Preliminaries And Practice
The first consideration by those who would develop clairvoyance
by artificial aids is the choice of a suitable agent. It has been the
practice for many years to substitute the original beryl or "rock
crystal" by a glass ball. I admit that many specimens I have seen
are very creditable productions, but they are nevertheless quite
worthless from the point of view of those who consider material
agents to be important fact
rs in the production of clairvoyance.
The glass ball may, however, very well serve the preliminary
essential of concentration, and, if the faculty of clairvoyance is at
all active, will be entirely effective as an agent.
Those who have any experience at all in this matter will allow
that the rock crystal exerts an influence of an entirely different
nature to that observable in the use of glass. Indeed, so far as
experiment serves us, it may be said that glass only produces
negative results and never at any time induced clairvoyance. If
this state followed upon the use of a glass ball I am sure that the
patient must have been naturally clairvoyant, in which case a
bowl of water, a spot upon a wall, a piece of polished brass or
copper, or a spot of ink would have been equally efficacious in
inducing the degree of hypnosis required. That glass spheres are
equally efficient as those of crystal is true only in two cases,
namely, when clairvoyance is natural, in which case neither need
be used; and when no results are observable after due experiment,
from which we may conclude either that the agent is unsuitable
or that the faculty is entirely submerged in that individual.
In hypnotic clairvoyance the glass ball will be found as useful a
"field" as the best rock crystal. Yet it does not follow that because
the crystal is highly odylic and glass altogether negative the
former will induce clairvoyance. My own first experience with
the crystal was entirely disappointing, while very striking results
followed immediately upon the use of a black concave mirror.
The mirror is usually circular in shape and about one-quarter-inch
curve to a six-inch diameter. This gives a long focus, so that the
mirror may be hung upon a wall at about two yards distance from
the subject. A greater degree of concavity proportionate to the
diameter will produce a focus which allows the mirror to be held
in the hand while resting in the lap.
This disposes to a very easy and passive attitude and helps
towards results. The base of the mirror may be of tin, wood or
other material, and it is usually filled with a composition of a
bituminous nature, the glass covering being painted with a
preparation of coal-tar on its nether or convex side. The exact
focus and consequent size of the mirror employed as most
suitable to the individual is a matter of experiment. It is also to be
observed that the distance of the mirror, as also the angle of
vision, are matters of experiment. Beyond a certain distance it
will be found that the mirror has no "draw" on the subject. If
brought closer its pull is immediately felt.
It is perhaps too early to theorize upon the modus operandi of
the "magic mirror," as it has been called. It appears to induce
hypnosis and consequent elevation of nervous activity by
refracting and throwing back the rays of magnetic energy which
emanate from the subject.
In the foregoing illustration let A-B be the mirror with F for its
focus. Let the subject be stationed at S. Then the rays directed
towards the surface of the mirror will be represented by RR-RR.
These rays impinge upon a diamagnetic surface which is concave.
The rays are therefore bent inwards and thrown back upon the
person at S in the form of a cone of energy which has the effect
of producing auto-hypnosis. There are other forms of agency,
such as the zinc disc with the copper centre as used by Braid to
induce the hypnotic sleep, but these appear to depend upon tiring
the optic nerves and thus, through their action upon the thalami to
produce temporary inhibition of the whole basilar tract of the
brain.
The mesmerist who throws streams of energy upon the patient
would appear to be working on the same principle as that by
which the person using the concave mirror induces self-hypnosis.
Possibly the latter method may be found to be conducive to the
phenomena arising from auto-suggestion, while the conditions
induced by the action of the hypnotist may be less liable to the
effects of auto-suggestion and more responsive to hypnotic
suggestion, i.e. the mental action of the hypnotist.
These, however, are considerations which need not trouble us
overmuch, since by whatever agent the subject is made clairvoyant,
the results are equally curious and informing. Auto-suggestion,
at least, can hardly be regarded in the category of objections,
since we cannot auto-suggest that which does not first of
all arise as an image in the mind. It is in the spontaneous and
automatic production of auto-suggested impressions that the
phenomena of clairvoyance very largely consist; only we have to
remember that the suggesting self is a more considerable quantity
than the personality to which these suggestions are made, and is
in touch with a world immeasurably greater and in every sense
less limited than that to which the person is externally related.
Looked at from whatever point of view we may choose, the
phenomena of clairvoyance cannot be adequately explained
without recourse to psychology on the one hand and occultism on
the other. Psychology is needed in order to explain the nature and
faculty of the human soul, and occultism to define for us the
nature of that universal mirror in which the whole category of
human events, both past and future, are reflected. Having decided
upon a course of experiments with a crystal or mirror, the best of
the kind should be obtained. A black velvet covering should be
made in which to envelop the crystal when not in use. Mirrors are
usually made with a suitable lid or covering. Care should be
taken not to scratch the surface, and all cleaning should be done
with a dry silk handkerchief kept for the purpose. Exposure to the
sun's rays not only scores the surface of a crystal or mirror, but
also puts the odylic substance into activity, distributing and
dissipating the magnetic power stored up therein.
And now a word or two about the disposition and attitude of the
subject. The visions do not occur in the crystal itself. They may
appear to do so, but this is due, when it occurs, to the projection
and visualization of the mental images. The visions are in the
mind or soul of the seer and nowhere else. It is a matter of
constitutional psychism as to where the sense of clear vision will
be located. Personally I find the sense to be located in the frontal
coronal region of the brain about 150 to the right of the normal
axis of vision, which may be regarded as the meridian of sight.
Other instances are before me in which the sense is variously
located in the back of the head, the nape of the neck, the pit of the
stomach, the summit of the head, above and between the eyes,
and in one case near the right shoulder but beyond the periphery
of the body. The explanation appears to be that the nervo-vital
emanations from the body of the seer act upon the static odyle in
the agent, which in turn reacts upon the brain centres by means of
the optic nerves. And this appears to be sufficient reason why the
crystal or mirror should be kept as free as possible from
disturbing elements. Water is extremely odylic and should never
come in contact with the agent employed as it effectually carries
off all latent or stored imports. I am forced to use a crude
terminology in order to convey the idea in my mind, but I
recognize that the whole explanation may appear vague and
inadequate. It is of course at all times easier to observe effects
than to offer a clear explanation of them. Yet some sort of
working hypothesis is constructed when we collate our observations,
and it is this that I have sought to communicate.
For similar reasons, when in use the crystal or mirror should be
shaded and so placed that no direct rays from sun or artificial
light may fall upon it. The odyle, as Reichenbach so conclusively
proved by his experiments, rapidly responds to surrounding
magnetic conditions and to the vibrations of surrounding bodies,
and to none more rapidly than the etheric vibrations caused by
combustion or light of any kind. There should be no direct rays of
light between the agent and the seer.
The room in which the sitting takes place should be moderately
warm, shady, and lit by a diffused light, such as may be obtained
by a light holland blind or casement cloth, in the daytime. The
subject should sit with his back to the source of light, and the
illumination will be adequate if ordinary print can be read by it.
It is important that all persons sitting in the same room with the
seer should be at least at arm's length from him.
Silence should be uniformly observed by those present, until the
vision is attained.
It will then be found convenient to have two persons present to
act as Interrogator and Recorder respectively.
The Interrogator should be the only person whose voice is heard,
and it should be reduced to a soft but distinct monotone. The
Recorder will be occupied in setting down in writing all questions
asked by the Interrogator and the exact answers made by the
seer. These should be dated and signed by those present when
completed. It is perhaps hardly necessary to remark that
precautions should be taken to prevent sudden intrusions, and as
far as possible to secure general quiet without.
I may here interject an observation which appears to me
suggestive and may prove valuable. It has been observed that the
inhabitants of basaltic localities are more generally natural
clairvoyants than others. Basalt is an igneous rock composed
largely of augite and felspar, which are silicate crystals of
calcium, potassium, alumina, etc., of which the Moonstone is a
variety. The connecting link is that clairvoyance is found to be
unusually active during and by means of moonlight. What
psycho-physical effect either basalt or moonlight has upon the
nervous system of impressible subjects appears to be somewhat
obscure, but there is little difference between calcium light and
moonlight, except that the latter is moderated by the greater
atmosphere through which it comes to us. It is only when we
come to know the psychological values of various chemical
bodies that we can hope for a solution of many strange phenomena
connected with the clairvoyant faculty. I recollect that the
seeress of Prevorst experienced positive pain from the near
presence of water during her abnormal phases. Reichenbach
found certain psycho-pathological conditions to be excited by
various metals and foreign bodies when brought into contact with
the sensitive. These observations are extremely useful if only in
producing an awareness of possible reasons for such disturbance
as may occur in the conditions already cited.
At the outset the sittings should not last longer than at most
half-an-hour, but it is important that they should be regular,
both as to time and place. We are already informed from a number of
observations that every action tends to repeat itself under similar
conditions. Habits of life and mind are thus formed so that in
time they become quite involuntary and automatic. A cumulative
effect is obtained by attention to this matter of periodicity, while
the use of the same place for the same purpose tends to dispose
the mind to the performance of particular functions. In striving
for psychic development of any sort we shall do well not to
disregard these facts. For since all actions tend to repeat
themselves and to become automatic, to pass from the domain of
the purposive into the habitual, the psychic faculties will
similarly, if actuated at any set time and place, tend to bestir
themselves to the same effects as those to which they were first
moved by the conscious will and intention of the seer. Until the
clairvoyant faculty is fully assured and satisfactory results
obtained without any inconvenience to the seer, not more than
two persons should be present at the sittings. These should be in
close sympathy with the seer and with each other.
When the sitting is over it will be found useful to repair to
another place and fully discuss the results obtained, the
impressions and feelings of the seer during the seance, and
matters which appear to have a bearing on the facts observed.
A person should not be disheartened if at the first few sittings
nothing of any moment takes place, but should persevere with
patience and self-control. Indeed, if we consider the fact that for
hundreds of generations the psychic faculties latent in man have
lain in absolute neglect, that perhaps the faculty of clear vision
has not been brought into activity by any of our ancestors since
remote ages, it should not be thought remarkable that so few find
the faculty in them to be practically dormant. It should rather be a
matter of surprise that the faculty is still with us, that it is not
wholly irresponsive to the behests of the soul. While in the course
of physical evolution many important functions have undergone
remarkable changes, and organs, once active and useful, have
become stunted, impotent, and in some cases extinct, yet on the
other hand we see that seeds which have lain dormant in arid soil
for hundreds of years can spring into leaf and flower under the
influence of a suitable climate.
The vermiform appendix, so necessary to the bone eaters of a
carnivorous age, has no part in the physical economy of a later
and more highly-evolved generation. The pineal gland and the
pituitary body are adjuncts of the brain whose functions have
long been in latency. The Anastatica hierochuntica, commonly
called the Rose of Jericho, is a wonderful example of functional
latency. The plant will remain for ages rolled up like a ball of
sun-dried heather, but if placed in water it will immediately open
out and spread forth its nest of mossy green fronds, the transition
from seeming death to life taking place in a few minutes. The
hygrometric properties of the plant are certainly exceptional.
They illustrate the responsiveness of certain natures to a
particular order of stimulus, and in a sense they illustrate the
functions of the human soul. The faculty of direct vision is like
the latent life of the vegetable world. It waits only the conditions
which favour its activity and development, and though for
generations it may have lain dormant, yet in a few days or weeks
it may attain the proportions of a beautiful flower, a thing of
wonder and delight, gracing the Garden of the Soul.