Class. Book.. J Gojpghtfl?. COPYRIGHT DEPOSm ^Uncommon Sense versus Common Sense. By RAYON. COPYRIGHTED BY M. RAYON, IN THE YEAR 1900. All Rights Reserved. ADDRESS P. 0. BOX, 927 CHICAGO, ILL., U. 5. A, >46?5 0L.VO CONTENTS. The Advantage of Being ^N^ Acquainted with Yourself Uncommon Sense versus ( £ommcm Sg.nsc Plain Facts Some Naked Truths Healing. — Argument Healing. — Work Modern Surgery The Dual Entity 1 ben: library mf Con^t OCT 1 !900 C«#ynfht tntry SECOND COPY. Or*>v*r«t *» 0«0t* [MViStON, O CT 22 1S0Q Continuance of the HigherH*>e"lf Explanation of Portraits Valuable Testimony Quotations ILLUSTRATIONS. Elfa. Among the People Elfa. Passing into Magnetic Sleep. Preparing for the Separation of the Two Selves Elfa. The Physical Self Dormant. The Higher Self away at work Page I 3 5- 9 14 23 3 1 33 4i A46 47 48 A B C Zo all in Search of ^rutb- (Sreettn^ Comprehension of the Self embraces mastery of all the secrets worth knowing. Do you know what your "Self" may contain, besides what physical science can tell you? UNCOMMON SENSE versus COMMON SENSE. The dictionary says that the word "common," I used as an adjective, means commonplace, ordinary, ^ mean, vulgar. If the word common can be construed to desig- nate anything other than inferior — of poor quality — even when applied to sense, I fail to see by what grammatical process it can be done; how the sig- nificance of the word can be twisted into an honor- able distinction. If a man himself, his child, his horse or his dog were called common he would certainly not feel flattered; but if credited with the possession of com- mon sense he is expected to consider it a great compliment. The dictionary defines "uncommon" to mean not common, not usual, remarkable, strange, rare, scarce, unwonted, unusual. If thus, we are not already misled at the very outset of learning, by the book that is accepted as authority for the meaning of words, Uncommon 3 2 Sense must assuredly be better than the common kind. Aside from a mere distinction of quality, there is an Uncommon Sense that has been occulted by materialism, by the brute selfishness of individuals, by the greed of power and wealth of institutions that, ostensibly established for the purpose oP' enhancing the welfare of the people, oppose and do their utmost to suppress all knowledge that threat- ens their sway over the public mind, or that presages a diminution of their income. 3 Very little reflection will suffice to show that the 44 money so absorbed is too enormous for any esti- . mate, and that this vast share taken from the earn- to ings of the producer is, after all is said and done, nothing more nor less than a crippling tax upon the ignorance of those who furnish the means wherewith ■* they are successfully kept in bondage. Herbert Spencer said (and he speaks for Huxley and all the rest of the modern physicists) : — "All phy- sical inquiries pursued to the end bring us down to metaphysics and face to face with an insoluble problem. " j That is to say — your knowledge is confined to material things, and there is no use looking further. Is that common sense? It certainly must be; no other quality would adjust itself to an arrogant 4 philosophy that demands authoritive recognition, and then confesses itself staggered by the first ques- tion relating to what is best worth knowing; to what, ^in fact, alone is worth knowing, because this know- ing entails a cognition that is free from error and confusion. It is just such dead-lines as these that have held the g 4 non-thinking rabble in check for ages, and they have fully paid the penalty for their submission to such factionistswith their health and their earnings, jg dealing out incessant contributions to individuals and institutions who promise to solve the problem of their everlasting misery and ills, and who fail to fail g 2 in one thing only— and that is, in the extortion of hard earnings under what is nothing short of false pretense. PLAIN FACTS. There is no lack of proof that some persons pos- sess faculties and powers that upset all theories of so-called ''regular" science; that such persons are capable of achievements that are inexplicable to ^J those who possess only common sense. The higher force of the mind, cultivated to a *£ tangible potency, well developed magnetism and ■> steadfast faith, are a triune of power that can not I be overestimated. History, both secular and religious, confirmed reports of groups of investigators celebrated for their wisdom, voluminous authenticated records of individual experiences, prove beyond the shadow of -> any doubt, that an imponderable force, capable of limitless application, has been known and utilized in all ages; that wherever this potency is brought under control through a corresponding affinitive agency within the Self, it assumes the character of a, curative principle that no disease can withstand, and that can be exercised in various other ways often fully as important as the dislodging of physi- cal ailments, — but ever incomprehensible to the ordinary understanding. It is not difficult to make sure of the actuality of this power if the mind of the inquirer is really open ^ to conviction; but the coveted, absolute certainty is for those only who are able to arouse within them- 00 selves the faculties necessary to such works — at least ^ J sufficiently to cognize truth despite apparent n2 variance with prior fixed beliefs. / Serious effort in this direction leads to the devel- opment of that "uncommon sense" through which, 5 alone, all the higher human attributes can find unre- strained expression; through which, alone, the tre- mendous force of concentrated thought can be realized; through which, alone, the miraculous heal- ing power can be conceived; through which, alone, 5 all other personal powers, erroneously termed super- normal and mystical, become intelligible. 20 Modern science has long pretended to maintain an arrogant and contemptuous attitude toward the |- exponents of these disputed higher human forces; because, if the superior faculties and powers, innate 2I -in many individuals, were admitted to be what they really are — indiscriminate endowments from Nature, like the talents — and the arousing and cultivation of ~ 7 these higher attributes had been thus encouraged, — the masses would assuredly be stimulated to a self- 4 g examination that must result in the acquisition of "uncommon sense," and that would speedily and t plainly show them the absurdity and danger of, for instance, the prevalent reckless use of drug poisons and other fallacious endeavors to coerce Nature with artificial expedients The common-sense motive for resistance to the encroachment of such knowledge must be obvious to the dullest. The vaunted "regular" systems in vogue would crumble under the light of truth brought to bear upon them by a general recognition of the suppressed powers of the Self. That science did realize and anticipate an inevita- ble crisis is proven by the great ado made over Hyp- notism. A clamor was raised that could no longer be hushed by mere denial or a pretended air of amusement; the demand for an explanation of the personal powers, manifested with ever increasing 6 frequency, was too vehement and widespread to be further ignored; hence, in its desperate straits, science seized upon Mesmerism, dissected and remodelled it to suit the limited capacity of its "common sense" members, and calling it Hypno- tism, announced a wonderful new 7 discovery. The usual proceeding. The new science (?) was grasped at with all the avidity displayed by an exhausted swimmer at sight of a life preserver; every medic who sat out his office hours in despondent contemplation of his framed diploma, at once started to climb this slim ladder to fame and fortune. It is not intended to belittle Hypnotism as an art per se — as Kant would have it — u das Ding an sich" — because a great amount of good has, indisputably, resulted from the very extensive exploitation of this scientific hybred ; but when science asserts that it has solved the problems of Magnetism, Mesmerism, etc., through Hypnotism, it only adds another error, or misrepresentation, to its interminable list of deceptions and self delusions. Hypnotism is all right in the place where it belongs; but in its best aspect it is a mere makeshift to retard, as long as possible, the more and more- imperative demand of the people for a lucid and conclusive explanation of those individual powers that, however far they may be beyond the horizon of the common-sense physicist, are now too well attested, and too familiarly known to all independ- ent investigators to be again subject to scientific * occultation. Many are, of course, still duped by this latest sub- terfuge, but those w r ho are awakened from the 7 scientific stupefication into which they had been "suggested" by the "common-sense" exposition offered in Hypnotism, are rapidly realizing the fact that Hypnotism, after all is said that can be said in its favor, is but a futile attempt to produce the won- derful results achieved through Magnetism — without Magnetism. One excellent effect must be credited to the Hyp- notic craze, and that is, that an enormous number of y intelligent people were thereby led to serious inves- tigation, and to the discovery that the barriers erected by the physicists are only further proof of their incapacity to solve the all important problem of bettering the condition of the - masses who are forced to submit to their dictates, even to the extent of being inoculated with animal corruption and denied the choice of physicians who could cure them when all the resources of the presumptuous "regu- lar" have proved of no avail. B SOME NAKED TRUTHS. The present is called an age of startling discover- ies, but the majority of observers note progress in material achievements only. The leaders in this category of advancement are those who invent, con- struct and direct the operations of the most effect- ive instruments of warfare , machinery that slaughters at wholesale, at long range. The admiration of the non-thinking rabble for this order of progressionists is unbounded, and their material rewards are too rich to bear comparison with any tribute to works for the welfare of humanity. The principal direction in which the lauded arts and sciences are at a standstill is in that of the well- being of man — individualized. There is no difficulty in obtaining a consensus of expert judgment on the all-important subject of what is the best kind of a hole to make in a man to place him hors du combat, but there, is an ever in- creasing diversity of scientific conclusions in regard to what is good for the human biped. If the most homeopathic rate of comparative progress had been made in the art of curing ail- ments by the so-called "regular" schools of medi- cine that are so lavishly encouraged, so bounteously supported and so assiduously protected, as that achieved in the crippling and killing of men — the pick of nations, the men selected for their physical perfection, the best specimens to improve the races — we would be a good deal nearer the long and anx- iously awaited millennium. Anent the shackling of the King of Sin, which is the main feature of the promised universal release 9 from trouble, as stated in Revelation XX — that u Satan will be bound one thousand years" — there is one striking similarity between that prophecy and the predictions of modern sages who have an- nounced the destruction of the earth — and that is, that it is a long time coming. The difference in excellence of these prognostications must be accorded to the ancients, but only because they were not foolish enough to set a fixed date for the occurrence. With the devil still rampant and at large, and the earth yet unshattered, we can not avoid the contem- plation of cruel realities that persist in obtruding themselves, and will do so, — unless an improbable miracle eliminates selfishness from the composition of humanity — as long as we continue to be whirled around in our customary orbit, and without a more definite assurance that the chains for the Regent of Hades are being forged, and that they will suffice to hold him — when he is caught. Despite all the wanton sacrifice of life under the banner of the cross, and the ceaseless absorption of incalculable wealth, religious beliefs are further from unity than ever before. At no previous time ,have dissensions been so bitter and so general. Doubt of the efficacy of ecclesiastical mediation is steadily increasing, — and well it might! The ever 6 7 multiplying exposures of sinfulness and criminal acts of the most heinous character, committed by clergymen, the aggressive effrontery with which they ^strive to secure personal advantages, have opened 9 the eyes of the people to the fact that, at least a goodly part of the so-called servants and ministers of God are composed of the same inferior, tempta- 10 ble and selfish material that constitutes the person- ality of the vilest sinner to be found beyond the pale of the church. While certainly fully aware of all this, as they must be, if there is any, however common, sense among them, — churchmen still profess to wonder 4 why their congregations are dwindling away! Only those who are unwilling to be disillusioned fail to remark the difference between the laboriously ° prepared, cold intellectual efforts heard in the costly, up-to-date churches of a mongrel' aristocracy that flaunts its ostentatious pomp in the faces of the sorely stricken poor under the very shadow of the cross of Christ, — and the fervent outbursts of true inspiration that do penetrate even the flinty crust of materialism; burning words from a surcharged soul that partakes of all the misery of its kind; men who are conscious of the true spirit within, who not only preach Christ, but who do his chosen work among the sick and desperate and sinful. Despite the fact that millions of defenseless creatures, horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs — all inoffensive, trustful and capable of great affec- tion — have been slowly tortured to death; the help- less poor, in and outside the hospitals, abandoned children in the asylums, the demented in the living hells in which they are incarcerated, and from which their remonstrances and cries of agony can not reach 1 5 the public ear, — have been subjected to scientific ex- perimentations that rival the most blood-curdling atrocities of that ineffacable nightmare of reality — the Inquisition, — despite all these legally sanctioned horrors there are more and worse physical and men- tal disorders to-day than the world ever knew in its 11 profoundest ignorance. More abominable still, 44 there is a long list of diseases that have their origin l- in this art (?) of medication itself! The adminis- tration of mercurial compounds alone, according to the ablest exponents of the science (?), being •* responsible for more permanent disablements and unnatural deaths than all the wars and epidemics combined. And this is but one of a hundred and more virulent poisons in common daily use among the so-called regular physicians, — death-dealing sub- stances that any fledgling doctor, authorized by his diploma, may give to, or order for patients. If the drug kills, the error is buried with the cadaver; the diploma shields the scientific murderer from all unpleasant consequences. The certificate of death he is authorized to issue as attendant physician obliterates all traces of the fatal consequences of ignorance, error and reckless experimentation. The energies and capabilities of the "common- 2 g sense" order of medical men seem to have been ex- hausted in the endeavor to secure laws that give them the exclusive right to practice; (practice is a well chosen word, as it is about all the majority do), and as they have been successful in many States, through ignorant and corrupt politicians, in securing protective legislative enactments that exclude all those who could cure the many hopeless sufferers upon whom this arrogant, jealous and greedy science (?) has pronounced the paralyzing verdict "incurable," there is every reason, from the "common sense" point of view, why they should conclude that there is no further occasion for them to make any effort to improve themselves professionally, 12 Having secured the monopoly of the doctoring business, and besides, exemption from legal punish- ment for whatever fatal mistakes they make in dosing and cutting, why should they, always from the common sense standpoint, of course, bother about more effective methods for curing people? The true aspect of all these common-sense busi- ness philanthropies is fairly outlined in the follow- in £ : . Is it reasonable to expect that an enterprising undertaker, or as they now progressively style themselves, "funeral director/' who has a hundred or more horses eating their heads off, thousands of dollars invested in fancy hearses and carriages, and an extensive stock of caskets for the rich, and coffins for the poor, and piles of mortuary frills besides, should wear out the knees of his trousers praying for a diminution of the death rate? From every phase of existence, from that of the child still in the womb until the grass grows over the mortal remains, it will be found, with the exercise of any kind of sense, that some one possessing "common sense" is calculating upon a profit from every personal inclination, requirement, intended act, or chance happening; and a little more reflec- tion — and one must be dull indeed not to discover that — will show that the heaviest tax imposed on this earth is levied upon that particular branch of ignorance which involves the incalculable cost and misery due to a lack of understanding of the Self. 13 HEALING.— ARGUMENT. ^ The highest aim anyone can fix upon is to aid the -'physical, mental and spiritual betterment of less favored fellow-men. Histories, that are of any value from the point of 10 impartiality, as well as veracity in other respects, and well attested individual evidences without limit, .prove conclusively that there is a healing, or restorative principle in Nature, that needs only to be known and intelligently exploited to effect bene- ^ficial changes in the human organism that defy enumeration and description; effects that are en- tirely beyond the power of art to achieve. The innumerable well confirmed good results from treatment of diseases, by a variety of methods and processes other than medication, had in recent years — if any doubt were entertainable of the older testi- monies — makes it impossible longer to deny these natural curative agencies. S Mental, magnetic and faith cures have been per- formed in all times; water-cure and massage are natural modes of helping to restore health that an- igtedate organized science by a good many centuries. The movement cures are nothing more than ela- boration and classification of the most primitive 2I methods for stimulating vitality by increasing the circulation of the blood, causing deeper breathing and profuse perspiration. Hot air treatments have g been in vogue with the aborigines as far back as tribal customs can be traced. All these modes of eradicating sickness are fully proven as efficacious; they have undergone no changes, in so far as the fundamental principles 14 are concerned, and none have been discarded. In all these features the natural healing methods differ radically — most radically — from the medical sy- stems. Those who deny these things must make choice of assignment to one or the other of the following groups: the first, — the man-wolf who will deny any- 54 thing that presents a possibility of depriving him of ,- a material advantage however much it might benefit * fellow-men ; the second, — the incorrigible ignoramus ^ who resists truth because there is no other means whereby he can make himself conspicuous; this is a sceptic. The third class are the much to be pitied hordes who have never been privileged to have thoughts of their own, hence can not be blamed for 73 their ignorance. The preponderance of human ailments are in- disputably due to estrangement from -Nature. The best proof of that is had in the rapid convalescence of individuals who, as a last resort, leave the crowded cities and live out of doors. It is true that even in this return to Nature for help, there may be a risk. Some die at the seashore where many others revive; some die on the mountains and in the forests, where restoration to full health and vigor is common. The usual professional verdict of those who or- dered the change of — whatever it was — is, that those who died were too far gone to be benefitted. More often than not that is an error. It is less seldom an error when the removal advised is the well understood doctors' ruse to get rid of a patient whose deplorable condition is hurting his profes-57 sional reputation. Very frequently the final collapse is brought about only by the victim of science being 15 sent to a place just opposite in effect to the one to which he should have gone. Mitigating reasons may be found for failures that are free from suspicion of selfishness; but if the adviser, with or without diploma, is afflicted with fixed ideas as to the infallibility of some one partic- ular method, and he rejects clear proof of the virtue of other processes; then, without distinction, all such who venture tb meddle with the disordered organisms of other persons are bound to do more killing than curing, and become as culpable as those who induce fatal results by the reckless exhibition of powerful drugs or the criminal practice of intention- ally prolonging human suffering for gain. The fanatics who ceaselessly rail against medica- tion are of exactly the same calibre as the stupid or mercenary medics who stuff their patients with drugs, like the damnable wretches in Strassburg stuff geese. There are physicians who will receive golden crowns, and play on jeweled harps, and rest on the driest and fleeciest of clouds, if unselfish devotion to suffering humanity is rewarded, as it is said ; and a few natural healers will sit with them, and discuss the mistakes both made in commendable efforts to relieve mortals from pain. Whoever attempts to pass critical judgment on the merits and demerits of natural healing methods should keep the following points distinctly in view: So-called medical science has no excuses to offer for its endless errors, on the ground of lack of encour- agement and material support. Everything has been granted it, even the unpardonable outrage of vivisection, experimentation on the defenseless 16 poor and the ruthless desecration of the dead. What have the exponents of natural healing meth- ods had? Never a favor from a government; never an im- portant sum of money, from any source, wherewith to establish an institution where the facts known to them could be demonstrated; where the truths assured could be freed from error, as must be from all knowledge that has not been systematically set in order. All they have had is persecution— a relentless persecution — and who is responsible for this? Those to whom the care of the public health is intrusted; who should welcome with open arms any and every fragment of knowledge that may in- crease their competence to fulfill this sacred trust. The plain truth is that the common-sense contin- gent that predominates so largely among regular practitioners, takes a very common-sense view of the situation, i. e., they see that the general recog- nition of the truths relating to natural healing would mean the sweeping away of so large a part of the drugging systems that not a vestige of reason would remain upon which to rest a semblance of right to the business monopoly now enjoyed by this gigantic imposture. The least intelligence must see the one and only possible motive for the ever alert and violent opposition to such encroachments. There can be but one such motive — and that is, a selfish- ness without parallel, because it entails a total disre- gard for the welfare of humanity. When the fact is fairly considered that medical science has had an uninterrupted and unlimited moral support, as well as the most unstinted mate- rial help, and that, moreover, even the constitutional 17 rights of citizens have been curtailed for its benefit, — that all claims (not evidence) of alleged import- ant discoveries have been, and are, given the widest possible gratuitous publicity and fulsome praise, before it is proven that these are deserved — what then should be said of the healers, and their unde- niably superior showing, under exactly opposite conditions? My insistence on the necessity of clearing the mind of all bias in order to reach the truth would lose weight if the line were drawn abruptly at this point. Another view is necessary to maintain my asseveration of impartiality. If we could be forced to believe the assertions of advertising wonder-workers, who stop but little short of professing to perform miracles as easily as a baker makes loaves of bread, we must conclude that the world is full of Mahatmas, Adepts, Magicians, Necromancers, Sorcerers and witches; that there are even more of those special agents and living- instruments of the occult world now at large than were presumed to exist in the most prolific period of earlier so-called dark ages. We are asked to believe that these persons can accomplish all sorts of wonderful things through acquaintance with some one of a score of unorthodox 'isms that contain a fragment of a basic, but at the same time elusive truth that, however undeniably this truth has ever been in evidence, is unattainable except to him who, first of all, understands himself. It may be of service to some readers here to state that any person who advertises himself as a Mystic, Mahatma, Adept, or as a member of a brotherhood, such as the Society of the Rose and Cross (Rosi- 18 crucian), etc., may be set down as a barefaced fraud. Those best entitled to such distinctions are the very last who would make use of them for selfish ends. When these various 'isms are critically exam- j ined by investigators who are competent, hone-st and (really free from mental bias, it is invariably proven that, however astounding some attested results may be, isolated achievements are claimed as proof of ability to produce the whole kaleidoscope of phe- nomena and miracles; also that the named method by which the feat, of whatever nature it may have been, was accomplished, is some resurrected single idea, refurbished and elaborated into an inflexible system or doctrine, calculated to impress the unin- formed with an unparalleled magnitude of power. It is not difficult to find all the evidence that can be desired, of the fact that every craze or fad that is at all well started, will very quickly have a large fol- lowing; that it is very much easier to win renown as 4^ a miracle-worker than as a good tailor or shoemaker A sound reason for this otherwise inexplicable credulity is found in the unhappy condition of humanity as a whole, and the consequently natural eagerness with which means are sought to banish, or at least ameliorate physical suffering, mental misery and spiritual non-ease. However vehemently this readiness to believe in alleged chimeras may be condemned, and ostenta- tiously derided by a certain class of alleged scient- ists whose chief claim to distinction rests upon being "regular,'' and however vociferously it may be inveighed against by orthodox theologians, it is overwhelming proof of the failure of the endless promises of the former to eradicate diseases of the 19 flesh, and of the equally palpable inability of the latter to set the human mind at rest on spiritual requirements. But above all there is a testimony in these widespread beliefs that, even without the superabundant mass of proof of extraordinary forces of the human mind, of psychic powers with- out definable limit, and spiritual endowments beyond the grasp of any intellect, certainly much 7^ more than outweighs the arrogant denials of the greedy, jealous and ignorant horde of pretenders who, by nothing more than the flaunting of an empty title, expect to compel the submissive acqui- esence of the multitude; and that testimony is, the ever present consciousness of, and unquenchable faith in an uncommon sense, in a superlative human power, that can be traced throughout all ages and among all races as far back as research can be ex- tended. The foregoing will suffice to show how the views of both sides are distorted. Nothing need be said to guide the judgment of the reader to a sensible con- clusion; the true facts have been stated, I think, as clearly as concisely. One matter that is pregnant with importance is jgthat the best men of the regular schools are giving more and more attention to what they term the vis medicatrix naturce, which, freely translated, means curative force in Nature. Many of the most justly celebrated physicians admit that they place more dependence on the arousing and stimulating of this innate potency by simple, natural means, than upon any of the devices of their art. This being true, which it indisputably is — what can we infer from that but the full recognition, on 20 the part of the foremost men in medical science, of the fundamental idea of all forms of natural healing? There are many ways of starting a fire, each effective in its way; but however expert we may be in igniting any substance, the phenomenon, per se, remains unknown. The two points are analogous; the vital principle, like the latent fire, may be compelled by various processes, but sometimes the last one tried will pro- duce the desired effect while those from which im- mediate results were confidently expected failed utterly. Much, of course, must remain unsaid in this little volume for want of space, but I hope that despite its brevity it wall help many to realize that true progress is only possible where the mind is open to all truth, even though such truth, at the first glance, may seem totally at variance with all prior con- ceptions. It must be borne in mind that all knowledge re- ceived from external sources is subject to modifi- cation by subsequent impressions of similar charac- ter; that what may seem proper to call a definite conclusion at one time may, after all, prove of no more worth than the most ephemeral opinion. Only that primitive and now, in civilized man, al- most occulted faculty — called instinct in animals and intuition in human beings — when in a normal state of activity, insures absolute certainty, definite knowing (clearly distinguished from mere believing). This is direct cognition — knowing without reasoning. This faculty is capable of a cultivation and de- velopment to so high a degree that ail ordinary means of attaining knowledge shrink into i n ^ignific- 21 ance beside it. As soon as we return to Nature, truly penitent for our desertion, the evidence of this truth presents j itself on every hand. To go no further we have it in the works of the bee, the birds and the beaver; we find it everywhere where the vain and egotistical biped called man has not yet taken it upon himself to substitute his arts for thq natural gifts of the Al- mighty Architect of the Universe. From whatever point we start in search of an un- mistakable truth — not an apparent verification se- lected because it is in accordance with some re- j* spected authoritive view — a basic truth — we will find, ^however round about the path pursued, that we are compelled to return to^the Self for final and satis- fying proof. If I have been clear — then it will be seen that ab- solute proof of truth is to be found within the Self only, and those who are able to grasp this very simple fact are not long in discovering a higher Self that explains all else that is best worth knowing. If we make the acquaintance of this dual Self we learn how to live; we recognize our actual require- ments, like animals in their original state; we live to a natural end without fear of death because this ac- quaintance dispels all lingering doubts about the future beyond the grave with which that Self has no concern whatever. HEALING.— WORK. I think it has been very plainly proven that there 10 is a basic healing factor in Nature, and that all that is needed is to know how to arouse and use it. 3 If proof is desired it is easily obtainable — of splendid results from each and every one of the drugless methods of curing. The sceptics — professional and amateur — attribute all such cures to the imagination. Well and good. If the imagination is capable of being worked upon to the extent of making a sound, healthy and useful being out of a bed-ridden cripple who has spent all he had with Science only to be assured that he will be a helpless wreck all the rest of his mortal days, — then. I think Science should be severely taken to task for not investigating so tremendous an aid in the restoration of health. The human mind is no greater mystery to the un- learned than it is to the most erudite. Tons of books have been written by men with a quarter alphabet appended to their names as evidence of technical wis- 4 2 dom, purporting to explain mental action and power without venturing beyond the bizzare barriers erected by the physicists. The great bulk of these books are 3 of exactly the same degree of practical value to hu- manity as the observations of the astronomers who sit in costly observatories to tell of distances to and between celestial bodies said to be millions, and even billions of miles remote from the earth. This latter order of Scientists emphatically deny a specific influence of the planets and stars upon human kind on this globe, because they, themselves, are too dull and material to sense anything, and 23 in view of that fact it is certainly impossible to sec any utility in such work other than the gratification of a professional vanity and the more substantial one of being comfortably housed at somebody else's expense and drawing a salary. If the powerful instruments that are said to be capable of determining the composition of a star hundreds of millions of miles away could be turned upon the interior of man, and give the physicists a better idea of organic function, they would be of some use; as it is they are of no human service whatever. All that is of real use to know, in this regard, from any practical point of view, was dis- covered ages ago by men who did not possess even a common spy glass. After asserting with the utmost vehemence, for untold years, that no sight could penetrate opaque substances, science received a great shock by the discovery of Professor Roentgen's invention (the X 5 y ray). As this, to the physicist and materialist, how- ever astounding discovery, is nothing more than proof that under certain favorable conditions the visual organs are capable of penetrating solid bodies, is it not very presumptuous to insist that there is no sight that can accomplish this without artificial aid? We have ample and unqualified testimony of men justly renowned for their immense learning, and also for ttueir keenness of observation, to the effect that there is a^ision that is entirely independent of the common organ of sight, a perceptive sense that knows no obstacle whatever, either as to distance or density! See page 2j Ref. note du PreL 24 I am loath here to speak of my own work, antici- pating a possible wrong impression that I am court- ing notoriety. That such an opinion would be an error, is, I think, very conclusively proven by my not taking advantage of the extensive publicity given me at the time of my discovery of Elfa's ex- traordinary powers. The sole motive that impels me to risk such a mis- conception is that in speaking of my work with Elfa I am in no wise dependent on any foreign source of information, and am able to state what I know to be absolute facts from personal experience verified by observations now extending over seven years. I look upon the discovery of my famed Psyche as a full reward for a lifetime of earnest study and devotion to a good cause; and those who have searched the world over as I have for what I found at last, will best, and perhaps only, understand my profound gratitude, and also my reluctance to risk being misjudged in the evening of my life. I trust that this explanation will suffice as a good reason for alluding to my own work. Elfa is beyond doubt the most generously en- dowed Psyche of whom there is any available ac- count. Her powers are of so wide a scope that they embrace all the various phases of psychological achievements. Being thoroughly informed of all that has been accomplished by de Puysegur, Wienholt, Rcichen- bach, du Prel and others, with scores of .sensitives at their command, I realize, as few others could, the boldness of the foregoing assertion, but I am there- fore no less conscious of my perfect right to make this statement, and that without qualifying it in any way whatever. 25 When I say that some persons are endowed with faculties that enable them to see and hear what is in- visible and inaudible to others, I am stating so old and well known a fact that it seems absurd to repeat it here; but when I say that Elfa has made examina- tions of persons that described the entire interior human structure in its most minute detail, and more- over, that she gave information that was at once rec- ognized as indisputable, regarding the functions of certain organs which Science can not explain, I ex- pect a good deal of wise head shaking and denial. And yet I have in this told but a mere fragment of a great truth. As there is, however, no need of more to be said here than what actually relates to the subject in hand, I will only say that Elfa, in magnetic sleep, is able to see every fibre in the human organ- ization, describe its normal or abnormal state, and what caused the change, if any; and also what is re- quired to restore the affected parts to a natural con- dition. I have made such examinations through Elfa tor regular physicians who prided themselves upon their profound knowledge of anatomy, and to say that they were astounded over what they heard — things far in advance of all their unquestionable knowledge of physical anatomy — will certainly not give an adequate idea of their surprise. Moreover, some of these examinations were made for persons who had long been on the roster of incurables, but who clung to Science for palliation of their sufferings. The information obtained through Elfa enabled some physicians for whom such diagnosis were made to ar- rest disorders promptly, and it is but right to state that some of these cases were noted medical puzzles 26 over which the resources of the Science had been fully exhausted. If any man ever made a thorough and exhaustive study of the higher human faculties and forces that man is Carl du Prel, the celebrated German savant. He says: "Somnambulic clairvoyance, already known to Plato and Aristotle, in the temple-sleep and in the old mysteries, and in recent times estab- lished by a w r hole succession of experiments, is now a fact which must be reckoned with, and to which our systems " (medical) " must adapt them- selves. " A well developed Psyche sees into the human body as clearly as a person with perfect sight sees into a glass case. When this higher perceptive sense is trained in a specific direction, and there is a natural inclination on the part of the Psyche to that particular class of work, there is absolutely no limit to the information that may be thus obtained. Having this rare advantage I have been able tc verify many things upon which I dared not claim, even to myself, the right to assert that I had reached an acceptable conclusion. However I regret to end this subject here, the necessary brevity is apparent in the measure of this volume. I may on that account find myself in the peculiar predicament of having either said too much or too little. If it is the latter, the difficulty will be easily overcome by those who are seriously interested. With the opinion of those who neither do, nor want to understand, I do not concern myself :n the least. I am so thoroughly conscious of the truth of all I 27 have said, that I feel sure that those at least who have made efforts in the same direction, will believe that assurance, however much a lack of experience may prevent others from benefitting from my inten- tion to the degree hoped for. To sum up the practical parts of Natural Heal- ing—we commence with the material part of the Self — the body proper. Cleanliness, plenty of fresh air, sufficient exercise, and a sensible choice of food taken in moderation, are the chief factors in main- taining health. When physical disorders are occasioned by viola- tion of the simple hygienic laws we resort to simple natural methods of re-establishing harmony. As the body is composed of substances that are all taken into the stomach, that organ is first to be considered. It is here where nearly all of the human ailments have their origin. The elimination of ac- cumulated wastes in the alimentary canal is the first process in the restoration to a normal state. It re- quires but little sense to understand that all attempts to relieve the stomach and bowels by artificial ex- pedients are dangerous. In the first place every ad- dition to the troublesome contents of the alimentary passages is liable to complicate matters. If such evil does not become immediately apparent — it is almost certain to demonstrate itself in some local trouble through a chemical change in the secretions. It is thus that all sorts of difficulties are created, that are subsequently specifically treated by the Medics without regard to the first cause. In view of this indisputable fact it is certainly plain that every particle of drug must add to the complication al- ready existing. 28 f Enemas are hardly less unnatural than drugs, and if an emergency does seem to justify their employ- ment it should be with as much caution as ought to be exercised in the taking of prescribed medicines of which the composition is unknown. The sequent consideration is, that where these artificial aids become a habit, you are enslaved to their continuance, and the functions that should be natural, automatic and performed without incon- venience, become more and more troublesome un f *' a crisis is reached that is bound to lead to dire con- sequences. The effect of the mind upon the dige^. :ve process is also to be well considered with the first cause of organic discord. Powerful as an unconsciously pro- duced mental effect may prove in creating an ab- normal state — the counter-effect — as when mind cure, suggestive therapeutics or any similar mode of treatment is relied upon for relief — must necessarily be a conscious action of greater potency than the one that produced or helped create the evil, and must be understandingly exercised. While in nowise disposed to under-rate any of the methods that act through the mind upon the phys- ical organism, I maintain that they are all, without exception, of but limited service where the first re- quisite, obviously, is purification that demands phys- ical processes, and where nothing else will serve. Here then, we find our best friend in water-cure— the various forms of baths, the sweating-out pro- cesses with hot air, steam and the solarium. Massage is one of the most helpful adjuncts to Natural Healing, and together with the movement 29 cure is indispensible in all cases where the trouble is caused by stagnation of the blood. Magnetism is the superlative potency that will dislodge disease when everything else has failed, but like with Mind Cure, or any other mode of treatment, a thorough knowledge of the primary physical requisites will multiply its beneficent offices. I will state here for the benefit of those who have ^already made a serious study of these matters that I •* discovered through Elfa a complete magnetic system as full of details as the circulatory, the nervous and the lymphatic, with distinct centers, poles and plexuses, all of which become invisible when rigor mortis sets in, an-d that of course defy search with the scalpel and microscope. Much good has been done through Hypnotism and in this much lauded specialty we have the best effort of Science to deal with the imagination." I hope that this point will not be overlooked by students. As Hypnotism is but a pretext of knowledge to cover the lack of understanding of the magnetic principle in our composition and its relation to a uni- versal power, I do not deem it necessary to say more on that subject. All the foregoing in a nut-shell is — that there is abundant good in all of the various healing methods, medicine not excepted by any means, but to expect to perform miracles through any one method alone is about as sensible as to claim a thorough knowl- edge of harmony because one can strum out the musical scale in one key. 30 MODERN SURGERY. However difficult it may be to find evidence of real progress in medicine, it is not to be denied that surgery has made gigantic strides. When it is known that abnormal growths have been removed from living persons, that weighed almost as much as the persons from whom they were taken, it gives a good deal to think about. When serious dislocations, and bad fractures of bones are encountered, the natural healer who will undertake to replace the former or set the latter must be more than bold. Broken bones are some- times successfully united by healers, and trouble- some inflammations, that refuse to yield to art, have frequently been quickly reduced by natural processes. There can be no questioning the fact that many have been spared from amputation of a member by the intervention of an untitled healer, but it is also no less certain that a good many others would have become deformed or crippled for life if surgical aid had not been sought. Again, it is not to be denied that there is altogether too much indiscriminate cutting — a reckless slashing that has surpassed all bounds of sense and reason. The morbid desire to carve and the temptation to exact the always considerable honorarium for an operation, are two features that have been the causes of untold mischief. Unsexing women has become an almost common practice, while the truth is that not one case in twenty justifies the removal of the ovaries. How far reaching this mania is can only be esti- mated by those who reflect that a woman's mission is to bear children, who in turn become mothers and 31 fathers. If one woman is deprived of the faculty of propagation, how many lives are thus indirectly prevented from coming into existence — say, only in five generations? The appendicitis craze is another surgical fad that has become a serious menace. Not a day passes that does not record fatal results from this scientific delusion. The victims of the knife who have been operated upon for cancer are beyond enumeration. Science insists that there is no help for those afflicted with this dreadful disease, except that given on the operating table, and despite that assertion there is no end of proof that great numbers who had been told they could not live unless they submitted to this scientific butchering, were fully cured by the so- called "cancer quacks." It is indisputable that there are natural means by which abnormal growths can be checked, dispersed and eliminated from the system, and if that is properly done the cure is complete; whereas, there are but few cases where a bad cancer was cut out, and the person survived the operation, that another did not soon form, and few survive a second surgical ordeal. The scientific folly of the present time is inocu- lation; injecting the rotted blood of animals into the human organism! Science has labeled this horrible filth "serum/' A future generation of sci- entists will, no doubt, discover that their predeces- sors were monomaniacs. No two classes could be more helpful to each other than the surgeon and the healer. 32 THE DUAL ENTITY. Without the least desire to offend, I must say that anyone who still doubts the actuality of a dual personality can not lay claim to much progress in 54 psychical research. There is no end of proof that Sensitives in mag- netic sleep have described localities, houses, the interior of dwellings, their furnishings and odd objects; also persons and their actions at specifically stated times, all of which was proven to be exactly as stated. It is, of course, understood that those 5" giving such descriptions had no prior knowledge of the places and persons so reported, and that all pos- sible collusion was carefully and completely guarded against. Only those who are too lazy or too ignorant to inform themselves in regard to matters that concern them most will doubt or deny this statement. This is intended for students more particularly who are wont to air their knowledge of psychological impos- sibilities. We have here to do with well confirmed facts. All we need to consider is — was the distant locality, house, furnishings, a lot of bric-a-brac, and a score of people transported to the apartment of the sleeper (a most ridiculous view), or was this sleeper, or a part of him or her, conveyed to the scene in question? The person per se was there before the investigators in trance or sleep, whichever term is preferred — motionless. The question is, what part of this person obtained the information? It could certainly not be gathered by any miraculous extension of a faculty, because it required an intelli- gence to make the observation and report. In some 33 instances more than vision was involved, because sounds and conversations were described Here is where all halt. The sole reason why this problem has not been solved heretofore is that the still higher perception of the perfect Psyche was lacking. It is by no means as rare a thing as the unin- formed believe, to meet with persons who are capa- ble of such feats, although the Sensitives employed, are themselves unconscious of the process by which their work is accomplished. I solved that problem through Elfa, and in this, above all else, I had the fullest proof of her wonder- ful perfection and versatility as a Psyche. The solution is as simple as it must be astounding to those who are unprepared to hear it. All will agree that lands, houses and people can not be moved several hundred miles, or more, in five minutes or less, even with the aid of the whitest or the blackest of magic; neither will the extension of one, or even two perceptive senses, without a directing intelligence, be accepted as a rational explanation of the phenomenon-- by any one capa- ble of independent thought. If then, these obvious impossibilities are rejected, what is the sole remain- ing explanation? Clearly that a part of the Self — entire in itself — a thing that is competent to observe, judge, reason and report, — left the sleeper and made the journey to the place described The fact that such persons are unable to account for the manner in which they obtained such informa- tion does not detract from the importance of the performance. (Such achievements have been too often verified to be doubted). All that has been 34 wanting to make the matter intelligible is a satisfac- tory elucidation of the process. All these things are so plain, so simple and so natural to me that I am surprised when reminded that all this will probably sound like extravagant 7 1 fiction to many — perhaps even to a majority of those who read this book. If it has been my good fortune to discover an occulted truth, it is evidently also my plain duty to speak of it without hesitation, 4 — without fear of any consequences to myself from that common sense which I know to be the chief obstacle to that particular progress that alone can, and ultimately must insure the much needed better- ment of conditions for humanity. Before giving my own very simple explanation I want to say that the Society for Psychical Research in England has done more to enlighten the world on all these obscured subjects in a strictly scientific and rational manner than all other organized bodies and educational institutions together, — also that few are able to estimate the magnitude of the debt owing to those tireless, unselfish plodders, for the grand work they are doing for the benefit of mankind. In this association there are no moral cowards who are afraid to relate what they discover beyond the hedge of common sense; all are striking proofs of the vast difference between the common order of sense and the uncommon. In order to bridge the great gap between so- called exact science that peremptorily demands facts ithat can be demonstrated to anybody with any kind of sense, and the freer knowledge of things that are'"* best worth knowing but that are scientifically in the 35 limbo called the "unknowable," the S. P. R. pioneers are obliged to go slow and prove the absolute cer- tainty of their advance step by step under strictly scientific methods which they are also compelled to ^ formulate and perfect as they press onward. That is a herculean task, but it is being done. Gurney, Barrett, Meyers, Podmore and Bramwell opened the quarry and dugout the solid blocks for the founda- tion and laid it too, so no earthquake will unsettle it, while Hodgson kept busyhuntingup material that could not be blown away by even a skeptical tornado. Sir William Crookes, as brave as alert, is already forging the golden spike that will nail down the last plank that will enable the exact and the orthodox to cross the chasm without danger of being swept off their feet by the rush of the empirical tidal wave that is now surging about the worm eaten underpinning of the dungeons where the scientific "Don't know's" are hidden from public view. If coffifent to plan every forward stride by a sci- entific rule, and be assured that you are making no mistake, and running no risk, and you are not in a hurry — then by all means get the back numbers of the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research and digest them well. If, however, the progressive spirit is too strong for your patience to be curbed to that extent, and the wings of your higher Self warrant the attempt of a flight before the S. P. R. bridge is finished, and proved safe, the following brief recital of some points in my experience will be helpful for a start into a realm as yet free from Scientific sign posts — that so often point the wrong way. 36 The state in which Elfa performs her wonder- ful work is a most carefully induced form, as ^ well as degree, of Magnetic Sleep. She is totally^ unconscious; the mental processes are arrested; muscular relaxation is complete. So far I followed a method known more than a century ago. I knew that I had a lucide (or som- nambule) but that was not all I wanted. I lapsed into a complete passive state from an intense con- centration on the essence of my desire, and all at once the riddle was solved. So sure was I that the proper direction had come to me that I did not hes-59 itate to apply the process indicated instanter. Within twenty minutes I was in communication with the real personality — the higher individuality of Elfa, a distinct entity — as much so as if it were an entirely different person. And here, by the way, a certain author who wrote a quite plausible and apparently logical treatise on Hypnotism, and whose book came to market at a (for him) very opportune time, and who was very rashly accepted and widely quoted as an infallible authority, — among many other mistakes made the very grievous one of stating that somnambules are incapable of inductive reasoning. If he had stated that somnambules de- veloped through Hypnotism are incapable of induc- tive reasoning I would have no occasipn to refer to this matter, but as the assertion remains unqualified, it would be wrong to let this serious error stand without correction. In the first place a perfect Psyche (as distin- guished from the Hypnotist's somnambule) has no need of the reasoning process because in this state, 6° if it is perfect, cognition is direct, positive and in- 37 controvertible — as I found to my chagrin when ex- pecting full confirmation of pet preconceptions. Moreover, 2 met a most determined opponent at many points where I thought my knowledge unas- sailable, and got all the inductive and deductive reasoning the most exacting reasoner could hope for from any source. I said something about being chagrined. I confess to bsing so at being taught facts about Magnetism and the higher life by a mere child; facts that, in some instances, at least, proved her the master and I the pupil. I am amenable to reason and open to truth, 'but do not yield easily when I feel sure of my right to an opinion. I fought hard to make a fair show- ing for my lifetime of hard thinking, hard study, long journeys and money expended in the exploita- tion of this vast subject — but I was beaten on the very qiound I was born upon, and that, as I said — by a rr.ere child! PL-^it and submissive to truth as we may be, when our h^ir is well silvered it is a rude awakening to have our cherished certainties blown to the winds by the breath of a youngster not out of the teens — by a being without any experience in the world, without, as then, but not now, a particle of knowledge (in the ao termed normal state) of the matter so masterfully put, and proven by the aroused dual Self. Never in my long and eventful life was the conceit, so completely taken out of me as during these in-' Instigations. But there were heads behind tha