Psychic Influence At A Distance
The second phase of Psychic Influence is that called Distant Psychic
Influence, in which psychic induction is manifested when the persons are
distant in space from one another--not in the presence of each other.
Here, of course, we see the principle of telepathy involved in connection
with the process of mental induction: and in some cases even the astral
telepathic sense is called into operation.
The stu
ent who has followed my explanation and course of reasoning in the
preceding lessons will readily perceive that the principle involved in
this distant phase of psychic influence is precisely the same as that
employed in direct personal psychic influence. As I have explained in an
early lesson, it matters little whether the space to be covered by the
psychic vibratory waves is but one foot or a thousand miles, the principle
is exactly the same. There are, of course, other principles involved in
the case of two persons meeting face to face and calling into force their
psychic powers; for instance, there is the element of suggestion and
association, and other psychological principles which are not in force
when the two persons are out of the actual presence of each other. But so
far as the telepathic or astral psychic powers are concerned, the mere
extension of space does not change the principle.
The student who has developed his power of psychic induction in the
phases mentioned in the preceding chapter, may begin to experiment and
practice psychic induction at long-range, if he so wishes. That is to say,
instead of causing psychic induction in the minds of persons actually in
his presence and sight, he may produce similar results in persons out of
his sight and presence. The person may be brought into presence and
psychic contact, for all practical purposes, by using the visualizing
powers for the purpose of bringing him into the en rapport condition. That
is to say, by using the imagination to bring into the mind a strong clear
picture of the other person, you may induce an en rapport condition in
which he will be practically in the same psychic relation to you as if he
were actually before you. Of course, if he is sufficiently well informed
regarding occult matters, he may shut you out by drawing a psychic circle
around himself which you cannot penetrate, or by surrounding himself with
psychic armor or atmosphere such as I have already mentioned in preceding
lessons. But as he will not likely know anything of this, the average
person may be reached in the manner just mentioned.
Or again, you may establish en rapport conditions by psychometric methods,
by holding to your forehead an article which has been in the other
person's possession for some time; an article worn by him; a piece of his
hair; etc. Or, again, you may use the crystal to bring up his astral
vision before you. Or, again, you may erect an "astral tube" such as I
will mention a little further on in this chapter, and thus establish a
strong en rapport condition.
Having established the en rapport condition with the other person, and
having thus practically brought him into your presence, psychically
speaking, you may proceed to send him commands or demands, just as you did
in the phase of personal psychic influence previously mentioned. You act
precisely as if the other person were present before you, and state your
commands or demands to him just as you would were he seated or standing in
your presence. This is the keynote of the whole thing; the rest is simply
an elaboration and stating of details of methods, etc. With the correct
principle once established, you may apply the same according to your own
wishes and discretion.
This phase of distant psychic influence is at the bottom of all the
wonderful tales, stories and legends of supernatural powers, witchcraft,
sorcery, etc., with which the pages of history are filled. There is of
course always to be found much distortion and exaggeration in these
legends and tales, but they have truth at the bottom of them. In this
connection, let me call your attention to a very important psychic
principle involved. I have told you that by denying the power of any
person over you, you practically neutralize his psychic power--the
stronger and more positive your belief in your immunity, and your denial
of his power over you, the more do you rob him of any such power. The
average person, not knowing this, is more or less passive to psychic
influences of other persons, and may be affected by them to a greater or
less extent, depending upon the psychic development of the person seeking
to influence him. At the extreme of the sensitive pole of psychic
influence, we find those persons who believe firmly that the other person
has power over them, and who are more or less afraid of him. This belief
and fear acts to make them particularly sensitive and impressionable, and
easily affected by his psychic induction. This is the reason that the
so-called witches and sorcerers and others of evil repute have been able
to acquire such a power over their victims, and to cause so much trouble.
The secret is that the victims believed in the power of the other person,
and feared their power. The greater the belief in, and fear of, the power
of the person, the greater the susceptibility to his influence; the
greater the sense of power of neutralizing the power, and the disbelief in
his power to affect them, the greater the degree of immunity: this is the
rule!
Accordingly we find that persons in various stages of the history of the
world have been affected by the influences of witches, sorcerers, and
other unprincipled persons. In most cases these so-called witches and
sorcerers themselves were under the delusion that they were assisted by
the devil or some other supernatural being. They did not realize that they
were simply using perfectly natural methods, and employing perfectly
natural forces. For that matter, you must remember that magnetism and
electricity, in ancient days, were considered as supernatural forces in
some way connected with demonic powers.
Studying the history of witchcraft, sorcery, black-magic, and the like,
you will find that the devotees thereof usually employed some psychometric
method. In other cases they would mould little figures of clay, or of wax,
in the general shape and appearance of the person whom they wished to
affect. It was thought that these little figures were endowed with some
supernatural powers or attributes, but of course this was mere
superstition. The whole power of these little figures arose from the fact
that they aided the imagination of the spell-worker in forming a mental
image of the person sought to be influenced; and thus established a strong
en rapport condition. Added to this, you must remember that the fear and
belief of the public greatly aided the spell-worker and increased his
power and influence over these poor persons.
I will give you a typical case, taken from an old German book, which
thoroughly illustrates the principles involved in cases of this kind.
Understand this case, and you will have the secret and working principle
of them all. The story is told by an eminent German physician of the last
century. He relates that he was consulted by one of his patients, a
wealthy farmer living near by. The farmer complained that he was disturbed
every night by strange noises which sounded like someone pounding iron.
The disturbances occurred between the hours of ten o'clock and midnight,
each and every night. The physician asked him if he suspected anyone of
causing the strange trouble. The farmer answered that he suspected an old
enemy of his, an old village blacksmith living several miles away from his
farm. It appears that an old long-standing feud between them had broken
out afresh, and that the blacksmith had made threats of employing his
"hex" (witchcraft) powers on the old farmer. The blacksmith was reputed to
be a sort of "hex" or male-witch, and the farmer believed in his diabolic
powers and was very much in fear of them. So you see the ideal condition
for psychic receptivity was present.
The physician called on the blacksmith, and taking him by surprise, gazing
sternly into his eyes and asked him: "What do you do every night between
ten and twelve o'clock?" The blacksmith, frightened and disturbed,
stammered out: "I hammer a bar of iron every night at that time, and all
the while I think intently of a bad neighbor of mine who once cheated me
out of some money; and I 'will' at the same time that the noise will
disturb his rest, until he will pay me back my money to get peace and
quiet." The physician bade him to desist from his evil practices, under
threats of dire punishment; and then went to the farmer and made him
straighten out the financial dispute between the two. Thereafter, there
was no more trouble.
So you see in this case all the necessary elements were present. First
there was the belief of the blacksmith in his own powers--this gave him
self-confidence and psychic power. Then there was the belief and fear on
the part of the farmer--this made him an easy subject, and very
susceptible to psychic induction, etc. Then there was the action of the
blacksmith beating the iron--this gave force and clearness to his
visualization of the idea he wished to induce in the mind of the other.
And, finally, there was his will employed in every stroke, going out in
the direction of the concentrated wish and purpose of influencing the
farmer. You see, then, that every psychic element was present. It was no
wonder that the old farmer was disturbed.
Among the negroes of the South, in America; and among the Hawaiians; we
find marked instances of this kind. The negro Voodoo men and women work
black magic on those of their race who are superstitious and credulous,
and who have a mortal fear of the Voodoo. You see the conditions obtained
are much the same as in the case of the German case just cited. Travellers
who have visited the countries in which there is a large negro population,
have many interesting tales to recite of the terrible workings of these
Voodoo black magicians. In some cases, sickness and even death is the
result. But, mark you this! it is only those who believe in, and fear, the
power of the Voodoos that are affected. In Hawaii, the Kahunas or native
magicians are renowned for their power to cause sickness and death to
those who have offended them; or to those who have offended some client of
the Kahuna, and who have hired the latter to "pray" the enemy to sickness
or death. The poor ignorant Hawaiians, believing implicitly in the power
of the Kahunas, and being in deadly fear of them, are very susceptible to
their psychic influence, and naturally fall easy victims, unless they buy
of the Kahuna, or make peace with his client. White persons living in
Hawaii are not affected by the Kahunas, for they do not believe in them,
neither do they fear them. Unconsciously, but still strongly, they deny
the power, and are immune. So, you see, the principle working out here,
also. Once you have the master-key, you may unlock many doors of mystery
which have heretofore been closed to you.
We do not have to fall back on cases of witchcraft, however, in order to
illustrate this phase of the use of psychic influence for selfish ends. In
Europe and America there are teachers of a low form of occultism who
instruct their pupils in the art of producing induced mental states in the
minds of others, for purposes of financial gain or other selfish ends. For
instance, there is a Western teacher who instructs his pupils to induce
desired mental states in prospective customers, or others whom they may
wish to influence for selfish reasons. This teacher tells his pupils to:
"Imagine your prospective customer, or other person, as seated in a chair
before which you are standing. Make the imagined picture as strong as
possible, for upon this depends your success. Then proceed to 'treat' this
person just as if he were actually present. Concentrate your will upon
him, and tell him what you expect to tell him when you meet him. Use all
of the arguments that you can think of, and at the same time hold the
thought that he must do as you say. Try to imagine him as complying with
your wishes in every respect, for this imagining will tend to 'come true'
when you really meet the person. This rule may be used, not only in the
case of prospective customers, but also in the case of persons whom you
wish to influence in any way whatsoever." Surely this is a case of
employing psychic powers for selfish purposes, if anything is.
Again, in Europe and America, particularly in the latter country, we find
many persons who have picked up a smattering of occult knowledge by means
of some of the many healing cults and organizations which teach the power
of thought over physical diseases. In the instruction along the lines of
distant mental healing, the student is taught to visualize the patient as
strongly and clearly as possible, and to then proceed to make statements
of health and strength. The mind of the patient, and that of the healer,
cooperate and in many cases work wonderful cures. As you will see in the
last lesson of this course, there is great power in the mind to induce
healthful vibrations in the mind of others, and the work is a good and
worthy one. But, alas! as is so often the case, the good teaching is
sometimes perverted, and applied for unworthy and selfish ends. Some of
the persons who have picked up the principles of mental healing have
discovered that the same power may be used in a bad as well as in a good
direction. They accordingly, proceed to "treat" other persons with the
object of persuading them to do things calculated to benefit the person
using the psychic power. They seek to get these other persons under their
psychic influence, and to then take advantage of them in some way or
other.
I hope that it is practically unnecessary for me to warn my students
against evil practices of this kind--I trust that I have not drawn any
students of this class to me. In case, however, that some of you may have
been, or may be in the future, tempted to use your psychic powers
improperly, in this way, I wish to caution and warn you positively against
so doing. Outside of the ordinary morality which should prevent you from
taking advantage of another person in this way, I wish to say to you that
anyone so misusing psychic or astral powers will inevitably bring down
upon his head, sooner or later, certain occult astral forces which will
prove disastrous to him. He will become involved in the web of his own
making, and will suffer greatly. Never by any means allow yourself to be
tempted into indulging in any of the practices of Black Magic, under any
form of disguise. You will live to regret it if you do. Employ your
powers, when you develop them, for the good of others; or at least, for
purely scientific investigation and knowledge.
The scientific investigator of this phase of psychic influence, will wish
to become acquainted with what the occultists call "the astral tube." In
this phase of the phenomena, you manifest upon the astral plane, rather
than upon the physical. The astral form of telepathy is manifested, rather
than the ordinary form. While there are a number of technical points
involved in the production of the astral tube, I shall endeavor to
instruct you regarding its creation and use in as plain words as possible,
omitting all reference to technical occult details which would only serve
to distract your attention and confuse your mind. The advanced occult
student will understand these omitted technicalities without being told of
them; the others would not know what was meant by them, if mentioned, in
the absence of a long stage of preparatory teaching. After all, the theory
is not of so much importance to most of you as are the practical working
principles. I ask your careful attention to what I have to say in this
subject of the astral tube.
The Astral Tube is formed by the person forming in his imagination (i.e.,
on the astral plane by means of his imagination or visualizing powers), a
tube or small tunnel between himself and the person whom he wishes to
influence. He starts by picturing it in his mind a whirling vortex,
similar to the whirling ring of smoke emitted from a "coughing" engine,
and sometimes by a man smoking a cigar, about six inches to one foot in
diameter. He must will the imagined vortex-ring to move forward as if it
were actually boring a tunnel through the atmosphere. When the knack of
producing this astral tube is acquired, it will be found that the
visualized tunnel seems to vibrate with a peculiar intensity, and will
seem to be composed of a substance far more subtle than air. Then, at the
other end of this astral tube you must picture the other person, the one
whom you wish to influence. The person will seem as if viewed through the
wrong end of an opera-glass. When this condition is gained, there will be
found to be a high degree of en rapport between yourself and the other
person. The secret consists in the fact that you have really established a
form of clairvoyance between yourself and the person. When you have
induced this condition, proceed with your mental commands and pictures
just as if you were in the presence of the person himself. That is the
whole thing in a nutshell.
In order that you may have another viewpoint from which to consider the
astral tube, or what corresponds to it, I wish to give you here a little
quotation from another writer on the subject, who presents the matter from
a somewhat more technical standpoint. Read this quotation in connection
with my own description of the astral tube, and you will form a pretty
complete and clear idea of the phenomenon. The writer mentioned says: "It
is impossible here to give an exhaustive disquisition on astral physics;
all I need say is that it is possible to make in the astral substance a
definite connecting-line that shall act as a telegraph wire to convey
vibrations by means of which all that is going on at the other end of it
may be seen. Such a line is established, be it understood, not by a direct
projection through space of astral matter, but by such action upon a line
(or rather many lines) of particles of that substance as will render them
capable of forming a conductor for vibrations of the character required.
This preliminary action can be set up in two ways--either by the
transmission of energy from particle to particle, until the line is
formed, or by the use of a force from a higher plane which is capable of
acting upon the whole line simultaneously. Of course this latter method
implies far greater development, since it involves the knowledge of (and
the power to use) forces of a considerably higher level.
"Even the simpler and purely astral operation is a difficult one to
describe, though quite an easy one to perform. It may be said to partake
somewhat of the nature of the magnetization of a bar of steel; for it
consists in what we might call the polarization, by an effort of the human
will, of a number of astral atoms reaching from the operator to the scene
which he wishes to observe. All the atoms thus affected are held for the
time being with their axes rigidly parallel to one another, so that they
form a kind of temporary tube along which the clairvoyant may look. This
method has the disadvantage that the telegraph line is liable to
disarrangement or even destruction by any sufficiently strong astral
current which happens to cross its path; but if the original creative
effort were fairly definite, this would be a contingency of only
infrequent occurrence. The view of a distant scene obtained by means of
this 'astral current' is in many ways not unlike that seen through a
telescope. Human figures usually appear very small, like those on a
distant stage, but in spite of their diminutive size they are as clear as
though they were close by. Sometimes it is possible by this means to hear
what is said as well as to see what is done; but as in the majority of
cases this does not happen, we must consider it rather as the
manifestation of an additional power than as a necessary corollary of the
faculty of sight."
I would feel that I had not done my whole duty to the student, or reader
of this book, were I to conclude this chapter without pointing out a means
of protection against the use of this phase of psychic influence against
them on the part of some unscrupulous person; or for that matter, against
the meddling influence of any person whatsoever, for any purpose
whatsoever, without one's permission and consent. Therefore, I wish now to
point out the general principles of self-protection or defense against
this class of psychic influence.
In the first place, you must, of course, refuse to admit to your mind any
feeling of fear regarding the influence of other persons--for that is the
open door to their influence, as I have pointed out to you. If you have
been, or are fearful of any persons psychic influence, you must get to
work and drive out that feeling by positive and vigorous denials. The
denial, you remember, is the positive neutralizer of the psychic influence
of another person, providing you make it in full belief of its truth. You
must take the position (which is a true one) that you are immune to the
psychic attack or influence. You should say, mentally, "I deny to any
person the power to influence me psychically without my consent; I am
positive to all such influences, and they are negative to me; I neutralize
them by this denial!"
If you feel sudden impulses to act in some way which you have not thought
of doing, or toward which you have had an aversion, pause a moment and
say, mentally, "If this is an outside influence, I deny its power over me;
I deny it, and send it back to its sender, to his defeat and confusion."
You will then experience a feeling of relief and freedom. In such cases
you may frequently be approached later on by the person who would have
been most benefitted by your action; he will appear surprised when you
"turn him down," and will act in a confused way. He may not have
consciously tried to influence you, but may have merely been wishing
strongly that you would do as he desired.
It should encourage you to know that it requires much less force to repel
and neutralize psychic influence of this kind, than is required to send
forth the power; an ounce of denial and protection overcomes a pound of
psychic attacking power. Nature gives you the means of protection, and
gives you "the best end of the stick," and it is your own fault if you do
not effectively use it. A word to the wise is sufficient.