Genuine Mediumship or The Invisible Powers Part 7

"(2) The crystal should be placed on its stand on a table, or it may rest on a black velvet cushion, but in either case it should be partially surrounded by a black silk or similar wrap or screen, so adjusted as to cut off any undesirable reflection. Before beginning to experiment, remember that most frequently nothing will be seen on the first occasion, and possibly not for several sittings; though some sitters, if strongly gifted with psychic powers in a state of unconsciousness, and sometimes conscious degree of unfoldment, may be fortunate enough to obtain good results at the first trial. If, therefore, nothing is perceived during the first few attempts, do not despair or become impatient, or imagine that you will never see anything. There is a royal road to crystal vision, but it is open only to the combined pa.s.sword of Calmness, Patience, and Perseverance. If at the first attempt to ride a bicycle, failure ensues, the only way to learn is to pay attention to the necessary rules, and to persevere daily until the ability to ride comes naturally. Thus it is with the would-be seer. Persevere in accordance with these simple directions, and success will sooner or later crown your efforts.

Time of Sittings.

"(3) Commence by sitting comfortably with the eyes fixed upon the crystal, not by a fixed stare, but with a steady, calm gaze, for ten minutes only, on the first occasion. In taking the time it is best to hang your watch at a distance, where, while the face is clearly visible, the ticking is rendered inaudible. When the time is up, carefully put the crystal away in its case, and keep it in a dark place, under lock and key, allowing no one but yourself to handle it. At the second sitting, which should be at the same place, in the same position, and at the same time, you may increase the length of the effort to fifteen minutes, and continue this period during the next five or six sittings, after which the time may be gradually increased, but should in no case exceed one hour. The precise order of repet.i.tion is always to be followed until the experimenter has developed an almost automatic ability to readily obtain results, when it need no longer be adhered to.

Other Persons Present.

"(4) Any person, or persons, admitted to the room, and allowed to remain while you sit, should (a) keep absolute silence, and (b) remain seated at a distance from you. When you have developed your latent powers, questions may, of course, be put to you by one of those present, but even then in a very gentle, or low and slow tone of voice; never suddenly, or in a forceful manner.

Crystalline Vision.

"(5) When you find the crystals begin to look dull or cloudy, with small pin-points of light glittering therein, like tiny stars, you may know that you are commencing to obtain that for which you seek, viz., crystalline vision. Therefore, persevere with confidence. This condition may, or may not, continue for several sittings, the crystal seeming at times to alternatively appear and disappear, as in a mist. By and by this hazy appearance, in its turn, will give way quite suddenly to a blindness of the senses to all else but a blue or bluish ocean of s.p.a.ce, against which, as if it were a background, the vision will be clearly apparent.

Physical Requirements.

"(6) The crystal should not be used soon after taking a meal, and care should be taken in matters of diet to partake only of digestible foods, and to avoid alcoholic beverages. Plain and nourishing food, and outdoor exercise, with contentment of mind, or love of simplicity of living, are great aids to success. Mental anxiety, or ill-health, are not conducive to the desired end. Attention to correct breathing is of importance.

Determining Time of Fulfillment.

"(7) As regards the time at which events seen will come to pa.s.s, each seer is usually impressed with regard thereto; but, as a general rule, visions appearing in the extreme background indicate time more remote, either past or future, than those perceived nearer at hand; while those appearing in the foreground, or closer to the seer, denote the present or immediate future.

Two Cla.s.ses of Visions.

"(8) Two princ.i.p.al cla.s.ses of vision will present themselves to the sitter, viz.: (a) the Symbolic, indicated by the appearance of symbols such as a flag, boat, knife, gold, etc., and (b) Actual Scenes and Personages, in action or otherwise. Persons of a positive type of organization, the more active, excitable, yet decided type, are most likely to perceive symbolically, or allegorically; while those of a pa.s.sive nature usually receive direct or literal revelations. Both cla.s.ses will find it necessary to carefully cultivate truthfulness, unselfishness, grat.i.tude for what is shown, and absolute confidence in the love, wisdom, and guidance of G.o.d Himself."

Time and s.p.a.ce in Crystal Gazing.

In the subsequent pages the student will perceive the different manifestations of clairvoyant vision cla.s.sified according to the distinction of Time and s.p.a.ce. Clairvoyant vision may disclose objects, scenes, or persons either near by in s.p.a.ce, or far off in s.p.a.ce; either existing in present time, in past time, or in future time. Inasmuch as the visions of crystal gazing are merely particular forms of clairvoyant vision, it follows that all of the several above named distinctive forms of vision are manifested in crystal gazing. The vision shown in the crystal may be that of something very near in s.p.a.ce, or perhaps very far off in s.p.a.ce, or removed in s.p.a.ce only a moderate distance. Likewise such vision may be based upon things existing at the present time, or at some period of past time, or at some period of and visions of past, present, or future things, events, persons, scenes--each or all of these manifestations are possible to the clairvoyant vision of the crystal gazer, and pictured in the reflecting surface of the crystal or other shining surface employed by him in his experiments.

Direct Clairvoyance.

The third of the three general cla.s.ses of the methods employed to obtain the manifestation of clairvoyant phenomena is that known as Direct Clairvoyance. In this cla.s.s of methods the clairvoyant directly establishes the en rapport connection with the past or present, near or distant, objects, persons, scenes, or events, by means of raising his or her psychic vibrations so as to become "in tune" with the finer vibrations of Nature, without the aid of the physical objects required in the methods of Psychometry and Crystal Gazing, respectively.

Trance Conditions.

Many clairvoyants, manifesting their powers by means of the methods of Direct Clairvoyance, produce in themselves the condition of trance, or semi-trance condition. Many students believe that these conditions are absolutely necessary for the production of this kind of phenomena, but they neglect, or are actually unaware of, the fact that many of the highest forms of this cla.s.s of clairvoyant phenomena are manifested by clairvoyants who are no more in a trance condition, or that of semi-trance, than those following the methods of Psychometry or Crystal Gazing, respectively. All that is required is that the clairvoyant maintain a quiescent mental att.i.tude, shutting out the sounds, sights, and thoughts of the outside world, and concentrating the full attention upon the clairvoyant work before him or her. Some, it is true, pa.s.s easily into the semi-trance, or even the full trance condition, but the latter are not absolutely necessary states.

Clairvoyant Reverie.

A writer on the subject of Clairvoyance says: "The best authorities instruct their pupils that the state of clairvoyant reverie may be safely and effectively induced by the practice of mental concentration alone. They advise positively against artificial methods. All that is needed is that the consciousness be focused to a single point--become 'one pointed' as the Hindu teachers call it. The intelligent practice of concentration accomplishes this without the necessity of any artificial methods of development, or the production of abnormal psychic states.

You easily concentrate your full attention when you witness an interesting play, or listen to a beautiful rendition of some great masterpiece of musical composition, or gaze at some miracle of pictured or sculptured art. In these cases your attention is completely occupied with the interesting thing before you, so that you have almost completely shut out the outer world of sound, sight, and thought--but you are, nevertheless, perfectly wide awake and conscious. The same thing is true when you read a very interesting book--the world is shut out from your consciousness, and you are oblivious to the sights and sounds around you. We frequently witness the sight of two lovers to whom the outside world is non-existent for the time being, and to whom there is nothing in the world except themselves. Again, persons often fall into a 'brown study,' or 'day dream,' in which all consciousness of the outside world seems to be shut out, yet the person is fully conscious and wide awake. These mental states are very much akin to that of the trained clairvoyant, and is the state which should be sought after by all clairvoyants, whether they are following the methods of Psychometry, Crystal Gazing, or that of Direct Clairvoyance--for the principle is one and the same in all of such methods."

The Dawn of Clairvoyance.

A well-known authority on the subject of Psychic Development says: "Occasional flashes of clairvoyance sometimes comes to the highly cultured and spiritual-minded man, even though he may never have heard of the possibility of training such a faculty. In his case such glimpses usually signify that he is approaching that stage in his evolution when these powers will naturally begin to manifest themselves. Their appearance should serve as an additional stimulus to him to strive to maintain that high standard of moral purity and mental balance without which clairvoyance is a curse and not a blessing to its possessor.

Between those who are entirely unimpressionable and those who are in full possession of clairvoyant power, there are many intermediate stages. Students often ask how this clairvoyant faculty will first be manifested in themselves--how they may know when they have reached the stage at which its first faint foreshadowings are beginning to be visible. Cases differ so widely that it is impossible to give to this question any answer that will be universally applicable. Some people begin by a plunge, as it were, and under some unusual stimulus become able just for once to see some striking vision; and very often in such a case, because the experience does not repeat itself, the seer comes in time to believe that on that occasion he must have been the victim of hallucination. Others begin by becoming intermittently conscious of the brilliant colors and vibrations of the human aura; yet others find themselves with increasing frequency seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and deaf; others, again, see faces, landscapes, or colored clouds floating before their eyes in the dark, before they sink to rest; while perhaps the commonest experience of all is that of those who begin to recollect with greater and greater clearness what they have seen and heard on other planes during sleep."

Methods of Development.

The same authority, after warning students against attempting to develop their psychic powers by unnatural and harmful practices, such as self-hypnotism, self-stupefication, etc., gives the following excellent advice concerning the normal development of clairvoyant and other high psychic powers and faculties: "There is one practice which if adopted carefully and reverently can do no harm to any human being, yet from which a very pure type of clairvoyance has sometimes been developed--and that is the practice of Meditation. Let a man choose a certain time every day--a time when he can rely upon being quiet and undisturbed, though preferably in the daytime rather than at night--and set himself at that time to keep his mind for a few minutes entirely free from all earthly thoughts of any kind whatsoever; and, when that is achieved, to direct the whole force of his being towards the highest ideal he happens to know. He will find that to gain perfect control of thought is enormously more difficult than he supposes, but when he attains it this cannot but be in every way more beneficial to him, and as he grows more and more able to elevate and concentrate his thoughts, he may gradually find that new worlds are opening before his sight. As a preliminary training towards the satisfactory achievement of such meditation, he will find it desirable to make a practice of concentration in the affairs of daily life--even in the smallest of them. If he writes a letter, let him think of nothing else but that letter until it is finished; if he reads a book, let him see to it that his thought is never allowed to wander away from his author's meaning. He must learn to hold his mind in check, and to be master of that also, as well as of his lower pa.s.sions; he must patiently labor to acquire absolute control of his thoughts, so that he will always know exactly what he is thinking about, and why--so that he can use his mind, and turn it or hold it still, as a practiced swordsman turns his weapon where he will."

PART V

CLAIRVOYANCE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

As we have said in the preceding chapter, in our consideration of the general subject of Clairvoyance, there is possible a general cla.s.sification of clairvoyant phenomena according to general distinctions, as follows: (1) PRESENT CLAIRVOYANCE, in which the objects perceived by the clairvoyant are present in time and in s.p.a.ce, although invisible to normal sight; (2) s.p.a.cE CLAIRVOYANCE, in which the clairvoyant vision includes objects and scenes removed in s.p.a.ce from the normal perception of the clairvoyant; and (3) TIME CLAIRVOYANCE, in which the clairvoyant perceives objects or scenes removed from him in past time, or future time.

While the general methods of manifesting these various forms of clairvoyant power are practically the same, yet the nature of these several forms of phenomena vary considerably, as we shall see when we come to consider them in detail in the following pages: this is particularly true in the case of the distinction between past-time clairvoyant phenomena, and future-time clairvoyant phenomena--the difference between the perception of what has been, and that which has not yet been.

Present Clairvoyance.

In what is called Present Clairvoyance the objects perceived by the clairvoyant are present in time and in s.p.a.ce, at the moment and place of the perception, although invisible to normal sight. It is seen at once that if the object seen clairvoyantly is present in time and in s.p.a.ce to the clairvoyant, and yet is incapable of being perceived by the normal sight of the clairvoyant, then that object must be capable of being perceived only through vibrations above the normal range of the human senses. Perhaps the precise nature of this cla.s.s of clairvoyant perceptions will be better understood by a more detailed description of the objects actually perceived by clairvoyant vision of this mode of manifestation.

The Human Aura.

In the first place, this mode of clairvoyant vision discloses the interesting phenomena concerned with the human aura, or psychic atmosphere which surrounds the human body for a s.p.a.ce of several feet, a.s.suming an egg-shaped form. A writer says on this point: "The trained clairvoyant vision sees the human aura as a nebulous hazy substance, like a luminous cloud, surrounding the person for two or three feet on each side of his body, becoming more dense near the body, and gradually becoming less dense as it extends away from the body. It has a phosph.o.r.escent appearance, with a peculiar tremulous motion manifesting through its substance. The clairvoyant sees the human aura as composed of all the colors of the spectrum, the combination shifting with the changing mental and emotional states of the person. But, in a general way, it may be said that each person has his or her distinctive astral auric colors, depending upon his or her general character or personality. Each mental state, or emotional manifestation, has its own particular shade or combination of shades of auric coloring. This beautiful kaleidoscopic spectacle has its own meaning to the occultist with clairvoyant vision, for he is thus able to read the character and general mental states of the person by means of studying his auric colors. The human aura is not in a state of calm phosph.o.r.escence, however. On the contrary, it sometimes manifests great flames, like those of a fiery furnace, which shoot forth great tongues, and dart forth suddenly in certain directions toward the objects attracting them.

Under great emotional excitement the auric flames move around in swift circling whirlpools, or else swirl away from a centre. Again, it seems to throw forth tiny glistening sparks of psychic vibrations, some of which travel for a great distance.

The Prana Aura.

"The clairvoyant vision is also able to discern what is called the 'prana aura' of a person. By this term is indicated that peculiar emanation of vital force which surrounds the physical body of each and every person. In fact, many persons of but slight clairvoyant power, who cannot sense the auric colors, are able to perceive this prana aura without trouble. It is sometimes called the 'health aura,' or 'physical aura.' It is colorless, or rather about the shade of clear gla.s.s, diamond, or water. It is streaked with very minute, bristle-like lines.

In a state of good health these fine lines are stiff like toothbrush bristles; while in the case of poor health these lines droop, curl, and present a furlike appearance. It is sometimes filled with minute sparkling particles, like tiny vibratory motion. To the clairvoyant vision the prana aura appears like the vibrating heated air arising from a fire, or stove, or from the heated earth in summertime. If the student will close his eyes partially, and peer through narrowed eyelids, he will in all probability be able to perceive this prana aura surrounding the body of some healthy, vigorous person--particularly if that person be standing in a dim light. Looking closely, he will see the peculiar vibratory motion, like heated air, at a distance of about two inches from the body of the person. It requires a little practice in order to acquire the knack of perceiving these vibrations--a little experimenting in order to get just the right light on the person--but practice will bring success, and you will be repaid for your trouble. In the same way, the student may by practice acquire the faculty of perceiving his own prana aura. The simplest way to obtain this last mentioned result is to place your fingers (spread out into fan-shape) against a black background, in a dim light. Then gaze at the fingers through narrowed eyelids, and half-closed eyes. After a little practice, you will see a fine thin line surrounding your fingers on all sides--a semi-luminous border of prana aura. In most cases this border of aura is colorless, but sometimes a very pale yellowish hue is perceived. The stronger the vital force of the person, the stronger and brighter will this border of prana aura appear. The aura surrounding the fingers will appear very much like the semi-luminous radiance surrounding a gas-flame, or the flame of a candle, which is familiar to everyone."

The Auric Colors.

Another writer says of the clairvoyant perception of the human aura: "As he looks, the clairvoyant will see himself surrounded by the luminous mist of the aura, flashing with all sorts of brilliant colors, and constantly changing hue and brilliancy with every variation of the person's thought and feelings. He will see this aura flooded with the beautiful rose-color of pure affection, the rich blue of devotional feeling, the hard, dull brown of selfishness, the deep scarlet of anger, the horrible lurid red of sensuality, the livid grey of fear, the black clouds of hatred and malice, or any of the other hundredfold indications so easily to be read in it by the practiced eye; and thus it will be impossible for any persons to conceal from his the real state of their feelings on any subject. Not only does the astral aura show him the temporary result of the emotion pa.s.sing through it at the moment, but it also gives him, by an arrangement and proportion of its colors when in a condition of perfect rest, a clue to the general disposition and character of its owner."