Space Psychomancy

As we stated in previous lessons, "Space Psychomancy" is the exercise

of the faculty in the direction of perceiving far-distant scenes,

persons, objects, etc.



Of course, there is really an exercise of Space Psychomancy in some

instances of Simple Psychomancy. But we make the distinction because in

the case of objects seen by Simple Psychomancy at some little distance

from the observer, the impression is r ceived by means of the rays, or

vibrations from the objects themselves, by means of the developed

Astral Senses, acting in a simple manner; while in the case of Space

Psychomancy (in the technical sense of the term) the impression is

received by means of either the erection of the Astral Tube, or else by

the actual projection of the consciousness in the Astral Body--the

latter being an actual visiting of the scene.



A little illustration may perhaps make clearer the above distinction.

Let us suppose a man on the physical Plane with ordinary eyesight--such

a man could not see an object beyond the average distance of vision,

and he would be like a person devoid of Psychomantic powers. Then let

us suppose a man of extraordinary visual powers, such as many hunters

or seafaring men--such a one could see things invisible to the first

man, and would thus resemble the person manifesting Simple Psychomancy.

Then let us suppose a third man, using a telescope--this man could see

things that neither of the other two could perceive, and he would thus

resemble the person manifesting along the lines of Space Psychomancy by

means of the Astral Tube. And, finally, let us suppose a fourth man,

who possessed magical wings which would instantly transport him to the

distant scene, whence he could view the objects, personally, and at

close range--well this man would be like the person who was able to

project his Astral Body, and thus view the distant scenes at will, and

at short range, without the difficulties attendant upon the use of the

telescope-like Astral Tube--to see the object on any and all sides, and

from all points of view--~to get inside of it~, as well as outside.



The following interesting cases are quoted to illustrate the principle:



Captain Yount, of the Napa Valley, California, had a peculiar

experience while asleep. He had a remarkably clear vision in which

appeared a band of emigrants perishing from cold and hunger amidst a

mountain range. He noted particularly, and in detail, the scenery and

appearance of the canyon. He saw a huge, perpendicular cliff of white

rock; and the emigrants cutting off what appeared to be the tops of

trees arising from great drifts of snow; he even saw plainly the

features of some of the party. He awoke, sorely distressed by the

vividness and the nature of his "dream," for so he considered it to be.

But, by-and-by, he fell asleep again, and saw the scene repeated, with

equal distinctness. In the morning he found that he could not get the

"dream" out of his mind, and he told it to some of his friends. One of

the hearers of the story was an old hunter, who at once recognized the

place seen in the dream as a place across the Sierras, known as a point

in the Carson Valley Pass. So earnest was the old hunter, that Captain

Yount, and his friends, organized a rescue party and set out with

provisions, mules, and blankets to seek the perishing emigrants.

Notwithstanding the ridicule of the public, the rescuers persisted in

their search, and finally about one hundred and fifty miles distant, in

the Carson Valley Pass, they found the scene as described by Captain

Yount, and ~in the identical spot seen in the dream were found the

party of emigrants~, the surviving members of whom were rescued and

brought over the mountain.



Another interesting account is given in the reports of the Society for

Psychical Research, of England. It relates that an English lady, Mrs.

Broughton, awoke one night in 1844, and aroused her husband, telling

him that she had had a strange vision of a scene in France. She stated

that she had seen a broken-down carriage, evidently wrecked in an

accident, and a crowd gathered around the figure of a man, whose body

was then raised and carried into a nearby house. She said that the body

was then placed in a bed, when she recognized his features as those of

the Duke of Orleans. Then friends gathered around the bed, and later

came the king and queen of France, all weeping. She saw the doctor, who

stood over the Duke, feeling his pulse, with his watch in his other

hand, but she could only see the doctor's back. Then the scene had

faded from her vision. When daylight finally came, she recorded the

vision in her journal. It was before the days of the telegraph, and it

was more than two days before the newspapers announced the death of the

Duke of Orleans. The lady visited Paris afterwards, and recognized the

place of the accident. It then appeared that the attending physician

whose face she could not see in her vision, was an old friend of hers,

who then told her that as he watched the bed his mind had involuntarily

dwelt upon her and her family.



The well-known case of Swedenborg gives us another illustration of this

class of Psychomancy. It is related that in the latter part of

September, 1759, at four o'clock one Saturday afternoon, Swedenborg

arrived home from England, and disembarked at Gothenburg. Mr. W. Castel

met him and invited him to dinner, at which meal there were fifteen

persons gathered around the table. At six o'clock that evening

Swedenborg went out a few minutes, returning to the table excited and

pale. When questioned, he said that there was a fire at Stockholm, 200

miles distant, which was steadily spreading. He grew very restless, and

frequently left the room. He said that the house of one of his friends,

whose name he mentioned, was already in ashes, and that his own was in

danger. At eight o'clock after he had been out again, he returned

crying out cheerfully, "Thank heaven! the fire is out, the third door

from my house."



The news of the occurrence excited the whole town, and the officials

made inquiry regarding it, and Swedenborg was summoned before the

governor, and requested to relate what he had seen, in detail.

Answering the governor, he told when and where the fire had started;

how it had begun; how, when and where it had stopped; and the time it

lasted, the number of houses destroyed, people injured, etc. On the

following Monday morning a courier arrived from Stockholm, bringing

news of the fire, having left the town while it was still burning. On

the next day after, Tuesday morning, another courier arrived at the

governor's palace with a full report of the fire, which corresponded

precisely with the vision of Swedenborg--the fire had stopped precisely

at eight o'clock, the minute that Swedenborg had so announced it to the

company.



Stead relates the following instance of this class of Psychomancy,

which was told him by the wife of a Dean of the Episcopal Church. The

lady said: "I was staying in Virginia, some hundred miles away from

home, when one morning about eleven o'clock, I felt an overpowering

sleepiness, which drowsiness was quite unusual, and which caused me to

lie down. In my sleep I saw quite distinctly my home in Richmond in

flames. The fire had broken out in one wing of the house, which I saw

with dismay was where I kept all my best dresses. The people were all

trying to check the flames, but it was no use. My husband was there,

walking about before the burning house, carrying a portrait in his

hand. Everything was quite clear and distinct, exactly as if I had

actually been present and seen everything. After a time I woke up, and

going downstairs told my friends the strange dream I had had. They

laughed at me, and made such game of my vision that I did my best to

think no more about it. I was traveling about, a day or two passed, and

when Sunday came I found myself in a church where some relatives were

worshipping. When I entered the pew they looked rather strange, and as

soon as the service was over I asked them what was the matter. 'Don't

be alarmed,' they said 'there is nothing serious.' Then they handed me

a postcard from my husband which simply said, 'House burned out;

covered by insurance.' ~The day was the date upon which my dream

occurred.~ I hastened home, and then I learned that everything had

happened exactly as I had seen it. The fire had broken out in the wing

I had seen blazing. My clothes were all burnt, and the oddest thing

about it was that my husband, having rescued a favorite picture from

the burning building, had carried it about among the crowd for some

time before he could find a place in which to put it safely."



A well-authenticated case is that of the wreck of the ship

"Strathmore." Stead relates the story as follows: "The father of a son

who had sailed in the 'Strathmore,' an emigrant ship outbound from

Clyde, saw one night the ship foundering amid the waves, and saw that

his son, with some others had escaped safely to a desert island near

which the wreck had taken place. He was so much impressed by this

vision that he wrote to the owner of the 'Strathmore,' telling him what

he had seen. His information was scouted; but after a while the

'Strathmore' became overdue, and the owner became uneasy. Day followed

day, and still no tidings of the missing ship. Then, like Pharaoh's

butler, the owner remembered his sins one day, and hunted up the letter

describing the vision. It supplied at least a theory to account for the

vessel's disappearance. All outward-bound ships were requested to look

out for any survivors on the island indicated in the vision. These

orders being obeyed, the survivors of the 'Strathmore' were found

exactly where the father had seen them."



Another interesting case is reported by the Society previously

mentioned. It reports that Dr. Golinski, a physician of Kremeutchug,

Russia, was taking an after-dinner nap in the afternoon, about

half-past three o'clock. He had a vision in which he saw himself called

out on a professional visit, which took him to a little room with dark

hangings. To the right of the door he saw a chest of drawers, upon

which rested a little paraffin lamp of special pattern, different from

anything he had ever seen before. On the left of the door, he saw a

woman suffering from a severe hemorrhage. He then saw himself giving

her professional treatment. Then he awoke, suddenly, and saw that it

was just half-past four o'clock. Then comes the strange sequel. Within

ten minutes after he awoke, he was called out on a professional visit,

and on entering the bedroom he saw all the details that had appeared to

him in his vision. There was the chest of drawers--there was the

peculiar lamp--there was the woman on the bed suffering from the

hemorrhage. Upon inquiry he found that she had grown worse between

three and four o'clock, and had anxiously desired that he come to her

about that time, finally dispatching a messenger for him at half-past

four, the moment at which he awoke.



We could fill page after page with these interesting and

well-authenticated instances, but our lack of space prevents. We have

stated enough to illustrate the principle, and then, besides, many of

our readers will know of many similar instances in the actual

experience of themselves, relatives or friends. Volumes would not

contain all the true stories of phenomena of this kind--and still

people smile in a superior way at the mere suggestion of the phenomena.