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WORKS BY 
 DR. HALPHIDE. 
 
 MIND AND BODY. 
 
 Hypnotism and Suggestion applied in 
 
 Therapeutics and Education. 
 
 12mo., silk cloth, gilt edge, 231 pages, $1.00. 
 
 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 A Study of the Inner Life of Man. 
 12mo., silk cloth, gilt edge, 228 pages, $1.00. 
 
 THE QUEST OF AN IDEAL. 
 
 A STORY. 
 
 12mo., silk cloth, g-ilt edge, in preparation. 
 
 For sale by booksellers everywhere and by 
 
 the Authors' Publishing Co., 
 
 3217 Wabash Avenue, 
 CHICAGO. 
 
 Books sent postpaid on receipt of price. 
 
THE 
 
 PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM 
 
 A. C. HALPHIDE 
 
 A. B., M. D., B. D., Etc. 
 
 author of mind and body, the theory and 
 
 practice: of suggestive therapeutics, 
 
 CLIN^CaL hypnotism, etc., etc 
 
 FIRST EDITION 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHORS' PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 1901 
 
>**' 
 
 & 
 
 % 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 CONGRESS, 
 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 MAY. 20 1901 
 
 Copyright entry 
 
 S^*- V, '? e f 
 
 CLASS O/XXc. N«. 
 | COPY B. 
 
 COPYRIGHT 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR 
 
 MCMI. 
 
TO 
 
 MY PARENTS 
 
 THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS MOST 
 
 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 At the beginning of the Psychic century, as 
 the 20th century is called, it is fitting that a 
 work dealing with the elements of Psychic Phe- 
 nomena should be forthcoming. The need has 
 been felt by many who like myself have been 
 studying and teaching these subjects and have 
 repeatedly been asked by students to refer them 
 to such a work. This volume is offered to 
 meet the demands for a simple, concise state- 
 ment of the elements of Psychism. 
 
 The author has made no attempt to write an 
 exhaustive treatise. For several years, as a 
 member and director of the Esoteric Extension 
 he has led groups of students in their studies 
 in this department. This book is the outcome 
 of these courses of study, and is given to the 
 public practically in the same form that it was 
 presented to the Groups. 
 
 In preparing the work, everything has been 
 sacrificed to simplicity and plainness. No meta- 
 physical discussions have been indulged in, 
 although the temptation to do so was great. 
 And if it does for the general reader, what his 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 students say it has done for them, namely, 
 simplifies and explains a rather mysterious sub- 
 ject, he will be satisfied. 
 
 The many readers of the author's work Mind 
 and Body, An application of Hypnotism and 
 Suggestion in Therapeutics and Education, who 
 have favored him with letters enquiring about 
 various Psychic Phenomena, it is thought, will 
 be fully answered in the present volume. Hop- 
 ing that the same generous treatment and favor- 
 able reception may be accorded to this work- 
 that was given to Mind and Body, the author 
 intrusts it to the hands of his readers. 
 
 A. C. H. 
 
 No. 3217 Wabash Avenue, Chicago. 
 
 January, 1901. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 PSYCHISM. 
 
 Psychism an unexplored country — The Psychic — The 
 way he is developed — The power of Suggestion — 
 Psychic Healing — Thought Transference — Clear 
 seeing and hearing — Soul measurement — Sleep and 
 Dreams — Somnambulism and Trances — Is there a 
 future life? — Psychism a study of man's inner life. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE PSYCHIC. 
 
 Man the highest product of evolution — A physical and 
 mental being — The Psychic described — The defini- 
 tion of mind — The duality of the mind — The Psychic 
 defined — He functions at will on the subconscious 
 plane — The Psychic not a new creation — A classi- 
 fication of Psychics — Modern Psychics — The His- 
 tory of the Psychic — The extreme estimates of the 
 Psychic — The personalities of the Psychic — The 
 Psychic a marked character — The Psychic not 
 wholly objectionable — He aims high — The Yogi as 
 an example — Jesus a better example. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 The Psychic is a development — Exercise is the condi- 
 tion of all development — There is no best method — 
 Many methods have been used — The ancient meth- 
 ods — An ancient method quoted — Modern methods 
 are modifications of the old — Sitting in the Silence — 
 The power of silence — The breathing exercises — A 
 caution — Suggestion is a means of soul-culture — 
 The use of Hypno-Suggestion — Ascetic austerities in 
 development — The Japanese ascetic — The Yogi — All 
 should understand Psychic development. 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SUGGESTION. 
 
 Ideas are contagious — Suggestibility constitutional — 
 Two laws of mind — Suggestion defined — Sugges- 
 tion in the waking state — The idea of free will 
 must be modified — The power of Suggestion — The 
 school boy — The student of music — Suggestion as a 
 cure — A case — Hypno-Suggestion — Hypnotism de- 
 fined — Hypnotic versus waking Suggestion — Hyp- 
 notism as a Cure — Illustrative cases — Suggestion in 
 Psychiatry — Autosuggestion — The manner of self- 
 suggestion — Its value — A living monument of Auto- 
 suggestion — Illustrative cases — The limitation of 
 Autosuggestions — Suggestion in subconscious con- 
 ditions — The cases selected for illustration. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 
 
 The importance of the subject — The existence of a 
 Psychic power — Mental medicine — A half dozen 
 systems of the same — An underlying law common 
 to all — A question of Psychology — The duality of 
 mind explained — Proofs of double consciousness — 
 Illustrative cases — The amenability of the mind to 
 suggestion — Manner of increasing suggestibility — 
 The subconscious mind suggestible — Subconscious 
 mind controls the bodily functions — Power of the 
 mind over the body — The law of Suggestion the law 
 of cure — An illustration of the same — Absent treat- 
 ments — The value of faith — Necessary conclusions. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TELEPATHY. 
 
 Telepathy a central factor in Psychic Research — 
 Thoughts are mental creations — Telepathy defined — 
 Telepathy in the waking state — Thought-Trans- 
 ference a common experience — It was known in an- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 cient times — Rapport facilitates its operation — A 
 well known author's experience — Unintentional 
 plagiarism — A Telepathic experiment with cards — 
 The theory of absent treatment — Telepathy easy to 
 study — Telepathy in natural sleep — It usually 
 occurs in dreams — Sees a brother murdered — Ex- 
 periments — A Telepathic phantasm — Telepathy in 
 Hypnosis — Hypnotism a great aid to its study — A 
 case of mind lcaamg — The notes of an evening's 
 experimentation — Delayed perception — The Profes- 
 sor's opinion — Telepathie a trois. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CLAIRVOYANCE AND CLAIRAUDIENCE. 
 
 Clairvoyance and Clairaudience real facts — The avenues 
 which lead to the mind — Sense perceptions depend- 
 ent upon the mind — The seen and the unseen relative 
 terms — The impenetrability of matter and the X- 
 ray — Clairvoyance and Clairaudience in con- 
 scious states — The phenomena intimately related 
 with Telepathy — Natural and developed power — The 
 Author's experience — A Clairvoyant reading veri- 
 fied — Clairvoyance and Clairaudience in the 
 subconscious state — Intentional and unintentional 
 experiences — The subconscious states — Experiments 
 with hypnotized subjects — A young man sent to 
 Cuba — A young lady sent home — A trip to South 
 Africa — Describes a Battle — She tells the time — 
 Conclusion. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PSYCHOMETRY. 
 
 The intimate relationship between supersensuous facul- 
 ties — Definition of Psychometry — Mysterious consti- 
 tution of nature — Dr. Brewster quoted — "The book 
 of nature" — History of Psychometry — The Psy- 
 chometrist's development — Psychometry in the 
 waking ^ state — Its application — A Mineral Psy- 
 chometrist — Psychometry in Medicine — An experi- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ment with a piece of wood from the Mount of 
 Olives — Psychometry deals only with the past — 
 Some unscrupulous Psychometrists — Psychometry 
 in Hypnosis — The states compared — Experiment 
 with a souvenir from Niagara Falls — The Hypnotic 
 visits the falls — The Psychic atmosphere of coun- 
 tries — America's position — Psychometry needs care- 
 ful study to place it upon its proper footing. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 SLEEP AND DREAMS. 
 
 The importance of the subject — Sleep and Dreams com- 
 mon to man and animals — The cause of errors — 
 Sleep — "Nature's sweet restorer" — Definitions — 
 Physiology versus Psychology in sleep — Sleep a 
 subconscious condition — An experiment showing 
 the relation of Sleep to Hypnosis — The key to the 
 Phenomena of Sleep — Dreams — The ancient concep- 
 tion of Dreams — The "stuff that Dreams are made 
 of"-*-Dreams defined — The causation of Dreams — 
 Physiologic Causes — Psychologic causes — An An- 
 cient illustration — A Suggested Dream — Telepathic 
 Dreams — A Clairvoyant Dream — The influence of a 
 room or place — The meaning and value of Dreams — 
 The study of Dreams. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 
 
 The Subconscious States— The Eastern classifications 
 of them — Somnambulism — It belongs to the phe- 
 nomena of Sleep — Definition — Natural Somnam- 
 bulism — Two examples of Sleep-walking — Professor 
 McClure's opinion — Morbid Somnambulism — The 
 case of a French lady — Artificial Somnambulism 
 — Hypnotic experiments — The power of divination — 
 Amnesia — Trances — Kinds of Trances — Definition 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 — Spontaneous Trances — "Wrapped into visions" 
 — Autotrances — They are self-induced and self- 
 limited — The profound Trances of the Yogis — 
 Harides test — Trances and Theosophy — The Eng- 
 lish Teacher — Induced Trances — Suggestion in 
 Trances — The unreliability of Trance revelations — 
 Spiritistic Trances — Mediums hypnotized by Spirits 
 — Does the soul leave the body? 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 SPIRITISM. 
 
 The interest in the subject — Spiritism defined — Its re- 
 lation to immortality — The phenomena — A list of 
 the same — Fraudulent Phenomena — Genuine Phe- 
 nomena — The means of the productions — The 
 Medium — Kinds of Mediums — All Mediums Psy- 
 chics — Going under control — The manner of their 
 production — The Seances — "Fortune Telling" — 
 The Spiritistic circle — Slate writing — The messages 
 — Levitations— Materializations — Explanations of 
 the production — Spiritists' theory discarded — Hal- 
 lucination and Telepathy — This theory insufficient in 
 some instances — Indian fakirs — The mind creation 
 theory — "Thoughts are things" — Psychics can pro- 
 duce phantasms — Witchcraft — Some conclusions. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE FUTURE OF PSYCHISM. 
 
 A forecast of Psychism — Some problems to be solved— 
 The Psychic's character must be exalted — ■Psychism 
 must prepare the way for the development of such a 
 character — No Psychic influence without its power 
 for good or ill — The study of the future will be the 
 study of the forces within man — "Do coming events 
 cast their shadows before them?" — "If a man die 
 shall he live again?" — Our banner bears the motto 
 Psychism. 
 
 Appendix 213-228 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 PSYCHISM. 
 
 Psychism an unexplored country — The Psychic — The 
 way he is developed — The power of Suggestion- 
 Psychic Healing — Thought Transference — Clear 
 seeing and hearing — Soul measurement — Sleep and 
 Dreams — Somnambulism and Trances — Is there a 
 future life? — Psychism a study of man's inner life. 
 
 Psychism is still largely an unexplored 
 country supposed to be peopled by all sorts of 
 mysterious dangers and promising prospects. 
 To be sure, excursions have been made into its 
 unknown regions by venturesome explorers; \j 
 
 some have returned with the report that the 
 country is uninviting, full of dangers, and that 
 the Anakim possess the land and have advised to 
 avoid it; others have brought back the report 
 that it is a beautiful land, most desirable and 
 flowing with milk and honey, and have advised 
 to go up and possess it. These reports deserve 
 further consideration, and it is purposed to make 
 a more careful study of the subject. 
 19 
 
20 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 A study of Psychism includes an investiga- 
 tion into the character of the people who pro- 
 duce its phenomena, and a careful review of the 
 wonders and works performed. The reduction 
 of any subject to a scientific basis includes the 
 collection of its body of facts and an investiga- 
 tion of the laws and conditions governing the 
 facts. Let us adopt this method in the treat- 
 ment of the subject of Psychism. 
 
 The people who produce the unusual phenom- 
 ena form a most interesting body, and as we 
 consider them we are led to wonder whether 
 they are endowed with any unusual peculiarities, 
 or have by some means developed their occult 
 power. It seems that the latter supposition is 
 true, namely, that they have developed by pa- 
 tient, persistent practice psychical power suffi- 
 cient to differentiate them from the ordinary 
 people. The Psychic is the center around which 
 is arranged all of the facts and phenomena of 
 Psychism, therefore, he is a most important 
 factor in our investigation. It is worth while to 
 approach as near to him as possible and study 
 him in various lights, so that we may understand 
 what sort of a person he is. This is not diffi- 
 cult for one who has the patience and can do 
 so with an unprejudiced mind. He may be 
 watched as he works, conversed with about his 
 
PSYCHISM. 21 
 
 achievements, and often he will explain by what 
 methods he attained to his enviable position. 
 Those who will may follow him if they are 
 willing to pay the price in self-sacrifice and per- 
 severing practice, and duplicate his develop- 
 ment. The development that one has attained is 
 within the possibilities of another. 
 
 Suggestion, Simple, Hypnotic and Auto, is a 
 most important factor in the production of 
 Psychic Phenomena, for it furnishes the means 
 of opening the door which leads to the heart 
 of Psychism. By its aid the mind may be studied 
 in its most intimate operations, and by its aid 
 the constitution of the mind may be revealed. 
 Its artificial somnambulism and trances duplicate 
 spontaneous subconscious conditions and ex- 
 plain many of their mysteries that without it 
 would be inscrutable. Any attempt to unravel 
 the wonders of Psychism without its aid must 
 almost certainly fail, but we have and may use 
 it ; let us do so conscientiously. 
 
 This is illustrated in Psychism, in no connec- 
 tion better than in Psychic Healing. Psychopa- 
 is a young science, but it has already abundantly 
 proven its worth. Many persons who were 
 suffering from so called incurable mala'dies are 
 indebted to it for their present state of health. 
 There are many different schools of Psycho- 
 
22 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 curative systems, all of which might be classified 
 under the title Mental Medicine. The theories 
 of their curative action vary almost infinitely, 
 but surely the mind cannot have so many dif- 
 ferent modes of cure. Is it not possible to unify 
 these under one all-embracing law of mind? 
 There is as much need of unity here as there is 
 in religion. Let us hope that a solution of these 
 problems may soon appear. That man's mind, 
 or soul if you will, with its powers and destinies, 
 may soon be more fully understood. 
 
 That the mind has other modes of communi- 
 cation besides those depending upon the special 
 and general senses no longer admits of a reason- 
 able doubt. Thoughts speed from soul to soul 
 across wide distances of space independently of 
 sense connections. Telepathy is a fact. The 
 senses are not the only avenues that lead to the 
 soul ; many other windows exist if only they are 
 unbarred and opened. Open the windows of 
 your soul and let in the whole truth ! The win- 
 dow of one narrow creed is too meager to 
 satisfy the longings, aspirations and hopes of the 
 human soul. 
 
 The mind can look far away and see without 
 the use of the physical sight. The mind can 
 catch far distant sounds, without the aid of the 
 physical hearing. The beauties, pleasures and 
 
PSYCHISM. 23 
 
 knowledge of the world are not kept from the 
 mind though separated from it by many leagues 
 of space. Friend sees friend across distances of 
 thousands of miles, looking into the dear face 
 with loving felicitude, and hearing the sweet, 
 fond voice speaking words of comfort and cheer. 
 Is it too much to hope that the time may come 
 when these things may be done not occasionally 
 by the few, but frequently by the many ? I think 
 not. What man has done man may do, and it 
 seems that all men have been endowed with 
 faculties sufficient for these things. 
 
 Things as well as persons, it is said, speak to 
 the receptive mind. A bit of stone, wood or 
 cloth will tell its history to him who has faculties 
 keen enough to receive the message. A lock of 
 hair or a garment is sufficient material for the* 
 Psychometrist to tell the whole history of the 
 person who wore it. To such a person the walls 
 of a room reveal the secrets known to none but 
 those who took part in them. All pronounce 
 this development wonderful. Surely man is 
 wonderfully and fearfully made — mentally. How 
 fine are his perceptions when properly devel- 
 oped! 
 
 Sleep may serve not only as a period of rest, 
 but also serve as an opportunity to aid others. 
 We may lie down to sleep, to recuperate our 
 
24 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 own bodily forces, and at the same time lie down 
 to send helpful messages, encouraging and cura- 
 tive thoughts to persons who may be in need of 
 them, though separated from them by many 
 miles. Also, we may receive help from others. 
 While we sleep they may send us the same 
 helpful thoughts that it is possible for us to 
 send to them. Not only is this true, but it is 
 possible to do it in such a way that we may be 
 conscious of the exchange of friendly thoughts 
 or messages. One may waken in the morning 
 to find that he has a message from a far distant 
 friend or loved one brought not by post, but by a 
 far speedier carrier, one that speeds with the 
 wings of thought. 
 
 Somnambulists and Trance Mediums, when in 
 that subliminal condition become the receivers of 
 the thoughts of the world. Having put aside for 
 the time being the grosser sensibilities of the 
 mind, they are able to catch the subtle waves of 
 thoughts that come from various sources and 
 directions that are constantly knocking at the 
 door of the subconsciousness during their wak- 
 ing hours, but the gentle knocking is rarely no- 
 ticed during the ordinary conscious state. The 
 information and messages brought back from 
 these states of subconsciousness are often misun- 
 derstood and misinterpreted, but they are none 
 
PSYCHISM. 
 
 the less important, and it behooves us to find 
 some method by which a proper understanding 
 and true interpretation of them may be made. 
 He who does this will render mankind a great 
 service, which will not soon be forgotten. 
 
 The messages brought back from sleep, som- 
 nambulic and trance conditions are most impor- 
 tant. Their importance cannot be overstated if 
 it be true, as many claim it is, that they emanate 
 not only from the minds of the living, but from 
 discarnate souls, who have gone on before us 
 into the great unknown. It is said that these mes- 
 sages answer the ancient question that has re- 
 verberated and echoed down through the ages, 
 namely, "If a man die, shall he live again?" How 
 many of us have voiced this query as with aching 
 heart and tear-blinded eyes, we have stood over 
 the dead bodies of our loved ones ? Is it possi- 
 ble that by long search and careful investigation 
 we may find the answer, to the satisfaction of the 
 whole world of this momentous question? It 
 may be so. It may be so, but who can foretell 
 the future? 
 
 There is no science today confronted by such 
 momentous questions as those presented to 
 Psychism for solution. The answers to these 
 problems are demanded by an impatient, anxious 
 multitude to whom the answers mean more than 
 
 J 
 
26 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 life or death. How long must they wait or will 
 no answer be forthcoming? The future alone 
 can answer these questions, but we hope that 
 Psychism will be equal to the task. 
 
 If Psychism is made up of such facts and it is 
 possible to learn the laws governing their rela- 
 tionship, it is amply worth any man's while to 
 study and try to understand it. In the interest 
 that has been bestowed upon the physical sci- 
 ences man has too much overlooked and neg- 
 lected the study of his own mind. Is it not pass- 
 ing strange that we should spend our time on the 
 study of everything under heaven outside of self 
 and almost ignore the greatest thing in the world 
 — the mind? Let us not do so longer; let us re- 
 deem the past. If the things that attention has 
 been called to above are important and interest- 
 ing, begin to study them and if no better oppor- 
 tunity is available, follow the outline laid down 
 in the chapters which follow. Let us first study 
 the Psychic. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PSYCHIC. 
 
 Man the highest product of evolution — A physical and 
 mental being— The Psychic described — The defini- 
 tion of mind — The duality of the mind — The Psychic 
 defined — He functions at will on the subconscious 
 plane — The Psychic not a new creation — A classi- 
 fication of Psychics — Modern Psychics — The His- 
 tory of the Psychic — The extreme estimates of the 
 Psychic — The personalities of the Psychic — The 
 Psychic a marked character — The Psychic not 
 wholly objectionable — He aims high — The Yogi as 
 an example — Jesus a better example. 
 
 Evolution has given us man as its highest 
 product ; first, it gave us man with a body only 
 and then after an almost infinite stride it gave 
 us man with a body and a mind. Man is neither 
 wholly body nor wholly mind, although there 
 are some thinkers and teachers who hold and 
 teach these extreme notions. The one degrades 
 man to a mere animal without a soul, the other 
 exalts him to a divinity equal with his maker. 
 Man is neither physical nor mental only; he is 
 27 
 
28 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 more ; he is a synthesis of both. His life is not 
 lived on the low plane of the physical nor upon 
 the high plane of the mental, but upon an inter- 
 mediate plane where the physical and the mental 
 overlap and blend. Man may vary his plane of 
 living, he may cater to the body and live very 
 near the physical plane, or he may cater to the 
 mind and live very near the mental plane, but he 
 can by no means reach either extreme. Man's 
 life must ever be psycho-physical. 
 
 Between these wide limits all human beings 
 are found during their sojourn upon the earth. 
 Those who approximate the plane of the body 
 are said to live physical lives and those who 
 approximate the plane of the mind are said to 
 live psychical lives. The one turns back to the 
 time when man was a savage whose whole atten- 
 tion was occupied with a struggle for existence 
 and he was simply a hunter for food ; the other 
 forges forward toward a time when man shall 
 become an enlightened being whose whole at- 
 tention will be occupied with a struggle for 
 knowledge and he will be chiefly a hunter for 
 truth. These two classes of people are not sep- 
 arated by any sharp line of demarcation — they 
 are simply the extreme borders of the stream 
 of human life. The one being largely 'depend- 
 ent upon the physical senses, while the other 
 
THE PSYCHIC. 29 
 
 has learned to depend more or less upon the 
 intuitive faculties of the mind. It is among 
 these last that the Psychic is found; he is a 
 person who has learned to function upon the 
 mental plane more or less independently of the 
 physical senses. 
 
 In order that this conception of the Psychic 
 may be perfectly plain, it will be necessary to 
 define mind. Mind is the subject of all of our 
 conscious activities, the whole of the psychical 
 being of man. By mind we mean the soul, the 
 ego, the spirit, the conscious self which is self- 
 active and self-existant. Mind is double in its 
 nature and functions upon two planes, namely, 
 the conscious and the subconscious. The con- 
 scious plane is largely dependent upon the 
 senses and may be characterized as sensorial; 
 the subconscious plane or subliminal conscious- 
 ness is largely dependent upon the intuition and 
 the immediate perceptions and may be charac- 
 terized as intuitional. These planes of con- 
 sciousness will be more fully considered in an- 
 other chapter. Enough has been said to call 
 attention to their existence and explain their 
 relation to this subject. 
 
 The Psychic is a person who by natural en- 
 dowment or mental development is able at will 
 to function upon the subconscious plane more 
 
30 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 or less independently of the sensorial. In short 
 he is able to see without the aid of the physical 
 organs of sight, to hear without the physical 
 organs of hearing, to communicate over wide 
 distances without the aid of the physical senses, 
 and in many other ways justify his right to the 
 name by producing abundant psychic phenom- 
 ena. Let us approach and study this interest- 
 ing personage, enquiring into I. His classifica- 
 tion, 2. His history and 3. His personal charac- 
 teristics. 
 
 The Psychic is not a new creation unless it 
 be in name, for under various appellations he has 
 figured upon the pages of history since the be- 
 ginning of its record. In ancient times we 
 recognize him as the Seer, the Prophet, the 
 Sooth-Sayer, the Yogi, the Magician and many 
 others. It is unnecessary to more than call at- 
 tention to these, but there is a modern group 
 t) a! it will be necessary to more exactly define. 
 A complete list will not be attempted, and 
 doubtless every reader will be able to add others, 
 but enough will be given to indicate the con- 
 ception of the modern Psychic. 
 
 The Psychic was for some time and is still 
 by some writers conceived to be a Spiritistic 
 Medium. The Medium is undoubtedly a Psy- 
 chic, but the Psychic is much more than a 
 
THE PSYCHIC. 31 
 
 Medium. The Medium is the Psychic whb is 
 said to be able to communicate with disem- 
 bodied spirits and to occupy a position as inter- 
 mediate between the living and the dead; he is 
 the "one whose psychic force supplies the power 
 the spirit uses to produce the various phenom- 
 ena." 
 
 A Clairvoyant is a Psychic who is able to see 
 beyond the range or without the aid of the 
 physical organs of sight; that is, he sees with 
 the mind, and more often than not does so with 
 his eyes closed. A Clairaudient is a Psychic 
 who is able to hear beyond the range and with- 
 out the aid of the physical organs of hearing; 
 that is, he hears with the mind. 
 
 The Telepathist is a Psychic who is able to 
 communicate with others by the use of occult 
 mind forces beyond the range of and without 
 the aid of the physical senses. He sends thought 
 messages across wide distances of space, thou- 
 sands of miles, with none other than mind con- 
 nection. 
 
 The Somnambulist is a Psychic who in normal 
 or induced sleep produces the phenomena com- 
 mon to the waking state and usually has no 
 memory of his somnambulistic experience after 
 waking. A Hypnotic is a somnambulist who 
 when hypnotized is able to produce the phe- 
 nomena peculiar to hypnosis. 
 
32 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 The Psychometrist is a Psychic who has the 
 power of divination who can tell by being near 
 or in contact with a person, place, or thing, the 
 past history of the subject by simply holding it 
 in his hand. 
 
 Throughout the pages of history where ref- 
 erence has been made to the Psychic we every- 
 where find him misunderstood and consequently 
 misrepresented. Sometimes he was favorably 
 received by the people as a divine messenger 
 and his unusual and mysterious deeds were 
 ascribed to the aid of Divine power; at other 
 times the people would have none of him, be- 
 lieving that he was in league with the powers 
 of darkness and that his works so strange and 
 weird was performed by the aid of his satanic 
 majesty. In the one case the people were ready 
 to worship the performer and treated him with 
 the utmost consideration, showering gifts and 
 benefactions upon him ; and in the other case 
 they feared and shunned him and were ready 
 to heap all sorts of abuse and persecutions upon 
 him, even to the extent of putting him to death. 
 The history of the past is repeated in the his- 
 tory of the present, modified only by the degree 
 of civilization. The performers of occult phe- 
 nomena and psychic wonders are considered by 
 many today to be especially gifted with Divine 
 
THE PSYCHIC. 33 
 
 power and their works considered authentica- 
 tions of a Divine mission. By others, all per- 
 sons able to perform these mysterious mental 
 feats are considered as workers of black magic 
 and are shunned and feared, if not persecuted 
 to the aforetime degree. 
 
 The present estimates of the Psychic results 
 from two causes; first, the prejudice that sur- 
 rounds the phenomena, and second, the mys- 
 tery with which the performer surrounds them. 
 The past has given us the prejudice as its legacy, 
 but the mystery with which the Psychic inten- 
 tionally or otherwise has shrouded it, is by far 
 the greater hinderance to a popular understand- 
 ing of the subject. Many performers deck 
 themselves with a mantle of mystery and pre- 
 tend they have some occult power. It is time 
 for them to throw off the mantle of mystery 
 and to stand forth as men and women who have 
 simply developed unusual mental powers. The 
 mysterious is always feared. Let us make this 
 subject so plain and simple that any one who 
 will may understand it. 
 
 The personalities of Psychics are peculiar; 
 either the natural endowment or developmental 
 exercises necessary to the practice of their cult 
 renders them marked people. One is rarely 
 found who is not peculiar, not to say eccentric. 
 
34 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 Moreover, most of them have characters in 
 which there is a moral twist. This twist may 
 be considered by some to be an ornament, but 
 others will surely think it otherwise. Undoubt- 
 edly the strain of the psychic work laid upon 
 them may account for much of their moral lax- 
 ity. The Psychic after a seance is more or less 
 exhausted and feels the need of a stimulant 
 which he too often takes, with the result that 
 he not infrequently develops drug and liquor 
 habits. The physical condition of Psychics is 
 phenomenally bad, especially among those who 
 practice many ascetic austerities. There is a 
 belief more or less common among them that 
 the body must be etherealized by asceticism in 
 order to secure mental development. This is 
 especially true of Oriental Psychics. They are 
 usually pale and emaciated and might be de- 
 scribed as having "a lean and hungry look," 
 but their eyes, through which the soul looks, 
 are generally bright. These practices will be 
 more fully discussed in the next chapter. 
 
 Notwithstanding the truth of all that has been 
 said above, the Psychic is not always or wholly 
 objectionable. Indeed, he has many good quali- 
 ties, qualities that are thought by many to abun- 
 dantly offset the questionable ones. The law 
 of compensation not only demands payment for 
 
THE PSYCHIC. 35 
 
 this peculiar development, but also rewards him 
 for the losses he sustains by the quality of the 
 power he gains. What the Psychic gains and 
 the marvelous feats he is able to perform will be 
 amply set forth and illustrated in the subsequent 
 chapters. If Psychism is the latest and highest 
 development in the evolution of the mind, it is 
 worth the high price that must be paid for it. 
 This it seems to be, although there are some 
 who see in it only a vestigeal remnant brought 
 up from a lower plane of existence. It will be 
 possible to make a better judgment of this after 
 our study has been completed. 
 
 The pure life demanded of the aspirants after 
 soul culture by many of the methods of devel- 
 opments often bears fruit in a most beautiful 
 character. Renunciations are neither infre- 
 quent nor few. Selfishness, which is ' the es- 
 sence of sin or error, is uncompromisingly 
 stamped out. The Psychic aims high, and to 
 reach the goal of his high ambition means no 
 less a thing than the development of a Christ- 
 like life. Great is the reward of those who at- 
 tain this, for they become illuminated souls and 
 attain what is known as Cosmic Consciousness. 
 
 The Eastern Yogi would serve as an example 
 of the extreme Psychic, and his powers are the 
 wonder of the world. He leaves his home, fam- 
 
36 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 ily and friends, for a home in a cave or arbor 
 in the jungles or mountains and makes kinsmen 
 and friends of all living beings. His home and 
 country are the wide world. His raiment is the 
 cheapest that may be had, and his food the 
 poorest, consisting of water and a small amount 
 of rice. His occupation is to do good and to 
 sit and meditate waiting for power to come to 
 him, not from without, but from within. The 
 Yogi's life is so simple, sincere and self-sacri- 
 ficing that it is no wonder that the common 
 people of his country give him the title of "the 
 holy man." However, he does not meet our 
 idea of holiness, for while we admire his phys- 
 ical control, psychic power and wisdom, we 
 deprecate his improvidence and selfishness. He 
 should come forth from his seclusion and teach 
 what he has learned at so great cost, instead 
 of wasting his life in solitude. He comes under 
 the same condemnation that the Christian 
 ascetic and hermit do who think only of 
 escaping the evils of the world and not correct- 
 ing them. One had, appreciated and used the 
 powers and knowledge of an ideal Psychic, and 
 he went about doing good and teaching. His 
 name was JESUS. 
 
 The foregoing characterization of the Psy- 
 chic, it is thought, will give the reader a fair 
 
THE PSYCHIC. 37 
 
 delineation of that interesting character. In 
 outline it shows who and what he is, classifying 
 his various departments of activity and pointing 
 out his weakness and strength of character. 
 The methods and means by which the Psychic 
 is developed will be discussed in the next chap- 
 ter. 
 

CHAPTER III. 
 
 PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 The Psychic is a development — Exercise is the condi- 
 tion of all development — There is no best method — 
 Many methods have been used — The ancient meth- 
 ods — An ancient method quoted — Modern methods 
 are modifications of the old — Sitting in the Silence — 
 The power of silence — The breathing exercises — A 
 caution — Suggestion is a means of soul-culture — 
 The use of Hypno-Suggestion — Ascetic austerities in 
 development— -The Japanese ascetic — The Yogi — All 
 should understand Psychic development. 
 
 The Psychic is developed, not born. What- 
 ever may be true of the poet, this is true of the 
 Psychic. While natural endowment may vary 
 greatly in individual instances, none is so liber- 
 ally endowed that he does not need further de- 
 velopment. All are capable of some soul devel- 
 opment, many are capable of considerable 
 development and a few are capable of almost 
 limitless development. The condition of all devel- 
 opment is exercise, and just as the athlete must 
 undergo prolonged and persevering exercise 
 
 39 
 
 J 
 
40 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 and training before he may hope to attain the 
 goal of his ambition, even so must he who thirsts 
 for soul-culture or psychic development pa- 
 tiently persevere in the exercise of the faculties 
 he wishes to increase before he may hope to 
 attain any marked success. Symmetrical devel- 
 opment may be slow, but it is sure to those who 
 persevere. 
 
 Many have asked, "What is the best method 
 to use in psychic development?" It is safe to 
 say there is no best method. Methods are 
 numerous and varied; indeed, their name is 
 legion; every country and every cult of the 
 country have their methods. Most of them are 
 more or less mysterious and misunderstood, not 
 only by some of us, but by most of those who 
 practiced them. Much light is thrown on some 
 of these methods by modern investigators of 
 Psychic Phenomena and Esotericism. As oc- 
 casion offers, attention will be called to the oc- 
 cult aspect of these methods. It will be impos- 
 sible to even name, much less describe and ex- 
 plain all of them ; only a few of the more promi- 
 nent will be mentioned, and these because of 
 their use or abuse. In every case it is neces- 
 sary for the person who wishes to develop psy- 
 chic power to choose a method suited to his 
 condition and requirements. A person who 
 
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 41 
 
 would become a Spirit Medium would need a 
 different method from the one who wished to 
 develop telepathic powers, or the one who 
 wished to become a Somnambulist. This will 
 appear more clearly as we proceed with our 
 study of the several methods to be considered 
 immediately. 
 
 The ancient methods of soul-culture are so 
 similar as found described in the various an- 
 cient religious writings that they may be 
 grouped and studied at the same time. It is 
 surprising to those who have not made a study 
 of the subject to note how much the religious 
 rites of ancient as well as modern times depend 
 upon Psychic Development. This is significant, 
 as will appear as we proceed. The Brahmin 
 Yogi, the Buddhist Samana, the Egyptian and 
 Japanese Priests all use similar methods for 
 their development. Specific directions are found 
 in the Vedas and other sacred books for the 
 Yogi to follow, by which he may become an 
 Adept. In the Sixth Chapter of the Bhaga vad 
 Gita the following directions are found: 
 
 "Having placed in a clean spot one's seat, 
 firm, not very high nor very low, and formed 
 of skins of animals placed upon cloth, and Kuca 
 grass upon that. Sitting on that seat, strive 
 for meditation, for the purification^ of the heart, 
 
42 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 making the mind one pointed, and reducing to 
 rest the action of the thinking principle as well 
 as that of the senses and organs. Hording the 
 body, neck and head straight and unmoved, per- 
 fectly determined, and as if beholding the end 
 of the nose, and not looking in any direction, 
 with heart in supreme peace, devoid of fear, 
 fixed in the Brahmacharis vow, with thought 
 controlled and heart in me as the supreme goal, 
 he remains. Thus always tranquilizing the 
 heart in the Supreme, the sage, with thought 
 controlled, attains the supreme rest in Nirvana 
 that is my essence." 
 
 The Samana follows a similar course. Those 
 who have read the life of Buddha will recall the 
 manner of his sitting in the silence under the 
 Bo Tree and meditating. Likewise the Egyp- 
 tian Priests by prolonged meditation and trance 
 experiences attained to their adeptship. The 
 Japanese Priests, both Shinto and Buddhist, 
 reach a similar development by a somewhat dif- 
 ferent method. However, in fact they are not 
 wide apart. They have schools in which they 
 teach their children how to become possessed 
 by the gods, incarnated, and a large part of the 
 nation are able to thus become temporary gods 
 by possession. It will be plainly seen, from 
 what has been said, that all of these religious 
 
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 43 
 
 Psychics depend upon trance conditions. The 
 end of their developments, by whatever method 
 they reach it, is the trance. To fall into the 
 trance at will and in that condition perform their 
 wonders or obtain their information is the sum- 
 mit of their ambition. 
 
 The methods of the ancients has served for 
 the guidance of all ages that have followed. 
 The principle is always the same, however varied 
 the methods may be. It always depends upon 
 the control of the mind. This is not always a 
 conscious control for the phenomena of Psy- 
 chism depends upon the subliminal powers 
 which are usually below the floor of ordinary 
 consciousness. Briefly the more common mod- 
 ern methods of Psychic Development will now 
 be sketched. 
 
 Sitting in the silence is the most common, 
 as it is the most fruitful, method of soul devel- 
 opment. It is copied after the ancient Yogi 
 method described in the quotation above. The 
 character of the sittings is considerably varied, 
 and so the results obtained differ widely. With 
 some it is simply a silent meditation where the 
 mind is made passive, the sensibilities so far as 
 is possible set aside, and the mind made recep- 
 tive to thought impressions. By patient prac- 
 tice of this method the mind becomes increas- 
 
44 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 ingly sensitive to thought vibrations. Some- 
 times the impressions received are visual, that 
 is Clairvoyance is developed ; at other times they 
 are auditory, that is Clairaudience is developed ; 
 but more often the impressions do not take on 
 the form of visions or sounds, but are simply 
 thought messages, that is Thought Transfer- 
 ence or Telepathy is developed. The character 
 of the development is influenced by the desire 
 of the sitter ; this is especially true of those who 
 fall into trances. The persons sitting to develop 
 mediumship are likely to obtain phenomena 
 peculiar to mediums, such as hearing voices or 
 seeing thought forms, because such results are 
 expected. 
 
 Those sitting in the silence with strained at- 
 tention instead of passivity of mind obtain quite 
 different results. Some concentrate their atten- 
 tion upon a thought, an imaginary point in space 
 or upon the end of the nose, with the result 
 that they sooner or later lose consciousness 
 and fall into more or less profound trances". 
 These are autohypnotic trances. This form of 
 sitting in the silence should be indulged in with 
 extreme caution, for it endangers the sitter's 
 sanity. Not a few have gone from these sit- 
 tings to asylums for the insane. When com- 
 bined with this form of sitting in the silence the 
 
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 45 
 
 person reduces his physical vigor by asceticism, 
 the danger is still greater. 
 
 The power of silence is rarely fully appre- 
 ciated. However, sitting in the silence with 
 passive receptive mind could hardly be danger- 
 ous. There is a society whose members sit 
 daily in the silence during the noon hour. They 
 all hold the same thought in mind, but do not 
 concentrate the attention upon it for the pur- 
 pose of inducing hypnosis or self-entrancement. 
 Members of this society have assured me that 
 they have received great benefits from this prac- 
 tice. 
 
 Another, one of the best modes of sitting in 
 the silence, is that one which has for its aim 
 complete self-control and receptivity. The sit- 
 ter having gone into retirement in a quiet place, 
 seats himself comfortably, relaxes himself body 
 and mind and then proceeds as follows : Recall- 
 ing all conscious efforts and thoughts by an ef- 
 fort of will, he gathers them into the innermost 
 recesses of his mind and forces them to rest. He 
 repeats this voluntary recall and control of the 
 activities of his mind, saying mentally to him- 
 self as he does so, "will" and "still." As he 
 voluntarily gathers in his thoughts he says 
 "will," and as he quiets them he says "still." 
 After continuing this for a little while his mind 
 
46 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 becomes composed; then he discontinues the 
 effort and commands, allowing his mind to re- 
 main quiet and receptive. Patient practice of 
 this method will not fail of good results. 
 
 A word of caution should be given against 
 any method that renders the mind incompetent 
 to judge of and to intelligently accept or reject 
 anything that comes to it in these silent sittings. 
 Conditions of mind varying from passive in- 
 activity to subliminal states are included in this 
 caution. It is possible for one to develop a 
 receptivity of mind in which none of the facul- 
 ties that guard the integrity of the character is 
 off duty, but this is not a state of partial or 
 complete subconsciousness. The reason for 
 this caution is that persons in the state of mind 
 described are liable to be influenced by all sorts 
 of thoughts intentional or unintentional from 
 persons present or absent. 
 
 The breathing exercises furnish another 
 method for psychic control of no small impor- 
 tance. There are a considerable number of 
 these exercises scattered through the literature 
 on this subject, but they consist of modifications 
 of three principal exercises. These three exer- 
 cises only need be mentioned in this connection. 
 
 The first exercise consists of a simple rhyth- 
 
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 47 
 
 mical breathing in which the inspiration is deep 
 and the expiration is somewhat prolonged. Be- 
 ginning with inspiration four seconds and ex- 
 piration eight seconds, and then very gradually 
 lengthening the time. This exercise will soon 
 lower the number of respirations per minute 
 and give a better tone to the whole organism, 
 and should be practiced under the same favor- 
 able conditions that are observed for silent sit- 
 tings. In the East those who practice these ex- 
 ercises usually repeat some sacred word, as 
 Aum, which gives them a religious character. 
 
 The second exercise consists of a similar deep 
 respiration in the midst of which there is a re- 
 tention of the breath. A deep inspiration is 
 followed by a retention of the breath before the 
 prolonged expiration. The rhythm should be as 
 follows: Inspiration four seconds, retention of 
 the breath sixteen seconds, expiration eight sec- 
 onds ; the time to be very slowly extended as in 
 the first exercise. This exercise is very stimu- 
 lating and must be practiced with caution, as 
 soon as a slight dizziness is felt it should be 
 discontinued for the time being. 
 
 The third exercise consists of a respiratory 
 rhythm similar to the second, with the differ- 
 ence that the breath is held out instead of in. 
 The deep inspiration is followed by a prolonged 
 
48 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 expiration, after which the air is held out of 
 
 the lungs. The rhythm should be inspiration 
 four seconds, expiration eight seconds, exclu- 
 sion of air sixteen seconds. This last exercise 
 is found to be the most difficult for Westerners, 
 and should be practiced with extreme caution, 
 as the exclusion of the air from the lungs favors 
 the accumulation of carbonic acid gas in the 
 blood. A slight dizziness should be taken as a 
 warning that the exercise has been continued 
 long enough. Some practice these exercises 
 with a nasal modification, controlling the nostrils 
 with the thumb and forefinger, inspiring through 
 the left nostril, with the right one closed, keep- 
 ing both closed during the rest and expiring 
 through the right nostril. However, no advan- 
 tage is obtained in the use of this modification. 
 
 The Hindus from whom these exercises have 
 come have furnished a fanciful explanation of 
 their modus operandi, but their explanation 
 would be out of place here. Let it suffice to say 
 that the exercises are very stimulating and en- 
 able the practicers to perform many wonderful 
 feats. They develop a muscular and psychic 
 control difficult to obtain in any other manner 
 
 It will be observed that these breathing exer- 
 cises primarily influence the muscular control, 
 but at the same time they develop an electro- 
 
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 49 
 
 vital force which may be directed to any part 
 or even outside of the body. If while exercis- 
 ing one directs the attention to any one part 
 of the body, that part almost immediately is 
 filled with warmth and vital force. This ob- 
 servation will be followed by the knowledge 
 that not only physical but mental control 
 may be obtained especially by the third exercise. 
 The practice in order to be thoroughly effica- 
 cious should be continued for a number of 
 months, but even a brief practice will not be 
 barren of results. 
 
 The extreme potency of the breathing exer- 
 cises is shown most plainly in the Yogis, who 
 are able to simulate death. Authentic cases are 
 on record in which Yogis were able to be buried 
 for weeks and even months and afterwards be 
 resuscitated. These cases, if they do no more, 
 plainly illustrate the almost unlimited control 
 that may be had over the bodily and mental 
 functions. 
 
 Before leaving this subject let me repeat my 
 warning not to practice these exercises too often 
 or too long; twice a day is often enough. The 
 morning and evening hours, before eating and 
 before bedtime, are preferable. A very few 
 minutes at first will be long enough; the time 
 may be gradually increased, but even a slight 
 
50 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISH- 
 
 dizziness will be an indication that the practice 
 has continued long enough. 
 
 Suggestion furnishes a means for soul-culture 
 of considerable importance to the Psychic. In- 
 deed, Autosuggestion enters more or less prom- 
 inently into all of the methods mentioned, but 
 Hypno-Suggestion is referred to here. Only a 
 brief reference to suggestion may be made in 
 this connection, but a fuller discussion will ap- 
 pear in another chapter. 
 
 Hypnotized subjects not infrequently exhibit 
 pronounced psychic powers. In cases hypno- 
 tized for therapeutic purposes not a few in- 
 stances have been noted where the patient ex- 
 hibited supernormal powers of perception. 
 Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Clairaudience and 
 Psychometry have all been manifested. Two 
 methods have been used to develop these facul- 
 ties — i. Direct Suggestion during hypnosis, 
 and 2. Posthypnotic Suggestion. 
 
 The direct suggestion that the subject is able 
 to see or hear or know things occurring at a 
 distance is accepted, with the result that a re- 
 port is soon forthcoming from the subject. The 
 report may be a true account of the occurrences 
 or it may be simply a fabrication with no basis 
 in truth. If the subject is able to get the in- 
 formation he will do so and report it correctly; 
 
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 51 
 
 if not, he will draw upon his imagination for his 
 report. Any phenomena produced through 
 hypnotized subjects should be carefully verified 
 before accepting them as genuine for the rea- 
 son just mentioned. It is my experience that 
 many undoubted phenomena may be obtained, 
 but not a few will be the result of pure imag- 
 ination. Subjects dominated by the suggestion 
 that they can obtain the information desired 
 will report to the best of their ability — true if 
 possible, false if necessary. This is a common 
 phenomenon in hypnosis. 
 
 Posthypnotic Suggestion operates in quite a 
 different way. Suggestions are given to a hyp- 
 notized subject to the effect that he will be able 
 to develop psychic powers, that he will be able 
 to control his mind in such a way that he will 
 be able to disregard ordinary sense perceptions 
 and obtain knowledge by immediate perception 
 or intuition. These suggestions have a post- 
 hypnotic effect, enabling the subject to speedily 
 acquire psychic control. They act by inspiring 
 confidence in the person's mind and stimulating 
 effort and practice. There is no doubt that 
 much of the psychic power depends upon the 
 expectant attention. He that hath ears to hear 
 may hear, he that hath eyes to see may see, he 
 that hath a mind to understand may know — for 
 we hear and see and know with the mind. 
 
52 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 The influence of autosuggestion is well shown 
 in the incarnation trances of the Japanese. A 
 large proportion of that people, both male and 
 female, practice what is known as the posses- 
 sion trance. On various occasions and for 
 many purposes they become possessed of one 
 or other of their gods. The divine possession, 
 upon careful investigation, proves to be none 
 other than an autohypnosis, in which a sugges- 
 tion has been given that the hypnotee has be- 
 come the dwelling and mouthpiece of a god. 
 The practice of autohypnotization is begun in 
 childhood and continued through adult life. 
 j Schools for this purpose are conducted under 
 . the direction of the priests, in which the children 
 ! perform all sorts of antics. A boy will be called 
 I out of a class by the priest and he will seat him- 
 self upon a little mat, and closing his eyes will 
 proceed to fall into a state of autohypnosis. At 
 this point a wand is placed into his hand, 
 through which the god comes to take possession 
 of his body. The arrival of the god is an- 
 nounced by a shaking of the wand, followed 
 by a more or less convulsive spasm of the body. 
 The boy is now possessed, and immediately acts 
 like one possessed. He springs to his feet, 
 throws the wand violently away and proceeds 
 to perform all manner of acrobatic feats. 
 
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. 53 
 
 What is true of the child is true of the adult 
 the god incarnates in him in just the same way, 
 except that a little more decorum is preserved. 
 When the god has arrived he may be consulted 
 by the proper person, and he will speak his an- 
 swers with the lips of the possessed. It is plain 
 without an extended discussion or explanation 
 that the divinity in these cases is none other 
 than the subliminal self. It would be interest- 
 ing to give more details, but space will not per- 
 mit. 
 
 The ascetic austerities practiced in connection 
 with the various methods of psychic develop- 
 ments are well known, but their importance de- 
 serves a brief discussion. Most of the ancient 
 directions for soul-culture insist upon the ob- 
 servance of these austerities. All meats were 
 eliminated, and the diet limited to one of the 
 plainest and simplest sort, and in many cases 
 the renunciation of all society and the adoption 
 of a solitary life were insisted upon. These re- 
 quirements were doubtless based upon the 
 knowledge that some sorts of psychic phenom- 
 ena were more easily developed when the phys- 
 ical man was reduced to a low state of vitality. 
 Doubtless weak, hungry persons can more read- 
 ily fall into trances and see visions and dream 
 dreams, but the reliabilities of these visions and 
 dreams is not so certain. 
 
54 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 Perhaps no better example of these* ascetic 
 austerities can be given than the present prac- 
 tice of the Japanese aspirants after divine asso- 
 ciations. They almost starve themselves and 
 indulge in innumerable washings. An adult 
 man's diet consists of water and a small bowl 
 of rice once daily. His washings are more gen- 
 erous ; these are taken when convenient in the 
 open air under a natural waterfall, summer and 
 winter alike. At sunrise he bathes, in mid- 
 forenoon he bathes, at noon he bathes, in mid- 
 afternoon he bathes, at sunset he bathes, before 
 retiring he bathes, and at the ghastly hour of 
 two in the morning he gets up from his warm 
 bed and bathes. Where possible, these ablu- 
 tions are taken in natural water courses or under 
 waterfalls, through all the seasons of the year. 
 His diet and ablutions in due time reduce him 
 to the proper state of spirituality, but he con- 
 tinues them far longer than a Westerner would 
 dare to follow him. Thus he becomes a "holy 
 man" worthy and able to become possessed of 
 the gods. Any method which demands such 
 practices, or similar austerities, should be 
 shunned, for any psychic power that may not be 
 developed by men and women in a normal state 
 of health would better be left undeveloped. 
 
 It would be interesting to review many other 
 
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT. S5 
 
 methods used for psychic development, but 
 space forbids. It is plain from the methods 
 mentioned above that the road the Psychic must 
 travel to reach the goal of his high aim is not 
 strewn with roses. It is a serious undertaking 
 and he who would become a Psychic worthy of 
 the name must attain this end by patient, per- 
 severing practice. A Yogi makes it a business 
 of a lifetime. He leaves all distracting influ- 
 ences behind. Home, relatives, friends and 
 worldly cares are forever forsaken. His wants 
 are reduced to a minimum — a cheap linen gar- 
 ment, a few handfulls of rice and a supply of 
 water suffice for his needs. His home is an 
 arbor in a jungle or a cave in the mountains, 
 where removed beyond the disturbing voices of 
 his fellowmen he meditates and waits for the 
 marvelous power that sooner or later comes to 
 him. What he develops and obtains of power 
 and wisdom exists for all who are willing to 
 pay the cost in self-sacrifice and practice. All 
 have more or less psychic power, and a tittle use 
 will increase it. 
 
 In many instances all that is necessary to an 
 appreciation and understanding of psychic phe- 
 nomena produced by others is a little experience 
 of our own. It is not possible or expedient for 
 all to make a special development of their psy- 
 
56 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 chic forces, but it is necessary and expedient 
 for all to have a competent knowledge of the 
 subject, and we may have one if we will use our 
 perceptive faculties. In the succeeding chap- 
 ters we will endeavor to substantiate this state- 
 ment. Let us first turn our attention to Sug- 
 gestion. 
 
CHAPTER IV. ' 
 
 SUGGESTION. 
 
 Ideas are contagious — Suggestibility constitutional — 
 Two laws of mind — Suggestion defined — Sugges- 
 tion in the waking state — The idea of free will 
 must be modified — The power of Suggestion — The 
 school boy — The student of music — Suggestion as a 
 cure — A case — Hypno-Suggestion — Hypnotism de- 
 fined — Hypnotic versus waking Suggestion — Hyp- 
 notism as a Cure — Illustrative cases — Suggestion in 
 Psychiatry — Autosuggestion — The manner of self- 
 suggestion — Its value — A living monument of Auto- 
 suggestion — Illustrative cases — The limitation cf 
 Autosuggestions — Suggestion in subconscious con- 
 ditions — The cases selected for illustration. 
 
 Suggestion as we understand it today depends 
 upon the fact that ideas are contagious. All 
 persons are suggestible because they are liable 
 to be infected by ideas propagated by other peo- 
 ple. There are no ideas so foolish or fanciful 
 that they will not be accepted by some if they are 
 powerfully and persistently proclaimed; witness 
 the hair-brained schemes hatched and pro- 
 claimed by fanatical persons that are accepted 
 57 
 
58 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 and fostered by practical business men who sink 
 large sums of money in them. There are gold- 
 bricks for the unwary farmer and gold-makers 
 for the wary millionaire. There is no mind that 
 is proof against infectious ideas if only it be 
 exposed to the right kind. 
 
 Suggestibility depends upon the constitution 
 of the mind. There are two conditions or pecu- 
 liarities of mind so common that they might be 
 considered laws of the mind. I. Credulity or 
 the disposition to believe things that have not or 
 cannot be proven. 2. The tendency of the thing 
 the mind expects to occur whether it be psycho- 
 logic or physiologic in character. It will be 
 necessary to briefly illustrate these two condi- 
 tions. That people believe what has not been 
 proven to them is not only true but necessary. 
 Little progress could be made in any social or 
 business relation if it was necessary to stop and 
 prove every step. Men accept their religious 
 faiths ready made upon the testimony of 
 others. Faith is the back-bone of all business 
 enterprises. All sciences are built upon hypo- 
 thetical theories and beliefs. Happy is the man 
 who early learns to say with one of old, "I be- 
 lieve, help Thou mine unbelief." Credulity is 
 the condition of expectation, if we believe we ex- 
 pect certain things to follow and this expectation 
 
SUGGESTION. 
 
 59 
 
 works itself out in the development of the thing 
 expected in body or mind. We expect certain 
 food to make us ill and it does so ; we expect cer- 
 tain conditions to cause an headache and they 
 do, we expect certain remedies or treatments to 
 cure us and they do. All have witnessed or have 
 heard of the experiments made upon perfectly 
 well persons which illustrates both of these laws 
 of mind, namely, the concerted action of several 
 persons who tell an unsuspecting acquaintance 
 successively at brief intervals, that he is looking 
 badly, that he must feel ill, that he certainly 
 must be sick, and so on, with the effect that he 
 speedily becomes ill. They make him believe he 
 is ill and believing that he is ill he expects to fee! 
 so and shortly does. This will suffice to show 
 what is meant by the two conditions of mind un- 
 derlying suggestibility. 
 
 Suggestion, it is plain from what has been 
 said, includes more than used to be understood 
 by that term. Suggestion was formerly used to 
 mean the offering of an idea to the mind with- 
 out any condition of acceptance, but it is used 
 here to mean the offering of an idea to the mind 
 in such a way that the mind will accept it. The 
 offer and the acceptance are complementary in 
 filling out the idea. These general considera- 
 tions lead up to a more detailed discussion of 
 
60 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 the subject which will be continued under three 
 divisions for the sake of plainness and brevity. 
 I. Suggestion in the waking state. 2. Hypno- 
 suggestion. 3. Autosuggestion. 
 
 SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 
 
 Suggestion is one of the most important fac- 
 tors in Psychology and aids in the solution of 
 many of the more mysterious and heretofore in- 
 scrutable phenomena of Psychism. The sus- 
 ceptibility of Psychics to Suggestion is phe- 
 nomenal; the slightest hint often unintention- 
 ally given will serve to give direction to the 
 whole experiment. A failure to observe this 
 has misled many investigators. Therefore, it 
 would be almost impossible to overestimate or 
 unduly emphasize its importance in Psychism. 
 
 The idea of free will must be modified or given 
 up, for it is little more than a name. What one 
 does of his own free will depends largely upon 
 circumstances and environment. What he thinks 
 he does of his own volition is usually due to the 
 influence or more properly the Suggestions of 
 others. A boy or a man thrown among evil 
 companions becomes like them not of his own 
 free will, but of necessity. To be sure, he had 
 an opportunity to choose between right and 
 wrong and we condemn him because he chose 
 the wrong. As a matter of fact, at the time that 
 
SUGGESTION. 61 
 
 he made the choice it was morally impossible 
 for him to choose other than he did, the only 
 time that he could have chosen otherwise was 
 before the evil Suggestions had found lodgment 
 in his mind. It is and will ever remain true that 
 evil associates corrupt good morals. When a 
 beautiful young woman goes wrong and drags a 
 once honored name through the mire, the prob- 
 abilities are that she did not act upon her own 
 volition, and a more or less careful inquiry would 
 reveal the fact that some subtle influence or Sug- 
 gestions had been insinuated into her mind be- 
 fore it was possible for her to act so. The Sug- 
 gestion might have come from a trusted friend 
 or associate, or from some corrupting book, but 
 no matter whence they came, they were con- 
 tagious and being susceptible she succumbed to 
 their infection. Do not say the taint was in her 
 blood ; that would be absurd. The case is alto- 
 gether analogous to a contagious disease. No 
 matter what the condition of the person, if the 
 inoculation is sufficiently large she will certainly 
 succumb to the disease. 
 
 An appreciation of the subtle and far-reaching 
 power of Suggestion for both good and evil en- 
 courages us to make use of it for educational 
 and curative purposes. 
 
 Its use in education is great, so great that the 
 
62 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 successful teacher is the one who consciously or 
 unconsciously applies it. A few examples will 
 serve to explain what is meant. 
 
 A young lady teacher, an acquaintance of 
 mine, told me of one of her pupils who was 
 unable to learn mathematics. 
 
 "When I chided him," she said, "for doing 
 such poor work he vehemently protested that he 
 could not learn numbers." 
 
 " 'I cannot learn numbers,' he said, 'and there 
 is no use trying. My grandmother was unable 
 to learn mathematics and I have inherited my 
 inability from her." 
 
 "Now, what can be done in such a case?" tha 
 teacher asks. 
 
 The case illustrates the susceptibility of chil- 
 dren to Suggestions and was explained some- 
 what as follows: The boy had heard of his 
 grandmother's deficiency and when he found 
 mathematics difficult was lead by his parents, 
 who believed in the orthodox theory of heredity, 
 to believe he had inherited that trait from her. 
 He believed he was unable to learn numbers and 
 his expectation was fulfilled. The teacher was 
 advised to give the boy direct Suggestions to 
 counteract those unintentionally given. He was 
 told that his grandmother had nothing to do 
 with his learning numbers any more than she 
 
SUGGESTION. 63 
 
 had with a thousand other things he had 
 learned readily enough. For example, she could 
 not learn to swim, but he did; she could not 
 skate but he could; she could not play marbles 
 but he could ; she could not turn a handspring or 
 walk on her hands, but he could, and she could 
 not whistle, but he could. These and similar 
 Suggestions were given for several weeks to- 
 gether with positive Suggestions to the effect 
 that he could learn numbers and would learn to 
 like them and excel in that branch of study. The 
 result was as expected, the intentional Sugges- 
 tions overcame the unintentional ones and the 
 boy was soon making good progress in mathe- 
 matics, and had no further trouble in that di- 
 rection. 
 
 The application in the study of music is often 
 most helpful. I recall the case of a young girl 
 twelve years of age who had in some way ac- 
 quired a dislike for her work in music ; this dis- 
 like grew until her practice became a hardship. 
 Her mother having heard of Suggestion and be- 
 lieving in its efficacy, brought the child to me to 
 see if anything could be done for her. She was 
 a bright, winsome girl and inclined to be friendly, 
 so we soon became fast friends and she told me 
 of her difficulty with music. I assured her that 
 I could and would help her. I seated her in an 
 
64 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 easy chair and told her to close her eyes and lis- 
 ten while I talked to her. Then I made Sug- 
 gestions to the effect that music was beautiful 
 and a most interesting study, that she did not 
 really dislike it but had become prejudiced 
 against it ; that she would think the matter over 
 for herself and find that she had been mistaken ; 
 that she would learn to love music and be fond 
 of studying it and that her whole difficulty with 
 music would soon disappear. Such Suggestions 
 were repeated every other day for two weeks 
 with the most satisfactory results. 
 
 "Doctor, you have taught me to love music 
 and I rather enjoy my practicing now, thanks to 
 your help," the little lady said to me a few 
 weeks later. 
 
 Many more examples of the successful use of 
 Suggestion in education might be given if space 
 permitted. It is most helpful as a means of 
 developing backward children. 
 
 As a therapeutic agent Suggestion has no su- 
 perior, but only a single example may "Be given. 
 Observation teaches that many drugs depend 
 upon the Suggestion accompanying the adminis- 
 tration for their remedial effects. Attention has 
 been called to the fact that persons may be made 
 ill by intentional Suggestion and it might have 
 been added that they are often made so by unin- 
 
SUGGESTION. 65 
 
 tentional Suggestions ; it is equally true that per- 
 sons who are ill may be speedily cured by Sug- 
 gestions. When it is borne in mind that a large 
 proportion of the sickness suffered by man is 
 due to nervous shocks or other psychic causes 
 it will not be so surprising that an equal propor- 
 tion of man's maladies may be relieved through 
 the influence of the mind. Out of a great many 
 cases observed let me cite one. 
 
 A young man, a jeweler by trade, came to me 
 for relief from an aggravated condition of self- 
 consciousness. For several years this condition 
 had grown upon him until he was unable to go 
 into society without experiencing the utmost 
 confusion and embarrassment ; he could only 
 stammer, blush and perspire when any one ad- 
 dressed him or he attempted to address any one. 
 He was assured that he could be relieved and 
 that speedily. He was seated in an easy chair 
 and instructed to allow himself to sink into a 
 restful passive condition with eyes closed. This 
 he did, and while in this receptive state Sugges- 
 tions were given to him to the effect that his 
 trouble was only a habit which could be easily 
 broken, that he had a strong mind and would 
 assert it in the matter, that he had made up his 
 mind to break the habit and would readily suc- 
 ceed, that he would gain a perfect self-control 
 
66 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 and self-possession, that he would feel perfectly 
 at ease in company and have no difficulty in car- 
 rying on a conversation with any one, and that 
 he would go into society to prove these things. 
 These and similar Suggestions were repeated to 
 him several times at intervals of two or three 
 days. In about two weeks the young man was 
 entirely relieved of his uncomfortable condition. 
 
 HYPNO-SUGGESTION. 
 
 Hypno-Suggestion includes all of the Sugges- 
 tions given to persons while in a state of hyp- 
 nosis, or hypnotic trance. This is by far the 
 most important branch of Suggestion. In order 
 to understand it thoroughly a knowledge of Hyp- 
 notism is necessary. Hypnotism is the means 
 of inducing an artificial state of mind in which 
 persons are readily susceptible to Suggestions. 
 It has been said that all persons are susceptible 
 to Suggestions but by Hypnotism the suggest- 
 ability is increased. The methods of hypnotizing 
 are various, but they all depend for their efficacy 
 upon the direction of the psychic forces of the 
 subject, in short, they depend upon the same 
 factors as Suggestion and Hypnotism is properly 
 simply a branch of that subject. A person who 
 is led to believe that he can be hypnotized and 
 that he is about to be hypnotized will respond to 
 almost any method and promptly fall into a state 
 
SUGGESTION. 67 
 
 of hypnosis. In this state of induced somnam- 
 bulism he becomes more or less suggestable ac- 
 cording to the depth of the trance. 
 
 It would be interesting and instructive to give 
 a detailed account of the methods of inducing 
 hypnosis and a full description of the phenomena 
 of that state, but space will not permit it in the 
 present writing. The reader is referred to the 
 writer's work entitled Mind and Body, where 
 a detailed account is given of Hypno-Sugges- 
 tion. 
 
 Hypno-Suggestions do not differ in kind from 
 Suggestions given in the waking state, but they 
 do differ most profoundly in degree. Some 
 teachers and schools hold and teach that waking 
 Suggestions are all that are worthy of serious 
 consideration, but these teachers and schools 
 are undoubtedly wrong. As well might one 
 say that the vest-pocket pistols were the only 
 fire-arms worthy of consideration, leaving out 
 of account the Maxim, Krupp and other power- 
 ful guns. What may be and often is done by 
 oft repeated and long continued Suggestions in 
 the waking state may be done speedily by a sin- 
 gle Suggestion given in profound hypnosis. All 
 patients are not susceptible to the deeper states of 
 hypnosis. It is necessary to adapt the treatment 
 to the conditions found in individual cases, giv- 
 
68 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 ing the Suggestions in the lighter states of hyp- 
 nosis or in the waking state as may be needful. 
 The matter of giving the Suggestion does not 
 materially differ but the Suggestions must be 
 repeated more or less persistently according to 
 the degree of susceptibility. A few examples 
 will suffice to illustrate our contention. 
 
 A young lady stenographer came to me not 
 long ago complaining that she was not able to 
 attain the requisite speed in taking notes. When 
 her speed was all right her notes were not plainly 
 legible, and she found it difficult to transcribe 
 them. 
 
 "Can you help me, Doctor ?" she asked. "I 
 understand that you can do almost any marvel 
 by Suggestion." 
 
 "It will do no harm to try what we can do 
 by the aid of Suggestion," was the reply. 
 
 The young lady was hypnotized and passed 
 into a profound state of hypnosis. Suggestions 
 were given to her while in this receptive condi- 
 tion to the effect that she had as nimble fingers 
 as any one and could take notes just as rapidly, 
 that with a little practice her speed might be 
 greatly accelerated, that she would write her 
 notes plainly and legibly and that she would be 
 able to readily transcribe them. These Sugges- 
 tions were accepted and so stimulated her mind 
 
SUGGESTION. 69 
 
 that she greatly increased her speed and wrote 
 her notes more rapidly and more distinctly. In 
 a couple of weeks after aiding her with the speed 
 she was similarly aided in her ability to concen- 
 trate her attention in transcribing her notes. 
 There was much noise and confusion in the of- 
 fice where she was employed which tended to 
 distract her attention from her work. A couple 
 of Suggestions sufficed to enable her to disre- 
 gard the confusion and attend to her duties and 
 she has had no further trouble in taking notes 
 or transcribing them. 
 
 A few weeks ago a lady came to me saying 
 that she had been advised by a mutual friend to 
 come and be relieved from an annoying drug 
 habit. Some years before she had been ill and 
 during that illness fell into a condition of in- 
 somnia and at the advice of her physician had re- 
 sorted to the use of hypnotic drugs. Now for 
 more than three years she had been in the habit 
 of taking such drugs every night. She could 
 not sleep without them. Her general health was 
 good and she was assured that she could be 
 speedily and permanently relieved from her drug 
 habit. 
 
 The lady when hypnotized fell into a profound 
 hypnotic trance. While in this condition Sug- 
 gestions were given to her to the effect that her 
 
70 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 health was good and natural sleep would be re- 
 stored, that she had a strong mind and had re- 
 solved to take no more sleeping potions, that 
 she would expect to go to sleep at night when 
 she went to bed and would readily do so; that 
 she would sleep soundly all night and wake up 
 refreshed in the morning, and that she would 
 have no more difficulty in sleeping. During the 
 night after the first treatment she slept soundly 
 and naturally without the aid of any drug and 
 was delighted with the result. 
 
 ''Doctor, it is marvelous," she exclaimed the 
 next morning when she called at the appointed 
 hour, "for I did not expect it ; I did not believe 
 that it was possible for you to relieve me so read- 
 ily and without drugs after I had tried almost 
 everything that the Doctors could suggest. I 
 have spent hundreds of dollars without getting 
 the least permanent relief." There was no re- 
 lapse ; the cure was permanent. The lady sleeps 
 as peacefully as a child now and that, too, with- 
 out the use of any harmful drugs. 
 
 This spring a young man was brought to me 
 by his friends from the West Side of this city, 
 suffering from extreme alcoholism. It is un- 
 necessary to describe his symptoms, suffice it to 
 say, they were those of every confirmed ineb- 
 riate, not excepting the snakes : to use his ex- 
 
SUGGESTION. 71 
 
 pression, he had "seen a whole menagerie." He 
 had taken the Keeley Cure at Dwight and been 
 sent to the Washingtonian Home no less than 
 eight times during his fourteen years of slavery 
 in the toils of strong drink. Every known cure 
 had been tried on him, not excepting the putting 
 of dope in his food and drink, with no permanent 
 results. He and his friends both said they had 
 come to me as a last resort and if I failed, then 
 there was nothing left for him but to sink deeper 
 and deeper into a drunkard's perdition. 
 
 When he came to me he was considerably un- 
 der the influence of liquor; indeed, he had not 
 been free from its influence for many months, 
 but he was in as good a condition as he was 
 likely to be found, so I began his treatment in 
 that state. He was hypnotized and went into 
 a profound hypnosis. While in this condition, 
 positive Suggestions were made to him, to the 
 effect that he had a strong mind and could rid 
 himself of any habit if he choose to ; that he 
 wanted to quit drinking and had made up his 
 mind to do so ; that the appetite for drink would 
 leave him and never return again; that drink 
 with all its associations would be disgusting to 
 him; that he would regain his self-control and 
 self-respect and become a respectable man once 
 more ; that he would be proud of his victory, for 
 
72 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 it was his own strong mind that was winning 
 it for him and that his cure would be permanent. 
 Similar Suggestions were repeated to him daily 
 for four days and two or three times a week for 
 the balance of the month. 
 
 The results were all that could be desired. He 
 did not taste liquor after the first treatment and 
 soon lost his appetite for it. Almost immedi- 
 ately he began to take and retain nourishment 
 and gained ten pounds during the first month. 
 Today liquor has no temptation for him and it 
 would be difficult for him to take up the habit 
 again. 
 
 One evening a young man, a machinist, came 
 to me and said that he wished I would hypnotize 
 him and brace him up so that he would be able 
 to resist the attempts being made to force him 
 into an unwilling marriage. He went on to in- 
 form me that there was an association of women 
 who made it their business to provide husbands 
 for unfortunate girls. 
 
 "They have me on their list and are after me 
 constantly. I find them watching me every time 
 I go out and it makes me feel uncomfortable and 
 afraid, for I do not wish to be forced into any 
 such union." He went on and gave me the de- 
 tails of an imagined persecution he was suf- 
 fering from. 
 
SUGGESTION. ?3 
 
 The case was recognized as an aberration of 
 the mind in which he was dominated by the 
 hallucination, an hallucination as indicated 
 above. He was hypnotized several times and 
 given Suggestions which speedily returned him 
 to his normal condition of thinking, feeling and 
 acting. 
 
 Psychiatry furnishes innumerable cases sim- 
 ilar to the above that may be successfully treated 
 by Hypno-Suggestion. It is plain that Sugges- 
 tion finds its greatest field for usefulness in the 
 treatment of mental diseases and it would be in- 
 teresting to multiply instances but space forbids. 
 The greatest service that Psychism could render 
 to humanity would be the solution of the prob- 
 lems of mental pathology such as pathologic 
 double and the like. 
 
 AUTO SUGGESTION. 
 
 Autosuggestion offers many alluring possi- 
 bilities for self-culture and self-treatment. The 
 Suggestions that are ordinarily given by another 
 in the waking, sleeping and hypnotic states may 
 be as certainly and satisfactorily given to one's 
 self if one knows how to give them. The po- 
 tency of all Suggestions depends upon the afore- 
 mentioned belief and expectation. Suggestions 
 
/4 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 from those we believe in are the most potent and 
 if we can inspire such a belief or confidence in 
 cur own power to give Suggestions they will as 
 readily be accepted from ourselves and produce 
 the same happy results. In the last analysis 
 every Suggestion must be received and trans- 
 formed into an Autosuggestion before it can 
 reach and work out its effect in the mind. Noth- 
 ing ministers more to our self-respect than the 
 knowledge that we are able to develop all sorts 
 of good qualities in ourselves and the proper 
 understanding of Autosuggestion furnishes this 
 knowledge. 
 
 There are two principal ways of giving Sug- 
 gestions, namely, one in the waking state and 
 the other in the natural sleep. Direct Autosug- 
 gestions made while one is awake differ in no 
 particular from direct Heterosuggestions made 
 in the same state except that one makes the Sug- 
 gestion to himself. As Heterosuggestions are 
 deepened by repetition, so are Autosuggestions 
 more deeply impressed upon the mind by re- 
 peating them. And it is claimed that all that 
 can be accomplished with Heterosuggestions 
 can be duplicated with Autosuggestion. While 
 much may be accomplished by the use of Auto- 
 suggestion it is doubtful if that statement is true 
 up to date ; however, it may become true in the 
 
SUGGESTION. 75 
 
 future. By it one can make the most of his tal- 
 ents ; he can educate and develop himself ; he can 
 inspire self-confidence and faith, and in short he 
 can live a successful life. 
 
 A friend of mine who is a living monument 
 of the power of Autosuggestion, has told me 
 of many of his experiments, and his wife has 
 corroborated his statements. One evening she 
 said to me: "He is not the same man that I 
 married eight years ago." In a little conversa- 
 tion we had last week he spoke substantially 
 as follows : 
 
 "I am sure that all I have accomplished in 
 a business way has been done bySelf-Suggestion. 
 I was naturally of a timid, retiring disposition, 
 but I have overcome that and by Autosugges- 
 tion have developed a considerable self-con- 
 fidence ; so much, indeed, that some think me 
 egotistic. I might give as an example of my 
 method of making the Suggestions, my curing 
 myself of fear of darkness. 
 
 "I began by reasoning with myself and as- 
 suring myself that there is nothing more to fear 
 in the dark than in the light. I went into the 
 dark to prove this to myself. I shut myself up 
 in a dark room and stayed there until the feel- 
 ing of fear vanished. I kept these Suggestions 
 up until I lost all fear of darkness. 
 
76 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 "By a similar process I taught myself how 
 to go to sleep at any time in any place. I can 
 obtain rest and am often greatly revived by a 
 few minutes' sleep plus an Autosuggestion." 
 
 The other way to make Autosuggestions is to 
 make them so that they will take effect during 
 sleep. The Hypnotist speaks to his subject while 
 he is in a subconscious state, but the one who 
 would treat himself must speak to himself just 
 before going to sleep. However, to have them ef- 
 fective, they must be as confidently and positively 
 given and received as Heterosuggestions. Thi§ 
 can only be done after one has learned by expe- 
 rience how to do it. He who would treat him- 
 self should impress the desired thoughts as 
 strongly as possible upon his mind just before 
 going to sleep and after falling to sleep they will 
 find their way into his dream-consciousness and 
 work out the desired effect. This may be illus- 
 trated by an instance. 
 
 A friend and patient of mine is able to cure 
 himself of the various ailments that befall him. 
 Here is an example of his treatments : For 
 years he suffered with severe periodical head- 
 aches due to inactivity of the digestive tract, un- 
 til he heard of and used "self cure" or Auto- 
 suggestion. In the midst of one of his severe 
 attacks he began giving himself Autosugges- 
 
SUGGESTION. 77 
 
 tions which speedily and permanently relieved 
 him of his malady. He used the following 
 method : Before going to sleep, every night, he 
 repeated several times to himself: "My trouble 
 is a habit and my mind can and will cure it." He 
 believed what he said to himself and a cure was 
 the happy result. 
 
 Theoretically Autosuggestion ought to be 
 able to cure every ill that flesh is heir to, but up 
 to date it has succeeded only in a limited num- 
 ber of cases. Its failure is due no doubt to our 
 lack of confidence in ourselves, when we learn to 
 use our psychic forces to the full we shall be 
 able to report better results. 
 
 Suggestion deserves a more detailed discus- 
 sion than it is possible to give it here ; however, 
 it is thought that the above outline sketch will 
 indicate its position in Psychism. Those wish- 
 ing to make a more careful study of the subject 
 must refer to works dealing with that subject 
 exclusively. It ought to be plain to all from 
 what has been said above that Suggestion occu- 
 pies a most important place in Psychism. A fail- 
 ure to recognize the subtle and the far-reaching 
 influences of unintentional Suggestions has led 
 many experimenters to most erroneous con- 
 clusions. This is especially true in experiments 
 with persons who go into a subconscious condi- 
 
78 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 tion, all of the phenomena which they produce is 
 directed and colored by either Hetero or Auto- 
 suggestions sometimes they are intentional, but 
 more often they are unintentionally given. 
 
 Persons who fall into subconscious conditions 
 take with them all of the materials requisite to 
 the phenomena they produce. When such phe- 
 nomena or the memories of them brought back 
 to the waking consciousness are absurd or im- 
 possible, an explanation of them will usually be 
 found in some unintentional Auto or Heterosug- 
 gestion. More will be said on this subject in the 
 chapter on Somnambulism and Trances. 
 
 Most of the examples used as illustrations in 
 the foregoing paragraphs have been selected 
 from among those whom I have had occasion to 
 treat by Suggestion, not because there is any 
 lack of other examples, but because they will il- 
 lustrate what is to follow. In the next chapter 
 the theory of various psycho-curative systems 
 will be discussed and the above examples may 
 aid to an understanding of their rational. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 
 
 The importance of the subject— The existence of a 
 Psychic power — Mental medicine — A half dozen 
 systems of the same — An underlying law common 
 to all — A question of Psychology — The duality of 
 mind explained — Proofs of double consciousness — 
 Illustrative cases — The amenability of the mind to 
 suggestion — Manner of increasing suggestibility— 
 The subconscious mind suggestible — Subconscious 
 mind controls the bodily functions — Power of the 
 mind over the body — The law of Suggestion the law 
 of cure — An illustration of the same — Absent treat- 
 ments — The value of faith — Necessary conclusions. 
 
 Psychic research is making rapid progress 
 and the whole world is waiting with interest for 
 every item of new data, but in the whole range 
 of psychologic investigation there is nothing of 
 such transcendent interest to the world today as 
 the relation of the mind to the cure of disease. 
 
 That there is a psychic power within man 
 which presides over the functions, sensations 
 and conditions of the body, and that this power 
 79 
 
80 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 may be directed at will, under certain conditions, 
 for the relief of the manifold ills of mankind, 
 there is no doubt, or need of proof. If proofs 
 were needed it would suffice to call attention to 
 the hundreds of "healers" and the army of those 
 who have been healed, to be found upon every 
 hand. These are real cures, and just as well 
 authenticated as those found in the reports of 
 cases cured by drug medicines. Many systems 
 of cure, all producing most positive proofs of 
 their efficacy, have been founded upon these 
 facts, but they have as many theories of causa- 
 tion and as many methods of application, as 
 there are different curative systems. 
 
 Mental Medicine is broader than any one of 
 the curative systems — it is as broad as all of 
 them combined — as broad as the curative action 
 of the mind over the body. It is worth while 
 to consider Psycho-Therapeutics. 
 
 Psychopathic healing includes many schools, 
 each subdivided into various sects, but for the 
 present purpose it will be sufficient to call atten- 
 tion to a half-dozen of the more prominent of 
 them, namely: Christian Science, Mind Cure, 
 Faith Cure, Spirit Cure, Magnetism and Hyp- 
 notism. 
 
 Christian Science, which has lately received 
 a pretty thorough advertising at the hands of 
 
RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 81 
 
 Mark Twain and others, claims that the body 
 is unreal, and that the mind is all; therefore 
 disease has no existence except in the mind, and 
 should be ignored and denied. They persuade 
 many to believe this fallacy and show many 
 persons who have been cured by their treat- 
 ment. 
 
 Mind Cure makes the same statement. It 
 says "all diseases are conditions or states in- 
 duced by abnormal conditions of the mind," and 
 the advocates claim that these states and condi- 
 tions of the mind, together with the diseases 
 incident to them, may be and often are cor- 
 rected by the power of the healer's mind. 
 
 Faith Cure is based upon the belief that reli- 
 gious faith will save man from sin ancl sickness, 
 and says that belief in and prayer to God will 
 secure relief from pains and the cure of diseases. 
 They point to those who have been healed and 
 triumphantly exclaim in the words of the Mas- 
 ter, "By their fruits ye shall know them." 
 
 Spirit Cure is founded upon the supposition 
 that the shades of the departed dead can and 
 do "come back from the spirit world" and 
 through some "medium" give relief to the sick 
 and comfort to the afflicted. And many are 
 willing to testify that some "big Indian chief" 
 or "little Indian squaw" or some other shade 
 
82 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 through a "medium" has cured them of dis- 
 tressful diseases. 
 
 Magnetism teaches that there resides in man 
 a subtle fluid of healing nature which may be 
 projected at the will of the operator upon an- 
 other person with the effect of curing the func- 
 tional and organic diseases of his body, and 
 from the time of Mesmer until the present, mar- 
 velous cures have been made. 
 
 Hypnotism furnishes a power by which per- 
 sons may be placed in a condition of induced 
 sleep or hypnosis. While in that state it is 
 claimed that they are suggestible and may be 
 given suggestions that will relieve them from 
 pain and cure their diseases. ' Many profess to 
 owe their good health to this system of thera- 
 peutics. 
 
 The above brief summary shows that there 
 are a considerable number of different systems 
 of Psycho-Therapeutics based upon as many 
 widely different theories, each presenting in- 
 dubitable evidence of its ability to perform cures 
 — many of which appear almost miraculous. 
 But they acknowledge only one thing in com- 
 mon, namely, that they all cure diseases. How- 
 ever, it requires only a superficial study of them 
 to discover that there must be a common un- 
 derlying principle or law upon which they all 
 operate. 
 
RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 83 
 
 Now, since all curative phenomena produced 
 by psychic influence under whatever name they 
 occur, must depend upon the same fundamental 
 law, it is of the utmost importance that this law 
 should be discovered — that we should find and 
 recognize the law of Psycho-Therapeutics. It 
 is plain that the law must depend upon the con- 
 stitution of the mind, so we must turn to Psy- 
 chology for the key to the solution. 
 
 Fortunately Hypnotism has recently come to 
 our assistance, enabling us to better understand 
 the constitution and action of the mind. It has 
 revealed, among other things, first, the dual 
 nature of the mind, and second, the amenability 
 of the mind to suggestion. Some intimations of 
 these peculiarities had been observed in certain 
 trance and other spontaneous conditions, but 
 it remained for Hypnotism to fully establish 
 them. Hypnotism is of great aid to students of 
 Psychology, and its revelations will doubtless 
 overthrow many of the older doctrines of the 
 psychologists. 
 
 It is thought that the two facts just men- 
 tioned, namely, the duality of the mind and its 
 amenability to suggestions, furnish an explana- 
 tion of the principles underlying all of the 
 Psycho-Curative System or the Law of Mental 
 Medicine. It seems possible to justify these 
 facts, as we shall now attempt to show. 
 
84 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 The duality of the mind is not a new idea, but 
 it has recently received new emphasis. The 
 separate action of the two hemispheres of the 
 brain is not what is meant, although that is pos- 
 sible, as is shown by the phenomena of unilateral 
 hypnosis. There is a duality in the sense that 
 the mind possesses two distinct sets of func- 
 tions, with a double consciousness, operating 
 more or less independently. This duality of the 
 mind would seem to be proven if the existence 
 of the dual consciousness with separate memo- 
 ries can be demonstrated, namely, the primary 
 or waking consciousness and the secondary or 
 subconsciousness. The usual distinction made 
 between them is that the first includes all knowl- 
 edge obtained by the aid of the five senses and 
 reason, and the second includes all knowledge 
 gained through intuition and immediate percep- 
 tion. 
 
 The physiologists, Carpenter and others, rec- 
 ognized two kinds of mental activity. The un- 
 usual kind, not belonging properly to the con- 
 scious phenomena, they called "unconscious 
 cerebration" for want of a better term. These 
 we now know as the subconscious phenomena of 
 the mind. 
 
 There are no unconscious activities of the 
 mind, for the very essence of mind is conscious- 
 
RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 85 
 
 ness. These are subconscious, but no? uncon- 
 scious phenomena. Many of the subconscious 
 phenomena never rise above the floor of ordi- 
 nary consciousness. 
 
 Consciousness may be illustrated by two cir- 
 cles, the smaller one within the other, both hav- 
 ing a common center. The smaller circle repre- 
 sents the ordinary consciousness, for the waking 
 consciousness contains only a small part of our 
 whole conscious activity. The subconscious- 
 ness is represented by the larger circle, for it 
 contains all that is in the smaller circle and 
 much more that lies beyond the limit of its cir- 
 cumference. 
 
 The double aspect of the mind is observed 
 also in the blending with the physical and spir- 
 itual realms ; the mind, through the senses and 
 reason, adjusts itself to its physical environment 
 and through the intuition and immediate per- 
 ception reaches its spiritual environments. 
 
 The very latest statements of Physiology em- 
 phasize this duality, although strangely enough 
 many of the physiologists stick to the old ma- 
 terialistic explanations. Vincent, in a chapter 
 upon the "Physiology of Hypnosis," reaches the 
 following conclusion : "Thus there seems to be 
 in the human nervous organism a dual nervous 
 action, one automatic and intuitive, the other 
 rational, volitional and deliberative." 
 
86 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 A detailed discussion would be out of place 
 here, but it can be easily shown that there is 
 abundant evidence to prove that the theory of 
 double consciousness is well founded. Three 
 groups of phenomena are urged as proofs, 
 namely, spontaneous, induced and diseased 
 states of mind, in which subconscious activities 
 are observed. Let us examine examples of 
 each: 
 
 In the normal states these subconscious phe- 
 nomena are seen in such actions as are common 
 in the so-called ''unconscious cerebrations," and 
 the "automatic and nervous activities," where 
 the mind performs two acts at once, as adding 
 up a column of figures while carrying on a lively 
 conversation. Such actions require the con- 
 scious employment of two separate trains of 
 memory in their performance, but we have only 
 one conscious memory, hence the other must be 
 subconscious. 
 
 The phenomena of Dreams and spontaneous 
 Somnambulism and Trances point in the same 
 direction, for Sleep is not merely an absence of 
 waking activity, but it is a phase of personality 
 with distinctive characteristics. The intimate 
 relationship between sleep and hypnosis will 
 serve to emphasize this statement. The utter- 
 ances and movements of Somnambulists prove 
 
RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 87 
 
 that they are not automata, indeed they often 
 perform most complicated actions which would 
 be impossible without consciousness, and yet, 
 after awaking they usually have no conscious 
 memory of their actions. A patient of mine, a 
 young lady, was accustomed to arise and dress 
 herself at night while asleep and walk about the 
 house, and only knew that she had been sleep- 
 walking when she awoke in the morning and 
 found herself in the bed fully dressed. 
 
 The induced subconscious states are found in 
 hypnosis, and they go far to prove the duality 
 of the mind. The phenomena of hypnosis have 
 been given in detail by many writers, and may 
 be referred to. 
 
 Hypnotized subjects sometimes pass into an- 
 other personality and deny that they have any 
 relationship with their conscious selves. Some- 
 times they deny any acquaintance with their 
 conscious selves ; at others they admit that they 
 are acquainted but deny the possibility of being 
 identical with them. Indeed, they often have 
 entirely different personal characteristics. A 
 person dull-witted and slow in the natural state, 
 sometimes becomes quick-witted and active 
 when hypnotized. They have been known to 
 change their names and social position under 
 the domination of the belief that they are differ- 
 
88 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 ent individuals. In these cases the segregation 
 of the mind appears to be complete. 
 
 Some writers say that the double personality 
 of hypnosis proves too much, for not two but 
 several personalities may be evoked. Careful 
 observation, however, shows that these appar- 
 ent personalities of hypnosis, with their memo- 
 ries tend to run into one, the primary hypnotic 
 personality and memory, and are undoubtedly 
 due to unintentional suggestions of the oper- 
 ator. If we bear in mind the hyperacuteness 
 of the subject, this will be readily understood. 
 
 Many examples of pathologic double person- 
 ality are on record. The Rev. Ansel Bourne 
 of Greene, R. I., is a well known and typical 
 example. He fell into what appeared to be a 
 spontaneous hypnotic trance ; at any rate it was 
 a trance in which his personality was com- 
 pletely changed. As the case is an entirely 
 genuine one, it will be briefly recited. 
 
 Mr. Bourne drew some money from the Prov- 
 idence bank with which to pay some bills, and 
 boarded a horse car for the purpose of return- 
 ing home. These were the last incidents that 
 he remembered before falling into the trance. 
 While entranced he made an excursion to New 
 York and Philadelphia, and finally located in 
 Morristown, Pa., where he opened and stocked 
 
RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 89 
 
 a small stationery and confectionery store under 
 the name of A. J. Brown. He conducted his 
 business in such a manner that no one sus- 
 pected that he was entranced. One morning 
 six weeks later he awoke in his normal person- 
 ality and called to the people with whom he 
 was boarding, asking them to tell him where he 
 was. It seemed to him that he had only been 
 asleep for a few hours. He informed them that 
 he was the Rev. Ansel Bourne of Rhode Island, 
 but they and the physician who was called 
 thought he was insane at first ; however, a tele- 
 gram from his home convinced them that he 
 was sane. His nephew, Mr. Andrew Harris, 
 went after and took him home, where he had 
 been advertised for two months as missing. In 
 his normal state he had no knowledge of nor 
 would he have anything to do with his store. 
 
 Hypnotism was used as a means to secure the 
 memory of his second personality, and he readily 
 told of his "Brown" existence, but while hyp- 
 notized could not remember any of the events 
 of his normal life. He did not recognize his 
 friends and declared when Mrs. Bourne was pre- 
 sented to him that he had "never seen the woman 
 before/' 
 
 It was hoped by Suggestion, etc., to run the 
 two personalities into one, and make the memo- 
 
90 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 ries continuous, but no artifice would avail to 
 accomplish this, and Mr. Bourne's skull today 
 still covers two distinct personal selves. 
 
 These classical cases have been cited because 
 they carry great evidential value, coming as they 
 do from such distinguished and competent ob- 
 servers. The report of many similar cases are 
 easily accessible, and may be studied by any 
 one who wishes to investigate the subject. 
 
 The amenability of the mind to Suggestion 
 is so commonly accepted that it is only neces- 
 sary to state the fact ; but a few illustrations will 
 serve to emphasize it. The suggestibility of 
 the mind is found in the waking state, in hyp- 
 nosis, and in pathologic states. 
 
 All persons are more or less suggestible in 
 the waking state. Many interesting facts illus- 
 trating its influence are familiar to all. Per- 
 haps no better example could be found than the 
 oft-repeated experiment of "playing a trick" on 
 a person, as was described in the last chapter. 
 Several persons by concerted arrangement suc- 
 cessively tell an unsuspecting person that he is 
 looking badly and must be sick, with the result 
 that he soon becomes ill. 
 
 While the suggestibility of the mind is con- 
 siderable in the waking state, induced sleep or 
 hypnosis is the suggestible state. Hypnotism 
 
RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 91 
 
 is the pass-key that admits us to the study of 
 the mind, and it is through it that we have 
 obtained the most positive proof of the Law of 
 Suggestion. It has not only demonstrated the 
 suggestibility of the mind, but has also shown 
 that it is the subconscious mind that is sugges- 
 tible. 
 
 The susceptibility of the hypnotized subject 
 is phenomenal and almost unlimited in certain 
 directions. It has been shown that speech, 
 music and signs, all have marked suggestive 
 influence over our subjects. Sad music, like a 
 sad story, will make them sad, and tears will 
 well up into the eyes and course down the 
 cheeks. Comic pictures, like humorous stories 
 or lively music, will send them off into fits of 
 merriment; their personalities may be changed 
 by a word. Suggest that they are other per- 
 sons, and they will accept and conduct them- 
 selves accordingly. 
 
 Certain diseased conditions, as hysteria, fur- 
 nish further evidence of the impressionability of 
 the mind, if more were needed, but it is thought 
 that enough has been given to abundantly estab* 
 lish the fact. 
 
 Together with the control of the mind by 
 Suggestion, another important fact appears, 
 namely, the functions, sensations and states of 
 
92 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 the body, are under the control of the sub- 
 conscious mind. The fact that the functions, 
 sensations and states of the body are beyond the 
 control of the will, leads us a long way toward 
 certainty that they are under subconscious con- 
 trol, for they must be under the control of either 
 one or the other. It would be absurd to say 
 that they are not consciously controlled in the 
 light of recent demonstrations. It is well 
 known that the functions and sensations may be 
 changed and controlled at will of the subjects 
 who are in hypnotic subconscious states. Any 
 one who will, can readily prove all that is stated 
 here. In this induced state the voluntary and 
 involuntary actions are easily controlled and the 
 sensations varied as desired. 
 
 The action of the heart may be depressed 
 or accelerated and the character of the respira- 
 tory rhythm altered as desired. The temperature 
 of the body may be increased or lowered. The 
 functional activities of the liver, kidneys, stom- 
 ach, intestines and the other organs may be 
 affected at will. In short, not only functional, 
 but organic diseases may be produced by Hyp- 
 notic Suggestion. The power of the mind over 
 the body is in keeping with its growth and de- 
 velopment, for every cell in the complex fabric 
 is placed and controlled by mind processes ; 
 
RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 93 
 
 therefore, it is not surprising that organic 
 changes have been, and may be produced by 
 Suggestion. 
 
 Therefore, since the functions, sensations and 
 conditions of the body are controlled by the 
 subconscious mind, and the subconscious mind 
 is controlled by Suggestion, it is plain that the 
 derangements of these bodily functions and 
 states may be corrected by Suggestion. 
 
 We are now prepared to understand the way 
 in which cures are effected by Suggestion, and 
 are not surprised to find that Suggestion is the 
 principle underlying Psychic-Healing. It is easy 
 to show that all cures effected by the various 
 systems of Mental Medicine must find their ex- 
 planation in this Law of Suggestion. A law 
 must be universal in its operation, and the Law 
 of Suggestion seems to be broad enough to 
 cover and explain all of the cures resulting from 
 the various psychologic systems. 
 
 This is the way Suggestion operates: A re- 
 ceptive state of mind is induced in the patient — 
 the Suggestion is given that he will soon be well 
 —he believes that he is about to be cured, and 
 his mind determines the result and he is cured. 
 It is plain that it is faith or belief that is the 
 connecting link that completes the circuit of 
 curative powers. There is a law which appears 
 
94 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 to be almost without exception, namely, that 
 what a person expects is likely to appear in 
 him, whether it be physiologic or psychologic 
 in character. 
 
 This is the way the various cures operate: 
 A man who has been ill for a long time becomes 
 dissatisfied with the treatment of his attending 
 physician, in whose hands he has possibly suf- 
 fered many things, and dismisses him. He 
 hears of a "healer" and decides to consult him. 
 The "healer" explains his system and assures 
 the patient that he can cure him. The patient 
 is convinced — pays the fees — and passively sub- 
 mits to the treatment. The result is prompt — 
 he feels better after the first application of the 
 treatment and soon fully secures his health. 
 Now this is what has happened in this case, 
 namely, he believed, he became passive, he re- 
 ceived curative Suggestions and his mind deter- 
 mined the result. All of these cases may be 
 shown to be simply suggestive treatment. They 
 do not result from any merit in the "cure/' but 
 from the belief in it. In like manner belief is 
 the key-note in all of the Psycho-Curative Sys- 
 tems, for it furnishes the opportunity to make 
 the curative Suggestions. 
 
 Absent Treatments, even when they are not 
 influenced by the expectation of the patient, are 
 
RATIONAL OF PSYCHOPATHY. 95 
 
 not exceptions to this Law of Cure. The cura- 
 tive influence in these cases must be due to 
 telepathic communication, whereby the Sugges- 
 tions are given and the results obtained. The 
 fact that the belief and expectation are sub- 
 conscious is an advantage, because it is through 
 the subconscious mind that cures are effected. 
 Likewise in children, the amenability to Sug- 
 gestion is pronounced, and begins much earlier 
 in their lives than most people are aware. The 
 subconscious mind is present from the begin- 
 ning. 
 
 The Great Physician used to say, "According 
 to your faith be it unto you," and "Thy faith 
 hath made thee whole," and again, "He could 
 do no mighty works (healing) because of their 
 unbelief.' , 
 
 Paracelsus recognized the same law when Re 
 said : 
 
 "It is faith which gives power — unbelief is a 
 destroyer. Whether the object of your faith be 
 real or false, you will nevertheless obtain the 
 same effects. Faith produces miracles, and 
 whether it is true or false faith it will always 
 produce the same wonders." 
 
 These statements and many others like them 
 from recent writers explain how it happens that 
 systems with such widelv differing: doctrines and 
 
96 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 methods have all secured such marvelous re- 
 sults. They have succeeded in winning the con- 
 fidence and inspiring faith in their followers and 
 in giving the Suggestions which have determined 
 the mind in producing the cures. 
 
 It seems plain that the conditions and pro- 
 cesses of all Psychopathic Healing are essen- 
 tially the same. The conditions are states of 
 receptivity or suggestibility, and the processes 
 are the making of the needful curative Sugges- 
 tions to the patients. That these conditions 
 and processes have been induced and given un- 
 wittingly is rather confirmatory than otherwise 
 of the universality of the Law of Suggestion. 
 The Law of Mental Healing will be progressively 
 more appreciated as it is better understood and 
 more used. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 TELEPATHY. 
 
 Telepathy a central factor in Psychic Research — 
 Thoughts are mental creations — Telepathy defined — 
 Telepathy in the waking state — Thought-Trans- 
 ference a common experience — It was known in an- 
 cient times — Rapport facilitates its operation — A 
 well known author's experience — Unintentional 
 plagiarism — A Telepathic experiment with cards — 
 The theory of absent treatment — Telepathy easy to 
 study — Telepathy in natural sleep — It usually 
 occurs in dreams — Sees a brother murdered — Ex- 
 periments — A Telepathic phantasm — Telepathy in 
 Hypnosis — Hypnotism a great aid to its study — A 
 case of mind reading — The notes of an evenings 
 experimentation — Delayed perception — The Profes- 
 sor's opinion — Telepathie a trois. 
 
 The importance of this subject cannot be 
 overstated, for it is the central factor in Psychic 
 Research. Wireless telegraphy is no more a fact 
 than Mental Telegraphy, although it appears 
 just now that wireless telegraphy will be sooner 
 understood and sooner reduced to practical use 
 than Mental Telegraphy; but later the reverse 
 97 
 
98 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 may be true, for many of our best students of 
 Psychology are experimenting along these lines. 
 Telepathy depends upon the fact that 
 thoughts are mental creations which are carried 
 by a subtle ether across wide distances from 
 mind to mind. Thought waves are similar to 
 those set up by heat, electricity and light. 
 Thoughts are not impalpable creations, lost as 
 soon as created, but they are things sent out 
 to be felt and known by all who are sensitive 
 enough to receive them. The world is a whis- 
 pering gallery, and all who will may catch the 
 whispered messages. It is possible for all to 
 develop this receptivity ; that is, to get into tune 
 with the world. The thoughts of the world are 
 much like the noises of a great city — a mean- 
 ingless din unless an effort is made to discrimi- 
 nate between them. By attention one sound 
 may be separated from the rest and its location 
 and meaning determined. In like manner in- 
 dividual thoughts may be separated from the 
 multitude that come to us and their source and 
 meaning interpreted. The term Telepathy has 
 been defined to mean the communication of one 
 mind or person with another, beyond the range 
 of the physical senses, without the interposition 
 of any physical agent. Perhaps the exact mean- 
 ing is better indicated by the expression, 
 
TELEPATHY. 99 
 
 Thought Transference. Many facts point to 
 the existence of such a means of communica- 
 tion. Some facts are found in the phenomena 
 observed; first in the waking state, second in 
 natural sleep and third in hypnosis. 
 
 IN THE WAKING STATE. 
 
 All persons have had experience in Thought 
 Transference. Doubtless every person who 
 reads these pages has had personal experience, 
 if he takes time to think and recall instances. 
 Thought Transference is not something new; 
 so far back in history as the Sacred Record, 
 examples have been recorded. It is said of 
 Jesus that "knowing their thoughts" he an- 
 swered them or asked them questions, and it 
 appears that it was a common experience with 
 Him to use this means of communication. 
 
 But we do not have to go back to ancient 
 records to find examples of Thought Transfer- 
 ence, or Mind Reading; they are common ex- 
 periences today. Two persons associated to- 
 gether often surprise each other by the one 
 speaking of what the other has been thinking. 
 A patient of mine told me the other day that 
 when her sister came to her room and opened 
 the door, before she spoke a word, she could 
 tell her what she was about to ask, and often 
 
 LofC. 
 
100 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 answered her without the question being pro- 
 nounced. 
 
 Close sympathy or rapport greatly facilitates 
 the transfer and interpretation of thoughts. 
 Persons have been known to be so thoroughly 
 in rapport that it was difficult to tell with which 
 one the thought originated. A lady friend of 
 mine told me that she got so thoroughly in rap- 
 port with a public speaker that she could often 
 anticipate his words. On one occasion, when 
 in the midst of his discourse he suddenly stopped 
 and picked up his handkerchief from the desk, 
 for an instant it seemed to have been her hand 
 that picked up the 'kerchief, for she distinctly 
 felt the silk texture of it. 
 
 Recently I read a very interesting account of 
 Mental Telegraphy written by a well-known 
 author of his own experience with a friend. He 
 was living in the East at the time, and his friend 
 was living in Nevada. He says: 
 
 "Two or three years ago I was lying in bed 
 idly musing one morning, when suddenly a 'red 
 hot' new idea came whistling down into my 
 camp and exploding with such expansive effec- 
 tiveness as to sweep the vicinity clear of rub- 
 bishy reflections and fill the air with their dust 
 and flying fragments." The idea, simply stated, 
 was that it was the time for the writing of a 
 
TELEPATHY. 101 
 
 certain book on the silver mines of Nevada, and 
 this Nevada friend of his was just the man to 
 write it, and so he arose from his bed and im- 
 mediately set to writing a letter to his friend, 
 telling him in substance that the time was ripe 
 and the market ready for such a book, and be- 
 cause he was a particular friend he made bold 
 to state what he considered the plan of the book 
 ought to be, and, indeed, went into some detail. 
 After writing the letter he was a little concerned 
 about the wisdom of advising his friend to 
 write a book before a publisher was found, so 
 he pigeon-holed the letter until such a time as 
 he could have a conference with his own pub- 
 lisher about getting out the book. A week 
 passed before he could have the desired confer- 
 ence with his publisher, when one day a letter 
 arrived and he recognized his friend's hand- 
 writing on the outside of the envelope. He 
 turned to some friends present when the letter 
 was received and said : 
 
 "I will do a miracle — I will tell what this 
 letter contains before I open it." And he gave 
 an outlined statement of the contents of the let- 
 ter and then opened the same and read it to 
 his friends, and it tallied in a most remarkable 
 manner with his previous statement. The "red 
 hot idea" apparently was not original with him, 
 
102 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 but was telepathed to him by his friend in 
 Nevada. 
 
 It is plain from the above how innocent per- 
 sons are apparently guilty of plagarism. Original 
 thoughts are not always original with the per- 
 son who publishes them; they may be uncon- 
 sciously obtained from another. Such a case 
 occurred with a couple of acquaintances. They 
 each wrote a book on the same subject, while 
 living one in the United States, the other in 
 China. The books were very similar in ar- 
 rangement, and whole pages were practically 
 identical. Each thought that the other had 
 copied his work, but an inquiry proved that 
 neither had seen the other's work before writing 
 his own, and it was decided that it was a 
 case of Thought Transference. One caught the 
 other's thoughts, or they both obtained them 
 from an unknown third party. 
 
 I have sometimes made experiments in Telep- 
 athy, and recall now an experiment made one 
 evening with cards. A professional gentleman 
 was thoroughly blindfolded and turned with his 
 back to the table around which several of us 
 were seated ; then a card was placed upon the 
 table at random and the blindfolded gentleman 
 was asked to tell what card it was. In several 
 instances he announced speedily and correctly 
 
TELEPATHY. 103 
 
 the suit and value of the card. Some of the 
 other members of the party tried similar experi- 
 ments, and a sufficient number of successes were 
 obtained to convince us that the results could 
 not be accounted for by guesses. Sometimes 
 instead of using cards we drew geometrical fig- 
 ures upon a sheet of paper, then passed the 
 paper from one to the other, each in turn witli 
 a pencil tracing the outline of the figure, while 
 the blindfolded man made his mind a blank or 
 receptive and told what the figure was; in this 
 also many successes were scored. 
 
 I recall a little incident that occurred several 
 years ago when I was acting in the capacity of 
 judge of an election. One day while we were 
 sitting in the polling place, not having much to 
 do we fell to talking of Thought Transference, 
 Mind Reading and the like, when suddenly a 
 gentleman addressed one of the clerks, saying: 
 
 "I can tell you what you had for breakfast. 
 I can tell you where you got that suit of clothes 
 and how much you paid for it. I can tell you 
 your mother's maiden name, the name of the 
 first school teacher you ever had. and can tell 
 you the number of your watch ; and I will wager 
 you five dollars that I tell you all of these things 
 without making a mistake." He was unable to 
 get a wager, but to prove that he was not jestingf 
 
104 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 he proceeded to tell these several things, and, 
 indeed, succeeded in telling them all without a 
 mistake. 
 
 The theory of distant or absent treatment of 
 the sick is based upon these facts. Undoubtedly 
 it is possible under certain conditions to send 
 helpful suggestions to persons who are ill at 
 a distance. I have in mind now a case in point. 
 A young lady patient of mine living not far from 
 my rooms was seriously ill, and one night was 
 unable to go to sleep. She said to her friend 
 who was attending her: 
 
 "I am so dreadfully nervous I am sure that I 
 shall not sleep at all during the night." 
 
 At about eleven o'clock I returned to my 
 rooms and while preparing to retire was im- 
 pressed, or in more accurate words received a 
 message telling me that my patient was nervous 
 and restless, and I immediately answered the 
 message, addressing these words to the patient 
 as though I were in her presence : 
 
 "You will not be restless any more, and will 
 soon go to sleep and rest comfortably all night." 
 
 The result was that she did go to sleep and 
 rested well. The next morning when I made 
 my regular call upon the patient she told me of 
 her experience the night before and asked me 
 if I had sent her a quieting message at about 
 
TELEPATHY. ioS 
 
 eleven o'clock. I admitted that I had. In this 
 case we have a positive demonstration of Mental 
 Telegraphy. 
 
 Any two persons can readily make a study of 
 Telepathy in the following manner: A con- 
 venient time should be appointed when neither 
 is likely to be disturbed. One should send and 
 the other should receive the messages. The 
 agent and percipient may exchange offices at 
 their pleasure. The sittings should not be too 
 long — thirty minutes is long enough. Divide 
 the time into two or three parts and try to send 
 a thought or an idea in each part. The receiver 
 or percipient should make a note of the thoughts 
 received at the time and later compare notes 
 with the sender or agent. A telepascope has 
 been devised as an aid in these simple experi- 
 ments. It is simply a long tube wide enough 
 to allow both eyes to look through it at once at 
 the object or figure to be transferred. Any one 
 can make one out of cardboard to serve that 
 purpose. It aids the agent in concentrating the 
 attention on a single object. We will now turn 
 to a study of Telepathy, 
 
 IN NATURAL SLEEP. 
 
 Most of the phenomena of Thought Trans- 
 ference or Telepathy observed in natural sleep 
 
106 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 occur in dreams. Dreams which give a true 
 account of happenings. You remember we 
 have a very early account of such a dream and 
 its interpretation. Daniel of old, after all of 
 the magicians and sooth-sayers in Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's court had failed to tell the King the 
 dream he had had, which he had forgotten, and 
 its interpretation, volunteered to tell the King 
 what he wanted to know, that is, to tell him his 
 wonderful dream and its interpretation, and 
 thereby saved his own life and glorified the God 
 of Israel. 
 
 The instances in which dreams have brought 
 important revelations are too many to be ac- 
 counted for by coincidence ; but do not under- 
 stand me to say that every dream of the night 
 is a revelation. Undoubtedly many dreams are 
 of little or no importance, but when it happens 
 that a person dreams the details of some event 
 and it leaves an indellible impression upon the 
 mind, coincidence is not a sufficient explanation. 
 For example, a lady recently dreamed that she 
 saw her brother murdered. They were more 
 than a thousand miles apart — she in Indiana and 
 he in Nebraska. The dream was so realistic 
 that she seemed to take part in the struggle 
 between her brother and his murderer. The 
 next morning she told her friends and declared 
 
TELEPATHY. 107 
 
 that she knew that her brother had been killed. 
 Shortly thereafter she received a message telling 
 her that her brother was dead, having been mur- 
 dered in his own house upon his ranch. The 
 sister sent a description of the man she had seen 
 commit the murder in her dream to the sheriff 
 of the county, who recognized from the descrip- 
 tion one of several persons and arrestee! him. 
 It seems that this dream must have been due 
 to Thought Transference. Doubtless many 
 messages come to us in this manner that are 
 not interpreted, although we have a feeling of 
 uneasiness and apprehension. 
 
 Experiments are easily made upon sleeping 
 subjects which certainly prove that external in- 
 fluences of various sorts make impressions upon 
 sleepers and direct their dreams. It is well 
 known that a person sleeping in a cold draught 
 of air is likely to dream of experiences in cold 
 environments, as being out on a bleak prairie 
 or in an exposed position. Another experi- 
 ment often made is the playing of music in the 
 presence of sleeping persons and afterwards 
 awakening and asking them of what they have 
 been dreaming. Almost invariably they tell of 
 having dreamed of attending a concert, opera 
 or some musical entertainment. 
 
 It is as easy to cause visual hallucination by 
 
108 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 talking to the sleeper as it is to cause bther 
 dreams, but more peculiar instances of hallu- 
 cination are those caused from a distance by a 
 person purposely sending a telepathic message. 
 Many have made this sort of experiment, and 
 it is made as follows : 
 
 Just before going to sleep the sender or agent 
 strongly wills that during his sleep his presence 
 shall be felt or seen by some other person or 
 persons at a distance. The result which is fre- 
 quently obtained is, that the distant sleeper or 
 percipient either feels or sees the outline or 
 image of the agent. I am aware that there is 
 another explanation for this besides Telepathy, 
 namely, that it is the astral body of the agent 
 projected into the presence of the percipient, but 
 I prefer the former explanation. Thought 
 Transference and hallucination admirably ac- 
 count for all the phenomena. The phenomena 
 of sleep will be more fully discussed in the chap- 
 ter on Sleep and Dreams, so we will pass on to 
 the consideration of Thought Transference, 
 
 IN HYPNOSIS. 
 
 Hypnotism is a great aid to the study of all 
 of the supersensuous phenomena, and especially 
 of the study of the phenomena of Telepathy. 
 In the various states of hypnosis we find inti- 
 
TELEPATHY. 109 
 
 mations of the explanation of the two classes of 
 phenomena recorded above, for hypnosis fur- 
 nishes an opportunity to study the operations 
 of the mind found in no other mental condition. 
 Experiments are readily made with hypnotized 
 subjects, and the results will satisfy the most 
 skeptical that Thought Transference is a fact. 
 Hypnotized persons frequently surprise us with 
 exhibitions of Mind Reading, Clairvoyance and 
 the like. Let me cite such an instance. 
 
 One evening while observing the effect of 
 music upon a young lady in hypnosis, I told 
 her that a gentleman present had told a very 
 humorous story and began to laugh and she 
 joined me in my pretended mirth. Afterward 
 when questioned about the story she repeated 
 the story in detail that she insisted she had 
 heard the gentleman tell. No story had really 
 been told, but she had read it in the mind of 
 the gentleman who was supposed to have told 
 it. It was one of the few stories that he was 
 accustomed to tell, and she had never heard it. 
 Evidently she had read his mind, but the 
 strangest thing about it was that in her memory 
 it had been told in detail. 
 
 My experience with hypnotic subjects has 
 been large. I will recite the notes taken from 
 an evening's experimentation. There were 
 
110 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 present three physicians, a high school super- 
 intendent, a druggist and two ladies. The pro- 
 fessor was chosen as the subject for the evening, 
 inrst, experiments were made with him in the 
 waking state, and then they were continued 
 under hypnotic influence. 
 
 The subject was thoroughly blindfolded and 
 placed so that all present could easily see his 
 face, but at no time was he in contact with any 
 one. Then a playing card, the three of clubs, 
 was placed against his forehead, partly under 
 the bandage, with its face toward the company. 
 We waited in silence, looking at and thinking 
 of the card, while he made his mind passive and 
 receptive, with a view to telling what the card 
 was. After a couple of minutes he said*: 
 
 "I do not see anything, and I cannot think 
 of anything except the three-spot of clubs." 
 
 The seven-spot of a red suit was next placed 
 in the same position, and after waiting a little 
 longer than before he said : 
 
 "I can see the card. It is a red suit, but I 
 cannot tell whether it is a heart or a diamond, 
 nor whether it is a seven or an eight spot." 
 
 Two or three other cards were placed suc- 
 cessively in the same position, but he was un- 
 able to tell the suit or the number of spots, 
 although he could regularly tell the color. 
 
TELEPATHY. HI 
 
 Wishing to see if better results could be ob- 
 tained by the aid of hypnotism, I hypnotized 
 him while he was still blindfolded and placed 
 him in an easy chair with his back to the table 
 around which we were seated. He went into 
 a condition known as lucid lethargy and was 
 well aware of what we were doing and heartily 
 carried out his part of the study. 
 
 No one present spoke a word except the sub- 
 ject and myself. The affair was altogether im- 
 promptu and the tests were as follows : Various 
 objects were placed noiselessly upon the padded 
 table, and those of us assembled about it con- 
 centrated our gaze and attention upon them 
 until he got a mental impression of them. The 
 objects were selected by any one present hap- 
 hazard. Let me mention the objects in detail. 
 
 The first object placed upon the table was a 
 little terra-cotta vase with three looplike han- 
 dles, like those upon a creamer. Almost imme- 
 diately the professor said : 
 
 "I see it; it is a little brown creamer." A 
 side view only showed two of the fhree handles, 
 and it was manifest that he got the image of 
 the object by Thought Transference from those 
 who were looking at it. 
 
 One of the doctors then placed his penknife, 
 which had a long black handle, upon the table. 
 
112 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 When asked what he saw, the subject replied: 
 
 "I see something black; it is long and 
 straight." The doctor at this point partly 
 opened one of the blades and at once the sub- 
 ject added: "No, it is not straight; it is turned 
 up at one end. Oh, yes, I see what it is — it is 
 a penknife. " 
 
 A small, round call-bell was next placed upon 
 the table and was at once recognized and named 
 by the subject. In like manner, a little salt-bot- 
 tle, glass with a silver top, filled with salt, was 
 quickly recognized and described as "a small 
 white bottle with a silver top." 
 
 A silver tea-bell next found its way upon the 
 table, and after a little delay the subject said: 
 "I can see it, but I don't know what it is. It 
 looks like a morning-glory with a portion of the 
 stem attached." At this juncture some one 
 quietly turned the bell so that it lay upon its 
 side, and in a moment the subject continued': 
 "Oh, yes, I see. Now, I know what it is — it 
 is a tea-bell." 
 
 A book was then placed upon the table, and 
 we all expected he would at once announce that 
 he saw a book ; but he did not. For a consid- 
 erable time he remained silent as if puzzled: 
 
 "What do you see?" I finally asked him, and 
 he replied: "The only thing that I can see is 
 a stamp." 
 
TELEPATHY. 113 
 
 We thought that he had made a flat failure, 
 but the lady sitting opposite to me, without 
 speaking, turned the book over and I saw that 
 it nad a library stamp stuck upon its back.. So 
 I asked: 
 
 "Where is the stamp?" 
 
 "It is stuck on the back of a book," he in- 
 stantly replied. 
 
 This led us to believe that he must have got- 
 ten the image of the stamp from Mrs. B., who 
 was the only one present who had noticed it 
 and had turned the book so that I could see 
 it and had called my attention to it. So we spent 
 a little time in following out that idea, with 
 most satisfactory results : He could readily and 
 infallibly tell in what part of the room Mrs. B. 
 was, although she moved about noiselessly, 
 while the rest of us made plenty of noise and 
 carried on animated discussions. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add anything to the 
 above notes. They tell their own story, and 
 to my mind can only be explained upon the 
 hypothesis of Telepathy or Clairvoyance. 
 
 Delayed perception was in several instances 
 observed, for instance, when we were about to 
 change the subject, indeed, in one instance had 
 changed it, he suddenly definitely saw its 
 image and positively stated what it was. If the 
 
1 14 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCH1SM. 
 
 transfer of thought depends upon the subcon- 
 scious mind this delay is easily accounted for; 
 otherwise it is not. 
 
 Apparently better results are obtained with 
 a hypnotized subject, and doubtless this is be- 
 cause the subject in hypnosis can to a greater 
 degree disregard outside distracting influences 
 and become more passive and receptive. 
 
 A peculiar thing about the evening's study 
 was the feeling that Professor S. had about it 
 subsequently. A month or two later he was 
 inclined to doubt the whole matter, and said 
 that he thought that we could easily explain it 
 all if we only knew enough. I am of the same 
 opinion about the explanation, but I feel cer- 
 tain that the explanation would be none other 
 than Telepathy. 
 
 Many experimenters have investigated the 
 subject of hypnotizing by Thought Transfer- 
 ence — i. e., hypnotizing a subject at a distance 
 or beyond the reach of sense communication, 
 and have succeeded to a remarkable degree. 
 My own attempts along this line have not been 
 as successful as I could have wished; however, 
 I have found indications of partial success in 
 a number of instances. Let me cite one. One 
 evening several years ago in the presence of one 
 of my classes I attempted to bring one of the 
 
TELEPATHY. 115 
 
 absent members of the class by a mental com- 
 mand and afterwards learned that he had the 
 following experience. At about eight o'clock, 
 the hour of the experiment, he suddenly re- 
 membered that it was the hour for the meeting 
 of his class, and he went to the elevator and 
 asked the time. He lived about a mile from my 
 rooms and knew that he could not arrive 
 until very late, so although he had a strong in- 
 clination to come, he finally decided not to do 
 so. It appears that the mental command 
 reached him, but he did not obey. Perhaps if 
 we had continued the command the result would 
 have been different. 
 
 Persons who succeed best in Mental Teleg- 
 raphy are those who are naturally, or fry train- 
 ing, Psychics. The Trance Mediums are all 
 Psychics and are able to interpret the telepathic 
 messages sent to them from other minds. Prob- 
 ably the reason that most of us fail in our at- 
 tempts to make practical use of Telepathy is 
 because we are unable to interpret the mes- 
 sages that reach our minds. Many persons 
 admit that they have felt certain peculiar im- 
 pressions and some presentiment of evil at the 
 time of accidents to their friends, but while they 
 were uneasy and anxious they were unable to 
 interpret the messages that were doubtless sent. 
 
116 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 These messages are probably stored in the sub- 
 conscious minds of the receivers and when they 
 go to Mind Readers these facts or messages are 
 readily secured and interpreted for them. In- 
 direct messages are obtained in this way: A 
 sends a message to B, who afterwards goes to 
 C for a reading, and C reads the message, 
 thereby gaining knowledge of what was appar- 
 ently known only by A. This is what is called 
 Telepathie a trois, or Telepathy by three. You 
 will see that these facts offer the explanation of 
 many of the phenomena of Spiritism, which will 
 be discussed in the subsequent chapter. 
 
 Many other experiments made in Thought 
 Transference might be added, but it is thought 
 that the above will suffice, for it will be further 
 illustrated in the discussion of Clairvoyance and 
 Clairaudience, to follow immediately. The phe- 
 nomena of the supersensuous faculties can only 
 with difficulty be separated, they are so inti- 
 mately related. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 CLAIRVOYANCE AND CLAIRAUDIENCE. 
 
 Clairvoyance and Clairaudience real facts — The avenues 
 which lead to the mind — Sense perceptions depend- 
 ent upon the mind — The seen and the unseen relative 
 terms — The impenetrability of matter and the X- 
 ray — Clairvoyance and Clairaudience in con- 
 scious states — The phenomena intimately related 
 with Telepathy — Natural and developed power — The 
 Author's experience — A Clairvoyant reading veri- 
 fied — Clairvoyance and Clairaudience in the 
 subconscious state — Intentional and unintentional 
 experiences — The subconscious states — Experiments 
 with hypnotized subjects — A young man sent to 
 Cuba — A young lady sent home — A trip to South 
 Africa — Describes a battle — She tells the time — 
 Conclusion. 
 
 These subjects are so similar and closely re- 
 lated that it seems best to consider them to- 
 gether. Little is known about them, so little 
 indeed that Clairvoyance and Clairaudience are 
 thought by some to be simply names. How- 
 117 
 
118 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 ever, they are real facts, as the large amount 
 of phenomena which they have produced clearly 
 shows. It will be worth while to carefully re- 
 view the phenomena and satisfy ourselves that 
 it is abundant and sufficient. 
 
 The physical senses are not the only avenues 
 which lead to the mind; there are many other 
 portals that may be unbarred and opened. Open 
 wide the windows of your soul, let in the light 
 from every source. The narrow apertures ot 
 the physical senses are too meager to let in the 
 whole truth, and anything less will not satisfy 
 the longings, aspirations and hopes of the 
 human soul. 
 
 The eyes do not see ; it is the mind behind 
 them that sees; the ears do not hear, it is 
 the mind behind their mechanism that hears. 
 The eyes recognize the waves of light and the 
 ear detects the vibrations of sound, but they do 
 not limit the range of sight or hearing. An 
 object that has passed beyond the range of the 
 unaided eye can be plainly brought into view 
 by the use of a telescope ; likewise, an object too 
 small to be seen by the unaided eye may be 
 clearly seen and studied with the aid of the 
 microscope. The sound that is beyond the 
 range of the unaided ear can be plainly heard 
 by means of an audiphone. This would seem 
 
CLAIRVOYANCE. 119 
 
 to prove that sight and hearing both depend 
 upon the delicacy of the receiving instruments. 
 If the instruments were keen enough no ray of 
 light would be too small to be detected or no 
 sound too faint to be heard. Is not the mind 
 in its immediate perception unhampered by the 
 physical senses subtle enough to meet these re- 
 quirements ? 
 
 It is plain that the seen and the unseen are 
 simply relative terms. What may be unseen by 
 me may be plainly seen by another. What I am 
 unable to see with unaided vision can be brought 
 into view by the aid of instruments, the same 
 is true of hearing, the unheard may become 
 heard under other conditions. The vibrations 
 of light and sound do not stop where our ordi- 
 nary powers to detect them fail, but they go 
 on and on. In childhood we were told that the 
 waves started by a stone thrown into the water 
 near the shore, would go on and on until they 
 broke against the distant shore, though it were 
 thousands of miles away. Is it not equally true 
 that the waves of light and sound when started 
 go on and on until they break upon the shores 
 of eternity? 
 
 The recent discovery of the X-ray has re- 
 vealed the existence of a subtle ether by means 
 of which the rays of light may be made to pene- 
 
120 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 trate so-called opaque bodies. Indeed, the the- 
 ory of impenetrability of matter no longer holds, 
 according to many scientists. By means of 
 some such subtle ether thought waves are car- 
 ried from mind to mind across wide distances 
 of space, and messages are intelligently sent and 
 received by Telepathy. Is it not possible, not 
 to say probable, that light waves and sound 
 waves may be conveyed by a similar if not the 
 same ether across like distances? Whether we 
 adopt such a theory or not, the fact of seeing 
 and hearing by some means beyond the range 
 of the physical senses is indubitable. We are 
 aware that discarnate spirit communications are 
 offered as explanations of these phenomena, and 
 a discussion of them will be given in the chapter 
 on Spiritism. 
 
 A study of the phenomena of Clairvoyance 
 and Clairaudience will aid in reaching a more 
 or less satisfactory conclusion as to what expla- 
 nation should be accepted. The phenomena in 
 question naturally arrange themselves in two 
 groups, for part of them is produced while the 
 mind is in an ordinary conscious condition and 
 another part of them is produced when the mind 
 is in a subconscious condition. And so we will 
 divide the subject into these two groups, namely, 
 I. The phenomena produced by persons in 
 
CLAIRVOYANCE. 1 2 1 
 
 conscious states, and 2. The phenomena pro- 
 duced by persons in subconscious states. 
 
 IN CONSCIOUS STATES. 
 
 The phenomena of Clairvoyance and Clair- 
 audience are so intimately associated and 
 blended with those of Telepathy that it is almost 
 impossible to separate them. Indeed, the rela- 
 tionship is so close that many are inclined to 
 believe that they are all due to Thought Trans- 
 ference. It is easy to see how this miscon- 
 ception has arisen after a study of Telepathy 
 such as we have made. It was shown that many 
 thought communications were received in visual 
 or auditory forms. Not infrequently the visions 
 are allegorical in Thought Transference — that 
 is, the transference of a picture of the ten-spot 
 of diamonds would not be a card with red 
 diamond-shaped spots, but as likely as not a 
 series of real diamonds arranged in that order. 
 That is not true of Clairvoyance ; the picture is 
 usually quite natural and lifelike unless, as some- 
 times occurs, there is a blending of Telepathy 
 and Clairvoyance. 
 
 Psychics who have clairvoyant powers are of 
 two classes, called natural and developed. The 
 natural Clairvoyant is one who has stumbled 
 upon the power and understands little of the 
 
122 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 law underlying it or the means of controlling 
 it. He is as much or more surprised at his 
 marvelous power than his friends, and usually 
 runs off to some one who is supposed to know 
 to find out about it. The developed Clairvoyant 
 is quite a different character. He has acquired 
 his psychic power by patient persevering prac- 
 tice and knows how to control and use it. 
 
 Clairvoyant power is not limited to the per- 
 sons who bear the name; indeed, it is quite 
 common in others, so common that almost every 
 one sometime, somewhere, has had an example 
 of it in his own experience. Let me relate such 
 an experience that occurred to me last summer. 
 
 One Sunday evening, having retired very 
 early, I was lying in a meditative mood when 
 suddenly I saw clearly a young lady acquain- 
 tance sitting at a table writing. I recognized 
 her and decided that she was at that moment 
 writing to me and I had seen her and known 
 it, although she was in a city seven hundred 
 miles away. In the morning I said to my par- 
 ents, with whom I was visiting at the time: 
 
 "I will do a mystery for you." 
 
 "Well, what is it?" my father inquired. 
 
 "I will predict the receipt of a letter from 
 Chicago, which will arrive tomorrow, Tuesday, 
 afternoon." 
 
CLAIRVOYANCE. i23 
 
 "Perhaps you have an appointment with some 
 one to write to you so that it will arrive at that 
 time," my mother suggested. 
 
 "No," was the reply; "I have not heard from 
 the young lady for several weeks, and have no 
 appointment to write." 
 
 "Well, then, how do you know?" was asked. 
 
 "I had a clairvoyant vision last night," I re- 
 plied. Then I told them just how the vision 
 occurred, and also mentioned the name of the 
 lady who was to write. 
 
 Tuesday came, but brought no letter, and 
 1 was heartily laughed at by my parents, who 
 were skeptical about such things. Two days 
 later I received a letter from the lady, in which 
 she wrote: "I have tried several times," she 
 said, "to write to you lately, but have not suc- 
 ceeded in doing so until now." 
 
 A few days later I returned to Chicago, and 
 shortly thereafter met the young lady in question 
 and she asked me if I had received her letter 
 before my return, and I replied: 
 
 "Yes, I received the letter you wrote on Tues- 
 day, but not the one you wrote on Sunday night. 
 I suppose you tore that one up." 
 
 "How do you know that I wrote to you on 
 Sunday night?" she asked, in evident amaze- 
 ment. 
 
124 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 "Oh, I just know," I laughingly replied; but 
 she would not be satisfied until I had explained 
 the whole matter to her. She admitted that she 
 had written Sunday night, as I had clairvoy- 
 antly known. 
 
 The above is a fair sample of spontaneous 
 Clairvoyance. The trained Psychic who has ob- 
 tained control of his mental faculties by sitting 
 in the silence or some other method described 
 in the previous chapters could do intentionally 
 what I did accidentally. I have had sittings 
 with a considerable number of so-called Inde- 
 pendent Clairvoyants, with various results. For 
 the most part their readings consisted of the 
 combined use of Telepathy, Clairvoyance and 
 Psychometry, but a few were true Clairvoyants. 
 I recall one experiment that was made for the 
 purpose of verifying the reading. It was as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Something over a year ago, when doing an 
 errand in a distant part of the city I was 
 reminded that I was near the home of a promi- 
 nent Clairvoyant and decided to consult her. I 
 went to her residence and asked for a sitting, 
 which was granted. Without telling my name 
 or residence or giving any clue as to my iden- 
 tity I seated myself in her consultation room. 
 She asked for my handkerchief or a glove, and 
 
CLAIRVOYANCE. 125 
 
 upon receiving and holding my handkerchief she 
 readily told me all about myself. I knew my 
 history already and wanted something more, so 
 I asked her to locate a friend of mine who was 
 traveling in Iowa and tell me what he was doing 
 at the present hour. She asked me if I had 
 anything about me that he had owned or car- 
 ried. I had a small leather card-case that had 
 been his, for we had exchanged card-cases 
 shortly before he went away. I handed her the 
 card-case and after a few moments' meditation 
 she announced that she saw him. 
 
 "He is in an hotel sitting in a small bedroom 
 writing. I will describe him and the room for 
 you," she said. 
 
 She gave a good description of my friend and 
 said the room was a small, plainly furnishd one, 
 and that it contained only one picture, and that 
 one was an unframed campaign picture of Mc- 
 Kinley. 
 
 "He has finished writing; he was writing a 
 letter to you; I can see your name on the 
 envelope that he has just addressed and sealed," 
 she continued. 
 
 I asked her to watch him for a few minutes 
 and tell me what he did. She did so, and in- 
 formed me that he was leaning back in his chair 
 with his feet upon the table, smoking. That was 
 just like him. 
 
126 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 "He has called to some one to come in," she 
 resumed, after a brief pause. "A short, middle- 
 aged gentleman has entered the room. He is 
 carrying a gun-case and asked your friend if he 
 is ready. He answers 'y es >' and has gotten up 
 and picked up his hat and gun-case, which were 
 on the table. They have gone out and closed 
 the door of the room." 
 
 I determined to verify her statements and 
 wrote my friend a letter as soon as I reached 
 home, asking him to tell me what he did imme- 
 diately after writing me a letter that day. The 
 letter that she said he had written came to me 
 the next day and a few days later I received 
 another letter answering my enquiries from 
 which I give an extract below: 
 
 "I do not know why you want to know what 
 I was doing the other day and much less do I 
 know how you became informed that I had 
 written you a letter, for I am not a very regular 
 correspondent. I suppose it is one of your 
 everlasting experiments, so it is all right, old 
 fellow. Let me see, after writing your letter I 
 sat and smoked for awhile and waited for an 
 acquaintance who was coming for me to go 
 chicken shooting with him. I did not have to 
 wait long for he was on time, two o'clock, and 
 then I took my gun and your letter and we 
 went out together. 
 
Clairvoyance. 127 
 
 "About the pictures upon the walls of my 
 room, it will be easy to reply, for there are 
 none — well, that is no framed pictures, but 
 there is an old, dilapidated campaign picture of 
 McKinley. By the way, your description of my 
 acquaintance was very good, how did you get 
 it? We had some good shooting; I wish you 
 had been along, for you would have enjoyed it." 
 
 The above experiment gives good ground for 
 the belief in the reality of Clairvoyance and 
 Clairaudience, for the woman evidently saw and 
 heard what she described to me, as my verifica- 
 tion conclusively proves. 
 
 IN SUBCONSCIOUS STATES. 
 
 Clairvoyants often fall into trances or into 
 more or less subconscious conditions. The 
 trained Clairvoyant does this at will but others 
 have unintentional experiences. Some persons 
 during sleep have dreams of a Clairvoyant or 
 a Clairaudient nature, but to Sleep and Dreams 
 a special chapter will be allotted. Let it suffice 
 here to say that such experiences are not unlike 
 those which occur in trances. The somnam- 
 bulist or sleepwalker performs feats with closed 
 eyes which go far to prove that Clairvoyance 
 is a fact, but these too must be reserved for 
 another chapter. ' 
 
128 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 Hypnotics while in a state of hypnosis not in- 
 frequently develop Clairvoyant and Clairaudient 
 powers. These may be readily and critically 
 studied under the most careful test conditions. 
 As examples and accounts of experiments are 
 more interesting and convincing than theoretical 
 discussions, several such experiments will be 
 related. 
 
 One evening last winter a young man whom 
 I had made some experiments with previously, 
 was hypnotized and directed to go to Washing- 
 ton and call upon the President and tell us 
 what he was doing at the time. 
 
 "I see him," he said after a little pause, "but 
 that guy over there has his eyes on me," he 
 continued. 
 
 "Who do you mean?" was asked. 
 
 "Why, that porter over there — he knows I 
 have no business in here." 
 
 "Never mind him, just observe the President 
 and see what he is doing and hear what he 
 says," he was instructed. 
 
 "The President is sitting there with two 
 other gentlemen ; he is reading a cablegram." 
 
 "What does the cablegram contain? Read it 
 for us," he was instructed. 
 
 "I cannot read it ; it is in cypher, but I heard 
 the President say that it is unofficial," he replied. 
 
CLAIRVOYANCE. 129 
 
 It was impossible to verify his statements 
 with reference to the President, but other state- 
 ments made a few minutes later were verified 
 in due time. The experiments were made dur- 
 ing the Spanish-American war, at the time 
 when the whereabouts of Cervera's fleet was 
 unknown and there was considerable anxiety 
 about the matter. The subject was instructed 
 to go to Cuba and locate the fleet. After a little 
 hesitation he announced that he saw them and 
 explained that the Spanish Fleet was in San- 
 tiago Bay and that the American Fleet was 
 anchored in the open sea outside. Events a few 
 days later proved the truth of his statements. 
 After coming out of his hypnotic trance he had 
 no memory of what he had seen, heard or said, 
 as is usually the case in profound hypnosis. 
 
 One more experiment made and verified quite 
 recently will suffice to illustrate our contention. 
 A young lady who had become much interested 
 in Psychic matters wished to be hypnotized and 
 if possible allowed to visit her home, in a city 
 over four hundred miles distant, while in hyp- 
 nosis. She was hypnotized and proved to be 
 a very sensitive person. She readily visited her 
 home and evinced a lively interest in things and 
 persons found there. She held an extended con- 
 versation with her mother and fell into a heated 
 
130 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 argument with some ladies who were at the 
 time making her mother a call. 
 
 The mother and the callers were preparing to 
 go to a musical recital. She observed and made 
 remarks about the waist her mother wore on the 
 occasion; it was a lavender colored silk 
 with white polka dots. The young lady in- 
 quired about the programme and learned the 
 several numbers that were to be rendered and 
 made comments favorable or unfavorable upon 
 each and finally decided she did not care to at- 
 tend the function. The names of the persons 
 who were to take part in the programme we 
 learned from her conversation with her mother 
 to be as follows: 
 
 First, Mrs. J. was to sing a solo; Mr. G. 
 was down for a select reading; Mrs. B. was to 
 sing a song, and Mr. C. was to render some of 
 his characteristic negro selections. 
 
 At my suggestion the young lady remem- 
 bered all of her conversations and experiences 
 while in the hypnosis. The following morning 
 she wrote her mother, making inquiries about 
 her doings upon the night of her experiment, 
 hut before receiving the latter the mother wrote, 
 incidentally, telling just what we wanted to 
 know. The part of the letter confirming our 
 experiment is given below and is as follows : 
 
CLAIRVOYANCE. 
 
 "I am now going to answer your letter of last 
 Sunday. You ask about home news. Well, 
 first I must tell you about a new waist I have; 
 it is lavender with white dots, which I think is 
 very pretty. 
 
 ''Mrs. C. and Dodo were up to spend the 
 afternoon yesterday and took tea with me. We 
 had a pleasant chat about you and then went 
 to the first benefit concert of the season. Mrs. 
 J. sang, Mr. G. read, Mrs. B. sang too, and 
 Mr. C's. negro impersonations were enjoyed 
 very much." 
 
 A good deal of the above experiment might 
 be accounted for by Telepathy, but undoubtedly 
 a part of it must have been due to Clairvoyance, 
 especially the part referring to the mother's 
 dress. Beside other experiments made with 
 this subject certainly establish her Clairvoyant 
 power. Let me record one more. 
 
 Two weeks later she expressed a wish to be 
 sent to some unknown country and was sent to 
 South Africa to learn about the war between 
 the English and the Boers. She went first to 
 Cape Town and there attempted to make in- 
 quiry as to the location of the seat of war and 
 was much distressed at being answered in 
 a foreign tongue. She was instructed to find 
 some one who spoke English and inquire of 
 
132 
 
 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 him, and she did, learning that the seat of war 
 was near Kimberley. She went to Kimberley 
 and located the contending armies. Then she 
 described in detail an engagement in which the 
 Boers were first repulsed but later rallied and 
 defeated the English. This was an unexpected 
 report, for the English had lately been regularly 
 victorious. However, her description and an- 
 nouncement were confirmed by official reports 
 published two days later. 
 
 Many other experiments might be recounted 
 such as telling the time by an open-face watch 
 that no one present had seen, when it was placed 
 upon the top of her head ; but it is thought that 
 enough has been given to prove the existence 
 of Independent Clairvoyance and Clairaudience. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 PSYCHOMETRY. 
 
 The intimate relationship between supersensuous facul- 
 ties — Definition of Psychometry — Mysterious consti- 
 tution of nature — Dr. Brewster quoted — "The book 
 of nature" — History of Psychometry — The Psy- 
 chometrist's development — Psychometry in the 
 waking state— Its application — A Mineral Psy- 
 chometrist — Psychometry in Medicine — An experi- 
 ment with a piece of wood from the Mount of 
 Olives— Psychometry deals only with the past — 
 Some unscrupulous Psychometrists — Psychometry 
 in Hypnosis — The states compared — Experiment 
 with a souvenir from Niagara Falls — The Hypnotic 
 visits the falls — The Psychic atmosphere of coun- 
 tries — America's position — Psychometry needs care- 
 ful study to place it upon its proper footing. 
 
 The supersensuous faculties include one more 
 member which deserves separate consideration, 
 so it is thought best to give Psychometry a 
 chapter by itself. The intimate relationship be- 
 tween Telepathy, Clairvoyance and Psychometry 
 has led many to consider them together as dif- 
 ferent phases of the same subject. It is true 
 that Psychometry is rarely observed alone; its 
 133 
 
134 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 phenomena are generally mixed with those of 
 the other faculties. However, it appears that 
 the phenomena peculiar to Psychometry are 
 sufficiently characteristic to differentiate them 
 from Telepathy and Clairvoyance. This is espe- 
 cially true in one particular, namely, that Clair- 
 voyance and Telepathy are chiefly concerned 
 with messages from persons while Psychometry 
 concerned itself chiefly with things. 
 
 Psychometry may be defined as mind or soul 
 measurement, but it would be better to change 
 the word measurement to read interpretation. 
 The Psychometrist is a person who is able to 
 divine, by physical contact or proximity the 
 character and history of a thing and the things 
 by which it has been environed ; that is, to give 
 the whole history of the thing from the vibratory 
 influences that emanate from it. For him the 
 past and the present are alike open books. The 
 keenness of his perception is phenomenal and as 
 we think of it we are forced to say with the 
 prophet of old that man is made in the image 
 of God and is only limited by his own ignorance. 
 
 The marvelous power of man is little more 
 wonderful than the mysterious constitution of 
 nature. That all experiences leave their indeli- 
 ble impressions upon man so that he is at any 
 stage of his development a living history of his 
 
PSYCHOMETRY. 135 
 
 past does not seem so wonderful as the fact that 
 so called inanimate things carry with them a 
 similar historical record. When the Psychom- 
 etrist picks up a bit of stone, wood or shell, his 
 sensitive perception reads a historical record 
 which the subject contains. The means and 
 manner of recording this history is well ex- 
 plained by Doctor Brewster, who says : 
 
 "All bodies throw off emanations in greater 
 or less size and with greater or less velocities; 
 these particles enter more or less into the pores 
 of solid and fluid bodies, sometimes resting upon 
 their surface, and sometimes permeating them 
 altogether. These emanations, when feeble, 
 show themselves in images; when stronger, in 
 chemical changes ; when stronger still, in their 
 action on the olfactory nerves; and when 
 thrown off most copiously and rapidly, in heat 
 affecting the nerves of touch; in photographic 
 action, dissevering and recombining the ele- 
 ments of nature; and in phosphorescent and 
 luminous emanations, exciting the retina and 
 producing vision." 
 
 These peculiar emanations and registrations 
 continue their operations day and night and have 
 been doing so since the beginning of things. 
 They faithfully photograph others and are as 
 faithfully photographed by others. So that each 
 
136 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 has a complete and accurate history of all that 
 has happened to it and near it. Nature by this 
 means becomes in truth a "book of nature," and 
 he who is the true naturalist is the one who can 
 read these records of the past. "Communing 
 with nature" means something to the person 
 who understands nature's power of communi- 
 cation and it is no wonder that many who have 
 communed with nature have been able to talk 
 and write as if inspired; they were inspired. 
 Places and things become more important when 
 we know that every stone, brick and window- 
 pane carries a record of the past and if they 
 could speak to us they would be constantly 
 telling us of things many of which have faded 
 from the tablets of memory. The walls of the 
 nursery in the old homestead would sing over 
 again to us the lullabys that our sweet mother's 
 voice crooned to us in our childhood days. Do 
 not these things explain how it is that some 
 authors are able to write of the secrets of na- 
 ture? They have simply gotten into tune with 
 nature, and have been able to catch her vibra- 
 tions and translate them into sweet melodies. 
 The poet of nature sings the harmonies he hears, 
 nothing more. 
 
 The history of Psychometry as a science is 
 brief, for only a few years have passed since its 
 
PSYCHOMETRY. 13^ 
 
 discovery, however, the history is much shorter 
 than the facts, for it has existed from the be- 
 ginning of time. It was discovered by Professor 
 Denton, who found a Sensitive in his wife. When 
 a piece of rock was placed in the lady's hand she 
 was able to interpret its geologic history 
 and describe and draw pictures of the animals 
 living at the place and time of its formation. 
 The animals were unknown to natural history 
 when the lady's descriptions were given, but 
 fossil remains have been found since which ver- 
 ify her statements. Many other investigators 
 have experimented with Sensitives since and 
 their results serve to confirm the conclusions 
 reached by Professor Denton. The facts of 
 Psychometry have remained much the same, but 
 their application has been greatly extended 
 since that time. The Psychometrist now finds 
 many applicants for his services and he usually 
 gives value received for his fees. His work is 
 not only interesting and wonderful, but it is also 
 useful. 
 
 The Psychometrist, like other Psychics, is the 
 result of development. Natural endowment has 
 much to do with the development, sometimes 
 very little effort or practice is sufficient to enable 
 him to become a Sensitive. Undoubtedly all 
 have more or less psychometric powers, that is, 
 
138 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 are sensitive to vibratory impressions which 
 come from places and things, and if they took 
 the trouble to study themselves they would ap- 
 preciate this fact. It is true that places and 
 things have tendencies to stimulate or depress 
 us, and it is fair to suppose that these tendencies 
 are due to the vibratory emanations from them. 
 The world is everywhere vocal with messages 
 for him who has ears to hear and the meaning 
 of Psychometry will be understood when man 
 learns to attend to these voices. 
 
 Hypnotism furnishes a means of developing 
 psychometric power, as has often been shown by 
 experimentation. Hypnotics often surprise us 
 by exhibiting these supersensuous faculties. 
 Most of the experience that I have had with 
 Psychometry has been had with persons in 
 hypnosis, some of which will be recorded pres- 
 ently. First, let us consider the phenomena 
 observed 
 
 IN THE WAKING STATE. 
 
 The basis and history of Psychometry would 
 seem to promise a wide usefulness for it. Psy- 
 chometrists themselves see no limit to its ap- 
 plication. In minerology and mining it would 
 seem to be of considerable value ; experiments 
 show that a psychometric reading of a specimen 
 
PSYCHOMETRY. 139 
 
 from a lead will not only give the value and 
 character of the ore it contains, but also describe 
 the direction of the vein and locate deposits. 
 However, it is manifest that a knowledge of 
 minerology and mining must be added to the 
 Sensitive's power, otherwise the expediency of 
 working the lead might not be justified by the 
 output. A number of cases of these mineral 
 Psychometrists are on record; recently my at- 
 tention was called to one of unusual interest. 
 The lady could not only describe the lead and 
 value from a specimen but was peculiarly af- 
 fected when walking upon a ledge containing 
 ore. The first sensation felt was a weakness in 
 the knees, followed by a loss of the power of 
 locomotion, then a loss of the power of speech, 
 and finally a loss of consciousness if she con- 
 tinued upon the ledge. The degree of the influ- 
 ence was in proportion to the richness of the 
 ledge in mineral. Mr. A. T. Robinson, who de- 
 scribes the case, says : 
 
 "In reading a piece of ore an electric or 
 magnetic current seems to travel from the ore 
 up to the brain. If the ore be very rich the 
 current is correspondingly strong and vice 
 versa. The currents from various pieces of ore 
 vary not only quantitatively or in strength, but 
 also qualitatively, copper and lead ore producing 
 
140 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 sensations very different from those of gold, sil- 
 ver or iron. The 'current/ when it reaches her 
 brain seems to dam back for the time the flood 
 of her own thoughts, so that, while she is con- 
 scious of her environment, she is not at liberty 
 to use her own faculties or to utter anything 
 other than the message given her." 
 
 The above case, Madam X., as she is called, 
 seems to show the value of a Sensitive in min- 
 ing experiments and undoubtedly many unprof- 
 itable mining ventures might be changed into 
 profitable ones by the advice of such a Psy- 
 chometrist. 
 
 Much is claimed for Psychometry as an aid in 
 medicine and surgery. In the hands of a com- 
 petent Sensitive it is said to be practically infalli- 
 ble. A lock of the patient's hair is placed in the 
 Sensitive's hand, with the result that he is able 
 to give a correct reading of the case. The dis- 
 ease is accurately described, both cause and 
 course being given and a diagnosis promptly 
 made. At least one such case has come under 
 my observation that was afterward verified. A 
 tubercular focus in the brain was located. The 
 Psychometrist had no knowledge of cerebral 
 anatomy and was obliged to locate the focus by 
 telling its relative distances from the surface of 
 the cranium. If this faculty can be so developed 
 
PSYCHOMETRY. 141 
 
 that it may be perfectly controlled and relied 
 upon it would be invaluable in diagnosis. It 
 looks as if the mind is likely to become more 
 penetrating in its perception than the X-Ray, 
 the microscope or spectroscope. Hasten the 
 day! 
 
 A piece of olive wood from the Mount of 
 Olives was placed into the hand of a young man 
 Sensitive, who immediately began to discourse 
 upon the life of Jesus. He spoke of His passing 
 over the hill on his way to Bethany, told of His 
 eating and intercourse with the family at 
 Bethany, and then told in some detail of the 
 raising of Lazarus from the dead. It is possible 
 that this last case may have been telepathic in 
 its nature, for all of the above data were well 
 known to me. This case illustrates what I have 
 often observed in Sensitives, namely, that they 
 generally give in their readings the things that 
 seem most important to them. The boy was of 
 a religious character and so the Christian asso- 
 ciations of the piece of wood were the ones that 
 were detailed, although there were doubtless 
 many other associations, that might have been 
 revealed. 
 
 The past is all that the Psychometrist concerns 
 himself with. For him the past lives again in the 
 present as he reads the historical records. The 
 
142 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 Psychometrist indulges in no predictions, or if 
 he does he does so on his own responsibility, for 
 the history of the future remains to be recorded. 
 Many so called Psychometrists indulge in "for- 
 tune telling," claiming to be able to tell past, 
 present and future. The past and present may 
 be told by the competent Sensitive, but of the 
 future no man can speak with certainty. It is 
 always a guess no matter who foretells it. To 
 the untaught it seems possible for one who can 
 actually tell the past and present also to predict 
 the future, but in the very nature of the case 
 it is impossible to foretell events where free 
 moral agency is concerned. The most that can 
 be done is to state probabilities, and a real Psy- 
 chometrist will confess this fact. 
 
 These remarks are made because certain un- 
 scrupulous persons are practicing deception and 
 bringing Psychometry into disrepute. More 
 than that, they often do serious harm to those 
 who consult them by inspiring false hopes and 
 impossible expectations. Naturally the one who 
 pays a fee for a reading takes the matter seri- 
 ously, and when the past has been faithfully told 
 concludes that the predictions of the future are 
 equally true. These predictions which are sim- 
 ply guesses, at most, often rob the unsuspecting 
 of their peace of mind by making them dissatis- 
 
PSYCHOMETRY. 143 
 
 fied with their present conditions and as uncer- 
 tain of their future. These things ought not to 
 so be. Now, let us consider the phenomena 
 produced 
 
 IN HYPNOSIS. 
 
 Sensitives developed by Hypnotism do not 
 differ in their results from those developed by 
 other means except in the fact that they speak 
 while in a hypnotic trance. Other Psychome- 
 trists rarely if ever go into trances to produce 
 their phenomena; they simply become passive 
 and sensitive to the vibratory emanations from 
 objects. 
 
 One evening I placed a little souvenir from 
 Niagara Falls into the hand of a young lady 
 Sensitive and asked her to tell us what impres- 
 sions she felt. 
 
 "It is cold and wet," she said, shivering. "The 
 water comes down in such great volumes that it 
 roars like thunder and its spray is making me 
 wet," and she drew her skirts about her as if 
 she were actually being sprinkled by the spray. 
 
 And then she went on and gave a description 
 of the Falls that anyone who had seen them 
 would have recognized at once. She spoke as if 
 she were on the Canadian side below the Great 
 Horseshoe Fall, and told of the great height 
 
144 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 from which the water fell and the boiling, seeth- 
 ing vortex into which it plunged. I told her 
 that she would remember the experience after 
 she came out of the hypnosis, and when she 
 came out of it she said it was a most realistic 
 experience. 
 
 Some months later she paid a visit to Niagara 
 Falls and at my advice went to the place where 
 she seemed to be standing in her hypnotic ex- 
 perience, and subsequently assured me that the 
 scene from that point was quite familiar to her 
 and just what she had seen while in the hypnosis. 
 She had never been to the Falls before the ex- 
 periment, but I had, and it is possible that she 
 got her information by telepathy from me, but 
 wherever she got the picture undoubtedly the 
 souvenir had some psychometric influence and 
 at least called up the scene. Beside, other ex- 
 periments proved her sensitiveness to such im- 
 pressions. 
 
 Many other examples of psychometric power 
 are at hand and might be given, but they would 
 only be repetitions of what has already been 
 stated and illustrated. However, there is an- 
 other phase of the subject which should not be 
 omitted, namely, the psychic atmosphere of 
 countries. It is claimed by Psychometrists who 
 have traveled widely that every country has its 
 
PSYCHOMETRY. 145 
 
 characteristic psychic atmosphere. Immediately 
 upon setting foot upon the soil of a country he 
 is impressed with its atmosphere. Frequently I 
 have been informed that the psychometric im- 
 pressions are quite different from what the po- 
 litical and social conditions of the country would 
 give to the ordinary observer. 
 
 It would be interesting to have occasionally 
 the psychometric readings of the various coun- 
 tries of the world in a published form so that 
 we might compare them. America is thought 
 by many to stand first in psychic matters, but 
 it is only first in possibilities, not developments. 
 Undoubtedly a few of the foremost Psychics of 
 the world are found in the United States, and 
 they are the prophets of the future, but the na- 
 tion taken as a whole is sadly lacking. How- 
 ever, we are assured that America is the field 
 where the great battles of thought are to be 
 fought out. We are glad it is so ! 
 
 Psychometry deserves a fuller and better pre- 
 sentation, but it is impossible at present to make 
 more than tentative statements. It needs and is 
 receiving everywhere careful study and conscien- 
 tious students may be trusted to find and place 
 it upon its proper footing. Enough has already 
 been learned about it to make it certain that there 
 is much in it. Some go so far as to say that 
 
146 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 everything is in it, that it is the beginning of 
 a new era, when man, like his Creator, shall be- 
 come omniscient. 
 
 The subconscious faculties, namely, Telepathy, 
 Clairvoyance, Clairaudience and Psychometry, 
 are doors opening into the great store-house of 
 knowledge that were not dreamed of a few years 
 ago. They seem to indicate a psychic develop- 
 ment which points to the evolution of man to his 
 highest possible perfection when he shall know 
 even as he is known by intuition or immediate 
 knowledge. Let us follow out these beginnings, 
 develop our latent powers, and become what it is 
 our privilege to be, Men. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SLEEP AND DREAMS. 
 
 The importance of the subject — Sleep and Dreams com- 
 mon to man and animals — The cause of errors — 
 Sleep — "Nature's sweet restorer" — Definitions — 
 Physiology versus Psychology in sleep — Sleep a 
 subconscious condition — An experiment showing 
 the relation of Sleep to Hypnosis — The key to the 
 Phenomena of Sleep — Dreams — The ancient concep- 
 tion of Dreams — The "stuff that Dreams are made 
 of" — Dreams defined — The causation of Dreams — 
 Physiologic Causes — Psychologic causes — An An- 
 cient illustration— A Suggested Dream — Telepathic 
 Dreams — A Clairvoyant Dream — The influence of a 
 room or place — The meaning and value of Dreams — 
 The study of Dreams. 
 
 Psychic Research offers no subject for study 
 more important or less understood than Sleep 
 and its phenomena. That men and animals peri- 
 odically lie down to rest and fall into somnolent 
 conditions has been observed by men from the 
 earliest times. It is only the unusual and myste- 
 rious that attracts much attention. Sleep was 
 not sufficiently unusual to excite inquiry or mys- 
 terious enough to stimulate study. With Dreams 
 147 
 
148 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 it was different and so Sleep was overlooked 
 while the Dreams were wondered at. It was 
 much like neglecting to observe the foundation 
 in the admiration of the superstructure of the 
 building; although the former is the condition 
 that renders the latter possible. Let us make 
 no such blunder in the study of Sleep and 
 Dreams. Let us first examine the foundation, 
 Sleep, and then turn our attention to the super- 
 structure, Dreams. The basis is 
 
 SLEEP. 
 
 Sleep has been considered by most writers up 
 to date simply as a period of rest in which the 
 physical organs and mental faculties pass into a 
 state of relaxation and inactivity and has been 
 appropriately called "nature's sweet restorer." It 
 has been defined as a state of quiescence or som- 
 nolence, characterized by a condition of partial 
 or complete unconsciousness, in which the body 
 becomes relaxed and the bodily functions greatly 
 reduced. This definition grew out of a physio- 
 logic study in which the mind was considered 
 the product of the brain. It was based upon the 
 observation of a double nervous mechanism, 
 namely, the voluntary, including the cerebro- 
 spinal axis, and the involuntary, including the 
 chains of sympathetic ganglia. And from their 
 
SLEEP AND DREAMS. 149 
 
 position its definition served well enough, for 
 they considered the involuntary or subconscious 
 activities of the mind, reflex or automatic. With 
 the psychologic study it is different, for it con- 
 siders the brain the organ of the mind and recog- 
 nizes the duality of the mind. It is precisely in 
 a failure to recognize this double consciousness 
 that the old definitions fail. The fact of double 
 consciousness has been explained and illustrated 
 in a previous chapter and may be referred to. 
 
 Sleep is a state of bodily relaxation and quies- 
 cence, but not a condition of partial or complete 
 unconsciousness. That it is not an unconscious 
 condition it is very easy to prove by calling at- 
 tention to the numerous instances on record 
 where difficult problems have been solved and 
 intricate plans for scientific work laid out 
 during periods of profound sleep. It is a 
 subconscious condition. It may be defined as 
 a natural subconscious state similar to the in- 
 duced subconscious state, hypnosis. It should 
 be recognized as a definite phase of personality 
 with its distinctive characteristics and not sim- 
 ply as an absence of waking activities as ft is so 
 often conceived. Natural and induced Sleep are 
 so similar that an understanding of one aids 
 greatly in the understanding of the other. They 
 differ only in one particular, namely, attention. 
 
150 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 A person in natural Sleep attends to his own 
 cerebrations, that is, he is in rapport with him- 
 self while a person in hypnosis attends to the 
 suggestions of the Hypnotist, that is, he is in 
 rapport with another. That attention is the only 
 difference between natural and induced Sleep is 
 clearly shown by the following experiment : 
 
 One evening during my lecture a young lady 
 seated in a high-back easy chair fell asleep and 
 served as an object lesson of what I had just been 
 talking. I approached her and addressed her in 
 a subdued tone of voice as follows : 
 
 "You are having a restful nap and will not 
 awaken until I tell you to do so. You hear me 
 plainly and will understand and do what I com- 
 mand you." 
 
 Thus I insinuated myself into her attention 
 without waking her and was able to make sug- 
 gestions to her just as I could have done if she 
 had been hypnotized in the usual manner. She 
 responded perfectly to every test of hypnosis. No 
 man can tell though he watch with the utmost 
 care when a person passes from natural to in- 
 duced Sleep or the reverse. 
 
 Attention is the line of demarkation and 
 whether one has that or not can only be told by 
 addressing the subject. Hypnotism adds one 
 more to its long list of credits in furnishing the 
 
SLEEP AND DREAMS. 151 
 
 key to the solution of the phenomena of Sleep. 
 The knowledge that Sleep is a subconscious and 
 not an unconscious state simplifies matters great- 
 ly as will appear in the discussion of Dreams. 
 We are now ready to pass to the consideration 
 of 
 
 DREAMS. 
 
 Anciently Dreams were considered to be earth- 
 ly experiences with heavenly meanings, but the 
 fanciful conceptions of Dreams belong to the 
 past. Psychology recognizes that waking 
 thoughts and Dreams are similar phenomena. 
 We Dream while awake and think while asleep. 
 The waking experiences are properly called vis- 
 ions, the sleeping ones, Dreams. The "stuff that 
 Dreams are made of" is substantial although 
 frequently incoherently joined together. Fancy 
 and imaginations play their parts in all states of 
 the mind. In conscious state fantastic imagina- 
 tions are not wanting, but in Dreams and other 
 subconscious states they are more common be- 
 cause the reasoning faculty and the will are set 
 aside. 
 
 Dreams may be defined as the subconscious 
 activities of the mind during Sleep. They may 
 be partially or completely remembered or they 
 may be completely forgotten when the person 
 returns to the waking consciousness. In this re- 
 
152 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 spect Dreams are like experiences had in hyp- 
 nosis. In the lighter states of hypnosis the sub- 
 ject remembers more or less distinctly all of his 
 experiences, but in the profound states amnesia 
 or forgetfulness of the experiences is the rule. 
 The same is true of Sleep, the Dreams of a light 
 restless Sleep are more or less clearly remem- 
 bered, but those experienced in profound Sleep 
 are often forgotten. The explanation is simple. 
 The states of consciousness offer the explana- 
 tion. The experiences of the subconscious state 
 are with difficulty raised above the floor of ordi- 
 nary consciousness, so it is only the experiences 
 had on the borderland of consciousness that are 
 within reach. 
 
 The causations of Dreams are as numerous, 
 and the same as the causes of thought and it 
 should be borne in mind that it is the same mind 
 that is operating, no matter what state of con- 
 sciousness it is in. Thoughts are caused in two 
 ways in the waking state and in like manner 
 Dreams are caused in the same two ways during 
 Sleep. The causes are Physiologic and Psy- 
 chologic. Let us consider them separately. 
 
 The physiologic causes of Dreams are those 
 which reach the mind through the physical or- 
 ganism. They may originate within or from 
 without the body. Those which have their or- 
 
SLEEP AND DREAMS. 153 
 
 igin within the body are generally due to uncom- 
 fortable or painful conditions. An overloaded 
 stomach, an uncomfortable bed and disease are 
 examples of these causes. We have all had rest- 
 less, dreamful nights after eating a hearty sup- 
 per late. Soldiers and others obliged to sleep 
 upon the hard ground usually have Dreams ; this 
 explains why it is that so many battle-field 
 Dreams are recorded. Sometimes unsuspected 
 diseases are revealed by the Dreams they cause. 
 The Dreams that have their origin from physical 
 stimuli from without the body are those which 
 come through the special senses. For example, 
 a shot heard during sleep may cause the sleeper 
 to dream of an encounter with a burglar and of 
 firing a shot at him. The whole Dream being 
 fabricated between the time of hearing the shot 
 and awaking, which was practically instantane- 
 ous. It has been observed that time and space 
 in Dreams are inconsiderable, a moment of time 
 as we measure it is long enough for a sleeper 
 to dream long detailed experiences extending 
 over long stretches of time and space. Probably 
 the same is true of those dreaming as occurs 
 with persons drowning, in an instant of time the 
 whole history of their past lives is flashed in 
 full detail before the mind's eye. Exposure to 
 heat or cold will likewise cause Dreams. 
 
154 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 One evening I made the following experiment : 
 A fellow-student fell asleep on the couch in my 
 room and I approached him while sleeping and 
 held a lighted lamp near his face. He soon be- 
 came restless and finally turned over, thus re- 
 moving his face from the light and heat. After 
 replacing the lamp upon the table I awakened 
 him and asked him of what he had been dream- 
 ing. He said that he had dreamed of a con- 
 flagration. It should be observed that the causal 
 relationship of Dreams is not marked, especially 
 in those having their cause within the body. 
 Their cause being discomfort they usually result 
 in distressful Dreams. More often those caused 
 by outside stimuli result in Dreams similar to the 
 cause; for example, music causes dreaming of 
 music. 
 
 The Psychologic causes of Dreams are those 
 which reach the mind independently of the phys- 
 ical organism. They may originate within or 
 from without the mind. Those which have their 
 cause within the mind have the same causation 
 as do thoughts in the waking state and are con- 
 trolled by the association of ideas. Examples 
 of these are found in the various states of mind, 
 as in expectation, anxiety and fear. It is well 
 known that expectation has much to do with 
 many Dreams. The ancients knew this, and the 
 
SLEEP AND DREAMS. 155 
 
 priests used to instruct such persons to sleep 
 on the floors of the temples, so that the gods 
 might come to them in Sleep and tell them how 
 they might be cured. The result was that fre- 
 quently the sufferers would Dream of remedies 
 such as were known to their untutored minds 
 and in the morning go and prepare the simples 
 of which they had dreamed, take them and re- 
 cover their health. 
 
 A lady who feared for the safety of a missing 
 brother who had not been heard from for a long 
 time dreamed three times at short intervals that 
 she saw him dead, but a short time thereafter he 
 returned alive and well. It appears that fear 
 and anxiety are fertile causes of Dreams and es- 
 pecially of vague and unmeaning ones. The 
 value and meaning of Dreams will be considered 
 presently. 
 
 Those which have their causes from without 
 the mind are due to Suggestion, Thought Trans- 
 ference and the other supersensuous faculties. 
 The briefest and best way to explain and illus- 
 trate this class of Dreams will be to give exam- 
 ples and experiments. Let us adopt that method. 
 
 Suggestion, especially Hypno-Suggestion, is 
 an important cause for dreaming because it fur- 
 nishes a means of study of the Dreams that it 
 causes. I have frequently made experiments 
 
156 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 with hypnotized persons similar to the following : 
 A young man in hypnosis was told that he would 
 have a peculiar Dream the following night, that 
 he would dream that he was out in the woods in 
 the winter time far away from civilization and 
 that he was attacked by wolves, that .he escaped 
 from them by climbing a tree, and that he was 
 finally rescued by an Indian girl. I saw him a 
 few days later and he voluntarily told me of the 
 Dream which he distinctly remembered as hav- 
 ing occurred as detailed above. The converse 
 is also true. Those who are annoyed by grue- 
 some and distressing Dreams may be relieved 
 from them by suggestion. 
 
 Autosuggestion, in like manner, is responsible 
 for many Dream experiences ; indeed, many are 
 able to very accurately direct their dreaming. In 
 this cause is found the explanation of many of 
 the so-called astral exploits. These will be more 
 fully considered in the next chapter. 
 
 Doubtless the most fruitful cause for this class 
 of Dreams is Telepathy. In Sleep the subcon- 
 scious mind with its supersensuous intelligence 
 catches the thought vibrations that come from all 
 directions many of which find lodgment and set 
 up trains of dreaming. Sometimes they are 
 remembered as visual and at other times audi- 
 tory experiences. The visual type is shown in 
 
SLEEP AND DREAMS. 157 
 
 the well-known experience of the English gentle* 
 man, which is as follows: 
 
 One evening he fell asleep upon a couch and 
 while he slept he seemed to see his brother sit- 
 ting upon a chair beside the couch. He was 
 surprised at seeing him there and spoke to him 
 whereupon the brother nodded his head and dis- 
 appeared. The Dream so startled him that he 
 awoke and his brother's presence seemed so real 
 that he hunted about the house to find him, but 
 being unable to do so gave up the search and 
 went to bed. Subsequently he learned that his 
 brother had been thrown from a horse while 
 hunting a little prior to the Dream, sustaining 
 injuries from which he soon died. 
 
 An example of the telepathic experiences in 
 which the thought took on an auditory character 
 occurred in my own family. One morning my 
 mother told us at the breakfast table that she 
 had had a strange Dream the night before. While 
 asleep she had distinctly heard the voice of my 
 absent brother call "Mother! Mother!" and it 
 had so startled her as to awaken her. She was 
 much worried about the experience and with rea- 
 son for a few days later my brother was brought 
 home suffering from typhoid fever. Sick in a 
 strange city, he had wanted her and undoubtedly 
 uttered the words which my mother heard. Pos- 
 sibly this is a case of Clairaudience. 
 
158 THE PSYCHIC AND PSVCHISM. 
 
 Clairvoyant Dreams are not uncommon with 
 some people, perhaps many Dreams are due to 
 that cause. Here is the example of one which 
 came under my notice. About a year ago a lady 
 visiting in this city, during an afternoon nap 
 dreamed that she saw an accident happen to her 
 children, whom she had left at home in the care 
 of her sister. In her Sleep she seemed to see 
 them at their play and as they chased each other 
 through the house both of them fell through an 
 open cellar door. As she saw them disappear 
 through the door she awakened with a sudden 
 scream. When her friends who heard her scream 
 asked her the cause of it she told trfem of her 
 Dream. Later it developed that the children haO 
 fallen into the cellar just as she had seen them 
 in her Dream, but fortunately they were neither 
 of them much hurt. 
 
 I have observed that surrounding psychic 
 atmosphere may cause psychometric Dreams. 
 The receptive dream consciousness catches the 
 psychic atmosphere of the room or place. The 
 following experience was told me confidentially 
 by one of my patients : On the first of May, like 
 many of our good people, he had moved into a 
 strange house, and before they had gotten fairly 
 settled he had a series of Dreams. Almost every 
 night he had a most realistic Dream in which he 
 seemed to see a middle-aged lady walking up and 
 
SLEEP AND DREAMS. 
 
 159 
 
 down the room wringing her hands or running 
 them frantically through her hair as though she 
 were almost beside herself with anxiety and grief. 
 This occurred several times, but after the room 
 was repainted and papered the Dreams ceased. 
 I was much interested and after careful inquiry 
 learned that the room had been occupied by a 
 mother who was almost distracted by the run- 
 ning away of her young lady daughter. 
 
 Many other classes of Dreams are found in 
 works on this subject. Some of them more 
 strange and inexplicable than those recorded 
 above. Among these are prophetic Dreams, 
 much of which has been written, much I am 
 afraid that is untrue. It has been my aim to 
 write of the things that I know something about. 
 This is not prophetic Dreams. Not a little time 
 has been given to the study of such Dreams, but 
 without reaching a position of probability, not 
 to say certainty concerning them. The evidence 
 submitted is unsatisfactory and inconclusive and 
 I have had no first hand experience with them. 
 No one would like to believe in prophecy more 
 than I, but in my judgment the future is a sealed 
 book only known as it becomes the present. 
 Something more will be said of prescience in the 
 closing chapter. 
 
 The meaning and value of Dreams are subjects 
 
160 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 that need careful consideration. It is plain that 
 the old scientific statement that "all Dreams are 
 profitless'' is not true. For while it is doubtless 
 true that many Dreams are vain, fanciful, inco- 
 herent fabrications, it is equally true that some 
 Dreams accurately record the truth. It is wrong 
 to consider every Dream a Divine revelation, but 
 it is quite as wrong to consider every Dream 
 a meaningless fancy. Discrimination must be 
 made and happy the one who has learned rightly 
 to discriminate. Each one must study his own 
 Dreams if he would know what they mean. The 
 question is frequently asked, "How may we 
 study our Dreams?" It is a difficult question 
 and I have often put it to others. Let me give 
 one of the answers received. 
 
 An old gentleman friend of mine who knows 
 much about Dreams told me his method of study. 
 On awaking in the morning before moving or 
 even opening his eyes, he used to spend a little 
 time recalling the Dreams of the previous night. 
 He found that by so doing he was able to get 
 hold of the final end of his dreaming which he 
 was enabled to unravel by following back the 
 chain of dream ideas and experiences. Others 
 who have used this method have found it useful 
 and I offer it for what it is worth. 
 
 Dreams are usually soon forgotten because 
 
SLEEP AND DREAMS. 161 
 
 they are subconscious experiences and tend to 
 sink back below the floor of waking conscious- 
 ness even when partially above it. The above 
 method will aid in bringing them into distinct 
 and conscious memory. Another aid in remem- 
 bering Dreams is the use of suggestion. Hyp- 
 notized subjects can readily be made to recall for- 
 gotten Dreams and by posthypnotic suggestion 
 enabled to remember future Dream experiences. 
 By autosuggestion one may do for himself all 
 that can be done for him by another. Many per- 
 sons by repeated autosuggestions have become 
 able to remember practically all of their dream 
 experiences. A friend told me that he found 
 much pleasure daily in recalling and studying 
 the Dreams of the previous night. It is hoped 
 that enough has been said above to stimulate a 
 renewed interest in Dreams in the minds of my 
 readers. The study of Dreams cannot fail to be 
 interesting and profitable. The vagaries of the 
 past must give place to the facts of the future. 
 Let us pass on to the subject of Somnambulism 
 and Trances. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 
 
 The Subconscious States — The Eastern classifications 
 of them — Somnambulism — It belongs to the phe- 
 nomena of Sleep — Definition — Natural Somnam- 
 bulism — Two examples of Sleep-walking — Professor 
 McClure's opinion — Morbid Somnambulism — The 
 case of a French lady — Artificial Somnambulism 
 — Hypnotic experiments — The power of divination — 
 Amnesia — Trances — Kinds of Trances — Definition 
 — Spontaneous Trances — "Wrapped into visions" 
 — Autotrances — They are self-induced and self- 
 limited — The profound Trances of the Yogis — 
 Harides test — Trances and Theosophy — The Eng- 
 lish Teacher — Induced Trances — Suggestion in 
 Trances — The unreliability of Trance revelations — 
 Spiritistic Trances — Mediums hypnotized by Spirits 
 — Does the soul leave the body? 
 
 The subconscious states of mind include two 
 more, Somnambulism and Trances, similar to 
 Sleep, which demand a brief discussion. In our 
 discussions the states of consciousness have been 
 considered as including two groups, namely, 
 conscious and subconscious conditions. Every- 
 thing beyond the limit of ordinary consciousness 
 163 
 
164 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 has been grouped under the subconscious divi- 
 sions. The Eastern teachers and philosophers 
 and those who follow them make a three-fold 
 classification of consciousness as follows: i. 
 Subconscious; 2. Conscious, and 3. Supercon- 
 scious states. Because animals in common with 
 man pass into some subconscious states as Sleep 
 they consider such states as below ordinary con- 
 sciousness and hence call them subconscious to 
 differentiate them from states that seem to be 
 above the plane of ordinary consciousness which 
 they call superconscious. The distinction is 
 rather artificial than real and of no particular aid 
 in understanding the phenomena under consid- 
 eration. Somnambulism and Trances are dis- 
 tinct subconscious, although similar states, and 
 will be discussed separately. Let us first con- 
 sider 
 
 SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 Somnembulism belongs to the phenomena of 
 sleep and may be defined as a state of mind, oc- 
 curing during sleep, which causes or favors the 
 performance of actions peculiar to the waking 
 state, as walking, talking, working and the like. 
 It is commonly known as sleep-walking because 
 the persun arises from his bed during sleep and 
 often, leaving the house by a window or door, 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 165 
 
 goes out upon the street. There are three types 
 of Somnambulism recognized depending upon 
 the causes. They are: i. Natural. 2. Morbid. 
 3. Artificial Somnambulism. 
 
 NATURAL SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 Natural Somnambulism occurs during natural 
 sleep, that is, it is preceded and followed by sleep. 
 The cause appears to be a condition of mind sim- 
 ilar to dreaming, with this difference, that the 
 Somnambulist carries his dreams into action. If 
 he remembers the occurrence as he sometimes 
 does the dreaming and doing are so blended that 
 the whole is to him simply a dream. However, 
 the rule is forgetfulness or amnesia and he only 
 knows of his exploits by the testimony of others 
 together with the evidences that remain of what 
 he did during the subconscious state. The fol- 
 lowing is a fair example of natural Somnambu- 
 lism: 
 
 One night recently in my own home, a twelve- 
 year-old girl arose from her bed while asleep 
 and went to the window and tried to open it. She 
 was heard while trying to open the window and 
 asked what she was doing. 
 
 "I am trying to open the window," she said. 
 
 "What do you want to' open the window for ?" 
 was asked. 
 
166 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 "I have four fours in my mind ana want to 
 throw one of them away," was the reply. 
 
 She had been playing cards before going to 
 bed and evidently had fallen asleep while think- 
 ing of the game, with the result that she dreamed 
 of playing cards and carried the dream into 
 action as described above. 
 
 She was called to the bedside by the lady who 
 slept in the same room and further questioned. 
 The child declared that she was awake and pro- 
 tested when shaken for the purpose of waking 
 her. It was impossible to wake her and so she 
 was sent back to her own bed. She got into bed 
 and was directed to cover herself up well, which 
 she did. 
 
 "Are you awake?" was asked. 
 
 "Yes, of course I am awake," she answered, 
 petulantly. 
 
 "What have you got in your hand?" she was 
 then asked. 
 
 "Four fours," was the prompt reply. 
 
 The above case is interesting in several par- 
 ticulars. It illustrates the persistence of the idea 
 which dominates the Somnambulist and acts as 
 a suggestion in directing his action. It also il- 
 lustrates a fact that is somewhat unusual, name- 
 ly, the Somnambulist may respond to questions 
 while sleep-walking. Moreover, it illustrates the 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 167 
 
 fact of forgetfulness which is common to most 
 cases, for in the morning the girl had no memory 
 of her experience of the night before. Let me 
 cite another recent case: 
 
 Unable to remember how he reached his des- 
 tination, or when he had begun his midnight 
 journey, a student at the Lake Forest academy 
 who retired to his bed in the academy dormitory 
 with rheumatism Friday afternoon, awoke Satur- 
 day morning to find himself sixteen miles distant, 
 wrapped in blankets, lying on the seat of his 
 father's carriage in the stable in the rear of his 
 home at Loon Lake, Wis. 
 
 With the exception of 15 cents with which the 
 student is supposed to have paid his carfare from 
 Lake Forest to Waukegan, nothing of value in 
 his pockets had been disturbed. 
 
 President McClure of the Lake Forest uni- 
 versity said : 
 
 "The strange actions of the student have been 
 the cause of considerable excitement among 
 members of the faculty. There is no doubt that 
 he walked from Waukegan to his home in a semi- 
 conscious condition. It is my opinion that it 
 was a peculiar case of Somnambulism, although 
 he had been sick and may have been brought to 
 an unconscious state on this account/' 
 
 The Somnambulist often performs unusual 
 
168 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 feats such as would be impossible in his natural 
 state. He climbs to dizzy heights and walks 
 with ease and certainty of step, if undisturbed, 
 marvelous to behold. Not only are his physical 
 abilities increased, but this increase is even more 
 marked in his mental power. Many examples 
 have been recorded illustrating the heightened 
 powers of mind. Not infrequently Somnambu- 
 lists work out problems which have baffled them 
 in their waking hours and do literary work of a 
 surprising character. The sense perceptions are 
 so acute that we are led to believe that the Som- 
 nambulist depends upon his supersensuous fac- 
 ulties in many of his feats. 
 
 MORBID SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 Morbid Somnambulism occurs during patho- 
 logic conditions. While it is spontaneous in 
 character it differs from Somnambulism in oc- 
 curing independently of sleep. It is an exalted 
 state of mind in which the soul stimulates the or- 
 ganism, which is weakened by disease, into un- 
 usual activities. Ideas take possession of the 
 mind, as in natural Somnambulism, causing 
 dreams which are carried into action, if the pa- 
 tient is not restrained. The exaltation of mind 
 is similar to that which precedes certain forms of 
 insanity. The hallucinations are very persistent, 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 169 
 
 in some cases lasting for weeks with lucid pe- 
 riods. Unusual keenness of perception is the 
 rule and as in other forms of Somnambulism un- 
 usual physical and mental feats are performed. 
 A discussion of disease conditions is beyond the 
 scope of this work. So no more need be said 
 upon this topic ; however, a single example may 
 be given. 
 
 A French young lady with hysteric tendencies 
 one night awakened her maid, sleeping in the 
 next room, by moans and faint cries. She was 
 found by the maid crouching upon the floor be- 
 hind a large easy chair and declared when ques- 
 tioned that a man had been in the room and 
 beaten her. Then she ran to the window and de- 
 clared that she could see him going down the 
 street, although no one was visible to the maid, 
 who was standing beside her. On the following 
 day she told the story of the assault with full de- 
 tails and named a young man acquaintance as 
 the assailant. She even exhibited ecchymosed 
 spots and bruises as evidence of the blows she 
 had received. The whole affair was proven to 
 be the hallucination of a Somnambulist. The 
 discoloration and bruises were doubtless pro- 
 duced by the influence of the mind, as many sim- 
 ilar conditions are on record. Sometimes Som- 
 nambulists of this class have accused innocent 
 
170 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 persons of serious offenses while dominated by 
 such hallucinations. The accused have sonic- 
 times found it difficult to exonerate themselves 
 because of the persistent and apparently honest 
 testimony of the accuser. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL SOMNAMBULISM. 
 
 Artificial Somnambulism differs from the for- 
 mer varieties, in that it is induced by another 
 person. Hypnotic Somnambulism furnishes a 
 means for the study and understanding of nat- 
 ural and morbid Somnambulism, for it is pro- 
 duced at will and may be carefully studied. It 
 includes all of the phenomena peculiar to those 
 varieties and differs from them only in the tact 
 that it is produced by artificial means. The pei- 
 son passes into the subconscious state in which 
 he is dominated by ideas not suggested by the 
 dream consciousness, or a morbid state of mind, 
 but by the person who has hypnotized him. An 
 example will be the easiest way to make this 
 plain. 
 
 A young man was hypnotized and readily 
 passed into a somnambulic state, in which it was 
 possible to easily produce all of the phenomena 
 observed in Somnambulism. He exhibited un- 
 usual physical powers and walked, talked and 
 performed feats as directed. Upon receiving the 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 171 
 
 suggestion that he was fishing, he went through 
 all of the motions of fishing, using a cane for a 
 fish pole. When given the suggestion that he 
 was a noted musician he went to the piano and 
 played music that he was unable to execute while 
 he was awake. Upon receiving the suggestion 
 that he was the Mayor of the city and was presid- 
 ing at a meeting of the city council, he arose and 
 outlined his policy as Mayor, in a dignified and 
 impressive manner. When given the suggestion 
 that the house was on fire he opened the window 
 and prepared to descend to the ground by means 
 of the fire escape. He was handed a glove and 
 asked to tell to whom it belonged by the sense ot 
 smell and readily did so by passing along the 
 line formed of the persons present smelling of 
 their hands one after another. Many other ex- 
 periments were made with this subject, but space 
 forbids the multiplication of details. In short, he 
 showed conclusively that his mind was in a state 
 of exaltation which rendered his perceptive pow- 
 ers unusually acute. 
 
 The Hypnotic Somnambulist can readily duplf- 
 cate any of the feats performed by those in states 
 of natural or morbid Somnambulism and he 
 thereby offers the key to the solution and un- 
 derstanding of their phenomena. A study of all 
 of the phenomena of hypnosis is necessary to a 
 
172 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 thorough understanding of the subject and the 
 reader is advised to make such a study, but it 
 must be made in books devoted to a considera- 
 tion of Hypnotism. Space forbids an extended 
 discussion here. However, the statement of a 
 few conclusions may be made. 
 
 The power of divination exhibited by Som- 
 nambulists is probably due to their unusual keen- 
 ness of perception which enables them to reason 
 from a larger body of evidence than is at their 
 command while awake. Undoubtedly they often 
 are able to use their supersensuous faculties in 
 seeing, hearing and knowing things beyond the 
 range of the physical senses which proves the 
 Somnambulist to be a Psychic. 
 
 Amnesia or forgetfulness of experiences had 
 during Somnambulism is the rule, but in subse- 
 quent states of Somnambulism the memory is 
 restored. This seems to show that the mem- 
 ories remain below the floor of ordinary con- 
 sciousness when a person returns to the normal 
 state. Artificial Somnambulists may be made to 
 remember all of their experiences by suggestion, 
 which seems to prove that the memories are in 
 the mind, but beyond the reach of the ordinary 
 consciousness. 
 
 The close relationship between Artificial Som- 
 nambulism and Trances will appear as we discuss 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 173 
 
 the latter. In both, Hypnotism furnishes the 
 clue which enables us to understand them. Let 
 us now turn our attention to 
 
 TRANCES. 
 
 Trances occur under several conditions, but in 
 general they are much alike and may be grouped 
 under one definition. However, the old idea 
 that they are unconscious states must be aban- 
 doned, for they are not unconscious but subcon- 
 scious states in which the body is usually relaxed 
 and its functional activities greatly depressed. 
 Prolonged, profound natural sleep from which 
 a person cannot be awakened is sometimes called 
 a Trance, but while it exhibits most of the char- 
 acteristics of a Trance, strictly speaking it is not 
 one; it is truly a trance-like sleep. The soul is 
 thought by some to leave the body during 
 Trances, but this is probably untrue. 
 
 A Trance is a subconscious state, in which a 
 person appears insensible to the external sur- 
 roundings, and in which the volitional powers 
 and vital functions are greatly lowered or sus- 
 pended. It may be greatly prolonged and simu- 
 late death. Three varieties of Trances are ob- 
 served, depending upon their causation, namely: 
 I. Spontaneous. 2. Self-induced or auto and 3. 
 Induced Trances. These will be considered sep- 
 arately. 
 
174 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 SPONTANEOUS TRANCES. 
 
 Spontaneous Trances occur under various 
 conditions, but chiefly in hysterical persons. The 
 causes are not well known, but are probably the 
 same as those which produce the hysterical neu- 
 rosis. They result from spontaneous changes in 
 the mind similar to those which occur in pro- 
 found hypnosis, so they must result from psychic 
 causes. They could hardly be called disease con- 
 ditions, although they frequently occur after pro- 
 longed illnesses, as after typhoid fever. They 
 may last from a few hours to several months. 
 The appearance of a person in a Trance is char- 
 acteristic and marked, the face is usually pale and 
 expressionless, the body relaxed and the bodily 
 functions greatly lowered. The pulse and res- 
 piration are barely perceptible and sometimes ap- 
 parently suspended. In pronounced cases there 
 seems to be a suspension of animation and death 
 is simulated so closely that in such cases persons 
 have been buried alive. 
 
 Entranced persons are said to be "wrapped 
 into visions" and while in that state receive rev- 
 elations from various spirit sources, divine or 
 otherwise. Upon such visions and regulations 
 most of the religions of the world are founded. 
 The Apostle John on the Island of Patmos is a 
 good example of such experiences. The visions 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 175 
 
 and revelations are remembered upon returning 
 to the normal state with unusual vividness which 
 favors their being recorded with full details. Sim- 
 ilar experiences occur in the other forms of 
 Trances, so their source, meaning and value will 
 be considered presently. In the milder forms of 
 spontaneous Trances a person may be conscious 
 of his external surroundings but unable even to 
 move an eyelid, to express his consciousness, to 
 those about him. However, this is exceptional, 
 for usually they are plunged into profound syn- 
 cope, which instead of the lethargic stupor a 
 tonic spasm of the muscles occurs producing 
 what is known as the Cataleptic Trance. It will 
 appear that the trance conditions described 
 above are all duplicated in the profounder states 
 of hypnosis, which offers explanations of them. 
 This will become more manifest as we proceed. 
 
 AUTOTRANCES. 
 
 Autotrances are self-induced subconscious 
 states in which the sensibilities and vital func- 
 tions are greatly reduced or suspended. As they 
 are self-induced, so Ihey are self-limited except 
 in the more extreme cases where it is necessary 
 to have others aid in the resuscitation. Two 
 types of the self-induced Trances are observed, 
 namely, the profound types induced by the Yogis 
 
176 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 in their practice and the milder type induced by 
 the searchers after the ''wisdom of God," and 
 others. 
 
 The profound type of Autotrance is well illus- 
 trated in the well-known case of the Yogi Har- 
 ides in his experiment made to convince the Ra- 
 jah of Lahore, who was skeptical of the Yogi's 
 power. The experiment was witnessed and 
 vouched for by Doctor Honigberger. The Yogi 
 had a cell prepared and accustomed himself to 
 remain in it without air for longer and longer 
 periods of time until he was ready for the test, 
 which was to be buried in a closed and sealed 
 grave for six weeks. 
 
 On the day set for the initiation of the test 
 a large company of spectators was assembled 
 and the Rajah was present to superintend the ai- 
 rangements. Harides seated himself upon a 
 linen sheet to be used as a shroud, forced his 
 tongue back into the pharynx, fixed his eyes 
 upon the end of his nose and fell into a Trance. 
 Then the attendants, after placing pledgets of 
 cotton smeared with wax into his ears and nos- 
 trils, gathered up the corners of the sheet, tied 
 and sealed them with the Rajah's seal and placed 
 the Yogi into a wooden box, three by four feet, 
 and lowered him into the cement grave which 
 had been prepared for the occasion. The grave 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 177 
 
 which was three feet below the surface of the 
 ground, was then covered over with clay and a 
 guard set to watch it during the six weeks of 
 the trial. Many religious devotees from all parts 
 of the country camped about the place. 
 
 At the end of the six weeks Harides was dis- 
 interred. The seals upon the box and the sheet 
 were unbroken and in the presence of the Rajah 
 the Yogi was released from his coffin and shroud. 
 He was found to be in the same position as when 
 placed there, except that his head had fallen over 
 upon one shoulder. The resuscitation was con- 
 ducted by his disciples, who applied hot applica- 
 tions to his head and body, pulled his tongue 
 forward into its normal position and rubbed his 
 limbs. After a short time a tremor passed over 
 his body, which appeared shriveled, cold and life- 
 less, and a little later he opened his eyes, which 
 soon lost the lusterless appearance of death and 
 regained their brightness. Upon recognizing 
 the Rajah his lips moved and he asked, "Do you 
 believe me now?" 
 
 The experiment was a success and later Har- 
 ides allowed himself to be buried again, this time 
 for four months, and was again resuscitated in 
 the same manner. 
 
 The example must speak for itself ; we can but 
 wonder at the marvelous control of body and 
 
178 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 mind developed by the Yogi. The second type 
 of Autotrances, or as we might properly call 
 them Autohypnoses, are well shown in the ex- 
 periments made by the Theosophist and others. 
 They attempt and believe that they succeed in 
 verifying the teachings of the ancients by falling 
 into such Trances. 
 
 The founder of that cult, Madam Blavatsky, 
 with a coterie of followers went to the Far-East 
 to find the Mahatmas of whom they had heard. 
 They found and obtained from them the "An- 
 cient Wisdom of God," a body of truth said to 
 be fundamental to all religions. The Mahatmas 
 told them not to accept it on their testimony 
 but to prove it for themselves; this, they say, 
 they did. Let one of their teachers, a gentleman 
 who recently came from England to teach us 
 benighted Americans, explain how they did it. 
 
 "The people who were so fortunate as to suc- 
 ceed in this quest were at once placed in the posi- 
 tion of being able to make a number of exceed- 
 ingly interesting investigations. A group of 
 them worked together for several years, steadily 
 observing, comparing notes, checking every- 
 thing, trying everything again and again in all 
 sorts of different ways ; investigating, in fact, 
 just precisely as we should investigate any other 
 science which we happened to take in hand. That 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 179 
 
 group of people would meet and select their sub- 
 ject; they would then go away to their homes, 
 and while in the state of Trance or deep sleep, 
 which is really a state of excitation of the higher 
 faculties, they would all make their separate ob- 
 servations, would write them down and make 
 notes of them when they woke. Then at the 
 next meeting of that group all these people from 
 different places would bring their notes together 
 and compare them, and nothing was ever allowed 
 to enter into the Theosophical teaching of that 
 period as emanating from that group which 
 rested on the testimony of any one person, or 
 even, I think I may say, of any two. Always 
 there was a concurrence of the testimony of 
 those who had made the same investigation and 
 approached it from their own different point of 
 view, and nothing to which all engaged did not 
 agree was put into the books which were pub- 
 lished, as the transaction of the Lodge. -You 
 may, perhaps, say the whole thing is simply hal- 
 lucination. But at least you must give credit 
 toihe people who undertook that labor (spend- 
 ing sometimes two years in work before they 
 turned out a single book) for at least doing their 
 best not to deceive, and to make certain that 
 what they teach and put before the world shall be 
 verified as far as it is in their power to verify it." 
 
180 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 The manner of the experiments made by the 
 members of the society is given here chiefly to 
 illustrate the subject under discussion and will 
 be referred to again presently. It is manifest 
 that their trance experiences are similar to those 
 had by persons known as "Trance Mediums," 
 who profess to see visions and receive revelations 
 from the spirit world. It seems to me and I 
 have given the matter some study, that the spirit 
 mediums are self-entranced, or, to be perfectly 
 plain, self-hypnotized. The phenomena they 
 produce closely resemble those produced by hyp- 
 notized persons and result from autosuggestions. 
 They are probably self-deceived and not con- 
 sciously deceiving others. This subject will be 
 discussed in some detail in the next chapter. 
 
 INDUCED TRANCES. 
 
 Induced Trances include beside those self-in- 
 duced those induced by others. These are com- 
 monly known as Hypnotic Trances and are sim- 
 ply the deeper states of hypnosis. Any one ac- 
 quainted with the phenomena of hypnosis will 
 readily recognize that in them we find the ex- 
 planation of all Trances. The uncertainty found 
 in the vision and revelation of Hypnotic Trances 
 are likewise observed in the other Trances. This 
 
iOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 181 
 
 explains why it is that trance visions and revela- 
 tions are to say the least unreliable. 
 
 Persons in subconscious states are phenom- 
 enally impressionable. The least sign or hint 
 will serve as a suggestion which will color the 
 whole experience. It is well known that the 
 least hint, often unintentionally given, will be ac- 
 cepted and acted upon by the hypnotized per- 
 son. In like manner persons self-hypnotized 
 or self-entranced are directed by autosuggestion 
 often unintentionally given. A fear, a hope, an 
 expectation or a desire will and often does direct 
 the experiences and results of a self-induced 
 Trance. Beside, the environment of which the 
 entranced person seems to be insensible is an 
 important factor in producing phenomena. Any 
 one consulting an entranced person by asking 
 leading questions can obtain almost any informa- 
 tion (?) they desire. Not infrequently I have 
 obtained absolutely contradictory statements 
 during the same sitting. 
 
 Spirit mediums deny that they are self-en- 
 tranced and insist that they are controlled by ex- 
 carnate spirits. The idea has lately been sug- 
 gested that spirits control or entrance mediums 
 in the same manner that persons control or hyp- 
 notize each other; this is a clever notion and 
 was introduced, no doubt, to answer us who be- 
 
182 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 lieve we see autohypnosis in the state known as 
 spirit control. 
 
 The unreliability of the experiments conducted 
 by those trying to verify the teachings of the 
 Mahatmas by Trance and dream conditions is 
 manifest. Such verifications are no verifications 
 at all, for the autosuggestions dominating the 
 mind of investigators will prevent any reliable 
 results, which will be little better than meaning- 
 less hallucinations. They will obtain what they 
 expect to obtain whether it is real or unreal, true 
 or false. The gentleman from England evidently 
 suspected this when he said, "You must give 
 credit to the people who undertook that labor at 
 least for doing their best not to deceive." 
 
 The prophetic utterances, visions and revela- 
 tions of Somnambulism and Trances must be 
 verified, just as carefully as the phenomena of 
 hypnosis, before they can demand serious at- 
 tention. About a century ago the Hypnotized 
 or Mesmerized subject was supposed to have 
 supernatural power and their utterances, visions 
 and revelations were considered infallible, as I 
 have said in another writing on that subject, 
 Mind and Body. 
 
 "They could see through persons and tell what 
 parts were affected ; they could predict the fu- 
 ture; they could go in spirit to distant places 
 
SOMNAMBULISM AND TRANCES. 183 
 
 and bring back information about persons and 
 things; they could visit heaven and converse 
 with God and the angels — upon the reports of 
 such visits a large volume was written describ- 
 ing heaven and its arrangement and manage- 
 ment." 
 
 It was soon found that the supposed departure 
 of the soul from the body during hypnosis to- 
 gether with most of the revelations were fictions 
 resulting from an exalted state of mind in which 
 the persons were dominated by suggestion. It 
 is likely that the utterances, visions and revela- 
 tions of Somnambulism and Trances have a sim- 
 ilar source and value. These will be considered 
 in greater detail in the next chapter, devoted to 
 the phenomena of Spiritism. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 SPIRITISM. 
 
 The interest in the subject — Spiritism defined — Its re- 
 lation to immortality — The phenomena — A list of 
 the same — Fraudulent Phenomena — Genuine Phe- 
 nomena — The means of the productions — The 
 Medium — Kinds of Mediums — All Mediums Psy- 
 chics — Going under control — The manner of their 
 production — The Seances — "Fortune Telling" — 
 The Spiritistic circle — Slate writing — The messages 
 — Levitations — Materializations — Explanations of 
 the production — Spiritists' theory discarded — Hal- 
 lucination and Telepathy — This theory insufficient in 
 some instances — Indian fakirs — The mind creation 
 theory — "Thoughts are things" — Psychics can pro- 
 duce phantasms — Witchcraft — Some conclusions. 
 
 The so-called spiritualistic phenomena have 
 startled the peoples of all countries, in all ages, 
 causing certain creepy sensations in the brave, 
 and terrifying the timid, by reason of their mys- 
 tery and grewsomeness. Death and its conse- 
 quences have ever had their terrors for the liv- 
 ing, so phenomena purporting to be from the 
 
 185 
 
186 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 dead always find an interested audience. These 
 phenomena I have ventured to call the psychic 
 phenomena of Spiritualism, believing that all of 
 the real phenomena have their source in the 
 minds of the living. 
 
 Spiritism may be defined as the belief and doc- 
 trine that spirits of the dead communicate with 
 and manifest themselves in various ways to the 
 living through Mediums at meetings called se- 
 ances. The doctrine dates back many centuries, 
 but what is known as Modern Spiritism is only 
 a half century old. Spiritism is the antithesis of 
 materialism and teaches that there are substances 
 or beings not cognizable by the senses and not 
 revealable through any of the properties of mat- 
 ter, except by materialization, and that are there- 
 fore spiritual, as distinguished from material. 
 Whether these beliefs and doctrines are well 
 founded or not remains to be proven and we sin- 
 cerely hope that definite proofs may soon be 
 forthcoming. Deep down in most of our hearts 
 nestles a belief in immortality together with the 
 fond hope of a future reunion with our loved 
 ones gone before in a realm where all parting, 
 pain and time shall disappear. However, beliefs 
 and hopes are not proofs and the purpose of this 
 study is to show that Spiritism, as defined above. 
 is not necessary to the explanation or produc- 
 
SPIRITISM. 187 
 
 tion of the so-called phenomena of Spiritism. 
 Let us study first 
 
 THE PHENOMENA. 
 
 The phenomena consist of various scratches, 
 raps, furniture movings, levitations, writings, 
 revelations and materializations. But since all 
 of the phenomena reported are not genuine, it is 
 necessary to sift and thoroughly eliminate the 
 false. However, this is no easy task, as every 
 one who has tried it has very soon discovered. 
 There is much fraud and imposition, and since it 
 is often impossible to verify the phenomena pro- 
 duced, it is difficult to say just how much wheat 
 there is in the heap of chaff. Most of it depends 
 upon the testimony of Spiritists, and unfortu- 
 nately their testimony is often unreliable. They 
 are interested parties, generally prejudiced in the 
 matter, and desirous of proving the truth of their 
 theories. They are also notoriously credulous, 
 indeed they seem to want to be imposed upon 
 Their conversion seems to be complete, and ever 
 afterward they swallow everything unquestion- 
 ingly. The whale swallowing Jonah is put to 
 shame ; they would believe that Jonah swallowed 
 the whale ! A prominent Spiritualist (Home) in 
 speaking of their credulity, tells an experience he 
 had. He was present at a semi-dark seance, 
 
188 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 where a cabinet medium was performing. A 
 face appeared at the window of the cabinet, and 
 he called the attention of a person sitting beside 
 him to the fact that the face was simply a mask 
 without eyes in the sockets ; whereupon this per- 
 son replied, "The dear spirits have not had time 
 to materialize the eyes." He also expresses his 
 contempt for all dark seances as opportunities to 
 defraud, and gives many instances of imposition 
 and deception. 
 
 After we have thoroughly sifted the phenom- 
 ena, and eliminated all that is manifestly fraudu- 
 lent, there still remains a considerable residuum 
 of apparently true phenomena. It seems that 
 raps do occur; certain revelations are made 
 which appear to transcend the ordinary intelli- 
 gence of man; written messages are received; 
 ponderable bodies are levitated ; and some phan- 
 tasms are materialized. Now, have I granted 
 the whole claim? Let us see. The source and 
 causes of these phenomena still remain to be ex- 
 plained. There are but two possible explana- 
 tions, and only one of them is true. The phe- 
 nomena result from either supermundane agen- 
 cies or mundane influences. They are either mor- 
 tal or supermortal phenomena. Let us see if we 
 can find out what is the truth. Stainton Moses, 
 a noted Spiritist, says: "They (Spiritists) start 
 
SPIRITISM. 189 
 
 with a fallacy, namely, that all phenomena are 
 caused by the action of departed human spirits. 
 They have not looked into the powers of the hu- 
 man spirit ; they do not know the extent to which 
 spirit acts, how far it reaches, what it underlies." 
 This is precisely the weakness of their whole 
 system, as will plainly appear as we proceed to 
 study. 
 
 THE MEANS OF THE PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 Mediums are the means of producing the so- 
 called spiritualistic phenomena, and without their 
 aid none is produced. No Medium — no phe- 
 nomena. A Medium is "a person who stands 
 between the living and the dead." He is the 
 ''one whose psychic force supplies the power the 
 spirit uses to produce the various phenomena." 
 There is a vast number of different kinds of Me- 
 diums. Their name is legion. They take their 
 names from the various kinds of phenomena 
 produced, as fortune tellers, slatewriters, trum- 
 pet Mediums, materializing Mediums, and so on 
 to the end of a long list. Now, all Mediums are 
 Psychics, but all Psychics are not Mediums* 
 This is fortunate for our study, for through the 
 Psychic we may be able to understand the Me- 
 dium. A Psychic is a person who is able to pro- 
 duce peculiar phenomena by means of a natural 
 
190 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 or developed control of his mind, or psychic 
 powers. It appears that Mediums have no 
 powers that Psychics do not have; and many 
 Psychics deny any spirit aid in their perform- 
 ances. Some Mediums also insist that the power 
 resides within themselves, although they do not 
 understand it. All Psychics, whether Mediums 
 or not, go into more or less profound trances. 
 The Medium calls it "going under control," sup- 
 posedly the control of some disembodied spirit. 
 The Psychics, who are not Mediums, say they 
 are controlled by their subconscious minds. 
 The easiest way to develop a Psychic is by the 
 use of Hypnotism, and those so developed fur- 
 nish the means for studying the Mediums. It 
 is observed that they are all in identical condi- 
 tions when entranced ; the means of the produc- 
 tion of the trance, alone, being different. The 
 first two, the Medium and the self-developed 
 Psychic, go into the trance by autosuggestions, 
 or are self-hypnotized, while the third goes into 
 the trance by heterosuggestion, or is simply hyp- 
 notized. Now, if things equal to the same thing 
 are equal to each other, then we must conclude 
 that there is no difference between the Medium 
 and ordinary Psychic, except in name. All 
 Psychics while entranced are highly suggestible, 
 a fact which I shall have occasion to refer to 
 
SPIRITISM. 191 
 
 again a little later, as it furnishes the explana- 
 tion of some things otherwise not easily under- 
 stood. 
 
 THE MANNER OF THEIR PRODUCTION. 
 
 The manner of producing the so-called spir- 
 itistic phenomena is through the seances. A 
 seance is said to be "a meeting for consulting 
 the spirits' , and "an exhibition of spirit phe- 
 nomena by a Medium." Let us attend some of 
 the various kinds of seances, for seances, like 
 the Mediums, have various names according to 
 the phenomena produced. We will begin with 
 the more common, "fortune telling." 
 
 In order to give the Medium a fair chance we 
 will go to an entire stranger. What results are 
 likely to follow? These : After the Medium has 
 fallen into a trance, he will begin with some 
 highly complimentary and flattering statements 
 as to the sitter's character and ability; then the 
 sitter's name will be given, his residence and 
 business, his past history, his secrets that he sup- 
 posed were known to himself alone, and in fact 
 anything that the sitter has recorded in his mind. 
 Ihe sitter will be told whom he desires a mes- 
 sage from, and the message produced without 
 his ever saying a word. The results would be 
 the same if he were dumb. These are extraordi- 
 
192 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 nary revelations, but you will readily guess that 
 this is simply a case of Mind Reading or Telep- 
 athy, so I will hurry on to the next seance. 
 
 A spiritistic circle consists of a few persons 
 who arrange themselves around a table and lay 
 their hands upon it, and await results. The re- 
 sults usually consist of scratches, raps and levi- 
 tations, and are considered by some as certain 
 evidences of spirit presence. Are they? I 
 think not, for any circle, with a Medium or with- 
 out a Medium, composed of Spiritists, Chris- 
 tians, Pagans or Jews will obtain the same re- 
 sults. Careful tests have been made which have 
 proven conclusively that these results follow, 
 and just as certainly that they do not depend 
 upon any supermundane agency. We have all 
 seen the table-tipping tried, and most of us have 
 had our part in it, as children or adults, and few 
 of us have thought it due to any force not re- 
 siding in our own bodies. Let us attend a 
 seance where they do more difficult things. 
 
 The slate writing seance is one that will re- 
 quire careful looking into. It is a clever phe- 
 nomenon, but it often is a trick. Legerdemain 
 plays an important part here, as has been shown 
 by many investigators, notably Mr. J. S. Davey, 
 a renegade Medium. One of the secretaries of 
 the Society for Psychical Research says of the 
 
SPIRITISM. 193 
 
 phenomena he produced without spirit aid: 
 "Time would fail me to tell all the marvels per- 
 formed by Mr. Davey's agency and attested by 
 educated and intelligent eye-witnesses. He 
 produced a long message in Japanese for a Japa- 
 nese marquis; he made, or seemed to make, 
 pieces of chalk under a glass describe geomet- 
 rical figures at the unexpressed wish of the sit- 
 ter ; he made a tumbler walk across the table in 
 full light; he wrote messages on double slates, 
 securely sealed and screwed together ; he mate- 
 rialized in strong light a woman's head, which 
 floated in the air and then dematerialized, and 
 the half-length figure of a bearded man in a tur- 
 ban, reading a book, who bowed to the circle 
 and finally disappeared through the ceiling with 
 a scraping noise." Even if any of the phenom- 
 ena were true, though none of it is beyond the 
 power of the prestidigitateur, the nature of the 
 messages written upon the slates would suffice 
 to render it unimportant. Let us consider them 
 a moment : They all profess to be from the 
 dead. Are they? No. I was favored by a 
 Medium with several messages, for value re- 
 ceived, and, briefly, this is the result: I wrote 
 to a dead friend and got in response an answer 
 expressed in general terms which was fairly sat- 
 isfactory. Next I wrote a note to my living 
 
194 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 dog, asking if he had found his mother and 
 whether he was happy and liked his new home. 
 The answer came in a few moments : He was 
 all right, etc., signed by the dog's name as I 
 had addressed him. "Well," I ruminated, "per- 
 haps the dog has died since I left Him, and in his 
 spirit form has responded. I want to be sure, 
 so I will try again. The door-post certainly 
 could not answer, so I will write to it." I wrote 
 to D. Post and got an affectionate reply. What 
 could I think? What would you think? Are 
 the messages worth much consideration? Are 
 they to be relied upon? I have said, and repeat, 
 "No." Here is where the suggestibility comes 
 in ; the Medium is under an autosuggestion that 
 he is the instrument of departed spirits, and con- 
 sequently is compelled to write from that view 
 point. In some instances the Mediums are self- 
 deceived, and are honest in their protestations 
 that they are innocent of conscious fraud. I 
 wish to call attention to a contest which occurred 
 in Tremont Temple, Boston, before leaving this 
 subject. 
 
 Rev. Arthur A. Waite, who had been a Me- 
 dium, claimed that he would duplicate any feat 
 that the friends of Spiritism could accomplish. 
 His challenge was accepted, the trial came off, 
 and he repeated and explained every one of the 
 
SPIRITISM. 195 
 
 Medium's tricks and forced him to retreat in 
 confusion. 
 
 One thing should be noticed, namely, that 
 messages in the form of essays and speeches 
 from the shades of Bacon, Washington, Clay 
 and Webster, are unworthy of those men, and 
 more like the productions of unlearned school- 
 boys or imbeciles. If they are genuine effu- 
 sions of these illustrious shades, we must con- 
 clude with Hamilton, that they are "souls in the 
 process of losing their mental powers, souls fad- 
 ing away, souls destined to become extinct," 
 and such a belief rather makes against the dig- 
 nity and reality of immortality. If Spiritists 
 could prove that the messages were from spirits, 
 even that would not prove a future life, for it 
 is impossible to prove that the spirits had ever 
 been dwellers upon the earth in bodily forms. 
 We are obliged to take the testimony of the 
 spirits, and this, according to many authorities 
 on Spiritisms, is unreliable. One author says, 
 "The spirits can say what they like, assume to 
 be what they please.' , Again I ask what is such 
 testimony worth ? Nothing. 
 
 Levitation, or floating in the air, is among the 
 rare phenomena of Spiritism, and while we may 
 not fully understand how it is done, I am sure 
 that it is not necessary to conclude that ponder- 
 
196 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 able things are borne up by angel hands. We 
 have strong statements from good authorities 
 that levitation can be produced without the in- 
 terposition of spirit agencies. We are told that 
 "the priests of Siam, when in the sacred pagoda, 
 mount fifty feet in the air with taper in hand, 
 and flit from idol to idol, lighting up the niches, 
 self-supported, and stepping as confidently as 
 though they were upon the solid ground." "The 
 officers of the Russian squadron in Japanese 
 waters relate the fact that, besides many other 
 marvels, they saw jugglers walk in mid-air with- 
 out the slightest support." — (Blavatsky.) I do 
 not know how this is done, but it does not neces- 
 sarily involve the supernatural. The Adepts do 
 these things, and one was heard to say in expla- 
 nation that they are persons "who know that the 
 power to produce these phenomena resides in 
 themselves, and who possess the intelligence to 
 control and direct it." A friend of mind, who 
 has been under the tutelage of several Indian 
 teachers, told me that he had succeeded in levita- 
 ting his own body, that he had floated about his 
 room. It is to be hoped that we shall know 
 more of this power in the near future. 
 
 Materialization is the crowning glory of the 
 Mediums. The phenomena vary from faint, 
 shadowy visions, to palpable phantasms that 
 
SPIRITISM. 197 
 
 may be caught and fixed upon the photographic 
 plate. It is hardly necessary to say that most 
 of these manifestations are fraud, for nearly all, 
 if not all, of the prominent materializing Me- 
 diums have been detected and exposed as im- 
 postors. But there are phenomena that have 
 been observed and vouched for, and recorded by 
 competent and trustworthy persons; and some 
 of us have seen and heard for ourselves. Now, 
 confident that we are dealing with facts, we feel 
 that it is worthy of our best efforts to discover 
 and understand the laws which underlie and gov- 
 ern these apparitions. It has been proven that 
 certain shapes, resembling human persons, ani- 
 mals and inanimate objects, have appeared, and 
 from time to time do appear to the living. In 
 other words, phantasms, apparitions, or ghosts, 
 have appeared, and do appear to the living. 
 What are the causes and the possible explana- 
 tions of the existence of these impalpable crea- 
 tions ? There are but the two possibilities before 
 mentioned ; they are due to forces controlled by 
 the living, or they are the manifestations of the 
 dead. Let us examine them. 
 
 Ghosts have appeared in all ages, and in all 
 forms. The favorite character in the Bible is 
 the angel. Again and again we are told that 
 angels have appeared and have talked with men 
 
198 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 and women. In secular records they have ap- 
 peared singly and in groups, usually clothed and 
 bodily complete; but at times only part of the 
 body has appeared, as a face or a hand. There 
 seems to be some definitely intelligent purpose 
 of the ghostly visitors, as the revelation of a 
 secret, the telling of news, or the disclosure of 
 a crime. In the latter case the appearance of 
 the spectre is at the place of the perpetration 
 of the crime, and often recurring only at inter- 
 vals, as at the anniversary of the deed. It is 
 rare that ghosts appear except in cases of vio- 
 lent death, the more violent the death, the more 
 likely is the phantasm to appear. Most of these 
 creations have sad, melancholy, or even suffer- 
 ing expressions, as though they were the chil- 
 dren born of anguish and despair. 
 
 EXPLANATIONS OF THE PRODUCTION. 
 
 In seeking the explanations of these phenom- 
 ena, the scientific axiom that forbids the attrib- 
 uting of any phenomenon to supernatural influ- 
 ence that may be explained by natural forces, 
 compels us to discard the Spiritist's theory. 
 However, that theory is wholly unnecessary, as 
 well as inadequate. There are two other, better 
 explanations, namely, I . The phenomena are 
 due to Hallucination and Telepathy, and 2. 
 They are actual Creations of the Mind. 
 
 
SPIRITISM. 199 
 
 Hallucination and Telepathy do certainly 
 cover and explain a large number of these phe- 
 nomena, no doubt, but in my judgment they are 
 inadequate in some cases. The Indian fakirs do 
 some wonderful feats through these means. A 
 friend of mind who was for a number of years in 
 the service of the English government in India*, 
 told me some of the marvels he saw. He said : 
 "One day a group of officers and natives were 
 watching a fakir, and we saw plainly a full-grown 
 tiger walk in our midst, but a snap shot with a 
 kodak failed to catch the tiger upon the photo- 
 graphic plate. I saw the 'basket trick/ as it is 
 known. A fakir comes down the street with a 
 large basket upon his head, and as soon as a 
 crowd assembles, he takes from the basket a 
 square cloth and spreads it upon the ground; 
 then he seizes a boy from the crowd — apparently 
 any boy — lays him upon the cloth and covers 
 him with the basket. He then takes a short 
 sword and runs it through the basket again and 
 again in all directions. The sword is smeared 
 with blood, and the boy screams, but when the 
 basket is removed by some anxious spectator, 
 no boy is found there." And a lot more tricks 
 of a similar kind were witnessed. We are only 
 beginners in the study of Thought Transference 
 and hallucination. 
 
200 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 There is a group of investigators who offer a 
 solution of the mysteries of phantasms, ghcsts, 
 and the like, who suggest that they are 
 creations of the minds of the living more 
 or less material, and correspondingly recog- 
 nizable by the senses. To me this is the 
 most probable and satisfactory explanation, 
 although it is difficult of demonstration. Of 
 materialization Hudson says: "Like all other 
 so-called spirit phenomena it is, in my mind, 
 directly traceable to the power of the subjective 
 mind of the Medium, aided by telepathic com- 
 munion with the sitter." It appears that these 
 psychic creations, or palpable thoughts — for 
 ''thoughts are things" — differ from telepathic 
 communications only in degree. The condi- 
 tions under which they are produced explain the 
 differences. It has been noticed that the most 
 favorable condition of the mind for telepathic 
 and other like actions, is when the subconscious 
 mind is most nearly in complete control, and this 
 condition obtains at the hour of death, or when 
 the functions of the body are temporarily sus- 
 pended. The Psychics who are able to produce 
 these creations are those who fall into the most 
 profound trances. The ordinary, or primary, 
 consciousness is wholly in abeyance, and the 
 subconscious mind is in complete control. Now, 
 
SPIRITISM. 20i 
 
 the creations in Thought Transference are tran- 
 sient, and dissolve as soon as they have fulfilled 
 their missons, while those produced in the agony 
 of death, or under strong emotions, are more 
 substantial and lasting, both by reason of their 
 birth and their mission. The extreme effort of 
 a tortured soul to protest and proclaim against 
 a murderer, doubtless accounts for the appari- 
 tions which reenact the ghastly scenes at the 
 place of their perpetration. The effort of a de- 
 parting soul to say a last long farewell to its 
 loved ones, must account for the phantasm which 
 takes on a shadowy form and appears to take a 
 last lingering look into the faces of the dear ones. 
 The likeness, in these cases, to the individual is 
 natural and readily explained, but not so those 
 produced by Psychics, it is claimed. When it 
 is remembered, however, that the Psychic is in 
 telepathic communion with the sitter, and can 
 get the picture from his mind, this difficulty 
 vanishes. 
 
 This theory of Thought Creation also affords 
 an explanation for a fact that neither of the 
 others cover, namely, the almost uniformly sad 
 or anguished expression upon the face of the 
 shades. Resulting as they do from minds 
 racked with physical pain, in the throes of death, 
 it is natural that they should have such expres- 
 
202 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 sions. It also explains another set of cases 
 which the other theories failed to touch. It 
 often happens that sensitive persons are affected 
 by the influence of the thoughts of those who 
 have previously occupied a room or a house. 
 No ghost or phantasm is seen or heard, but the 
 influence from the previous occupant is felt; 
 sometimes it is of one character, sometimes of 
 another, but most often it is disagreeable, and 
 frequently of such a nature as to compel the vic- 
 tim to move. This is especially true if the for- 
 mer occupant was the victim of great sorrow or 
 strong emotions of any kind ; it is not necessary 
 to the condition that the person should have 
 died. 
 
 The phenomena rendering witchcraft so inex- 
 plicable, can readily be accounted for by the 
 mind creation theory. That they — the witches 
 — were able to perform and did perforin many 
 wonders is common history, and historians give 
 details of some of their known methods, which 
 seem to point to the fact that they were Psy- 
 chics, and went into self-induced trances, in 
 order to send their cats, hobgoblins and demons 
 to harass the victims of their enmity. 
 
 Now, if man can create phantasms, as it 
 seems that he can, is it not natural and logical 
 that we should, at least, try to harmonize with 
 
SPIRITISM. 203 
 
 this fact certain similar phantasms, apparitions, 
 ghosts, shades or what not, produced by Me- 
 diums? To my mind, that the creation of all 
 phantasms is by the subconscious mind, is all 
 but proven. In any case I have given you a 
 more acceptable theory than the one offered by 
 the Spiritists, for it observes the axiom which 
 forbids us to refer explainable phenomena to 
 supernatural agencies. I, for one, until we have 
 carried our explorations much farther than we 
 have at present, and have fixed more definitely 
 the boundaries of the natural, will not abandon 
 the firm conviction that neither demon nor 
 ghost, angel nor devil, are necessary to account 
 for the strange happenings and phenomena that 
 we have had under consideration. 
 
 Now, in conclusion, while it is plain that the 
 phenomena brought forward as proofs of the 
 theory of Spiritism are insufficient and unsatis- 
 factory, it does not necessarily follow that im- 
 mortality is a fallacy. On the contrary, it should 
 stimulate a renewed effort and a more careful 
 study so that, if possible, satisfactory and certain 
 proofs of a future life may be found. Such? 
 studies, as those recently conducted with Mrs. 
 Piper and Miss Hellene Smith, are steps in 
 the right direction and should be heartily encour- 
 aged by all who are interested in the subject, for 
 
204 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 they deal with the problem involving the most 
 tremendous facts that can engage the attention 
 of the human mind. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 THE FUTURE OF PSYCHISM. 
 
 A forecast of Psychism — Some problems to be solved — 
 The Psychic's character must be exalted — Psychism 
 must prepare the way for the development of such a 
 character — No Psychic influence without its power 
 for good or ill— The study of the future will be the 
 study of the forces within man — "Do coming events 
 cast their shadows before them?" — "If a man die 
 shall he live again?" — Our banner bears the motto 
 Psychism. 
 
 Augury is out of place in a serious scientific 
 study, but having made a review of Psychism 
 we may be allowed to make a forecast of its fu- 
 ture. The present status of the thing always 
 presents some promise of its future. Measur- 
 ing Psychism by this method, it looks as if it 
 would have a glorious future ; at least, it em- 
 bodies grand possibilities. Whether it will rise 
 tc the occasion and make the most of these pos- 
 sibilities and thus justify its usefulness to man- 
 kind is uncertain. There are many problems 
 205 
 
206 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 and questions which present themselves to Psy- 
 chism for solution which must be fairly met and 
 answered. Its future depends upon its ability to 
 solve some of the following problems. 
 
 The character of the Psychic must be raised 
 from its present low status to a high, enviable 
 position. The man that is now marked by his 
 eccentricity, moral twist, lax life and physical 
 depletion must be transformed into the man who 
 shall be marked by his serene, morally upright, 
 Christ-like life and physical perfection. A 
 transformation as necessary as it is profound. 
 If the Psychic is the highest product of evolu- 
 tion he must be placed in the very best light. 
 He has been the exception, the first fruit of the 
 evolutionary process; as such, he must be the 
 example elevated for all men to observe and fol- 
 low. Instead of being the exception he must 
 become the rule of human development. One 
 such character who had reached the acme of 
 psychic development lived upon the earth; He 
 walked and talked with men, performed wonders, 
 healed the sick and assured His followers that 
 the works that He did and the life that He lived, 
 pure and simple, they might do and live. He 
 was such a character and reflected such a perfect 
 manhood that His enemies were forced to dis- 
 tinguish Him by the exclamation. "Behold the 
 
THE FUTURE OF PSYCHISM. 207 
 
 Man!" Such an one is the Psychic of the fu- 
 ture. 
 
 The development of such a character as has 
 been portrayed above is the work of Psychism. 
 Voices are now crying in the wilderness of igno- 
 rance and superstition, ''Prepare ye the way," 
 and it is the business of Psychism to prepare 
 the way. The way must be sure, safe and broad. 
 The dangers that have attended the ways and 
 methods of the past must be removed. All who 
 sincerely start should be able to reach the goal 
 of their ambition. The possibility, not to say 
 probability, of unbalancing the reason and fetch- 
 ing up in an insane asylum must be removed. 
 Surely it is possible for all to follow in the foot- 
 steps of the Master without running such dire 
 risks. Some few have been enabled to do so, 
 and it remains for Psychism to point out a broad, 
 safe, sure way — broad enough for all who wish 
 to follow Him. Many aspire to a Christ-like 
 life and character who have been unable to find 
 the way which leads to them. When Psychism 
 has performed its office, opened the door and 
 shown the way, many will turn their faces toward 
 soul-culture and begin to know themselves. 
 
 The importance of environment and the power 
 of Suggestion to make or mar men must be em- 
 phasized. Psychism must point out the fact 
 
208 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 that no psychic influence is without its power 
 and that the sum total of such influences is re- 
 sponsible for human character. When we real- 
 ize this we shall be more careful of our words 
 and actions, for every word lives and every action 
 has its effect. The health and happiness of 
 those around us depend upon us. We may 
 make them ill or unhappy, or we may make them 
 well and happy. Few persons realize their 
 power, and it is the privilege of Psychism to 
 teach the power that resides in man to the many. 
 Animals show more intelligence than men ; they 
 seek out and eat of the plant that cures their ills, 
 while man too often dies in his ignorance. The 
 divinity that placed the instinct in the animal 
 has not left man less complete. It remains for 
 man to seek out and use his powers, to know 
 himself. What the animal does by instinct of 
 necessity, man should do by intuition, of choice. 
 Health and happiness will be the rule with those 
 who know and use their psychic powers. 
 
 The study of the future will be the study of the 
 things within, instead of outside of man. Psy- 
 chism has an almost inexhaustible mine of treas- 
 ures to unearth and develop. The mighty forces 
 of nature outside of man have long been ex- 
 ploited before the bewildered gaze of the won- 
 dering world, but these are likely to be sur- 
 
THE FUTURE OF PSYCHISM. 209 
 
 passed by the magnificent powers of man's mind. 
 The far-reaching, penetrating perception is only 
 surpassed by the delicate receptivity of the human 
 mind. The wonders of mechanical devices are 
 only imperfect imitations of the more wonderful 
 mechanism of man. Wireless telegraphy and 
 the X-ray represent the acme of the mechanical 
 use of electricity, and while they are most won- 
 derful they shrink into insignificance when com- 
 pared with the delicate activities of the mind. 
 Surely the salvation of mankind is found within 
 man ! Psychism must take the developments of 
 the past and present and arrange and add to 
 them until it has builded a science of mind the 
 like of which the world has never dreamed. By 
 doing so it will usher in the era when man shall 
 become God-like in his power; he will get into 
 harmony with the universe and be able to catch 
 and interpret the thought waves of the world, 
 to see and hear without limit, recognize and 
 understand the souls of things. When man 
 reaches this condition there will be no question 
 about life's being worth the living, for to live 
 will be sublime. 
 
 The waking hours will be full of joy and hope 
 and opportunities for knowing ourselves, and 
 during Sleep our Dreams will become coherent 
 and full of meaning. Psychism will translate 
 
210 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 the phantasms of the night, from unsubstantial 
 fancies into intelligent messages. Sleep will be- 
 come not only a period of bodily rest, but a sea- 
 son of intellectual activity. The prophetic 
 dreams that have so long mystified us will be 
 understood in both manner and meaning. For 
 Psychism must solve the question, "Do coming 
 events cast their shadows before them?" Coin- 
 cidence does not satisfy the inquirer about such 
 dreams. Too many prophetic visions of the 
 night are fulfilled to allow such an explanation. 
 Science has been accustomed to deny the possi- 
 bility of prescience where free moral agency is 
 concerned, but there are many who contradict 
 the dictum of science. Psychism must come to 
 our aid and solve and explain these mysteries 
 for us. 
 
 Closely allied to dream experiences are the 
 experiences had in Trances. Many revelations 
 have been made to entranced persons. These 
 revelations have been remembered and translated 
 by such persons after their return to their normal 
 state. Some of the visions and revelations have 
 proven reliable and true, while many others 
 have proven to be fanciful and false. Psychism 
 has a work to do in this connection. Whence 
 do these revelations come and what is their im- 
 portance? Is it possible to find out their source 
 
THE FUTURE OF PSYCHISM. 211 
 
 and meaning? We look to Psychism to answer 
 these questions about the trance revelations that 
 form the foundation of most religions. Jt is a 
 vital matter, and it is to be hoped that it may 
 soon be understood. 
 
 Another mystery still more inscrutable to us 
 confronts Psychism, namely, the mystery of 
 death. All have to meet the king of terrors, 
 and none escapes unconquered. All must pass 
 into the realm of the unknown, from whence it 
 is said no traveler has ever returned to give an 
 account. The question propounded by the an- 
 cients, "If a man die, shall he live again?" re- 
 mains unanswered. Many answers have been 
 made, but none that has been satisfactory to all. 
 Can Psychism formulate such an answer? It 
 seems incredible that the human soul, with all 
 of its possibilities and powers, should come into 
 consciousness and attain such a height of devel- 
 opment, only to go out into utter darkness like 
 a burned-out candle. Our hearts whisper some- 
 thing of the future and our minds seem to catch 
 glimpses of another life. Is the time coming 
 when our hearts shall speak plainly and our 
 minds shall know certainly of that life? We 
 look to Psychism for an answer, and I do not 
 think we look in vain. The minds that can send 
 and receive thought messages from continent to 
 
212 THE PSYCHIC AND PSYCHISM. 
 
 continent, may some day be able to send and re- 
 ceive them across the gulf that separates us from 
 the great unknown. There are rumors that 
 some are already able to do so, and we are anx- 
 iously awaiting the proofs of their ability. 
 
 The friends of Psychism should rally to aid 
 it in its onerous but promising work. Men and 
 means are necessary for the exploration and de- 
 velopment of this field of study. The work 
 should not be left to a few; all are interested 
 in the results and all should take part in the 
 work. Much has been accomplished already by 
 a few faithful workers, but much more will be 
 accomplished when all who are interested in this 
 subject freely lend their aid. 
 
 Forerunners have already scaled the moun- 
 tains and have planted the banner upon the top- 
 most peak of vantage, where it unfurls and floats 
 upon the breeze, encouragingly displaying the 
 motto "PSYCHISM." Let us' follow and rally 
 around our banner. 
 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 THE METHODS OF HYPNOTIZING. 
 
 Hypnotism has reached its present scientific 
 position through a tedious evolution. Like 
 every other science, it has had to struggle for 
 existence, and only after a hard fight has it re- 
 ceived due recognition. In its various stages of 
 development, widely differing theories have been 
 held as to its nature, the methods of inducing its 
 states and producing its phenomena. 
 
 These have been pointed out, but it remains to 
 explain and illustrate them, for upon them de- 
 pends its successful therapeutic application. 
 
 Each of the several schools of hypnotism has 
 its methods; the mesmerists claim that the op- 
 erator exerts a personal influence over his sub- 
 jects, and they use passes and magnets, but this 
 influence is denied by the other two schools. The 
 Salpetriere school uses sudden, sharp, sensorial 
 shocks. The Nancy school uses slight, pro- 
 longed, sensorial stimuli. They both succeed, so 
 it is fair to conclude that hypnotic states may 
 be induced (i) by sudden, strong, sensorial stim-/ 
 213 
 
214 APPENDIX. 
 
 ulation, as a bright light or a loud sound ; (2) by 
 slight, prolonged, sensorial stimulation, as a 
 light touch or a low, monotonous sound. 
 
 However, the influence of suggestion must 
 not be overlooked, for it is a factor second to 
 none in the production of induced sleep. When 
 the subject expects to be hynotized, his mind 
 contributes to the success of the operation, and 
 he the more readily falls into the hypnosis. Hyp- 
 nosis is a psychic state similar to natural sleep. 
 
 It is essential to prepare the subject's mind be- 
 fore attempting to hypnotize him, precisely for 
 the reason that it is a mental operation. Luys 
 well said : "The hypnotizer is nothing ; the hyp- 
 notized subject everything." Without the con- 
 cious cooperation of the subject, failures will be 
 frequent. The operator should explain the sim- 
 plicity of the operation ; clear it as much as pos- 
 sible of all mystery, minimize its dangers, and 
 emphasize its benefits. After having removed all 
 fear and resistance from the mind of the sub- 
 ject, he should place him in a comfortable posi- 
 tion and have him thoroughly relax body and 
 mind and become passive. 
 
 Now, we are ready to begin, but must not 
 hurry. It is often wise to spend the first visit in 
 subject is a stranger. It gives his mind time to 
 prepare for the hypnosis. 
 
APPENDIX. 215 
 
 It has been hinted that the personal influ- 
 ence is of small account, but in one sense this is 
 far from true. While it is true that the operator 
 does not possess a peculiar "power," it is not 
 true that his influence is unimportant. It is all 
 important that he should be able to win the con- 
 fidence of his subject and make him believe that 
 he can do what he is about to attempt. Every- 
 thing depends upon the effects produced upon 
 the subject's mind, and the best operator is he 
 w r ho can most easily convince his patients that 
 what he says is true, and what he predicts will 
 happen. His experience brings self-confidence, 
 but suggestion is the power and not a personal 
 force or fluid, as claimed by the mesmerists. 
 Confidence is contagious. 
 
 The importance of thus carefully preparing the 
 patient will be appreciated by physicians when it 
 is borne in mind that the results obtained in the 
 first treatment will exert a marked influence 
 upon all future results. Fear and resistance, 
 either conscious or unconscious, will often pre- 
 vent success. An uncomfortable position may 
 have the same effect. As little things hinder nat- 
 ural sleep, so do they interfere with the induc- 
 tion of hypnosis. 
 
 Having prepared the subject mentally and 
 physically, we begin by assuring him that he is 
 
216 APPENDIX. 
 
 resting comfortably and will soon go to sleep. 
 Have him close his eyes and rest passively and 
 then talk to him in a monotonous tone of voice 
 somewhat as follows : 
 
 "You are now thoroughly relaxed in mind 
 and body, and are going to sleep. It is easy 
 to go to sleep. All one has to do is to let go of 
 everything and drift, drift, drift into sleep, sleep, 
 sleep. You are becoming very sleepy; your 
 eyelids are very heavy, and soon you will be 
 sound asleep, asleep, asleep. You do not plainly 
 hear what I say, and I do not want you to. Just 
 let yourself drift, drift, drift into a sound, sweet 
 sleep, sleep, sleep. Breathe deeply and regularly. 
 Now you are asleep ; your eyes are fast shut ; 
 the lids are so heavy that you cannot open them. 
 You will "remain asleep until I tell you to 
 awaken." 
 
 Now place your hand lightly on his forehead, 
 or your ringers upon his eyelids, and assure him 
 that he is sleeping soundly and comfortably ; 
 that he is happy and having a good rest and will 
 be greatly refreshed by it. Keep up these sug- 
 gestions for five minutes or longer and he will 
 fall into an hypnosis, more or less profound, and 
 be ready for the curative suggestions. 
 
 Take another subject and place him in the 
 same comfortable position, wholly relaxed and 
 
APPENDIX. 217 
 
 passive. Turn him toward the light and direct 
 him to look into one of your eyes. Stand so 
 that your eye will be a little above the line of his 
 vision and about seven inches from his eyes. 
 Having to look up at that angle will soon tire 
 his eyes, which will aid in impressing the idea of 
 sleep. Before or while he looks into your eye, 
 tell him what he is to expect ; namely, that his 
 eyes will soon blur; he will not see distinctly, 
 and then that his eyelids will become heavy and 
 close, and he will go fast asleep. 
 
 What you predict will happen. His eyes will 
 blur, the lids will become tired and heavy ; they 
 will make a few long winks and then close and 
 remain shut, and the probability is that he will 
 fall into an hypnosis. When the eyelids have 
 closed place your fingers lightly upon them and 
 keep them closed for a few moments, lest his ef- 
 forts to open them should arouse him and cause 
 him to wake up. Then, with your hand lightly 
 laid upon his forehead, give a slight downward 
 pressure upon the eyebrows and assure him that 
 it is impossible for him to open his eyes. He 
 will try and probably fail to open them. Now, 
 he is hypnotized and suggestible. 
 
 The process is simple and is easily explained. 
 It is a physio-psychologic phenomenon. The 
 blurring of the vision and the heaviness of the 
 
218 APPENDIX. 
 
 eyelids are due to strain and are physiologic. 
 The falling into the hypnotic sleep is due to the 
 adoption, by the mind, of the suggested idea of 
 sleep and is psychologic. 
 
 A combination of the above methods is better 
 than either of them alone and will succeed in al- 
 most every case. 
 
 Place your subject in the usual comfortable 
 position in an easy chair or on a sofa and instruct 
 him to relax, bodily and mentally, and become 
 passive and unresisting. Then have him look 
 into your eye, as described above, and at the 
 same time talk to him in a monotonous tone of 
 voice, somewhat as follows : 
 
 "You are now thoroughly relaxed, passive and 
 unresisting. You are resting comfortably and 
 will soon fall into a quiet, restful sleep. My 
 talking to you will not annoy you ; it will aid 
 you in going to sleep. Your eyes will soon blur 
 and you will see indistinctly, your eyelids will 
 become tired and heavy and they will have to 
 wink and will finally close and you will go to 
 sleep. You do not see distinctly and your eye- 
 lids are becoming very heavy ; they have to wink, 
 and now, they are closing. Let them close ; they 
 are tired and you are sleepy. That is right. I 
 will place my fingers upon them, so, and help you 
 to go to sleep. You are very sleepy, so sleepy 
 
APPENDIX. 219 
 
 that you could not keep awake if you should try, 
 but you will not try, for you are too sleepy and 
 want to go to sleep. You are drifting away into 
 a quiet, restful sleep, sleep, sleep ; restful, peace- 
 ful sleep, sleep, sleep. Now, you are asleep and 
 you will sweetly rest ; perfectly relaxed in body 
 and mind ; nothing will disturb you until I tell 
 you to wake up." 
 
 If he has cooperated with you the subject will 
 now be in an hypnosis and amenable to sugges- 
 tions. If told that he cannot open his eyes, he 
 cannot, and if his arm is raised and he is told 
 that he cannot lower it, he cannot. Perhaps it 
 should be explained here that the reason for this 
 inability lies in the cooperation just mentioned ; 
 it has now become so complete that he adopts 
 your suggestions as his own. He cannot do it 
 simply because he believes he cannot and does 
 not and perhaps cannot will it. In the common 
 form of expression of many subjects, he does not 
 wish to do it. As a matter of fact, he could and 
 would resist suggestions that were very distaste- 
 ful, possibly, by returning to his normal state. 
 
 The methods described will usually succeed in 
 producing hypnosis, but it is necessary to indi- 
 vidualize our subjects and adapt the method to 
 the subject. It is a good plan to find out what 
 the subject knows of hypnotism and how he ex- 
 
220 APPENDIX. 
 
 pects it will be applied in his case, and then, if 
 practical, adapt the method to his notions. It 
 will save time and insure success. If he expects 
 you to hold his hands, hold them; if he must 
 have his forehead rubbed, rub it ; if he wants to 
 look at a bright object, furnish one; if he needs 
 passes, make them, and so on ad libitum. 
 
 No method of hypnotizing is the method. 
 What succeeds with one fails with another. It 
 must be borne in mind that the subject really 
 hypnotizes himself; you are simply aiding him. 
 As soon as he has learned how, he can do it him- 
 self without assistance. It is largely a matter of 
 education. * * * 
 
 The induction of somnambulism is simple, but 
 can only be accomplished in persons who fall 
 into profound states of hypnosis. 
 
 After the subject has learned to pass readily 
 into a deep hypnosis, and readily accepts inhib- 
 itory suggestions, that is, cannot open his eyes 
 or lower his raised arm when told that he cannot, 
 he is ready for the somnambulic experiments. 
 This state should be reached gradually while the 
 subject has his eyes closed. The induced sleep 
 is easily changed into somnambulism because 
 the sleeper is in touch with the operator and has 
 become accustomed to adopting his suggestions. 
 The change is brought about bv making pro- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 221 
 
 gressive suggestions. Somewhat as follows: 
 First, suggest visions or dream pictures ; after- 
 ward, sounds, as music and the like; then, the 
 sensation of heat and cold; have the subject 
 acknowledge that these suggestions have been 
 realized, and lastly, assure him that he can open 
 his eyes, but that he will not wake up until com- 
 manded to do so. He will slowly open his eyes. 
 He is now in the somnambulic state. * * * 
 
 Now that we recognize that suggestion sup- 
 ported by attention play the principal parts in 
 the induction of hypnosis it is quite natural to 
 conclude that the same factors would explain 
 how hypnosis is removed. This is true. By sug- 
 gestion the subject is hypnotized and by sugges- 
 tion he is dehypnotized. The operator has the 
 subject's attention and can change him from one 
 state into another and in like manner can wake 
 him up at will. 
 
 When I have completed my therapeutic sug- 
 gestions and am ready to awaken my patient I 
 proceed as follows : 
 
 "The suggestions I have given you with ref- 
 erence to your illness will remain deeply fixed 
 upon your mind. You have had a pleasant, rest- 
 ful nap, and are about to wake up. You feel 
 comfortable and happy and will wake up when 
 I count three. Ready, one, two, three. You 
 are awake; open your eyes." 
 
222 APPENDIX. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that the hypno- 
 tized are never unconscious and that everything 
 that the operator says and does acts as a sugges- 
 tion to them. This explains how a timid oper- 
 ator sometimes gets into trouble. * * * 
 
 Before leaving this topic let me emphasize a 
 thing or two. It is wise, when a patient believes 
 that the operator has a special "power," not to 
 hasten to disabuse his mind. Hypnotize him 
 first and explain afterwards, else it may be very 
 difficult to hypnotize him. The reason is plain. 
 Another thing, be careful that you do not fall 
 into the same error. When you have induced a 
 suggestible state in and can dominate the sub- 
 ject in thought, word and deed, do not think that 
 you have done it by the superior strength of your 
 mind. Nothing could be wider of the mark. 
 The truth is best. Be not deceived, he did it 
 himself. — Extract from Dr. Halphide's work, 
 Mind and Body. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 A STRANGE EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Some time ago I wrote of some experiments 
 I had made in telepathy, and now I want to 
 write of a little experience I have had since. The 
 question was raised at that time whether telep- 
 athy was a lower or a higher faculty, one that 
 we have passed through in our evolution, or one 
 that we are reaching by the same process. That 
 thought transference is possible with animals 
 seems to be proven by the phenomena I have 
 lately witnessed. 
 
 I will relate it just as it occurred: I was in 
 a cigar store and while conversing with the pro- 
 prietor a gentleman entered, accompanied by a 
 Scotch collie dog. The proprietor said: 
 
 "Dr. Halphide, shake hands with Mr. Clason." 
 
 "I am glad to meet Mr. Clason," I said, shak- 
 ing his hand, "because I have heard of him and 
 his dog, and have wanted to see them/' 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Clason, "the dog is a 
 well-known animal, much more widely known 
 than myself." 
 
 223 
 
224 APPENDIX. 
 
 "Will you exhibit her for me and let me get an 
 idea of her powers of mind reading?" I asked. 
 
 "Certainly," he replied. "Bozzie," he called to 
 the dog that had curled herself up in the sun- 
 shine on the floor, *'wake up and go around the 
 store and come back and tell this gentleman how 
 many men there are present." 
 
 The dog got up and deliberately walked 
 around the store and came back and sat before 
 me and barked nine times without any further 
 command, which was the correct number of per- 
 sons present. 
 
 The owner then asked me to write a number 
 on a slip of paper and let him see it. I wrote the 
 number 7, and, after looking at it, he said 
 
 "Bozzie, the doctor has written a number on 
 this paper — what is it?" 
 
 The dog immediately barked seven times. 
 
 "Now to prove that it is thought transference 
 and that I make no sign to the dog," said Mr. 
 Clason, "you will step with me behind this par- 
 tition and give me any number that you wish, and 
 without seeing the dog I will call to her and 
 she will give us the number you dictate. So we 
 went behind the partition and I held up my hand. 
 indicating the number 5. He then called to the 
 dog, while I peered out between the curtains : 
 
 "Bozzie, what is the number this gentleman 
 has given me?" 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 225 
 
 The dog at once barked five times. It seemed 
 that there was no question about the dog's abil- 
 ity to read the mind, but in order to make 
 sure I made another test for myself. Mr. Clason 
 had said that the dog could answer ques- 
 tions for me as well as for himself, so I took 
 a coin from my pocket dated 1883, and, after 
 Mr. Clason had told the dog to look at me and 
 answer such questions as I might ask her, I 
 said: 
 
 "What is the last figure of the date of this 
 coin?" The dog gave three barks. 
 
 "What is the first figure?" I continued. The 
 dog gave one bark. 
 
 "What are the two middle figures ?" The dog 
 barked eight times. I was convinced. 
 
 "The dog can tell the denomination of 
 money," Mr. Clason announced. So I threw a 
 25-cent piece upon the floor, and the dog picked 
 
 it up and dropped it into my hand. Then I 
 asked her: 
 
 "What is the denomination of the coin? An- 
 swer in two figures." She immediately barked 
 twice, paused, and then barked five times. Mr. 
 Clason then took five dice from the counter and 
 threw them on the floor and ordered Bozzie to 
 pick them up one by one and tell what number of 
 spots was uppermost. The dog picked them up 
 as directed, and correctly announced the number 
 
226 APPENDIX. 
 
 of spots on each. Bozzie had a litter of eleven 
 puppies a short time ago, and now has at home 
 six of them, so when Mr. Clason asked her how 
 many puppies she had had she answered 
 "eleven," and when asked how many she had at 
 home now, she replied "six." 
 
 "Doctor, the dog can tell your age," Air. 
 Clason stated. "Write it upon a slip of paper 
 and then ask her to tell you what it is in two 
 numbers, and she will tell you." I wrote down 
 the age and the dog correctly announced the 
 two numbers "3" and "8" in her language of 
 barks. Just then a lady came into the store, and 
 Mr. Clason asked Bozzie : 
 
 "How many ladies are there present?" She 
 at once announced "1." 
 
 "How many gentlemen present wear glasses ?" 
 he asked her. She hesitated a moment, and then 
 barked twice. There were two of us present 
 who wore glasses. 
 
 "How many Jews are there present?" he 
 asked. Immediately she barked once. 
 
 "How many Irishmen?" She barked three 
 
 times. 
 
 "How many old men?" She barked once, in 
 each case giving the correct answer. 
 
 "The dog is good at mathematics," Air. 
 Clason said, and he gave her an intricate problem 
 in mental arithmetic which I do not recall, but 
 
 8350 
 
APPENDIX. 227 
 
 he allowed me to give her a problem. He di- 
 rected her attention to me, and I said to her: 
 
 "Bozzie, multiply 3 by 5, add 3, divide by 2, 
 subtract 1, divide by 2 again and give me half 
 of the result. The dog immediately barked 
 twice. I gave the example so rapidly that sev- 
 eral present were unable to follow me and we 
 were all very much surprised at the readiness 
 with which the dog gave the correct answer. 
 
 I have given the account of the exhibition as 
 nearly as possible in the language and the order 
 in which it occurred, and I make no attempt to 
 explain the psychology of the case further than 
 to state that in my judgment it is an example of 
 telepathy. I shall study the dog further and re- 
 port. — Suggestive Therapeutics, May, 1900. 
 
 MORE ABOUT THE DOG. 
 
 Unfortunately Bozzie died before I had an op- 
 portunity to complete my study of her, but I 
 saw enough of her to satisfy myself that she act- 
 ually read my mind as well as that of her master. 
 It would seem that this was proven by work 
 she did for me while blindfolded and in the dark. 
 Had she been dependent upon signs from her 
 master or involuntary signs expressed in my 
 own face it would have been necessary for her 
 to see in order to recognize them. 
 
228 APPENDIX. 
 
 While she was blindfolded I thought of a num- 
 ber and asked her what it was. She immediately 
 barked the number in two figures, first 2 and 
 then 7. The number was 2J. Several similar 
 tests were made and she never failed to give the 
 correct answer. 
 
 In the dark she was equally accurate in her 
 responses. Without any contact she would an- 
 swer any question that could be expressed in her 
 language of barks, as the day of the month, the 
 month of the year, my age and the like. 
 
 It was expected that we would be able to 
 make a thorough study of the dog but her un- 
 timely death prevented it. However, enough 
 was seen to establish her wonderful intellectual 
 faculties and to baffle the most expert psycholo- 
 gist. How did she accomplish her feats? The 
 answer must be by telepathic communication, 
 and all of the wonders of that most mysterious 
 process are involved in the solution of the ques- 
 tion raised. It would be interesting to discuss 
 the subject at length and some day in the near 
 future we may be inclined to take it up, but for 
 the present we will close by repeating our asser- 
 tion that Bozzie was a mind reader. — Suggestive 
 Therapeutics, June, 1900. 
 
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