical phenomena,
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 6: as we shall see in Chapter thirty eight how material
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 6: objects become charged by the fluid. Material objects, particularly of
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 6: a sponge like nature, such as wood, are capable of
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 6: being charged up very highly by this vital magnetism, and
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 6: when this is the case, they become all rapport with
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 6: the medium, who is enabled to move or manipulate them
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 6: from a distance by his power of wa will. Because
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 6: of this vital fluidic connection. We shall speak more fully
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 6: of this. However, in the chapter devoted to physical phenomena.
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 6: It may be proved experimentally also that this fluidic magnetism
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 6: is either capable of sensing pain, or as the means
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 6: whereby pain is carried from the nerve centers to the
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 6: consciousness exteriorization of sensibility. Under certain conditions, the fluidic body,
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 6: which is the inner part of the physical body and
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 6: acts as its double, may be hypnotic and magnetic processes
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 6: can be removed entirely from the physical body, in which
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 6: case it may be set upon by the suggestion from
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 6: others present of the time. For example, Colonel Albert de
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 6: Rochas of Paris succeeded in entirely disengaging or separating the
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 6: fluidic body of his subject from the physical body, and
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 6: gradually removed it to greater and greater distances until it
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 6: stood several feet from the entranced subject's physical organism. He
• 1:20:56
  Speaker 6: then pricked the surface of the fluidic body with needles,
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 6: and the sleeping subject experience these sensations of pain in
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 6: her own physical body at the spot or point exactly
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 6: corresponding to the point picked on the etheric body. Repercussion.
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 6: This seems to show that there is a direct vital
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 6: or magnetic link between the etheric and the physical organisms,
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 6: and that injury done to the one reacts upon the
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 6: other by means of what is known as repercussion. This
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 6: is a very significant fact when we remember that in
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 6: materializing seances, it sometimes happened that the figure is seized
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 6: or in some way injured by the sitter, and that
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 6: the entrance medium is injured in exactly the same way
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 6: that the materialized figure is injured. This fact has long
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 6: been known to experience spiritualists. This curious fact also has
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 6: great significance and throws an interesting sidelight on many of
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 6: the phenomena of so called witchcrafts. We know that many
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 6: of these stories relate that the witch, assuming another form,
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 6: visited other scenes or localities, and if cut, shot, or
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 6: injured there, she herself was found the next day to
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 6: have these exact injuries, though lying in her bed at
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 6: some distance from the scene of the event in question.
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 6: Such stories certainly appear more credible when we take into
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 6: consideration the above facts. For both sets of phenomena seems
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 6: to depend upon repercussion. How the human fluid may impress
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 6: photographic plates. The human fluid may also be proved to
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 6: exist by means of photography. If a sensitive plate be
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 6: wrapped in black paper and the hands of the psychical
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 6: medium of suitable temperament be placed upon it, the fluidic
• 1:22:31
  Speaker 6: radiation coming from the hands and fingers will influence the
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 6: plate through the enveloping black paper and the impress of
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 6: the hands will be found upon the plate. This can
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 6: only be accounted for by supposing that the fingers became
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 6: in some way radioactive during the experiment. Many psychics can
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 6: go further than this, and can impress upon the plate
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 6: an image or figure of their thought at the time. Thus,
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 6: when holding the plate between their palms, or on their forehead,
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 6: or against the solar plexus, and thinking of a sheep,
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 6: a cat, a chair, et cetera, the image of a sheep, cat,
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 6: or chair is impressed upon the plate. Experiments such as
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 6: these may be tried by any student, and of extreme
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 6: interest and also of value scientifically when they are successful.
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 6: It is to be hoped that many readers of this
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 6: book will try experiments of this character and report any
• 1:23:21
  Speaker 6: results they may obtain. End of Chapter twenty.
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 7: Five, Chapter twenty six. Self projection by self projection is
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 7: meant the faculty or ability to send out, or cause
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 7: to travel to a distance the etheric self or double
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 7: by an effort of will. This seems to be to
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 7: some extent inherent in some individuals, and occurs with them
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 7: spontaneously and almost against their will. They go into trance,
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 7: and at the end of a certain time find that
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 7: they have left their bodies and traveled to some distant see. This, however,
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 7: is rare. In the majority of the cases. The power
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 7: has to be developed by long and assidious cultivation of
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 7: what the thought body is composed. Before I come to
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 7: speak of this projection of the self, a few words
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 7: are necessary as to the nature and composition of this
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 7: etheric body or double which is thus projected. The physical
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 7: body is composed of millions of tiny cells, and in
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 7: each cell there is a center or nucleus of energy.
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 7: This center is so infinitely small that it cannot be
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 7: detected even by the highest powered microscope. All that we
• 1:24:40
  Speaker 7: know is that physical matter in the cell is in
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 7: some way vitalized or rendered living when it comes in
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 7: contact with this vital center. The source of the energy
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 7: is invisible and cannot be determined by us. It seems
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 7: to well up from nowhere. Now this center of energy
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 7: constitutes a sort of psychic point or cell of its own,
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 7: and as there are millions of them in the body,
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 7: corresponding to the number of physical cells, it is obvious
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 7: that there are millions of vital cells which conform exactly
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 7: to the shape of the body. Since they correspond to
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 7: its physical cells in life. These psychic centers have been
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 7: called psychomias, and their bulk is estimated at about one
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 7: million that of the physical body. The density of etheric double,
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 7: therefore would be about one million as dense as the
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 7: physical body. The combined weight of these psychomias has been
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 7: variously estimated, but probably varies between that of the ten
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 7: posted stamps and one ounce and a half. This would
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 7: represent the weight of the astral or etheric body, and
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 7: is such that it would float slowly upward through the
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 7: physical atmosphere, as would a balloon. This fact insides with
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 7: what we know of the gradual floating upward of the
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 7: spiritual body after death inner finer bodies. It is this
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 7: body which we inhabit after we discard the denser physical frame.
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 7: It is not necessary to suppose that our consciousness is
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 7: scattered throughout the whole of this body anymore than it
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 7: is at present. The center of spiritual activity and the
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 7: power of the will and mind may be a point
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 7: of force, so to speak, within this etheric double, and
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 7: we may utilize and animate it, just as we utilize
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 7: and animate the physical body in this life. After a time,
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 7: it is probable that we discard this etheric body to
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 7: assume one of even lesser density, and that this process
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 7: continues a number of times until the spirit ultimately inhabits
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 7: one of such infinitely fine matter. If such it can
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 7: be called, that it is practically a mental or spiritual body.
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 7: This is what we learn from many spirits who have
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 7: communicated such facts to us. It is this body, therefore,
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 7: which becomes disengaged from the physical body during life, and
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 7: goes on trips or excursions, caring with it the consciousness
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 7: of the individual, and returns to animate the physical body
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 7: at the end of a certain period of time. Possible
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 7: dangers and how they are overcome When this disunion or
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 7: severance takes place. There is always a connecting link, a
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 7: magnetic chorde, which unites the physical and the etheric bodies.
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 7: If this chorde were to get broken for any reason,
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 7: reanimation would be impossible and the death of the body
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 7: would take place. This is the great danger attendant upon
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 7: experiments of this character. But such a phenomena is only
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 7: possible in cases of real, very deep trance, where the
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 7: separation is almost complete and very little serves to disconnect
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 7: it entirely. It is highly improbable that any but the
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 7: most advanced student could reach this stage, and when he
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 7: has reached it, certain mystical inner practices may be resorted
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 7: to which would offset this possible danger. It is this
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 7: body which is occasionally photographed, and many so called spirit
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 7: photographs are in reality photographs not of discarnate but of
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 7: incarnate spirits. That is, they are wondering doubles of spirits
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 7: still in the flesh. Again, many apparitions and figures seen
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 7: in haunted house of this nature. They constitute the projections
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 7: of living persons rather than those who have passed over,
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 7: and it takes an experienced psychic student to distinguish between
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 7: the two figures. They have been known to appear at sciences,
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 7: also in the form of materializations. In addition to these
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 7: etheric bodies or doubles, there may also be mental or
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 7: thought bodies created entirely by the mind and the will
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 7: of the subject. Thus, in a case known to us,
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 7: a clairvoyant was sent on a trip to the house
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 7: of a friend and asked to describe the individual whom
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 7: she founded. She described a certain person in detail, hair, eyes, features, etc.
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 7: Given at great length. When the psychic had finished and
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 7: recovered full consciousness. She was told that her description was
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 7: entirely wrong, and that no such person existed in the
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 7: house in question, and her description was throughout erenus. In
• 1:29:58
  Speaker 7: order to prove this, a journey was made at once
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 7: to the house of the subject in question. When the
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 7: facts were stated, he replied that although he himself did
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 7: not in any way resemble the Clearvoyant description, this corresponded
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 7: exactly and in one minute detail, to a character he
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 7: was creating and writing about in his book. In other words,
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 7: his thoughts had created the figure so vividly that it
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 7: actually lived for the time being as an objective entity,
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 7: and was seen as such by the entranced Clearvoyant. We
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 7: can see from this, then, that thoughts are things. They
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 7: assume shape, and in a certain sense live in the
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 7: physical world. All our thoughts have a definite shape as
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 7: well as a definite color, and the more advanced students
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 7: along the path of development can see and describe these thoughts.
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 7: We are told, as clearly as we see objects, how
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 7: the selves may be projected. If this may be true,
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 7: it has a very significant bearing upon cases which occur
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 7: and have been reported in the past. For example, the
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 7: reader will doubtless recall the case of doctor Jacky and
• 1:31:23
  Speaker 7: mister Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, a most important case
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 7: for all students to study. Here. As we know, the
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 7: original individual finally became two. Doctor Jackil developed another self,
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 7: calling himself mister Hyde. Doctor Jackil was kindly, helpful and sympathetic.
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 7: Hyde was evil, malicious, and wholly repulsive. These two selves
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 7: were developed in the original person, and the split between
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 7: them became greater and greater as the months went by. Finally,
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 7: mister Hyde assumed complete supremacy and to Jackyl vanished forever.
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 7: In this case, it was not a mere change of
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 7: personality which could be accounted for on any psychological grounds.
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 7: It was an actual physical transformation. Apparently, there were two
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 7: separate bodies which were transformed, one into the other. Suppose
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 7: now that the good self doctor Jackyl also the bad
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 7: self of mister Hyde, existing as separate mental beings, each
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 7: had the power of self projection. They would each create
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 7: by their own thoughts, a separate body, and this being
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 7: would resemble an outward appearance the thoughts which created it.
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 7: Cases of this character might therefore exist, and might conceivably
• 1:33:01
  Speaker 7: be explained on scientific principles. We must be careful then,
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 7: of the character of the thoughts of which we build up,
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 7: for if these resembles outwardly its inner structure, we may
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 7: many of us come to resemble monstrosities rather than human
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 7: beings at some stage of our development, when the plane
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 7: is reached where thoughts predominate and shape the expression of
• 1:33:33
  Speaker 7: the cell. This idea has been graphically portrayed in John
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 7: yury Lloyd's book Etchydorfa. This inner etheric body, which is
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 7: expelled to a distance by the power of will in
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 7: cases of self projection, may be released and projected by
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 7: the student after a certain amount of practice. You should
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 7: go about this cautiously, feeling his way as if it were,
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 7: but proceeding more or less along the following lines. Place
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 7: yourself in a perfectly composed attitude, either on a couch
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 7: or in a large chair, close the eyes, and breathe
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 7: deeply for a few minutes, all the time holding the
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 7: mind on a central point of concentration. Travel over your
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 7: body in thought, and at each point or spot twelve
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 7: upon by you well that your etheric body becomes detached
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 7: or loosen from its connection with the physical body. As
• 1:34:47
  Speaker 7: you begin to gain control of this process. You may
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 7: hear or rather sense a process of separation taking place,
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 7: resembling a click, and inwardly feeling like the disconnection of
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 7: an electric current. When this has been completed at one point,
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 7: travel to another. Do not try too many on any
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 7: one occasion, and always be sure to restore by an
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 7: effort of will, the original connected condition before you terminate
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 7: the experiment. Further directions and advice. After you have gone
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 7: round your body in this way and have succeeded in
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 7: disconnecting it more or less completely, you should then call
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 7: up before you in space, a certain distant locality, such
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 7: as the room of a friend, and throwing the whole
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 7: force of your being into a single, determined effort of will,
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 7: force yourself mentally to leave your body and travel to
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 7: the locality before you. If you feel that you are
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 7: losing consciousness or that everything is going black before you,
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 7: discontinue the experiment at once and return to your physical body.
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 7: If you can keep your self consciousness active, you may
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 7: safely travel to any distance, feeling assured that you will
• 1:36:18
  Speaker 7: be able to return whenever you want to and reanimate
• 1:36:21
  Speaker 7: your own physical frame. All this, of course, takes time
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 7: and persistence of development, and cannot be acquired in a
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 7: few days. Moreover, I would advise the student not to
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 7: attend this process until he was progressed further in his
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 7: studies and read the advice contained in the last chapter.
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 7: Should he, however, make up his mind to do so,
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 7: he should proceed along the above lines, advancing cautiously all
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 7: the time, and never allowing himself to lose consciousness at
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 7: any stage of the proceedings. When he has acquired this power,
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 7: he will have in his possession a wonderful knowledge and
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 7: a means of acquiring information and spiritual insight which others
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 7: who have not developed it are totally unable to comprehend.
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 7: End of Chapter twenty six.
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 8: Chapter twenty seven. Apparitions. An apparition is a phantasmal being
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 8: commonly called a ghost, which is seen by sensitive individuals
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 8: under certain conditions. Before we can speak more fully of apparitions,
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 8: we must answer the question which naturally occurs, namely, what
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 8: is a ghost? Modern theories and ideas on this question
• 1:37:42
  Speaker 8: have changed greatly within the past quarter of a century.
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 8: At that time, if an ordinary scientific man were questioned
• 1:37:50
  Speaker 8: on this subject, he would probably reply that it was
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 8: a hallucination. The result of a diseased mind, and had
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 8: no existence in reality side the imagination of the subject
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 8: who perceived it. But in these days this idea has
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 8: been greatly modified, and it must now be admitted that
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 8: ghosts are very much more complicated than this. In the
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 8: first place, When the Society for Psychical Research began its
• 1:38:18
  Speaker 8: investigations in eighteen eighty two, it was found that a
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 8: large percentage of cases of apparitions occurred at or about
• 1:38:27
  Speaker 8: the time of death. Some occurred before and some after,
• 1:38:32
  Speaker 8: but most of them were approximately at that time. Further,
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 8: the subjects who perceived or saw them were not diseased
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 8: or imaginative persons, and probably never had another experience of
• 1:38:45
  Speaker 8: this character, either before or afterwards. The questions naturally arose,
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 8: why this connection? What is the bond uniting the dying
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 8: person with the apparition? Seeing Scientific men, it is true,
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 8: have come forward and stated that this connection is due
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 8: to chance, and that there was no real connection whatever.
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 8: This is, however, disproved by the report of the Society.
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 8: As the result of several years work, they succeeded in
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 8: obtaining answers from some thirty thousand persons and calculating the
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 8: percentage of possible coincidences. They found the number of coincidences
• 1:39:30
  Speaker 8: was hundreds of times more numerous than chance could account for.
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 8: Professor Sidgwick's committee, who conducted the investigation, therefore signed the
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 8: following statement, apparitions coinciding with death. Between deaths and apparitions
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 8: of the dying person, a connection exists which is not
• 1:39:51
  Speaker 8: due to chance alone. This we hold as a proved fact.
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 8: There is therefore some definite connection between the two, and
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 8: the task was to ascertain its nature and character. The
• 1:40:06
  Speaker 8: theory was then advanced that inasmuch as telepathy is a
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 8: fact scientifically proved, and inasmuch as figures and images may
• 1:40:14
  Speaker 8: be transferred from one mind to another, by this means,
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 8: the dying person might transfer a vision or image of
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 8: himself to the mind of some friend relative, so that
• 1:40:26
  Speaker 8: this person would see not a real outstanding figure, but
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 8: a mental picture or image of him created by the
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 8: thought of the dying person, and convey telepathically to the
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 8: mind of the living friend. These telepathic hallucinations, as they
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 8: are called, doubtless account for many of the apparitions which
• 1:40:47
  Speaker 8: are seen at or about the moment of death, also
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 8: from many of those which occur before death. And during
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 8: the lifetime of the individual. But how about those which
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 8: occur after death. Here we should have to assume that
• 1:41:03
  Speaker 8: some other process was involved, or else extend our belief
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 8: so as to cover and embrace the action of discarnate
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 8: spirits phantasms of the dead. One theory of these apparitions
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 8: seen after the death of the person they represent is
• 1:41:19
  Speaker 8: that they embody the thought of the dead person. For example,
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 8: an individual spirit may continue to think over its life
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 8: and the scenes of its varied activities, and these recollections
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 8: and thoughts, influencing the minds of those still living by
• 1:41:35
  Speaker 8: means of telepathy, would cause them to see the phantasmal
• 1:41:39
  Speaker 8: image of the person thinking the thoughts. This, however, is
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 8: a question which we shall discuss more fully in the
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 8: next chapter. For the present, it may be said that
• 1:41:50
  Speaker 8: this is one theory advanced to explain so called phantasms
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 8: of the dead or ghosts, as opposed to phantasms of
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 8: the living and phantasms of the dying ghost that touch.
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 8: There are many cases of apparitions, however, which cannot be
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 8: thus easily explained by assuming that they are the projection
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 8: or telepathic influence of a living mind or the mind
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 8: of a discarnate spirit. In many cases they seem to
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 8: be real, substantial beings to occupy space and exist as real,
• 1:42:26
  Speaker 8: semi solid or material phantoms. Those who have been convinced
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 8: of the reality of an etheric or spiritual body need
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 8: have no difficulty in assuming that it is this body
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 8: which is seen at such times, and in many cases
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 8: we find strong evidence for supposing that a body of
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 8: this character actually exists. For example, in one historic instance,
• 1:42:53
  Speaker 8: a doctor and his wife both saw the figure of
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 8: a woman standing at the foot of their bed, and
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 8: saw it cross the room and place its fingers over
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 8: a small night light which was burning on the mantelpiece.
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 8: At the moment the phantom thus places its hands over
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 8: the light, it was extinguished and the room was left
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 8: in darkness. Here it is difficult to suppose that any
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 8: thought creation or telepathic hallucination of any character existed, for
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 8: the reason that a physical phenomenon was produced, and no
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 8: hallucination could have done this. Materialized phantoms. Again, in many cases,
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 8: the phantasmal form or apparition is seen to open doors,
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 8: lift curtains, raise bedclothes, et cetera. And in such cases,
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 8: again we must assume that a real phantom exists. The
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 8: problem is thus more complicated than at first appears, and,
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 8: as mister Andrew Lang remarked, consequently, if these stories are true,
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 8: some apparitions are ghosts. Real objective entities filling space. Hallucinations
• 1:44:08
  Speaker 8: cannot draw curtains or open doors, or cause thumps. Not
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 8: real thumps. Hallucinatory thumbs are different. Doctor Burns tells of
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 8: a gentleman who, in a dream pushed against a door
• 1:44:23
  Speaker 8: in a distant house, so that those in the room
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 8: were scarcely able to resist the pressure. Now at this
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 8: rather staggering anecdote be true, the spirit of a living
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 8: man being able to effect matter, is also, so to speak, material,
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 8: and is an actual entity, an astral body. These arguments
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 8: then make in favor of the old fashioned theory of
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 8: ghosts and wraiths as things objectively existing, rather than the
• 1:44:52
  Speaker 8: view that all these ghosts are necessarily subjective in origin
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 8: phanfasms created by thought. These phanfasms are doubtless thought bodies,
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 8: in many cases, constructed by the operating intelligence itself. One
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 8: interesting fact in this connection is this that it is
• 1:45:12
  Speaker 8: nearly always stated by those who have seen figures of
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 8: this kind that the phantom is clear and plainly visible
• 1:45:20
  Speaker 8: about the head and the upper part of the body,
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 8: but that the apparition dwindles down to a vaporous film
• 1:45:27
  Speaker 8: toward the feet. In other words, the upper part of
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 8: the body is much clearer than the lower part. If
• 1:45:35
  Speaker 8: the phantom were a definite thought creation, this is only
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 8: what we should expect, for we think of the upper
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 8: portion of our bodies much more than the lower portion.
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 8: We are more conscious of our head and shoulders, and
• 1:45:50
  Speaker 8: the upper portion of the trunk, and the hands and arms,
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 8: and only vaguely conscious of the legs and lower portions
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 8: of the body. This is exactly what we find in apparitions,
• 1:46:04
  Speaker 8: and it would therefore seem that the figures are clear
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 8: and outlined, just to the extent that the operating intelligence
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 8: is intensely conscious of the appearance of the body he
• 1:46:15
  Speaker 8: is creating or building up phantoms which impart information. There
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 8: are also certain cases on record in which the phantom
• 1:46:24
  Speaker 8: has given the recipient of the experience some important information
• 1:46:29
  Speaker 8: which he did not know previously, where certain papers are hidden,
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 8: et cetera. Such cases certainly prove that an independent intelligence
• 1:46:38
  Speaker 8: is there a spirit which is thus manifesting its presence.
• 1:46:43
  Speaker 8: It must be admitted, however, that most apparitions are purposeless
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 8: and meaningless. But this is easily accounted for it by
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 8: supposing that we see at such times not the Spirit
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 8: itself but its mere projected thought of phantom created by
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 8: the spirit, rather than the Spirit itself. Most apparitions are
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 8: doubtless of this nature. We have seen that there are
• 1:47:10
  Speaker 8: apparitions of the living, of the dying, and of the dead,
• 1:47:14
  Speaker 8: mostly attached to human beings. When they are attached to localities,
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 8: they become local phantoms or cases of haunting, of which
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 8: we shall speak in the next chapter experimental apparitions. In
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 8: addition to these, there are so called cases of experimental apparitions,
• 1:47:35
  Speaker 8: in which an individual succeeds in creating a phantasmal figure
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 8: at a distance by an effort of will or thought.
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 8: These closely resemble certain cases of self projection on the
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 8: one hand, and cases of witchcraft on the other, and
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 8: form an intermediary between them, since on the one hand
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 8: they are mere mental pictures and on the other they
• 1:47:59
  Speaker 8: are real physical entities. Experimental apparitions then seem to bridge
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 8: the gulf between these two types of phenomena and form
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 8: a connecting link. Apparitions may be induced experimentally by willing
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 8: very strongly, just as you are falling asleep, that you
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 8: will appear to a certain person at a certain time,
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 8: and if this is properly managed, it will be successful
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 8: in a large number of cases. This may also be
• 1:48:30
  Speaker 8: induced experimentally by means of hypnotic suggestion or magnetic or
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 8: mesmeric processes, and when in the trance, the spirit of
• 1:48:40
  Speaker 8: the sleeper may be directed to a certain locality and
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 8: there seen by those present. The natives of West Africa
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 8: claim to be able to do this more or less
• 1:48:50
  Speaker 8: at will. They can project the double or etheric body,
• 1:48:56
  Speaker 8: and so to speak, materialize at the other end how
• 1:49:00
  Speaker 8: to create thought forms. The same laws which prevail in
• 1:49:04
  Speaker 8: many of the previous exercises also rule here. The student
• 1:49:09
  Speaker 8: should see to it that he retains a grasp of
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 8: his own personality and does not lose control of his
• 1:49:16
  Speaker 8: inner self at any stage of the proceedings. As he
• 1:49:20
  Speaker 8: progresses in his development along these lines, he should endeavor
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 8: to make the apparition which appears at the other end
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 8: of the lines, so to speak, more or less solid.
• 1:49:32
  Speaker 8: After he has once succeeded in the process of projection,
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 8: he should throw all his will into the effort to
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 8: make the projective form more and more substantial, and to
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 8: will that his self consciousness and activity be actually transferred
• 1:49:47
  Speaker 8: to the distant scene. In this way, he is not
• 1:49:50
  Speaker 8: only seen by others who may happen to be present,
• 1:49:54
  Speaker 8: but is also enabled to see for himself what is
• 1:49:57
  Speaker 8: actually going on in that place, and obtains at the
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 8: same time a clairvoyant vision of the surroundings in which
• 1:50:05
  Speaker 8: he has appeared. In this way, both the psychic and
• 1:50:09
  Speaker 8: those who perceive the created figure mutually exchange experiences, and
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 8: this process should be continued until the projected double becomes
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 8: so solid a structure that it cannot be distinguished from
• 1:50:23
  Speaker 8: a real physical being. There are many advanced psychic students
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 8: who claim that they can actually create and project to
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 8: great distances material bodies of this nature. End of Chapter
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 8: twenty seven.
• 1:50:38
  Speaker 9: Chapter twenty eight. Haunted houses. As explained in the last chapter,
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 9: when apparitions become fixed or attached to one locality, they
• 1:50:47
  Speaker 9: constitute what is called a local haunting, and the place
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 9: they influence is commonly called a haunted house. This is
• 1:50:54
  Speaker 9: the ordinary or common theory of haunted houses, and the
• 1:50:58
  Speaker 9: average person probably assumes that the figures seen in such
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 9: houses are material, and the picture he forms of the
• 1:51:04
  Speaker 9: ghost is that it is a sheeted figure walking about
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 9: up and down stairs, and clanking chains after it. There
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 9: are probably a few, if any, psychic students who believe
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 9: that houses are haunted by figures of this description. And
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 9: opposed to this view is that of ordinary science, which
• 1:51:21
  Speaker 9: contends that there are no haunted houses at all, the
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 9: figures seen within them being merely the product of expectancy, suggestion,
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 9: and excited imagination. The explanation of haunted houses. All those
• 1:51:34
  Speaker 9: who have carefully investigated the subject, however, come to the
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 9: conclusion sooner or later that there are genuine haunted houses.
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 9: The question is what constitutes the haunting in how are
• 1:51:46
  Speaker 9: such cases to be explained. Many psychic students have specialized,
• 1:51:50
  Speaker 9: so to speak, in this subject of haunted houses, and
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 9: have formulated various theories to explain cases of this character.
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 9: The following are the most important theory which had been advanced.
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 9: One that one person or a group of persons forming
• 1:52:06
  Speaker 9: a family, have experienced certain psychic phenomena in the house
• 1:52:10
  Speaker 9: in question, and these formed the nucleus round which gathered impressions, noises,
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 9: and psychic experiences of all kinds. From a small beginning,
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 9: great results sprang, elaborated by their own minds. Now, when
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 9: these people moved away from the house in question and
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 9: other tenants occupied it, this second group was influenced by
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 9: the thoughts, emotions, and impressions of those who had moved away,
• 1:52:33
  Speaker 9: so that they, in their turn began to see signs
• 1:52:35
  Speaker 9: and hear strange sounds inquiry revealing the fact that the
• 1:52:39
  Speaker 9: house had the reputation of being haunted, and their own
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 9: imaginations would magnify the significance of all they had seen
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 9: or heard. In other words, this theory contends that telepathy
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 9: or influence from living minds, is the all sufficient explanation
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 9: and alone serves to account for the facts telepathy and
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 9: psychic atmosphe sphere two. The second theory advanced is that
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 9: telepathy from the dead is the true explanation the phantom scene,
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 9: et cetera, being produced by the influence of minds of
• 1:53:10
  Speaker 9: deceased persons. On this theory, the figures and phantoms are
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 9: not objective or real any more than in the first case,
• 1:53:17
  Speaker 9: but are telepathic hallucinations just as truly, though they have
• 1:53:21
  Speaker 9: an objective basis of reality, inasmuch as they have originated
• 1:53:25
  Speaker 9: in the mind of a deceased person. Dreams or thoughts
• 1:53:28
  Speaker 9: of the dead constitute therefore the basic principle of explanation
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 9: on this theory. Three. The next theory, which is advanced
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 9: is that some subtle psychic atmosphere permeates the walls of
• 1:53:40
  Speaker 9: the house in question, and that this atmosphere influences or
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 9: impresses all those who live within it. There is much
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 9: to say in favor of such a theory, and the
• 1:53:49
  Speaker 9: previous chapters on the aura, psychometry, the human fluid, et
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 9: cetera will lend a certain amount of support to it.
• 1:53:56
  Speaker 9: At the same time, it is difficult to see how
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 9: a general and impersonal atmosphere of this character could translate
• 1:54:02
  Speaker 9: itself into definite figures or forms, particularly when these speak
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 9: and convey information unknown to the seer. I shall say
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 9: more of this later. Astrobodies and thought forms. Four. The
• 1:54:15
  Speaker 9: fourth theory to be advanced is that the figures seen
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 9: are the astral or etheric bodies of spirits who return
• 1:54:21
  Speaker 9: and constitute the haunting being present. In actual fact. This
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 9: is the nearest approach the commonly held theory of the
• 1:54:27
  Speaker 9: figure seen in haunted houses five. The fifth theory is
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 9: that such figures are thought forms created by some distant,
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 9: living or disincarnate mind and projected into the house in question,
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 9: where they assume more or less definite and tangible form.
• 1:54:43
  Speaker 9: This is, in a sense a process of self projection.
• 1:54:47
  Speaker 9: But the phantasm is always seen in a certain place,
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 9: as though magnetically drawn to that locality the nature of
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 9: the figure seen. Which of these theories is the correct one?
• 1:54:58
  Speaker 9: In my own estimation, there is as much truth in
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 9: all of them, and no two cases of haunted houses
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 9: are due to the same cause or depend upon the
• 1:55:05
  Speaker 9: same conditions. All five of these causes may be operating
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 9: at the same time in any one house, or any two, three,
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 9: or four of them may be. Indeed, to judge from
• 1:55:17
  Speaker 9: the complex nature of the phenomena scene, it is highly
• 1:55:20
  Speaker 9: probable that such is the case. There is strong evidence,
• 1:55:23
  Speaker 9: in fact, to make us believe that the ordinary hallucination
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 9: theories will not serve to explain the facts. For example,
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 9: these phanfasms often produce physical phenomena as before explained, such
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 9: as opening doors, lifting curtains, snuffing candles, et cetera. Mental
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 9: images or pictures could not do this. Again, animals often
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 9: see or appear to see apparitions in haunted houses, and
• 1:55:48
  Speaker 9: show all the signs of fear, such as trembling, sweating,
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 9: et cetera. In the third place, figures are often described
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 9: differently by different individuals. For example, A would describe a
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 9: full face view of the figure, while B would describe
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 9: the figure and profile. If a real figure were standing
• 1:56:04
  Speaker 9: where both precipients saw it, this description would be correct.
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 9: Such cases certainly tend to suggest that a real figure
• 1:56:11
  Speaker 9: and no mere hallucination was present. In the fourth place,
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 9: apparitions have been seen by two, three, or more persons
• 1:56:18
  Speaker 9: at once. These collective hallucinations, as they are called, strongly
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 9: suggests an external phantom in no mere mental picture proofs
• 1:56:27
  Speaker 9: of reality. In the fifth place, apparitions which have appeared
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 9: to strangers occupying haunted houses have afterwards been identified on
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 9: being shown the photograph of the person. For example, a
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 9: gentleman sleeping in a house reputed to be haunted sees
• 1:56:42
  Speaker 9: a certain figure bending over him when he awakes at midnight.
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 9: He knows details of dress, feature, et cetera, and also
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 9: notes that he has never seen this person before in
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 9: his life. The next day, he has shown twenty photographs
• 1:56:54
  Speaker 9: from among the twenty, he selects one as being the
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 9: phantom seen in the house the owner of the house,
• 1:57:00
  Speaker 9: and tells him that this is the person said to
• 1:57:02
  Speaker 9: haunt the locality in question. Again, we are driven to
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 9: believe that more than mere hallucination.
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 5: Is at work.
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 9: In the sixth place, these figures seen in haunted houses
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 9: have occasionally been photographed in the subjective and physical proof
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 9: of their reality is strong evidence that they are more
• 1:57:18
  Speaker 9: than mental products. Seventh, figures seen in haunted houses often
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 9: convey to the seer definite information or give messages which
• 1:57:27
  Speaker 9: the individual in question could not have known. This strongly
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 9: indicates not only the reality of the apparition, but the
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 9: fact that it is a disincarnate spirit. For these reasons, therefore,
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 9: we must assume that haunted houses are actual realities, and
• 1:57:40
  Speaker 9: that the figures seen therein are at times at least
• 1:57:43
  Speaker 9: outstanding entities and represent more or less directly the individual
• 1:57:47
  Speaker 9: they appear to portray. Seances in haunted houses, psychic students
• 1:57:52
  Speaker 9: can test their power and at the same time conduct
• 1:57:55
  Speaker 9: many interesting and valuable experiments in haunted houses. In an
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 9: atmosphere of this sort, which is more highly charged with
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 9: magnetism than the ordinary seance room. Psychic powers of any
• 1:58:05
  Speaker 9: character should be quickly augmented and increased so that messages
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 9: could be obtained by speech, vision, automatic writing, crystal vision,
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 9: et cetera. Whenever you hear of a case of a
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 9: haunted house, therefore you should make it a point to
• 1:58:19
  Speaker 9: visit this house at once. It is not necessary to
• 1:58:21
  Speaker 9: sleep in it a night, as many suppose, in order
• 1:58:24
  Speaker 9: to test its character, Hold a seance in that house
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 9: in the evening, and striking phenomena will probably result. Or,
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 9: if you cannot gather together a group of interested students,
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 9: sit by yourself and see whether you cannot obtain direct
• 1:58:37
  Speaker 9: messages from the intelligence is present. Experiments in automatic writing,
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 9: crystal gazing, et cetera may also be tried. Clairvoyant diagnosis
• 1:58:45
  Speaker 9: of haunted houses. Clairvoyance may also render useful service by
• 1:58:49
  Speaker 9: visiting clairvoyantly haunted houses and ascertaining and describing, if possible,
• 1:58:54
  Speaker 9: the source and cause of the haunting. Visit the house
• 1:58:57
  Speaker 9: by means of a clairvoyant excursion, either spontaneously or when
• 1:59:01
  Speaker 9: in a mesmeric trance, et cetera, and use your psychic
• 1:59:04
  Speaker 9: powers to the utmost to discover what you can regarding
• 1:59:07
  Speaker 9: this house. When you find yourself inside it, look about
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 9: and see whether you can sense any spirits, evil or
• 1:59:13
  Speaker 9: otherwise lurking among its atmosphere. Endeavor to sense the psychic
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 9: atmosphere of the house, and test the aura of those
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 9: living within it. All houses reputed to be haunted may
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 9: not necessarily be so, but the individuals themselves may be
• 1:59:27
  Speaker 9: unbalanced or obsessed for some reason, in which case the
• 1:59:30
  Speaker 9: house itself would be free except from those influences which
• 1:59:34
  Speaker 9: were drawn to it by the individuals residing there. Many
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 9: persons living in haunted houses wish to be free from
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 9: the depressing influences which sometimes hang about houses of this character,
• 1:59:44
  Speaker 9: yet do not know how to proceed in order to
• 1:59:46
  Speaker 9: rid themselves of these haunting presences. This is a very
• 1:59:49
  Speaker 9: complicated question, and one to which psychic students have in
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 9: the past given far too little attention. In my book
• 1:59:56
  Speaker 9: Becoming Science, there is a chapter entitled Haunted Houses and
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 9: their Cure, and I would refer all those interested to
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 9: the work in question. An interesting case is there given
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 9: of a haunted house which was cured, so to say,
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 9: by the following means. How to cure haunted houses? The
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 9: trance medium Georgia Gladys Cooley was called in to investigate
• 2:00:17
  Speaker 9: and do what she could, and when in the house,
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 9: went spontaneously into trance. In that condition, her guide spoke
• 2:00:23
  Speaker 9: through her and described the haunting spirits. They were then
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 9: charged to remove them if possible, and undertook to do so.
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 9: This they did in a somewhat striking and dramatic manner,
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 9: and ended by reporting the fact that the haunting presences
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 9: had been finally completely removed. This is a very instructive
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 9: case and shows us that trans mediums and their guides
• 2:00:43
  Speaker 9: can be of a very great service in many cases
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 9: where the haunting assumes an unpleasant or evil character. Thus,
• 2:00:50
  Speaker 9: the nature of the haunting may be diagnosed clearvoyantly and
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 9: the cure affected through some trance medium and by the
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 9: spirits who operate through him. In some cases, however, the
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 9: haunting may be cured by more simple means, such a
• 2:01:02
  Speaker 9: suggestion lessening the psychic sensitiveness of those living in the house,
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 9: by diverting the thoughts, by plenty of outdoor physical exercise,
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 9: toughening the aura, etc. On the other hand, there are
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 9: cases on record where haunted houses have withstood all attempts
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 9: to cure them, and the inhabitants have ultimately been forced
• 2:01:20
  Speaker 9: to move happily. Cases of this character are rare at
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 9: all events. Haunted houses present a fascinating and useful field
• 2:01:28
  Speaker 9: in which the psychic student can test his clairvoyance or
• 2:01:31
  Speaker 9: other psychic power to advantage. End of Chapter twenty eight.
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 10: Chapter twenty nine, The Difficulties of Communication. The process of
• 2:01:42
  Speaker 10: communication is doubtless far more difficult and complicated than the
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 10: average person believes, and is even more complicated than most
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 10: spiritualists believe. As stated in a previous chapter, one of
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 10: the great objections to the reality of spiritualism heard in
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 10: the past is that, if true, many more persons must
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 10: communicate than now appear to do so, and that of
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 10: the thousands who die, more must come back than the
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 10: few who return through mediums. It was there pointed out
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 10: that the reason for this consists partly in the fact
• 2:02:20
  Speaker 10: that quote good communicators unquote are comparatively rare, and that
• 2:02:27
  Speaker 10: there is necessarily a peculiar psychical condition which enables them
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 10: to communicate through mediums. In addition to this, a medium
• 2:02:36
  Speaker 10: must be present at the time that an effort to
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 10: communicate is being made. And in many cases the recipient
• 2:02:42
  Speaker 10: of the message must also be reaching out to receive
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 10: it before it can be given satisfactorily. In other words,
• 2:02:49
  Speaker 10: the sender and the receiver of the message must stretch
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 10: out their quote mental arms unquote, so to say, at
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 10: the same moment, before they can shake hands across the
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 10: great gulf, and if only one does so, he fails
• 2:03:04
  Speaker 10: to reach the one on the other side. Factors affecting communication.
• 2:03:09
  Speaker 10: It has frequently been pointed out by scientific investigators of
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 10: spiritualism that only after the reality of the facts has
• 2:03:17
  Speaker 10: been proved does their detailed study begin. For example, supposing
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 10: that a spirit can write through an entranced medium, she
• 2:03:27
  Speaker 10: giving the messages in automatic writing, the fact once admitted,
• 2:03:31
  Speaker 10: the scientific study of the case will only have begun,
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 10: and such questions as these would then have to be answered.
• 2:03:39
  Speaker 10: To what extent is the medium's spirit disconnected from the
• 2:03:43
  Speaker 10: body while the communication is taking place. What is the
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 10: degree of mental activity of the medium spirit during the communication?
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 10: Does the communicating intelligence act directly on the brain and
• 2:03:57
  Speaker 10: nervous centers of the medium or in a more roundabout manner,
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 10: And if the former upon what brain centers does the
• 2:04:04
  Speaker 10: intelligence act and how if a communicator was in life
• 2:04:09
  Speaker 10: a good visualizer, or had a good memory, etc. Would
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 10: these factors assist him in the process of communication, And
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 10: if so, how these and many similar questions would have
• 2:04:21
  Speaker 10: to be answered. And it is upon questions such as
• 2:04:24
  Speaker 10: these that many psychical researchers have banned their energies for
• 2:04:28
  Speaker 10: some time past. It is probable that several hundred years
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 10: will have to elapse before these questions can be answered
• 2:04:36
  Speaker 10: fully and the facts explained in detail. Difficulties of the
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 10: communicating spirit. Let us enumerate some of the difficulties which
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 10: a communicating spirit probably has to contend with in sending
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 10: messages through mediums to the living. There is much evidence
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 10: to show that the process of communication is a very
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 10: difficult one, for as soon as a spirit gets in
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 10: common contact with the medium and begins to transmit messages,
• 2:05:03
  Speaker 10: he becomes more or less exhausted and suffocated, so to speak,
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 10: by the dense aura or atmosphere with which he is
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 10: called upon to come into contact. In many instances, we
• 2:05:15
  Speaker 10: read that spirits have to go away several times during
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 10: the course of a seance to revive themselves, and afterwards
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 10: return refreshed and clear. Brained to continue the communications, they
• 2:05:28
  Speaker 10: experience great difficulty in holding their thoughts together connectedly during
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 10: the process of communication. This does not mean that they
• 2:05:36
  Speaker 10: are ordinarily in this confused state, but very often, as
• 2:05:41
  Speaker 10: soon as they come into contact with the medium's psychic
• 2:05:45
  Speaker 10: atmosphere and magnetism, they become confused and their minds tend
• 2:05:50
  Speaker 10: to wander, as they would in delirium or in a
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 10: state of trance. It is because of this that many
• 2:05:56
  Speaker 10: of the messages we receive commence well, but after words
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 10: dwindle off into incoherence and triviality. Why many messages are
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 10: quote trivial unquote. This question of quote triviality unquote, however,
• 2:06:11
  Speaker 10: is often misunderstood. The objection is raised that spirits, if
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 10: they really communicate, would tell us something more important than
• 2:06:19
  Speaker 10: they usually do. As a matter of fact, however, this
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 10: is only true in a certain sense. The ordinary social
• 2:06:26
  Speaker 10: conversation between quote spirits in the flesh unquote is not
• 2:06:31
  Speaker 10: as serious as it might be, and it has been
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 10: shown by actual experiment that human beings, when called upon
• 2:06:38
  Speaker 10: to prove their own identity to another, do deliberately choose
• 2:06:42
  Speaker 10: trivial incidents, by means of which to identify themselves. Another
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 10: point is that trivial incidents serve best to prove identity,
• 2:06:51
  Speaker 10: as some great philosophical discourse might be given by any intelligence,
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 10: either in or out of the body, and would prove
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 10: nothing to work on longing to hear from his own
• 2:07:02
  Speaker 10: dear one in such a case, personal detailed and so
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 10: to say, trivial messages are often the most striking and
• 2:07:12
  Speaker 10: the most convincing. The very triviality of many messages received
• 2:07:16
  Speaker 10: through mediums is therefore their strongest point, and not their weakest.
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 10: In addition to this, there are, as we know, innumerable
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 10: books written by spirits containing philosophical, scientific, and religious truths
• 2:07:31
  Speaker 10: of great value and importance influence of the medium's organism.
• 2:07:35
  Speaker 10: Another reason why communication is doubtless difficult is that the
• 2:07:39
  Speaker 10: communicating spirit is unused to the bodily organism of the medium.
• 2:07:44
  Speaker 10: All of us have certain mental and physical habits which
• 2:07:47
  Speaker 10: we form, and it is easier for us to do
• 2:07:50
  Speaker 10: certain things in certain ways after we have done them
• 2:07:54
  Speaker 10: in that manner a few times. If you were suddenly
• 2:07:57
  Speaker 10: transplanted into the body of another person, say one of
• 2:08:01
  Speaker 10: the opposite sects, you would find great difficulty in manipulating
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 10: that body so as to extract from it the best
• 2:08:08
  Speaker 10: results to think clearly and to speak and write clearly
• 2:08:12
  Speaker 10: when expressing your thoughts. It is precisely this difficulty which
• 2:08:17
  Speaker 10: the communicating intelligence experiences in trying to communicate with us
• 2:08:21
  Speaker 10: through unfamiliar bodies. Many of the habits and quote tricks unquote,
• 2:08:27
  Speaker 10: so to say, of the medium creep into the messages,
• 2:08:30
  Speaker 10: which are consequently often more or less similar to the
• 2:08:33
  Speaker 10: language employed by the medium. This proves only that the
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 10: spirit has to employ the medium's mental and bodily habits
• 2:08:42
  Speaker 10: as best it can during the process of communication, and
• 2:08:45
  Speaker 10: that it is not as easy and concise as many
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 10: persons imagine symbolism necessary. Another difficulty presented is that the
• 2:08:55
  Speaker 10: conditions on the quote other side unquote are doubtless so
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 10: different from any which exists here that they have to
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 10: be explained in roundabout and symbolic language. If you had
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 10: to explain color to a blind man, you would find
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 10: great difficulty in doing so. If you had to explain
• 2:09:14
  Speaker 10: the feelings experience while giving psychometric tests to one who
• 2:09:19
  Speaker 10: had never experienced them, you would also find considerable difficulty.
• 2:09:25
  Speaker 10: It is much the same in this case. There are
• 2:09:28
  Speaker 10: no immediate analogies which can be drawn, and the result
• 2:09:32
  Speaker 10: is that symbolism and a language which appears to us
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 10: vague and unsatisfactory, is often employed in describing the other
• 2:09:40
  Speaker 10: side of life and the conditions which prevail Therein difficulties
• 2:09:45
  Speaker 10: of names and dates. Names and dates furnish great difficulty
• 2:09:49
  Speaker 10: for returning spirits dates because of the fact that time
• 2:09:53
  Speaker 10: is not recognized by them in the same way that
• 2:09:56
  Speaker 10: it is with us. Names for the reason that they
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 10: do not represent concrete pictures or meanings, but are as
• 2:10:05
  Speaker 10: a rule, only a combination of letters having a certain sound.
• 2:10:09
  Speaker 10: The word quote chair unquote calls up to the mind
• 2:10:13
  Speaker 10: a certain picture which can be visualized. On the other hand,
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 10: the name quote Robinson unquote calls up no such picture,
• 2:10:21
  Speaker 10: except perhaps the memory image of some friend of yours
• 2:10:24
  Speaker 10: by that name. If that memory picture is revived in
• 2:10:27
  Speaker 10: the communicator's mind, the medium can see this and describe it,
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 10: which is precisely what he does. But the name quote
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 10: Robinson unquote cannot be presented in picture form, the most
• 2:10:40
  Speaker 10: common form of representation, and consequently is not easily communicated.
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 10: As explained in the chapter on dreams, our hearing centers,
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 10: are less developed than our site centers, and for this reason,
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 10: verbal messages are less easily given and received than pictured
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 10: or visualized messages. The difficulty in receiving names is explained
• 2:11:03
  Speaker 10: largely because of this fact. Communications immediately after death. For
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 10: some days after death, these difficulties are particularly great, and
• 2:11:12
  Speaker 10: especially in the case of suicides. Doctor Hodgson, in his
• 2:11:17
  Speaker 10: report of the case of Missus Piper, says quote that
• 2:11:21
  Speaker 10: persons just deceased should be extremely confused and unable to
• 2:11:26
  Speaker 10: communicate directly or even at all, seems perfectly natural after
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 10: the shock and wrench of death. Thus, in one case,
• 2:11:35
  Speaker 10: the spirit was unable to write the second day after
• 2:11:39
  Speaker 10: his death. In another case, a friend of mine whom
• 2:11:42
  Speaker 10: I may call D wrote, with what appeared to be
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 10: much difficulty, his name and the words I am all
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 10: right adieu, within two or three days after his death.
• 2:11:55
  Speaker 10: In another case, f he was unable to write on
• 2:11:59
  Speaker 10: the morning after his death death. A few days later,
• 2:12:02
  Speaker 10: when a stranger was present with me for a sitting,
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 10: he wrote two or three sentences saying I am too
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 10: weak to articulate clearly, and not many days later he
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 10: wrote fairly well and quite accurately, dictating also to Madame
• 2:12:16
  Speaker 10: Eliza the Amanuensis and account of his feelings when finding
• 2:12:21
  Speaker 10: himself amid new surroundings. Both D and F became very
• 2:12:26
  Speaker 10: clear in a short time. De communicated frequently later on,
• 2:12:31
  Speaker 10: both by writing and speech. Other difficulties. Other difficulties remained,
• 2:12:38
  Speaker 10: such as the probable inability of the communicating spirit to
• 2:12:41
  Speaker 10: see the material world as we see it, especially at
• 2:12:45
  Speaker 10: the time of communication, the difficulty of holding the mind
• 2:12:49
  Speaker 10: together while communicating, the difficulty of manipulating the medium's organism,
• 2:12:54
  Speaker 10: and the intracosmic difficulties which exist between this world and
• 2:12:59
  Speaker 10: the next. Because of all these hindrances and impediments, spirits
• 2:13:04
  Speaker 10: find great difficulty in direct communication, and because of these facts,
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 10: messages are comparatively speaking few, and in so many cases inconclusive.
• 2:13:15
  Speaker 10: When a quid medium, a good communicator, and a sympathetic
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 10: sitter get together, however, very striking and convincing results are obtained,
• 2:13:24
  Speaker 10: as we know from the history of spiritualism. End of
• 2:13:28
  Speaker 10: Chapter twenty.
• 2:13:28
  Speaker 11: Nine, Chapter thirty Hypnotism and Mesmerism. The word Mesmerism is
• 2:13:37
  Speaker 11: derived from Antone Messire, who found it the system and
• 2:13:42
  Speaker 11: who performed all the early experiments in this field. It
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 11: was known as mesmerism for about fifty years until an
• 2:13:50
  Speaker 11: English physician by the name of doctor James Spraid coined
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 11: a new word, hypnotism, from the Greek hypnos sleep, and
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 11: this is the word which has been used almost exclusively
• 2:14:06
  Speaker 11: from that date to this the difference between hypnotism and mesmerism.
• 2:14:14
  Speaker 11: The majority of persons would claim at the present day
• 2:14:18
  Speaker 11: that hypnotism and mesmerism are identical, there being no difference
• 2:14:22
  Speaker 11: between them. They are both due it is said, to
• 2:14:26
  Speaker 11: suggestion and the influence of the mind over the body.
• 2:14:30
  Speaker 11: Very similar phenomena occur in both cases. It is true,
• 2:14:35
  Speaker 11: but I believe that there is a difference between the
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 11: two processes and conditions. Mesmerism is based on the belief
• 2:14:42
  Speaker 11: that there is a definite physical emanation or vital fluid
• 2:14:48
  Speaker 11: which passes from the operator into the subject while the
• 2:14:52
  Speaker 11: mesmeric passes are being made over the latter's body. Hypnotism,
• 2:14:58
  Speaker 11: on the other hand, is due entirely to suggestion the
• 2:15:03
  Speaker 11: influence of the subconscious mind upon the body. There is
• 2:15:07
  Speaker 11: no physical influence or effluence in hypnotic practice, and it
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 11: is claimed that all the phenomena of mesmerism apparently showing
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 11: such influence are in reality entirely due to suggestion. As
• 2:15:24
  Speaker 11: before stated, however, we believe that there is a difference
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 11: between the two processes, and that hypnotism is due solely
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 11: to physical causes, but that in mesmerism the human fluid
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 11: before spoken of plays a part. As proof of this,
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 11: I may cite, among other proofs, the fact that clairvoyance
• 2:15:46
  Speaker 11: and many of the so called higher phenomena are frequently
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 11: obtained in mesmeric trance, while there are extremely rare in
• 2:15:56
  Speaker 11: hypnotic trants. Other phenomena could be mentioned, but this will
• 2:16:00
  Speaker 11: suffice for the present. Mesmerism being due to the passage
• 2:16:06
  Speaker 11: of a vital fluid from the body of the operator
• 2:16:09
  Speaker 11: into the subject. Contact and passes are essential. If therefore,
• 2:16:15
  Speaker 11: you wish to mesmerize your subject, you should make passes
• 2:16:19
  Speaker 11: over his head, forehead, eyes, and down the front of
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 11: the body. All downward passes are sleep passes, and all
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 11: upward passes are walking passes. Placing the hands on certain
• 2:16:33
  Speaker 11: nerve centers of the forehead, and particularly between the eyes
• 2:16:37
  Speaker 11: and over the temples, will help to induce sleep. Also,
• 2:16:42
  Speaker 11: clasping the patient's hands and placing the point of your
• 2:16:45
  Speaker 11: thumb in contact with the point of his thumb, establishes
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 11: the current and serves to induce the mesmeric trance. In hypnotism,
• 2:16:57
  Speaker 11: on the other hand, passes are not sent, though often help.
• 2:17:04
  Speaker 11: In hypnotizing a subject. It is common to ask him,
• 2:17:07
  Speaker 11: first of all, to gaze at a bright object until
• 2:17:10
  Speaker 11: his eyes tire. When the lids are closed, suggestions of
• 2:17:14
  Speaker 11: sleep are given, or the subject may open and close
• 2:17:17
  Speaker 11: the eyes a number of times as you count, and
• 2:17:21
  Speaker 11: this will serve to induce the initial stages of hypnotic trance.
• 2:17:26
  Speaker 11: The deeper stages are induced by means of suggestion. Post
• 2:17:32
  Speaker 11: Hypnotic suggestion is a form of treatment often resorted to
• 2:17:36
  Speaker 11: and is a good subject for experimentation. It means that
• 2:17:40
  Speaker 11: the subject performs, after awaking from trance certain actions suggested
• 2:17:46
  Speaker 11: to him when entranced. He remembers nothing of the suggestions,
• 2:17:51
  Speaker 11: but carries them out to the letter. Many hypnotic subjects
• 2:17:56
  Speaker 11: have extraordinary ability in calculating time, and can give as
• 2:18:00
  Speaker 11: to a second the length of time which has elapsed
• 2:18:03
  Speaker 11: between certain intervals, or carry out post hypnotically a suggestion
• 2:18:08
  Speaker 11: given them entrance days or even weeks before. Hypnotism is
• 2:18:14
  Speaker 11: a useful method of opening up and exploring the subconscious mind.
• 2:18:18
  Speaker 11: We are enabled to tap it, as it were, and
• 2:18:22
  Speaker 11: get in touch with hidden portions of our being which
• 2:18:26
  Speaker 11: we could otherwise never reach. Dreams may be analyzed in
• 2:18:30
  Speaker 11: this manner. Also unpleasant thoughts, impressions, emotions, et cetera removed
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 11: and frequently undesirable influences banished by hypnotic suggestion. Hypnotism seems
• 2:18:44
  Speaker 11: to reach a deeper stratum of our mind than ordinary
• 2:18:48
  Speaker 11: waking suggestion, and because of this fact, it is at
• 2:18:53
  Speaker 11: times so useful. For instance, the drink habit has often
• 2:18:58
  Speaker 11: been cured by hips knotic suggestion. Hence we see that
• 2:19:03
  Speaker 11: there must be more in the hypnotic command than mere
• 2:19:06
  Speaker 11: advice or persuasion, because of thousands of drunkards have been
• 2:19:11
  Speaker 11: advised not to drink, but they continue to do so. Nevertheless,
• 2:19:17
  Speaker 11: by means of hypnotism, we are enabled to reach a
• 2:19:20
  Speaker 11: portion of the mind so deep that it controls the
• 2:19:23
  Speaker 11: whole being, and the result is that these deep rooted
• 2:19:28
  Speaker 11: habits may at times be removed and eradicated. This is
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 11: one of the distinguishing marks of the hypnotic state, that
• 2:19:38
  Speaker 11: a more fundamental control over the body and mind is obtained,
• 2:19:43
  Speaker 11: and by reason of this fact, many cures of diseased
• 2:19:46
  Speaker 11: conditions and abnormal states of mind have been recorded which
• 2:19:51
  Speaker 11: have been otherwise treated ineffectively.
• 2:19:56
  Speaker 2: There is a.
• 2:19:57
  Speaker 11: Difference between the hypnotic and the mediumiistic trance, though not
• 2:20:02
  Speaker 11: so great as that existing between the latter and the
• 2:20:05
  Speaker 11: mesmeric state. In both the mediumistic and the mesmeric trance,
• 2:20:11
  Speaker 11: a form of magnetism is doubtless employed, and this connects
• 2:20:15
  Speaker 11: them in a subtle bond of union. It is because
• 2:20:19
  Speaker 11: of this that telepathy, Clairvorians, etc. Are so often obtained
• 2:20:24
  Speaker 11: in the mesmeric trance, which is closely akeen to the
• 2:20:29
  Speaker 11: condition secured by mediums in which they obtain genuine mediumistic messages.
• 2:20:37
  Speaker 11: The fear of being hypnotized. Many persons are afraid of
• 2:20:41
  Speaker 11: being hypnotized, this fear being based partly upon valid reasons
• 2:20:45
  Speaker 11: and partly upon superstition. Properly induced by an expert, the
• 2:20:50
  Speaker 11: hypnotic trance is not injurious. On the contrary, it is
• 2:20:54
  Speaker 11: often extremely beneficial and, as before pointed out, quickens the
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 11: mental and physical powers, removes bad habits, effects, cures, etc.
• 2:21:07
  Speaker 11: On the other hand, when hypnotism is applied by an
• 2:21:10
  Speaker 11: ignorant or bungling operator who does not know as business.
• 2:21:14
  Speaker 11: The result may be very detrimental to the health of
• 2:21:17
  Speaker 11: the person hypnotized. A state may be induced which neither
• 2:21:22
  Speaker 11: the operator nor anybody else fully understands, for no one
• 2:21:27
  Speaker 11: at the present time fully comprehends the nature of the
• 2:21:31
  Speaker 11: condition thereby induced. The conscious mind is removed from its supremacy.
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 11: In that this is often a fatal mistake, particularly when
• 2:21:41
  Speaker 11: there are evil influences at work, either within or without
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 11: the subject. If the operator is a sympathetic, careful, and
• 2:21:51
  Speaker 11: qualified expert, mesmerism may prove highly beneficial, for evil influences
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 11: may thereby be removed by them and infusing into the
• 2:22:01
  Speaker 11: subject a supply of beneficial animal magnetism, which is opposed
• 2:22:06
  Speaker 11: to that supplied from opposite sources hypnotic to influence from
• 2:22:12
  Speaker 11: other minds. Andrew Jackson Davis begin his career as a
• 2:22:15
  Speaker 11: medium by being mesmerized, and others could doubtless develop their
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 11: minimistic faculties in the same way. But one must be
• 2:22:24
  Speaker 11: extremely careful in such a case to select a thoroughly
• 2:22:27
  Speaker 11: competent operator, one in whom he has complete faith, Otherwise
• 2:22:32
  Speaker 11: more harm than good may result. If you find that
• 2:22:36
  Speaker 11: anyone is trying to influence you against your will, you
• 2:22:39
  Speaker 11: may overcome this by a counter suggestion given to yourself
• 2:22:43
  Speaker 11: from within. If the person be absent, this may be
• 2:22:47
  Speaker 11: purely imaginary on your part, and the operator in question
• 2:22:52
  Speaker 11: may be entirely ignorant of the effect he is producing
• 2:22:56
  Speaker 11: in you. There are thousands of persons in insane side
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 11: all over the world who suffer from the belief that
• 2:23:02
  Speaker 11: they are being persecuted by others at a distance, and
• 2:23:07
  Speaker 11: that these others are endeavoring to influence them by hypnotism, etc.
• 2:23:14
  Speaker 11: As a matter of fact, nothing of the sort is
• 2:23:16
  Speaker 11: the case, and their condition is purely the result of
• 2:23:19
  Speaker 11: imaginary belief. Be most careful, therefore, that you fully ascertain
• 2:23:25
  Speaker 11: and prove to your satisfaction the existence of this foreign
• 2:23:28
  Speaker 11: influence before you take any steps to offset it, or
• 2:23:32
  Speaker 11: even seriously believe that such influence is being directed towards you.
• 2:23:36
  Speaker 11: How to overcome such influences when once you have become
• 2:23:41
  Speaker 11: satisfied that influences of this character are being directed towards you,
• 2:23:45
  Speaker 11: take immediate steps to protect yourself, such as those outlined
• 2:23:49
  Speaker 11: in Chapter twenty three Obsession and Insanity. If promptly applied.
• 2:23:55
  Speaker 11: This will effectively offset such conditions coming from outside minds.
• 2:24:00
  Speaker 11: If you are in the presence of a person whom
• 2:24:02
  Speaker 11: you feel to be influencing you, it would then be
• 2:24:06
  Speaker 11: best to take the precautions and steps outlined in the
• 2:24:10
  Speaker 11: next chapter devoted to personal magnetism. This will prevent your
• 2:24:15
  Speaker 11: passing under the influence of such a person. You need
• 2:24:19
  Speaker 11: never fear that hypnotic sleep, even if induced, will last
• 2:24:23
  Speaker 11: a great length of time and that the subject cannot
• 2:24:26
  Speaker 11: be awakened. Therefrom sleeps of this character always terminate spontaneously
• 2:24:32
  Speaker 11: if they are let alone, though it is always best
• 2:24:35
  Speaker 11: to see that a hypnotic subject is thoroughly awakened before
• 2:24:38
  Speaker 11: he leaves the care and supervision of the operator, Otherwise
• 2:24:43
  Speaker 11: he may go about in a somewhat dazed condition for
• 2:24:46
  Speaker 11: a time and may not be altogether responsible for his actions.
• 2:24:49
  Speaker 11: And important warning. Some nobulism is a variation of hypnotic sleep,
• 2:24:55
  Speaker 11: where the subject spontaneously performs a number of conflict actions
• 2:25:01
  Speaker 11: and the subconscious muscular activities play a large part. A
• 2:25:06
  Speaker 11: person who is subject to some nombulistic attacks should never,
• 2:25:10
  Speaker 11: under any circumstances, be awakened. Suddenly. It is a good
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 11: plan to speak to such a person and suggest to him,
• 2:25:18
  Speaker 11: as to one end hypnotic trance, that he returned to bed,
• 2:25:22
  Speaker 11: and this done suggests to him that it is impossible
• 2:25:25
  Speaker 11: for such a condition to again occur, etc. Some nombulistic
• 2:25:31
  Speaker 11: attacks of this character may often be cured by hypnotic
• 2:25:34
  Speaker 11: treatment and properly directed suggestion prevention of hypnotic influence. An
• 2:25:42
  Speaker 11: operator may prevent his subject from being hypnotized by any
• 2:25:46
  Speaker 11: other person through forceful suggestions to his subject that he
• 2:25:51
  Speaker 11: will be enabled to resist suggestions from any other operator,
• 2:25:55
  Speaker 11: that he will have no effect on him, etc. If
• 2:25:58
  Speaker 11: you do not wish to be hypnotized at all, you
• 2:26:00
  Speaker 11: may give similar suggestions to yourself. These self suggestions are
• 2:26:05
  Speaker 11: called auto suggestions. Lightly given and persistently repeated, they will
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 11: effectively prevent you from being influenced by any other person.
• 2:26:13
  Speaker 11: End of Chapter thirty.
• 2:26:16
  Speaker 12: Personal magnetism. We all know the difference between a positive
• 2:26:20
  Speaker 12: and a negative personality between an individual who is naturally
• 2:26:24
  Speaker 12: successful in one who is not. The former seems to
• 2:26:27
  Speaker 12: attract to himself success, happiness, and prosperity. The latter seems
• 2:26:31
  Speaker 12: to repel it. It's not necessary for a naturally positive
• 2:26:35
  Speaker 12: person to say anything or to perform any action in
• 2:26:38
  Speaker 12: order to make us feel this power within him. It
• 2:26:41
  Speaker 12: seems to radiate silently from him as a form of power.
• 2:26:45
  Speaker 12: Many times, doubtless, we have all stepped into a room,
• 2:26:48
  Speaker 12: an elevator, etc. And immediately felt the strong personality and
• 2:26:52
  Speaker 12: presence of an individual of this character possessing much natural magnetism.
• 2:26:57
  Speaker 12: They may know nothing of this power, perhaps hardly realize
• 2:27:00
  Speaker 12: that they possess it, although they do in many cases
• 2:27:03
  Speaker 12: to a remarkable degree. Properly developed and utilized, this power
• 2:27:08
  Speaker 12: helped to make the great names in history. We may
• 2:27:11
  Speaker 12: all of us cultivate and develop this power to a
• 2:27:14
  Speaker 12: great extent by proper practice, and the degree to which
• 2:27:18
  Speaker 12: we can develop it will make us successful, accordingly, not
• 2:27:21
  Speaker 12: only in the material things of this world, but will
• 2:27:24
  Speaker 12: also enable us to achieve mental and spiritual heights which
• 2:27:28
  Speaker 12: the ordinary person cannot attain. The inexhaustible supply. We must
• 2:27:34
  Speaker 12: constantly bear in mind that there is an unlimited supply
• 2:27:37
  Speaker 12: of cosmic energy, and this will develop personal magnetism to
• 2:27:40
  Speaker 12: the degree to which we can draw upon it. Exercises
• 2:27:43
  Speaker 12: for doing so have been given in a previous chapter.
• 2:27:46
  Speaker 12: We must have confidence in ourselves and in our powers.
• 2:27:50
  Speaker 12: For confidence in self breeds confidence in others, and fear
• 2:27:54
  Speaker 12: weakens both the brain that plans and the hand that executes.
• 2:27:58
  Speaker 12: We must use suggestion rightly in our conversation with others,
• 2:28:02
  Speaker 12: and without appearing to do so. Constantly give such suggestions
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 12: as are likely to take root in the mind, and
• 2:28:08
  Speaker 12: this must be hammered in by constant repetition. Finally, we
• 2:28:12
  Speaker 12: must not waste the magnetism we may possess by nervous
• 2:28:15
  Speaker 12: habits such as tapping on a floor or table with
• 2:28:18
  Speaker 12: the fingers, pacing up and down the room, etc. In short,
• 2:28:22
  Speaker 12: all unnecessary gestures. If we save our energy in this way,
• 2:28:26
  Speaker 12: it is the same as if we received more of it,
• 2:28:29
  Speaker 12: and this we can utilize to good account. The physical
• 2:28:33
  Speaker 12: factor personal magnetism depends upon various factors. First of all,
• 2:28:37
  Speaker 12: sound physical health is essential. Without it, there is little virility,
• 2:28:41
  Speaker 12: and upon the presence of this vital staminas success largely depends.
• 2:28:46
  Speaker 12: Theodore Roosevelt's dominating personality was due largely to his extraordinary
• 2:28:50
  Speaker 12: physical energy. Large muscles are not necessarily a sign of this.
• 2:28:54
  Speaker 12: It is the vital constitution which must be strengthened, and
• 2:28:57
  Speaker 12: in order to accomplish this, the internal organs must be
• 2:29:00
  Speaker 12: in a healthy condition. Proper exercises devoted to stimulating their
• 2:29:04
  Speaker 12: function should be taken for a few minutes daily, and
• 2:29:07
  Speaker 12: in this connection, the student would do well to consult
• 2:29:10
  Speaker 12: one or two good books on physical culture giving directions
• 2:29:14
  Speaker 12: of this character. Bending movement of all kinds are especially helpful.
• 2:29:19
  Speaker 12: Deep breathing exercises, which tend to expand the lungs, chest
• 2:29:23
  Speaker 12: and diaphragm, are to be recommended. And if you can
• 2:29:26
  Speaker 12: stimulate the solar plexus and internal organs by deep breathing exercises,
• 2:29:31
  Speaker 12: this will go a long way towards rousing the vital
• 2:29:33
  Speaker 12: currents of the body. The inner physical causes for this
• 2:29:37
  Speaker 12: will be explained more fully in subsequent chapters. The mental
• 2:29:41
  Speaker 12: factor next, the mind must be trained and cultivated in
• 2:29:45
  Speaker 12: certain directions and channels. Just here, the student would do
• 2:29:48
  Speaker 12: well to turn back and reread the directions given in
• 2:29:51
  Speaker 12: chapter seven Self and Soul Culture, where practical advice on
• 2:29:55
  Speaker 12: success and its attainment is given the practice of concentration
• 2:30:00
  Speaker 12: chapter twenty four would prove very helpful here. Relaxation both
• 2:30:04
  Speaker 12: of body and mind should follow this. The improvement of
• 2:30:08
  Speaker 12: memory by various methods would greatly add to the strength
• 2:30:11
  Speaker 12: of the psychic personality, since it is upon memory that
• 2:30:14
  Speaker 12: the thread of personality depends. Attention upon any given subject
• 2:30:18
  Speaker 12: should be cultivated, and you should never allow yourself to
• 2:30:21
  Speaker 12: perform any action automatically which should be conscious. For instance,
• 2:30:26
  Speaker 12: if you put an object in the drawer of your desk,
• 2:30:28
  Speaker 12: make a conscious mental note of this at the time,
• 2:30:32
  Speaker 12: so that you afterward remember where it is placed, and
• 2:30:35
  Speaker 12: never allow yourself to place the object there without paying
• 2:30:38
  Speaker 12: particular attention to it. Many people do this, and it
• 2:30:41
  Speaker 12: is indicative of a weak power of attention and a
• 2:30:44
  Speaker 12: scattered mind. The degree to which you can overcome this
• 2:30:47
  Speaker 12: indicates concentration and hence power. Nothing gives power and strength
• 2:30:52
  Speaker 12: to the mind so much as continued exercise and concentration.
• 2:30:56
  Speaker 12: The spiritual factor. Spiritual development will also assist in the
• 2:31:01
  Speaker 12: cultivation of personal magnetism by drawing to your aid certain
• 2:31:05
  Speaker 12: spiritual energies which recharge you, that is, charge your body
• 2:31:09
  Speaker 12: in much the same way that an electric motor is
• 2:31:11
  Speaker 12: charged by external energy. This power you draw by placing
• 2:31:15
  Speaker 12: yourself in a certain receptive condition which invites its influx.
• 2:31:19
  Speaker 12: All negative thoughts tend to erect a wall between yourself
• 2:31:23
  Speaker 12: and helpful external guidance, and on the other hand, an
• 2:31:26
  Speaker 12: affirmative and positive attitude will have the effect of attracting
• 2:31:30
  Speaker 12: or drawing to you this additional power. Thoughts and emotions
• 2:31:34
  Speaker 12: also have this effect. If you will carefully analyze your
• 2:31:37
  Speaker 12: own inner sensations while thinking certain thoughts or experiencing certain emotions,
• 2:31:43
  Speaker 12: you will find that selfish, self centered impulses tend to
• 2:31:46
  Speaker 12: contract your mentally and physically. You feel yourself tightening up
• 2:31:50
  Speaker 12: all over, as it were, and this internal action shuts
• 2:31:53
  Speaker 12: off all outside aid and influence. On the other hand,
• 2:31:57
  Speaker 12: if you think thoughts of friendship, love, et cetera, you
• 2:32:01
  Speaker 12: will find your beings tend to expand, and it is
• 2:32:04
  Speaker 12: this feeling which opens the gates of your soul to
• 2:32:06
  Speaker 12: an influx of higher power. How to influence others. Personal
• 2:32:11
  Speaker 12: magnetism is practically useful in the affairs of this life.
• 2:32:15
  Speaker 12: If you wish to achieve a certain object, you will
• 2:32:17
  Speaker 12: far more likely to do so if you have a
• 2:32:19
  Speaker 12: good magnetic personality than otherwise. The following simple rules, if followed,
• 2:32:24
  Speaker 12: will probably greatly assist you in the development of personal magnetism. One.
• 2:32:29
  Speaker 12: Just before entering into the presence of the person whom
• 2:32:32
  Speaker 12: you are about to interview, call up that person's image
• 2:32:35
  Speaker 12: before your mind and assume toward it a positive mental attitude.
• 2:32:39
  Speaker 12: If you do this, you will carry over and maintain
• 2:32:42
  Speaker 12: this attitude towards that person when you meet him. If
• 2:32:45
  Speaker 12: you assume at the outset sixty or seventy five percent
• 2:32:49
  Speaker 12: of the mental dominance or initiative, you figuratively speaking, only
• 2:32:54
  Speaker 12: leave the other person forty or twenty five percent of
• 2:32:57
  Speaker 12: the ground lying between you which he can possibly occupy.
• 2:33:00
  Speaker 12: Your business is to assume at the outset as large
• 2:33:03
  Speaker 12: a percentage of the positive relationship as possible, and by
• 2:33:07
  Speaker 12: doing so, you force the other person to assume the
• 2:33:10
  Speaker 12: mind the quantity. The use of the eyes too. When
• 2:33:14
  Speaker 12: in the presence of the person whom you are to interview,
• 2:33:17
  Speaker 12: look him squarely in the eyes and hold his gaze
• 2:33:20
  Speaker 12: and attention until you have won your first point. If possible,
• 2:33:24
  Speaker 12: do not allow his attention or his eyes to wander
• 2:33:26
  Speaker 12: from you until you have thoroughly ensured his interest and
• 2:33:30
  Speaker 12: sympathetic corporation. It is important to catch the eye at
• 2:33:33
  Speaker 12: the moment you are making a particular point so as
• 2:33:36
  Speaker 12: to drive it home. As it were, You cannot stare
• 2:33:39
  Speaker 12: a person in the eye all the while you are
• 2:33:41
  Speaker 12: talking to him, and you should look away part of
• 2:33:44
  Speaker 12: the time when you are discussing unimportant points or leading
• 2:33:47
  Speaker 12: up to the climax. Many salesmen utilize this principle in
• 2:33:51
  Speaker 12: making a sale. They will draw attention to a book
• 2:33:54
  Speaker 12: or an illustration at which they ask you to look
• 2:33:58
  Speaker 12: and talk about it for a moment, then close the
• 2:34:00
  Speaker 12: book and make a short, quick remark which will draw
• 2:34:04
  Speaker 12: your attention to his face and eyes spontaneously. At the
• 2:34:08
  Speaker 12: moment when he has gained your full attention and you
• 2:34:10
  Speaker 12: are in a condition to receive any statement he will
• 2:34:13
  Speaker 12: make to you, he will come to the climax of
• 2:34:15
  Speaker 12: his argument and perhaps ask you to sign a certain paper,
• 2:34:19
  Speaker 12: which you may be prevailed upon to do under the
• 2:34:22
  Speaker 12: influence of his personality. How to develop the magnetic gaze.
• 2:34:28
  Speaker 12: The eyes therefore play an important part in the cultivation
• 2:34:31
  Speaker 12: of personal magnetism, and you should cultivate and strengthen them
• 2:34:35
  Speaker 12: by certain exercises which will certainly develop them. For example,
• 2:34:39
  Speaker 12: practice gazing steadily at an object for several seconds without
• 2:34:43
  Speaker 12: allowing the gaze, or the attention to wonder, and without
• 2:34:47
  Speaker 12: blinking the eyes. At first, you will probably be able
• 2:34:50
  Speaker 12: to do so for only a short time, but this
• 2:34:52
  Speaker 12: will gradually be extended as you cultivate the power. Next,
• 2:34:57
  Speaker 12: practice gazing at a fairly bright object, and continue this
• 2:35:01
  Speaker 12: until you can look at it for several minutes at
• 2:35:03
  Speaker 12: a time without becoming affected. When you look into the
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 12: eyes of another person, do not look blankly, but will
• 2:35:10
  Speaker 12: at the same time and throw the whole force of
• 2:35:13
  Speaker 12: your personality into your gaze, feeling that you will influence
• 2:35:17
  Speaker 12: that person to do as you wish. Naturally, practices of
• 2:35:21
  Speaker 12: this character can be, and in fact are utilized by
• 2:35:25
  Speaker 12: many persons for evil as well as for good purposes.
• 2:35:28
  Speaker 12: Those who are endeavoring to cultivate the higher side of
• 2:35:31
  Speaker 12: their nature, however, will fully realize the necessity of utilizing
• 2:35:35
  Speaker 12: any added powers they may gain for good purposes. Only
• 2:35:40
  Speaker 12: passes and suggestions. Three downward passes, as before explained, are
• 2:35:45
  Speaker 12: sleep passes, and a few of these will add emphasis
• 2:35:49
  Speaker 12: to your speech and impress the person to whom you're talking.
• 2:35:52
  Speaker 12: Do not gesticulate over much, however, as this will detract
• 2:35:55
  Speaker 12: rather than add to what you have to say a
• 2:35:58
  Speaker 12: few passes at the moments will prove of great value. Four.
• 2:36:04
  Speaker 12: Do not speak hurriedly, for if you do, you will
• 2:36:07
  Speaker 12: give the impression that you are in a hurry, and
• 2:36:09
  Speaker 12: your hearer will unconsciously grow impatient. On the other hand,
• 2:36:14
  Speaker 12: do not drawl your words, but speak naturally with a clear,
• 2:36:18
  Speaker 12: forceful enunciation. The more reposeful and calm you appear, the
• 2:36:23
  Speaker 12: more receptive your listener will be to hear what you
• 2:36:25
  Speaker 12: have to say. At the same time, you must be
• 2:36:28
  Speaker 12: business like and precise. How to prevent the influence of others.
• 2:36:34
  Speaker 12: If you wish to upset the influence of someone who
• 2:36:37
  Speaker 12: is speaking to you and prevent yourself from being influenced
• 2:36:40
  Speaker 12: by him, you should see to it that you do
• 2:36:43
  Speaker 12: not allow him to catch your eye at the psychological
• 2:36:46
  Speaker 12: climax of the conversation, but studiously look away at that
• 2:36:50
  Speaker 12: time and carefully think over and analyze what he's saying
• 2:36:53
  Speaker 12: to you, without allowing yourself to be swayed by his
• 2:36:56
  Speaker 12: manner or words. Look at him in the interval's between
• 2:37:00
  Speaker 12: these climaxes, when he will probably be looking away from you.
• 2:37:04
  Speaker 12: Hold your mind in a positive attitude, and never allow
• 2:37:08
  Speaker 12: yourself to be hurried into anything. The ability to say
• 2:37:11
  Speaker 12: no and stick to it when occasion demands has been
• 2:37:15
  Speaker 12: declared one of the greatest essentials to success by many
• 2:37:18
  Speaker 12: men who have attained great eminence. As Abraham Lincoln once remarked,
• 2:37:23
  Speaker 12: be sure you are right, and then go ahead. A
• 2:37:26
  Speaker 12: clear mind and inner mental repose will greatly add to
• 2:37:29
  Speaker 12: your power in these directions. Helpful application these exercises in
• 2:37:36
  Speaker 12: the development of personal magnetism will be found especially helpful
• 2:37:40
  Speaker 12: to all psychics for the reason that they tend to
• 2:37:43
  Speaker 12: offset and counterbalance to a great extent the subjective practices
• 2:37:47
  Speaker 12: of mediumship, and hence balance up the personality by accentuating
• 2:37:51
  Speaker 12: the objective as well as the subjective side of one's
• 2:37:54
  Speaker 12: inner self. All those who are developing psychic powers in
• 2:37:58
  Speaker 12: mediumship should, therefore, while leading their daily lives, endeavor to
• 2:38:03
  Speaker 12: follow the principles herein laid down and develop their own
• 2:38:06
  Speaker 12: natures along these lines. They will find that it will
• 2:38:10
  Speaker 12: prove very helpful to them and preserve that just balance
• 2:38:14
  Speaker 12: we term health. End of Chapter thirty.
• 2:38:18
  Speaker 13: One, Chapter thirty two prophecy versus fortune telling. The subject
• 2:38:24
  Speaker 13: with which this chapter deals is a very important one
• 2:38:26
  Speaker 13: for the spiritualist for the psychic and above all for
• 2:38:29
  Speaker 13: the public medium, for the reason that it concerns him.
• 2:38:32
  Speaker 13: In a very practical manner, it would seem as if spiritualism,
• 2:38:36
  Speaker 13: although an organized religious body international in scope and influence,
• 2:38:40
  Speaker 13: had no standing in the eyes of some people, nor
• 2:38:43
  Speaker 13: that its accredited mediums were entitled to any more consideration
• 2:38:46
  Speaker 13: than ordinary fortune tellers. Fortune telling, so called, is against
• 2:38:51
  Speaker 13: the law, and in many cities the authorities are very
• 2:38:53
  Speaker 13: severe on anything which can in any way be construed
• 2:38:56
  Speaker 13: as fortune telling. Truly, one may be pardoned for believing
• 2:39:00
  Speaker 13: that there is a power back of it, which is
• 2:39:02
  Speaker 13: opposed to so called modernisms, to the several movements of
• 2:39:05
  Speaker 13: a spiritual and religious nature that are freshly putting forth
• 2:39:08
  Speaker 13: real knowledge of our true relations to this life and
• 2:39:11
  Speaker 13: the life beyond. It is not merely a moral wave,
• 2:39:16
  Speaker 13: not merely ignorance of the difference between true and honest
• 2:39:19
  Speaker 13: mediumship and fortune telling, but an effort to retard and
• 2:39:22
  Speaker 13: crush the truth. From the present standpoint of the court, Jesus,
• 2:39:27
  Speaker 13: when he told the woman at the well about certain
• 2:39:29
  Speaker 13: manners in her life, was a fortune teller. The people
• 2:39:33
  Speaker 13: marveled over him because of what he could tell, and
• 2:39:35
  Speaker 13: do to spiritualists. He was a medium, but a master,
• 2:39:40
  Speaker 13: and one so qualified by time and distance as he
• 2:39:43
  Speaker 13: comes down the centuries to the present age. In the
• 2:39:46
  Speaker 13: twenty first chapter of First Corinthians, Paul describes the gifts
• 2:39:50
  Speaker 13: of the spirit, or spiritual gifts, and says they are
• 2:39:53
  Speaker 13: all of the same spirit. The word spirit here is
• 2:39:56
  Speaker 13: used in the sense of a collective noun or a
• 2:39:58
  Speaker 13: noun of multitude, much as we use the word congress,
• 2:40:02
  Speaker 13: and applies to the spirit world as the source of
• 2:40:04
  Speaker 13: inspiration and control. The same as with the spiritualists, mediums,
• 2:40:10
  Speaker 13: and the law, there was much consulting with mediums in
• 2:40:14
  Speaker 13: those early days of the primitive Church. For does not
• 2:40:17
  Speaker 13: Paul again say, try the spirits and see if they
• 2:40:20
  Speaker 13: be of God? Prove all things hold fast to that
• 2:40:23
  Speaker 13: which is good. Opposition stirs up opposition and puts men
• 2:40:28
  Speaker 13: and movements on the defensive. Spiritualism realizes this, and is
• 2:40:32
  Speaker 13: now actively engaged in efforts for the better protection of
• 2:40:35
  Speaker 13: its mediums. When one strikes a blow at modern spiritualism,
• 2:40:41
  Speaker 13: he strikes a blow as well at ancient spiritual truth,
• 2:40:44
  Speaker 13: that truth which fills the pages of our Bible, for
• 2:40:47
  Speaker 13: which the early martyrs died, and upon which the Christian
• 2:40:49
  Speaker 13: Church was built. It comes as the comforter which Jesus
• 2:40:53
  Speaker 13: said he would send in the latter days. An assistant
• 2:40:57
  Speaker 13: district attorney once made a ruling that a sand, which
• 2:41:00
  Speaker 13: institutes a meal and so lookier, could be bought on Sunday.
• 2:41:03
  Speaker 13: But no court can rule that a fortune teller constitutes
• 2:41:06
  Speaker 13: a spiritualistic medium and have it stand the letter killeth.
• 2:41:11
  Speaker 13: But the spirit maketh alive. At the same time, Prophecy
• 2:41:15
  Speaker 13: is a genuine spiritual or mediumistic gift, and there are
• 2:41:18
  Speaker 13: thousands of persons who have experienced so called premonitions or
• 2:41:21
  Speaker 13: provisions of the future, and have felt compelled to tell
• 2:41:24
  Speaker 13: others what they have seen for them. Between prophecy and
• 2:41:28
  Speaker 13: fortune telling, there is therefore a very fine line to
• 2:41:31
  Speaker 13: be drawn, for the one is dependent upon superstition to
• 2:41:34
  Speaker 13: a great extent, while the other is a genuine psychical
• 2:41:37
  Speaker 13: faculty which requires our recognition and study what prophecy is.
• 2:41:44
  Speaker 13: So far as we can define the distinction between the two,
• 2:41:47
  Speaker 13: it may be said that prophecy depends upon internal spiritual
• 2:41:50
  Speaker 13: promptings or the reception of definite messages relating to the future,
• 2:41:53
  Speaker 13: which are told the medium by external spiritual intelligences. He
• 2:41:59
  Speaker 13: acts merely as a medium for transmission in the latter case,
• 2:42:02
  Speaker 13: and simply gives out what he receives. This is the
• 2:42:05
  Speaker 13: type of spiritual premonition, as distinct from clairvoyance of the future,
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 13: which we have already discussed in chapter fourteen. In this
• 2:42:12
  Speaker 13: latter case, the power appears to depend upon internal and
• 2:42:15
  Speaker 13: spontaneous quickening of spiritual faculties and seems to be self originated.
• 2:42:20
  Speaker 13: As it were, it is very similar to spontaneous premonitions. Therefore,
• 2:42:25
  Speaker 13: and in fact, these subjects are so very closely connected
• 2:42:28
  Speaker 13: that only an expert can define the differences between them.
• 2:42:32
  Speaker 13: Unless one has had considerable experience and knowledge in this field,
• 2:42:36
  Speaker 13: he is totally incapable of judging whether a given set
• 2:42:38
  Speaker 13: of phenomena are the type of genuine prophecy or mere
• 2:42:42
  Speaker 13: fortune telling, and he should study the subject thoroughly before
• 2:42:45
  Speaker 13: he is capable of expressing an opinion upon it. It
• 2:42:48
  Speaker 13: may be well to consider the meaning of the word prophecy.
• 2:42:51
  Speaker 13: It is derived from the Greek word profhemi pro meaning
• 2:42:55
  Speaker 13: before and femi to say or tell. There is another
• 2:42:59
  Speaker 13: word prophetation of similar import and derivation, and means to prophecy, divine, foretell, predict, presage,
• 2:43:07
  Speaker 13: to explain or apply prophecies. In Greek classical literature, the
• 2:43:11
  Speaker 13: word prophet meant a declarer, foreteller, divener, a harbinger, a forerunner,
• 2:43:17
  Speaker 13: a priest, teacher, instructor, interpreter, a poet, a barred. All
• 2:43:23
  Speaker 13: of these definitions carry with them something of the idea
• 2:43:26
  Speaker 13: of a character whose mission is in some way connected
• 2:43:28
  Speaker 13: with the aspirations and longings of mankind. A definition of prophecy.
• 2:43:34
  Speaker 13: The Standard Dictionary has defined prophecy as follows. One to
• 2:43:38
  Speaker 13: predict or foretell, especially under divine inspiration and guidance. To
• 2:43:43
  Speaker 13: prefigure as to prophecy evil. Two to speak or utter
• 2:43:47
  Speaker 13: for God. Three to speak by divine influence or as
• 2:43:51
  Speaker 13: a medium of communication between God and man, specifically to
• 2:43:56
  Speaker 13: speak to men for God, declare or interpret the divine
• 2:43:59
  Speaker 13: will sec Four to predict future events by supernatural influence,
• 2:44:05
  Speaker 13: real or professed. To foretell the future, utter predictions as
• 2:44:09
  Speaker 13: to prophecy a disaster. Five archaic, to interpret scripture, explain
• 2:44:15
  Speaker 13: religious subjects, preach, exhort. Under the head of synonyms, the
• 2:44:20
  Speaker 13: Standard Dictionary gives augur, define, foretell, predict, prognosticate. Prophecy differs
• 2:44:29
  Speaker 13: from predict by assuming a claim to supernatural or divine inspirations.
• 2:44:34
  Speaker 13: To prognosticate is to predict from observed signs, indications, or conditions.
• 2:44:39
  Speaker 13: To prophecy, in the scriptural sense is to utter religious
• 2:44:42
  Speaker 13: truths under divine inspiration, not simply always to foretell future events,
• 2:44:47
  Speaker 13: but to warn, exhort, comfort, etc. By special message or
• 2:44:51
  Speaker 13: impulse from God. This scriptural definition seems well adapted to
• 2:44:56
  Speaker 13: the spiritualist sense of the word, when we interpret God
• 2:44:59
  Speaker 13: to mean the infinite spirit of good. The verb prophecy
• 2:45:03
  Speaker 13: is also used in the New Testament in the sense
• 2:45:05
  Speaker 13: of revealing something which had happened and was unknown to
• 2:45:08
  Speaker 13: the person revealing it, except through some so called supernatural source.
• 2:45:13
  Speaker 13: As for instance, after Jesus was pronounced guilty of death
• 2:45:16
  Speaker 13: by the High Priest, some of the Ruffians, who have
• 2:45:19
  Speaker 13: their counterpart in this day, spat in his face and
• 2:45:22
  Speaker 13: buffeted him, and others smote him with poems of their hands,
• 2:45:26
  Speaker 13: saying prophecy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that
• 2:45:30
  Speaker 13: smote thee Matthew Chapter twenty six, verse sixty five to
• 2:45:34
  Speaker 13: sixty eight. Jesus ignored this challenge. Could they have understood
• 2:45:39
  Speaker 13: or would they have believed in his mission if he
• 2:45:41
  Speaker 13: had correctly pointed out the man who had assaulted him.
• 2:45:45
  Speaker 13: Explanation of fortune telling. It is true, however, that the
• 2:45:50
  Speaker 13: method of arriving at the knowledge given is in itself
• 2:45:53
  Speaker 13: an indication of the character of the knowledge imparted. Thus,
• 2:45:58
  Speaker 13: fortune telling in the hands of Charlotte and Quacks is
• 2:46:01
  Speaker 13: often connected with such superstitious practices as reading the future
• 2:46:05
  Speaker 13: from tea or coffee grounds, from cards, allowing birds to
• 2:46:09
  Speaker 13: pick out envelopes containing written messages relating to the future,
• 2:46:12
  Speaker 13: et cetera. Such practices are certainly to be deprecated by
• 2:46:17
  Speaker 13: every sincere spiritualist and truth seeker, though it should be
• 2:46:21
  Speaker 13: said just here that many psychics who read the cards
• 2:46:23
  Speaker 13: in this manner depend not so much on the actual
• 2:46:26
  Speaker 13: fall of the cards as upon the psychic impressions which
• 2:46:29
  Speaker 13: they receive at the time the sitter's fortune is being told.
• 2:46:32
  Speaker 13: This is often true also in the case of palmists.
• 2:46:36
  Speaker 13: There is doubtless some truth to the general doctrine of palmistry,
• 2:46:39
  Speaker 13: but it can only hold good to a very limited extent.
• 2:46:42
  Speaker 13: When impressions are received, the process is somewhat akin to
• 2:46:46
  Speaker 13: crystal gazing, where the mind is concentrated on an external
• 2:46:49
  Speaker 13: object while it remains passive and open to internal impressions,
• 2:46:53
  Speaker 13: but instead of receiving these in the form of visual pictures,
• 2:46:56
  Speaker 13: they are given in a more general and vague manner.
• 2:47:01
  Speaker 13: Why fortune telling is sometimes true. On the other hand,
• 2:47:05
  Speaker 13: genuine mediumistic messages are frequently given while the subject is
• 2:47:08
  Speaker 13: reading the cards, examining the sitter's palm, et cetera. It
• 2:47:12
  Speaker 13: will be observed that in these cases there is a
• 2:47:14
  Speaker 13: certain fundamental reality in the phenomena, but it is perverted
• 2:47:18
  Speaker 13: and unconsciously covered up by the seer, who is unaware
• 2:47:21
  Speaker 13: of the actual source of the information he gives. Psychic
• 2:47:24
  Speaker 13: power or mediumship is the basis of the supernormal information given,
• 2:47:29
  Speaker 13: but it is under the guise of fortune telling. A
• 2:47:32
  Speaker 13: far more direct and satisfactory method would be to come
• 2:47:35
  Speaker 13: out in a straightforward and direct manner and state that
• 2:47:38
  Speaker 13: each and such impressions were received relating to the future,
• 2:47:42
  Speaker 13: and this premonitory faculty could doubtless be cultivated by certain
• 2:47:45
  Speaker 13: practices and be used as the student progressed in his
• 2:47:48
  Speaker 13: psychic development. Exercises for development of these faculties will be
• 2:47:53
  Speaker 13: given later on in this book. Why mediums cannot help themselves.
• 2:47:58
  Speaker 13: Disbelievers in spirits rualism often say, if your ascertations are true,
• 2:48:03
  Speaker 13: why do not the spirits warn and advise you more frequently?
• 2:48:06
  Speaker 13: And why do they not help you financially or otherwise
• 2:48:09
  Speaker 13: more than they do. The answer is simply, as before said,
• 2:48:12
  Speaker 13: that you are not a creator but an instrument. A
• 2:48:15
  Speaker 13: knife may be sharp, but it could not cut bread
• 2:48:18
  Speaker 13: without the power behind it. A soldier may go to
• 2:48:21
  Speaker 13: war and fight bravely without knowing the real reasons for
• 2:48:23
  Speaker 13: the war. You are the knife or the soldier. You
• 2:48:27
  Speaker 13: cannot act by yourself or achieve desirable results unless the
• 2:48:30
  Speaker 13: power be imparted to you from beyond, and even then
• 2:48:33
  Speaker 13: the power is supplied for other purposes and centered upon
• 2:48:36
  Speaker 13: other things. The knife does not cut itself but the bread.
• 2:48:41
  Speaker 13: Clairvorant power does not benefit the clairvoyant directly, but some
• 2:48:44
  Speaker 13: third person, And in cases where the student has found
• 2:48:47
  Speaker 13: it possible to pervert its use and turn it into
• 2:48:49
  Speaker 13: selfish channels, the power has invariably been lost. It may
• 2:48:54
  Speaker 13: also be said that spiritualists may err in the selection
• 2:48:57
  Speaker 13: of spirit advisers as well. In the mediums of inns
• 2:49:00
  Speaker 13: to communication. That is true, for we are not endowed
• 2:49:03
  Speaker 13: with perfect judgment, even in selecting in this life our
• 2:49:06
  Speaker 13: medical or legal advisers, or our governmental representatives and officials,
• 2:49:11
  Speaker 13: our business partners, or our friends, or the person to
• 2:49:14
  Speaker 13: advise us as to where we can get the best
• 2:49:16
  Speaker 13: advice in a given manner. The spiritualist merely claims the
• 2:49:20
  Speaker 13: right to act for himself without let or hindrance from
• 2:49:23
  Speaker 13: those who differ with him in religious views. If he
• 2:49:26
  Speaker 13: makes mistakes which cause him loss or suffering, it must
• 2:49:29
  Speaker 13: be remembered that even Jesus, with his extraordinary psychic powers,
• 2:49:33
  Speaker 13: made a mistake when he selected Judas Iscariot as one
• 2:49:37
  Speaker 13: of the twelve. If it be said that this seeming
• 2:49:40
  Speaker 13: mistake was a part of the divine plan, then it
• 2:49:42
  Speaker 13: may also be said that the spiritualist seeming mistakes may
• 2:49:45
  Speaker 13: also be part of a divine plan. History of prophecy,
• 2:49:52
  Speaker 13: there can be no doubt that prophecy has existed in
• 2:49:55
  Speaker 13: all ages and has had its own uses as well
• 2:49:57
  Speaker 13: as its abuses many spirits. Rullist believe that prophecy is
• 2:50:01
  Speaker 13: invariably connected with spirits, and that the explanation depends upon
• 2:50:05
  Speaker 13: their communication. On the other hand, many Orthodox religious persons
• 2:50:10
  Speaker 13: believe that prophecy depends entirely upon the influx of the
• 2:50:13
  Speaker 13: divine Spirit, and that the ability to prict or foretell
• 2:50:16
  Speaker 13: comes directly from God. This is the manner in which
• 2:50:21
  Speaker 13: it is regarded by many people and many religious books.
• 2:50:24
  Speaker 13: There are many references to prophecy and to prophets, both
• 2:50:27
  Speaker 13: in the Old and the New Testament, and any one
• 2:50:30
  Speaker 13: who accepts the teachings of the Bible as in any
• 2:50:32
  Speaker 13: way true and valuable can hardly fail to believe the
• 2:50:36
  Speaker 13: prophecy is a genuine psychical faculty which has been exercised
• 2:50:40
  Speaker 13: by men in all ages, and is undoubtedly being exercised
• 2:50:43
  Speaker 13: by them now. Thus, in First Corinthians, chapter four, verse three,
• 2:50:48
  Speaker 13: we read, but he that prophecieth speaketh unto men, to
• 2:50:54
  Speaker 13: edification and exhortation and comfort. Again, in the same chapter,
• 2:50:58
  Speaker 13: verse one, we read follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts,
• 2:51:03
  Speaker 13: but rather that ye may prophecy. And again in the
• 2:51:07
  Speaker 13: same chapter verses thirty one, thirty two, and thirty nine,
• 2:51:11
  Speaker 13: we read, for ye may all prophecy one by one,
• 2:51:14
  Speaker 13: that all may learn and all may be comforted, and
• 2:51:17
  Speaker 13: the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. Wherefore,
• 2:51:22
  Speaker 13: brethren covet to prophecy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
• 2:51:27
  Speaker 13: One more quotation in Verse Corinthians, Chapter twelve, verse four
• 2:51:32
  Speaker 13: through twelve, we read, Now there are diversities of gifts,
• 2:51:37
  Speaker 13: but the same spirit. And there are differences of administrations,
• 2:51:41
  Speaker 13: but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations.
• 2:51:45
  Speaker 13: But it is the same God which worketh all in all,
• 2:51:48
  Speaker 13: but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every
• 2:51:51
  Speaker 13: man to profit withal. For to one is given by
• 2:51:54
  Speaker 13: the Spirit, the word of wisdom to another, the word
• 2:51:57
  Speaker 13: of knowledge by the same spirit to another, faith by
• 2:52:01
  Speaker 13: the same spirit to another, the gift of healing by
• 2:52:03
  Speaker 13: the same spirit to another, the working of miracles to another,
• 2:52:08
  Speaker 13: prophecy to another, discernings of spirit to another, diverse kinds
• 2:52:13
  Speaker 13: of tongues to another, the interpretation of tongues. But all
• 2:52:17
  Speaker 13: these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, abiding
• 2:52:21
  Speaker 13: in every man as he will. Many other references of
• 2:52:24
  Speaker 13: this character could be given, but it is hardly necessary.
• 2:52:28
  Speaker 13: For every student knows that every religious book in the
• 2:52:30
  Speaker 13: world accepts the genuineness of prophecy, and in fact all
• 2:52:35
  Speaker 13: religions are based on the revelations of seers or prophets.
• 2:52:40
  Speaker 13: How is prophecy possible? Prophecy is a faculty which usually
• 2:52:44
  Speaker 13: comes unsought and spontaneously when the future is seen in
• 2:52:49
  Speaker 13: an isolated picture or event. It is usually called a
• 2:52:52
  Speaker 13: premonition or pre vision, and many examples of this character
• 2:52:55
  Speaker 13: have been collected and published by the societies for psychical research.
• 2:53:00
  Speaker 13: It may be asked, how is it possible to see
• 2:53:03
  Speaker 13: into the future, to lift the veil of futurity, and
• 2:53:05
  Speaker 13: glance forward as we glance backward in reading history. Certainly,
• 2:53:10
  Speaker 13: at first sight such a thing appears not only impossible
• 2:53:12
  Speaker 13: but absurd. Nevertheless, it is an undoubted fact, and numbers
• 2:53:16
  Speaker 13: of cases of this character might perhaps be explained more
• 2:53:19
  Speaker 13: or less rationally, even with our present knowledge. Thus, certain
• 2:53:24
  Speaker 13: types of premonitions relate to the future of welfare of
• 2:53:27
  Speaker 13: the body or health of the subject experiencing them. In
• 2:53:30
  Speaker 13: such cases, we might suppose that the subconscious mind, which
• 2:53:34
  Speaker 13: has a wider range of inner experience and knowledge than
• 2:53:36
  Speaker 13: the ordinary waking mind, was aware of certain internal changes
• 2:53:40
  Speaker 13: and happenings of which the conscious mind was totally ignorant.
• 2:53:44
  Speaker 13: In such cases, the explanation would be that this subconscious mind,
• 2:53:48
  Speaker 13: having acquired this knowledge, would merely impart or externalize it
• 2:53:52
  Speaker 13: in the form of a vision, voice, or message, or
• 2:53:55
  Speaker 13: in the form of automatic writing, et cetera. A second
• 2:53:59
  Speaker 13: type of premonition might depend upon subconscious inference and deduction,
• 2:54:03
  Speaker 13: thus being far more accurate and far seeing than the
• 2:54:05
  Speaker 13: conscious mind in such matters, particularly when the latter is
• 2:54:09
  Speaker 13: occupied with every day practical affairs. Another set of premonitions
• 2:54:14
  Speaker 13: might be accounted for by assuming that the knowledge given
• 2:54:17
  Speaker 13: is imparted telepathically or gained clairvoyantly by the subject's own mind.
• 2:54:23
  Speaker 13: In these cases, the information would be in the minds
• 2:54:25
  Speaker 13: of other living persons and would be gained from them
• 2:54:27
  Speaker 13: and given out before the subject had gained the fact.
• 2:54:30
  Speaker 13: Normally scientific explanation of prophecy. A fourth type of premonition
• 2:54:37
  Speaker 13: might be explained by assuming that discarnate spirits play a
• 2:54:41
  Speaker 13: large part and communicate the information to the recipient of
• 2:54:44
  Speaker 13: the message in question. In this case, the discarnate intelligence
• 2:54:48
  Speaker 13: would have to be in possession of certain facts or
• 2:54:51
  Speaker 13: be enabled to see farther than the psychic himself, and
• 2:54:54
  Speaker 13: there is much evidence that This is in fact the
• 2:54:56
  Speaker 13: case on numerous occasions. For example, if we see a
• 2:55:00
  Speaker 13: spider walking across the table, we know that when it
• 2:55:03
  Speaker 13: reaches the edge, it will either stop or fall over,
• 2:55:06
  Speaker 13: though the spider cannot foresee these facts and continues to walk,
• 2:55:09
  Speaker 13: quite ignorant of the fate in store of it. Again,
• 2:55:13
  Speaker 13: use a more forceful example, supposing a friend of yours
• 2:55:16
  Speaker 13: is walking down the street and is coming to a
• 2:55:18
  Speaker 13: cross street down which a strong wind is blowing. Being
• 2:55:21
  Speaker 13: in possession of this knowledge, you can predict with more
• 2:55:23
  Speaker 13: or less certainty that when your friend reaches this cross
• 2:55:26
  Speaker 13: street that his hat will blow off, And in fact
• 2:55:29
  Speaker 13: this actually happens. Now you will see in this case
• 2:55:32
  Speaker 13: your ability to predict this fact, or partly see into
• 2:55:35
  Speaker 13: the future, was based on your larger knowledge of certain
• 2:55:38
  Speaker 13: factors playing about his life. It is only logical to suppose, therefore,
• 2:55:43
  Speaker 13: that spirits, who may be and probably are, in possession
• 2:55:45
  Speaker 13: of greater psychic powers than we can foresee, tendencies and
• 2:55:49
  Speaker 13: destinies to a certain extent towards which human beings are tending.
• 2:55:54
  Speaker 13: This being so they are enabled at times to communicate,
• 2:55:57
  Speaker 13: perhaps telepathically, statements regards the future, which often turn out
• 2:56:01
  Speaker 13: to be true. This would be a logical explanation of
• 2:56:04
  Speaker 13: many cases of premonition of this type, and would explain
• 2:56:07
  Speaker 13: to us in a perfectly simple manner, why it is
• 2:56:10
  Speaker 13: that mistakes and error so often occur in premonitions of
• 2:56:13
  Speaker 13: this kind. It would only be what we should expect.
• 2:56:17
  Speaker 13: It must be admitted, however, that there are many cases
• 2:56:20
  Speaker 13: of premonitions which cannot be explained in this simple way,
• 2:56:23
  Speaker 13: and which we cannot in any manner account for in
• 2:56:25
  Speaker 13: the present state of science and of our limited knowledge
• 2:56:28
  Speaker 13: of psychic phenomena. These cases we must simply record and
• 2:56:32
  Speaker 13: hope that the time may come some day when we
• 2:56:35
  Speaker 13: will be enabled to comprehend clearly the underlying causal explanation,
• 2:56:39
  Speaker 13: which will make clear to us the real mechanisms by
• 2:56:41
  Speaker 13: means of which premonitions and prophecies are fulfilled. End of
• 2:56:46
  Speaker 13: Chapter thirty two.
• 2:56:48
  Speaker 5: Chapter thirty three. Reincarnation and Eastern philosophy. Most religious philosophies
• 2:56:55
  Speaker 5: of the East are based on the reality of reincarnation,
• 2:56:59
  Speaker 5: or the embodiment of the same soul in a variety
• 2:57:01
  Speaker 5: of physical bodies living on this earth at various stages
• 2:57:05
  Speaker 5: of the world's history, often separated from each other by
• 2:57:09
  Speaker 5: a number of years. The doctrine contends that the same
• 2:57:13
  Speaker 5: individuality is maintained throughout all these lives as a background,
• 2:57:18
  Speaker 5: but that each life is also an individual experience which
• 2:57:21
  Speaker 5: is destined to teach the soul one or more particular
• 2:57:25
  Speaker 5: lessons which it needed to learn for the purposes of
• 2:57:28
  Speaker 5: its ultimate progression and perfection. The doctrine is based largely
• 2:57:33
  Speaker 5: upon the law of compensation, which says that inasmuch as
• 2:57:37
  Speaker 5: there is in this life so much obvious inequality as
• 2:57:41
  Speaker 5: regards the material returns, rewards, and happiness, there must be
• 2:57:46
  Speaker 5: another chance for that soul at another time and under
• 2:57:49
  Speaker 5: other circumstances, And that the poverty and other conditions which
• 2:57:54
  Speaker 5: may be present in this life are for a purpose
• 2:57:57
  Speaker 5: and teach a lesson. And that possibly in some past life,
• 2:58:02
  Speaker 5: the same individual has been extraordinarily wealthy and has misused
• 2:58:06
  Speaker 5: the riches and power entrusted to him the memory of
• 2:58:11
  Speaker 5: past lives. This is a fascinating doctrine, and one which
• 2:58:16
  Speaker 5: at first sight asks us to yield our consent to it.
• 2:58:20
  Speaker 5: Yet there are many objections to this theory of reincarnation.
• 2:58:24
  Speaker 5: As we shall see presently, it may be well to
• 2:58:27
  Speaker 5: answer here one main objection to the doctrine, which is
• 2:58:31
  Speaker 5: sure to be advanced by the ordinary critic, and this
• 2:58:34
  Speaker 5: is that if the same soul be reincarnated a number
• 2:58:38
  Speaker 5: of times, it should remember its past lives, while as
• 2:58:42
  Speaker 5: a matter of fact it rarely does so, and if
• 2:58:45
  Speaker 5: we are to profit or benefit by these in any way,
• 2:58:48
  Speaker 5: one would think that this memory would be absolutely essential.
• 2:58:54
  Speaker 5: The theosophist, a reincarnationist, replies to this, however, by stating
• 2:58:59
  Speaker 5: that each life life is intended to be an individual,
• 2:59:02
  Speaker 5: separate existence, without a memory, bond, or connection with any
• 2:59:06
  Speaker 5: previous life. The soul of the individual which reincarnates only
• 2:59:12
  Speaker 5: reaps the knowledge of each life after death, when this
• 2:59:15
  Speaker 5: knowledge is added to the total massive experience is already gained. Thus,
• 2:59:21
  Speaker 5: the individual human life is conceived to be greater than
• 2:59:24
  Speaker 5: any single life, just as a bucket of water is
• 2:59:27
  Speaker 5: composed of thousands of drops, each drop being separate until
• 2:59:32
  Speaker 5: merged with others into the whole. In the same way,
• 2:59:36
  Speaker 5: each individual life representing a separate drop would be individualized
• 2:59:40
  Speaker 5: until after death, when it is again merged into the
• 2:59:44
  Speaker 5: total personality. Our inability to remember former lives is accounted
• 2:59:50
  Speaker 5: for by assuming that there is no direct connection between
• 2:59:54
  Speaker 5: the total self and the self which is built up
• 2:59:57
  Speaker 5: in this life through the physical brain. They are separated,
• 3:00:01
  Speaker 5: though it would take too long to explain here exactly
• 3:00:04
  Speaker 5: the nature and causes of this separation, according to the
• 3:00:08
  Speaker 5: doctrines advanced the arguments for reincarnation. Another argument which is
• 3:00:16
  Speaker 5: advanced in favor of the doctrine of reincarnation, and to
• 3:00:19
  Speaker 5: many minds a very strong one, is that life must
• 3:00:23
  Speaker 5: necessarily be eternal and immortal inasmuch as it is indestructible
• 3:00:28
  Speaker 5: by death and continues to exist to all eternity in
• 3:00:32
  Speaker 5: the future, and for the same reason, it must also
• 3:00:35
  Speaker 5: have existed from eternity in the past. And it is
• 3:00:38
  Speaker 5: inconceivable that such a thing as an individual human spirit
• 3:00:43
  Speaker 5: should continue to exist forever after the moment of birth,
• 3:00:47
  Speaker 5: while it did not exist at all previous to that event.
• 3:00:51
  Speaker 5: These are the main arguments which are brought forward in
• 3:00:54
  Speaker 5: favor of the doctrine of reincarnation, and we may add
• 3:00:58
  Speaker 5: to these one argument based upon experimental evidence. It is
• 3:01:02
  Speaker 5: this that many of those who have progressed sufficiently in
• 3:01:06
  Speaker 5: their psychic development can, so they say, remember their past lives,
• 3:01:12
  Speaker 5: either fractions of them or incidents in them, or the
• 3:01:15
  Speaker 5: whole life may be remembered as a consecutive series of
• 3:01:18
  Speaker 5: scenes and events. Many of the leaders of theosophy and
• 3:01:22
  Speaker 5: other religious systems of this character contend that they can
• 3:01:26
  Speaker 5: actually do so. The majority of spiritualists, however, are opposed
• 3:01:31
  Speaker 5: to this view and contend that reincarnation is not a fact,
• 3:01:35
  Speaker 5: though it must be admitted that in the past there
• 3:01:38
  Speaker 5: has been a great diversity of opinion on this subject.
• 3:01:42
  Speaker 5: The French school of Spiritists, formerly headed by Alan Cardek,
• 3:01:47
  Speaker 5: contends that reincarnation is a fact, and Cardek's work, The
• 3:01:51
  Speaker 5: Spirit's Book, is based entirely upon teachings of spirits who
• 3:01:55
  Speaker 5: claim that reincarnation is true. On the other hand, the
• 3:01:59
  Speaker 5: major majority of German, English, and American mediums contend that
• 3:02:04
  Speaker 5: reincarnation is not true, and spirits who return through them
• 3:02:08
  Speaker 5: also assert emphatically that it is not a fact. The
• 3:02:12
  Speaker 5: reason of this apparent contradiction was explained in an earlier chapter.
• 3:02:17
  Speaker 5: The communicators merely stated their own views and opinions reasons
• 3:02:23
  Speaker 5: for doubting reincarnation. Now, in considering this doctrine of reincarnation,
• 3:02:28
  Speaker 5: there are certain factors which we must bear in mind.
• 3:02:32
  Speaker 5: One the average scientific inquirer begins by doubting the reality
• 3:02:37
  Speaker 5: of survival at all, and contends that nothing persists after
• 3:02:41
  Speaker 5: the change called death. For him, it is annihilation. The
• 3:02:45
  Speaker 5: first point to be proved, therefore, is that anything at
• 3:02:48
  Speaker 5: all exists after death, and the phenomena of spiritualism are
• 3:02:52
  Speaker 5: the only ones which prove this, As before pointed out,
• 3:02:57
  Speaker 5: Until it is thoroughly established that spirit of as any
• 3:03:00
  Speaker 5: character continues to exist after death, it is useless to
• 3:03:03
  Speaker 5: argue whether or not such a spirit is reincarnated, for
• 3:03:07
  Speaker 5: the reason that the average skeptic would contend that there
• 3:03:10
  Speaker 5: is no such thing as a spirit to reincarnate. Until
• 3:03:14
  Speaker 5: this primary fact of spirit existence is proved. Therefore, it
• 3:03:18
  Speaker 5: is useless to argue concerning this question of reincarnation. Two.
• 3:03:25
  Speaker 5: Assuming that this is granted, still there is no proof
• 3:03:28
  Speaker 5: that reincarnation is a fact. If we demand proof in
• 3:03:31
  Speaker 5: the scientific sense of the world, in order to establish
• 3:03:35
  Speaker 5: such a doctrine as this, a tremendous mass of testimony
• 3:03:39
  Speaker 5: would be necessary, far more than the ordinary phenomena of spiritualism,
• 3:03:43
  Speaker 5: which claim to establish a comparatively simple truth. Yet as
• 3:03:48
  Speaker 5: a matter of fact, there is far less evidence. As
• 3:03:51
  Speaker 5: we all know for the reality of reincarnation than there
• 3:03:54
  Speaker 5: is for spirit return. As the strength of the evidence
• 3:03:58
  Speaker 5: should be proportioned to the strangeness of the facts, it
• 3:04:02
  Speaker 5: will be seen that we are as yet very far
• 3:04:04
  Speaker 5: from proving reincarnation. According to this standard, a vast mass
• 3:04:10
  Speaker 5: of well attested evidence would have to be forthcoming, and
• 3:04:13
  Speaker 5: this has not been produced. Three, It is not necessarily
• 3:04:19
  Speaker 5: true that because the human spirit continues to exist for
• 3:04:22
  Speaker 5: all eternity in the future, it must necessarily have existed
• 3:04:26
  Speaker 5: from all eternity in the past. Physics teaches us that
• 3:04:30
  Speaker 5: a body set in motion comes to rest because of
• 3:04:33
  Speaker 5: the hindrance or friction from outside forces acting upon it.
• 3:04:38
  Speaker 5: If there be no friction to retard such a body,
• 3:04:41
  Speaker 5: it would theoretically go on forever in a straight line.
• 3:04:45
  Speaker 5: Once give a ball an initial push, and provided there
• 3:04:48
  Speaker 5: is no friction, it would roll on forever without coming
• 3:04:51
  Speaker 5: to a stop. It might well be, therefore, that the
• 3:04:55
  Speaker 5: human spirit, once initiated, would continue in the same fashion,
• 3:05:00
  Speaker 5: since we can see no hindrances to its progress, resembling
• 3:05:03
  Speaker 5: those acting in our physical world. Again, a speck of
• 3:05:08
  Speaker 5: mud thrown off from a revolving wheel only exists as
• 3:05:12
  Speaker 5: an individual speck after it was thrown off in this
• 3:05:15
  Speaker 5: manner before it was a part of the general mass.
• 3:05:20
  Speaker 5: Assuming therefore, that an individual human spirit is in some
• 3:05:23
  Speaker 5: ways separated an individualized at birth from the general stock
• 3:05:27
  Speaker 5: of cosmic life energy at the moment of conception, it
• 3:05:31
  Speaker 5: might be that it continued as an individual thing thereafter
• 3:05:35
  Speaker 5: for all eternity, without necessarily having existed as such in
• 3:05:40
  Speaker 5: the past the spiral or vortex of life. In the
• 3:05:47
  Speaker 5: next place, assuming that life is an individualized force, we
• 3:05:51
  Speaker 5: can quite conceive that this force, ascending in a series
• 3:05:54
  Speaker 5: of spirals, tends to become more detached and individualized with
• 3:05:59
  Speaker 5: each revolution through which it passes, and that ultimately it
• 3:06:03
  Speaker 5: will tend to become detached and thrown off, as it were,
• 3:06:06
  Speaker 5: from the vortex of life as an individual being. Birth
• 3:06:11
  Speaker 5: might represent this process, And again we see that it
• 3:06:14
  Speaker 5: is not necessary to suppose that human spirit must have
• 3:06:17
  Speaker 5: existed in the past because it continues to exist in
• 3:06:21
  Speaker 5: the future. As to the law of compensation already mentioned,
• 3:06:26
  Speaker 5: this is not really an argument, but rather an emotional
• 3:06:29
  Speaker 5: belief based upon the idea of justice. But in the
• 3:06:33
  Speaker 5: first place, this may not necessarily be true, and in
• 3:06:37
  Speaker 5: the second even supposing that it is the same result
• 3:06:40
  Speaker 5: is reached in other religions. For according to the teachings
• 3:06:44
  Speaker 5: of Orthodox Christianity, the reward of the poor but righteous
• 3:06:49
  Speaker 5: is in heaven, and according to spiritualistic philosophy, it depends
• 3:06:53
  Speaker 5: on individual progress and effort how we remember past lives.
• 3:07:01
  Speaker 5: The doctrine of reincarnation cannot therefore be said to present
• 3:07:05
  Speaker 5: a logical justification for the belief. There remains the more
• 3:07:09
  Speaker 5: substantial foundation, based upon the before mentioned experimental proof, namely
• 3:07:15
  Speaker 5: that many persons claim that they can remember portions of
• 3:07:19
  Speaker 5: their past lives, and even that they can remember the
• 3:07:21
  Speaker 5: whole of them. These latter cases, however, are very rare,
• 3:07:27
  Speaker 5: and the material from which one could form one's judgment
• 3:07:30
  Speaker 5: regarding such cases has never been published. Owing to the
• 3:07:34
  Speaker 5: lack of respectable evidence in this direction. Therefore, we may assume,
• 3:07:38
  Speaker 5: for the present and until proof to the contrary be forthcoming,
• 3:07:42
  Speaker 5: that such cases depend not upon reality, but upon elaborate
• 3:07:47
  Speaker 5: subconscious imaginations and romances which these individuals have constructed within
• 3:07:52
  Speaker 5: themselves as the result of brooding and thinking over possible
• 3:07:56
  Speaker 5: past lives of their own. There are many analogies for
• 3:08:01
  Speaker 5: this belief, and in some cases, at least, it has
• 3:08:04
  Speaker 5: been proved beyond all question of doubt that these past
• 3:08:08
  Speaker 5: lives were, in reality fictitious, and that the memory of
• 3:08:11
  Speaker 5: them so called was certainly and purely subconscious imagination. Those
• 3:08:17
  Speaker 5: who may be interested in obtaining this proof are referred
• 3:08:20
  Speaker 5: to Professor Flornay's book From India to the Planet Mars,
• 3:08:26
  Speaker 5: where and how these memories originate. There remains those cases
• 3:08:31
  Speaker 5: far less satisfactory in convincing, but far more numerous, in
• 3:08:35
  Speaker 5: which isolated incidents of past lives have been remembered, or
• 3:08:39
  Speaker 5: in which scenes have flashed up before the mind, together
• 3:08:42
  Speaker 5: with the impression amounting to a certainty that the individual
• 3:08:46
  Speaker 5: has experienced or lived through that scene before. Most cases
• 3:08:51
  Speaker 5: of this character may be explained in a perfectly natural manner,
• 3:08:55
  Speaker 5: and do not afford any direct proof of the doctrine
• 3:08:57
  Speaker 5: of reincarnation. Let me explain a few of the causes
• 3:09:02
  Speaker 5: which may be operating inducing such apparent memories of past lives.
• 3:09:08
  Speaker 5: In the first place. Many of them are due to
• 3:09:10
  Speaker 5: so called illusions or hallucinations of memory, so called pseudo presentiments,
• 3:09:16
  Speaker 5: in which the event and the feeling that it has
• 3:09:18
  Speaker 5: transpired become reversed or transposed in the mind so that
• 3:09:23
  Speaker 5: one remembers the impression as occurring before the real event,
• 3:09:27
  Speaker 5: while in reality it happened afterward. That this occurs in
• 3:09:32
  Speaker 5: many cases has been scientifically proved. In this second place,
• 3:09:37
  Speaker 5: dreams or subconsciously noted impressions which never come into consciousness
• 3:09:42
  Speaker 5: may suddenly flash up in connection with a certain mental event,
• 3:09:46
  Speaker 5: and this would give rise to a feeling true in
• 3:09:49
  Speaker 5: a sense that we had experienced it before. We had,
• 3:09:53
  Speaker 5: but in a dream and not in a previous life. Thirdly,
• 3:09:58
  Speaker 5: many experiences converseations, et cetera, overseen or overheard before the
• 3:10:03
  Speaker 5: age of four, when the personality is in the process
• 3:10:06
  Speaker 5: of formation and when consecutive memory and consciousness of self
• 3:10:11
  Speaker 5: is said to begin, may be remembered as isolated experiences,
• 3:10:16
  Speaker 5: and these may also give rise to the impression that
• 3:10:19
  Speaker 5: we had seen them or experienced them before. Again, this
• 3:10:23
  Speaker 5: is a fact, but it was not in a previous life. Lastly,
• 3:10:29
  Speaker 5: there are many cases in which the sub conscious mind
• 3:10:32
  Speaker 5: noted a scene or event a fraction of second, or
• 3:10:35
  Speaker 5: perhaps several seconds or even minutes before the conscious mind did,
• 3:10:40
  Speaker 5: and when the latter became aware of it, there would
• 3:10:42
  Speaker 5: again be this sense of familiarity, and the feeling that
• 3:10:45
  Speaker 5: we had seen or experienced this event before. This is true,
• 3:10:50
  Speaker 5: but it was only a short time before the actual experience.
• 3:10:55
  Speaker 5: For all these reasons therefore, and others which it would
• 3:10:58
  Speaker 5: take too long to give, the majority of spiritualists and
• 3:11:02
  Speaker 5: psychical researchers do not at present regard the doctrine of
• 3:11:06
  Speaker 5: reincarnation as true or in any way adequately proved, and
• 3:11:10
  Speaker 5: prefer to believe until this proof be forthcoming, that the
• 3:11:13
  Speaker 5: individual human spirit is initiated at birth, builds up its
• 3:11:18
  Speaker 5: own life by its own efforts and experiences, and that
• 3:11:21
  Speaker 5: it continues to improve upon this life by continuous striving
• 3:11:26
  Speaker 5: after it has reached the spiritual world in the same
• 3:11:29
  Speaker 5: manner that it does here on earth. End of Chapter
• 3:11:34
  Speaker 5: thirty three.
• 3:11:36
  Speaker 4: Chapter thirty four. The ethics of spiritualism, as explained at
• 3:11:43
  Speaker 4: the beginning of this book of instruction, Spiritualism is not
• 3:11:48
  Speaker 4: only a scientific question, but it is also a philosophical
• 3:11:52
  Speaker 4: and a religious question. It is approachable from the point
• 3:11:58
  Speaker 4: of view of phenomena, also that of theology and ethics.
• 3:12:04
  Speaker 4: The student who has followed the work thus far has
• 3:12:08
  Speaker 4: doubtless progressed to some extent in the understanding if not
• 3:12:14
  Speaker 4: in the control of psychic phenomena, and fields of knowledge
• 3:12:19
  Speaker 4: have been opened up before him of which he had
• 3:12:24
  Speaker 4: previously been more or less unaware. But all this would
• 3:12:30
  Speaker 4: not only be unavailing but harmful if spiritualism were not
• 3:12:36
  Speaker 4: ethically and spiritually right as well as phenomenally true. It
• 3:12:43
  Speaker 4: is no good developing something which leads one ultimately only
• 3:12:47
  Speaker 4: into a mire of harmful results and of false philosophy.
• 3:12:53
  Speaker 4: If spiritualism cannot be justified from the religious and ethical stand,
• 3:13:00
  Speaker 4: it should be let entirely alone by all save the
• 3:13:05
  Speaker 4: few scrupulously scientific investigators who approach the subject from that
• 3:13:11
  Speaker 4: point of view, and not as a belief. It is
• 3:13:16
  Speaker 4: very important, therefore, for the spiritualist to have his belief
• 3:13:21
  Speaker 4: founded in correct ethical principles. For as I have before
• 3:13:27
  Speaker 4: pointed out, the reproach has been raised against spiritualists that
• 3:13:33
  Speaker 4: they are everything but spiritual. Unfortunately there are many of
• 3:13:39
  Speaker 4: this type, but they are doubtless in the minority, and
• 3:13:44
  Speaker 4: the majority of spiritualists wish to see their faiths grounded
• 3:13:50
  Speaker 4: on firm ethical principles. Is it right to investigate psychic phenomena?
• 3:14:00
  Speaker 4: Various questions arise in this connection The objection to spiritualism
• 3:14:05
  Speaker 4: may first of all be raised that such things are
• 3:14:09
  Speaker 4: God's secrets, which he keeps to himself. What is the
• 3:14:13
  Speaker 4: use of seeking? You will find nothing but to this,
• 3:14:19
  Speaker 4: Monsignor Camille Flamerion replies, rightly, there always have been people
• 3:14:25
  Speaker 4: who liked ignorance better than knowledge. By this kind of reasoning,
• 3:14:31
  Speaker 4: had man acted upon it, nothing would ever have been
• 3:14:35
  Speaker 4: known of this world. It is the mode of reasoning
• 3:14:39
  Speaker 4: adopted by those who do not care to think for themselves,
• 3:14:43
  Speaker 4: and who confide to directors, so called the charge of
• 3:14:48
  Speaker 4: controlling their consciences. If these phenomena really exist, they must
• 3:14:55
  Speaker 4: be part of the universe and subject to natural law,
• 3:15:00
  Speaker 4: for otherwise they could not exist at all. There is
• 3:15:05
  Speaker 4: no such thing as the supernatural. All is natural, even
• 3:15:11
  Speaker 4: if it be the communication of spirits, it may be
• 3:15:16
  Speaker 4: unusual or uncommon, and because of this we call these
• 3:15:21
  Speaker 4: phenomena super normal, that is, beyond the ordinary normal experience
• 3:15:27
  Speaker 4: of mankind. But they are not and cannot be supernatural.
• 3:15:35
  Speaker 4: Concerning fraud and error, again, the objection may be raised
• 3:15:41
  Speaker 4: that these phenomena foster superstition, that this is based upon
• 3:15:47
  Speaker 4: the belief that the phenomena are necessarily untrue. Once the
• 3:15:54
  Speaker 4: reality of the facts is established, there is no superstition
• 3:15:59
  Speaker 4: connected with it. It becomes merely a question of scientific evidence. Again,
• 3:16:07
  Speaker 4: the objection has been raised against spiritualism on the ground
• 3:16:12
  Speaker 4: that it encourages fraud and charlatanism. To some extent. This
• 3:16:18
  Speaker 4: is true, but other cults have suffered in the same way,
• 3:16:23
  Speaker 4: and all sincere spiritualists are the first to expose falsity
• 3:16:28
  Speaker 4: and fraud when they meet it. There are spiritualists, it
• 3:16:33
  Speaker 4: is true, who endeavor to shelter fraudulent mediums and pretend
• 3:16:39
  Speaker 4: that this fraud does not exist. Such a method is
• 3:16:43
  Speaker 4: a great mistake and only tends to degrade in lower
• 3:16:47
  Speaker 4: spiritualism as a religious belief. In the eyes of the public,
• 3:16:52
  Speaker 4: truth is mighty and shall prevail, and truth should, above
• 3:16:57
  Speaker 4: all else, be the watchword of the true spiritualist. Is
• 3:17:02
  Speaker 4: it healthy and normal? Then there is the objection that
• 3:17:08
  Speaker 4: spiritualistic practices encourage morbid and abnormal states and conditions, and
• 3:17:15
  Speaker 4: help to induce insanity. Again, there is some excuse for
• 3:17:21
  Speaker 4: this argument, but as so often pointed out, it is
• 3:17:25
  Speaker 4: the conscious or unconscious abuse of psychic and mediumistic power,
• 3:17:33
  Speaker 4: rather than its use, which is so dangerous and detrimental.
• 3:17:38
  Speaker 4: In the initial experimental stages of spiritualism. Some harm has
• 3:17:44
  Speaker 4: doubtless resulted to some experimenters, but this is only a
• 3:17:50
  Speaker 4: stronger reason for urging us to discover and rightly understand
• 3:17:55
  Speaker 4: the laws and conditions under which psychic phenomena and spirit
• 3:18:01
  Speaker 4: communication may operate. When these are once understood, they are
• 3:18:07
  Speaker 4: thereby rendered safe, and thenceforward, there is no reason why
• 3:18:14
  Speaker 4: spiritualistic practices should be unsafe, save for those who neglect
• 3:18:20
  Speaker 4: its well ascertained laws. Again, it has been urged that
• 3:18:25
  Speaker 4: it is wrong to communicate with spirits of the departed,
• 3:18:30
  Speaker 4: for the reason that such communication is not natural, and
• 3:18:36
  Speaker 4: that by doing so we interfere with the progression and
• 3:18:40
  Speaker 4: spiritual development of those who have passed over. But the
• 3:18:45
  Speaker 4: reply to this is twofold. In the first place, the
• 3:18:51
  Speaker 4: many cases of spirit return which are recorded prove that
• 3:18:56
  Speaker 4: these phenomena are far more common than is usually supposed,
• 3:19:01
  Speaker 4: and for this reason it is not so exceptional a thing,
• 3:19:06
  Speaker 4: but almost a common occurrence. It partakes more of the
• 3:19:11
  Speaker 4: nature of natural law than of the experimental or miraculous event.
• 3:19:18
  Speaker 4: If such is the case, it can hardly be detrimental
• 3:19:22
  Speaker 4: or unnatural, since none of nature's laws are unnatural. Does
• 3:19:28
  Speaker 4: spirit communication retard progression? Again, there is no reason to
• 3:19:35
  Speaker 4: suppose that communication retards the spiritual progress of those who
• 3:19:40
  Speaker 4: have died. On the contrary, we might suppose that in
• 3:19:45
  Speaker 4: many cases at least such communication would certainly help the spirits.
• 3:19:52
  Speaker 4: And in many cases, as we know, they have repeatedly
• 3:19:56
  Speaker 4: come back for the express purpose of asking the living
• 3:20:01
  Speaker 4: to carry out some mission for them which weigh upon
• 3:20:04
  Speaker 4: their minds, and they have stated that they could get
• 3:20:08
  Speaker 4: no rest or comfort until this mission has been fulfilled.
• 3:20:14
  Speaker 4: There are many cases, again as we know, wherein the
• 3:20:18
  Speaker 4: returning spirits have requested help and the prayers of the
• 3:20:22
  Speaker 4: living to assist them in their progress, and many spiritualists
• 3:20:28
  Speaker 4: have devoted their lives to this work, namely assisting earth
• 3:20:32
  Speaker 4: bound spirits and helping them in their natural spiritual progress.
• 3:20:38
  Speaker 4: Many spirits have returned to impart certain information or to
• 3:20:42
  Speaker 4: give counsel, warning, or advice to friends and relatives of
• 3:20:47
  Speaker 4: theirs still living, and we cannot but believe that they
• 3:20:52
  Speaker 4: are far happier in doing so. Then if they were
• 3:20:56
  Speaker 4: obliged to stand by and see some unhappiness accident or
• 3:21:01
  Speaker 4: catastrophe overtake their loved ones on earth while they themselves
• 3:21:06
  Speaker 4: were obliged to remain inactive. Were they still alive, they
• 3:21:11
  Speaker 4: would like to feel that they had prevented such a catastrophe,
• 3:21:16
  Speaker 4: and it is only natural to suppose that they continue
• 3:21:20
  Speaker 4: to live in this way and continue to take an
• 3:21:23
  Speaker 4: interest in their loved ones after they have passed over.
• 3:21:28
  Speaker 4: In this way, spiritual communication becomes a natural and beautiful belief.
• 3:21:34
  Speaker 4: Should the dead know our sorrows? This brings us to
• 3:21:39
  Speaker 4: another important question from the ethical point of view, and
• 3:21:44
  Speaker 4: this is that the so called dead are in constant
• 3:21:48
  Speaker 4: sympathetic communication with those still living, and that they, after
• 3:21:54
  Speaker 4: they have died, have a knowledge of our lives, our trials,
• 3:21:58
  Speaker 4: and our tribulations. Many religious persons contend that this is
• 3:22:04
  Speaker 4: a very unethical belief, and that they should know nothing
• 3:22:09
  Speaker 4: of those on this earth after once they have died.
• 3:22:14
  Speaker 4: Yet this is surely contrary to all human sympathy and experience.
• 3:22:21
  Speaker 4: A mother wrapped up in the interests of her child
• 3:22:24
  Speaker 4: would surely prefer to remain near it and watch over,
• 3:22:28
  Speaker 4: guard and guide it if possible, for a few years,
• 3:22:33
  Speaker 4: rather than to desert it holy and be totally ignorant
• 3:22:37
  Speaker 4: of its life and progress. Yet this is what orthodox
• 3:22:42
  Speaker 4: religion contends they should do. Spiritualism is far more ethical
• 3:22:48
  Speaker 4: in this respect than the ordinary religious teachings, since it
• 3:22:52
  Speaker 4: tells us that constant sympathetic rapport exists between this world
• 3:22:59
  Speaker 4: and the next, and that there is no abrupt severing
• 3:23:04
  Speaker 4: of the ties of human sympathy and love at the
• 3:23:08
  Speaker 4: moment of death. This surely is a comforting thought for
• 3:23:13
  Speaker 4: the bereaved. The ethical teachings of spiritualism. The religious teachings
• 3:23:18
  Speaker 4: of spiritualism are otherwise far more ethical than those of
• 3:23:24
  Speaker 4: any other religion. Instead of a world devoted to selfish
• 3:23:28
  Speaker 4: personal progression subject to the changeable whims of an external deity,
• 3:23:34
  Speaker 4: we have in the teachings of spiritualism, a perfectly consistent
• 3:23:40
  Speaker 4: and scientifically founded religious faith, quite in accordance with the
• 3:23:45
  Speaker 4: doctrine of evolution. All progress depends upon personal development. As
• 3:23:53
  Speaker 4: doctor Alfred Russell Wallace says in his Miracles of Modern Spiritualism,
• 3:24:01
  Speaker 4: the hypothesis of spiritualism not only accounts for all the
• 3:24:07
  Speaker 4: facts and is the only one that does so, but
• 3:24:11
  Speaker 4: it is further remarkable as being associated with a theory
• 3:24:16
  Speaker 4: of a future state of existence, which is the only
• 3:24:20
  Speaker 4: one yet given to the world that can at all
• 3:24:24
  Speaker 4: commend itself to the modern philosophical mind. The main doctrines
• 3:24:31
  Speaker 4: of this religion are that after death, man's spirit survives
• 3:24:36
  Speaker 4: in an ethereal body, gifted with new powers, but mentally
• 3:24:42
  Speaker 4: and morally the same individual as when clothed in flesh.
• 3:24:49
  Speaker 4: That he commences from that moment a course of apparently
• 3:24:54
  Speaker 4: endless progression, which is rapid, just in proportion as his
• 3:24:59
  Speaker 4: mental and moral faculties were active while on earth, that
• 3:25:05
  Speaker 4: his comparative happiness or misery will depend entirely on himself,
• 3:25:11
  Speaker 4: and that just in proportion as his higher human faculties
• 3:25:16
  Speaker 4: have taken part in all his pleasures here, will he
• 3:25:21
  Speaker 4: find himself contented and happy in a state of existence
• 3:25:26
  Speaker 4: in which they will have the same exercise. While he
• 3:25:31
  Speaker 4: who has depended more on the body than on the
• 3:25:34
  Speaker 4: mind for his pleasures, will, when that body is no more,
• 3:25:39
  Speaker 4: feel a grievous want, and must slowly and painfully develop
• 3:25:45
  Speaker 4: his intellectual and moral nature till its exercise shall become
• 3:25:52
  Speaker 4: easy and pleasurable. Neither punishments nor rewards are meted out
• 3:25:57
  Speaker 4: by an external power, but each one's condition is the
• 3:26:02
  Speaker 4: natural and inevitable sequence of his condition. Here he starts
• 3:26:08
  Speaker 4: again from the level of moral and intellectual development to
• 3:26:13
  Speaker 4: which he has raised himself. While on earth, should mediums
• 3:26:18
  Speaker 4: accept money? One other point remains to be considered. It
• 3:26:23
  Speaker 4: is this that mediums accept money for their services, and
• 3:26:29
  Speaker 4: inasmuch as this is a spiritual gift, it is wrong.
• 3:26:34
  Speaker 4: Yet this is common to all other religions. Do not
• 3:26:39
  Speaker 4: ministers of all other religions receive compensation in some form
• 3:26:44
  Speaker 4: or other for their services. As long as mediums are
• 3:26:48
  Speaker 4: living in this material world, they are obliged to meet
• 3:26:52
  Speaker 4: the costs of living, like all other human beings, no
• 3:26:56
  Speaker 4: matter how spiritual their work or they themselves may. If
• 3:27:02
  Speaker 4: mediums possess genuine power, it is only natural in a
• 3:27:06
  Speaker 4: sense that they should utilize it and turn it to account.
• 3:27:11
  Speaker 4: And it is certainly true that by doing so they
• 3:27:15
  Speaker 4: help their fellow men and help those who come to them,
• 3:27:19
  Speaker 4: as much or more than men in any other walk
• 3:27:23
  Speaker 4: in life. This being so, it can hardly be said
• 3:27:27
  Speaker 4: that any aspect of spiritualism is in itself unethical. It is,
• 3:27:33
  Speaker 4: on the contrary, the most sensible, rational and ethical religion
• 3:27:40
  Speaker 4: in the world. End of chapter thirty.
• 3:27:43
  Speaker 5: Four, Chapter thirty five. What happens after death, precisely what
• 3:27:50
  Speaker 5: happens at the moment of death, is one of the
• 3:27:52
  Speaker 5: most dramatically interesting and one of the most striking, insoluble
• 3:27:56
  Speaker 5: problems in the world. Today. It remains for us the
• 3:28:00
  Speaker 5: problem of all problems, the mystery of the universe, the
• 3:28:04
  Speaker 5: science of being. One moment, we see a figure before us,
• 3:28:09
  Speaker 5: a muscular, powerful man, capable of heroic efforts, great intellectual flights,
• 3:28:15
  Speaker 5: lofty aspirations, delivering an oration which stirs the hearts of thousands,
• 3:28:21
  Speaker 5: and perhaps helps to sway the destiny of nations and
• 3:28:24
  Speaker 5: change the map of the world. The next moment, he
• 3:28:28
  Speaker 5: is lying on the floor, a corpse, lifeless, inanimate, incapable
• 3:28:33
  Speaker 5: of the slightest thought, the slightest muscular exertion. He is
• 3:28:38
  Speaker 5: the victim of heart failure, the mystery of death. A
• 3:28:44
  Speaker 5: second and all has changed. Nothing can now be influenced
• 3:28:48
  Speaker 5: by him. Nothing is now possible but the gradual decomposition
• 3:28:52
  Speaker 5: of the body and its return to the dust from
• 3:28:54
  Speaker 5: whence it sprang? Could any change be more profound or
• 3:28:59
  Speaker 5: more lasting? Since it can occur presumably but once in
• 3:29:03
  Speaker 5: all eternity. The slightest anatomical variation in the man's body,
• 3:29:09
  Speaker 5: so small, perhaps that even a microscope cannot detect it.
• 3:29:13
  Speaker 5: And we then behold the most mighty change which occurs
• 3:29:16
  Speaker 5: in nature, the profoundest of tragedies and wonders. We behold
• 3:29:22
  Speaker 5: the transition from the living to the lifeless, We pass
• 3:29:26
  Speaker 5: from life to death. What is this change we have
• 3:29:30
  Speaker 5: seen before us? Can we in any way understand it?
• 3:29:33
  Speaker 5: What can we learn? What see? These are questions over
• 3:29:38
  Speaker 5: which men have pondered for centuries, and which still form
• 3:29:41
  Speaker 5: the most fascinating problem in the realm of spiritual inquiry.
• 3:29:47
  Speaker 5: Why we should not fear death? Many persons fear death,
• 3:29:52
  Speaker 5: but they should not do so for the reason that,
• 3:29:55
  Speaker 5: on any theory, it is not a thing to be feared.
• 3:29:59
  Speaker 5: It has been prooved abundantly that, with the exception of
• 3:30:02
  Speaker 5: very rare cases, there is no pain at the moment
• 3:30:05
  Speaker 5: of death, and no consciousness of dying. Both are obliterated
• 3:30:10
  Speaker 5: by the kind hand of nature. The suffering which goes
• 3:30:14
  Speaker 5: before belongs rather to life than to death, And in fact,
• 3:30:18
  Speaker 5: many of those who have suffered from some torturing disease
• 3:30:22
  Speaker 5: have died with a smile of happiness and contentment on
• 3:30:25
  Speaker 5: their faces. Of the physical body, we need think little,
• 3:30:30
  Speaker 5: since the spiritual body separates itself from this body after death,
• 3:30:35
  Speaker 5: and thenceforward is as unconscious of it as we are
• 3:30:38
  Speaker 5: of a finger or any part of our body which
• 3:30:41
  Speaker 5: has been cut off during life. The human spirit takes
• 3:30:46
  Speaker 5: some time to become severed completely from the physical body,
• 3:30:49
  Speaker 5: and for this reason it should not be buried or
• 3:30:52
  Speaker 5: cremated too soon after death. But with these exceptions, we
• 3:30:57
  Speaker 5: need think little of the state of the physical body,
• 3:31:00
  Speaker 5: since we sever our connections with it entirely as soon
• 3:31:02
  Speaker 5: as we pass into the spirit world. What happens after
• 3:31:07
  Speaker 5: we have affected this separation is naturally a question of
• 3:31:10
  Speaker 5: absorbing interest to many minds, since all of us have
• 3:31:14
  Speaker 5: to look forward to this experience. The statements of clairvoyance
• 3:31:19
  Speaker 5: and of those spirits who have returned to tell us
• 3:31:22
  Speaker 5: of their passage into the next life should therefore be
• 3:31:25
  Speaker 5: of considerable interest in this connection. Let us see what
• 3:31:30
  Speaker 5: they have to say. A clairvoyant description of death. Andrew
• 3:31:36
  Speaker 5: Jackson Davis, one of the founders of modern spiritualism and
• 3:31:41
  Speaker 5: a gifted seer, describes the process as follows. Suppose the
• 3:31:47
  Speaker 5: person is now dying, it is to be rapid death.
• 3:31:50
  Speaker 5: The feet first grow cold. The clairvoyant sees right over
• 3:31:55
  Speaker 5: the head what may be called a magnetic halo, an
• 3:31:58
  Speaker 5: etheric emanation in a appearance golden and throbbing is though conscious.
• 3:32:03
  Speaker 5: The body is now cold up to the knees and elbows,
• 3:32:07
  Speaker 5: and the emanation has ascended higher in the air. The
• 3:32:10
  Speaker 5: legs are cold to the hips, in the arms, to
• 3:32:12
  Speaker 5: the shoulders, and the emanation, though it has not risen
• 3:32:16
  Speaker 5: higher in the room, is more expanded. The death coldness
• 3:32:21
  Speaker 5: steals over the breast and around on one side, and
• 3:32:24
  Speaker 5: the emanation has attained a higher position nearer the ceiling.
• 3:32:29
  Speaker 5: The person has ceased to breathe. The pulse is feeble,
• 3:32:32
  Speaker 5: and the emanation is elongated and fashioned in the outline
• 3:32:36
  Speaker 5: of the human form. Beneath it is connected with the brain.
• 3:32:40
  Speaker 5: The head of the person is internally throbbing, a slow,
• 3:32:44
  Speaker 5: deep throb not painful, but like the beat of the sea.
• 3:32:48
  Speaker 5: Hence the thinking faculties are rational, while nearly every part
• 3:32:53
  Speaker 5: of the person is dead owing to the brain's momentum.
• 3:32:57
  Speaker 5: I have seen a dying person even at the l
• 3:33:00
  Speaker 5: last feeble pulse beat rise impulsively in bed to converse
• 3:33:04
  Speaker 5: with a friend, but the next instant he was gone,
• 3:33:09
  Speaker 5: his brain being the last to yield up the life
• 3:33:12
  Speaker 5: principle formation of the spiritual body. The golden emanation, which
• 3:33:19
  Speaker 5: extends up midway to the ceiling, is connected with the
• 3:33:22
  Speaker 5: brain by a very fine life thread. Now the body
• 3:33:27
  Speaker 5: of the emanation ascends, then appears something white and shining
• 3:33:32
  Speaker 5: like a human head. Next, in a very few moments,
• 3:33:36
  Speaker 5: a faint outline of the face divine, then the fair
• 3:33:40
  Speaker 5: neck and shoulders. Then, in rapid succession, come all parts
• 3:33:44
  Speaker 5: of the new body down to the feet, a bright,
• 3:33:47
  Speaker 5: shining image, a little smaller than its physical body, but
• 3:33:50
  Speaker 5: a perfect prototype or reproduction in all except its disfigurements.
• 3:33:57
  Speaker 5: The fine life thread continues attached to the old brain.
• 3:34:01
  Speaker 5: The next thing is the withdrawal of the electric principle.
• 3:34:05
  Speaker 5: When this thread snaps, the spiritual body is free and
• 3:34:09
  Speaker 5: prepared to accompany its guardians to the summer land. Yes,
• 3:34:14
  Speaker 5: there is a spiritual body. It is sown in dishonor
• 3:34:17
  Speaker 5: and raised in brightness. How it feels to pass over
• 3:34:23
  Speaker 5: here again? What a returning spirit says? Who has passed
• 3:34:27
  Speaker 5: through the valley of the shadow of death and has
• 3:34:29
  Speaker 5: apparently returned to tell us his experiences. When I awoke
• 3:34:35
  Speaker 5: in the spirit life and perceived that I had hands
• 3:34:37
  Speaker 5: and feet and all it belongs to the human body,
• 3:34:40
  Speaker 5: I cannot express to you in the form of words
• 3:34:43
  Speaker 5: the feelings which at that moment seem to take possession
• 3:34:46
  Speaker 5: of my soul. I realized that I had this body,
• 3:34:50
  Speaker 5: a spiritual body. Imagine, if you can, what the surprise
• 3:34:55
  Speaker 5: of a spirit must be to find, after the struggle
• 3:34:58
  Speaker 5: of death that he he is a new born spirit,
• 3:35:01
  Speaker 5: free from the decaying tabernacle of flesh that he leaves
• 3:35:04
  Speaker 5: behind him. I gazed on weeping friends with a saddened heart,
• 3:35:09
  Speaker 5: mingled with joy, knowing as I did, that I could
• 3:35:12
  Speaker 5: be with them and behold them daily, though unseen and unknown.
• 3:35:17
  Speaker 5: And as I gazed upon the lifeless tenement of clay
• 3:35:21
  Speaker 5: and could behold the beauty of its mechanism, I felt
• 3:35:24
  Speaker 5: impelled to seek the author of so much beauty and youth,
• 3:35:27
  Speaker 5: and prostrate myself at his feet. I felt a light
• 3:35:32
  Speaker 5: touch on my shoulder in joy unspeakable. I beheld the
• 3:35:36
  Speaker 5: loved ones of Earth, some of whom had long since
• 3:35:39
  Speaker 5: departed from the earth plane, and I felt myself ascending
• 3:35:43
  Speaker 5: or rather floating onward and upward through the radiance of space.
• 3:35:48
  Speaker 5: I saw about me many spirits and their guides bearing
• 3:35:52
  Speaker 5: them company through the bright realms of immensity novel experiences
• 3:35:58
  Speaker 5: on the other side. So the human spirit, issuing from
• 3:36:02
  Speaker 5: the body, gradually rises higher and higher, and comes into
• 3:36:06
  Speaker 5: touch and harmony with those about it and with those
• 3:36:09
  Speaker 5: who possess sympathy and mutual interest. As explained in the
• 3:36:13
  Speaker 5: chapter devoted to the spirit world, it is highly improbable
• 3:36:17
  Speaker 5: that there are any physical barriers between the spheres one
• 3:36:21
  Speaker 5: from another, but they are doubtless separated, nevertheless by walls
• 3:36:25
  Speaker 5: of mental and spiritual origin. If we are in one
• 3:36:30
  Speaker 5: of these plains, we must progress upward before we can
• 3:36:33
  Speaker 5: reach or remain with those whom we desire most. And
• 3:36:37
  Speaker 5: for this reason there is a hell, so to say,
• 3:36:40
  Speaker 5: for those who cannot attain what they desire, which can
• 3:36:44
  Speaker 5: only be by continual striving upward and onward. In this however,
• 3:36:49
  Speaker 5: they are constantly helped and assisted by spirit guides and helpers,
• 3:36:54
  Speaker 5: so that progress is rapid when it is really desired
• 3:36:57
  Speaker 5: and worked for. How we turn back to communicate on
• 3:37:03
  Speaker 5: the lower planes of existence. Communication with those of the earth,
• 3:37:07
  Speaker 5: is it is said comparatively easy, but this becomes increasingly
• 3:37:12
  Speaker 5: difficult as we ascend in the upward scale. It has
• 3:37:16
  Speaker 5: often been pointed out that descending to communicate with those
• 3:37:19
  Speaker 5: on earth is something like going down to the bottom
• 3:37:22
  Speaker 5: of a muddy pool, and those who desire to go
• 3:37:25
  Speaker 5: to the bottom of muddy pools are very rare. Even
• 3:37:28
  Speaker 5: on this earth. Still, spirits, moved by ties of love
• 3:37:32
  Speaker 5: for those left behind, make the attempt from time to
• 3:37:35
  Speaker 5: time successful or unsuccessful in proportion to favorable or unfavorable conditions. This, however,
• 3:37:43
  Speaker 5: we discussed in former chapters. As we progress, we are
• 3:37:48
  Speaker 5: said to acquire more interest in the new world and
• 3:37:51
  Speaker 5: lose interest in this, Just as we gradually lose interest
• 3:37:55
  Speaker 5: in one country when we move into another, new scenes,
• 3:37:59
  Speaker 5: new interests, and the new environment gradually alter our line
• 3:38:03
  Speaker 5: of thought. But just as we are always glad to
• 3:38:05
  Speaker 5: see a relative or an old friend from the home
• 3:38:08
  Speaker 5: town or the motherland, so are we most happy to
• 3:38:11
  Speaker 5: meet and greet those who pass over when their turn
• 3:38:14
  Speaker 5: comes to join us in the spirit world. How we
• 3:38:18
  Speaker 5: progress in the spirit world after these initial stages have passed,
• 3:38:24
  Speaker 5: upward progress and development begin. For many, However, the shock
• 3:38:28
  Speaker 5: of death has a very severe effect, especially in cases
• 3:38:32
  Speaker 5: of suicide and those who have met with sudden and
• 3:38:35
  Speaker 5: violent deaths. In such cases, these spirits require some time
• 3:38:40
  Speaker 5: to recover their normal selves and have to be nursed
• 3:38:43
  Speaker 5: back to health, as it were on the other side.
• 3:38:46
  Speaker 5: The same is true of those spirits who have had
• 3:38:49
  Speaker 5: their minds affected by some mental or physical disease. But
• 3:38:53
  Speaker 5: after this stage has been passed, they all emerge into
• 3:38:56
  Speaker 5: the brightness beyond and begin their interest, their instruction, their learning,
• 3:39:01
  Speaker 5: and their progress of soul and spirit, as well as
• 3:39:03
  Speaker 5: of intellect, which is to occupy them for ages of
• 3:39:07
  Speaker 5: time to come. Those who die are received and cared
• 3:39:11
  Speaker 5: for by loving friends on the other side, just as
• 3:39:14
  Speaker 5: they were when they were born into this world. One
• 3:39:17
  Speaker 5: need have no hesitation nor fear on this account. Physical
• 3:39:22
  Speaker 5: birth is a terrible experience, but we remember nothing of it,
• 3:39:26
  Speaker 5: and there are always those present who will tender and
• 3:39:28
  Speaker 5: care for us in this same way. Birth into the
• 3:39:32
  Speaker 5: spirit world through the gates of death is in many
• 3:39:35
  Speaker 5: ways a terrible shock, yet we are cared for by
• 3:39:39
  Speaker 5: loving guardians and received with love and care, finding happiness
• 3:39:43
  Speaker 5: awaiting us when we pass from this world into the
• 3:39:46
  Speaker 5: world beyond. End of Chapter thirty.
• 3:39:50
  Speaker 14: Five Chapter thirty six bad and perverted uses of spiritualism.
• 3:39:59
  Speaker 14: Every gift or power can be abused. Many in the
• 3:40:03
  Speaker 14: past have turned their increased psychic powers into evil channels
• 3:40:08
  Speaker 14: at various times in the world's history, and who continue
• 3:40:12
  Speaker 14: to do so today. They are known as magicians, witches, vampires,
• 3:40:21
  Speaker 14: possessors of the evil eye, etc. Et cetera. For the moment,
• 3:40:27
  Speaker 14: it may be pointed out that psychic unfoldment and increase
• 3:40:32
  Speaker 14: of psychic power brings with it added responsibility. As our
• 3:40:38
  Speaker 14: power in this direction is increased, so also we are
• 3:40:42
  Speaker 14: expected to use it rightly. If much has been given us,
• 3:40:48
  Speaker 14: much is expected. It is quite possible, it is true
• 3:40:53
  Speaker 14: for these powers to be turned to bad account and
• 3:40:56
  Speaker 14: others injured, wealth acquired, etc. Temporarily by their use. But
• 3:41:04
  Speaker 14: if these powers are used for these purposes, they are
• 3:41:08
  Speaker 14: usually soon lost, and then the student is in a
• 3:41:13
  Speaker 14: far worse condition than before, for the reason that he
• 3:41:17
  Speaker 14: is not only without the added power which he craves,
• 3:41:21
  Speaker 14: but also has deteriorated mentally, morally, and physically as the
• 3:41:28
  Speaker 14: result of their harmful use. The difference between magic and mediumship.
• 3:41:38
  Speaker 14: In the Middle Ages, psychic powers were undoubtedly used for
• 3:41:42
  Speaker 14: good and bad purposes. White magic was beneficial and black
• 3:41:49
  Speaker 14: magic harmful. White magic invoked angels, black magic invoked devils.
• 3:41:59
  Speaker 14: In neither case where the spirits of departed human beings
• 3:42:03
  Speaker 14: called upon, but rather intelligences either lower or higher than
• 3:42:09
  Speaker 14: man in the human scale of evolution. Another thing which
• 3:42:14
  Speaker 14: distinguishes mediumship from magic is that mediumship is more in
• 3:42:20
  Speaker 14: the nature of a request, a calling upon human intelligences
• 3:42:25
  Speaker 14: for help and advice. Magic, on the other hand, depends
• 3:42:30
  Speaker 14: upon invocation or demanding the presence and assistance of other
• 3:42:36
  Speaker 14: intelligences differing from the human, and their assistance in the
• 3:42:41
  Speaker 14: work to be performed. How invocations are performed. For the
• 3:42:49
  Speaker 14: purposes of this invocation, various magical practices were undertaken, such
• 3:42:55
  Speaker 14: as prayer, the saying of certain words and sentences, preparation
• 3:43:01
  Speaker 14: of the magic circle with its pentagram seal of Solomon,
• 3:43:05
  Speaker 14: et cetera, as well as utilizing various magical preparations secured
• 3:43:11
  Speaker 14: from dead bodies and the poisons of animals and reptiles,
• 3:43:16
  Speaker 14: et cetera. These magical practices were usually undertaken at certain
• 3:43:22
  Speaker 14: seasons and phases of the moon. After long training on
• 3:43:27
  Speaker 14: the part of the magician, and in specially prepared rooms
• 3:43:31
  Speaker 14: or localities which had been kept apart only for magical purposes.
• 3:43:37
  Speaker 14: Exact descriptions of such invocations and the methods employed are
• 3:43:44
  Speaker 14: to be found in certain rare books on the ritual
• 3:43:47
  Speaker 14: of magic. But inasmuch as they are neither healthy nor desirable,
• 3:43:53
  Speaker 14: we do not deem it wise or write to place
• 3:43:57
  Speaker 14: these teachings before the student who might be tempted, did
• 3:44:01
  Speaker 14: he possess the knowledge to put them into operation, and
• 3:44:06
  Speaker 14: thus injure himself mentally and morally, perhaps beyond repair. Students
• 3:44:15
  Speaker 14: who are interested may consult A. E. Waight, the Book
• 3:44:20
  Speaker 14: of Black Magic, and of packs Levi, The Doctrine and
• 3:44:25
  Speaker 14: Ritual of Transcendental Magic, et cetera. An explanation of witchcraft.
• 3:44:34
  Speaker 14: During the Middle Ages, also witchcraft flourished. It depended upon
• 3:44:41
  Speaker 14: the use of certain psychic powers, which witches were said
• 3:44:45
  Speaker 14: to possess only in their cases. This power came directly
• 3:44:50
  Speaker 14: from the Devil himself, being bestowed upon them in person
• 3:44:55
  Speaker 14: by his satanic majesty. The witches were all said to
• 3:45:01
  Speaker 14: meet two or three times a year on some lonely
• 3:45:05
  Speaker 14: mountaintop at midnight. These meetings being called Sabbaths. At the Sabbaths,
• 3:45:14
  Speaker 14: all sorts of magical and anti religious ceremonies were held.
• 3:45:20
  Speaker 14: The sacrament was mocked, the devil was worshiped, et cetera.
• 3:45:26
  Speaker 14: The witch was said to swear allegiance to the devil,
• 3:45:29
  Speaker 14: who thereupon touched her on some part of the body,
• 3:45:33
  Speaker 14: which became an esthetic, lacking all sensation. These marks occurred
• 3:45:40
  Speaker 14: in various parts of the body, and such marks were
• 3:45:44
  Speaker 14: consequently known as witch marks. The probable explanation of such
• 3:45:50
  Speaker 14: cases is that, in connection with the abnormal mental and
• 3:45:56
  Speaker 14: physical states induced by witches, their resulted in a peculiar
• 3:46:01
  Speaker 14: form of hysteria in which small zones or patches on
• 3:46:05
  Speaker 14: the body became anesthetic. Modern science now recognizes the existence
• 3:46:12
  Speaker 14: of such insensible patches and calls them anesthetic zones. They
• 3:46:19
  Speaker 14: are typical of this form of hysteria. This is the
• 3:46:23
  Speaker 14: modern scientific explanation of the so called witch marks. The
• 3:46:29
  Speaker 14: journeys to the Sabbaths were doubtless, for the most part,
• 3:46:33
  Speaker 14: imaginary flights, resulting from the administration of opiates and other
• 3:46:38
  Speaker 14: drugs which they were known to take and with which
• 3:46:43
  Speaker 14: they anointed their bodies. At the same time, it is
• 3:46:47
  Speaker 14: probable that there were many genuine, super normal psychical phenomena
• 3:46:53
  Speaker 14: connected with witchcraft, and this is becoming more and more
• 3:46:58
  Speaker 14: probable as we progress and the understanding of such cases.
• 3:47:04
  Speaker 14: Devil worship another form of perverted occultism is that of
• 3:47:11
  Speaker 14: devil worship, which exists in various forms even today in Paris,
• 3:47:16
  Speaker 14: the Malay Peninsula, in London, in New York, and doubtless
• 3:47:21
  Speaker 14: in other large cities. At these meetings which are devoted
• 3:47:26
  Speaker 14: to devil worship, various invocations etc. Are gone through, and
• 3:47:34
  Speaker 14: the devil is said to appear in person and bestow
• 3:47:38
  Speaker 14: power upon certain privileged members of the club, who are
• 3:47:42
  Speaker 14: thereafter enabled to use certain powers to their own advantage.
• 3:47:49
  Speaker 14: Many of the scenes of these devil worshiping societies are
• 3:47:53
  Speaker 14: too revolting to be described, but have been pictured at
• 3:47:58
  Speaker 14: length on one or two occasions by those who have
• 3:48:01
  Speaker 14: taken part in these invocations. The Evil Eye. Again, certain
• 3:48:11
  Speaker 14: individuals have a power which is known as the evil Eye.
• 3:48:16
  Speaker 14: This is particularly believed in by the peasants of Naples
• 3:48:20
  Speaker 14: and southern Italy, by the peasantry of southern Spain, Austria
• 3:48:26
  Speaker 14: and other countries. Anyone possessing the Evil Eye is supposed
• 3:48:31
  Speaker 14: to have the power of bewitching or maiming any person
• 3:48:35
  Speaker 14: or animal upon whom he throws his glance. Cattle looked
• 3:48:41
  Speaker 14: at by one possessing the evil eye invariably becomes sick
• 3:48:46
  Speaker 14: and die, Crops fail, pestilence falls, et cetera. The evil
• 3:48:54
  Speaker 14: eye is a gift which is usually unsought, but comes spontaneouslee,
• 3:49:01
  Speaker 14: and is not desired by anyone. The sure way to
• 3:49:05
  Speaker 14: guard against the evil eye, according to the beliefs of
• 3:49:10
  Speaker 14: the countries mentioned, is to extend the first and fourth
• 3:49:14
  Speaker 14: fingers of the hand toward the possessors of the evil eye,
• 3:49:19
  Speaker 14: the second and third fingers being folded over into the
• 3:49:24
  Speaker 14: palm of the hand and kept there by the thumb.
• 3:49:28
  Speaker 14: In this position, the outer fingers somewhat resemble the horns
• 3:49:33
  Speaker 14: of a bull, and if the hand holding the fingers
• 3:49:37
  Speaker 14: in this position be pointed at any of the children
• 3:49:41
  Speaker 14: or beggars in the above named countries, they will usually
• 3:49:47
  Speaker 14: turn and fly from the sign maker. Many Europeans use
• 3:49:52
  Speaker 14: this knowledge to rid themselves of pestilent beggars, vampires, and
• 3:50:00
  Speaker 14: how they attack. Another form of evil influence, which is
• 3:50:05
  Speaker 14: said to exist and is particularly believed in by the
• 3:50:10
  Speaker 14: natives of Celesia, Moravia and southern Carpathia. Is that covered
• 3:50:16
  Speaker 14: by the general word vampire. In our ordinary language, a
• 3:50:24
  Speaker 14: vampire is a species of bat, and the word is
• 3:50:28
  Speaker 14: employed because human vampires were said to assume the shape
• 3:50:34
  Speaker 14: of large bats at times, flying in the windows when
• 3:50:39
  Speaker 14: their victims are asleep. A vampire is one who sucks
• 3:50:44
  Speaker 14: the lifeblood of his victims through two small holes punctured
• 3:50:49
  Speaker 14: in the skin, in very much the same way that
• 3:50:52
  Speaker 14: a mosquito sucks our blood after puncturing the epidermis. These
• 3:50:58
  Speaker 14: holes are said to occur usually in the throat, and
• 3:51:02
  Speaker 14: the victim is of course attacked as a rule during sleep.
• 3:51:09
  Speaker 14: Those who are vampires after they are dead and buried,
• 3:51:12
  Speaker 14: are enabled in some miraculous way. It is said, to
• 3:51:16
  Speaker 14: leave their coffins and tombs and wander about seeking victims.
• 3:51:23
  Speaker 14: When they are dug up, they are found fresh with
• 3:51:27
  Speaker 14: a pink complexion and the whole body engorged with blood.
• 3:51:33
  Speaker 14: The only sure way to kill vampires, it is said,
• 3:51:37
  Speaker 14: is to drive a stake through the heart or cut
• 3:51:42
  Speaker 14: off the head. When a quantity of fresh blood will
• 3:51:46
  Speaker 14: gush forth and the vampire is killed Forever tradition also
• 3:51:52
  Speaker 14: says that those who are bitten by vampires become vampires
• 3:51:58
  Speaker 14: in turn. Modern vampiredge. Vampires of a certain sort, however,
• 3:52:07
  Speaker 14: are not unknown in our own day. In an interesting
• 3:52:12
  Speaker 14: article on vampires in the Occult Review June nineteen o eight,
• 3:52:18
  Speaker 14: doctor Franz Hartmann described a method of what might be
• 3:52:22
  Speaker 14: termed natural vampiredge. He refers to the Bible first Kings
• 3:52:30
  Speaker 14: one and also alludes to certain processes by which one
• 3:52:35
  Speaker 14: person is enabled to draw vital energy from another by
• 3:52:40
  Speaker 14: establishing close contact. This process of nature is governed by
• 3:52:46
  Speaker 14: well fixed laws. Through ignorance of these laws, many people
• 3:52:52
  Speaker 14: have become victims of modern vampiredge. Another form of perverted
• 3:52:59
  Speaker 14: occultism which remains is the employment of charms, ambulance, talismans, etc.
• 3:53:06
  Speaker 14: Which are often sold for the purpose of inducing mental
• 3:53:10
  Speaker 14: and physical disease, and black magic, which has existed through
• 3:53:15
  Speaker 14: all ages. We must not forget also the so called
• 3:53:21
  Speaker 14: voodoo practices of the natives of West Africa, which are
• 3:53:25
  Speaker 14: said to be remarkable by those who have witnessed them.
• 3:53:31
  Speaker 14: How to protect yourself from occult and evil influences, It
• 3:53:38
  Speaker 14: is often a little difficult for the modern student of
• 3:53:41
  Speaker 14: the occult to determine just how much he is to
• 3:53:44
  Speaker 14: believe in these stories. Undoubtedly most of them are based
• 3:53:48
  Speaker 14: on superstition, fanaticism, and imagination. At the same time, there
• 3:53:55
  Speaker 14: is enough truth in them to make us be cautious
• 3:53:58
  Speaker 14: and put us on our guard. Never, under any circumstances
• 3:54:04
  Speaker 14: should you undertake to practice any of them for low
• 3:54:08
  Speaker 14: selfish purposes. In order to protect yourself from influences of
• 3:54:14
  Speaker 14: this sort. If you feel that they are being wielded
• 3:54:17
  Speaker 14: against you, resort to the measures outlined in previous chapters,
• 3:54:23
  Speaker 14: and you may be sure that if you do this,
• 3:54:26
  Speaker 14: you will be impervious to all ordinary influences of this kind.
• 3:54:34
  Speaker 14: End of Chapter thirty six.
• 3:54:37
  Speaker 2: Chapter thirty seven snares and pitfalls to avoid. The cautious
• 3:54:42
  Speaker 2: student of psychics, who desires to progress along the right
• 3:54:45
  Speaker 2: lines scientifically and mathematically, must be on his guard against
• 3:54:50
  Speaker 2: all possible sources of delusion and error which may creep
• 3:54:53
  Speaker 2: into his development, so he may never mistake the false
• 3:54:57
  Speaker 2: for the true or spurious phenomena for the gaim. A
• 3:55:01
  Speaker 2: few sources of error, and some of the mistakes which
• 3:55:03
  Speaker 2: the psychic student is apt to make will be pointed
• 3:55:05
  Speaker 2: out in this chapter, together with the means and methods
• 3:55:09
  Speaker 2: of guarding against them. First of all, do not be
• 3:55:13
  Speaker 2: too credulous of the phenomena you receive and accept. If
• 3:55:16
  Speaker 2: you have a chill or a nervous twitch, do not
• 3:55:19
  Speaker 2: assume that this is some message or a touch from
• 3:55:21
  Speaker 2: a spirit hand. It may be so, but you must
• 3:55:25
  Speaker 2: receive good proof of the fact before accepting it. Should
• 3:55:28
  Speaker 2: you be too credulous and accept all such incidents as
• 3:55:31
  Speaker 2: genuine phenomena, you will soon be led away so far
• 3:55:34
  Speaker 2: that you will become unbalanced in your point of view
• 3:55:37
  Speaker 2: the over negative condition in your development. Do not be
• 3:55:41
  Speaker 2: too negative. Hold the mind always centered and conscious, as
• 3:55:45
  Speaker 2: I have said, and keep the center of yourself always active.
• 3:55:48
  Speaker 2: It is only safe to abandon this in very advanced studies.
• 3:55:52
  Speaker 2: Do not be too negative in your daily life, or
• 3:55:54
  Speaker 2: accept the advice which spirits or mediums give you to
• 3:55:57
  Speaker 2: the exclusion of all else. You should reason in such matters. Thus,
• 3:56:02
  Speaker 2: and intelligence has offered me certain advice. If that person
• 3:56:05
  Speaker 2: were yet alive and offered me the same advice, would
• 3:56:08
  Speaker 2: I take it. You should accept the advice of spirits
• 3:56:11
  Speaker 2: as you would that of human beings who are merely
• 3:56:13
  Speaker 2: spirits still in the flesh. In other words, as so
• 3:56:17
  Speaker 2: often pointed out before in previous chapters, use your own
• 3:56:20
  Speaker 2: judgment and discrimination on all messages received. If the messages
• 3:56:25
  Speaker 2: are of an erratic nature, such as those which ask
• 3:56:27
  Speaker 2: you to give up your position, go on a long journey, etc.
• 3:56:30
  Speaker 2: You should be most cautious and only accept such advice
• 3:56:33
  Speaker 2: after you have fully proved to your own satisfaction that
• 3:56:36
  Speaker 2: it is wise and beneficial abuse of the sixth sense.
• 3:56:41
  Speaker 2: Do not depend upon your sixth sense until you have
• 3:56:44
  Speaker 2: exhausted the senses you already possess. If you refuse to
• 3:56:47
  Speaker 2: let these work, you can hardly suppose that help and
• 3:56:50
  Speaker 2: assistance will come from outside. No seed will not grow
• 3:56:54
  Speaker 2: in a soil that is not prepared. Neither will spiritual
• 3:56:57
  Speaker 2: help be planted in your mental soil if you have
• 3:56:59
  Speaker 2: not work to prepare it for the spiritual influx. As
• 3:57:03
  Speaker 2: a rule, our own individual spirit is the best guide.
• 3:57:07
  Speaker 2: We must consult this first. After that, if you seek
• 3:57:10
  Speaker 2: additional advice and help, this may often be obtained from
• 3:57:13
  Speaker 2: wise and experienced psychics. But I cannot too strongly warn
• 3:57:16
  Speaker 2: the student against accepting the advice of poorly developed mediums.
• 3:57:20
  Speaker 2: Either professional or amateur on changing mediums and circles. It
• 3:57:26
  Speaker 2: is not a good thing to change developing mediums if
• 3:57:28
  Speaker 2: this can be avoided. If you have found one medium
• 3:57:31
  Speaker 2: who can assist you to develop, and who is apparently
• 3:57:34
  Speaker 2: doing so helpfully and rightly, stick to him through thick
• 3:57:37
  Speaker 2: and thin until his advice or help fails you. The
• 3:57:41
  Speaker 2: mixture of magnetism which is introduced with change of developing
• 3:57:44
  Speaker 2: mediums may be at times very harmful. The same thing
• 3:57:48
  Speaker 2: may be said of circles. Once a circle of sitters
• 3:57:52
  Speaker 2: is formed, the same group should sit night after night,
• 3:57:55
  Speaker 2: and it is not at all a good practice to
• 3:57:57
  Speaker 2: allow strangers constantly to intrude into the circle and take
• 3:58:01
  Speaker 2: the places of others. If changes must be made, let
• 3:58:05
  Speaker 2: one at a time assume the place of the absent sitter,
• 3:58:08
  Speaker 2: and let them sit thoroughly familiar with the surroundings and
• 3:58:10
  Speaker 2: conditions before a second change is made. You would be
• 3:58:14
  Speaker 2: wise to mistrust names of important historical persons if they
• 3:58:17
  Speaker 2: appear in your own speech or writing, or if they
• 3:58:20
  Speaker 2: are obtained at seances. Our natural vanity may lead us
• 3:58:24
  Speaker 2: to hope and expect that such personages may be present,
• 3:58:27
  Speaker 2: but there is evidence that in many cases, lying spirits
• 3:58:30
  Speaker 2: have taken the place of those whose names they gave.
• 3:58:33
  Speaker 2: In this connection, it may be said that the historical
• 3:58:36
  Speaker 2: personages are not, as a rule most desirable. The best
• 3:58:41
  Speaker 2: help and the greatest teachings have been obtained from simple
• 3:58:43
  Speaker 2: people who are now on the other side sensitivity a mediumship.
• 3:58:48
  Speaker 2: Do not try from the first to develop as a medium.
• 3:58:52
  Speaker 2: Try rather to cultivate your own psychic powers and strengthen
• 3:58:55
  Speaker 2: your own inner nature. After you have developed psychically and
• 3:58:58
  Speaker 2: spiritually in this way, you'll be far better enabled to
• 3:59:01
  Speaker 2: receive and transmit genuine mediumistic messages, better enabled also to
• 3:59:06
  Speaker 2: interpret them, better able to withstand the strain of mediumship,
• 3:59:10
  Speaker 2: and run far less danger of obsession and other unpleasant
• 3:59:13
  Speaker 2: symptoms which badly developed mediums are likely to encounter. Cultivate
• 3:59:18
  Speaker 2: your psychic self. Therefore, and after this has been truly trained,
• 3:59:22
  Speaker 2: begin to train your mediumistic powers. Be on the lookout
• 3:59:25
  Speaker 2: for evil and lying spirits who will constantly deceive you
• 3:59:29
  Speaker 2: if you are not prepared for them, and remain too
• 3:59:32
  Speaker 2: open and receptive. Study your own phenomenon. Endeavor to disengage
• 3:59:36
  Speaker 2: genuine psychic and mediumistic manifestations from those due to your
• 3:59:39
  Speaker 2: own subconscious mind. This is an excellent and very helpful
• 3:59:44
  Speaker 2: practice which will prove useful to you as you progress.
• 3:59:48
  Speaker 2: Do not assume that all figures which you see are spirits.
• 3:59:52
  Speaker 2: They may be thought forms, doubles, etheric bodies, or imaginary
• 3:59:56
  Speaker 2: creations of your own things. As psychic sh avoid. You
• 4:00:01
  Speaker 2: can only learn to disentangle this wonderful chain and separate
• 4:00:04
  Speaker 2: the true from the false after months and perhaps years
• 4:00:07
  Speaker 2: of study, observation, and experiment. Above all, remember that symbolic
• 4:00:12
  Speaker 2: figures and representations must be interpreted symbolically and should never
• 4:00:16
  Speaker 2: be accepted as representing the truth as it actually exists.
• 4:00:21
  Speaker 2: One of the great dangers to the amateur medium, as
• 4:00:23
  Speaker 2: before explained, is that of extending his symbolic intuitive impressions
• 4:00:28
  Speaker 2: beyond the proper point. If he stated only what was
• 4:00:31
  Speaker 2: given him, he would usually be right. But if he
• 4:00:35
  Speaker 2: endeavors to interpret them himself, find their explanations, et cetera,
• 4:00:39
  Speaker 2: he very often goes wrong. Do not hang on too long,
• 4:00:43
  Speaker 2: so to say, to the impressions and images you perceive,
• 4:00:47
  Speaker 2: Let them float before you in space, seeing and analyzing
• 4:00:51
  Speaker 2: them as they pass. Do not endeavor to hold them
• 4:00:54
  Speaker 2: to you by the power of your mind. If you
• 4:00:58
  Speaker 2: do so, they will not only vanish in disa peer
• 4:01:00
  Speaker 2: which you will be unable to retain the impression you receive,
• 4:01:04
  Speaker 2: and quite possibly the power of perceiving these images, which
• 4:01:07
  Speaker 2: you now possess, will become less and less and gradually
• 4:01:10
  Speaker 2: leave you. Always remember that psychic phenomena of this character
• 4:01:14
  Speaker 2: cannot be commanded, that can only be sought and welcomed
• 4:01:17
  Speaker 2: when they appear. In other words, they are spontaneous and
• 4:01:20
  Speaker 2: not experimental phenomena. How to distinguish the true from the false?
• 4:01:27
  Speaker 2: If you constantly make use of your own judgment and
• 4:01:29
  Speaker 2: critical faculty in studying the phenomena which you develop or
• 4:01:33
  Speaker 2: those which you may observe in others, you'll build up
• 4:01:36
  Speaker 2: within yourself two things. One of these is the power
• 4:01:39
  Speaker 2: of judging, that is, the ability to perceive the true
• 4:01:42
  Speaker 2: from the false, and which, above all else, is what
• 4:01:45
  Speaker 2: you as a psychic desire. It is difficult to explain
• 4:01:49
  Speaker 2: the difference in words, but as nearly as possible as
• 4:01:52
  Speaker 2: it may be said that these phenomena which are neatly true,
• 4:01:55
  Speaker 2: carry with them a sense of conviction, a feeling of
• 4:01:58
  Speaker 2: warmth and familiarity, and we feel them as part of ourselves.
• 4:02:03
  Speaker 2: The other phenomena, although occurring in our own minds, will
• 4:02:06
  Speaker 2: seem to us cold, strange, and extraneous. And when once
• 4:02:10
  Speaker 2: this power to distinguish between the two types of phenomena
• 4:02:13
  Speaker 2: has been developed, you have taken one of the most
• 4:02:15
  Speaker 2: important forward steps that is possible for any psychic to take.
• 4:02:19
  Speaker 2: Many mediums indeed never reach this state. Their mediumship is chaotic.
• 4:02:25
  Speaker 2: It has never been developed on rational, progressive lines. But
• 4:02:28
  Speaker 2: if you have done so, you may rest assured that
• 4:02:31
  Speaker 2: you are not only a genuine and true medium, but
• 4:02:33
  Speaker 2: you have passed through the early stages and danger zones
• 4:02:36
  Speaker 2: which so often beset the student in the early stages
• 4:02:38
  Speaker 2: of development how to guard against outside influence. The second
• 4:02:44
  Speaker 2: important step which the student takes after he has once
• 4:02:46
  Speaker 2: passed this stage is that while he will be sensitive
• 4:02:49
  Speaker 2: and receptive to telepathic, clairvoyane and other forms of perception,
• 4:02:53
  Speaker 2: and also to spirits both in and out of the body,
• 4:02:56
  Speaker 2: he will be practically impervious to harmful or malicious thoughts
• 4:02:59
  Speaker 2: and influence which may be impelled against him not only
• 4:03:02
  Speaker 2: on this sphere, but by the spirit world as well.
• 4:03:06
  Speaker 2: If a trance clairvoyant during a state of ecstasy leaves
• 4:03:09
  Speaker 2: his body and wanders off into space, without having previously
• 4:03:12
  Speaker 2: gained sufficient knowledge and hence control of the situation. He
• 4:03:16
  Speaker 2: is liable to be blown hither and thither figuratively speaking,
• 4:03:21
  Speaker 2: like a soap bubble by the breezes, and will be
• 4:03:23
  Speaker 2: open to impressions from all sources. These he may not
• 4:03:27
  Speaker 2: feel or know at the time, but he may carry
• 4:03:29
  Speaker 2: these back with him into his body, and afterwards they
• 4:03:32
  Speaker 2: may affect him to the detriment of his own mental
• 4:03:34
  Speaker 2: and spiritual health. In other words, he has not learned
• 4:03:37
  Speaker 2: to protect himself while severed from the body as he
• 4:03:40
  Speaker 2: can while in it. This is one of the greatest
• 4:03:43
  Speaker 2: dangers which the advanced psychic is liable to encounter. And
• 4:03:46
  Speaker 2: at the same time, after he has once learned the
• 4:03:49
  Speaker 2: secret of protecting himself in this manner, he may be
• 4:03:52
  Speaker 2: assured that thenceforward his progress will be most marked and rapid,
• 4:03:56
  Speaker 2: not only in psychic and meanimistic development, but in the
• 4:03:59
  Speaker 2: sphere world after he has entered it permanently at death.
• 4:04:03
  Speaker 2: The value of psychic development to the individual. Psychic development
• 4:04:08
  Speaker 2: is therefore of an estimable worth, if rightly cultivated, for
• 4:04:11
  Speaker 2: the rapid progression of the individual human spirit, just as
• 4:04:15
  Speaker 2: much as the same power badly employed is harmful to
• 4:04:18
  Speaker 2: the human spirit, both here and hereafter. It all depends
• 4:04:22
  Speaker 2: on the manner in which these forces and powers have
• 4:04:24
  Speaker 2: been cultivated and are utilized. And while too much cannot
• 4:04:28
  Speaker 2: be said against their improper use, a great deal may
• 4:04:30
  Speaker 2: be said in favor of their proper application and development
• 4:04:33
  Speaker 2: in the right direction. It is my hope that every
• 4:04:36
  Speaker 2: reader of this book will develop himself along the right lines,
• 4:04:39
  Speaker 2: and that he may receive help, advice, and encouragement at
• 4:04:43
  Speaker 2: all stages of his spiritual unfoldment, both here and hereafter.
• 4:04:49
  Speaker 2: End of Chapter thirty seven, Chapter thirty eight. Physical phenomena.
• 4:04:55
  Speaker 2: The physical phenomena of spiritualism, as distinct from the mental
• 4:04:59
  Speaker 2: or psychic phenomena, are those which relate to the physical
• 4:05:02
  Speaker 2: world and in which some mechanical or physical movement of
• 4:05:06
  Speaker 2: matter takes place. In clairvoyance, for example, no such physical
• 4:05:10
  Speaker 2: phenomena occur so far as we can see. But if
• 4:05:14
  Speaker 2: a table be lifted into the air by supernormal means,
• 4:05:17
  Speaker 2: we here come into contact with mechanical and physical forces,
• 4:05:21
  Speaker 2: and with these we have to reckon phenomena. With physical contact,
• 4:05:26
  Speaker 2: we must begin at the beginning in treating a physical phenomena,
• 4:05:30
  Speaker 2: and go back first of all to those which involve
• 4:05:33
  Speaker 2: some form of contact. Doubtless you have seen performances of
• 4:05:37
  Speaker 2: so called mind readers who found lost articles which were
• 4:05:41
  Speaker 2: hidden in various parts of the room or hall, when
• 4:05:44
  Speaker 2: one who knew their hiding place held the psychic's hand
• 4:05:46
  Speaker 2: or placed it to his forehead, etc. In most of
• 4:05:49
  Speaker 2: these performances, it is not mind reading at all, strictly speaking,
• 4:05:54
  Speaker 2: which we see, but what is technically known as muscle reading.
• 4:05:57
  Speaker 2: That is, the faint, unconscious twitch of the muscles of
• 4:06:01
  Speaker 2: the person holding the psychic's hand or felt and interpreted
• 4:06:04
  Speaker 2: by him consciously or unconsciously, and these guide him to
• 4:06:08
  Speaker 2: the spot where the article is hidden. Incredible as it
• 4:06:12
  Speaker 2: may appear, this is the correct explanation of these cases,
• 4:06:16
  Speaker 2: and you may easily test it for yourself by asking
• 4:06:18
  Speaker 2: a group of your friends to hide some object while
• 4:06:20
  Speaker 2: you are out of the room, and then when you enter,
• 4:06:23
  Speaker 2: to give you one of their hands. If now you
• 4:06:27
  Speaker 2: concentrate on the faint pullings and pushings which they will
• 4:06:30
  Speaker 2: give you, you will be enabled to find the article in
• 4:06:33
  Speaker 2: nine cases out of ten. Of course, this, like everything
• 4:06:37
  Speaker 2: else improves with practice, and you must not expect to
• 4:06:40
  Speaker 2: be an expert on the first trial. Some performers who
• 4:06:44
  Speaker 2: have had years of experience grow so proficient in this, however,
• 4:06:48
  Speaker 2: that they are unable to open safes whose combinations they
• 4:06:51
  Speaker 2: do not know. Are merely holding the hand of one
• 4:06:53
  Speaker 2: who does, or even drive a cab along the streets
• 4:06:56
  Speaker 2: of a crowded city while blindfolded, and holding the hand
• 4:07:00
  Speaker 2: of one who can see the vehicles on the street.
• 4:07:03
  Speaker 2: The development of independent force and power. The next step
• 4:07:07
  Speaker 2: is in Planchet writing, where the hand, as before explained,
• 4:07:11
  Speaker 2: moves it first as the result of unconscious muscular action.
• 4:07:15
  Speaker 2: After a time, however, some psychic force seems to be developed,
• 4:07:18
  Speaker 2: and the board often continues to move about even after
• 4:07:22
  Speaker 2: the hands of the operator are removed from it. Beyond this, again,
• 4:07:26
  Speaker 2: we have those cases of so called dousing, where the
• 4:07:29
  Speaker 2: forked hazel twig bends to and fro in the hands
• 4:07:32
  Speaker 2: of the water finder when he walks over water and metals.
• 4:07:36
  Speaker 2: The simple movements which are felt at first are probably
• 4:07:39
  Speaker 2: due to muscular twitchings, but as the force develops, it
• 4:07:43
  Speaker 2: seems to become more independent, and the twig is bent
• 4:07:45
  Speaker 2: in spite of the efforts to hold it. Table tipping
• 4:07:50
  Speaker 2: and levitations. The next class of physical phenomena are those
• 4:07:54
  Speaker 2: with the table. A group sits around an ordinary table
• 4:07:58
  Speaker 2: and can tilt and tip it, as many have doubtless scene.
• 4:08:02
  Speaker 2: The first simple movements here, as formally, are probably due
• 4:08:06
  Speaker 2: to the unconscious muscular pressure of those having their hands
• 4:08:09
  Speaker 2: on the table, But later on, as the psychic force
• 4:08:12
  Speaker 2: develops and charges the table, it seems to assume an
• 4:08:16
  Speaker 2: independent character, and the table often continues to move when
• 4:08:19
  Speaker 2: all hands are withdrawn from it. In fact, as an
• 4:08:23
  Speaker 2: expert psychic student has pointed out, in many instances and
• 4:08:28
  Speaker 2: especially under unfavorable conditions, the phenomena do not rise above
• 4:08:32
  Speaker 2: the initial stage of simple, non intelligent movements, leaving the
• 4:08:37
  Speaker 2: impression on the minds of the investigators that the force
• 4:08:39
  Speaker 2: exhibited is, if at present unknown and unaccounted for, nevertheless
• 4:08:44
  Speaker 2: a natural and mechanical one, and that the action of
• 4:08:48
  Speaker 2: independent intelligence in connection with it cannot be conceived. This
• 4:08:53
  Speaker 2: has been the experience, and has been the verdict of
• 4:08:56
  Speaker 2: even scientific inquirers who have not hesitated to give that to.
• 4:09:00
  Speaker 5: The world.
• 4:09:02
  Speaker 2: How the power increases. Such a conclusion is based upon
• 4:09:06
  Speaker 2: inaccurate knowledge and upon imperfect and superficial observation. All experienced
• 4:09:12
  Speaker 2: psychic students are aware that it is often only after
• 4:09:15
  Speaker 2: repeated and prolonged sittings that the full development of the
• 4:09:19
  Speaker 2: psychic force is obtained, and that independent intelligence is exhibited
• 4:09:24
  Speaker 2: in connection with it, and that by far the larger
• 4:09:27
  Speaker 2: number of instances that stage of the experiment is never
• 4:09:30
  Speaker 2: reached at all. That it is, however, the ultimate issue
• 4:09:34
  Speaker 2: of the experiment, is now admitted by all patient and
• 4:09:37
  Speaker 2: painstaking students who have devoted sufficient time to the observation
• 4:09:41
  Speaker 2: of the phenomena, and have carried on their investigations with
• 4:09:44
  Speaker 2: an open mind and in a systematic manner. As will
• 4:09:48
  Speaker 2: be seen later on, it is fully admitted that the
• 4:09:52
  Speaker 2: mysterious force thus called into operation in some unknown way,
• 4:09:56
  Speaker 2: issues from the physical organism of the sensitive and the sitters,
• 4:10:00
  Speaker 2: and is in itself an unintelligent force. But it is
• 4:10:04
  Speaker 2: with equal confidence asserted that when it is available in
• 4:10:08
  Speaker 2: sufficient quantity and is wholly detached from the physical organism,
• 4:10:12
  Speaker 2: it can be and, beyond all doubt, is frequently manipulated
• 4:10:15
  Speaker 2: by intelligences independent of and other than that of the
• 4:10:20
  Speaker 2: psychic and the investigators assisting in the experiment how physical
• 4:10:25
  Speaker 2: phenomena are produced. The principle upon which many physical phenomena
• 4:10:29
  Speaker 2: are based then is simply this. There is a vital
• 4:10:33
  Speaker 2: or a nervous force existing in many of us, as
• 4:10:36
  Speaker 2: described in an earlier chapter, which is usually limited to
• 4:10:39
  Speaker 2: the surface of our own bodies, so that unless we
• 4:10:42
  Speaker 2: touch the object in question, we cannot move it. Under
• 4:10:45
  Speaker 2: certain conditions. However, this vital energy or fluid is capable
• 4:10:49
  Speaker 2: of being projected outward beyond the normal bodily limits into space,
• 4:10:54
  Speaker 2: and when powerful enough, is capable of moving physical objects
• 4:10:57
  Speaker 2: with which it comes into contact, or if it be
• 4:11:01
  Speaker 2: a rapid outward projection of this force and produces percussive
• 4:11:05
  Speaker 2: sounds or raps well known to spiritualists. This psychic force
• 4:11:10
  Speaker 2: is often uncontrolled, and then objects are moved without the
• 4:11:13
  Speaker 2: knowledge of and even against the wish of the medium.
• 4:11:17
  Speaker 2: We then have the so called spontaneous poltergeist phenomena, etc.
• 4:11:22
  Speaker 2: At other times, this force may be guided and manipulated
• 4:11:24
  Speaker 2: by the conscious or unconscious mind of the medium. Beyond
• 4:11:28
  Speaker 2: the stage again is one in which the medium is
• 4:11:31
  Speaker 2: unconscious of what is occurring, having passed into trance, etc.
• 4:11:36
  Speaker 2: And it is then that many of the most striking
• 4:11:38
  Speaker 2: physical phenomena occur. At such times, complicated and intelligent physical
• 4:11:44
  Speaker 2: manifestations are produced which are not due either to the
• 4:11:47
  Speaker 2: mind of the medium or to any person present externalized
• 4:11:52
  Speaker 2: vital energy. We here enter the realm of genuine physical
• 4:11:55
  Speaker 2: phenomenon produced by spirit intelligences. Most of the communications are
• 4:12:00
  Speaker 2: obtained through raps following a code, playing upon musical instruments, etc.
• 4:12:05
  Speaker 2: Are due to this source. In other words, after a
• 4:12:08
  Speaker 2: certain point has been reached, the externalized vital energy or
• 4:12:11
  Speaker 2: psychic power of the medium is manipulated by an external intelligence,
• 4:12:16
  Speaker 2: and they can even create forms or fantoms by utilizing it,
• 4:12:20
  Speaker 2: as will be explained in the chapter devoted to materialization
• 4:12:24
  Speaker 2: Controlling the phenomena. Very interesting experiments have been conducted in
• 4:12:29
  Speaker 2: the past and controlling these physical phenomena, but not much
• 4:12:32
  Speaker 2: success has been attained in this direction. There is here
• 4:12:36
  Speaker 2: a wide field for experiment which the thoughtful student might enter. Thus,
• 4:12:41
  Speaker 2: on one occasion, a medium who has had the power
• 4:12:43
  Speaker 2: of producing raps was hypnotized and it was suggested that
• 4:12:47
  Speaker 2: raps should be produced at will. According to the suggestion
• 4:12:50
  Speaker 2: of the hypnotists, this was completely successful. It was also
• 4:12:55
  Speaker 2: suggested that raps be obtained in any article of furniture
• 4:12:58
  Speaker 2: which the hypnotists would suggest. This also succeeded. The range
• 4:13:03
  Speaker 2: and variety of physical phenomena are very great, including manifestations
• 4:13:07
  Speaker 2: such as wraps, table levitations, movement of objects without contact,
• 4:13:13
  Speaker 2: playing upon musical instruments without apparent cause, spirit and thought, photography, materialization,
• 4:13:21
  Speaker 2: slate writing, trumpet phenomena, et cetera, the effect of light.
• 4:13:27
  Speaker 2: All physical phenomena seem to be hindered very largely by light,
• 4:13:31
  Speaker 2: either daylight or artificial light, and they can very rarely
• 4:13:34
  Speaker 2: be produced except in darkness. Should you attempt to obtain
• 4:13:38
  Speaker 2: phenomena of this character. Therefore, it would be well for
• 4:13:41
  Speaker 2: you to sit in the darkness, especially at first, and
• 4:13:44
  Speaker 2: then request that more and more light be permitted as
• 4:13:47
  Speaker 2: your power increases and the phenomena appear. Most mediums begin
• 4:13:52
  Speaker 2: their development by seating themselves in a cabinet in a
• 4:13:54
  Speaker 2: darkened room, and often it is necessary to sit in
• 4:13:57
  Speaker 2: this way every evening for several weeks or even months
• 4:14:01
  Speaker 2: before any phenomena appear. If you are naturally psychic, however,
• 4:14:05
  Speaker 2: and physical phenomena are going to be manifested through your mediumship.
• 4:14:09
  Speaker 2: You would doubtless only have to sit for a fraction
• 4:14:12
  Speaker 2: of this time in order for the first manifestations to
• 4:14:14
  Speaker 2: make themselves felt, and probably afterwards you would be so
• 4:14:18
  Speaker 2: interested in the process that you would not count the
• 4:14:20
  Speaker 2: time you spent in your development first symptoms and phenomena.
• 4:14:25
  Speaker 2: It is probable that the first indications of phenomena of
• 4:14:28
  Speaker 2: this character you will receive are tiny spots of light
• 4:14:31
  Speaker 2: which form before you in space and either suddenly appear
• 4:14:36
  Speaker 2: or remain stationary for some time, and then join themselves
• 4:14:39
  Speaker 2: together forming one larger light. As time progresses, you will
• 4:14:43
  Speaker 2: see that this light cloudy mass will become more and
• 4:14:46
  Speaker 2: more definite in outline and shape, and will probably begin
• 4:14:50
  Speaker 2: to assume the shape of a phantom or form standing
• 4:14:53
  Speaker 2: before you. When this stage has been reached, you should
• 4:14:57
  Speaker 2: concentrate your receptive faculties and endeavor to get a one
• 4:15:00
  Speaker 2: rapport with this form, for such it now is, and
• 4:15:03
  Speaker 2: after a time it will be doubtless be able to
• 4:15:06
  Speaker 2: establish more or less intelligent mental communication and exchange messages.
• 4:15:11
  Speaker 2: This will usually appear before physical phenomena become manifest though
• 4:15:15
  Speaker 2: in certain cases it may be later on. Doctor Baraduc
• 4:15:19
  Speaker 2: of Paris succeeded on several occasions in photographing those groups
• 4:15:23
  Speaker 2: of light or masses of matter which thus floated before him,
• 4:15:27
  Speaker 2: and the student, who has once succeeded in receiving manifestations
• 4:15:30
  Speaker 2: of a like nature might well conduct similar experiments if
• 4:15:34
  Speaker 2: he be sufficiently alert and able to do so. If not,
• 4:15:38
  Speaker 2: a friend who is with him and has attended his
• 4:15:40
  Speaker 2: process of development might endeavor to take these photographs at
• 4:15:44
  Speaker 2: the moment when the psychic states they are vividly present
• 4:15:46
  Speaker 2: before him. There are thus two ways of cultivating physical mediumship.
• 4:15:52
  Speaker 2: One is to sit in the dark. The others who
• 4:15:54
  Speaker 2: experiment more or less consciously in light or semi darkness,
• 4:15:58
  Speaker 2: and when a certain amount of power has been gained
• 4:16:00
  Speaker 2: in this direction, to endeavor to transfer or carry this
• 4:16:03
  Speaker 2: over into the dark seance and transmit this power to
• 4:16:07
  Speaker 2: a spirit who will thenceforth utilize it and, by its aid,
• 4:16:10
  Speaker 2: produce physical phenomena developing in the dark. If you sit
• 4:16:16
  Speaker 2: for physical development in the dark, you are never sure
• 4:16:19
  Speaker 2: what kind of phenomena you are to obtain in a seance.
• 4:16:22
  Speaker 2: This is beneficial since you should never aim to get
• 4:16:25
  Speaker 2: one type of phenomena. As before explained, for If you do,
• 4:16:30
  Speaker 2: you shut out by your attitude all other phenomena which
• 4:16:33
  Speaker 2: might spontaneously develop at the same time. It is always
• 4:16:37
  Speaker 2: satisfactory for the beginner to be able to control this
• 4:16:40
  Speaker 2: phenomena a little, especially at first, and for this reason
• 4:16:44
  Speaker 2: the second method of experimentation is advisable, and, if desired,
• 4:16:48
  Speaker 2: might be carried out at the same time as the
• 4:16:50
  Speaker 2: other method of development, so that the two progress side
• 4:16:53
  Speaker 2: by side. If you sit in the dark, you should,
• 4:16:57
  Speaker 2: by all means provide yourself with a cabinet sins. This
• 4:17:00
  Speaker 2: will tend to concentrate the force, and much less energy
• 4:17:03
  Speaker 2: will have to be expended by you for the production
• 4:17:05
  Speaker 2: of any phenomena you may obtain. Also, you should abstain
• 4:17:09
  Speaker 2: from using your will or thinking consciously of practical everyday affairs.
• 4:17:14
  Speaker 2: Make the mind blank, holding only the thought of self,
• 4:17:17
  Speaker 2: and await results how to develop in the light. In
• 4:17:21
  Speaker 2: developing your power for the production of physical phenomena. Along
• 4:17:24
  Speaker 2: the other line mentioned, it is best to begin with
• 4:17:27
  Speaker 2: the simple experiments and gradually work up to the more
• 4:17:29
  Speaker 2: complicated ones. For example, begin with the planchet or ouiji board,
• 4:17:35
  Speaker 2: placing the tips of the fingers on the board, and
• 4:17:37
  Speaker 2: after it has begun to move rapidly to and fro,
• 4:17:40
  Speaker 2: or round and round very gradually, withdraw the hand and
• 4:17:44
  Speaker 2: see whether or not the board continues to move about again.
• 4:17:47
  Speaker 2: When the table has begun to tip and rise into
• 4:17:50
  Speaker 2: the air two or three legs as the result of
• 4:17:53
  Speaker 2: placing your hands upon it, gradually, withdraw your fingers and
• 4:17:57
  Speaker 2: see whether the table remains suspended. When it is at
• 4:18:00
  Speaker 2: its highest point, and you feel that it is thoroughly
• 4:18:03
  Speaker 2: charged with your fluid, drop the whole force of your
• 4:18:06
  Speaker 2: beating into your will, and see if you cannot levitate
• 4:18:09
  Speaker 2: the table completely from the floor. Again, If wraps are
• 4:18:13
  Speaker 2: coming on the table upon which your hands rest, see
• 4:18:16
  Speaker 2: if these cannot be obtained when your hands are removed
• 4:18:18
  Speaker 2: a fraction of an inch from its surface, and if
• 4:18:21
  Speaker 2: they are. Endeavor to produce raps by making a motion
• 4:18:24
  Speaker 2: towards the table as though hitting it, stopping short a
• 4:18:28
  Speaker 2: quarter or half an inch above its surface. If you
• 4:18:31
  Speaker 2: are successful, a wrap or a sound in the tabletop
• 4:18:34
  Speaker 2: will come following this movement. Instruments for testing your power,
• 4:18:40
  Speaker 2: a number of simple devices have been constructed with the
• 4:18:42
  Speaker 2: object of testing mediumship in its early stages, and one
• 4:18:46
  Speaker 2: or two of these you can make at home, and
• 4:18:48
  Speaker 2: this would prove very helpful to you. Thus, you might
• 4:18:52
  Speaker 2: suspend a small pitch or cork ball by means of
• 4:18:54
  Speaker 2: a silk thread five or six inches long from a hook.
• 4:18:58
  Speaker 2: If now you place the fingers of one hand almost
• 4:19:00
  Speaker 2: touching this ball, and leave it there for some moments,
• 4:19:03
  Speaker 2: you may, if successful, succeed in causing this ball to
• 4:19:06
  Speaker 2: move either towards or away from your fingers as you will.
• 4:19:10
  Speaker 2: This is a very useful little experiment which may be
• 4:19:12
  Speaker 2: tried on many occasions, and will be found very beneficial
• 4:19:15
  Speaker 2: in developing simple physical phenomena. Another device which may be
• 4:19:20
  Speaker 2: employed is the following. Procure a straw such as use
• 4:19:24
  Speaker 2: that the soda fountains, and pass a needle through it
• 4:19:26
  Speaker 2: directly in the center. Press the lower end of the
• 4:19:29
  Speaker 2: needle into a large flat cork. See that the straw
• 4:19:33
  Speaker 2: revolves easily upon the slightest pressure. Place your fingers nearly
• 4:19:37
  Speaker 2: touching one end of the straw, and will that it
• 4:19:40
  Speaker 2: shall move either to the right or to the left.
• 4:19:43
  Speaker 2: This instrument has proved very successful in many cases, and
• 4:19:47
  Speaker 2: will probably prove more sensitive than the last. There are
• 4:19:51
  Speaker 2: more complicated scientific instruments which have been devised to test
• 4:19:54
  Speaker 2: the externalization of the human fluid and the power of
• 4:19:58
  Speaker 2: the will. These instruments have been used with great benefit
• 4:20:01
  Speaker 2: by many scientific students. How to begin. When the student
• 4:20:06
  Speaker 2: has progressed thus far, he is ready to try his
• 4:20:08
  Speaker 2: first experiment in the movement of physical objects lying on
• 4:20:11
  Speaker 2: his table. Begin with the very small light objects such
• 4:20:14
  Speaker 2: as a cork. Do not choose any metal object. Place
• 4:20:18
  Speaker 2: the fingertips of both hands on either side of the object,
• 4:20:21
  Speaker 2: nearly touching it. Wait until you feel distinct, tingling sensations
• 4:20:25
  Speaker 2: in the fingers, and if this sensation extends to the
• 4:20:27
  Speaker 2: elbows or even to the shoulders, so much the better.
• 4:20:31
  Speaker 2: Endeavor to construct by your will and imagination, so to speak,
• 4:20:35
  Speaker 2: a fine thread or hair composed of psychic rays passing
• 4:20:39
  Speaker 2: between your fingers and supporting the object in question. Concentrate
• 4:20:43
  Speaker 2: on this for some moments before you make any physical movement.
• 4:20:47
  Speaker 2: Then very slowly raise the fingers and see whether the
• 4:20:50
  Speaker 2: cork is influenced to follow the upper directions of your fingers.
• 4:20:54
  Speaker 2: If so, you've begun your course of physical mediumship. As
• 4:20:57
  Speaker 2: this initial experiment is very important, they be well to
• 4:21:00
  Speaker 2: dwell upon it at somewhat greater length, since nothing is
• 4:21:04
  Speaker 2: so discouraged into the beginner as innumerable tests and experiments
• 4:21:07
  Speaker 2: of this kind which fail one after the other. Of course,
• 4:21:10
  Speaker 2: perfectly non menimistic persons will continue to fail, but your
• 4:21:15
  Speaker 2: natural psychics will not. How to obtain the first phenomena,
• 4:21:20
  Speaker 2: we have seen in an earlier chapter that the ore
• 4:21:23
  Speaker 2: extends from the body, and particularly the fingertips, and that
• 4:21:26
  Speaker 2: the human fluid is capable of projection at will. Now
• 4:21:29
  Speaker 2: it is this fluid which is the basis or substance
• 4:21:32
  Speaker 2: out of which the psychic threads or rays are spun.
• 4:21:36
  Speaker 2: And these threads, when they have stretched from fingers to
• 4:21:38
  Speaker 2: finger and gain sufficient solidity, are capable of lifting quite
• 4:21:41
  Speaker 2: heavy objects. Doctor Ochorowitz, who has studied these rays for years,
• 4:21:46
  Speaker 2: calls them rigid rays, and asserts that his medium, Mademoiselle Tomjik, can,
• 4:21:52
  Speaker 2: by an effort of will, constructive psychic thread so strong
• 4:21:55
  Speaker 2: that it can be heard scraping against solid objects and
• 4:21:58
  Speaker 2: even seen occasionally. Yet it does not exist as a
• 4:22:01
  Speaker 2: physical reality, for the space between the fingers and the
• 4:22:04
  Speaker 2: object may be cut without severing the connection. Now, these
• 4:22:08
  Speaker 2: psychic threads are woven not of a physical but of
• 4:22:11
  Speaker 2: etheric or astral matter. And as we do not know
• 4:22:14
  Speaker 2: as yet how to mold or manipulate this accurately, we
• 4:22:18
  Speaker 2: have to do the best we can by the power
• 4:22:19
  Speaker 2: of the human will. The process to be followed therefore
• 4:22:23
  Speaker 2: is first vivid imaginary construction of these rays or threads,
• 4:22:27
  Speaker 2: second projection of the vital fluid, and third the weaving
• 4:22:32
  Speaker 2: of this together into the rigid rays by an effort
• 4:22:34
  Speaker 2: of will. If the student can follow this process and
• 4:22:37
  Speaker 2: persistently carry out the instructions, he will doubtless succeed in
• 4:22:41
  Speaker 2: time in moving small light objects. That is, if he
• 4:22:45
  Speaker 2: is at all gifted with this phase of medium ship.
• 4:22:48
  Speaker 2: How to construct the vital threads of rigid rays. The
• 4:22:52
  Speaker 2: details of this process may now be given. First of all,
• 4:22:55
  Speaker 2: place yourself in a relaxed, RESTful condition. Then think intently
• 4:23:00
  Speaker 2: of the threads or rays which you wish to produce.
• 4:23:03
  Speaker 2: Imagine these, just like any other threads, coming from your
• 4:23:06
  Speaker 2: fingertips and becoming more and more dense and solid as
• 4:23:09
  Speaker 2: they emerge. Think of the strips of fluid you saw
• 4:23:12
  Speaker 2: between your fingertips, and trying the experiments mentioned in chapter
• 4:23:15
  Speaker 2: twenty five devoted to the human fluid. When you have
• 4:23:19
  Speaker 2: formed these vital rays clearly in your mind, and have
• 4:23:22
  Speaker 2: them all ready to project, so to say, extend the fingers,
• 4:23:25
  Speaker 2: and by a strong effort of will, endeavor to project
• 4:23:28
  Speaker 2: this energy into the space beyond the fingertips. After a
• 4:23:32
  Speaker 2: very few trials, you will doubtless begin to do so.
• 4:23:36
  Speaker 2: This you will feel in the form of pins and
• 4:23:38
  Speaker 2: needles sensations in the fingertips. They will also get warm,
• 4:23:42
  Speaker 2: perhaps perspire. When this second stage has been reached, you
• 4:23:46
  Speaker 2: are ready to proceed with the third. The fluid thus
• 4:23:49
  Speaker 2: projected is not in the form of rigid razor threads,
• 4:23:52
  Speaker 2: but rather a vaporous mass, a soft cloud, if the
• 4:23:57
  Speaker 2: term be allowed, and you must toughen and strengthen this
• 4:24:00
  Speaker 2: by willpower. After the projection has taken place, think and
• 4:24:04
  Speaker 2: will intently that this shall happen, and this happening, and
• 4:24:08
  Speaker 2: at the same time, imagine your consciousness in your fingertips themselves,
• 4:24:12
  Speaker 2: molding and toughening these vital rays. If you do this,
• 4:24:16
  Speaker 2: you will surely succeed in time, provided you go at
• 4:24:19
  Speaker 2: the exercise in the right manner and stick to it
• 4:24:22
  Speaker 2: persistently transferring the power. When the student has progressed thus far,
• 4:24:28
  Speaker 2: the final step must be taken, namely, the transferring of
• 4:24:31
  Speaker 2: this power to the control of a spirit or outside intelligence.
• 4:24:35
  Speaker 2: This is a very delicate and subtle process which is
• 4:24:38
  Speaker 2: very little understood even by mediums. The best process is
• 4:24:42
  Speaker 2: gradually to develop the power of going into trans coincidentally
• 4:24:46
  Speaker 2: with the development of these physical phenomena. Once you have
• 4:24:49
  Speaker 2: gained the power of projecting your fluid at will and
• 4:24:52
  Speaker 2: moving material objects by its aid, which is probably attained
• 4:24:55
  Speaker 2: by an extreme effort of will, you should endeavor to
• 4:24:58
  Speaker 2: hand over this manipula power to another intelligence. You cannot
• 4:25:03
  Speaker 2: do this consciously, so you can only hope that the
• 4:25:06
  Speaker 2: transference will take place when you have passed into trance.
• 4:25:09
  Speaker 2: You should endeavor, therefore, to pass into trance while actually
• 4:25:12
  Speaker 2: conducting the above mentioned experiments. And the proof of the
• 4:25:15
  Speaker 2: fact that this transference does take place is found in
• 4:25:18
  Speaker 2: the fact that the most striking physical phenomena at a
• 4:25:21
  Speaker 2: seance always occurs when the medium is in deep trance.
• 4:25:25
  Speaker 2: The deeper the trance, the better the phenomena. In other words,
• 4:25:29
  Speaker 2: the more the medium's will is in abeyance, the more
• 4:25:32
  Speaker 2: opportunity is there given to the external will of the
• 4:25:34
  Speaker 2: spirit to become active and bring about the required results.
• 4:25:38
  Speaker 2: This fact is very strikingly proved by nearly all the
• 4:25:41
  Speaker 2: best physical mediums in the history of spiritualism, gathering vital
• 4:25:45
  Speaker 2: energy from the circle. If you are unable to move
• 4:25:49
  Speaker 2: material objects alone, you may perhaps be enabled to do
• 4:25:52
  Speaker 2: so after gathering strength from others. You may do this
• 4:25:55
  Speaker 2: either by forming a chain and gathering this energy by
• 4:25:58
  Speaker 2: an effort of will before you make your experiment, or
• 4:26:01
  Speaker 2: by placing your hands in position and asking the two
• 4:26:04
  Speaker 2: members of the chain nearest to you to place their
• 4:26:07
  Speaker 2: hands upon your temples, or one on your forehead and
• 4:26:10
  Speaker 2: the other over the solar plexus. In this way, a
• 4:26:14
  Speaker 2: vital magnetic current is established, which may greatly add to
• 4:26:17
  Speaker 2: your powers and enable you to move objects and produce
• 4:26:20
  Speaker 2: phenomena where you would otherwise fail. End of Chapter thirty eight,
• 4:26:25
  Speaker 2: Chapter thirty nine. Spirit and thought photography. Spirit photographs are
• 4:26:31
  Speaker 2: based on the belief that there is a spiritual body
• 4:26:33
  Speaker 2: resembling an appearance the physical body, which is sufficiently solid
• 4:26:37
  Speaker 2: to be photographed by means of the camera and sensitive plates.
• 4:26:41
  Speaker 2: Usually more than this is necessary, namely, the presence of
• 4:26:44
  Speaker 2: a medium or psychic possessing the peculiar power of rendering
• 4:26:48
  Speaker 2: the spiritual body apparent to the camera. The medium seems
• 4:26:51
  Speaker 2: to act as a sort of connecting link or intermediary
• 4:26:54
  Speaker 2: between the body and the photographic plate. Though the exact
• 4:26:58
  Speaker 2: nature of the mediumistic influence is as yet unknown, here
• 4:27:02
  Speaker 2: is a field for study by expert photographers and by
• 4:27:05
  Speaker 2: scientists to ascertain its limits and extent how spirit photography
• 4:27:10
  Speaker 2: is possible. To many, it may appear incredible that any
• 4:27:14
  Speaker 2: spiritual body is sufficiently material to be photographed by the camera,
• 4:27:18
  Speaker 2: for it would mean that this body is capable of
• 4:27:20
  Speaker 2: reflecting light waves, this being the primary necessity in obtaining
• 4:27:24
  Speaker 2: photographs at all. Yet, as Sir Oliver Lodge is pointed out,
• 4:27:28
  Speaker 2: there is hardly anything more incredible in this than in
• 4:27:31
  Speaker 2: taking the photograph of the reflection of an object in
• 4:27:34
  Speaker 2: the mirror, which is quite possible. In this case, there
• 4:27:37
  Speaker 2: is no solid object photographed, merely the reflected light waves,
• 4:27:41
  Speaker 2: which are themselves intangible and invisible. We know from experiment
• 4:27:46
  Speaker 2: that the photographic camera is far more sensitive than the
• 4:27:48
  Speaker 2: human eye. Physicians tell us that it is possible to
• 4:27:52
  Speaker 2: photograph an eruption on the body before it actually occurs,
• 4:27:55
  Speaker 2: that is, before it is visible to us, such as
• 4:27:58
  Speaker 2: smallpox On the other hand, it is also possible to
• 4:28:02
  Speaker 2: photograph thousands of stars in the heavens which are invisible
• 4:28:06
  Speaker 2: to the eye. Even with the most powerful telescope. A
• 4:28:09
  Speaker 2: photographic plate can therefore detect objects insensible to the eye,
• 4:28:14
  Speaker 2: and hence it is reasonable to suppose, insomuch as spiritual
• 4:28:17
  Speaker 2: bodies doubtless exist but are just beyond the range of
• 4:28:20
  Speaker 2: our vision, that the camera should be quite able to
• 4:28:23
  Speaker 2: detect them, and spirit photographs are the result two sources
• 4:28:27
  Speaker 2: of error and how to guard against them. In obtaining
• 4:28:31
  Speaker 2: spirit photographs, you must be on your guard against two
• 4:28:33
  Speaker 2: possible sources of error. The first is that you are
• 4:28:37
  Speaker 2: liable to see faces and likenesses in the photographs which
• 4:28:40
  Speaker 2: do not really exist at all. You construct them in
• 4:28:43
  Speaker 2: imagination as you would faces in a coal fire. The
• 4:28:46
  Speaker 2: second danger to be avoided if you are dealing with
• 4:28:49
  Speaker 2: a professional spirit photographer is that of fraud. There has
• 4:28:54
  Speaker 2: doubtless been much trickery in this department in the past,
• 4:28:56
  Speaker 2: and if you wish to be sure that you are
• 4:28:58
  Speaker 2: not victimized, you should take your own plates with you,
• 4:29:01
  Speaker 2: see them inserted in the camera, and watch their development
• 4:29:04
  Speaker 2: after the picture has been taken. Even in this case,
• 4:29:07
  Speaker 2: you are liable to be imposed upon unless you are
• 4:29:10
  Speaker 2: very careful how to begin your development. The most satisfactory
• 4:29:15
  Speaker 2: course to pursue is to experiment yourself and not depend
• 4:29:18
  Speaker 2: upon a professional spirit photographer for your results. If you
• 4:29:22
  Speaker 2: are at all sensitive and persevering, you will doubtless obtain
• 4:29:25
  Speaker 2: genuine spirit photographs at the end of a certain period
• 4:29:28
  Speaker 2: of time. Many hundreds of persons have done so, and
• 4:29:31
  Speaker 2: there is no reason why you should not. If you
• 4:29:33
  Speaker 2: are determined to obtain them. The best method is to
• 4:29:36
  Speaker 2: sit privately with a friend of yours who is both
• 4:29:39
  Speaker 2: sympathetic and more or less mediumistic, and hold a short
• 4:29:42
  Speaker 2: seance seated at the table before you begin your experiments
• 4:29:46
  Speaker 2: in photography. If you obtain messages by means of tippings
• 4:29:49
  Speaker 2: of the table, wraps, automatic writing, et cetera, so much
• 4:29:54
  Speaker 2: the better. And if intelligent communication is thus established, ask
• 4:29:58
  Speaker 2: your spirit friends to appear for you the plate when
• 4:30:00
  Speaker 2: the experiments are being held. They may promise to do
• 4:30:04
  Speaker 2: so but fail to appear. Do not be discouraged by this,
• 4:30:08
  Speaker 2: as they may be perfectly willing to help you, but
• 4:30:11
  Speaker 2: for some reason or another unable to make their forms
• 4:30:13
  Speaker 2: visible on the photographic plate. If you persist, however, you
• 4:30:17
  Speaker 2: will doubtless obtain interesting results in a short time. How
• 4:30:21
  Speaker 2: to take the photographs After this preliminary seance, you should
• 4:30:25
  Speaker 2: seat your subject in a chair against the dark background
• 4:30:28
  Speaker 2: and focus the camera as you would were you taking
• 4:30:30
  Speaker 2: this picture in the ordinary way. The photographic plate should,
• 4:30:34
  Speaker 2: if possible, be held by both of you between your
• 4:30:37
  Speaker 2: hands in the dark room before being inserted in the camera,
• 4:30:40
  Speaker 2: so as to get it impregnated with your magnetism. After
• 4:30:44
  Speaker 2: he has taken up his position and the camera is
• 4:30:46
  Speaker 2: properly focused, you should then ask your spirit friends to
• 4:30:49
  Speaker 2: come and appear on the plate if possible. Do not
• 4:30:53
  Speaker 2: exercise your will, however, nor think of any special object
• 4:30:56
  Speaker 2: in particular, nor any person, but make your mind next negative.
• 4:31:00
  Speaker 2: If positive, you are quite likely to obtain thought photographs. Instead,
• 4:31:05
  Speaker 2: ask your invisible helpers to give you some sign if possible,
• 4:31:09
  Speaker 2: such as three wraps when they are ready to appear, etc.
• 4:31:13
  Speaker 2: If you obtain these, take the picture at once. If not,
• 4:31:17
  Speaker 2: sit until you get into the requisite mental condition. Then
• 4:31:20
  Speaker 2: take the photograph and afterwards develop it carefully. It is
• 4:31:24
  Speaker 2: improbable that you will obtain any definite results. For the
• 4:31:27
  Speaker 2: first few experiments, but many do even from the start,
• 4:31:32
  Speaker 2: and this is doubtless one of the most promising of
• 4:31:34
  Speaker 2: all the fields of psychic investigation. For the student to
• 4:31:37
  Speaker 2: enter radiographs and how to obtain them, the next thing
• 4:31:42
  Speaker 2: to do is to endeavor to secure photographs of the
• 4:31:44
  Speaker 2: rays or aura of the human body. These impressions on
• 4:31:48
  Speaker 2: the photographic plate are secured comparatively rarely, for the reason
• 4:31:51
  Speaker 2: that the body of the subject must become radioactive to
• 4:31:55
  Speaker 2: some extent before an impression of this kind is possible.
• 4:31:59
  Speaker 2: Such pictures are consequently called radiographs, and a number of
• 4:32:03
  Speaker 2: these have been obtained by doctor Tchrovitch of Poland. The
• 4:32:06
  Speaker 2: raising question which impressed the photographic plates in such cases
• 4:32:11
  Speaker 2: seem to emanate from the etheric double and not from
• 4:32:13
  Speaker 2: the physical body, for the reason that they do not
• 4:32:16
  Speaker 2: follow the anatomical distribution of the nerves of the body.
• 4:32:20
  Speaker 2: The double detached after the manner described in Chapter twenty
• 4:32:24
  Speaker 2: six can often affect the plates in this way, and
• 4:32:27
  Speaker 2: spirits can do so, but it is not common for
• 4:32:30
  Speaker 2: the human body to be able thus to affect them.
• 4:32:33
  Speaker 2: How to obtain thought photographs The third and most interesting
• 4:32:38
  Speaker 2: phase in a sense for the experimenters that of thought photography.
• 4:32:42
  Speaker 2: The most sensitive plates that can be procured should be
• 4:32:45
  Speaker 2: used for this purpose, and the experiment conducted in the dark,
• 4:32:48
  Speaker 2: as indeed should the radiographic experiments. The plate may be
• 4:32:52
  Speaker 2: held between the palms of the hands, or placed against
• 4:32:55
  Speaker 2: the forehead or over the solar plexus next to the skin,
• 4:32:59
  Speaker 2: and must be left there for a considerable time half
• 4:33:02
  Speaker 2: an hour longer if possible. During this time, the subject
• 4:33:06
  Speaker 2: should think intensely of a certain figure or object, such
• 4:33:10
  Speaker 2: as a cat, a chair, a ship, as the case
• 4:33:14
  Speaker 2: may be. He should keep this before his mind vividly
• 4:33:17
  Speaker 2: and intensely, and never allow it to become blurred or indistinct,
• 4:33:22
  Speaker 2: holding it there by an effort of will. He should
• 4:33:25
  Speaker 2: next endeavor to impress this upon the photographic plate, and
• 4:33:28
  Speaker 2: should also try to feel inwardly the process going on
• 4:33:31
  Speaker 2: within him, the flow of the magnetic current to the
• 4:33:34
  Speaker 2: spot beneath the plate, et cetera. Another way to produce
• 4:33:39
  Speaker 2: thought photographs. Another way of obtaining thought photographs is to
• 4:33:43
  Speaker 2: place a plate wrapped in black paper or placed in
• 4:33:46
  Speaker 2: an opaque black envelope, on the table and over it
• 4:33:49
  Speaker 2: placed the fingertips for some time, usually from five to
• 4:33:53
  Speaker 2: ten minutes. Then think or will that a certain thought
• 4:33:57
  Speaker 2: or image will be impressed upon the plate, and if
• 4:34:00
  Speaker 2: you are at all developed along this line, the impress
• 4:34:03
  Speaker 2: will be left on the plate. Through the paper. Any
• 4:34:06
  Speaker 2: object can be selected, a round, ring of light, a triangle,
• 4:34:11
  Speaker 2: a face, et cetera. It is best to begin with
• 4:34:14
  Speaker 2: simple objects, because the mind seems to be able to
• 4:34:16
  Speaker 2: impress this upon the plate more readily and clearly than
• 4:34:20
  Speaker 2: a more complex object, of which it cannot form so
• 4:34:23
  Speaker 2: clear an outline. You must not be disappointed if you
• 4:34:27
  Speaker 2: do not succeed at first in this, and you may
• 4:34:29
  Speaker 2: have to develop and thus spoil a number of plates
• 4:34:33
  Speaker 2: before you get any impression at all upon them. The
• 4:34:36
  Speaker 2: first thing you will get probably will be a spot
• 4:34:38
  Speaker 2: of light or a series of small spots as the
• 4:34:42
  Speaker 2: fluid finds its way through the opaque paper onto the plate.
• 4:34:47
  Speaker 2: You must remember that the human fluid is the instrument
• 4:34:50
  Speaker 2: or intermediary through which photographs of this character are made,
• 4:34:54
  Speaker 2: and hence you must learn the art of the projection
• 4:34:56
  Speaker 2: of this fluid, as outlined in the chapter devoted to
• 4:34:59
  Speaker 2: physical phenomena, before you can hope successfully to impress a
• 4:35:03
  Speaker 2: photographic plate. Once you have done so, the rest will
• 4:35:07
  Speaker 2: be simply a matter of development, and you will find
• 4:35:10
  Speaker 2: it one of the most interesting and fascinating subjects for
• 4:35:13
  Speaker 2: the investigation in the whole realm of psychics. Photographs of
• 4:35:18
  Speaker 2: psychic forms and emotions. In many cases photographs of emotions
• 4:35:23
  Speaker 2: have been successfully taken, especially of late and Mitieur d'orguette
• 4:35:28
  Speaker 2: has narrated a number of experiments of this character to
• 4:35:31
  Speaker 2: the French Academy of Sciences, which has accepted his report
• 4:35:34
  Speaker 2: as authentic. It is thus evident that thought photography has
• 4:35:39
  Speaker 2: at length claimed a place in the scientific world, and
• 4:35:42
  Speaker 2: this being so, it is only a matter of careful
• 4:35:45
  Speaker 2: experimenting on the student's part before he obtains photographs of
• 4:35:48
  Speaker 2: his character. An interesting series of experiments might be tried
• 4:35:53
  Speaker 2: by the scientifically minded enquirer, namely to obtain photographs of
• 4:35:57
  Speaker 2: mediums in trance while they are automatic, writing, crystal gazing,
• 4:36:02
  Speaker 2: et cetera, and also of those who are on the
• 4:36:05
  Speaker 2: point of dying. Such experiments would doubtless reveal many changes
• 4:36:09
  Speaker 2: in the aura and also the presence of thought images
• 4:36:13
  Speaker 2: and possibly spirit forms, which would otherwise be quite unsuspected
• 4:36:17
  Speaker 2: by those present. End of Chapter thirty nine, Chapter forty materialization.
• 4:36:26
  Speaker 2: Materialization means the process of rendering solid or material for
• 4:36:30
  Speaker 2: a longer or shorter time, bodies through which disembodied spirits
• 4:36:34
  Speaker 2: may function and communicate. Materialization usually occurs at sciences in
• 4:36:39
  Speaker 2: which a group of people are gathered together, and rarely
• 4:36:42
  Speaker 2: or never when the medium is alone. The reason for
• 4:36:45
  Speaker 2: this is probably that the necessary conditions are lacking, these
• 4:36:49
  Speaker 2: being chiefly the lack of sufficient vital energy, which is
• 4:36:52
  Speaker 2: drawn from the circle by the medium and utilized for
• 4:36:55
  Speaker 2: the purposes of materialization. The marvels of materialization. Many factors
• 4:37:01
  Speaker 2: play a part in this mysterious phenomenon. Considered from the
• 4:37:05
  Speaker 2: physical or material point of view, there is the reality
• 4:37:07
  Speaker 2: of the phantom, and from the psychological or mental point
• 4:37:11
  Speaker 2: of view, there is the mind of the materialized entity
• 4:37:14
  Speaker 2: to account for. If we were always sure that the
• 4:37:17
  Speaker 2: materialized figure were really the person it claimed to be,
• 4:37:21
  Speaker 2: this latter difficulty would be overcome. But as we shall
• 4:37:24
  Speaker 2: see later, there are many objections to the simple view
• 4:37:27
  Speaker 2: of the case in all instances, and thus the problem
• 4:37:30
  Speaker 2: is rendered more complex. From the purely physical point of view,
• 4:37:35
  Speaker 2: the phenomena of materialization are the most baffling, and the
• 4:37:39
  Speaker 2: most mysterious in the whole realm of spiritualism. A few
• 4:37:42
  Speaker 2: minutes before, nothing existed in the cabinet save the entrance medium.
• 4:37:47
  Speaker 2: Now there is a solid, tangible form possessing all the
• 4:37:51
  Speaker 2: properties and appearances of matter, often having solid flesh and bones,
• 4:37:55
  Speaker 2: just as a human being would, the flesh being warm
• 4:37:58
  Speaker 2: and lifelike, and possessing nails, hair, etc. Like an ordinary hand,
• 4:38:04
  Speaker 2: and being apparently composed of cells and tissues such as
• 4:38:08
  Speaker 2: any material body would be composed of. How account for this?
• 4:38:12
  Speaker 2: It is surely one of the most bewildering and incredible
• 4:38:15
  Speaker 2: facts in nature. The necessary factors to ensure success from
• 4:38:21
  Speaker 2: the point of view of spiritualism and psychic development, many
• 4:38:24
  Speaker 2: factors play a part. There is, first of all, the
• 4:38:27
  Speaker 2: physical body of the medium. Secondly his vital magnetism. Thirdly
• 4:38:32
  Speaker 2: the magnetism of the sitters forming the circle. Fourthly magnetism
• 4:38:37
  Speaker 2: from disembodied spirits which mingle together and help to create
• 4:38:41
  Speaker 2: the phantoms that appear at seances. The vital energy, which
• 4:38:45
  Speaker 2: seemed to be drawn from the circle and chiefly from
• 4:38:47
  Speaker 2: the medium during the sciences, is utilized or manipulated by
• 4:38:51
  Speaker 2: the disembodied spirits who build up by its aid the
• 4:38:55
  Speaker 2: materialized form we see before us. This is a very
• 4:38:58
  Speaker 2: difficult and complicated process, and not all spirits are competent
• 4:39:02
  Speaker 2: to do this. For this purpose, what are known as
• 4:39:06
  Speaker 2: spirit chemists are often employed those who possess the knowledge
• 4:39:10
  Speaker 2: of how to build up these forms. In the deepest
• 4:39:13
  Speaker 2: stages of trance, when the medium is unconscious, the communication
• 4:39:17
  Speaker 2: through materialized figures becomes clearer and clearer than the forms
• 4:39:21
  Speaker 2: more dense and material This is true of many psychic phenomena.
• 4:39:25
  Speaker 2: The deeper the trance, the better the results obtained etherealization
• 4:39:31
  Speaker 2: and transfiguration. In the lighter stages of trance, however, only
• 4:39:36
  Speaker 2: portions of the figure may develop, such as hands, faces,
• 4:39:39
  Speaker 2: et cetera, or very shadowy and vaguely defined outlines of
• 4:39:43
  Speaker 2: human forms. These latter are not strictly speaking materialized, but
• 4:39:49
  Speaker 2: are known as etherialized forms. They are less solid than
• 4:39:53
  Speaker 2: the materialized figures, and is often possible to pass the
• 4:39:56
  Speaker 2: hand and arm through one of these figures without disturbing it.
• 4:40:00
  Speaker 2: In the case of the materialized figure, on the other hand,
• 4:40:03
  Speaker 2: they are just as solid and tangible as human form,
• 4:40:06
  Speaker 2: and it would be impossible to make any other solid
• 4:40:08
  Speaker 2: object pass through any part of them. In many cases,
• 4:40:12
  Speaker 2: the physical body of the medium is more or less
• 4:40:14
  Speaker 2: altered by the spirits, without any other phantom being created.
• 4:40:18
  Speaker 2: Such cases are known as transfiguration. When the figure created
• 4:40:22
  Speaker 2: at the seance is not dense and fully formed, and
• 4:40:25
  Speaker 2: does not possess either a complete or matured intelligence, it
• 4:40:29
  Speaker 2: is not all there, so to speak, mentally or physically,
• 4:40:34
  Speaker 2: how some forms are created. There is evidence to show
• 4:40:37
  Speaker 2: that many of these forms are created by the will
• 4:40:39
  Speaker 2: of the medium or by discarnate spirits, and that they
• 4:40:43
  Speaker 2: are more truly thought forms than materialized spirits. Again, many
• 4:40:48
  Speaker 2: of these figures are doubles or astral bodies belonging to
• 4:40:52
  Speaker 2: living people who happen to appear at the seance, or
• 4:40:56
  Speaker 2: projections from discarnate spirits. In such case, the intelligence manipulating
• 4:41:01
  Speaker 2: the phantom is not that of a mature spirit, but
• 4:41:04
  Speaker 2: is a creation, so to speak, elaborated by the subconscious
• 4:41:08
  Speaker 2: thoughts of the medium or by the mentality of the
• 4:41:12
  Speaker 2: sitters forming the circle. The psychic atmosphere created by the
• 4:41:17
  Speaker 2: minds in the circle has, in other words, produced the
• 4:41:20
  Speaker 2: mind of the phantom in the same way that the
• 4:41:22
  Speaker 2: combined vital magnetism of the sitters has produced the material
• 4:41:26
  Speaker 2: body of the apparition. How materialization is accomplished. The process
• 4:41:32
  Speaker 2: of materialization seems to be somewhat as follows, the vital
• 4:41:36
  Speaker 2: energy being drawn from the sitters into the body of
• 4:41:39
  Speaker 2: the medium. The latter projects it outward into space together
• 4:41:44
  Speaker 2: with a large portion of his own vital energy, or
• 4:41:47
  Speaker 2: it is drawn out by the operating intelligences. When in
• 4:41:51
  Speaker 2: space at a short distance from the medium's body, this
• 4:41:55
  Speaker 2: vital energy is molded, so to say, into the shape
• 4:41:58
  Speaker 2: of the materialized form. It is built up or created
• 4:42:02
  Speaker 2: by the operating intelligences. Between this form and the medium's
• 4:42:06
  Speaker 2: physical body, there exists a subtle connection or rapport, which
• 4:42:11
  Speaker 2: had been described as a thread or bond of union,
• 4:42:14
  Speaker 2: though it is not a physical connection of any kind
• 4:42:17
  Speaker 2: or one that has ever been detected. Yet that such
• 4:42:20
  Speaker 2: a connection exists is proved by the phenomena of repercussion
• 4:42:24
  Speaker 2: referred to in chapter thirty six, where it has shown
• 4:42:28
  Speaker 2: that any injury done to the projected form reacted upon
• 4:42:31
  Speaker 2: the body of the medium and left his mark upon it,
• 4:42:35
  Speaker 2: just as though the physical form had suffered the injury.
• 4:42:38
  Speaker 2: This is one of the most striking phenomena in the
• 4:42:40
  Speaker 2: whole realm of spiritualism, and a case of this character
• 4:42:44
  Speaker 2: is thus vividly described by the Venerable Archdeacon Collie in
• 4:42:47
  Speaker 2: his address on Spiritualism before the Church Congress, which met
• 4:42:51
  Speaker 2: in October nineteen o five, and subsequently published by him
• 4:42:54
  Speaker 2: in pamphlet form. He then said, he the material of phan,
• 4:43:00
  Speaker 2: seemed to be interested in everything around him, walked up
• 4:43:04
  Speaker 2: and down the room, taking up various articles to examine them,
• 4:43:08
  Speaker 2: as would be natural to one of ancient race, now
• 4:43:10
  Speaker 2: in the midst of modern environment. Presently he spied and
• 4:43:14
  Speaker 2: brought from the sideboard a dish of baked apples, and
• 4:43:19
  Speaker 2: I got him to eat some. Our Meetum was at
• 4:43:21
  Speaker 2: this time six or seven feet away from the spirit form,
• 4:43:25
  Speaker 2: and had not chosen to take any of the fruit,
• 4:43:27
  Speaker 2: Asserting that he could taste the apple the Egyptian was eating.
• 4:43:31
  Speaker 2: Wondering how this could be, I with my right hand
• 4:43:34
  Speaker 2: gave our abnormal friend another apple to eat, holding a
• 4:43:38
  Speaker 2: bit of white paper in my left hand outstretched toward
• 4:43:40
  Speaker 2: the medium, when from his lips fell the a chewed
• 4:43:44
  Speaker 2: skin and core of the apple eaten by the Mahdi.
• 4:43:47
  Speaker 2: Here it is before me now after all these years,
• 4:43:50
  Speaker 2: and this screwed up bit of paper for any scientist
• 4:43:53
  Speaker 2: to analyze. In this instance, the phenomena of repercussion was
• 4:43:57
  Speaker 2: very interestingly demonstrated. The method that of the materialization of
• 4:44:01
  Speaker 2: the figure was thus described by Archdeaconcoli in his lecture
• 4:44:05
  Speaker 2: how the Figures are formed. When in expectation of a materialization,
• 4:44:11
  Speaker 2: there was seen steaming as from a kettle spout, through
• 4:44:14
  Speaker 2: the texture and substance of the medium's black coat. A
• 4:44:17
  Speaker 2: little below the left breast, towards the side, a vaporous
• 4:44:21
  Speaker 2: filament which was almost invisible until within an inch or
• 4:44:24
  Speaker 2: two of our friend's body. Then it grew in density
• 4:44:28
  Speaker 2: to a cloudy something. There would then step forth timidly
• 4:44:31
  Speaker 2: a figure, as did this little maiden. She was naturally
• 4:44:36
  Speaker 2: a companion for others of our frequent psychic visitors. For
• 4:44:40
  Speaker 2: as a cloud received one out of their sight when
• 4:44:43
  Speaker 2: the disciples that Bethany gaged on their ascending Lord, so
• 4:44:46
  Speaker 2: as from a cloud thus inexplicably evolved from the medium,
• 4:44:50
  Speaker 2: came our materialized friends, and vanished again to invisibility in
• 4:44:54
  Speaker 2: a cloud, sucked back within his own body. When they
• 4:44:58
  Speaker 2: were withdrawn from us, wistfully gazing on the mysterious departure,
• 4:45:01
  Speaker 2: and noting this or that particular phase of it within
• 4:45:04
  Speaker 2: a few inches of the point of their inscrutable disappearance
• 4:45:08
  Speaker 2: and the vanishment. The clothes of materialized figures, the question
• 4:45:13
  Speaker 2: is often asked, how is it possible for spirits to
• 4:45:16
  Speaker 2: become clothed? The old question of the clothes of ghosts
• 4:45:19
  Speaker 2: being often raised among materialistic skeptics of the last century.
• 4:45:24
  Speaker 2: The same question might be raised against the clothes of
• 4:45:26
  Speaker 2: materialized figures. But there is a ready answer to this
• 4:45:30
  Speaker 2: which fully explains it. Those who deny and ridicule the
• 4:45:33
  Speaker 2: possibility of materialization of raman as well as bodies, might
• 4:45:38
  Speaker 2: ask themselves the question whence came the clothing which Christ
• 4:45:41
  Speaker 2: wore after his resurrection? For we are distinctly told that
• 4:45:45
  Speaker 2: the Master's raiment had been parted among the Roman soldiery,
• 4:45:49
  Speaker 2: and upon his cloak had they cast lots. This historical
• 4:45:54
  Speaker 2: incident furnishes us with an illustration of the case and point,
• 4:45:58
  Speaker 2: and the reality of this fact is amply bold worn
• 4:46:00
  Speaker 2: out by many modern instances of a like character. How
• 4:46:04
  Speaker 2: to begin your development and sitting from materialization, the medium
• 4:46:09
  Speaker 2: should sit inside the cabinet which should not be too large,
• 4:46:12
  Speaker 2: so as to concentrate and focus the energy obtained from
• 4:46:15
  Speaker 2: the circle. The medium should sit on a cane bottom
• 4:46:18
  Speaker 2: chair sufficiently comfortable to afford perfect relaxation. When the trans supervenes,
• 4:46:24
  Speaker 2: how to begin your development and sitting from materialization, the
• 4:46:29
  Speaker 2: medium should sit inside the cabinet, which should not be
• 4:46:32
  Speaker 2: too large, so as to concentrate and focus the energy
• 4:46:35
  Speaker 2: obtained from the circle. The medium should sit on a
• 4:46:38
  Speaker 2: cane bottom chair sufficiently comfortable to afford perfect relaxation when
• 4:46:43
  Speaker 2: the trans supervenes. At first, the medium should hold the
• 4:46:46
  Speaker 2: hands of those in the circle, but after a time
• 4:46:49
  Speaker 2: these may be released. The light should be almost totally extinguished.
• 4:46:53
  Speaker 2: For reasons given before in this book. It must be
• 4:46:56
  Speaker 2: remembered that there are all kinds of light, visible and invisible.
• 4:47:00
  Speaker 2: We also have infrared rays and ultraviolet rays, the former
• 4:47:04
  Speaker 2: being below the lowest form of visible vibration, and the
• 4:47:07
  Speaker 2: latter above the highest. It is because red is so
• 4:47:11
  Speaker 2: low on the scale of vibration that mediums employ it
• 4:47:14
  Speaker 2: during the seance. Photographs may be taken by infrared and
• 4:47:18
  Speaker 2: ultraviolet light. Light has a very disintegrating effect on these
• 4:47:22
  Speaker 2: subtle forms and would doubtless serve to disintegrate many of
• 4:47:25
  Speaker 2: the materialized forms upon their initial appearance. The medium should
• 4:47:30
  Speaker 2: make his mind as blank as possible, holding only the
• 4:47:33
  Speaker 2: central idea of self, and mentally call upon his spirit
• 4:47:37
  Speaker 2: friends to help in the production of phenomena. Early signs
• 4:47:41
  Speaker 2: and phenomena. Among the initial sensations which the medium will
• 4:47:45
  Speaker 2: experience are probably flashes of heat and cold blackness before
• 4:47:50
  Speaker 2: the eyes, and which possibly there may be specks of
• 4:47:53
  Speaker 2: light dancing hither and thither, And the Cobweby sensation over
• 4:47:56
  Speaker 2: the hands and face, which is almost invariable and very noticeable.
• 4:48:01
  Speaker 2: Madame di Esperance, a materializing medium of international fame, has
• 4:48:06
  Speaker 2: stated that in her experience this Cobweby sensation was present
• 4:48:10
  Speaker 2: on practically every occasion. Speaking of the phenomenon and symptoms
• 4:48:14
  Speaker 2: of the process, she says, if a few persons have
• 4:48:17
  Speaker 2: gathered together in a half darkened room, the emanations from
• 4:48:21
  Speaker 2: their bodies can be seen by many, not necessarily clairvoyance.
• 4:48:25
  Speaker 2: It appears as a slightly luminous haze about the head, shoulders,
• 4:48:29
  Speaker 2: and sometimes the knees and feet. Frequently it gathers slowly
• 4:48:33
  Speaker 2: at the fingers, increasing in density until it resembles a slight,
• 4:48:36
  Speaker 2: transparent film of slightly luminous cotton wool. This is often
• 4:48:41
  Speaker 2: perceptible to the eyes of all, but it offers no
• 4:48:44
  Speaker 2: resistance to the touch. By some force of attraction, either
• 4:48:48
  Speaker 2: inherent or exerted upon it by some outside agency, this
• 4:48:51
  Speaker 2: mass appears to mingle and draw together to become more dense,
• 4:48:55
  Speaker 2: and at this stage has been found to be decidedly
• 4:48:57
  Speaker 2: perceptible to the touch. It resembles, as nearly as can
• 4:49:01
  Speaker 2: be described, the gossamer web seen on trees and bushes
• 4:49:04
  Speaker 2: on an early summer morning. The sensation of cobwebs and
• 4:49:08
  Speaker 2: what it means. Many persons in a materialization seance are
• 4:49:12
  Speaker 2: sensible of a feeling as of cobwebs being on their
• 4:49:15
  Speaker 2: faces and hands. I have myself not only felt the sensation,
• 4:49:20
  Speaker 2: but when brushing my face or hands, have distinctly felt
• 4:49:23
  Speaker 2: what seemed to be fine filaments of the gossamer which
• 4:49:25
  Speaker 2: clung to my fingers. The attention of the sitters has
• 4:49:29
  Speaker 2: been frequently drawn to this almost impalpable substance, which has
• 4:49:32
  Speaker 2: vanished as soon as the light has been brought near it.
• 4:49:35
  Speaker 2: This emanation from the sitters in the seance is generally,
• 4:49:38
  Speaker 2: if not always, accompanied by a sensation of chill or draft,
• 4:49:43
  Speaker 2: similar to that felt by a person in a slightly
• 4:49:45
  Speaker 2: feverish condition. The head will be hot, there will be
• 4:49:49
  Speaker 2: a heavy throbbing in the temples, the hands, feet, and
• 4:49:54
  Speaker 2: other parts of the body will be cold to the touch.
• 4:49:57
  Speaker 2: The medium, by the exercise of his will, can any
• 4:50:00
  Speaker 2: time prevent manifestations, and fact the opposition of any person
• 4:50:04
  Speaker 2: in a circle will act as a hindrance to the
• 4:50:06
  Speaker 2: work of the unseen operators. Why some forms resemble the
• 4:50:10
  Speaker 2: medium as a rule, when full materializations are accomplished, the
• 4:50:15
  Speaker 2: medium is entrance so deeply that he cannot remember the
• 4:50:18
  Speaker 2: process of the production of the forms. In the earlier
• 4:50:21
  Speaker 2: stages of trans the mind should be concentrated on the
• 4:50:24
  Speaker 2: creation of forms of this character. But after it has
• 4:50:28
  Speaker 2: reached a certain stage, he may safely turn over the
• 4:50:30
  Speaker 2: process to your spirit friends. In some instances, the medium's
• 4:50:34
  Speaker 2: double becomes detached from the body and appears to those
• 4:50:37
  Speaker 2: forming a circle as a materialized figure, though it is
• 4:50:40
  Speaker 2: not such in reality. If such a figure be photographed
• 4:50:44
  Speaker 2: were closely examined, the striking resemblance to the medium is
• 4:50:47
  Speaker 2: easily seen, though it is not the medium who may
• 4:50:50
  Speaker 2: be seen in trance within the cabinet. Lack of knowledge
• 4:50:54
  Speaker 2: of this fact has given rise to the false belief
• 4:50:56
  Speaker 2: that in cases of this character, the medium himself was
• 4:50:59
  Speaker 2: conscious personating the spirit. But the true explanation is that
• 4:51:03
  Speaker 2: the double has been liberated during the sales and has
• 4:51:06
  Speaker 2: thus appeared to the sitters as an independent being. The
• 4:51:10
  Speaker 2: phenomena of materialization, as before said, are amongst the most
• 4:51:13
  Speaker 2: interesting in the whole realm of the supernormal, and will
• 4:51:16
  Speaker 2: well repay careful study and the prolonged experimentation on the
• 4:51:20
  Speaker 2: part of the student. End of Chapter forty.
• 4:51:24
  Speaker 5: Chapter forty one Advance Studies. The subject matter and advice
• 4:51:31
  Speaker 5: contained in the present chapter is advanced only for those
• 4:51:34
  Speaker 5: who have carefully read through and practiced the preceding chapters
• 4:51:38
  Speaker 5: of this book. Those who have not done so are
• 4:51:41
  Speaker 5: strongly advised not to undertake some of the experiments herein
• 4:51:45
  Speaker 5: described unless they have carefully carried out the instructions contained
• 4:51:49
  Speaker 5: in the earlier chapters, and particularly the warnings herein given.
• 4:51:55
  Speaker 5: These advanced studies are suitable only for those students who
• 4:51:58
  Speaker 5: have succeeded in attaining a certain mastery of the inner
• 4:52:02
  Speaker 5: self and who have developed a certain amount of psychic
• 4:52:05
  Speaker 5: force or power which is under their own control. In
• 4:52:09
  Speaker 5: a certain sense, they may be considered more or less dangerous,
• 4:52:13
  Speaker 5: but they are not so to one who has progressed
• 4:52:15
  Speaker 5: sufficiently to be in a position to follow them. Progress
• 4:52:19
  Speaker 5: is necessary in psychic development, as in every other field
• 4:52:23
  Speaker 5: of endeavor, and those who have gone thus far should
• 4:52:26
  Speaker 5: try to advance their powers and faculties yet another step
• 4:52:30
  Speaker 5: forward into that vast and mystic beyond which encircles us
• 4:52:34
  Speaker 5: on every side, not only in the life to come,
• 4:52:37
  Speaker 5: but here and now. Cultivating the sixth sense. The first
• 4:52:43
  Speaker 5: thing for the student to do is to cultivate, as
• 4:52:46
  Speaker 5: far as possible his sixth sense, already mentioned briefly in
• 4:52:51
  Speaker 5: Chapter nineteen devoted to the cultivation of sensitiveness. This sixth
• 4:52:56
  Speaker 5: sense is a general feeling of awareness of surrounding powers
• 4:53:00
  Speaker 5: and entities, a knowledge which is not dependent on any
• 4:53:03
  Speaker 5: of the five senses. Some of the preliminary exercises for
• 4:53:08
  Speaker 5: cultivating this sense have already been given, and we shall
• 4:53:11
  Speaker 5: now proceed to give a few more. Leading the student
• 4:53:15
  Speaker 5: yet further along the path to self realization and power.
• 4:53:20
  Speaker 5: He should, first of all begin with deep breathing exercises
• 4:53:23
  Speaker 5: accompanied by certain psychical processes and practices. The process of
• 4:53:29
  Speaker 5: taking the complete breath has already been described in chapter six,
• 4:53:34
  Speaker 5: and while a student is in the relaxed condition previously mentioned,
• 4:53:38
  Speaker 5: he should concentrate his mind and carry out the following
• 4:53:41
  Speaker 5: psychic formula psychic breathing exercises. Breathe rhythmically until the rhythm
• 4:53:50
  Speaker 5: is perfectly established, then inhaling and exhaling form the mental
• 4:53:55
  Speaker 5: image of the breath being drawn up through the bones
• 4:53:58
  Speaker 5: of the legs and then forced out through them, then
• 4:54:02
  Speaker 5: through the bones of the arms, then the top of
• 4:54:04
  Speaker 5: the skull, then through the stomach, then through the reproductive region,
• 4:54:10
  Speaker 5: then as if it were traveling upward and downward along
• 4:54:13
  Speaker 5: the spinal column, and then as if the breath were
• 4:54:16
  Speaker 5: being inhaled and exhaled through every pore of the skin,
• 4:54:20
  Speaker 5: the whole body being filled with prana vital energy or life,
• 4:54:25
  Speaker 5: and breathing rhythmically send the current or prana to the
• 4:54:29
  Speaker 5: seven vital centers in turn as follows, using the same
• 4:54:34
  Speaker 5: mental pictures in the previous exercises, first to the very
• 4:54:39
  Speaker 5: end of the spinal cord, second to the reproductive region,
• 4:54:43
  Speaker 5: next to the center of the abdomen, next to the
• 4:54:46
  Speaker 5: solar plexus, then to the heart, then to the throat,
• 4:54:51
  Speaker 5: then to a spot between the eyes low down on
• 4:54:54
  Speaker 5: the forehead, finally to a spot at the very top
• 4:54:58
  Speaker 5: of the brain. Finish by sweeping the current of prana
• 4:55:02
  Speaker 5: to and fro from head to foot several times, how
• 4:55:07
  Speaker 5: to awaken the chakras or seven vital centers. These seven
• 4:55:12
  Speaker 5: vital centers in the body are known as chakras, and
• 4:55:15
  Speaker 5: have very great interest and importance in all higher psychic
• 4:55:19
  Speaker 5: development and in all occult practice. It is upon the
• 4:55:23
  Speaker 5: awakening of these seven centers, in fact, that all the
• 4:55:26
  Speaker 5: higher clairvoyance and psychical faculties depend. They are supposed to
• 4:55:32
  Speaker 5: be the links of connection between the physical and the
• 4:55:35
  Speaker 5: astral bodies, and if they are not awakened in precisely
• 4:55:38
  Speaker 5: the right order and in the right manner, grave difficulties
• 4:55:42
  Speaker 5: may result. While on the other hand, if they are
• 4:55:45
  Speaker 5: awakened correctly, the student who has done so is instantly
• 4:55:50
  Speaker 5: gifted with extraordinary clairvoyant and higher psychical faculties, enabling him
• 4:55:56
  Speaker 5: not only to see the past and the future, but
• 4:55:58
  Speaker 5: also all those spiritual beings who are constantly around him.
• 4:56:03
  Speaker 5: The thoughts and emotions of others, pictures of their past lives,
• 4:56:07
  Speaker 5: et cetera. In other words, much depends upon the awakening
• 4:56:11
  Speaker 5: of these centers. In Eastern philosophy, they are symbolized as
• 4:56:16
  Speaker 5: lotus flowers, and the highest and last in the brain
• 4:56:19
  Speaker 5: is called the thousand and one petalled lotus. Importance of
• 4:56:26
  Speaker 5: awakening in the right order, The vital energy which passes
• 4:56:31
  Speaker 5: upward through these centers is symbolized as a fiery serpent, which,
• 4:56:35
  Speaker 5: in passing upward, animates each in turn and wakes them
• 4:56:38
  Speaker 5: into activity. And it is highly important that this current
• 4:56:42
  Speaker 5: of energy should pass through each center in the right order.
• 4:56:46
  Speaker 5: Is before said, the sensation of warmth and a faint prickling,
• 4:56:50
  Speaker 5: as of pins and needles, is felt at the moment
• 4:56:53
  Speaker 5: of awakening each of these centers. In Sanskrit, the word cundellini,
• 4:56:58
  Speaker 5: literally meaning the boiled up is employed. This serpent, when
• 4:57:03
  Speaker 5: fully aroused and activated, leads not only to the awakening
• 4:57:07
  Speaker 5: of the higher psychical faculties before mentioned, but also to
• 4:57:11
  Speaker 5: others of a still more startling character. Swami Vivicananda, in
• 4:57:17
  Speaker 5: his Lectures on Raja Yoga, page ninety one, gives the
• 4:57:21
  Speaker 5: following psychical exercises which should be practiced in connection with
• 4:57:25
  Speaker 5: this psychical unfoldment and development, the sacred word, Om and meditation.
• 4:57:34
  Speaker 5: Sit straight and look at the tip of your nose.
• 4:57:37
  Speaker 5: By controlling the two optic nerves, one advances a long
• 4:57:40
  Speaker 5: way towards the control of the ark of reaction, and
• 4:57:44
  Speaker 5: so to the control of the will. Imagine a lotus
• 4:57:48
  Speaker 5: upon the top of the head, several inches up, and
• 4:57:52
  Speaker 5: virtue as its center, the stock as knowledge. The eight
• 4:57:56
  Speaker 5: pedals of the lotus are the eight powers of the Yogi.
• 4:58:00
  Speaker 5: Inside the stamens and pistols are renunciation. Inside of the lotus,
• 4:58:05
  Speaker 5: think of the Golden One, the Almighty, the intangible, he
• 4:58:10
  Speaker 5: whose name is Om, the inexpressible, surrounded with effulgent light.
• 4:58:16
  Speaker 5: Meditate on that. Think of a space in your heart,
• 4:58:20
  Speaker 5: and in the midst of that space, think that a
• 4:58:22
  Speaker 5: flame is burning. Think of that flame in your own soul,
• 4:58:27
  Speaker 5: and inside that flame in another space effulgent and that
• 4:58:32
  Speaker 5: is the soul of your soul God. Meditate on that
• 4:58:37
  Speaker 5: in the heart, he who has given up all attachment,
• 4:58:41
  Speaker 5: all fear, and all anger, He who has taken refuge
• 4:58:46
  Speaker 5: in the Lord, whose heart has become purified, with whatsoever
• 4:58:50
  Speaker 5: desire he comes to the Lord, he will grant that
• 4:58:53
  Speaker 5: to him. Internal or spiritual respiration. Another valuable practice in
• 4:59:01
  Speaker 5: connection with breathing is that which is known as internal
• 4:59:05
  Speaker 5: or spiritual respiration. The idea is based upon the belief
• 4:59:09
  Speaker 5: that in addition to our physical lungs, there are also
• 4:59:12
  Speaker 5: spiritual lungs, and that just as the physical lungs receive
• 4:59:16
  Speaker 5: energy and are purified by the air we breathe, so
• 4:59:19
  Speaker 5: also are the spiritual lungs energized and filled by the
• 4:59:23
  Speaker 5: power of spirit when accompanied by suitable psychical and mental processes.
• 4:59:29
  Speaker 5: The power of the word om so often repeated in
• 4:59:32
  Speaker 5: Eastern philosophy, may be perceived faintly by anyone pronouncing the
• 4:59:37
  Speaker 5: word slowly several times in succession, when it will be
• 4:59:41
  Speaker 5: seen that it has a peculiar psychical effect upon the individual,
• 4:59:46
  Speaker 5: and that it sets up remarkable rhythmic vibrations throughout the
• 4:59:50
  Speaker 5: whole being, which become more and more noticeable as the
• 4:59:53
  Speaker 5: word is repeated. This is the most holy word of
• 4:59:58
  Speaker 5: the Vedas or sacred books of God the East, and
• 5:00:01
  Speaker 5: its symbolic meaning is the Supreme Being, the ocean of
• 5:00:05
  Speaker 5: knowledge or bliss, absolute seeing, with any part of the body.
• 5:00:13
  Speaker 5: One other valuable exercise which should be practiced is that
• 5:00:16
  Speaker 5: of seeing, or endeavoring to see with any part of
• 5:00:20
  Speaker 5: the body, as though eyes were situated at any point
• 5:00:23
  Speaker 5: upon which you concentrate your forces, and that you were
• 5:00:26
  Speaker 5: actually looking outward from that point. This power has been
• 5:00:31
  Speaker 5: cultivated to an extraordinary extent by some of the Eastern adepts,
• 5:00:35
  Speaker 5: and is recorded as happening spontaneously now and then even
• 5:00:39
  Speaker 5: now in the East. The power is cultivated by an
• 5:00:43
  Speaker 5: effort of attention coupled by will, and should be preceded
• 5:00:48
  Speaker 5: by the practice of traveling around the body in thought
• 5:00:51
  Speaker 5: mentioned before in this book, and then holding yourself consciously
• 5:00:56
  Speaker 5: on one particular point in your circuit of the body,
• 5:00:59
  Speaker 5: and concentrating yourself on that point. At this stage of
• 5:01:05
  Speaker 5: your development, you may begin to practice an exercise which
• 5:01:08
  Speaker 5: would be of great benefit not only to yourself, but
• 5:01:11
  Speaker 5: to others also. After you have fallen asleep and the
• 5:01:15
  Speaker 5: astrobody is thereby loosened from the physical body, you should
• 5:01:19
  Speaker 5: learn to make use of this astrobody during the hours
• 5:01:22
  Speaker 5: of sleep and send it on journeys to help those
• 5:01:25
  Speaker 5: who may be in need of this help. You may
• 5:01:28
  Speaker 5: after a certain amount of effort, thus project the astro
• 5:01:31
  Speaker 5: body and cause it to retain full self consciousness. When
• 5:01:36
  Speaker 5: this has been acquired, this projected body can assist those
• 5:01:40
  Speaker 5: who have recently died, comforting and consoling them, and can
• 5:01:44
  Speaker 5: carry messages from such a person to those still living.
• 5:01:48
  Speaker 5: It can assist those in danger and help along humanity
• 5:01:51
  Speaker 5: in a thousand different ways. When you have learned to
• 5:01:55
  Speaker 5: project your astrobody in this manner during sleep, you are
• 5:01:58
  Speaker 5: known as one of the in visible helpers, and many
• 5:02:01
  Speaker 5: persons are said to make it a business to perform
• 5:02:04
  Speaker 5: at least one good action every night during sleep. The
• 5:02:09
  Speaker 5: development of cosmic consciousness. Two remarkable psychical manifestations will result
• 5:02:16
  Speaker 5: from these spiritual practices if correctly and carefully performed. The
• 5:02:21
  Speaker 5: first is the enlargement of the self until it attains
• 5:02:24
  Speaker 5: a vast area, so to speak, which has been called
• 5:02:27
  Speaker 5: cosmic consciousness by those who have experienced it. This consciousness
• 5:02:33
  Speaker 5: is a step higher than human consciousness, just as the
• 5:02:37
  Speaker 5: human is a step higher than the animal, and enables
• 5:02:40
  Speaker 5: us to perceive truth in spiritual reality behind the universe,
• 5:02:44
  Speaker 5: in addition to stimulating remarkable psychic powers such realities is
• 5:02:50
  Speaker 5: the fourth dimension, which are usually quite incapable of being
• 5:02:53
  Speaker 5: appreciated by our finite senses, are said to be clear
• 5:02:57
  Speaker 5: and intelligible to those who possess cosmic ils consciousness, and
• 5:03:01
  Speaker 5: the connection between spirit and matter is also clear to them.
• 5:03:07
  Speaker 5: Power over animate and inanimate matter. The second remarkable development
• 5:03:13
  Speaker 5: from the awakening of these higher spiritual faculties will be
• 5:03:16
  Speaker 5: the greater power you possess over animate and inanimate nature.
• 5:03:21
  Speaker 5: You will find that you exert a peculiar influence over
• 5:03:24
  Speaker 5: all animals with whom you come into contact, and that
• 5:03:27
  Speaker 5: they not only know and understand you, but if the
• 5:03:30
  Speaker 5: animals are wild, they will not harm you in any way.
• 5:03:34
  Speaker 5: It is stated that many of the Jogis of India
• 5:03:37
  Speaker 5: can walk uninjured through dense jungles filled with tigers and
• 5:03:41
  Speaker 5: venomous snakes. These facts throw a new and interesting light
• 5:03:45
  Speaker 5: upon the account of Daniel in the Den of Lions. Doubtless,
• 5:03:50
  Speaker 5: all the biblical narratives of this kind can be rationally
• 5:03:53
  Speaker 5: accounted for when we have acquired sufficient knowledge of psychic
• 5:03:57
  Speaker 5: and spiritual science. Even the case of the three men
• 5:04:01
  Speaker 5: who were cast into the fiery furnace and escaped uninjured.
• 5:04:06
  Speaker 5: Several mediums have done the same thing on a small scale.
• 5:04:10
  Speaker 5: Sir William Crooks has reported that he has seen the
• 5:04:13
  Speaker 5: medium D d Home extract red hot coals from the
• 5:04:17
  Speaker 5: fire and hold them in his hands without injury. Similarly,
• 5:04:21
  Speaker 5: the magicians or witch doctors of many of the Savage
• 5:04:24
  Speaker 5: tribes can walk over glowing coals or red hot embers
• 5:04:28
  Speaker 5: without being burned after they have undergone certain religious rites
• 5:04:32
  Speaker 5: and preparations. In addition to this, you will have increased
• 5:04:37
  Speaker 5: power over inorganic matter, so that you can move objects
• 5:04:41
  Speaker 5: without contact with comparative ease, and cause phenomenal changes to
• 5:04:46
  Speaker 5: take place in those objects. You will find that you have,
• 5:04:50
  Speaker 5: in an almost perfect degree the power of self projection,
• 5:04:54
  Speaker 5: that you can leave your body and enter the astroplane
• 5:04:57
  Speaker 5: at will, exploring it and observe its denizens. Creation by
• 5:05:04
  Speaker 5: the power of will. Finally, you will be able actually
• 5:05:08
  Speaker 5: to create by the power of your thought forms and
• 5:05:12
  Speaker 5: objects which are external and apparently objective. In other words,
• 5:05:16
  Speaker 5: you will have learned to create by the power of
• 5:05:19
  Speaker 5: the will. And this is one of the greatest achievements
• 5:05:22
  Speaker 5: gained by the advanced student of the occult. Phantoms, apparitions,
• 5:05:28
  Speaker 5: thought forms, etc. Are created in this way. It is
• 5:05:32
  Speaker 5: impossible at this time to enter more deeply into these questions.
• 5:05:38
  Speaker 5: Higher exercises of this kind, to be explained fully as
• 5:05:41
  Speaker 5: they should be, would require a further course of study,
• 5:05:45
  Speaker 5: and it is my intention to follow the present work
• 5:05:48
  Speaker 5: with a second one, which will contain more detailed advice
• 5:05:51
  Speaker 5: as to the development of the higher psychical and spiritual faculties.
• 5:05:56
  Speaker 5: For the present I must leave the psychic student here
• 5:06:00
  Speaker 5: at the end of his preparatory studies, wishing him success
• 5:06:04
  Speaker 5: in his efforts in the attainment of psychic power. If
• 5:06:08
  Speaker 5: the student will but follow the directions contained in the
• 5:06:11
  Speaker 5: present work carefully, and at the same time pay due
• 5:06:15
  Speaker 5: attention to the advice contained therein, he will be enabled
• 5:06:19
  Speaker 5: to develop his psychic powers to a very great extent,
• 5:06:23
  Speaker 5: and will thereby be fitted to undertake still more advanced studies,
• 5:06:27
  Speaker 5: which will be taken up very fully in a subsequent work.
• 5:06:32
  Speaker 7: The end