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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29399-8.txt b/29399-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0357d49 --- /dev/null +++ b/29399-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5164 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Clairvoyance, by Charles Webster Leadbeater + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Clairvoyance + +Author: Charles Webster Leadbeater + +Release Date: July 13, 2009 [EBook #29399] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLAIRVOYANCE *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Bryan Ness, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + + CLAIRVOYANCE + + + BY + + C. W. LEADBEATER + + + + SECOND EDITION + + + + + LONDON + + THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY + + 1903 + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I. PAGE +WHAT CLAIRVOYANCE IS. 5 + +CHAPTER II. +SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE: FULL 29 + +CHAPTER III. +SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE: PARTIAL 50 + +CHAPTER IV. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: INTENTIONAL 58 + +CHAPTER V. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: SEMI-INTENTIONAL 83 + +CHAPTER VI. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: UNINTENTIONAL 87 + +CHAPTER VII. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN TIME: THE PAST 96 + +CHAPTER VIII. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN TIME: THE FUTURE 131 + +CHAPTER IX. +METHODS OF DEVELOPMENT 163 + + * * * * * + + + + +CLAIRVOYANCE + +CHAPTER I. + +WHAT CLAIRVOYANCE IS. + + +Clairvoyance means literally nothing more than "clear-seeing," and it +is a word which has been sorely misused, and even degraded so far as +to be employed to describe the trickery of a mountebank in a variety +show. Even in its more restricted sense it covers a wide range of +phenomena, differing so greatly in character that it is not easy to +give a definition of the word which shall be at once succinct and +accurate. It has been called "spiritual vision," but no rendering +could well be more misleading than that, for in the vast majority of +cases there is no faculty connected with it which has the slightest +claim to be honoured by so lofty a name. + +For the purpose of this treatise we may, perhaps, define it as the +power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. It will be +as well to premise that it is very frequently (though by no means +always) accompanied by what is called clairaudience, or the power to +hear what would be inaudible to the ordinary physical ear; and we will +for the nonce take our title as covering this faculty also, in order +to avoid the clumsiness of perpetually using two long words where one +will suffice. + +Let me make two points clear before I begin. First, I am not writing +for those who do not believe that there is such a thing as +clairvoyance, nor am I seeking to convince those who are in doubt +about the matter. In so small a work as this I have no space for that; +such people must study the many books containing lists of cases, or +make experiments for themselves along mesmeric lines. I am addressing +myself to the better-instructed class who know that clairvoyance +exists, and are sufficiently interested in the subject to be glad of +information as to its methods and possibilities; and I would assure +them that what I write is the result of much careful study and +experiment, and that though some of the powers which I shall have to +describe may seem new and wonderful to them, I mention no single one +of which I have not myself seen examples. + +Secondly, though I shall endeavour to avoid technicalities as far as +possible, yet as I am writing in the main for students of Theosophy, I +shall feel myself at liberty sometimes to use, for brevity's sake and +without detailed explanation, the ordinary Theosophical terms with +which I may safely assume them to be familiar. + +Should this little book fall into the hands of any to whom the +occasional use of such terms constitutes a difficulty, I can only +apologize to them and refer them for these preliminary explanations to +any elementary Theosophical work, such as Mrs. Besant's _Ancient +Wisdom_ or _Man and His Bodies_. The truth is that the whole +Theosophical system hangs together so closely, and its various parts +are so interdependent, that to give a full explanation of every term +used would necessitate an exhaustive treatise on Theosophy as a +preface even to this short account of clairvoyance. + +Before a detailed explanation of clairvoyance can usefully be +attempted, however, it will be necessary for us to devote a little +time to some preliminary considerations, in order that we may have +clearly in mind a few broad facts as to the different planes on which +clairvoyant vision may be exercised, and the conditions which render +its exercise possible. + +We are constantly assured in Theosophical literature that all these +higher faculties are presently to be the heritage of mankind in +general--that the capacity of clairvoyance, for example, lies latent +in every one, and that those in whom it already manifests itself are +simply in that one particular a little in advance of the rest of us. +Now this statement is a true one, and yet it seems quite vague and +unreal to the majority of people, simply because they regard such a +faculty as something absolutely different from anything they have yet +experienced, and feel fairly confident that they themselves, at any +rate, are not within measurable distance of its development. + +It may help to dispel this sense of unreality if we try to understand +that clairvoyance, like so many other things in nature, is mainly a +question of vibrations, and is in fact nothing but an extension of +powers which we are all using every day of our lives. We are living +all the while surrounded by a vast sea of mingled air and ether, the +latter inter-penetrating the former, as it does all physical matter; +and it is chiefly by means of vibrations in that vast sea of matter +that impressions reach us from the outside. This much we all know, but +it may perhaps never have occurred to many of us that the number of +these vibrations to which we are capable of responding is in reality +quite infinitesimal. + +Up among the exceedingly rapid vibrations which affect the ether there +is a certain small section--a _very_ small section--to which the +retina of the human eye is capable of responding, and these particular +vibrations produce in us the sensation which we call light. That is to +say, we are capable of seeing only those objects from which light of +that particular kind can either issue or be reflected. + +In exactly the same way the tympanum of the human ear is capable of +responding to a certain very small range of comparatively slow +vibrations--slow enough to affect the air which surrounds us; and so +the only sounds which we can hear are those made by objects which are +able to vibrate at some rate within that particular range. + +In both cases it is a matter perfectly well known to science that +there are large numbers of vibrations both above and below these two +sections, and that consequently there is much light that we cannot +see, and there are many sounds to which our ears are deaf. In the case +of light the action of these higher and lower vibrations is easily +perceptible in the effects produced by the actinic rays at one end of +the spectrum and the heat rays at the other. + +As a matter of fact there exist vibrations of every conceivable degree +of rapidity, filling the whole vast space intervening between the slow +sound waves and the swift light waves; nor is even that all, for there +are undoubtedly vibrations slower than those of sound, and a whole +infinity of them which are swifter than those known to us as light. So +we begin to understand that the vibrations by which we see and hear +are only like two tiny groups of a few strings selected from an +enormous harp of practically infinite extent, and when we think how +much we have been able to learn and infer from the use of those +minute fragments, we see vaguely what possibilities might lie before +us if we were enabled to utilize the vast and wonderful whole. + +Another fact which needs to be considered in this connection is that +different human beings vary considerably, though within relatively +narrow limits, in their capacity of response even to the very few +vibrations which are within reach of our physical senses. I am not +referring to the keenness of sight or of hearing that enables one man +to see a fainter object or hear a slighter sound than another; it is +not in the least a question of strength of vision, but of extent of +susceptibility. + +For example, if anyone will take a good bisulphide of carbon prism, +and by its means throw a clear spectrum on a sheet of white paper, and +then get a number of people to mark upon the paper the extreme limits +of the spectrum as it appears to them, he is fairly certain to find +that their powers of vision differ appreciably. Some will see the +violet extending much farther than the majority do; others will +perhaps see rather less violet than most, while gaining a +corresponding extension of vision at the red end. Some few there will +perhaps be who can see farther than ordinary at both ends, and these +will almost certainly be what we call sensitive people--susceptible in +fact to a greater range of vibrations than are most men of the present +day. + +In hearing, the same difference can be tested by taking some sound +which is just not too high to be audible--on the very verge of +audibility as it were--and discovering how many among a given number +of people are able to hear it. The squeak of a bat is a familiar +instance of such a sound, and experiment will show that on a summer +evening, when the whole air is full of the shrill, needle-like cries +of these little animals, quite a large number of men will be +absolutely unconscious of them, and unable to hear anything at all. + +Now these examples clearly show that there is no hard-and-fast limit +to man's power of response to either etheric or aerial vibrations, but +that some among us already have that power to a wider extent than +others; and it will even be found that the same man's capacity varies +on different occasions. It is therefore not difficult for us to +imagine that it might be possible for a man to develop this power, and +thus in time to learn to see much that is invisible to his fellow-men, +and hear much that is inaudible to them, since we know perfectly well +that enormous numbers of these additional vibrations do exist, and are +simply, as it were, awaiting recognition. + +The experiments with the Röntgen rays give us an example of the +startling results which are produced when even a very few of these +additional vibrations are brought within human ken, and the +transparency to these rays of many substances hitherto considered +opaque at once shows us one way at least in which we may explain such +elementary clairvoyance as is involved in reading a letter inside a +closed box, or describing those present in an adjoining apartment. To +learn to see by means of the Röntgen rays in addition to those +ordinarily employed would be quite sufficient to enable anyone to +perform a feat of magic of this order. + +So far we have thought only of an extension of the purely physical +senses of man; and when we remember that a man's etheric body is in +reality merely the finer part of his physical frame, and that +therefore all his sense organs contain a large amount of etheric +matter of various degrees of density, the capacities of which are +still practically latent in most of us, we shall see that even if we +confine ourselves to this line of development alone there are enormous +possibilities of all kinds already opening out before us. + +But besides and beyond all this we know that man possesses an astral +and a mental body, each of which can in process of time be aroused +into activity, and will respond in turn to the vibrations of the +matter of its own plane, thus opening up before the Ego, as he learns +to function through these vehicles, two entirely new and far wider +worlds of knowledge and power. Now these new worlds, though they are +all around us and freely inter-penetrate one another, are not to be +thought of as distinct and entirely unconnected in substance, but +rather as melting the one into the other, the lowest astral forming a +direct series with the highest physical, just as the lowest mental in +its turn forms a direct series with the highest astral. We are not +called upon in thinking of them to imagine some new and strange kind +of matter, but simply to think of the ordinary physical kind as +subdivided so very much more finely and vibrating so very much more +rapidly as to introduce us to what are practically entirely new +conditions and qualities. + +It is not then difficult for us to grasp the possibility of a steady +and progressive extension of our senses, so that both by sight and by +hearing we may be able to appreciate vibrations far higher and far +lower than those which are ordinarily recognised. A large section of +these additional vibrations will still belong to the physical plane, +and will merely enable us to obtain impressions from the etheric part +of that plane, which is at present as a closed book to us. Such +impressions will still be received through the retina of the eye; of +course they will affect its etheric rather than its solid matter, but +we may nevertheless regard them as still appealing only to an organ +specialized to receive them, and not to the whole surface of the +etheric body. + +There are some abnormal cases, however, in which other parts of the +etheric body respond to these additional vibrations as readily as, or +even more readily than, the eye. Such vagaries are explicable in +various ways, but principally as effects of some partial astral +development, for it will be found that the sensitive parts of the body +almost invariably correspond with one or other of the _chakrams_, or +centres of vitality in the astral body. And though, if astral +consciousness be not yet developed, these centres may not be available +on their own plane, they are still strong enough to stimulate into +keener activity the etheric matter which they inter-penetrate. + +When we come to deal with the astral senses themselves the methods of +working are very different. The astral body has no specialized +sense-organs--a fact which perhaps needs some explanation, since many +students who are trying to comprehend its physiology seem to find it +difficult to reconcile with the statements that have been made as to +the perfect inter-penetration of the physical body by astral matter, +the exact correspondence between the two vehicles, and the fact that +every physical object has necessarily its astral counterpart. + +Now all these statements are true, and yet it is quite possible for +people who do not normally see astrally to misunderstand them. Every +order of physical matter has its corresponding order of astral matter +in constant association with it--not to be separated from it except by +a very considerable exertion of occult force, and even then only to +be held apart from it as long as force is being definitely exerted to +that end. But for all that the relation of the astral particles one to +another is far looser than is the case with their physical +correspondences. + +In a bar of iron, for example, we have a mass of physical molecules in +the solid condition--that is to say, capable of comparatively little +change in their relative positions, though each vibrating with immense +rapidity in its own sphere. The astral counterpart of this consists of +what we often call solid astral matter--that is, matter of the lowest +and densest sub-plane of the astral; but nevertheless its particles +are constantly and rapidly changing their relative position, moving +among one another as easily as those of a liquid on the physical plane +might do. So that there is no permanent association between any one +physical particle and that amount of astral matter which happens at +any given moment to be acting as its counterpart. + +This is equally true with respect to the astral body of man, which for +our purpose at the moment we may regard as consisting of two +parts--the denser aggregation which occupies the exact position of the +physical body, and the cloud of rarer astral matter which surrounds +that aggregation. In both these parts, and between them both, there is +going on at every moment of time the rapid inter-circulation of the +particles which has been described, so that as one watches the +movement of the molecules in the astral body one is reminded of the +appearance of those in fiercely boiling water. + +This being so, it will be readily understood that though any given +organ of the physical body must always have as its counterpart a +certain amount of astral matter, it does not retain the same particles +for more than a few seconds at a time, and consequently there is +nothing corresponding to the specialization of physical nerve-matter +into optic or auditory nerves, and so on. So that though the physical +eye or ear has undoubtedly always its counterpart of astral matter, +that particular fragment of astral matter is no more (and no less) +capable of responding to the vibrations which produce astral sight or +astral hearing than any other part of the vehicle. + +It must never be forgotten that though we constantly have to speak of +"astral sight" or "astral hearing" in order to make ourselves +intelligible, all that we mean by those expressions is the faculty of +responding to such vibrations as convey to the man's consciousness, +when he is functioning in his astral body, information of the same +character as that conveyed to him by his eyes and ears while he is in +the physical body. But in the entirely different astral conditions, +specialized organs are not necessary for the attainment of this +result; there is matter in every part of the astral body which is +capable of such response, and consequently the man functioning in that +vehicle sees equally well objects behind him, beneath him, above him, +without needing to turn his head. + +There is, however, another point which it would hardly be fair to +leave entirely out of account, and that is the question of the +_chakrams_ referred to above. Theosophical students are familiar with +the idea of the existence in both the astral and the etheric bodies of +man of certain centres of force which have to be vivified in turn by +the sacred serpent-fire as the man advances in evolution. Though these +cannot be described as organs in the ordinary sense of the word, since +it is not through them that the man sees or hears, as he does in +physical life through eyes and ears, yet it is apparently very largely +upon their vivification that the power of exercising these astral +senses depends, each of them as it is developed giving to the whole +astral body the power of response to a new set of vibrations. + +Neither have these centres, however, any permanent collection of +astral matter connected with them. They are simply vortices in the +matter of the body--vortices through which all the particles pass in +turn--points, perhaps, at which the higher force from planes above +impinges upon the astral body. Even this description gives but a very +partial idea of their appearance, for they are in reality +four-dimensional vortices, so that the force which comes through them +and is the cause of their existence seems to well up from nowhere. But +at any rate, since all particles in turn pass through each of them, it +will be clear that it is thus possible for each in turn to evoke in +all the particles of the body the power of receptivity to a certain +set of vibrations, so that all the astral senses are equally active in +all parts of the body. + +The vision of the mental plane is again totally different, for in this +case we can no longer speak of separate senses such as sight and +hearing, but rather have to postulate one general sense which responds +so fully to the vibrations reaching it that when any object comes +within its cognition it at once comprehends it fully, and as it were +sees it, hears it, feels it, and knows all there is to know about it +by the one instantaneous operation. Yet even this wonderful faculty +differs in degree only and not in kind from those which are at our +command at the present time; on the mental plane, just as on the +physical, impressions are still conveyed by means of vibrations +travelling from the object seen to the seer. + +On the buddhic plane we meet for the first time with a quite new +faculty having nothing in common with those of which we have spoken, +for there a man cognizes any object by an entirely different method, +in which external vibrations play no part. The object becomes part of +himself, and he studies it from the inside instead of from the +outside. But with _this_ power ordinary clairvoyance has nothing to +do. + +The development, either entire or partial, of any one of these +faculties would come under our definition of clairvoyance--the power +to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. But these +faculties may be developed in various ways, and it will be well to say +a few words as to these different lines. + +We may presume that if it were possible for a man to be isolated +during his evolution from all but the gentlest outside influences, and +to unfold from the beginning in perfectly regular and normal fashion, +he would probably develop his senses in regular order also. He would +find his physical senses gradually extending their scope until they +responded to all the physical vibrations, of etheric as well as of +denser matter; then in orderly sequence would come sensibility to the +coarser part of the astral plane, and presently the finer part also +would be included, until in due course the faculty of the mental plane +dawned in its turn. + +In real life, however, development so regular as this is hardly ever +known, and many a man has occasional flashes of astral consciousness +without any awakening of etheric vision at all. And this irregularity +of development is one of the principal causes of man's extraordinary +liability to error in matters of clairvoyance--a liability from which +there is no escape except by a long course of careful training under a +qualified teacher. + +Students of Theosophical literature are well aware that there are such +teachers to be found--that even in this materialistic nineteenth +century the old saying is still true, that "when the pupil is ready, +the Master is ready also," and that "in the hall of learning, when he +is capable of entering there, the disciple will always find his +Master." They are well aware also that only under such guidance can a +man develop his latent powers in safety and with certainty, since they +know how fatally easy it is for the untrained clairvoyant to deceive +himself as to the meaning and value of what he sees, or even +absolutely to distort his vision completely in bringing it down into +his physical consciousness. + +It does not follow that even the pupil who is receiving regular +instruction in the use of occult powers will find them unfolding +themselves exactly in the regular order which was suggested above as +probably ideal. His previous progress may not have been such as to +make this for him the easiest or most desirable road; but at any rate +he is in the hands of one who is perfectly competent to be his guide +in spiritual development, and he rests in perfect contentment that the +way along which he is taken will be that which is the best way for +him. + +Another great advantage which he gains is that whatever faculties he +may acquire are definitely under his command and can be used fully and +constantly when he needs them for his Theosophical work; whereas in +the case of the untrained man such powers often manifest themselves +only very partially and spasmodically, and appear to come and go, as +it were, at their own sweet will. + +It may reasonably be objected that if clairvoyant faculty is, as +stated, a part of the occult development of man, and so a sign of a +certain amount of progress along that line, it seems strange that it +should often be possessed by primitive peoples, or by the ignorant and +uncultured among our own race--persons who are obviously quite +undeveloped, from whatever point of view one regards them. No doubt +this does appear remarkable at first sight but the fact is that the +sensitiveness of the savage or of the coarse and vulgar European +ignoramus is not really at all the same thing as the faculty of his +properly trained brother, nor is it arrived at in the same way. + +An exact and detailed explanation of the difference would lead us into +rather recondite technicalities, but perhaps the general idea of the +distinction between the two may be caught from an example taken from +the very lowest plane of clairvoyance, in close contact with the +denser physical. The etheric double in man is in exceedingly close +relation to his nervous system, and any kind of action upon one of +them speedily reacts on the other. Now in the sporadic appearance of +etheric sight in the savage, whether of Central Africa or of Western +Europe, it has been observed that the corresponding nervous +disturbance is almost entirely in the sympathetic system, and that the +whole affair is practically beyond the man's control--is in fact a +sort of massive sensation vaguely belonging to the whole etheric body, +rather than an exact and definite sense-perception communicated +through a specialized organ. + +As in later races and amid higher development the strength of the man +is more and more thrown into the evolution of the mental faculties, +this vague sensitiveness usually disappears; but still later, when the +spiritual man begins to unfold, he regains his clairvoyant power. This +time, however, the faculty is a precise and exact one, under the +control of the man's will, and exercised through a definite +sense-organ; and it is noteworthy that any nervous action set up in +sympathy with it is now almost exclusively in the cerebro-spinal +system. + +On this subject Mrs. Besant writes:--"The lower forms of psychism are +more frequent in animals and in very unintelligent human beings than +in men and women in whom the intellectual powers are well developed. +They appear to be connected with the sympathetic system, not with the +cerebro-spinal. The large nucleated ganglionic cells in this system +contain a very large proportion of etheric matter, and are hence more +easily affected by the coarser astral vibrations than are the cells in +which the proportion is less. As the cerebro-spinal system develops, +and the brain becomes more highly evolved, the sympathetic system +subsides into a subordinate position, and the sensitiveness to psychic +vibrations is dominated by the stronger and more active vibrations of +the higher nervous system. It is true that at a later stage of +evolution psychic sensitiveness reappears, but it is then developed in +connection with the cerebro-spinal centres, and is brought under the +control of the will. But the hysterical and ill-regulated psychism of +which we see so many lamentable examples is due to the small +development of the brain and the dominance of the sympathetic system." + +Occasional flashes of clairvoyance do, however, sometimes come to the +highly cultured and spiritual-minded man, even though he may never +have heard of the possibility of training such a faculty. In his case +such glimpses usually signify that he is approaching that stage in his +evolution when these powers will naturally begin to manifest +themselves, and their appearance should serve as an additional +stimulus to him to strive to maintain that high standard of moral +purity and mental balance without which clairvoyance is a curse and +not a blessing to its possessor. + +Between those who are entirely unimpressible and those who are in full +possession of clairvoyant power there are many intermediate stages. +One to which it will be worth while to give a passing glance is the +stage in which a man, though he has no clairvoyant faculty in ordinary +life, yet exhibits it more or less fully under the influence of +mesmerism. This is a case in which the psychic nature is already +sensitive, but the consciousness is not yet capable of functioning in +it amidst the manifold distractions of physical life. It needs to be +set free by the temporary suspension of the outer senses in the +mesmeric trance before it can use the diviner faculties which are but +just beginning to dawn within it. But of course even in the mesmeric +trance there are innumerable degrees of lucidity, from the ordinary +patient who is blankly unintelligent to the man whose power of sight +is fully under the control of the operator, and can be directed +whithersoever he wills, or to the more advanced stage in which, when +the consciousness is once set free, it escapes altogether from the +grasp of the magnetizer, and soars into fields of exalted vision where +it is entirely beyond his reach. + +Another step along the same path is that upon which such perfect +suppression of the physical as that which occurs in the hypnotic +trance is not necessary, but the power of supernormal sight, though +still out of reach during waking life, becomes available when the +body is held in the bonds of ordinary sleep. At this stage of +development stood many of the prophets and seers of whom we read, who +were "warned of God in a dream," or communed with beings far higher +than themselves in the silent watches of the night. + +Most cultured people of the higher races of the world have this +development to some extent: that is to say, the senses of their astral +bodies are in full working order, and perfectly capable of receiving +impressions from objects and entities of their own plane. But to make +that fact of any use to them down here in the physical body, two +changes are usually necessary; first, that the Ego shall be awakened +to the realities of the astral plane, and induced to emerge from the +chrysalis formed by his own waking thoughts, and look round him to +observe and to learn; and secondly, that the consciousness shall be so +far retained during the return of the Ego into his physical body as to +enable him to impress upon his physical brain the recollection of what +he has seen or learnt. + +If the first of these changes has taken place, the second is of little +importance, since the Ego, the true man, will be able to profit by the +information to be obtained upon that plane, even though he may not +have the satisfaction of bringing through any remembrance of it into +his waking life down here. + +Students often ask how this clairvoyant faculty will first be +manifested in themselves--how they may know when they have reached +the stage at which its first faint foreshadowings are beginning to be +visible. Cases differ so widely that it is impossible to give to this +question any answer that will be universally applicable. + +Some people begin by a plunge, as it were, and under some unusual +stimulus become able just for once to see some striking vision; and +very often in such a case, because the experience does not repeat +itself, the seer comes in time to believe that on that occasion he +must have been the victim of hallucination. Others begin by becoming +intermittently conscious of the brilliant colours and vibrations of +the human aura; yet others find themselves with increasing frequency +seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and +deaf; others, again, see faces, landscapes, or coloured clouds +floating before their eyes in the dark before they sink to rest; while +perhaps the commonest experience of all is that of those who begin to +recollect with greater and greater clearness what they have seen and +heard on the other planes during sleep. + +Having now to some extent cleared our ground, we may proceed to +consider the various phenomena of clairvoyance. + +They differ so widely both in character and in degree that it is not +very easy to decide how they can most satisfactorily be classified. We +might, for example, arrange them according to the kind of sight +employed--whether it were mental, astral, or merely etheric. We might +divide them according to the capacity of the clairvoyant, taking into +consideration whether he was trained or untrained; whether his vision +was regular and under his command, or spasmodic and independent of his +volition; whether he could exercise it only when under mesmeric +influence, or whether that assistance was unnecessary for him; whether +he was able to use his faculty when awake in the physical body, or +whether it was available only when he was temporarily away from that +body in sleep or trance. + +All these distinctions are of importance, and we shall have to take +them all into consideration as we go on, but perhaps on the whole the +most useful classification will be one something on the lines of that +adopted by Mr. Sinnett in his _Rationale of Mesmerism_--a book, by the +way, which all students of clairvoyance ought to read. In dealing with +the phenomena, then, we will arrange them rather according to the +capacity of the sight employed than to the plane upon which it is +exercised, so that we may group instances of clairvoyance under some +such headings as these: + +1. Simple clairvoyance--that is to say, a mere opening of sight, +enabling its possessor to see whatever astral or etheric entities +happen to be present around him, but not including the power of +observing either distant places or scenes belonging to any other time +than the present. + +2. Clairvoyance in space--the capacity to see scenes or events removed +from the seer in space, and either too far distant for ordinary +observation or concealed by intermediate objects. + +3. Clairvoyance in time--that is to say, the capacity to see objects +or events which are removed from the seer in time, or, in other words, +the power of looking into the past or the future. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE: FULL. + + +We have defined this as a mere opening of etheric or astral sight, +which enables the possessor to see whatever may be present around him +on corresponding levels, but is not usually accompanied by the power +of seeing anything at a great distance or of reading either the past +or the future. It is hardly possible altogether to exclude these +latter faculties, for astral sight necessarily has considerably +greater extension than physical, and fragmentary pictures of both past +and future are often casually visible even to clairvoyants who do not +know how to seek specially for them; but there is nevertheless a very +real distinction between such incidental glimpses and the definite +power of projection of the sight either in space or time. + +We find among sensitive people all degrees of this kind of +clairvoyance, from that of the man who gets a vague impression which +hardly deserves the name of sight at all, up to the full possession of +etheric and astral vision respectively. Perhaps the simplest method +will be for us to begin by describing what would be visible in the +case of this fuller development of the power, as the cases of its +partial possession will then be seen to fall naturally into their +places. + +Let us take the etheric vision first. This consists simply, as has +already been said, in susceptibility to a far larger series of +physical vibrations than ordinary, but nevertheless its possession +brings into view a good deal to which the majority of the human race +still remains blind. Let us consider what changes its acquisition +produces in the aspect of familiar objects, animate and inanimate, and +then see to what entirely new factors it introduces us. But it must be +remembered that what I am about to describe is the result of the full +and perfectly-controlled possession of the faculty only, and that most +of the instances met with in real life will be likely to fall far +short of it in one direction or another. + +The most striking change produced in the appearance of inanimate +objects by the acquisition of this faculty is that most of them become +almost transparent, owing to the difference in wave-length of some of +the vibrations to which the man has now become susceptible. He finds +himself capable of performing with the utmost ease the proverbial feat +of "seeing through a brick wall," for to his newly-acquired vision the +brick wall seems to have a consistency no greater than that of a +light mist. He therefore sees what is going on in an adjoining room +almost as though no intervening wall existed; he can describe with +accuracy the contents of a locked box, or read a sealed letter; with a +little practice he can find a given passage in a closed book. This +last feat, though perfectly easy to astral vision, presents +considerable difficulty to one using etheric sight, because of the +fact that each page has to be looked at _through_ all those which +happen to be superimposed upon it. + +It is often asked whether under these circumstances a man sees always +with this abnormal sight, or only when he wishes to do so. The answer +is that if the faculty is perfectly developed it will be entirely +under his control, and he can use that or his more ordinary vision at +will. He changes from one to the other as readily and naturally as we +now change the focus of our eyes when we look up from our book to +follow the motions of some object a mile away. It is, as it were, a +focussing of consciousness on the one or the other aspect of what is +seen; and though the man would have quite clearly in his view the +aspect upon which his attention was for the moment fixed, he would +always be vaguely conscious of the other aspect too, just as when we +focus our sight upon any object held in our hands we yet vaguely see +the opposite wall of the room as a background. + +Another curious change, which comes from the possession of this sight, +is that the solid ground upon which the man walks becomes to a certain +extent transparent to him, so that he is able to see down into it to a +considerable depth, much as we can now see into fairly clear water. +This enables him to watch a creature burrowing underground, to +distinguish a vein of coal or of metal if not too far below the +surface, and so on. + +The limit of etheric sight when looking through solid matter appears +to be analogous to that imposed upon us when looking through water or +mist. We cannot see beyond a certain distance, because the medium +through which we are looking is not perfectly transparent. + +The appearance of animate objects is also considerably altered for the +man who has increased his visual powers to this extent. The bodies of +men and animals are for him in the main transparent, so that he can +watch the action of the various internal organs, and to some extent +diagnose some of their diseases. + +The extended sight also enables him to perceive, more or less clearly, +various classes of creatures, elemental and otherwise, whose bodies +are not capable of reflecting any of the rays within the limit of the +spectrum as ordinarily seen. Among the entities so seen will be some +of the lower orders of nature-spirits--those whose bodies are composed +of the denser etheric matter. To this class belong nearly all the +fairies, gnomes, and brownies, about whom there are still so many +stories remaining among Scotch and Irish mountains and in remote +country places all over the world. + +The vast kingdom of nature-spirits is in the main an astral kingdom, +but still there is a large section of it which appertains to the +etheric part of the physical plane, and this section, of course, is +much more likely to come within the ken of ordinary people than the +others. Indeed, in reading the common fairy stories one frequently +comes across distinct indications that it is with this class that we +are dealing. Any student of fairy lore will remember how often mention +is made of some mysterious ointment or drug, which when applied to a +man's eyes enables him to see the members of the fairy commonwealth +whenever he happens to meet them. + +The story of such an application and its results occurs so constantly +and comes from so many different parts of the world that there must +certainly be some truth behind it, as there always is behind really +universal popular tradition. Now no such anointing of the eyes alone +could by any possibility open a man's astral vision, though certain +ointments rubbed over the whole body will very greatly assist the +astral body to leave the physical in full consciousness--a fact the +knowledge of which seems to have survived even to mediæval times, as +will be seen from the evidence given at some of the trials for +witchcraft. But the application to the physical eye might very easily +so stimulate its sensitiveness as to make it susceptible to some of +the etheric vibrations. + +The story frequently goes on to relate how when the human being who +has used this mystical ointment betrays his extended vision in some +way to a fairy, the latter strikes or stabs him in the eye, thus +depriving him not only of the etheric sight, but of that of the denser +physical plane as well. (See _The Science of Fairy Tales_, by E. S. +Hartland, in the "Contemporary Science" series--or indeed almost any +extensive collection of fairy stories.) If the sight acquired had been +astral, such a proceeding would have been entirely unavailing, for no +injury to the physical apparatus would affect an astral faculty; but +if the vision produced by the ointment were etheric, the destruction +of the physical eye would in most cases at once extinguish it, since +that is the mechanism by means of which it works. + +Anyone possessing this sight of which we are speaking would also be +able to perceive the etheric double of man; but since this is so +nearly identical in size with the physical, it would hardly be likely +to attract his attention unless it were partially projected in trance +or under the influence of anæsthetics. After death, when it withdraws +entirely from the dense body, it would be clearly visible to him, and +he would frequently see it hovering over newly made graves as he +passed through a churchyard or cemetery. If he were to attend a +spiritualistic séance he would see the etheric matter oozing out from +the side of the medium, and could observe the various ways in which +the communicating entities make use of it. + +Another fact which could hardly fail soon to thrust itself upon his +notice would be the extension of his perception of colour. He would +find himself able to see several entirely new colours, not in the +least resembling any of those included in the spectrum as we at +present know it, and therefore of course quite indescribable in any +terms at our command. And not only would he see new objects that were +wholly of these new colours, but he would also discover that +modifications had been introduced into the colour of many objects with +which he was quite familiar, according to whether they had or had not +some tinge of these new hues intermingled with the old. So that two +surfaces of colour which to ordinary eyes appeared to match perfectly +would often present distinctly different shades to his keener sight. + +We have now touched upon some of the principal changes which would be +introduced into a man's world when he gained etheric sight; and it +must always be remembered that in most cases a corresponding change +would at the same time be brought about in his other senses also, so +that he would be capable of hearing, and perhaps even of feeling, more +than most of those around him. Now supposing that in addition to this +he obtained the sight of the astral plane, what further changes would +be observable? + +Well, the changes would be many and great; in fact, a whole new world +would open before his eyes. Let us consider its wonders briefly in the +same order as before, and see first what difference there would be in +the appearance of inanimate objects. On this point I may begin by +quoting a recent quaint answer given in _The Vâhan_. + +"There is a distinct difference between etheric sight and astral +sight, and it is the latter which seems to correspond to the fourth +dimension. + +"The easiest way to understand the difference is to take an example. +If you looked at a man with both the sights in turn, you would see the +buttons at the back of his coat in both cases; only if you used +etheric sight you would see them _through_ him, and would see the +shank-side as nearest to you, but if you looked astrally, you would +see it not only like that, but just as if you were standing behind the +man as well. + +"Or if you were looking etherically at a wooden cube with writing on +all its sides, it would be as though the cube were glass, so that you +could see through it, and you would see the writing on the opposite +side all backwards, while that on the right and left sides would not +be clear to you at all unless you moved, because you would see it +edgewise. But if you looked at it astrally you would see all the sides +at once, and all the right way up, as though the whole cube had been +flattened out before you, and you would see every particle of the +inside as well--not _through_ the others, but all flattened out. You +would be looking at it from another direction, at right angles to all +the directions that we know. + +"If you look at the back of a watch etherically you see all the wheels +through it, and the face _through them_, but backwards; if you look at +it astrally, you see the face right way up and all the wheels lying +separately, but nothing on the top of anything else." + +Here we have at once the keynote, the principal factor of the change; +the man is looking at everything from an absolutely new point of view, +entirely outside of anything that he has ever imagined before. He has +no longer the slightest difficulty in reading any page in a closed +book, because he is not now looking at it through all the other pages +before it or behind it, but is looking straight down upon it as though +it were the only page to be seen. The depth at which a vein of metal +or of coal may lie is no longer a barrier to his sight of it, because +he is not now looking through the intervening depth of earth at all. +The thickness of a wall, or the number of walls intervening between +the observer and the object, would make a great deal of difference to +the clearness of the etheric sight; they would make no difference +whatever to the astral sight, because on the astral plane they would +_not_ intervene between the observer and the object. Of course that +sounds paradoxical and impossible, and it _is_ quite inexplicable to a +mind not specially trained to grasp the idea; yet it is none the less +absolutely true. + +This carries us straight into the middle of the much-vexed question of +the fourth dimension--a question of the deepest interest, though one +that we cannot pretend to discuss in the space at our disposal. Those +who wish to study it as it deserves are recommended to begin with Mr. +C. H. Hinton's _Scientific Romances_ or Dr. A. T. Schofield's _Another +World_, and then follow on with the former author's larger work, _A +New Era of Thought_. Mr. Hinton not only claims to be able himself to +grasp mentally some of the simpler fourth-dimensional figures, but +also states that anyone who will take the trouble to follow out his +directions may with perseverance acquire that mental grasp likewise. I +am not certain that the power to do this is within the reach of +everyone, as he thinks, for it appears to me to require considerable +mathematical ability; but I can at any rate bear witness that the +tesseract or fourth-dimensional cube which he describes is a reality, +for it is quite a familiar figure upon the astral plane. He has now +perfected a new method of representing the several dimensions by +colours instead of by arbitrary written symbols. He states that this +will very much simplify the study, as the reader will be able to +distinguish instantly by sight any part or feature of the tesseract. A +full description of this new method, with plates, is said to be ready +for the press, and is expected to appear within a year, so that +intending students of this fascinating subject might do well to await +its publication. + +I know that Madame Blavatsky, in alluding to the theory of the fourth +dimension, has expressed an opinion that it is only a clumsy way of +stating the idea of the entire permeability of matter, and that Mr. W. +T. Stead has followed along the same lines, presenting the conception +to his readers under the name of _throughth_. Careful, oft-repeated +and detailed investigation does, however, seem to show quite +conclusively that this explanation does not cover all the facts. It is +a perfect description of etheric vision, but the further and quite +different idea of the fourth dimension as expounded by Mr. Hinton is +the only one which gives any kind of explanation down here of the +constantly-observed facts of astral vision. I would therefore venture +deferentially to suggest that when Madame Blavatsky wrote as she did, +she had in mind etheric vision and not astral, and that the extreme +applicability of the phrase to this other and higher faculty, of which +she was not at the moment thinking, did not occur to her. + +The possession of this extraordinary and scarcely expressible power, +then, must always be borne in mind through all that follows. It lays +every point in the interior of every solid body absolutely open to the +gaze of the seer, just as every point in the interior of a circle lies +open to the gaze of a man looking down upon it. + +But even this is by no means all that it gives to its possessor. He +sees not only the inside as well as the outside of every object, but +also its astral counterpart. Every atom and molecule of physical +matter has its corresponding astral atoms and molecules, and the mass +which is built up out of these is clearly visible to our clairvoyant. +Usually the astral of any object projects somewhat beyond the physical +part of it, and thus metals, stones and other things are seen +surrounded by an astral aura. + +It will be seen at once that even in the study of inorganic matter a +man gains immensely by the acquisition of this vision. Not only does +he see the astral part of the object at which he looks, which before +was wholly hidden from him; not only does he see much more of its +physical constitution than he did before, but even what was visible +to him before is now seen much more clearly and truly. A moment's +consideration will show that his new vision approximates much more +closely to true perception than does physical sight. For example, if +he looks astrally at a glass cube, its sides will all appear equal, as +we know they really are, whereas on the physical plane he sees the +further side in perspective--that is, it appears smaller than the +nearer side, which is, of course, a mere allusion due to his physical +limitations. + +When we come to consider the additional facilities which it offers in +the observation of animate objects we see still more clearly the +advantages of the astral vision. It exhibits to the clairvoyant the +aura of plants and animals, and thus in the case of the latter their +desires and emotions, and whatever thoughts they may have, are all +plainly shown before his eyes. + +But it is in dealing with human beings that he will most appreciate +the value of this faculty, for he will often be able to help them far +more effectually when he guides himself by the information which it +gives him. + +He will be able to see the aura as far up as the astral body, and +though that leaves all the higher part of a man still hidden from his +gaze, he will nevertheless find it possible by careful observation to +learn a good deal about the higher part from what is within his +reach. His capacity of examining the etheric double will give him +considerable advantage in locating and classifying any defects or +diseases of the nervous system, while from the appearance of the +astral body he will be at once aware of all the emotions, passions, +desires and tendencies of the man before him, and even of very many of +his thoughts also. + +As he looks at a person he will see him surrounded by the luminous +mist of the astral aura, flashing with all sorts of brilliant colours, +and constantly changing in hue and brilliancy with every variation of +the person's thoughts and feelings. He will see this aura flooded with +the beautiful rose-colour of pure affection, the rich blue of +devotional feeling, the hard, dull brown of selfishness, the deep +scarlet of anger, the horrible lurid red of sensuality, the livid grey +of fear, the black clouds of hatred and malice, or any of the other +hundredfold indications so easily to be read in it by a practised eye; +and thus it will be impossible for any persons to conceal from him the +real state of their feelings on any subject. + +These varied indications of the aura are of themselves a study of very +deep interest, but I have no space to deal with them in detail here. A +much fuller account of them, together with a large number of coloured +illustrations, will be found in my work on the subject _Man Visible +and Invisible_. + +Not only does the astral aura show him the temporary result of the +emotion passing through it at the moment, but it also gives him, by +the arrangement and proportion of its colours when in a condition of +comparative rest, a clue to the general disposition and character of +its owner. For the astral body is the expression of as much of the man +as can be manifested on that plane, so that from what is seen in it +much more which belongs to higher planes may be inferred with +considerable certainty. + +In this judgment of character our clairvoyant will be much helped by +so much of the person's thought as expresses itself on the astral +plane, and consequently comes within his purview. The true home of +thought is on the mental plane, and all thought first manifests itself +there as a vibration of the mind-body. But if it be in any way a +selfish thought, or if it be connected in any way with an emotion or a +desire, it immediately descends into the astral plane, and takes to +itself a visible form of astral matter. + +In the case of the majority of men almost all thought would fall under +one or other of these heads, so that practically the whole of their +personality would lie clearly before our friend's astral vision, since +their astral bodies and the thought-forms constantly radiating from +them would be to him as an open book in which their characteristics +were writ so largely that he who ran might read. Anyone wishing to +gain some idea as to _how_ the thought-forms present themselves to +clairvoyant vision may satisfy themselves to some extent by examining +the illustrations accompanying Mrs. Besant's valuable article on the +subject in _Lucifer_ for September 1896. + +We have seen something of the alteration in the appearance of both +animate and inanimate objects when viewed by one possessed of full +clairvoyant sight as far as the astral plane is concerned; let us now +consider what entirely new objects he will see. He will be conscious +of a far greater fulness in nature in many directions, but chiefly his +attention will be attracted by the living denizens of this new world. +No detailed account of them can be attempted within the space at our +disposal; for that the reader is referred to No. V. of the +_Theosophical Manuals_. Here we can do no more than barely enumerate a +few classes only of the vast hosts of astral inhabitants. + +He will be impressed by the protean forms of the ceaseless tide of +elemental essence, ever swirling around him, menacing often, yet +always retiring before a determined effort of the will; he will marvel +at the enormous army of entities temporarily called out of this ocean +into separate existence by the thoughts and wishes of man, whether +good or evil. He will watch the manifold tribes of the nature-spirits +at their work or at their play; he will sometimes be able to study +with ever-increasing delight the magnificent evolution of some of the +lower orders of the glorious kingdom of the devas, which corresponds +approximately to the angelic host of Christian terminology. + +But perhaps of even keener interest to him than any of these will be +the human denizens of the astral world, and he will find them +divisible into two great classes--those whom we call the living, and +those others, most of them infinitely more alive, whom we so foolishly +misname the dead. Among the former he will find here and there one +wide awake and fully conscious, perhaps sent to bring him some +message, or examining him keenly to see what progress he is making; +while the majority of his neighbours, when away from their physical +bodies during sleep, will drift idly by, so wrapped up in their own +cogitations as to be practically unconscious of what is going on +around them. + +Among the great host of the recently dead he will find all degrees of +consciousness and intelligence, and all shades of character--for +death, which seems to our limited vision so absolute a change, in +reality alters nothing of the man himself. On the day after his death +he is precisely the same man as he was the day before it, with the +same disposition, the same qualities, the same virtues and vices, save +only that he has cast aside his physical body; but the loss of that no +more makes him in any way a different man than would the removal of an +overcoat. So among the dead our student will find men intelligent and +stupid, kind-hearted and morose, serious and frivolous, +spiritually-minded and sensually-minded, just as among the living. + +Since he can not only see the dead, but speak with them, he can often +be of very great use to them, and give them information and guidance +which is of the utmost value to them. Many of them are in a condition +of great surprise and perplexity, and sometimes even of acute +distress, because they find the facts of the next world so unlike the +childish legends which are all that popular religion in the West has +to offer with reference to this transcendently important subject; and +therefore a man who understands this new world and can explain matters +is distinctly a friend in need. + +In many other ways a man who fully possesses this faculty may be of +use to the living as well as to the dead; but of this side of the +subject I have already written in my little book on _Invisible +Helpers_. In addition to astral entities he will see astral +corpses--shades and shells in all stages of decay; but these need only +be just mentioned here, as the reader desiring a further account of +them will find it in our third and fifth manuals. + +Another wonderful result which the full enjoyment of astral +clairvoyance brings to a man is that he has no longer any break in +consciousness. When he lies down at night he leaves his physical body +to the rest which it requires, while he goes about his business in +the far more comfortable astral vehicle. In the morning he returns to +and re-enters his physical body, but without any loss of consciousness +or memory between the two states, and thus he is able to live, as it +were, a double life which yet is one, and to be usefully employed +during the whole of it, instead of losing one-third of his existence +in blank unconsciousness. + +Another strange power of which he may find himself in possession +(though its full control belongs rather to the still higher devachanic +faculty), is that of magnifying at will the minutest physical or +astral particle to any desired size, as though by a microscope--though +no microscope ever made or ever likely to be made possesses even a +thousandth part of this psychic magnifying power. By its means the +hypothetical molecule and atom postulated by science become visible +and living realities to the occult student, and on this closer +examination he finds them to be much more complex in their structure +than the scientific man has yet realised them to be. It also enables +him to follow with the closest attention and the most lively interest +all kinds of electrical, magnetic, and other etheric action; and when +some of the specialists in these branches of science are able to +develop the power to see those things whereof they write so facilely, +some very wonderful and beautiful revelations may be expected. + +This is one of the _siddhis_ or powers described in Oriental books as +accruing to the man who devotes himself to spiritual development, +though the name under which it is there mentioned might not be +immediately recognizable. It is referred to as "the power of making +oneself large or small at will," and the reason of a description which +appears so oddly to reverse the fact is that in reality the method by +which this feat is performed is precisely that indicated in these +ancient books. It is by the use of temporary visual machinery of +inconceivable minuteness that the world of the infinitely little is so +clearly seen; and in the same way (or rather in the opposite way) it +is by temporarily enormously increasing the size of the machinery used +that it becomes possible to increase the breadth of one's view--in the +physical sense as well as, let us hope, in the moral--far beyond +anything that science has ever dreamt of as possible for man. So that +the alteration in size is really in the vehicle of the student's +consciousness, and not in anything outside of himself; and the old +Oriental book has, after all, put the case more accurately than we. + +Psychometry and second-sight _in excelsis_ would also be among the +faculties which our friend would find at his command; but those will +be more fitly dealt with under a later heading, since in almost all +their manifestations they involve clairvoyance either in space or in +time. + +I have now indicated, though only in the roughest outlines, what a +trained student, possessed of full astral vision, would see in the +immensely wider world to which that vision introduced him; but I have +said nothing of the stupendous change in his mental attitude which +comes from the experiential certainty as to the existence of the soul, +its survival after death, the action of the law of karma, and other +points of equally paramount importance. The difference between even +the profoundest intellectual conviction and the precise knowledge +gained by direct personal experience must be felt in order to be +appreciated. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE: PARTIAL. + + +The experiences of the untrained clairvoyant--and be it remembered +that that class includes all European clairvoyants except a very +few--will, however, usually fall very far short of what I have +attempted to indicate; they will fall short in many different ways--in +degree, in variety, or in permanence, and above all in precision. + +Sometimes, for example, a man's clairvoyance will be permanent, but +very partial, extending only perhaps to one or two classes of the +phenomena observable; he will find himself endowed with some isolated +fragment of higher vision, without apparently possessing other powers +of sight which ought normally to accompany that fragment, or even to +precede it. For example, one of my dearest friends has all his life +had the power to see the atomic ether and atomic astral matter, and to +recognize their structure, alike in darkness or in light, as +inter-penetrating everything else; yet he has only rarely seen +entities whose bodies are composed of the much more obvious lower +ethers or denser astral matter, and at any rate is certainly not +permanently able to see them. He simply finds himself in possession of +this special faculty, without any apparent reason to account for it, +or any recognizable relation to anything else: and beyond proving to +him the existence of these atomic planes and demonstrating their +arrangement, it is difficult to see of what particular use it is to +him at present. Still, there the thing is, and it is an earnest of +greater things to come--of further powers still awaiting development. + +There are many similar cases--similar, I mean, not in the possession +of that particular form of sight (which is unique in my experience), +but in showing the development of some one small part of the full and +clear vision of the astral and etheric planes. In nine cases out of +ten, however, such partial clairvoyance will at the same time lack +precision also--that is to say, there will be a good deal of vague +impression and inference about it, instead of the clear-cut definition +and certainty of the trained man. Examples of this type are constantly +to be found, especially among those who advertise themselves as "test +and business clairvoyants." + +Then, again, there are those who are only temporarily clairvoyant +under certain special conditions. Among these there are various +subdivisions, some being able to reproduce the state of clairvoyance +at will by again setting up the same conditions, while with others it +comes sporadically, without any observable reference to their +surroundings, and with yet others the power shows itself only once or +twice in the whole course of their lives. + +To the first of these subdivisions belong those who are clairvoyant +only when in the mesmeric trance--who when not so entranced are +incapable of seeing or hearing anything abnormal. These may sometimes +reach great heights of knowledge and be exceedingly precise in their +indications, but when that is so they are usually undergoing a course +of regular training, though for some reason unable as yet to set +themselves free from the leaden weight of earthly life without +assistance. + +In the same class we may put those--chiefly Orientals--who gain some +temporary sight only under the influence of certain drugs, or by means +of the performance of certain ceremonies. The ceremonialist sometimes +hypnotizes himself by his repetitions, and in that condition becomes +to some extent clairvoyant; more often he simply reduces himself to a +passive condition in which some other entity can obsess him and speak +through him. Sometimes, again, his ceremonies are not intended to +affect himself at all, but to invoke some astral entity who will give +him the required information; but of course that is a case of magic, +and not of clairvoyance. Both the drugs and the ceremonies are methods +emphatically to be avoided by any one who wishes to approach +clairvoyance from the higher side, and use it for his own progress and +for the helping of others. The Central African medicine-man or +witch-doctor and some of the Tartar Shamans are good examples of the +type. + +Those to whom a certain amount of clairvoyant power has come +occasionally only, and without any reference to their own wish, have +often been hysterical or highly nervous persons, with whom the faculty +was to a large extent one of the symptoms of a disease. Its appearance +showed that the physical vehicle was weakened to such a degree that it +no longer presented any obstacle in the way of a certain modicum of +etheric or astral vision. An extreme example of this class is the man +who drinks himself into delirium tremens, and in the condition of +absolute physical ruin and impure psychic excitation brought about by +the ravages of that fell disease, is able to see for the time some of +the loathsome elemental and other entities which he has drawn round +himself by his long course of degraded and bestial indulgence. There +are, however, other cases where the power of sight has appeared and +disappeared without apparent reference to the state of the physical +health; but it seems probable that even in those, if they could have +been observed closely enough, some alteration in the condition of the +etheric double would have been noticed. + +Those who have only one instance of clairvoyance to report in the +whole of their lives are a difficult band to classify at all +exhaustively, because of the great variety of the contributory +circumstances. There are many among them to whom the experience has +come at some supreme moment of their lives, when it is comprehensible +that there might have been a temporary exaltation of faculty which +would be sufficient to account for it. + +In the case of another subdivision of them the solitary case has been +the seeing of an apparition, most commonly of some friend or relative +at the point of death. Two possibilities are then offered for our +choice, and in each of them the strong wish of the dying man is the +impelling force. That force may have enabled him to materialize +himself for a moment, in which case of course no clairvoyance was +needed or more probably it may have acted mesmerically upon the +percipient, and momentarily dulled his physical and stimulated his +higher sensitiveness. In either case the vision is the product of the +emergency, and is not repeated simply because the necessary conditions +are not repeated. + +There remains, however, an irresolvable residuum of cases in which a +solitary instance occurs of the exercise of undoubted clairvoyance, +while yet the occasion seems to us wholly trivial and unimportant. +About these we can only frame hypotheses; the governing conditions are +evidently not on the physical plane, and a separate investigation of +each case would be necessary before we could speak with any certainty +as to its causes. In some such it has appeared that an astral entity +was endeavouring to make some communication, and was able to impress +only some unimportant detail on its subject--all the useful or +significant part of what it had to say failing to get through into the +subject's consciousness. + +In the investigation of the phenomena of clairvoyance all these varied +types and many others will be encountered, and a certain number of +cases of mere hallucination will be almost sure to appear also, and +will have to be carefully weeded out from the list of examples. The +student of such a subject needs an inexhaustible fund of patience and +steady perseverance, but if he goes on long enough he will begin dimly +to discern order behind the chaos, and will gradually get some idea of +the great laws under which the whole evolution is working. + +It will help him greatly in his efforts if he will adopt the order +which we have just followed--that is, if he will first take the +trouble to familiarize himself as thoroughly as may be with the actual +facts concerning the planes with which ordinary clairvoyance deals. +If he will learn what there really is to be seen with astral and +etheric sight, and what their respective limitations are, he will then +have, as it were, a standard by which to measure the cases which he +observes. Since all instances of partial sight must of necessity fit +into some niche in this whole, if he has the outline of the entire +scheme in his head he will find it comparatively easy with a little +practice to classify the instances with which he is called upon to +deal. + +We have said nothing as yet as to the still more wonderful +possibilities of clairvoyance upon the mental plane, nor indeed is it +necessary that much should be said, as it is exceedingly improbable +that the investigator will ever meet with any examples of it except +among pupils properly trained in some of the very highest schools of +occultism. For them it opens up yet another new world, vaster far than +all those beneath it--a world in which all that we can imagine of +utmost glory and splendour is the commonplace of existence. Some +account of its marvellous faculty, its eneffable bliss, its +magnificent opportunities for learning and for work, is given in the +sixth of our Theosophical manuals, and to that the student may be +referred. + +All that it has to give--all of it at least that he can assimilate--is +within the reach of the trained pupil, but for the untrained +clairvoyant to touch it is hardly more than a bare possibility. It +has been done in mesmeric trance, but the occurrence is of exceeding +rarity, for it needs almost superhuman qualifications in the way of +lofty spiritual aspiration and absolute purity of thought and +intention upon the part both of the subject and the operator. + +To a type of clairvoyance such as this, and still more fully to that +which belongs to the plane next above it, the name of spiritual sight +may reasonably be applied; and since the celestial world to which it +opens our eyes lies all round us here and now, it is fit that our +passing reference to it should be made under the heading of simple +clairvoyance, though it may be necessary to allude to it again when +dealing with clairvoyance in space, to which we will now pass on. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: INTENTIONAL. + + +We have defined this as the capacity to see events or scenes removed +from the seer in space and too far distant for ordinary observation. +The instances of this are so numerous and so various that we shall +find it desirable to attempt a somewhat more detailed classification +of them. It does not much matter what particular arrangement we adopt, +so long as it is comprehensive enough to include all our cases; +perhaps a convenient one will be to group them under the broad +divisions of intentional and unintentional clairvoyance in space, with +an intermediate class that might be described as semi-intentional--a +curious title, but I will explain it later. + +As before, I will begin by stating what is possible along this line +for the fully-trained seer, and endeavouring to explain how his +faculty works and under what limitations it acts. After that we shall +find ourselves in a better position to try to understand the manifold +examples of partial and untrained sight. Let us then in the first +place discuss intentional clairvoyance. + +It will be obvious from what has previously been said as to the power +of astral vision that any one possessing it in its fulness will be +able to see by its means practically anything in this world that he +wishes to see. The most secret places are open to his gaze, and +intervening obstacles have no existence for him, because of the change +in his point of view; so that if we grant him the power of moving +about in the astral body he can without difficulty go anywhere and see +anything within the limits of the planet. Indeed this is to a large +extent possible to him even without the necessity of moving the astral +body at all, as we shall presently see. + +Let us consider a little more closely the methods by which this +super-physical sight may be used to observe events taking place at a +distance. When, for example, a man here in England sees in minutest +detail something which is happening at the same moment in India or +America, how is it done? + +A very ingenious hypothesis has been offered to account for the +phenomenon. It has been suggested that every object is perpetually +throwing off radiations in all directions, similar in some respects +to, though infinitely finer than, rays of light, and that clairvoyance +is nothing but the power to see by means of these finer radiations. +Distance would in that case be no bar to the sight, all intervening +objects would be penetrable by these rays, and they would be able to +cross one another to infinity in all directions without entanglement, +precisely as the vibrations of ordinary light do. + +Now though this is not exactly the way in which clairvoyance works, +the theory is nevertheless quite true in most of its premises. Every +object undoubtedly is throwing off radiations in all directions, and +it is precisely in this way, though on a higher plane, that the +âkâshic records seem to be formed. Of them it will be necessary to say +something under our next heading, so we will do no more than mention +them for the moment. The phenomena of psychometry are also dependent +upon these radiations, as will presently be explained. + +There are, however, certain practical difficulties in the way of using +these etheric vibrations (for that is, of course, what they are) as +the medium by means of which one may see anything taking place at a +distance. Intervening objects are not entirely transparent, and as the +actors in the scene which the experimenter tried to observe would +probably be at least equally transparent, it is obvious that serious +confusion would be quite likely to result. + +The additional dimension which would come into play if astral +radiations were sensed instead of etheric would obviate some of the +difficulties, but would on the other hand introduce some fresh +complications of its own; so that for practical purposes, in +endeavouring to understand clairvoyance, we may dismiss this +hypothesis of radiations from our minds, and turn to the methods of +seeing at a distance which are actually at the disposal of the +student. It will be found that there are five, four of them being +really varieties of clairvoyance, while the fifth does not properly +come under that head at all, but belongs to the domain of magic. Let +us take this last one first, and get it out of our way. + +1. _By the assistance of a nature-spirit._--This method does not +necessarily involve the possession of any psychic faculty at all on +the part of the experimenter; he need only know how to induce some +denizen of the astral world to undertake the investigation for him. +This may be done either by invocation or by evocation; that is to say, +the operator may either persuade his astral coadjutor by prayers and +offerings to give him the help he desires, or he may compel his aid by +the determined exercise of a highly-developed will. + +This method has been largely practised in the East (where the entity +employed is usually a nature-spirit) and in old Atlantis, where "the +lords of the dark face" used a highly-specialized and peculiarly +venomous variety of artificial elemental for this purpose. Information +is sometimes obtained in the same sort of way at the spiritualistic +_séance_ of modern days, but in that case the messenger employed is +more likely to be a recently-deceased human being functioning more or +less freely on the astral plane--though even here also it is sometimes +an obliging nature-spirit, who is amusing himself by posing as +somebody's departed relative. In any case, as I have said, this method +is not clairvoyant at all, but magical; and it is mentioned here only +in order that the reader may not become confused in the endeavour to +classify cases of its use under some of the following headings. + +2. _By means of an astral current._--This is a phrase frequently and +rather loosely employed in some of our Theosophical literature to +cover a considerable variety of phenomena, and among others that which +I wish to explain. What is really done by the student who adopts this +method is not so much the setting in motion of a current in astral +matter, as the erection of a kind of temporary telephone through it. + +It is impossible here to give an exhaustive disquisition on astral +physics, even had I the requisite knowledge to write it; all I need +say is that it is possible to make in astral matter a definite +connecting-line that shall act as a telegraph-wire to convey +vibrations by means of which all that is going on at the other end of +it may be seen. Such a line is established, be it understood, not by a +direct projection through space of astral matter, but by such action +upon a line (or rather many lines) of particles of that matter as +will render them capable of forming a conductor for vibrations of the +character required. + +This preliminary action can be set up in two ways--either by the +transmission of energy from particle to particle, until the line is +formed, or by the use of a force from a higher plane which is capable +of acting upon the whole line simultaneously. Of course this latter +method implies far greater development, since it involves the +knowledge of (and the power to use) forces of a considerably higher +level; so that the man who could make his line in this way would not, +for his own use, need a line at all, since he could see far more +easily and completely by means of an altogether higher faculty. + +Even the simpler and purely astral operation is a difficult one to +describe, though quite an easy one to perform. It may be said to +partake somewhat of the nature of the magnetization of a bar of steel; +for it consists in what we might call the polarization, by an effort +of the human will, of a number of parallel lines of astral atoms +reaching from the operator to the scene which he wishes to observe. +All the atoms thus affected are held for the time with their axes +rigidly parallel to one another, so that they form a kind of temporary +tube along which the clairvoyant may look. This method has the +disadvantage that the telegraph line is liable to disarrangement or +even destruction by any sufficiently strong astral current which +happens to cross its path; but if the original effort of will were +fairly definite, this would be a contingency of only infrequent +occurrence. + +The view of a distant scene obtained by means of this "astral current" +is in many ways not unlike that seen through a telescope. Human +figures usually appear very small, like those on a distant stage, but +in spite of their diminutive size they are as clear as though they +were close by. Sometimes it is possible by this means to hear what is +said as well as to see what is done; but as in the majority of cases +this does not happen, we must consider it rather as the manifestation +of an additional power than as a necessary corollary of the faculty of +sight. + +It will be observed that in this case the seer does not usually leave +his physical body at all; there is no sort of projection of his astral +vehicle or of any part of himself towards that at which he is looking, +but he simply manufactures for himself a temporary astral telescope. +Consequently he has, to a certain extent, the use of his physical +powers even while he is examining the distant scene; for example, his +voice would usually still be under his control, so that he could +describe what he saw even while he was in the act of making his +observations. The consciousness of the man is, in fact, distinctly +still at this end of the line. + +This fact, however, has its limitations as well as its advantages, +and these again largely resemble the limitations of the man using a +telescope on the physical plane. The experimenter, for example, has no +power to shift this point of view; his telescope, so to speak, has a +particular field of view which cannot be enlarged or altered; he is +looking at his scene from a certain direction, and he cannot suddenly +turn it all round and see how it looks from the other side. If he has +sufficient psychic energy to spare, he may drop altogether the +telescope that he is using and manufacture an entirely new one for +himself which will approach his objective somewhat differently; but +this is not a course at all likely to be adopted in practice. + +But, it may be said, the mere fact that he is using astral sight ought +to enable him to see it from all sides at once. So it would if he were +using that sight in the normal way upon an object which was fairly +near him--within his astral reach, as it were; but at a distance of +hundreds or thousands of miles the case is very different. Astral +sight gives us the advantage of an additional dimension, but there is +still such a thing as position in that dimension, and it is naturally +a potent factor in limiting the use of the powers of its plane. Our +ordinary three-dimensional sight enables us to see at once every point +of the interior of a two-dimensional figure, such as a square, but in +order to do that the square must be within a reasonable distance from +our eyes; the mere additional dimension will avail a man in London +but little in his endeavour to examine a square in Calcutta. + +Astral sight, when it is cramped by being directed along what is +practically a tube, is limited very much as physical sight would be +under similar circumstances; though if possessed in perfection it will +still continue to show, even at that distance, the auras, and +therefore all the emotions and most of the thoughts of the people +under observation. + +There are many people for whom this type of clairvoyance is very much +facilitated if they have at hand some physical object which can be +used as a starting-point for their astral tube--a convenient focus for +their will-power. A ball of crystal is the commonest and most +effectual of such foci, since it has the additional advantage of +possessing within itself qualities which stimulate psychic faculty; +but other objects are also employed, to which we shall find it +necessary to refer more particularly when we come to consider +semi-intentional clairvoyance. + +In connection with this astral-current form of clairvoyance, as with +others, we find that there are some psychics who are unable to use it +except when under the influence of mesmerism. The peculiarity in this +case is that among such psychics there are two varieties--one in which +by being thus set free the man is enabled to make a telescope for +himself, and another in which the magnetizer himself makes the +telescope and the subject is simply enabled to see through it. In this +latter case obviously the subject has not enough will to form a tube +for himself, and the operator, though possessed of the necessary +will-power, is not clairvoyant, or he could see through his own tube +without needing help. + +Occasionally, though rarely, the tube which is formed possesses +another of the attributes of a telescope--that of magnifying the +objects at which it is directed until they seem of life-size. Of +course the objects must always be magnified to some extent, or they +would be absolutely invisible, but usually the extent is determined by +the size of the astral tube, and the whole thing is simply a tiny +moving picture. In the few cases where the figures are seen as of +life-size by this method, it is probable that an altogether new power +is beginning to dawn; but when this happens, careful observation is +needed in order to distinguish them from examples of our next class. + +3. _By the projection of a thought-form._--The ability to use this +method of clairvoyance implies a development somewhat more advanced +than the last, since it necessitates a certain amount of control upon +the mental plane. All students of Theosophy are aware that thought +takes form, at any rate upon its own plane, and in the vast majority +of cases upon the astral plane also; but it may not be quite so +generally known that if a man thinks strongly of himself as present +at any given place, the form assumed by that particular thought will +be a likeness of the thinker himself, which will appear at the place +in question. + +Essentially this form must be composed of the matter of the mental +plane, but in very many cases it would draw round itself matter of the +astral plane also, and so would approach much nearer to visibility. +There are, in fact, many instances in which it has been seen by the +person thought of--most probably by means of the unconscious mesmeric +influence emanating from the original thinker. None of the +consciousness of the thinker would, however, be included within this +thought-form. When once sent out from him, it would normally be a +quite separate entity--not indeed absolutely unconnected with its +maker, but practically so as far as the possibility of receiving any +impression through it is concerned. + +This third type of clairvoyance consists, then, in the power to retain +so much connection with and so much hold over a newly-erected +thought-form as will render it possible to receive impressions by +means of it. Such impressions as were made upon the form would in this +case be transmitted to the thinker--not along an astral telegraph +line, as before, but by sympathetic vibration. In a perfect case of +this kind of clairvoyance it is almost as though the seer projected a +part of his consciousness into the thought-form, and used it as a kind +of outpost, from which observation was possible. He sees almost as +well as he would if he himself stood in the place of his thought-form. + +The figures at which he is looking will appear to him as of life-size +and close at hand, instead of tiny and at a distance, as in the +previous case; and he will find it possible to shift his point of view +if he wishes to do so. Clairaudience is perhaps less frequently +associated with this type of clairvoyance than with the last, but its +place is to some extent taken by a kind of mental perception of the +thoughts and intentions of those who are seen. + +Since the man's consciousness is still in the physical body, he will +be able (even while exercising the faculty) to hear and to speak, in +so far as he can do this without any distraction of his attention. The +moment that the intentness of his thought fails the whole vision is +gone, and he will have to construct a fresh thought-form before he can +resume it. Instances in which this kind of sight is possessed with any +degree of perfection by untrained people are naturally rarer than in +the case of the previous type, because of the capacity for mental +control required, and the generally finer nature of the forces +employed. + +4. _By travelling in the astral body._--We enter here upon an entirely +new variety of clairvoyance, in which the consciousness of the seer no +longer remains in or closely connected with his physical body, but is +definitely transferred to the scene which he is examining. Though it +has no doubt greater dangers for the untrained seer than either of the +methods previously described, it is yet quite the most satisfactory +form of clairvoyance open to him, for the immensely superior variety +which we shall consider under our fifth head is not available except +for specially trained students. + +In this case the man's body is either asleep or in trance, and its +organs are consequently not available for use while the vision is +going on, so that all description of what is seen, and all questioning +as to further particulars, must be postponed until the wanderer +returns to this plane. On the other hand the sight is much fuller and +more perfect; the man hears as well as sees everything which passes +before him, and can move about freely at will within the very wide +limits of the astral plane. He can see and study at leisure all the +other inhabitants of that plane, so that the great world of the +nature-spirits (of which the traditional fairy-land is but a very +small part) lies open before him, and even that of some of the lower +devas. + +He has also the immense advantage of being able to take part, as it +were, in the scenes which come before his eyes--of conversing at will +with these various astral entities, from whom so much information that +is curious and interesting may be obtained. If in addition he can +learn how to materialize himself (a matter of no great difficulty for +him when once the knack is acquired), he will be able to take part in +physical events or conversations at a distance, and to show himself to +an absent friend at will. + +Again, he has the additional power of being able to hunt about for +what he wants. By means of the varieties of clairvoyance previously +described, for all practical purposes he could find a person or a +place only when he was already acquainted with it, or when he was put +_en rapport_ with it by touching something physically connected with +it, as in psychometry. It is true that by the third method a certain +amount of motion is possible, but the process is a tedious one except +for quite short distances. + +By the use of the astral body, however, a man can move about quite +freely and rapidly in any direction, and can (for example) find +without difficulty any place pointed out upon a map, without either +any previous knowledge of the spot or any object to establish a +connection with it. He can also readily rise high into the air so as +to gain a bird's-eye view of the country which he is examining, so as +to observe its extent, the contour of its coast-line, or its general +character. Indeed, in every way his power and freedom are far greater +when he uses this method than they have been in any of the previous +cases. + +A good example of the full possession of this power is given, on the +authority of the German writer Jung Stilling, by Mrs. Crowe in _The +Night Side of Nature_ (p. 127). The story is related of a seer who is +stated to have resided in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, in +America. His habits were retired, and he spoke little; he was grave, +benevolent and pious, and nothing was known against his character +except that he had the reputation of possessing some secrets that were +considered not altogether _lawful_. Many extraordinary stories were +told of him, and amongst the rest the following:-- + +"The wife of a ship captain (whose husband was on a voyage to Europe +and Africa, and from whom she had been long without tidings), being +overwhelmed with anxiety for his safety, was induced to address +herself to this person. Having listened to her story he begged her to +excuse him for a while, when he would bring her the intelligence she +required. He then passed into an inner room and she sat herself down +to wait; but his absence continuing longer than she expected, she +became impatient, thinking he had forgotten her, and softly +approaching the door she peeped through some aperture, and to her +surprise beheld him lying on a sofa as motionless as if he were dead. +She of course did not think it advisable to disturb him, but waited +his return, when he told her that her husband had not been able to +write to her for such and such reasons, but that he was then in a +coffee-house in London and would very shortly be home again. + +"Accordingly he arrived, and as the lady learnt from him that the +causes of his unusual silence had been precisely those alleged by the +man, she felt extremely desirous of ascertaining the truth of the rest +of the information. In this she was gratified, for he no sooner set +his eyes on the magician than he said that he had seen him before on a +certain day in a coffee-house in London, and that he told him that his +wife was extremely uneasy about him, and that he, the captain, had +thereon mentioned how he had been prevented writing, adding that he +was on the eve of embarking for America. He had then lost sight of the +stranger amongst the throng, and knew nothing more about him." + +We have of course no means now of knowing what evidence Jung Stilling +had of the truth of this story, though he declares himself to have +been quite satisfied with the authority on which he relates it; but so +many similar things have happened that there is no reason to doubt its +accuracy. The seer, however, must either have developed his faculty +for himself or learnt it in some school other than that from which +most of our Theosophical information is derived; for in our case there +is a well-understood regulation expressly forbidding the pupils from +giving any manifestation of such power which can be definitely proved +at both ends in that way, and so constitute what is called "a +phenomenon." That this regulation is emphatically a wise one is +proved to all who know anything of the history of our Society by the +disastrous results which followed from a very slight temporary +relaxation of it. + +I have given some quite modern cases almost exactly parallel to the +above in my little book on _Invisible Helpers_. An instance of a lady +well-known to myself, who frequently thus appears to friends at a +distance, is given by Mr. Stead in _Real Ghost Stories_ (p. 27); and +Mr. Andrew Lang gives, in his _Dreams and Ghosts_ (p. 89), an account +of how Mr. Cleave, then at Portsmouth, appeared intentionally on two +occasions to a young lady in London, and alarmed her considerably. +There is any amount of evidence to be had on the subject by any one +who cares to study it seriously. + +This paying of intentional astral visits seems very often to become +possible when the principles are loosened at the approach of death for +people who were unable to perform such a feat at any other time. There +are even more examples of this class than of the other; I epitomize a +good one given by Mr. Andrew Lang on p. 100 of the book last +cited--one of which he himself says, "Not many stories have such good +evidence in their favour." + +"Mary, the wife of John Goffe of Rochester, being afflicted with a +long illness, removed to her father's house at West Malling, about +nine miles from her own. + +"The day before her death she grew very impatiently desirous to see +her two children, whom she had left at home to the care of a nurse. +She was too ill to be moved, and between one and two o'clock in the +morning she fell into a trance. One widow Turner, who watched with her +that night, says that her eyes were open and fixed, and her jaw +fallen. Mrs. Turner put her hand upon her mouth, but could perceive no +breath. She thought her to be in a fit, and doubted whether she were +dead or alive. + +"The next morning the dying woman told her mother that she had been at +home with her children, saying, I was with them last night when I was +asleep.' + +"The nurse at Rochester, widow Alexander by name, affirms that a +little before two o'clock that morning she saw the likeness of the +said Mary Goffe come out of the next chamber (where the elder child +lay in a bed by itself), the door being left open, and stood by her +bedside for about a quarter of an hour; the younger child was there +lying by her. Her eyes moved and her mouth went, but she said nothing. +The nurse, moreover, says that she was perfectly awake; it was then +daylight, being one of the longest days in the year. She sat up in bed +and looked steadfastly on the apparition. In that time she heard the +bridge clock strike two, and a while after said: 'In the name of the +Father, Son and Holy Ghost, what art thou?' Thereupon the apparition +removed and went away; she slipped on her clothes and followed, but +what became on't, she cannot tell." + +The nurse apparently was more frightened by its disappearance than its +presence, for after this she was afraid to stay in the house, and so +spent the rest of the time until six o'clock in walking up and down +outside. When the neighbours were awake she told her tale to them, and +they of course said she had dreamt it all; she naturally enough warmly +repudiated that idea, but could obtain no credence until the news of +the other side of the story arrived from West Malling, when people had +to admit that there might have been something in it. + +A noteworthy circumstance in this story is that the mother found it +necessary to pass from ordinary sleep into the profounder trance +condition before she could consciously visit her children; it can, +however, be paralleled here and there among the large number of +similar accounts which may be found in the literature of the subject. + +Two other stories of precisely the same type--in which a dying mother, +earnestly desiring to see her children, falls into a deep sleep, +visits them and returns to say that she has done so--are given by Dr. +F. G. Lee. In one of them the mother, when dying in Egypt, appears to +her children at Torquay, and is clearly seen in broad daylight by all +five of the children and also by the nursemaid. (_Glimpses of the +Supernatural_, vol. ii., p. 64.) In the other a Quaker lady dying at +Cockermouth is clearly seen and recognized in daylight by her three +children at Settle, the remainder of the story being practically +identical with the one given above. (_Glimpses in the Twilight_, p. +94.) Though these cases appear to be less widely known than that of +Mary Goffe, the evidence of their authenticity seems to be quite as +good, as will be seen by the attestations obtained by the reverend +author of the works from which they are quoted. + +The man who fully possesses this fourth type of clairvoyance has many +and great advantages at his disposal, even in addition to those already +mentioned. Not only can he visit without trouble or expense all the +beautiful and famous places of the earth, but if he happens to be a +scholar, think what it must mean to him that he has access to all the +libraries of the world! What must it be for the scientifically-minded +man to see taking place before his eyes so many of the processes of the +secret chemistry of nature, or for the philosopher to have revealed to +him so much more than ever before of the working of the great mysteries +of life and death? To him those who are gone from this plane are dead no +longer, but living and within reach for a long time to come; for him +many of the conceptions of religion are no longer matters of faith, but +of knowledge. Above all, he can join the army of invisible helpers, and +really be of use on a large scale. Undoubtedly clairvoyance, even when +confined to the astral plane, is a great boon to the student. + +Certainly it has its dangers also, especially for the untrained; +danger from evil entities of various kinds, which may terrify or +injure those who allow themselves to lose the courage to face them +boldly; danger of deception of all sorts, of misconceiving and +mis-interpreting what is seen; greatest of all, the danger of becoming +conceited about the thing and of thinking it impossible to make a +mistake. But a little common-sense and a little experience should +easily guard a man against these. + +5. _By travelling in the mental body._--This is simply a higher and, +as it were, glorified form of the last type. The vehicle employed is +no longer the astral body, but the mind-body--a vehicle, therefore, +belonging to the mental plane, and having within it all the +potentialities of the wonderful sense of that plane, so transcendent +in its action yet so impossible to describe. A man functioning in this +leaves his astral body behind him along with the physical, and if he +wishes to show himself upon the astral plane for any reason, he does +not send for his own astral vehicle, but just by a single action of +his will materializes one for his temporary need. Such an astral +materialization is sometimes called the mâyâvirûpa, and to form it +for the first time usually needs the assistance of a qualified Master. + +The enormous advantages given by the possession of this power are the +capacity of entering upon all the glory and the beauty of the higher +land of bliss, and the possession, even when working on the astral +plane, of the far more comprehensive mental sense which opens up to +the student such marvellous vistas of knowledge, and practically +renders error all but impossible. This higher flight, however, is +possible for the trained man only, since only under definite training +can a man at this stage of evolution learn to employ his mental body +as a vehicle. + +Before leaving the subject of full and intentional clairvoyance, it +may be well to devote a few words to answering one or two questions as +to its limitations, which constantly occur to students. Is it +possible, we are often asked, for the seer to find any person with +whom he wishes to communicate, anywhere in the world, whether he be +living or dead? + +To this reply must be a conditional affirmative. Yes, it is possible +to find any person if the experimenter can, in some way or other, put +himself _en rapport_ with that person. It would be hopeless to plunge +vaguely into space to find a total stranger among all the millions +around us without any kind of clue; but, on the other hand, a very +slight clue would usually be sufficient. + +If the clairvoyant knows anything of the man whom he seeks, he will +have no difficulty in finding him, for every man has what may be +called a kind of musical chord of his own--a chord which is the +expression of him as a whole, produced perhaps by a sort of average of +the rates of vibration of all his different vehicles on their +respective planes. If the operator knows how to discern that chord and +to strike it, it will by sympathetic vibration attract the attention +of the man instantly wherever he may be, and will evoke an immediate +response from him. + +Whether the man were living or recently dead would make no difference +at all, and clairvoyance of the fifth class could at once find him +even among the countless millions in the heaven-world, though in that +case the man himself would be unconscious that he was under +observation. Naturally a seer whose consciousness did not range higher +than the astral plane--who employed therefore one of the earlier +methods of seeing--would not be able to find a person upon the mental +plane at all; yet even he would at least be able to tell that the man +sought for was upon that plane, from the mere fact that the striking +of the chord as far up as the astral level produced no response. + +If the man sought be a stranger to the seeker, the latter will need +something connected with him to act as a clue--a photograph, a letter +written by him, an article which has belonged to him, and is +impregnated with his personal magnetism; any of these would do in the +hands of a practised seer. + +Again I say, it must not therefore be supposed that pupils who have +been taught how to use this art are at liberty to set up a kind of +intelligence office through which communication can be had with +missing or dead relatives. A message given from this side to such an +one might or might not be handed on, according to circumstances, but +even if it were, no reply might be brought, lest the transaction +should partake of the nature of a phenomenon--something which could be +proved on the physical plane to have been an act of magic. + +Another question often raised is as to whether, in the action of +psychic vision, there is any limitation as to distance. The reply +would seem to be that there should be no limit but that of the +respective planes. It must be remembered that the astral and mental +planes of our earth are as definitely its own as its atmosphere, +though they extend considerably further from it even in our +three-dimensional space than does the physical air. Consequently the +passage to, or the detailed sight of, other planets would not be +possible for any system of clairvoyance connected with these planes. +It _is_ quite possible and easy for the man who can raise his +consciousness to the buddhic plane to pass to any other globe +belonging to our chain of worlds, but that is outside our present +subject. + +Still a good deal of additional information about other planets can be +obtained by the use of such clairvoyant faculties as we have been +describing. It is possible to make sight enormously clearer by passing +outside of the constant disturbances of the earth's atmosphere, and it +is also not difficult to learn how to put on an exceedingly high +magnifying power, so that even by ordinary clairvoyance a good deal of +very interesting astronomical knowledge may be gained. But as far as +this earth and its immediate surroundings are concerned, there is +practically no limitation. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: SEMI-INTENTIONAL. + + +Under this rather curious title I am grouping together the cases of +all those people who definitely set themselves to see something, but +have no idea what the something will be, and no control over the sight +after the visions have begun--psychic Micawbers, who put themselves +into a receptive condition, and then simply wait for something to turn +up. Many trance-mediums would come under this heading; they either in +some way hypnotize themselves or are hypnotized by some +"spirit-guide," and then they describe the scenes or persons that +happen to float before their vision. Sometimes, however, when in this +condition they see what is taking place at a distance, and so they +come to have a place among our "clairvoyants in space." + +But the largest and most widely-spread band of these semi-intentional +clairvoyants are the various kinds of crystal-gazers--those who, as +Mr. Andrew Lang puts it, "stare into a crystal ball, a cup, a mirror, +a blob of ink (Egypt and India), a drop of blood (among the Maories of +New Zealand), a bowl of water (Red Indian), a pond (Roman and +African), water in a glass bowl (in Fez), or almost any polished +surface" (_Dreams and Ghosts_, p. 57). + +Two pages later Mr. Lang gives us a very good example of the kind of +vision most frequently seen in this way. "I had given a glass ball," +he says, "to a young lady, Miss Baillie, who had scarcely any success +with it. She lent it to Miss Leslie, who saw a large square, +old-fashioned red sofa covered with muslin, which she found in the +next country-house she visited. Miss Baillie's brother, a young +athlete, laughed at these experiments, took the ball into the study, +and came back looking 'gey gash.' He admitted that he had seen a +vision--somebody he knew under a lamp. He would discover during the +week whether he saw right or not. This was at 5.30 on a Sunday +afternoon. + +"On Tuesday, Mr. Baillie was at a dance in a town some forty miles +from his home, and met a Miss Preston. 'On Sunday,' he said, 'about +half-past five you were sitting under a standard lamp in a dress I +never saw you wear, a blue blouse with lace over the shoulders, +pouring out tea for a man in blue serge, whose back was towards me, so +that I only saw the tip of his moustache.' + +"'Why, the blinds must have been up,' said Miss Preston. + +"'I was at Dulby,' said Mr. Baillie, and he undeniably was." + +This is quite a typical case of crystal-gazing--the picture correct in +every detail, you see, and yet absolutely unimportant and bearing no +apparent signification of any sort to either party, except that it +served to prove to Mr. Baillie that there was something in +crystal-gazing. Perhaps more frequently the visions tend to be of a +romantic character--men in foreign dress, or beautiful though +generally unknown landscapes. + +Now what is the rationale of this kind of clairvoyance? As I have +indicated above, it belongs usually to the "astral-current" type, and +the crystal or other object simply acts as a focus for the will-power +of the seer, and a convenient starting-point for his astral tube. +There are some who can influence what they will see by their will, +that is to say they have the power of pointing their telescope as they +wish; but the great majority just form a fortuitous tube and see +whatever happens to present itself at the end of it. + +Sometimes it may be a scene comparatively near at hand, as in the case +just quoted; at other times it will be a far-away Oriental landscape; +at others yet it may be a reflection of some fragment of an âkâshic +record, and then the picture will contain figures in some antique +dress, and the phenomenon belongs to our third large division of +"clairvoyance in time." It is said that visions of the future are +sometimes seen in crystals also--a further development to which we +must refer later. + +I have seen a clairvoyant use instead of the ordinary shining surface +a dead black one, produced by a handful of powdered charcoal in a +saucer. Indeed it does not seem to matter much what is used as a +focus, except that pure crystal has an undoubted advantage over other +substances in that its peculiar arrangement of elemental essence +renders it specially stimulating to the psychic faculties. + +It seems probable, however, that in cases where a tiny brilliant +object is employed--such as a point of light, or the drop of blood +used by the Maories--the instance is in reality merely one of +self-hypnotization. Among non-European nations the experiment is very +frequently preceded or accompanied by magical ceremonies and +invocations, so that it is quite likely that such sight as is gained +may sometimes be really that of some foreign entity, and so the +phenomenon may in fact be merely a case of temporary possession, and +not of clairvoyance at all. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: UNINTENTIONAL. + + +Under this heading we may group together all those cases in which +visions of some event which is taking place at a distance are seen +quite unexpectedly and without any kind of preparation. There are +people who are subject to such visions, while there are many others to +whom such a thing will happen only once in a life-time. The visions +are of all kinds and of all degrees of completeness, and apparently +may be produced by various causes. Sometimes the reason of the vision +is obvious, and the subject matter of the gravest importance; at other +times no reason at all is discoverable, and the events shown seem of +the most trivial nature. + +Sometimes these glimpses of the super-physical faculty come as waking +visions, and sometimes they manifest during sleep as vivid or +oft-repeated dreams. In this latter case the sight employed is perhaps +usually of the kind assigned to our fourth subdivision of clairvoyance +in space, for the sleeping man often travels in his astral body to +some spot with which his affections or interests are closely +connected, and simply watches what takes place there; in the former it +seems probable that the second type of clairvoyance, by means of the +astral current, is called into requisition. But in this case the +current or tube is formed quite unconsciously, and is often the +automatic result of a strong thought or emotion projected from one end +or the other--either from the seer or the person who is seen. + +The simplest plan will be to give a few instances of the different +kinds, and to intersperse among them such further explanations as may +seem necessary. Mr. Stead has collected a large and varied assortment +of recent and well-authenticated cases in his _Real Ghost Stories_, +and I will select some of my examples from them, occasionally +condensing slightly to save space. + +There are cases in which it is at once obvious to any Theosophical +student that the exceptional instance of clairvoyance was specially +brought about by one of the band whom we have called "Invisible +Helpers" in order that aid might be rendered to some one in sore need. +To this class, undoubtedly, belongs the story told by Captain Yonnt, +of the Napa Valley in California, to Dr. Bushnell, who repeats it in +his _Nature and the Supernatural_ (p. 14). + +"About six or seven years previous, in a mid-winter's night, he had a +dream in which he saw what appeared to be a company of emigrants +arrested by the snows of the mountains, and perishing rapidly by cold +and hunger. He noted the very cast of the scenery, marked by a huge, +perpendicular front of white rock cliff; he saw the men cutting off +what appeared to be tree-tops rising out of deep gulfs of snow; he +distinguished the very features of the persons and the look of their +particular distress. + +"He awoke profoundly impressed by the distinctness and apparent +reality of the dream. He at length fell asleep, and dreamed exactly +the same dream over again. In the morning he could not expel it from +his mind. Falling in shortly after with an old hunter comrade, he told +his story, and was only the more deeply impressed by his recognizing +without hesitation the scenery of the dream. This comrade came over +the Sierra by the Carson Valley Pass, and declared that a spot in the +Pass exactly answered his description. + +"By this the unsophistical patriarch was decided. He immediately +collected a company of men, with mules and blankets and all necessary +provisions. The neighbours were laughing meantime at his credulity. +'No matter,' he said, 'I am able to do this, and I will, for I verily +believe that the fact is according to my dream.' The men were sent +into the mountains one hundred and fifty miles distant direct to the +Carson Valley Pass. And there they found the company exactly in the +condition of the dream, and brought in the remnant alive." + +Since it is not stated that Captain Yonnt was in the habit of seeing +visions, it seems clear that some helper, observing the forlorn +condition of the emigrant party, took the nearest impressionable and +otherwise suitable person (who happened to be the Captain) to the spot +in the astral body, and aroused him sufficiently to fix the scene +firmly in his memory. The helper may possibly have arranged an "astral +current" for the Captain instead, but the former suggestion is more +probable. At any rate the motive, and broadly the method, of the work +are obvious enough in this case. + +Sometimes the "astral current" may be set going by a strong emotional +thought at the other end of the line, and this may happen even though +the thinker has no such intention in his mind. In the rather striking +story which I am about to quote, it is evident that the link was +formed by the doctor's frequent thought about Mrs. Broughton, yet he +had clearly no especial wish that she should see what he was doing at +the time. That it was this kind of clairvoyance that was employed is +shown by the fixity of her point of view--which, be it observed, is +not the doctor's point of view sympathetically transferred (as it +might have been) since she sees his back without recognizing him. The +story is to be found in the _Proceedings of the Psychical Research +Society_ (vol. ii., p. 160). + +"Mrs. Broughton awoke one night in 1844, and roused her husband, +telling him that something dreadful had happened in France. He begged +her to go to sleep again, and not trouble him. She assured him that +she was not asleep when she saw what she insisted on telling him--what +she saw in fact. + +"First a carriage accident--which she did not actually see, but what +she saw was the result--a broken carriage, a crowd collected, a figure +gently raised and carried into the nearest house, then a figure lying +on a bed which she then recognized as the Duke of Orleans. Gradually +friends collecting round the bed--among them several members of the +French royal family--the queen, then the king, all silently, +tearfully, watching the evidently dying duke. One man (she could see +his back, but did not know who he was) was a doctor. He stood bending +over the duke, feeling his pulse, with his watch in the other hand. +And then all passed away, and she saw no more. + +"As soon as it was daylight she wrote down in her journal all that she +had seen. It was before the days of electric telegraph, and two or +more days passed before the _Times_ announced 'The Death of the Duke +of Orleans.' Visiting Paris a short time afterwards she saw and +recognized the place of the accident and received the explanation of +her impression. The doctor who attended the dying duke was an old +friend of hers, and as he watched by the bed his mind had been +constantly occupied with her and her family." + +A commoner instance is that in which strong affection sets up the +necessary current; probably a fairly steady stream of mutual thought +is constantly flowing between the two parties in the case, and some +sudden need or dire extremity on the part of one of them endues this +stream temporarily with the polarizing power which is needful to +create the astral telescope. An illustrative example is quoted from +the same _Proceedings_ (vol. i., p. 30). + +"On September 9th, 1848, at the siege of Mooltan, Major-General R----, +C.B., then adjutant of his regiment, was most severely and dangerously +wounded; and, supposing himself to be dying, asked one of the officers +with him to take the ring off his finger and send it to his wife, who +at the time was fully one hundred and fifty miles distant at +Ferozepore. + +"'On the night of September 9th, 1848,' writes his wife, 'I was lying +on my bed, between sleeping and waking, when I distinctly saw my +husband being carried off the field seriously wounded, and heard his +voice saying, "Take this ring off my finger and send it to my wife." +All the next day I could not get the sight or the voice out of my +mind. + +"'In due time I heard of General R---- having been severely wounded in +the assault of Mooltan. He survived, however, and is still living. It +was not for some time after the siege that I heard from General +L----, the officer who helped to carry my husband off the field, that +the request as to the ring was actually made by him, just as I heard +it at Ferozepore at that very time." + +Then there is the very large class of casual clairvoyant visions which +have no traceable cause--which are apparently quite meaningless, and +have no recognizable relation to any events known to the seer. To this +class belong many of the landscapes seen by some people just before +they fall asleep. I quote a capital and very realistic account of an +experience of this sort from Mr. W. T. Stead's _Real Ghost Stories_ +(p. 65). + +"I got into bed but was not able to go to sleep. I shut my eyes and +waited for sleep to come; instead of sleep, however, there came to me +a succession of curiously vivid clairvoyant pictures. There was no +light in the room, and it was perfectly dark; I had my eyes shut also. +But notwithstanding the darkness I suddenly was conscious of looking +at a scene of singular beauty. It was as if I saw a living miniature +about the size of a magic-lantern slide. At this moment I can recall +the scene as if I saw it again. It was a seaside piece. The moon was +shining upon the water, which rippled slowly on to the beach. Right +before me a long mole ran into the water. + +"On either side of the mole irregular rocks stood up above the +sea-level. On the shore stood several houses, square and rude, which +resembled nothing that I had ever seen in house architecture. No one +was stirring, but the moon was there and the sea and the gleam of the +moonlight on the rippling waters, just as if I had been looking on the +actual scene. + +"It was so beautiful that I remember thinking that if it continued I +should be so interested in looking at it that I should never go to +sleep. I was wide awake, and at the same time that I saw the scene I +distinctly heard the dripping of the rain outside the window. Then +suddenly, without any apparent object or reason, the scene changed. + +"The moonlit sea vanished, and in its place I was looking right into +the interior of a reading-room. It seemed as if it had been used as a +schoolroom in the daytime, and was employed as a reading-room in the +evening. I remember seeing one reader who had a curious resemblance to +Tim Harrington, although it was not he, hold up a magazine or book in +his hand and laugh. It was not a picture--it was there. + +"The scene was just as if you were looking through an opera-glass; you +saw the play of the muscles, the gleaming of the eye, every movement +of the unknown persons in the unnamed place into which you were +gazing. I saw all that without opening my eyes, nor did my eyes have +anything to do with it. You see such things as these as it were with +another sense which is more inside your head than in your eyes. + +"This was a very poor and paltry experience, but it enabled me to +understand better how it is that clairvoyants see than any amount of +disquisition. + +"The pictures were _apropos_ of nothing; they had been suggested by +nothing I had been reading or talking of; they simply came as if I had +been able to look through a glass at what was occurring somewhere else +in the world. I had my peep, and then it passed, nor have I had a +recurrence of a similar experience." + +Mr. Stead regards that as a "poor and paltry experience," and it may +perhaps be considered so when compared with the greater possibilities, +yet I know many students who would be very thankful to have even so +much of direct personal experience to tell. Small though it may be in +itself, it at once gives the seer a clue to the whole thing, and +clairvoyance would be a living actuality to a man who had seen even +that much in a way that it could never have been without that little +touch with the unseen world. + +These pictures were much too clear to have been mere reflections of +the thought of others, and besides, the description unmistakably shows +that they were views seen through an astral telescope; so either Mr. +Stead must quite unconsciously have set a current going for himself, +or (which is much more probable) some kindly astral entity set it in +motion for him, and gave him, to while away a tedious delay, any +pictures that happened to come handy at the end of the tube. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN TIME: THE PAST. + + +Clairvoyance in time--that is to say, the power of reading the past +and the future--is, like all the other varieties, possessed by +different people in very varying degrees, ranging from the man who has +both faculties fully at his command, down to one who only occasionally +gets involuntary and very imperfect glimpses or reflections of these +scenes of other days. A person of the latter type might have, let us +say, a vision of some event in the past; but it would be liable to the +most serious distortion, and even if it happened to be fairly accurate +it would almost certainly be a mere isolated picture, and he would +probably be quite unable to relate it to what had occurred before or +after it, or to account for anything unusual which might appear in it. +The trained man, on the other hand, could follow the drama connected +with his picture backwards or forwards to any extent that might seem +desirable, and trace out with equal ease the causes which had led up +to it or the results which it in turn would produce. + +We shall probably find it easier to grasp this somewhat difficult +section of our subject if we consider it in the subdivisions which +naturally suggest themselves, and deal first with the vision which +looks backwards into the past, leaving for later examination that +which pierces the veil of the future. In each case it will be well for +us to try to understand what we can of the _modus operandi_, even +though our success can at best be only a very modified one, owing +first to the imperfect information on some parts of the subject at +present possessed by our investigators, and secondly to the +ever-recurring failure of physical words to express a hundredth part +even of the little we do know about higher planes and faculties. + +In the case then of a detailed vision of the remote past, how is it +obtained, and to what plane of nature does it really belong? The +answer to both these questions is contained in the reply that it is +read from the âkâshic records; but that statement in return will +require a certain amount of explanation for many readers. The word is +in truth somewhat of a misnomer, for though the records are +undoubtedly read from the âkâsha, or matter of the mental plane, yet +it is not to it that they really belong. Still worse is the +alternative title, "records of the astral light," which has sometimes +been employed, for these records lie far beyond the astral plane, and +all that can be obtained on it are only broken glimpses of a kind of +double reflection of them, as will presently be explained. + +Like so many others of our Theosophical terms, the word âkâsha has +been very loosely used. In some of our earlier books it was considered +as synonymous with astral light, and in others it was employed to +signify any kind of invisible matter, from mûlaprakriti down to the +physical ether. In later books its use has been restricted to the +matter of the mental plane, and it is in that sense that the records +may be spoken of as âkâshic, for although they are not originally made +on that plane any more than on the astral, yet it is there that we +first come definitely into contact with them and find it possible to +do reliable work with them. + +This subject of the records is by no means an easy one to deal with, +for it is one of that numerous class which requires for its perfect +comprehension faculties of a far higher order than any which humanity +has yet evolved. The real solution of its problems lies on planes far +beyond any that we can possibly know at present, and any view that we +take of it must necessarily be of the most imperfect character, since +we cannot but look at it from below instead of from above. The idea +which we form of it must therefore be only partial, yet it need not +mislead us unless we allow ourselves to think of the tiny fragment +which is all that we can see as though it were the perfect whole. If +we are careful that such conceptions as we may form shall be accurate +as far as they go, we shall have nothing to unlearn, though much to +add, when in the course of our further progress we gradually acquire +the higher wisdom. Be it understood then at the commencement that a +thorough grasp of our subject is an impossibility at the present stage +of our evolution, and that many points will arise as to which no exact +explanation is yet obtainable, though it may often be possible to +suggest analogies and to indicate the lines along which an explanation +must lie. + +Let us then try to carry back our thoughts to the beginning of this +solar system to which we belong. We are all familiar with the ordinary +astronomical theory of its origin--that which is commonly called the +nebular hypothesis--according to which it first came into existence as +a gigantic glowing nebula, of a diameter far exceeding that of the +orbit of even the outermost of the planets, and then, as in the course +of countless ages that enormous sphere gradually cooled and +contracted, the system as we know it was formed. + +Occult science accepts that theory, in its broad outline, as correctly +representing the purely physical side of the evolution of our system, +but it would add that if we confine our attention to this physical +side only we shall have a very incomplete and incoherent idea of what +really happened. It would postulate, to begin with, that the exalted +Being who undertakes the formation of a system (whom we sometimes +call the Logos of the system) first of all forms in His mind a +complete conception of the whole of it with all its successive chains +of worlds. By the very act of forming that conception He calls the +whole into simultaneous objective existence on the plane of His +thought--a plane of course far above all those of which we know +anything--from which the various globes descend when required into +whatever state of further objectivity may be respectively destined for +them. Unless we constantly bear in mind this fact of the real +existence of the whole system from the very beginning on a higher +plane, we shall be perpetually misunderstanding the physical evolution +which we see taking place down here. + +But occultism has more than this to teach us on the subject. It tells +us not only that all this wonderful system to which we belong is +called into existence by the Logos, both on lower and on higher +planes, but also that its relation to Him is closer even than that, +for it is absolutely a part of Him--a partial expression of Him upon +the physical plane--and that the movement and energy of the whole +system is _His_ energy, and is all carried on within the limits of His +aura. Stupendous as this conception is, it will yet not be wholly +unthinkable to those of us who have made any study of the subject of +the aura. + +We are familiar with the idea that as a person progresses on the +upward path his causal body, which is the determining limit of his +aura, distinctly increases in size as well as in luminosity and purity +of colour. Many of us know from experience that the aura of a pupil +who has already made considerable advance on the Path is very much +larger than that of one who is but just setting his foot upon its +first step, while in the case of an Adept the proportional increase is +far greater still. We read in quite exoteric Oriental scriptures of +the immense extension of the aura of the Buddha; I think that three +miles is mentioned on one occasion as its limit, but whatever the +exact measurement may be, it is obvious that we have here another +record of this fact of the extremely rapid growth of the causal body +as man passes on his upward way. There can be little doubt that the +rate of this growth would itself increase in geometrical progression, +so that it need not surprise us to hear of an Adept on a still higher +level whose aura is capable of including the entire world at once; and +from this we may gradually lead our minds up to the conception that +there is a Being so exalted as to comprehend within Himself the whole +of our solar system. And we should remember that, enormous as this +seems to us, it is but as the tiniest drop in the vast ocean of space. + +So of the Logos (who has in Him all the capacities and qualities with +which we can possibly endow the highest God we can imagine) it is +literally true, as was said of old, that "of Him and through Him, and +to Him are all things," and "in Him we live and move and have our +being." + +Now if this be so, it is clear that whatever happens within our system +happens absolutely within the consciousness of its Logos, and so we at +once see that the true record must be His memory; and furthermore, it +is obvious that on whatever plane that wondrous memory exists, it +cannot but be far above anything that we know, and consequently +whatever records we may find ourselves able to read must be only a +reflection of that great dominant fact, mirrored in the denser media +of the lower planes. + +On the astral plane it is at once evident that this is so--that what +we are dealing with is only a reflection of a reflection, and an +exceedingly imperfect one, for such records as can be reached there +are fragmentary in the extreme, and often seriously distorted. We know +how universally water is used as a symbol of the astral light, and in +this particular case it is a remarkably apt one. From the surface of +still water we may get a clear reflection of the surrounding objects, +just as from a mirror; but at the best it is only a reflection--a +representation in two dimensions of three-dimensional objects, and +therefore differing in all its qualities, except colour, from that +which it represents; and in addition to this, it is always reversed. + +But let the surface of the water be ruffled by the wind and what do we +find then? A reflection still, certainly, but so broken up and +distorted as to be quite useless or even misleading as a guide to the +shape and real appearance of the objects reflected. Here and there for +a moment we might happen to get a clear reflection of some minute part +of the scene--of a single leaf from a tree, for example; but it would +need long labour and considerable knowledge of natural laws to build +up anything like a true conception of the object reflected by putting +together even a large number of such isolated fragments of an image of +it. + +Now in the astral plane we can never have anything approaching to what +we have imaged as a still surface, but on the contrary we have always +to deal with one in rapid and bewildering motion; judge, therefore, +how little we can depend upon getting a clear and definite reflection. +Thus a clairvoyant who possesses only the faculty of astral sight can +never rely upon any picture of the past that comes before him as being +accurate and perfect; here and there some part of it _may_ be so, but +he has no means of knowing which it is. If he is under the care of a +competent teacher he may, by long and careful training, be shown how +to distinguish between reliable and unreliable impressions, and to +construct from the broken reflections some kind of image of the +object reflected; but usually long before he has mastered those +difficulties he will have developed the mental sight, which renders +such labour unnecessary. + +On the next plane, which we call the mental, conditions are very +different. There the record is full and accurate, and it would be +impossible to make any mistake in the reading. That is to say, if +three clairvoyants possessing the powers of the mental plane agreed to +examine a certain record there, what would be presented to their +vision would be absolutely the same reflection in each case, and each +would acquire a correct impression from it in reading it. It does not +however follow that when they all compared notes later on the physical +plane their reports would agree exactly. It is well known that if +three people who witness an occurrence down here in the physical world +set to work to describe it afterwards, their accounts will differ +considerably, for each will have noticed especially those items which +most appeal to him, and will insensibly have made them the prominent +features of the event, sometimes ignoring other points which were in +reality much more important. + +Now in the case of an observation on the mental plane this personal +equation would not appreciably affect the impressions received, for +since each would thoroughly grasp the entire subject it would be +impossible for him to see its parts out of due proportion; but, +except in the case of carefully trained and experienced persons, this +factor does come into play in transferring the impressions to the +lower planes. It is in the nature of things impossible that any +account given down here of a vision or experience on the mental plane +can be complete, since nine-tenths of what is seen and felt there +could not be expressed by physical words at all; and, since all +expression must therefore be partial, there is obviously some +possibility of selection as to the part expressed. It is for this +reason that in all our Theosophical investigations of recent years so +much stress has been laid upon the constant checking and verifying of +clairvoyant testimony, nothing which rests upon the vision of one +person only having been allowed to appear in our later books. + +But even when the possibility of error from this factor of personal +equation has been reduced to a minimum by a careful system of +counter-checking, there still remains the very serious difficulty which +is inherent in the operation of bringing down impressions from a higher +plane to a lower one. This is something analogous to the difficulty +experienced by a painter in his endeavour to reproduce a +three-dimensional landscape on a flat surface--that is, practically in +two dimensions. Just as the artist needs long and careful training of +eye and hand before he can produce a satisfactory representation of +nature, so does the clairvoyant need long and careful training before he +can describe accurately on a lower plane what he sees on a higher one; +and the probability of getting an exact description from an untrained +person is about equal to that of getting a perfectly-finished landscape +from one who has never learnt how to draw. + +It must be remembered, too, that the most perfect picture is in +reality infinitely far from being a reproduction of the scene which it +represents, for hardly a single line or angle in it can ever be the +same as those in the object copied. It is simply a very ingenious +attempt to make upon one only of our five senses, by means of lines +and colours on a flat surface, an impression similar to that which +would have been made if we had actually had before us the scene +depicted. Except by a suggestion dependent entirely on our own +previous experience, it can convey to us nothing of the roar of the +sea, of the scent of the flowers, of the taste of the fruit, or of the +softness or hardness of the surface drawn. + +Of exactly similar nature, though far greater in degree, are the +difficulties experienced by a clairvoyant in his attempt to describe +upon the physical plane what he has seen upon the astral; and they are +furthermore greatly enhanced by the fact that, instead of having +merely to recall to the minds of his hearers conceptions with which +they are already familiar, as the artist does when he paints men or +animals, fields or trees, he has to endeavour by the very imperfect +means at his disposal to suggest to them conceptions which in most +cases are absolutely new to them. + +Small wonder then that, however vivid and striking his descriptions +may seem to his audience, he himself should constantly be impressed +with their total inadequacy, and should feel that his best efforts +have entirely failed to convey any idea of what he really sees. And we +must remember that in the case of the report given down here of a +record read on the mental plane, this difficult operation of +transference from the higher to the lower has taken place not once but +twice, since the memory has been brought through the intervening +astral plane. Even in a case where the investigator has the advantage +of having developed his mental faculties so that he has the use of +them while awake in the physical body, he is still hampered by the +absolute incapacity of physical language to express what he sees. + +Try for a moment to realize fully what is called the fourth dimension, +of which we said something in an earlier chapter. It is easy enough to +think of our own three dimensions--to image in our minds the length, +breadth and height of any object; and we see that each of these three +dimensions is expressed by a line at right angles to both of the +others. The idea of the fourth dimension is that it might be possible +to draw a fourth line which shall be at right angles to all three of +those already existing. + +Now the ordinary mind cannot grasp this idea in the least, though some +few who have made a special study of the subject have gradually come +to be able to realize one or two very simple four-dimensional figures. +Still, no words that they can use on this plane can bring any image of +these figures before the minds of others, and if any reader who has +not specially trained himself along that line will make the effort to +visualize such a shape he will find it quite impossible. Now to +express such a form clearly in physical words would be, in effect, to +describe accurately a single object on the astral plane; but in +examining the records on the mental plane we should have to face the +additional difficulties of a fifth dimension! So that the +impossibility of fully explaining these records will be obvious to +even the most superficial observation. + +We have spoken of the records as the memory of the Logos, yet they are +very much more than a memory in an ordinary sense of the word. +Hopeless as it may be to imagine how these images appear from His +point of view, we yet know that as we rise higher and higher we must +be drawing nearer to the true memory--must be seeing more nearly as He +sees; so that great interest attaches to the experience of the +clairvoyant with reference to these records when he stands upon the +buddhic plane--the highest which his consciousness can reach even +when away from the physical body until he attains the level of the +Arhats. + +Here time and space no longer limit him; he no longer needs, as on the +mental plane, to pass a series of events in review, for past, present +and future are all alike simultaneously present to him, meaningless as +that sounds down here. Indeed, infinitely below the consciousness of +the Logos as even that exalted plane is, it is yet abundantly clear +from what we see there that to Him the record must be far more than +what we call a memory, for all that has happened in the past and all +that will happen in the future is _happening now_ before His eyes just +as are the events of what we call the present time. Utterly +incredible, wildly incomprehensible, of course, to our limited +understanding; yet absolutely true for all that. + +Naturally we could not expect to understand at our present stage of +knowledge how so marvellous a result is produced, and to attempt an +explanation would only be to involve ourselves in a mist of words from +which we should gain no real information. Yet a line of thought recurs +to my mind which perhaps suggests the direction in which it is +possible that that explanation may lie: and whatever helps us to +realize that so astounding a statement may after all not be wholly +impossible will be of assistance in broadening our minds. + +Some thirty years ago I remember reading a very curious little book, +called, I think, _The Stars and the Earth_, the object of which was to +endeavour to show how it was scientifically possible that to the mind +of God the past and the present might be absolutely simultaneous. Its +arguments struck me at the time as decidedly ingenious, and I will +proceed to summarize them, as I think they will be found somewhat +suggestive in connection with the subject which we have been +considering. + +When we see anything, whether it be the book which we hold in our +hands or a star millions of miles away, we do so by means of a +vibration in the ether, commonly called a ray of light, which passes +from the object seen to our eyes. Now the speed with which this +vibration passes is so great--about 186,000 miles in a second--that +when we are considering any object in our own world we may regard it +as practically instantaneous. When, however, we come to deal with +interplanetary distances we have to take the speed of light into +consideration, for an appreciable period is occupied in traversing +these vast spaces. For example it takes eight minutes and a quarter +for light to travel to us from the sun, so that when we look at the +solar orb we see it by means of a ray of light which left it more than +eight minutes ago. + +From this follows a very curious result. The ray of light by which we +see the sun can obviously report to us only the state of affairs +which existed in that luminary when it started on its journey, and +would not be in the least affected by anything that happened there +after it left; so that we really see the sun not as he _is_, but as he +was eight minutes ago. That is to say that if anything important took +place in the sun--the formation of a new sun-spot, for instance--an +astronomer who was watching the orb through his telescope at the time +would be quite unaware of the incident while it was happening, since +the ray of light bearing the news would not reach him until more than +eight minutes later. + +The difference is more striking when we consider the fixed stars, +because in their case the distances are so enormously greater. The +pole star, for example, is so far off that light, travelling at the +inconceivable speed above mentioned, takes a little more than fifty +years to reach our eyes; and from that follows the strange but +inevitable inference that we see the pole star not as and where it is +at this moment, but as and where it was fifty years ago. Nay, if +to-morrow some cosmic catastrophe were to shatter the pole star into +fragments, we should still see it peacefully shining in the sky all +the rest of our lives; our children would grow up to middle age and +gather their children about them in turn before the news of that +tremendous accident reached any terrestrial eye. In the same way there +are other stars so far distant that light takes thousands of years to +travel from them to us, and with reference to their condition our +information is therefore thousands of years behind time. + +Now carry the argument a step farther. Suppose that we were able to +place a man at the distance of 186,000 miles from the earth, and yet +to endow him with the wonderful faculty of being able from that +distance to see what was happening here as clearly as though he were +still close beside us. It is evident that a man so placed would see +everything a second after the time when it really happened, and so at +the present moment he would be seeing what happened a second ago. +Double the distance, and he would be two seconds behind time, and so +on; remove him to the distance of the sun (still allowing him to +preserve the same mysterious power of sight) and he would look down +and watch you doing not what you _are_ doing now, but what you _were_ +doing eight minutes and a quarter ago. Carry him away to the pole +star, and he would see passing before his eyes the events of fifty +years ago; he would be watching the childish gambols of those who at +the very same moment were really middle-aged men. Marvellous as this +may sound, it is literally and scientifically true, and cannot be +denied. + +The little book went on to argue logically enough that God, being +almighty, must possess the wonderful power of sight which we have +been postulating for our observer; and further, that being +omnipresent, He must be at each of the stations which we mentioned, +and also at every intermediate point, not successively but +simultaneously. Granting these premises, the inevitable deduction +follows that everything which has ever happened from the very +beginning of the world _must_ be at this very moment taking place +before the eye of God--not a mere memory of it, but the actual +occurrence itself being now under His observation. + +All this is materialistic enough, and on the plane of purely physical +science, and we may therefore be assured that it is _not_ the way in +which the memory of the Logos acts; yet it is neatly worked out and +absolutely incontrovertible, and as I have said before, it is not +without its use, since it gives us a glimpse of some possibilities +which otherwise might not occur to us. + +But, it may be asked, how is it possible, amid the bewildering +confusion of these records of the past, to find any particular picture +when it is wanted? As a matter of fact, the untrained clairvoyant +usually cannot do so without some special link to put him _en rapport_ +with the subject required. Psychometry is an instance in point, and it +is quite probable that our ordinary memory is really only another +presentment of the same idea. It seems as though there were a sort of +magnetic attachment or affinity between any particle of matter and the +record which contains its history--an affinity which enables it to act +as a kind of conductor between that record and the faculties of anyone +who can read it. + +For example, I once brought from Stonehenge a tiny fragment of stone, +not larger than a pin's head, and on putting this into an envelope and +handing it to a psychometer who had no idea what it was, she at once +began to describe that wonderful ruin and the desolate country +surrounding it, and then went on to picture vividly what were +evidently scenes from its early history, showing that that +infinitesimal fragment had been sufficient to put her into +communication with the records connected with the spot from which it +came. The scenes through which we pass in the course of our life seem +to act in the same manner upon the cells of our brain as did the +history of Stonehenge upon that particle of stone: they establish a +connection with those cells by means of which our mind is put _en +rapport_ with that particular portion of the records, and so we +"remember" what we have seen. + +Even a trained clairvoyant needs some link to enable him to find the +record of an event of which he has no previous knowledge. If, for +example, he wished to observe the landing of Julius Cæsar on the +shores of England, there are several ways in which he might approach +the subject. If he happened to have visited the scene of the +occurrence, the simplest way would probably be to call up the image of +that spot, and then run back through its records until he reached the +period desired. If he had not seen the place, he might run back in +time to the date of the event, and then search the Channel for a fleet +of Roman galleys; or he might examine the records of Roman life at +about that period, where he would have no difficulty in identifying so +prominent a figure as Cæsar, or in tracing him when found through all +his Gallic wars until he set his foot upon British land. + +People often enquire as to the aspect of these records--whether they +appear near or far away from the eye, whether the figures in them are +large or small, whether the pictures follow one another as in a +panorama or melt into one another like dissolving views, and so on. +One can only reply that their appearance varies to a certain extent +according to the conditions under which they are seen. Upon the astral +plane the reflection is most often a simple picture, though +occasionally the figures seen would be endowed with motion; in this +latter case, instead of a mere snapshot a rather longer and more +perfect reflection has taken place. + +On the mental plane they have two widely different aspects. When the +visitor to that plane is not thinking specially of them in any way, +the records simply form a background to whatever is going on, just as +the reflections in a pier-glass at the end of a room might form a +background to the life of the people in it. It must always be borne in +mind that under these conditions they are really merely reflections +from the ceaseless activity of a great Consciousness upon a far higher +plane, and have very much the appearance of an endless succession of +the recently invented _cinematographe_, or living photographs. They do +not melt into one another like dissolving views, nor do a series of +ordinary pictures follow one another; but the action of the reflected +figures constantly goes on, as though one were watching the actors on +a distant stage. + +But if the trained investigator turns his attention specially to any +one scene, or wishes to call it up before him, an extraordinary change +at once takes place, for this is the plane of thought, and to think of +anything is to bring it instantaneously before you. For example, if a +man wills to see the record of that event to which we before +referred--the landing of Julius Cæsar--he finds himself in a moment +not looking at any picture, but standing on the shore among the +legionaries, with the whole scene being enacted around him, precisely +in every respect as he would have seen it if he had stood there in the +flesh on that autumn morning in the year 55 B.C. Since what he sees is +but a reflection, the actors are of course entirely unconscious of +him, nor can any effort of his change the course of their action in +the smallest degree, except only that he can control the rate at which +the drama shall pass before him--can have the events of a whole year +rehearsed before his eyes in a single hour, or can at any moment stop +the movement altogether, and hold any particular scene in view as a +picture as long as he chooses. + +In truth he observes not only what he would have seen if he had been +there at the time in the flesh, but much more. He hears and +understands all that the people say, and he is conscious of all their +thoughts and motives; and one of the most interesting of the many +possibilities which open up before one who has learnt to read the +records is the study of the thought of ages long past--the thought of +the cave-men and the lake-dwellers as well as that which ruled the +mighty civilisations of Atlantis, of Egypt or Chaldæa. What splendid +possibilities open up before the man who is in full possession of this +power may easily be imagined. He has before him a field of historical +research of most entrancing interest. Not only can he review at his +leisure all history with which we are acquainted, correcting as he +examines it the many errors and misconceptions which have crept into +the accounts handed down to us; he can also range at will over the +whole story of the world from its very beginning, watching the slow +development of intellect in man, the descent of the Lords of the +Flame, and the growth of the mighty civilisations which they founded. + +Nor is his study confined to the progress of humanity alone; he has +before him, as in a museum, all the strange animal and vegetable forms +which occupied the stage in days when the world was young; he can +follow all the wonderful geological changes which have taken place, +and watch the course of the great cataclysms which have altered the +whole face of the earth again and again. + +In one especial case an even closer sympathy with the past is possible +to the reader of the records. If in the course of his enquiries he has +to look upon some scene in which he himself has in a former birth +taken part, he may deal with it in two ways; he can either regard it +in the usual manner as a spectator (though always, be it remembered, +as a spectator whose insight and sympathy are perfect) or he may once +more identify himself with that long-dead personality of his--may +throw himself back for the time into that life of long ago, and +absolutely experience over again the thoughts and the emotions, the +pleasures and the pains of a prehistoric past. No wilder and more +vivid adventures can be conceived than some of those through which he +thus may pass; yet through it all he must never lose hold of the +consciousness of his own individuality--must retain the power to +return at will to his present personality. + +It is often asked how it is possible for an investigator accurately to +determine the date of any picture from the far-distant past which he +disinters from the records. The fact is that it is sometimes rather +tedious work to find an exact date, but the thing can usually be done +if it is worth while to spend the time and trouble over it. If we are +dealing with Greek or Roman times the simplest method is usually to +look into the mind of the most intelligent person present in the +picture, and see what date he supposes it to be; or the investigator +might watch him writing a letter or other document and observe what +date, if any, was included in what was written. When once the Roman or +Greek date is thus obtained, to reduce it to our own system of +chronology is merely a matter of calculation. + +Another way which is frequently adopted is to turn from the scene +under examination to a contemporary picture in some great and +well-known city such as Rome, and note what monarch is reigning there, +or who are the consuls for the year; and when such data are discovered +a glance at any good history will give the rest. Sometimes a date can +be obtained by examining some public proclamation or some legal +document; in fact in the times of which we are speaking the difficulty +is easily surmounted. + +The matter is by no means so simple, however, when we come to deal +with periods much earlier than this--with a scene from early Egypt, +Chaldæa, or China, or to go further back still, from Atlantis itself +or any of its numerous colonies. A date can still be obtained easily +enough from the mind of any educated man, but there is no longer any +means of relating it to our own system of dates, since the man will be +reckoning by eras of which we know nothing, or by the reigns of kings +whose history is lost in the night of time. + +Our methods, nevertheless, are not yet exhausted. It must be +remembered that it is possible for the investigator to pass the +records before him at any speed that he may desire--at the rate of a +year in a second if he will, or even very much faster still. Now there +are one or two events in ancient history whose dates have already been +accurately fixed--as, for example, the sinking of Poseidonis in the +year 9564 B.C. It is therefore obvious that if from the general +appearance of the surroundings it seems probable that a picture seen +is within measurable distance of one of these events, it can be +related to that event by the simple process of running through the +record rapidly, and counting the years between the two as they pass. + +Still, if those years ran into thousands, as they might sometimes do, +this plan would be insufferably tedious. In that case we are driven +back upon the astronomical method. In consequence of the movement +which is commonly called the precession of the equinoxes, though it +might more accurately be described as a kind of second rotation of +the earth, the angle between the equator and the ecliptic steadily but +very slowly varies. Thus, after long intervals of time we find the +pole of the earth no longer pointing towards the same spot in the +apparent sphere of the heavens, or in other words, our pole-star is +not, as at present, [Greek: a] Ursæ Minoris, but some other celestial +body; and from this position of the pole of the earth, which can +easily be ascertained by careful observation of the night-sky of the +picture under consideration, an approximate date can be calculated +without difficulty. + +In estimating the date of occurrences which took place millions of +years ago in earlier races, the period of a secondary rotation (or the +precession of the equinoxes) is frequently used as a unit, but of +course absolute accuracy is not usually required in such cases, round +numbers being sufficient for all practical purposes in dealing with +epochs so remote. + +The accurate reading of the records, whether of one's own past lives +or those of others, must not, however, be thought of as an achievement +possible to anyone without careful previous training. As has been +already remarked, though occasional reflections may be had upon the +astral plane, the power to use the mental sense is necessary before +any reliable reading can be done. Indeed, to minimize the possibility +of error, that sense ought to be fully at the command of the +investigator while awake in the physical body; and to acquire that +faculty needs years of ceaseless labour and rigid self-discipline. + +Many people seem to expect that as soon as they have signed their +application and joined the Theosophical Society they will at once +remember at least three or four of their past births; indeed, some of +them promptly begin to imagine recollections and declare that in their +last incarnation they were Mary Queen of Scots, Cleopatra, or Julius +Cæsar! Of course such extravagant claims simply bring discredit upon +those who are so foolish as to make them but unfortunately some of +that discredit is liable to be reflected, however unjustly, upon the +Society to which they belong, so that a man who feels seething within +him the conviction that he was Homer or Shakespeare would do well to +pause and apply common-sense tests on the physical plane before +publishing the news to the world. + +It is quite true that some people have had glimpses of scenes from +their past lives in dreams, but naturally these are usually +fragmentary and unreliable. I had myself in earlier life an experience +of this nature. Among my dreams I found that one was constantly +recurring--a dream of a house with a portico over-looking a beautiful +bay, not far from a hill on the top of which rose a graceful building. +I knew that house perfectly, and was as familiar with the position of +its rooms and the view from its door as I was with those of my home, +in this present life. In those days I knew nothing about +reincarnation, so that it seemed to me simply a curious coincidence +that this dream should repeat itself so often; and it was not until +some time after I had joined the Society that, when one who knew was +showing me some pictures of my last incarnation, I discovered that +this persistent dream had been in reality a partial recollection, and +that the house which I knew so well was the one in which I was born +more than two thousand years ago. + +But although there are several cases on record in which some +well-remembered scene has thus come through from one life to another, +a considerable development of occult faculty is necessary before an +investigator can definitely trace a line of incarnations, whether they +be his own or another man's. This will be obvious if we remember the +conditions of the problem which has to be worked out. To follow a +person from this life to the one preceding it, it is necessary first +of all to trace his present life backwards to his birth and then to +follow up in reverse order the stages by which the Ego descended into +incarnation. + +This will obviously take us back eventually to the condition of the +Ego upon the higher levels of the mental plane; so it will be seen +that to perform this task effectually the investigator must be able to +use the sense corresponding to that exalted level while awake in his +physical body--in other words, his consciousness must be centred in +the reincarnating Ego itself, and no longer in the lower personality. +In that case, the memory of the Ego being aroused, his own past +incarnations will be spread out before him like an open book, and he +would be able, if he wished, to examine the conditions of another Ego +upon that level and trace him backwards through the lower mental and +astral lives which led up to it, until he came to the last physical +death of that Ego, and through it to his previous life. + +There is no way but this in which the chain of lives can be followed +through with absolute certainty: and consequently we may at once put +aside as conscious or unconscious impostors those people who advertise +that they are able to trace out anyone's past incarnations for so many +shillings a head. Needless to say, the true occultist does not +advertise, and never under any circumstances accepts money for any +exhibition of his powers. + +Assuredly the student who wishes to acquire the power of following up +a line of incarnations can do so only by learning from a qualified +teacher how the work is to be done. There have been those who +persistently asserted that it was only necessary for a man to feel +good and devotional and "brotherly," and all the wisdom of the ages +would immediately flow in upon him; but a little common-sense will at +once expose the absurdity of such a position. However good a child +may be, if he wants to know the multiplication table he must set to +work and learn it; and the case is precisely similar with the capacity +to use spiritual faculties. The faculties themselves will no doubt +manifest as the man evolves, but he can learn how to use them reliably +and to the best advantage only by steady hard work and persevering +effort. + +Take the case of those who wish to help others while on the astral +plane during sleep; it is obvious that the more knowledge they possess +here, the more valuable will their services be on that higher plane. +For example, the knowledge of languages would be useful to them, for +though on the mental plane men can communicate directly by +thought-transference, whatever their languages may be, on the astral +plane this is not so, and a thought must be definitely formulated in +words before it is comprehensible. If, therefore, you wish to help a +man on that plane, you must have some language in common by means of +which you can communicate with him, and consequently the more +languages you know the more widely useful you will be. In fact there +is perhaps no kind of knowledge for which a use cannot be found in the +work of the occultist. + +It would be well for all students to bear in mind that occultism is +the apotheosis of common-sense, and that every vision which comes to +them is not necessarily a picture from the âkâshic records, nor every +experience a revelation from on high. It is better far to err on the +side of healthy scepticism than of over-credulity; and it is an +admirable rule never to hunt about for an occult explanation of +anything when a plain and obvious physical one is available. Our duty +is to endeavour to keep our balance always, and never to lose our +self-control, but to take a reasonable, common-sense view of whatever +may happen to us; so shall we be better Theosophists, wiser +occultists, and more useful helpers than we have ever been before. + +As usual, we find examples of all degrees of the power to see into +this memory of nature, from the trained man who can consult the record +for himself at will, down to the person who gets nothing but +occasional vague glimpses, or has even perhaps had only one such +glimpse. But even the man who possesses this faculty only partially +and occasionally still finds it of the deepest interest. The +psychometer, who needs an object physically connected with the past in +order to bring it all into life again around him, and the +crystal-gazer who can sometimes direct his less certain astral +telescope to some historic scene of long ago, may both derive the +greatest enjoyment from the exercise of their respective gifts, even +though they may not always understand exactly how their results are +produced, and may not have them fully under control under all +circumstances. + +In many cases of the lower manifestations of these powers we find that +they are exercised unconsciously; many a crystal-gazer watches scenes +from the past without being able to distinguish them from visions of +the present, and many a vaguely-psychic person finds pictures +constantly arising before his eyes without ever realizing that he is +in effect psychometrizing the various objects around him as he happens +to touch them or stand near them. + +An interesting variant of this class of psychics is the man who is +able to psychometrize persons only, and not inanimate objects as is +more usual. In most cases this faculty shows itself erratically, so +that such a psychic will, when introduced to a stranger, often see in +a flash some prominent event in that stranger's earlier life, but on +other similar occasions will receive no special impression. More +rarely we meet with someone who gets detailed visions of the past life +of everyone whom he encounters. Perhaps one of the best examples of +this class was the German writer Zschokke, who describes in his +autobiography this extraordinary power of which he found himself +possessed. He says:-- + +"It has happened to me occasionally at the first meeting with a total +stranger, when I have been listening in silence to his conversation, +that his past life up to the present moment, with many minute +circumstances belonging to one or other particular scene in it, has +come across me like a dream, but distinctly, entirely involuntarily +and unsought, occupying in duration a few minutes. + +"For a long time I was disposed to consider these fleeting visions as +a trick of the fancy--the more so as my dream-vision displayed to me +the dress and movements of the actors, the appearance of the room, the +furniture, and other accidents of the scene; till on one occasion, in +a gamesome mood, I narrated to my family the secret history of a +sempstress who had just before quitted the room. I had never seen the +person before. Nevertheless the hearers were astonished, and laughed +and would not be persuaded but that I had a previous acquaintance with +the former life of the person, inasmuch as what I had stated was +perfectly true. + +"I was not less astonished to find that my dream-vision agreed with +reality. I then gave more attention to the subject, and as often as +propriety allowed of it, I related to those whose lives had so passed +before me the substance of my dream-vision, to obtain from them its +contradiction or confirmation. On every occasion its confirmation +followed, not without amazement on the part of those who gave it. + +"On a certain fair-day I went into the town of Waldshut accompanied by +two young foresters, who are still alive. It was evening, and, tired +with our walk, we went into an inn called the 'Vine.' We took our +supper with a numerous company at the public table, when it happened +that they made themselves merry over the peculiarities and simplicity +of the Swiss in connection with the belief in mesmerism, Lavater's +physiognomical system and the like. One of my companions, whose +national pride was touched by their raillery, begged me to make some +reply, particularly in answer to a young man of superior appearance +who sat opposite, and had indulged in unrestrained ridicule. + +"It happened that the events of this person's life had just previously +passed before my mind. I turned to him with the question whether he +would reply to me with truth and candour if I narrated to him the most +secret passages of his history, he being as little known to me as I to +him? That would, I suggested, go something beyond Lavater's +physiognomical skill. He promised if I told the truth to admit it +openly. Then I narrated the events with which my dream-vision had +furnished me, and the table learnt the history of the young +tradesman's life, of his school years, his peccadilloes, and, finally, +of a little act of roguery committed by him on the strong-box of his +employer. I described the uninhabited room with its white walls, where +to the right of the brown door there had stood upon the table the +small black money-chest, etc. The man, much struck, admitted the +correctness of each circumstance--even, which I could not expect, of +the last." + +And after narrating this incident, the worthy Zschokke calmly goes on +to wonder whether perhaps after all this remarkable power, which he +had so often displayed, might not really have been always the result +of mere chance coincidence! + +Comparatively few accounts of persons possessing this faculty of +looking back into the past are to be found in the literature of the +subject, and it might therefore be supposed to be much less common +than prevision. I suspect, however, that the truth is rather that it +is much less commonly recognized. As I said before, it may very easily +happen that a person may see a picture of the past without recognizing +it as such, unless there happens to be in it something which attracts +special attention, such as a figure in armour or in antique costume. A +prevision also might not always be recognized as such at the time; but +the occurrence of the event foreseen recalls it vividly at the same +time that it manifests its nature, so that it is unlikely to be +overlooked. It is probable, therefore, that occasional glimpses of +these astral reflections of the âkâshic records are commoner than the +published accounts would lead us to believe. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN TIME: THE FUTURE. + + +Even if, in a dim sort of way, we feel ourselves able to grasp the +idea that the whole of the past may be simultaneously and actively +present in a sufficiently exalted consciousness, we are confronted by +a far greater difficulty when we endeavour to realize how all the +future may also be comprehended in that consciousness. If we could +believe in the Mohammedan doctrine of kismet, or the Calvinistic +theory of predestination, the conception would be easy enough, but +knowing as we do that both these are grotesque distortions of the +truth, we must look round for a more acceptable hypothesis. + +There may still be some people who deny the possibility of prevision, +but such denial simply shows their ignorance of the evidence on the +subject. The large number of authenticated cases leaves no room for +doubt as to the fact, but many of them are of such a nature as to +render a reasonable explanation by no means easy to find. It is +evident that the Ego possesses a certain amount of previsional +faculty, and if the events foreseen were always of great importance, +one might suppose that an extraordinary stimulus had enabled him for +that occasion only to make a clear impression of what he saw upon his +lower personality. No doubt that is the explanation of many of the +cases in which death or grave disaster is foreseen, but there are a +large number of instances on record to which it does not seem to +apply, since the events foretold are frequently exceedingly trivial +and unimportant. + +A well-known story of second-sight in Scotland will illustrate what I +mean. A man who had no belief in the occult was forewarned by a +Highland seer of the approaching death of a neighbour. The prophecy +was given with considerable wealth of detail, including a full +description of the funeral, with the names of the four pall-bearers +and others who would be present. The auditor seems to have laughed at +the whole story and promptly forgotten it, but the death of his +neighbour at the time foretold recalled the warning to his mind, and +he determined to falsify part of the prediction at any rate by being +one of the pall-bearers himself. He succeeded in getting matters +arranged as he wished, but just as the funeral was about to start he +was called away from his post by some small matter which detained him +only a minute or two. As he came hurrying back he saw with surprise +that the procession had started without him, and that the prediction +had been exactly fulfilled, for the four pall-bearers were those who +had been indicated in the vision. + +Now here is a very trifling matter, which could have been of no +possible importance to anybody, definitely foreseen months beforehand; +and although a man makes a determined effort to alter the arrangement +indicated he fails entirely to affect it in the least. Certainly this +looks very much like predestination, even down to the smallest detail, +and it is only when we examine this question from higher planes that +we are able to see our way to escape that theory. Of course, as I said +before about another branch of the subject, a full explanation eludes +us as yet, and obviously must do so until our knowledge is infinitely +greater than it is now; the most that we can hope to do for the +present is to indicate the line along which an explanation may be +found. + +There is no doubt whatever that, just as what is happening now is the +result of causes set in motion in the past, so what will happen in the +future will be the result of causes already in operation. Even down +here we can calculate that if certain actions are performed certain +results will follow, but our reckoning is constantly liable to be +disturbed by the interference of factors which we have not been able +to take into account. But if we raise our consciousness to the mental +plane we can see very much farther into the results of our actions. + +We can trace, for example, the effect of a casual word, not only upon +the person to whom it was addressed, but through him on many others as +it is passed on in widening circles, until it seems to have affected +the whole country; and one glimpse of such a vision is far more +efficient than any number of moral precepts in impressing upon us the +necessity of extreme circumspection in thought, word, and deed. Not +only can we from that plane see thus fully the result of every action, +but we can also see where and in what way the results of other actions +apparently quite unconnected with it will interfere with and modify +it. In fact, it may be said that the results of all causes at present +in action are clearly visible--that the future, as it would be if no +entirely new causes should arise, lies open before our gaze. + +New causes of course do arise, because man's will is free; but in the +case of all ordinary people the use which they will make of their +freedom can be calculated beforehand with considerable accuracy. The +average man has so little real will that he is very much the creature +of circumstances; his action in previous lives places him amid certain +surroundings, and their influence upon him is so very much the most +important factor in his life-story that his future course may be +predicted with almost mathematical certainty. With the developed man +the case is different; for him also the main events of life are +arranged by his past actions, but the way in which he will allow them +to affect him, the methods by which he will deal with them and perhaps +triumph over them--these are all his own, and they cannot be foreseen +even on the mental plane except as probabilities. + +Looking down on man's life in this way from above, it seems as though +his free will could be exercised only at certain crises in his career. +He arrives at a point in his life where there are obviously two or +three alternative courses open before him; he is absolutely free to +choose which of them he pleases, and although some one who knew his +nature thoroughly well might feel almost certain what his choice would +be, such knowledge on his friend's part is in no sense a compelling +force. + +But when he _has_ chosen, he has to go through with it and take the +consequences; having entered upon a particular path he may, in many +cases, be forced to go on for a very long way before he has any +opportunity to turn aside. His position is somewhat like that of the +driver of a train; when he comes to a junction he may have the points +set either this way or that, and so can pass on to whichever line he +pleases, but when he _has_ passed on to one of them he is compelled to +run on along the line which he has selected until he reaches another +set of points, where again an opportunity of choice is offered to him. + +Now, in looking down from the mental plane, these points of new +departure would be clearly visible, and all the results of each choice +would lie open before us, certain to be worked out even to the +smallest detail. The only point which would remain uncertain would be +the all-important one as to which choice the man would make. We +should, in fact, have not one but several futures mapped out before +our eyes, without necessarily being able to determine which of them +would materialize itself into accomplished fact. In most instances we +should see so strong a probability that we should not hesitate to come +to a decision, but the case which I have described is certainly +theoretically possible. Still, even this much knowledge would enable +us to do with safety a good deal of prediction; and it is not +difficult for us to imagine that a far higher power than ours might +always be able to foresee which way every choice would go, and +consequently to prophesy with absolute certainty. + +On the buddhic plane, however, no such elaborate process of conscious +calculation is necessary, for, as I said before, in some manner which +down here is totally inexplicable, the past, the present, and the +future, are there all existing simultaneously. One can only accept +this fact, for its cause lies in the faculty of the plane, and the +way in which this higher faculty works is naturally quite +incomprehensible to the physical brain. Yet now and then one may meet +with a hint that seems to bring us a trifle nearer to a dim +possibility of comprehension. One such hint was given by Dr. Oliver +Lodge in his address to the British Association at Cardiff. He said: + +"A luminous and helpful idea is that time is but a relative mode of +regarding things; we progress through phenomena at a certain definite +pace, and this subjective advance we interpret in an objective manner, +as if events moved necessarily in this order and at this precise rate. +But that may be only one mode of regarding them. The events may be in +some sense in existence always, both past and future, and it may be we +who are arriving at them, not they which are happening. The analogy of a +traveller in a railway train is useful; if he could never leave the +train nor alter its pace he would probably consider the landscapes as +necessarily successive and be unable to conceive their co-existence.... +We perceive, therefore, a possible fourth dimensional aspect about time, +the inexorableness of whose flow may be a natural part or our present +limitations. And if we once grasp the idea that past and future may be +actually existing, we can recognize that they may have a controlling +influence on all present action, and the two together may constitute the +'higher plane' or totality of things after which, as it seems to me, we +are impelled to seek, in connection with the directing of form or +determinism, and the action of living beings consciously directed to a +definite and preconceived end." + +Time is not in reality the fourth dimension at all; yet to look at it +for the moment from that point of view is some slight help towards +grasping the ungraspable. Suppose that we hold a wooden cone at right +angles to a sheet of paper, and slowly push it through it point first. +A microbe living on the surface of that sheet of paper, and having no +power of conceiving anything outside of that surface, could not only +never see the cone as a whole, but he could form no sort of conception +of such a body at all. All that he would see would be the sudden +appearance of a tiny circle, which would gradually and mysteriously +grow larger and larger until it vanished from his world as suddenly +and incomprehensibly as it had come into it. + +Thus, what were in reality a series of sections of the cone would +appear to him to be successive stages in the life of a circle, and it +would be impossible for him to grasp the idea that these successive +stages could be seen simultaneously. Yet it is, of course, easy enough +for us, looking down upon the transaction from another dimension, to +see that the microbe is simply under a delusion arising from its own +limitations, and that the cone exists as a whole all the while. Our +own delusion as to past, present, and future is possibly not +dissimilar, and the view that is gained of any sequence of events from +the buddhic plane corresponds to the view of the cone as a whole. +Naturally, any attempt to work out this suggestion lands us in a +series of startling paradoxes; but the fact remains a fact, +nevertheless, and the time will come when it will be clear as noonday +to our comprehension. + +When the pupil's consciousness is fully developed upon the buddhic +plane, therefore, perfect prevision is possible to him, though he may +not--nay, he certainly will not--be able to bring the whole result of +his sight through fully and in order into this light. Still, a great +deal of clear foresight is obviously within his power whenever he +likes to exercise it; and even when he is not exercising it, frequent +flashes of fore-knowledge come through into his ordinary life, so that +he often has an instantaneous intuition as to how things will turn out +even before their inception. + +Short of this perfect prevision we find, as in the previous cases, +that all degrees of this type of clairvoyance exist, from the +occasional vague premonitions which cannot in any true sense be called +sight at all, up to frequent and fairly complete second-sight. The +faculty to which this latter somewhat misleading name has been given +is an extremely interesting one, and would well repay more careful +and systematic study than has ever hitherto been given to it. + +It is best known to us as a not infrequent possession of the Scottish +Highlanders, though it is by no means confined to them. Occasional +instances of it have appeared in almost every nation, but it has +always been commonest among mountaineers and men of lonely life. With +us in England it is often spoken of as though it were the exclusive +appanage of the Celtic race, but in reality it has appeared among +similarly situated peoples the world over. It is stated, for example, +to be very common among the Westphalian peasantry. + +Sometimes the second-sight consists of a picture clearly foreshowing +some coming event; more frequently, perhaps, the glimpse of the future +is given by some symbolical appearance. It is noteworthy that the +events foreseen are invariably unpleasant ones--death being the +commonest of all; I do not recollect a single instance in which the +second-sight has shown anything which was not of the most gloomy +nature. It has a ghastly symbolism which is all its own--a symbolism +of shrouds and corpse-candles, and other funereal horrors. In some +cases it appears to be to a certain extent dependent on locality, for +it is stated that inhabitants of the Isle of Skye who possess the +faculty often lose it when they leave the island, even though it be +only to cross to the mainland. The gift of such sight is sometimes +hereditary in a family for generations, but this is not an invariable +rule, for it often appears sporadically in one member of a family +otherwise free from its lugubrious influence. + +An example in which an accurate vision of a coming event was seen some +months beforehand by second-sight has already been given. Here is +another and perhaps a more striking one, which I give exactly as it +was related to me by one of the actors in the scene. + +"We plunged into the jungle, and had walked on for about an hour +without much success, when Cameron, who happened to be next to me, +stopped suddenly, turned pale as death, and, pointing straight before +him, cried in accents of horror: + +"'See! see! merciful heaven, look there!' + +"'Where? what? what is it?' we all shouted confusedly, as we rushed up +to him and looked round in expectation of encountering a tiger--a +cobra--we hardly knew what, but assuredly something terrible, since it +had been sufficient to cause such evident emotion in our usually +self-contained comrade. But neither tiger nor cobra was +visible--nothing but Cameron pointing with ghastly, haggard face and +starting eyeballs at something we could not see. + +"'Cameron! Cameron' cried I, seizing his arm, "'for heaven's sake, +speak! What is the matter?' + +"Scarcely were the words out of my mouth when a low, but very peculiar +sound struck on my ear, and Cameron, dropping his pointing hand, said +in a hoarse, strained voice, 'There! you heard it? Thank God it's +over' and fell to the ground insensible. + +"There was a momentary confusion while we unfastened his collar, and I +dashed in his face some water which I fortunately had in my flask, +while another tried to pour brandy between his clenched teeth; and +under cover of it I whispered to the man next to me (one of our +greatest sceptics, by the way), 'Beauchamp, did _you_ hear anything?' + +"'Why, yes,' he replied, a curious sound, very; a sort of crash or +rattle far away in the distance, yet very distinct; if the thing were +not utterly impossible, I could have sworn it was the rattle of +musketry.' + +"'Just my impression,' murmured I; 'but hush! he is recovering.' + +"In a minute or two he was able to speak feebly, and began to thank us +and apologize for giving trouble; and soon he sat up, leaning against +a tree, and in a firm, though still low voice said: + +"'My dear friends, I feel I owe you an explanation of my extraordinary +behaviour. It is an explanation that I would fain avoid giving; but it +must come some time, and so may as well be given now. You may perhaps +have noticed that when during our voyage you all joined in scoffing at +dreams, portents and visions, I invariably avoided giving any opinion +on the subject. I did so because, while I had no desire to court +ridicule or provoke discussion, I was unable to agree with you, +knowing only too well from my own dread experience that the world +which men agree to call that of the supernatural is just as real +as--nay, perhaps, even far more real than--this world we see about us. +In other words, I, like many of my countrymen, am cursed with the gift +of second-sight--that awful faculty which foretells in vision +calamities that are shortly to occur. + +"'Such a vision I had just now, and its exceptional horror moved me as +you have seen. I saw before me a corpse--not that of one who has died +a peaceful natural death, but that of the victim of some terrible +accident; a ghastly, shapeless mass, with a face swollen, crushed, +unrecognizable. I saw this dreadful object placed in a coffin, and the +funeral service performed over it. I saw the burial-ground, I saw the +clergyman: and though I had never seen either before, I can picture +both perfectly in my mind's eye now; I saw you, myself, Beauchamp, all +of us and many more, standing round as mourners; I saw the soldiers +raise their muskets after the service was over; I heard the volley +they fired--and then I knew no more.' + +"As he spoke of that volley of musketry I glanced across with a +shudder at Beauchamp, and the look of stony horror on that handsome +sceptic's face was not to be forgotten." + +This is only one incident (and by no means the principal one) in a +very remarkable story of psychic experience, but as for the moment we +are concerned merely with the example of second-sight which it gives +us, I need only say that later in the day the party of young soldiers +discovered the body of their commanding officer in the terrible +condition so graphically described by Mr. Cameron. The narrative +continues: + +"When, on the following evening, we arrived at our destination, and +our melancholy deposition had been taken down by the proper +authorities, Cameron and I went out for a quiet walk, to endeavour +with the assistance of the soothing influence of nature to shake off +something of the gloom which paralyzed our spirits. Suddenly he +clutched my arm, and, pointing through some rude railings, said in a +trembling voice, 'Yes, there it is! that is the burial-ground I saw +yesterday.' And when later on we were introduced to the chaplain of +the post, I noticed, though my friends did not, the irrepressible +shudder with which Cameron took his hand, and I knew that he had +recognized the clergyman of his vision." + +As for the occult rationale of all this, I presume Mr. Cameron's +vision was a pure case of second-sight, and if so the fact that the +two men who were evidently nearest to him (certainly one--probably +both--actually touching him) participated in it to the limited extent +of hearing the concluding volley, while the others who were not so +close did not, would show that the intensity with which the vision +impressed itself upon the seer occasioned vibrations in his mind-body +which were communicated to those of the persons in contact with him, +as in ordinary thought-transference. Anyone who wishes to read the +rest of the story will find it in the pages of _Lucifer_, vol. xx., p. +457. + +Scores of examples of similar nature to these might easily be +collected. With regard to the symbolical variety of this sight, it is +commonly stated among those who possess it that if on meeting a living +person they see a phantom shroud wrapped around him, it is a sure +prognostication of his death. The date of the approaching decease is +indicated either by the extent to which the shroud covers the body, or +by the time of day at which the vision is seen; for if it be in the +early morning they say that the man will die during the same day, but +if it be in the evening, then it will be only some time within a year. + +Another variant (and a remarkable one) of the symbolic form of +second-sight is that in which the headless apparition of the person +whose death is foretold manifests itself to the seer. An example of +that class is given in _Signs before Death_ as having happened in the +family of Dr. Ferrier, though in that case, if I recollect rightly, +the vision did not occur until the time of the death, or very near it. + +Turning from seers who are regularly in possession of a certain +faculty, although its manifestations are only occasionally fully under +their control, we are confronted by a large number of isolated +instances of prevision in the case of people with whom it is not in +any way a regular faculty. Perhaps the majority of these occur in +dreams, although examples of the waking vision are by no means +wanting. Sometimes the prevision refers to an event of distinct +importance to the seer, and so justifies the action of the Ego in +taking the trouble to impress it. In other cases, the event is one +which is of no apparent importance, or is not in any way connected +with the man to whom the vision comes. Sometimes it is clear that the +intention of the Ego (or the communicating entity, whatever it may be) +is to warn the lower self of the approach of some calamity, either in +order that it may be prevented or, if that be not possible, that the +shock may be minimized by preparation. + +The event most frequently thus foreshadowed is, perhaps not +unnaturally, death--sometimes the death of the seer himself, sometimes +that of one dear to him. This type of prevision is so common in the +literature of the subject, and its object is so obvious, that we need +hardly cite examples of it; but one or two instances in which the +prophetic sight, though clearly useful, was yet of a less sombre +character, will prove not uninteresting to the reader. The following +is culled from that storehouse of the student of the uncanny, Mrs. +Crowe's _Night Side of Nature_, p. 72. + +"A few years ago Dr. Watson, now residing at Glasgow, dreamt that he +received a summons to attend a patient at a place some miles from +where he was living; that he started on horseback, and that as he was +crossing a moor he saw a bull making furiously at him, whose horns he +only escaped by taking refuge on a spot inaccessible to the animal, +where he waited a long time till some people, observing his situation, +came to his assistance and released him. + +"Whilst at breakfast on the following morning the summons came, and +smiling at the odd coincidence (as he thought it), he started on +horseback. He was quite ignorant of the road he had to go, but by and +by he arrived at the moor, which he recognised, and presently the bull +appeared, coming full tilt towards him. But his dream had shown him +the place of refuge, for which he instantly made, and there he spent +three or four hours, besieged by the animal, till the country people +set him free. Dr. Watson declares that but for the dream he should not +have known in what direction to run for safety." + +Another case, in which a much longer interval separated the warning +and its fulfilment, is given by Dr. F. G. Lee, in _Glimpses of the +Supernatural_, vol. i., p. 240. + +"Mrs. Hannah Green, the housekeeper of a country family in +Oxfordshire, dreamt one night that she had been left alone in the +house upon a Sunday evening, and that hearing a knock at the door of +the chief entrance she went to it and there found an ill-looking tramp +armed with a bludgeon, who insisted on forcing himself into the house. +She thought that she struggled for some time to prevent him so doing, +but quite ineffectually, and that, being struck down by him and +rendered insensible, he thereupon gained ingress to the mansion. On +this she awoke. + +"As nothing happened for a considerable period the circumstance of the +dream was soon forgotten, and, as she herself asserts, had altogether +passed away from her mind. However, seven years afterwards this same +housekeeper was left with two other servants to take charge of an +isolated mansion at Kensington (subsequently the town residence of the +family), when on a certain Sunday evening, her fellow-servants having +gone out and left her alone, she was suddenly startled by a loud knock +at the front door. + +"All of a sudden the remembrance of her former dream returned to her +with singular vividness and remarkable force, and she felt her lonely +isolation greatly. Accordingly, having at once lighted a lamp on the +hall table--during which act the loud knock was repeated with +vigour--she took the precaution to go up to a landing on the stair and +throw up the window; and there to her intense terror she saw in the +flesh the very man whom years previously she had seen in her dream, +armed with the bludgeon and demanding an entrance. + +"With great presence of mind she went down to the chief entrance, made +that and other doors and windows more secure, and then rang the +various bells of the house violently, and placed lights in the upper +rooms. It was concluded that by these acts the intruder was scared +away." + +Evidently in this case also the dream was of practical use, as without +it the worthy housekeeper would without doubt from sheer force of +habit have opened the door in the ordinary way in answer to the knock. + +It is not, however, only in dream that the Ego impresses his lower +self with what he thinks it well for it to know. Many instances +showing this might be taken from the books, but instead of quoting +from them I will give a case related only a few weeks ago by a lady of +my acquaintance--a case which, although not surrounded with any +romantic incident, has at least the merit of being new. + +My friend, then, has two quite young children, and a little while ago +the elder of them caught (as was supposed) a bad cold, and suffered +for some days from a complete stoppage in the upper part of the nose. +The mother thought little of this, expecting it to pass off, until one +day she suddenly saw before her in the air what she describes as a +picture of a room, in the centre of which was a table on which her +child was lying insensible or dead, with some people bending over her. +The minutest details of the scene were clear to her, and she +particularly noticed that the child wore a white night-dress, whereas +she knew that all garments of that description possessed by her little +daughter happened to be pink. + +This vision impressed her considerably, and suggested to her for the +first time that the child might be suffering from something more +serious than a cold, so she carried her off to a hospital for +examination. The surgeon who attended to her discovered the presence +of a dangerous growth in the nose, which he pronounced must be +removed. A few days later the child was taken to the hospital for the +operation, and was put to bed. When the mother arrived at the hospital +she found she had forgotten to bring one of the child's night-dresses, +and so the nurses had to supply one, which was _white_. In this white +dress the operation was performed on the girl the next day, in the +room that her mother saw in her vision, every circumstance being +exactly reproduced. + +In all these cases the prevision achieved its result, but the books +are full of stories of warnings neglected or scouted, and of the +disaster that consequently followed. In some cases the information is +given to someone who has practically no power to interfere in the +matter, as in the historic instance when John Williams, a Cornish +mine-manager, foresaw in the minutest detail, eight or nine days +before it took place, the assassination of Mr. Spencer Perceval, the +then Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the lobby of the House of +Commons. Even in this case, however, it is just possible that +something might have been done, for we read that Mr. Williams was so +much impressed that he consulted his friends as to whether he ought +not to go up to London to warn Mr. Perceval. Unfortunately they +dissuaded him, and the assassination took place. It does not seem very +probable that, even if he had gone up to town and related his story, +much attention would have been paid to him, still there is just the +possibility that some precautions might have been taken which would +have prevented the murder. + +There is little to show us what particular action on higher planes led +to this curious prophetic vision. The parties were entirely unknown to +one another, so that it was not caused by any close sympathy between +them. If it was an attempt made by some helper to avert the threatened +doom, it seems strange that no one who was sufficiently impressible +could be found nearer than Cornwall. Perhaps Mr. Williams, when on the +astral plane during sleep, somehow came across this reflection of the +future, and being naturally horrified thereby, passed it on to his +lower mind in the hope that somehow something might be done to +prevent it; but it is impossible to diagnose the case with certainty +without examining the âkâshic records to see what actually took place. + +A typical instance of the absolutely purposeless foresight is that +related by Mr. Stead, in his _Real Ghost Stories_ (p. 83), of his +friend Miss Freer, commonly known as Miss X. When staying at a country +house this lady, being wide awake and fully conscious, once saw a +dogcart drawn by a white horse standing at the hall door, with two +strangers in it, one of whom got out of the cart and stood playing +with a terrier. She noticed that he was wearing an ulster, and also +particularly observed the fresh wheel-marks made by the cart on the +gravel. Nevertheless there was no cart there at the time; but half an +hour later two strangers _did_ drive up in such an equipage, and every +detail of the lady's vision was accurately fulfilled. Mr. Stead goes +on to cite another instance of equally purposeless prevision where +seven years separated the dream (for in this case it was a dream) and +its fulfilment. + +All these instances (and they are merely random selections from many +hundreds) show that a certain amount of prevision is undoubtedly +possible to the Ego, and such cases would evidently be much more +frequent if it were not for the exceeding density and lack of response +in the lower vehicles of the majority of what we call civilized +mankind--qualities chiefly attributable to the gross practical +materialism of the present age. I am not thinking of any profession of +materialistic belief as common, but of the fact that in all practical +affairs of daily life nearly everyone is guided solely by +considerations of worldly interest in some shape or other. + +In many cases the Ego himself may be an undeveloped one, and his +prevision consequently very vague; in others he himself may see +clearly, but may find his lower vehicles so unimpressible that all he +can succeed in getting through into his physical brain may be an +indefinite presage of coming disaster. Again, there are cases in which +a premonition is not the work of the Ego at all, but of some outside +entity, who for some reason takes a friendly interest in the person to +whom the feeling comes. In the work which I quoted above, Mr. Stead +tells us of the certainty which he felt many months beforehand that be +would be left in charge of the _Pall Mall Gazette_ though from an +ordinary point of view nothing seemed less probable. Whether that +fore-knowledge was the result of an impression made by his own Ego or +of a friendly hint from someone else it is impossible to say without +definite investigation, but his confidence in it was fully justified. + +There is one more variety of clairvoyance in time which ought not to +be left without mention. It is a comparatively rare one, but there +are enough examples on record to claim our attention, though +unfortunately the particulars given do not usually include those which +we should require in order to be able to diagnose it with certainty. I +refer to the cases in which spectral armies or phantom flocks of +animals have been seen. In _The Night Side of Nature_ (p. 462 _et +seq._) we have accounts of several such visions. We are there told how +at Havarah Park, near Ripley, a body of soldiers in white uniform, +amounting to several hundreds, was seen by reputable people to go +through various evolutions and then vanish; and how some years earlier +a similar visionary army was seen in the neighbourhood of Inverness by +a respectable farmer and his son. + +In this case also the number of troops was very great, and the +spectators had not the slightest doubt at first that they were +substantial forms of flesh and blood. They counted at least sixteen +pairs of columns, and had abundance of time to observe every +particular. The front ranks marched seven abreast, and were +accompanied by a good many women and children, who were carrying tin +cans and other implements of cookery. The men were clothed in red, and +their arms shone brightly in the sun. In the midst of them was an +animal, a deer or a horse, they could not distinguish which, that they +were driving furiously forward with their bayonets. + +The younger of the two men observed to the other that every now and +then the rear ranks were obliged to run to overtake the van; and the +elder one, who had been a soldier, remarked that that was always the +case, and recommended him if he ever served to try to march in the +front. There was only one mounted officer; he rode a grey dragoon +horse, and wore a gold-laced hat and blue Hussar cloak, with wide open +sleeves lined with red. The two spectators observed him so +particularly that they said afterwards they should recognize him +anywhere. They were, however, afraid of being ill-treated or forced to +go along with the troops, whom they concluded to have come from +Ireland, and landed at Kyntyre; and whilst they were climbing over a +dyke to get out of their way, the whole thing vanished. + +A phenomenon of the same sort was observed in the earlier part of this +century at Paderborn in Westphalia, and seen by at least thirty +people; but as, some years later, a review of twenty thousand men was +held on the very same spot, it was concluded that the vision must have +been some sort of second-sight--a faculty not uncommon in the +district. + +Such spectral hosts, however, are sometimes seen where an army of +ordinary men could by no possibility have marched, either before or +after. One of the most remarkable accounts of such apparitions is +given by Miss Harriet Martineau, in her description of _The English +Lakes_. She writes as follows:-- + +"This Souter or Soutra Fell is the mountain on which ghosts appeared +in myriads, at intervals during ten years of the last century, +presenting the same appearances to twenty-six chosen witnesses, and to +all the inhabitants of all the cottages within view of the mountain, +and for a space of two hours and a half at one time--the spectral show +being closed by darkness! The mountain, be it remembered, is full of +precipices, which defy all marching of bodies of men; and the north +and west sides present a sheer perpendicular of 900 feet. + +"On Midsummer Eve, 1735, a farm servant of Mr. Lancaster, half a mile +from the mountain, saw the eastern side of its summit covered with +troops, which pursued their onward march for an hour. They came, in +distinct bodies, from an eminence on the north end, and disappeared in +a niche in the summit. When the poor fellow told his tale, he was +insulted on all hands, as original observers usually are when they see +anything wonderful. Two years after, also on a Midsummer Eve, Mr. +Lancaster saw some men there, apparently following their horses, as if +they had returned from hunting. He thought nothing of this; but he +happened to look up again ten minutes after, and saw the figures, now +mounted, and followed by an interminable array of troops, five +abreast, marching from the eminence and over the cleft as before. All +the family saw this, and the manoeuvres of the force, as each +company was kept in order by a mounted officer, who galloped this way +and that. As the shades of twilight came on, the discipline appeared +to relax, and the troops intermingled, and rode at unequal paces, till +all was lost in darkness. Now of course all the Lancasters were +insulted, as their servant had been; but their justification was not +long delayed. + +"On the Midsummer Eve of the fearful 1745, twenty-six persons, +expressly summoned by the family, saw all that had been seen before, +and more. Carriages were now interspersed with the troops; and +everybody knew that no carriages had been, or could be, on the summit +of Souter Fell. The multitude was beyond imagination; for the troops +filled a space of half a mile, and marched quickly till night hid +them--still marching. There was nothing vaporous or indistinct about +the appearance of these spectres. So real did they seem, that some of +the people went up, the next morning, to look for the hoof-marks of +the horses; and awful it was to them to find not one foot-print on +heather or grass. The witnesses attested the whole story on oath +before a magistrate; and fearful were the expectations held by the +whole country-side about the coming events of the Scotch rebellion. + +"It now comes out that two other persons had seen something of the +sort in the interval--_viz._, in 1743--but had concealed it, to escape +the insults to which their neighbours were subjected. Mr. Wren, of +Wilton Hall, and his farm servant, saw, one summer evening, a man and +a dog on the mountain, pursuing some horses along a place so steep +that a horse could hardly by any possibility keep a footing on it. +Their speed was prodigious, and their disappearance at the south end +of the fell so rapid, that Mr. Wren and the servant went up, the next +morning, to find the body of the man who must have been killed. Of +man, horse, or dog, they found not a trace and they came down and held +their tongues. When they did speak, they fared not much better for +having twenty-six sworn comrades in their disgrace. + +"As for the explanation, the editor of the _Lonsdale Magazine_ +declared (vol. ii., p. 313) that it was discovered that on the +Midsummer Eve of 1745 the rebels were 'exercising on the western coast +of Scotland, whose movements had been reflected by some transparent +vapour, similar to the Fata Morgana.' This is not much in the way of +explanation; but it is, as far as we know, all that can be had at +present. These facts, however, brought out a good many more; as the +spectral march of the same kind seen in Leicestershire in 1707, and +the tradition of the tramp of armies over Helvellyn, on the eve of the +battle of Marston Moor." + +Other cases are cited in which flocks of spectral sheep have been seen +on certain roads, and there are of course various German stories of +phantom cavalcades of hunters and robbers. + +Now in these cases, as so often happens in the investigation of occult +phenomena, there are several possible causes, any one of which would +be quite adequate to the production of the observed occurrences, but +in the absence of fuller information it is hardly feasible to do more +than guess as to which of these possible causes were in operation in +any particular instance. + +The explanation usually suggested (whenever the whole story is not +ridiculed as a falsehood) is that what is seen is a reflection by +mirage of the movements of a real body of troops, taking place at a +considerable distance. I have myself seen the ordinary mirage on +several occasions, and know something therefore of its wonderful +powers of deception; but it seems to me that we should need some +entirely new variety of mirage, quite different from that at present +known to science, to account for these tales of phantom armies, some +of which pass the spectator within a few yards. + +First of all, they may be, as apparently in the Westphalian case above +mentioned, simply instances of prevision on a gigantic scale--by whom +arranged, and for what purpose, it is not easy to divine. Again, they +may often belong to the past instead of the future, and be in fact the +reflection of scenes from the âkâshic records--though here again the +reason and method of such reflection is not obvious. + +There are plenty of tribes of nature-spirits perfectly capable, if for +any reason they wished to do so, of producing such appearances by +their wonderful power of glamour (see _Theosophical Manual, No. V._, +p. 60), and such action would be quite in keeping with their delight +in mystifying and impressing human beings. Or it may even sometimes be +kindly intended by them as a warning to their friends of events that +they know to be about to take place. It seems as though some +explanation along these lines would be the most reasonable method of +accounting for the extraordinary series of phenomena described by Miss +Martineau--that is, if the stories told to her can be relied upon. + +Another possibility is that in some cases what have been taken for +soldiers were simply the nature-spirits themselves going through some +of the ordered evolutions in which they take so much delight, though +it must be admitted that these are rarely of a character which could +be mistaken for military manoeuvres except by the most ignorant. + +The flocks of animals are probably in most instances mere records, but +there are cases where they, like the "wild huntsmen" of German story, +belong to an entirely different class of phenomena, which is +altogether outside of our present subject. Students of the occult +will be familiar with the fact that the circumstances surrounding any +scene of intense terror or passion, such as an exceptionally horrible +murder, are liable to be occasionally reproduced in a form which it +needs a very slight development of psychic faculty to be able to see +and it has sometimes happened that various animals formed part of such +surroundings, and consequently they also are periodically reproduced +by the action of the guilty conscience of the murderer (see _Manual +V._, p. 83). + +Probably whatever foundation of fact underlies the various stories of +spectral horsemen and hunting-troops may generally be referred to this +category. This is also the explanation, evidently, of some of the +visions of ghostly armies, such as that remarkable re-enactment of the +battle of Edgehill which seems to have taken place at intervals for +some months after the date of the real struggle, as testified by a +justice of the peace, a clergyman, and other eye-witnesses, in a +curious contemporary pamphlet entitled _Prodigious Noises of War and +Battle, at Edgehill, near Keinton, in Northamptonshire_. According to +the pamphlet this case was investigated at the time by some officers +of the army, who clearly recognized many of the phantom figures that +they saw. This looks decidedly like an instance of the terrible power +of man's unrestrained passions to reproduce themselves, and to cause +in some strange way a kind of materialization of their record. + +In some cases it is clear that the flocks of animals seen have been +simply hordes of unclean artificial elementals taking that form in +order to feed upon the loathsome emanations of peculiarly horrible +places, such as would be the site of a gallows. An instance of this +kind is furnished by the celebrated "Gyb Ghosts," or ghosts of the +gibbet, described in _More Glimpses of the World Unseen_, p. 109, as +being repeatedly seen in the form of herds of mis-shapen swine-like +creatures, rushing, rooting and fighting night after night on the site +of that foul monument of crime. But these belong to the subject of +apparitions rather than to that of clairvoyance. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +METHODS OF DEVELOPMENT. + + +When a man becomes convinced of the reality of the valuable power of +clairvoyance, his first question usually is, "How can I develop in my +own case this faculty which is said to be latent in everyone?" + +Now the fact is that there are many methods by which it may be +developed, but only one which can be at all safely recommended for +general use--that of which we shall speak last of all. Among the less +advanced nations of the world the clairvoyant state has been produced +in various objectionable ways; among some of the non-Aryan tribes of +India, by the use of intoxicating drugs or the inhaling of stupefying +fumes; among the dervishes, by whirling in a mad dance of religious +fervour until vertigo and insensibility supervene; among the followers +of the abominable practices of the Voodoo cult, by frightful +sacrifices and loathsome rites of black magic. Methods such as these +are happily not in vogue in our own race, yet even among us large +numbers of dabblers in this ancient art adopt some plan of +self-hypnotization, such as the gazing at a bright spot or the +repetition of some formula until a condition of semi-stupefaction is +produced; while yet another school among them would endeavour to +arrive at similar results by the use of some of the Indian systems of +regulation of the breath. + +All these methods are unequivocally to be condemned as quite unsafe +for the practice of the ordinary man who has no idea of what he is +doing--who is simply making vague experiments in an unknown world. +Even the method of obtaining clairvoyance by allowing oneself to be +mesmerized by another person is one from which I should myself shrink +with the most decided distaste; and assuredly it should never be +attempted except under conditions of absolute trust and affection +between the magnetizer and the magnetized, and a perfection of purity +in heart and soul, in mind and intention, such as is rarely to be seen +among any but the greatest of saints. + +Experiments in connection with the mesmeric trance are of the deepest +interest, as offering (among other things) a possibility of proof of +the fact of clairvoyance to the sceptic, yet except under such +conditions as I have just mentioned--conditions, I quite admit, almost +impossible to realize--I should never counsel anyone to submit himself +as a subject for them. + +Curative mesmerism (in which, without putting the patient into the +trance state at all, an effort is made to relieve his pain, to remove +his disease, or to pour vitality into him by magnetic passes) stands +on an entirely different footing; and if the mesmerizer, even though +quite untrained, is himself in good health and animated by pure +intentions, no harm is likely to be done to the subject. In so extreme +a case as that of a surgical operation, a man might reasonably submit +himself even to the mesmeric trance, but it is certainly not a +condition with which one ought lightly to experiment. Indeed, I should +most strongly advise any one who did me the honour to ask for my +opinion on the subject, not to attempt any kind of experimental +investigation into what are still to him the abnormal forces of +nature, until he has first of all read carefully everything that has +been written on the subject, or--which is by far the best of +all--until he is under the guidance of a qualified teacher. + +But where, it will be said, is the qualified teacher to be found? Not, +most assuredly, among any who advertise themselves as teachers, who +offer to impart for so many guineas or dollars the sacred mysteries of +the ages, or hold "developing circles" to which casual applicants are +admitted at so much per head. + +Much has been said in this treatise of the necessity for careful +training--of the immense advantages of the trained over the untrained +clairvoyant; but that again brings us back to the same question--where +is this definite training to be had? + +The answer is, that the training may be had precisely where it has +always been to be found since the world's history began--at the hands +of the Great White Brotherhood of Adepts, which stands now, as it has +always stood, at the back of human evolution, guiding and helping it +under the sway of the great cosmic laws which represent to us the Will +of the Eternal. + +But how, it may be asked, is access to be gained to them? How is the +aspirant thirsting for knowledge to signify to them his wish for +instruction? + +Once more, by the time-honoured methods only. There is no new patent +whereby a man can qualify himself without trouble to become a pupil in +that School--no royal road to the learning which has to be acquired in +it. At the present day, just as in the mists of antiquity, the man who +wishes to attract their notice must enter upon the slow and toilsome +path of self-development--must learn first of all to take himself in +hand and make himself all that he ought to be. The steps of that path +are no secret; I have given them in full detail in _Invisible +Helpers_, so I need not repeat them here. But it is no easy road to +follow, and yet sooner or later all must follow it, for the great law +of evolution sweeps mankind slowly but resistlessly towards its goal. + +From those who are pressing into this path the great Masters select +their pupils, and it is only by qualifying himself to be taught that a +man can put himself in the way of getting the teaching. Without that +qualification, membership in any Lodge or Society, whether secret or +otherwise, will not advance his object in the slightest degree. It is +true, as we all know, that it was at the instance of some of these +Masters that our Theosophical Society was founded, and that from its +ranks some have been chosen to pass into closer relations with them. +But that choice depends upon the earnestness of the candidate, not +upon his mere membership of the Society or of any body within it. + +That, then, is the only absolutely safe way of developing +clairvoyance--to enter with all one's energy upon the path of moral +and mental evolution, at one stage of which this and other of the +higher faculties will spontaneously begin to show themselves. Yet +there is one practice which is advised by all the religions +alike--which if adopted carefully and reverently can do no harm to any +human being, yet from which a very pure type of clairvoyance has +sometimes been developed; and that is the practice of meditation. + +Let a man choose a certain time every day--a time when he can rely +upon being quiet and undisturbed, though preferably in the daytime +rather than at night--and set himself at that time to keep his mind +for a few minutes entirely free from all earthly thoughts of any kind +whatever and, when that is achieved, to direct the whole force of his +being towards the highest spiritual ideal that he happens to know. He +will find that to gain such perfect control of thought is enormously +more difficult than he supposes, but when he attains it it cannot but +be in every way most beneficial to him, and as he grows more and more +able to elevate and concentrate his thought, he may gradually find +that new worlds are opening before his sight. + +As a preliminary training towards the satisfactory achievement of such +meditation, he will find it desirable to make a practice of +concentration in the affairs of daily life--even in the smallest of +them. If he writes a letter, let him think of nothing else but that +letter until it is finished if he reads a book, let him see to it that +his thought is never allowed to wander from his author's meaning. He +must learn to hold his mind in check, and to be master of that also, +as well as of his lower passions he must patiently labour to acquire +absolute control of his thoughts, so that he will always know exactly +what he is thinking about, and why--so that he can use his mind, and +turn it or hold it still, as a practised swordsman turns his weapon +where he will. + +Yet after all, if those who so earnestly desire clairvoyance could +possess it temporarily for a day or even an hour, it is far from +certain that they would choose to retain the gift. True, it opens +before them new worlds of study, new powers of usefulness, and for +this latter reason most of us feel it worth while; but it should be +remembered that for one whose duty still calls him to live in the +world it is by no means an unmixed blessing. Upon one in whom that +vision is opened the sorrow and the misery, the evil and the greed of +the world press as an ever-present burden, until in the earlier days +of his knowledge he often feels inclined to echo the passionate +adjuration contained in those rolling lines of Schiller's: + + Dien Orakel zu verkünden, warum warfest du mich hin + In die Stadt der ewig Blinden, mit dem aufgeschloss'nen Sinn? + Frommt's, den Schleier aufzuheben, wo das nahe Schreckniss droht? + Nur der Irrthum ist das Leben; dieses Wissen ist der Tod. + Nimm, O nimm die traur'ge Klarheit mir vom Aug' den blut'gen Schein! + Schrecklich ist es deiner Wahrheit sterbliches Gefäss zu seyn! + +which may perhaps be translated "Why hast thou cast me thus into the +town of the ever-blind, to proclaim thine oracle by the opened sense? +What profits it to lift the veil where the near darkness threatens? +Only ignorance is life; this knowledge is death. Take back this sad +clear-sightedness; take from mine eyes this cruel light! It is +horrible to be the mortal channel of thy truth." And again later he +cries, "Give me back my blindness, the happy darkness of my senses; +take back thy dreadful gift!" + +But this of course is a feeling which passes, for the higher sight +soon shows the pupil something beyond the sorrow--soon bears in upon +his soul the overwhelming certainty that, whatever appearances down +here may seem to indicate, all things are without shadow of doubt +working together for the eventual good of all. He reflects that the +sin and the suffering are there, whether he is able to perceive them +or not, and that when he can see them he is after all better able to +give efficient help than he would be if he were working in the dark; +and so by degrees he learns to bear his share of the heavy karma of +the world. + +Some misguided mortals there are who, having the good fortune to +possess some slight touch of this higher power, are nevertheless so +absolutely destitute of all right feeling in connection with it as to +use it for the most sordid ends--actually even to advertise themselves +as "test and business clairvoyants!" Needless to say, such use of the +faculty is a mere prostitution and degradation of it, showing that its +unfortunate possessor has somehow got hold of it before the moral side +of his nature has been sufficiently developed to stand the strain +which it imposes. A perception of the amount of evil karma that may be +generated by such action in a very short time changes one's disgust +into pity for the unhappy perpetrator of that sacrilegious folly. + +It is sometimes objected that the possession of clairvoyance destroys +all privacy, and confers a limit-less ability to explore the secrets +of others. No doubt it does confer such an _ability_, but nevertheless +the suggestion is an amusing one to anyone who knows anything +practically about the matter. Such an objection may possibly be +well-founded as regards the very limited powers of the "test and +business clairvoyant," but the man who brings it forward against those +who have had the faculty opened for them in the course of their +instruction, and consequently possess it fully, is forgetting three +fundamental facts: first, that it is quite inconceivable that anyone, +having before him the splendid fields for investigation which true +clairvoyance opens up, could ever have the slightest wish to pry into +the trumpery little secrets of any individual man; secondly, that even +if by some impossible chance our clairvoyant _had_ such indecent +curiosity about matters of petty gossip, there is, after all, such a +thing as the honour of a gentleman, which, on that plane as on this, +would of course prevent him from contemplating for an instant the idea +of gratifying it; and thirdly, in case, by any unheard-of possibility, +one might encounter some variety of low-class pitri with whom the +above considerations would have no weight, full instructions are +always given to every pupil, as soon as he develops any sign of +faculty, as to the limitations which are placed upon its use. + +Put briefly, these restrictions are that there shall be no prying, no +selfish use of the power, and no displaying of phenomena. That is to +say, that the same considerations which would govern the actions of a +man of right feeling upon the physical plane are expected to apply +upon the astral and mental planes also; that the pupil is never under +any circumstances to use the power which his additional knowledge +gives to him in order to promote his own worldly advantage, or indeed +in connection with gain in any way; and that he is never to give what +is called in spiritualistic circles "a test"--that is, to do anything +which will incontestably prove to sceptics on the physical plane that +he possesses what to them would appear to be an abnormal power. + +With regard to this latter proviso people often say, "But why should +he not? it would be so easy to confute and convince your sceptic, and +it would do him good!" Such critics lose sight of the fact that, in +the first place, none of those who know anything _want_ to confute or +convince sceptics, or trouble themselves in the slightest degree about +the sceptic's attitude one way or the other; and in the second, they +fail to understand how much better it is for that sceptic that he +should gradually grow into an intellectual appreciation of the facts +of nature, instead of being suddenly introduced to them by a +knock-down blow, as it were. But the subject was fully considered +many years ago in Mr. Sinnet's _Occult World_, and it is needless to +repeat again the arguments there adduced. + +It is very hard for some of our friends to realize that the silly +gossip and idle curiosity which so entirely fill the lives of the +brainless majority on earth can have no place in the more real life of +the disciple; and so they sometimes enquire whether, even without any +special wish to see, a clairvoyant might not casually observe some +secret which another person was trying to keep, in the same way as +one's glance might casually fall upon a sentence in someone else's +letter which happened to be lying open upon the table. Of course he +might, but what if he did? The man of honour would at once avert his +eyes, in one case as in the other, and it would be as though he had +not seen. If objectors could but grasp the idea that no pupil _cares_ +about other people's business, except when it comes within his +province to try to help them, and that he has always a world of work +of his own to attend to, they would not be so hopelessly far from +understanding the facts of the wider life of the trained clairvoyant. + +Even from the little that I have said with regard to the restrictions +laid upon the pupil, it will be obvious that in very many cases he +will know much more than he is at liberty to say. That is of course +true in a far wider sense of the great Masters of Wisdom themselves, +and that is why those who have the privilege of occasionally entering +their presence pay so much respect to their lightest word even on +subjects quite apart from the direct teaching. For the opinion of a +Master, or even of one of his higher pupils, upon any subject is that +of a man whose opportunity of judging accurately is out of all +proportion to ours. + +His position and his extended faculties are in reality the heritage of +all mankind, and, far though we may now be from those grand powers, +they will none the less certainly be ours one day. Yet how different a +place will this old world be when humanity as a whole possesses the +higher clairvoyance! Think what the difference will be to history when +all can read the records; to science, when all the processes about +which now men theorize can be watched through all their course; to +medicine, when doctor and patient alike can see clearly and exactly +all that is being done; to philosophy, when there is no longer any +possibility of discussion as to its basis, because all alike can see a +wider aspect of the truth; to labour, when all work will be joy, +because every man will be put only to that which he can do best; to +education, when the minds and hearts of the children are open to the +teacher who is trying to form their character; to religion, when there +is no longer any possibility of dispute as to its broad dogmas, since +the truth about the states after death, and the Great Law that +governs the world, will be patent to all eyes. + +Above all, how far easier it will be then for the evolved men to help +one another under those so much freer conditions! The possibilities +that open before the mind are as glorious vistas stretching in all +directions, so that our seventh round should indeed be a veritable +golden age. Well for us that these grand faculties will not be +possessed by all humanity until it has evolved to a far higher level +in morality as well as in wisdom, else should we but repeat once more +under still worse conditions the terrible downfall of the great +Atlantean civilization, whose members failed to realize that increased +power meant increased responsibility. Yet we ourselves were most of us +among those very men let us hope that we have learnt wisdom by that +failure, and that when the possibilities of the wider life open before +us once more, this time we shall bear the trial better. + + + + +INDEX + + + PAGE + +Advantages of astral vision, 41, 65, 71 + mental vision, 79 + training, 20, 56, 70, 103, 116, 121 + +Âkâshic records, 85, 97 _et seq._, 160 + +Apparitions, 54 + +Armies, phantom, 154 + +Assassination of Mr. Perceval, 151 + +Aspect of the records, 115 + +Astral body, 69 + counterpart 16 + current, 62 _et seq._, 88, 95 + matter, polarization of, 63 + senses, 17 + sight, 37 _et seq._, 59 _et seq._, 66 + telescope, 65, 85, 103 + world, 81, 103 + +Aura, the, 42 _et seq._, 101 + + +Balance, 126 + +Bat's cry, experiment with, 11 + +Battle of Edgehill, 161 + +Body, the astral, 69 + the causal, 101 + +Brownies, 33 + +Buddhic faculty, 18, 108, 136, 139 + +Bull and the doctor, the story of, 147 + + +Causal body, 101 + +Centres of vitality, 14, 17 + +Cerebro-spinal system, 22 + +Ceremonies used to gain clairvoyance, 52, 163 + +Certainty of eventual good, 174 + +Character, judgment of, 42 + +Chakrams, 14-17 + +Chord of a man, the, 80 + +Clairaudience, 6, 69 _et seq._ + +Clairvoyance by drugs or ceremonies, 52 _et seq._, 163 + casual, 93 + does it destroy privacy?, 171 + +Clairvoyance during sleep, 26 + how first manifested, 26 + hysterical, 53 + limitations of, 79, 81, 171 + meaning of word, 5 + occasional flashes of, 23 + of the uncultured, 21 + on mental plane, 56 + on trivial subjects, 55, 95, 152 + partial and temporary, 54 + restrictions upon, 81, 171 + sadness of, 169 + under mesmerism, 24, 52, 164 + +Clairvoyants, "test and business", 51, 170 + +Classification of phenomena, 27 + +Colours, new, 35 + +Common-sense in occultism, necessity of, 125 + +Consciousness, continuous, 46 + the focus of, 31 + +Considerations, preliminary, 7 + +Contemplation, 167 + +Continuous consciousness, 46 + +Control of thought, 168 + +Counterpart, astral, 16 + +Crystal-gazing, 66, 84 _et seq._, 127 + +Curative mesmerism, 165 + +Curiosity not permitted, 173 + +Current, astral, 62 _et seq._, 88, 95 + + +Dangers, 78 + +Date, how to find a, 119 _et seq._ + +Dead, the, 45, 62 + +Death, visits at, 74 _et seq._ + +Delirium tremens, 53 + +Dervishes, the, 163 + +Devas, the, 44 + +Development, methods of, 163 + the path of, 167 + regular, 19 + +Difference between etheric and astral sight, 36 + +Difficulties, 103 _et seq._ + +Dimension, the fourth, 38 _et seq._, 65, 107, 137 + +Distance, sight at a, 59, 81 + +Double, the etheric, 34 + +Drugs used to gain clairvoyance, 52, 163 + +Duke of Orleans, the story of the, 90 + + +_Earth, the Stars and the_, 110 + +Edgehill, battle of, 161 + +Elementals, 32, 44, 162 + +Equation, the personal, 104 _et seq._ + +Eternal now, the, 109, 137 + +Etheric double, the, 34 + vision, 30 _et seq._ + +Experiments in crystal-gazing, 66, 84 _et seq._ + with bat's cry, 11 + with spectrum, 10 + +Extension of senses, 12 + + +Faculties, latent, 7 + buddhic, 18, 108, 136, 139 + +Fairy ointment, 34 + +Finding a stranger, 80 + +First manifestations of clairvoyance, 25 _et seq._ + +Flocks, phantom, 154, 160, 162 + +Focus of consciousness, the, 31 + +Fourth dimension, the, 38 _et seq._, 65, 107, 137 + +Freewill limited, 132 _et seq._ + +Future prospects, 175 + + +Ghosts of the gibbet, 162 + +Glamour, 160 + +Goffe, the story of Mary, 75 + + +Helpers, invisible, 46, 74, 88, 166 + +Historical study, possibilities of, 114 _et seq._ + +Hinton's works, 38 + +Housekeeper's dream, the story of the, 147 _et seq._ + +How a picture is found, 116 _et seq._ + to find a date, 119 _et seq._ + to investigate, 55 + +Huntsman, the wild, 160 + +Hypnotization, self, 86 + +Hysterical clairvoyance, 53 + + +Incarnations, past, 118, 123 _et seq._ + +Investigate, how to, 55 + +Invisible helpers, 46, 74, 88, 166 + + +Judgment of character, 42 + +Jung Stilling's story, 71 _et seq._ + + +Knowledge, the value of, 125 + + +Latent faculties, 7 + +Limitations of clairvoyance, the, 79, 81, 171 + +Limited freewill, 132 _et seq._ + +Links needed, 114 + +Lodge, address by Dr. Oliver, 137 + +Logos of the system, the, 99 _et seq._ + + +Magic, 53 + +Magnifying, the power of, 47-67 + +Manifestations of clairvoyance, the first, 26 + +Masters of Wisdom, the, 20, 167, 174 + +Materialization, 70 + +Mâyâvirûpa, the, 78 + +Meaning of word clairvoyance, 5 + +Meditation, 167 + +Mediums, trance, 83 + +Mental plane clairvoyance, 56 + plane sense, 18 + world, 80, 104, 115 + +Mesmerism, clairvoyance under, 24, 62, 164 + curative, 165 + +Methods of development, 163 + +Micawbers, psychic, 83 + +Mooltan, story of the siege of, 92 + +Murder, reproduction of, 161 + + +Nature spirits, 33, 44, 61, 160 + +Necessity of common-sense in occultism, 125 + +New colours, 35 + +Now, the eternal, 109, 137 + + +Occasional clairvoyance, 23 + +Ointment, fairy and witch, 34 + +Orleans, the story of the Duke of, 90 + +Other planets, 81 + + +Partial and temporary clairvoyance, 54 + +Past incarnations, 118, 123 _et seq._ + +Path of development, the, 167 + +Perceval, assassination of Mr., 151 + +Personal equation, the, 104 _et seq._ + +Phantom flocks, 154, 160, 162 + +Phenomena, classification of, 27 + séance room, 35, 62 + +Philadelphian seer, the story of a, 72 _et seq._ + +Physical objects, the transparency of, 32 + +Pictures before going to sleep, 93 + +Planets, other, 81 + +Polarization of astral matter, 63 + +Poseidonis, the sinking of, 120 + +Possibilities of historical study, 114 _et seq._ + +Power of magnifying, the, 47, 67 + +Power of response to vibrations, 9, 11 + +Preliminary considerations, 7 + +Premonition, Mr. Stead's, 153 + +Prevision, 132, 139 + +Prospects for the future, 175 + +Psychic Micawbers, 83 + +Psychometry, 114, 127 + + +Qualifications of the student, 166 + +Qualified teachers, 165 + + +Radiations, 59 + +Records, âkâshic, 85, 97 _et seq._, 160 + aspect of the, 115 + +Regular development, 19 + +Reproduction of a murder, 161 + +Restrictions upon clairvoyance, 81, 171 + +Röntgen rays, the, 11 + + +Sadness of clairvoyance, the, 169 + +Schiller's lines, 169 + +Séance-room phenomena, 35, 62 + +Second-sight, 140 _et seq._ + the symbolism of, 145 + +Seer, a Philadelphian, 72 _et seq._ + +Self-hypnotization, 86 + +Sense, extension of, 12 + +Senses, astral, 17 + +Sight, astral, 37 _et seq._, 59 _et seq._, 66 + at a distance, 59, 81 + spiritual, 57 + +Sleep, clairvoyance during, 26 + +Society, the Theosophical, 167 + +Solar system, the, 99 + +Spectral armies, 154 + +Spectrum, experiment with the, 10 + +Spiritualistic phenomena, 35, 62 + +_Stars and the Earth, The_, 110 + +Stories of crystal-gazing, 84 _et seq._ + second sight, 132, 140 _et seq._ + +Story by Jung Stilling, 72 + Mr. Stead's, 93 + of Captain Yonnt, 89 + Mary Goffe, 75 + Miss X.'s dogcart, 152 + Mr. Stead's premonition, 153 + +Story of Souter Fell, 156-7 + the bull and the doctor, 147 + the Duke of Orleans, 90 + the housekeeper's dream, 147 _et seq._ + +Story of the siege of Mooltan, 92 + the white night-dress, 149 + Zschokke, 127 _et seq._ + +Stranger, finding a, 80 + +Sympathetic system, the, 22 _et seq._ + +System, the Logos of the, 99 _et seq._ + + +Teachers, qualified, 165 + +Telescope, the astral, 65, 85, 103 + +Temporary and partial clairvoyance, 54 + +Tests not given, 172 + +Theosophical Society, The, 167 + terms, 7 + +Thought-control, 168 + +Thought-forms, 43, 67 + +Throughth, 39 + +Time only relative, 138 + +Training, the advantages of, 165 + where to be had, 167 + +Trance mediums, 83 + +Transparency of physical objects, 32 + +Trivial subjects, clairvoyance on, 55, 95, 152 + + +Uncultured, clairvoyance in the, 21 + + +Value of knowledge, the, 125 + +Variable capacity of response, 10 _et seq._ + +Vibrations, 9 + power of response to, 11 + +Vision, astral, 37 _et seq._, 59 _et seq._, 66 + etheric, 30 _et seq._ + +Visions, casual, 141 + +Visits at death, 74 _et seq._ + +Voodoo or Obeah, 163 + + +White night-dress, the story of the, 149 + +Wild huntsman, the, 160 + +Wisdom, the Masters of, 20, 167, 174 + +World, the astral, 81, 103 + mental, 80, 104, 115 + + +X.'s story, Miss, 152 + +X Rays, 11 + + +Yonnt's story, Captain, 89 + + +Zschokke's story, 127 _et seq._ + + +PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH. + + * * * * * + + + + +THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. + +SATYÂNNÂSTI PARO DHARMAH + +[Illustration] + +THERE IS NO RELIGION HIGHER THAN TRUTH. + + +_OBJECTS._ + +To form a nucleus of the universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without +distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour. + +To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and +science. + +To investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in +man. + + * * * * * + +Any person desiring information as to the Theosophical Society is +invited to communicate with any one of the following General +Secretaries: + +AMERICA: Alexander Fullerton; New York, 46 Fifth Avenue. + +BRITAIN: Bertram Keightley, M.A. (_pro tem._); London, 28 Albemarle +Street, W. + +INDIA: Upendra Nath Basu, B.A., LL.B.; Benares, N.W.P. + +SCANDINAVIA: Arvid Knös; Sweden, Engelbrechtsgatan 7, Stockholm. + +AUSTRALIA: H. 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They hold that Truth should be sought by study, by +reflection, by purity of life, by devotion to high ideals, and they +regard Truth as a prize to be striven for, not as a dogma to be +imposed by authority. They consider that belief should be the result +of individual study or intuition, and not its antecedent, and should +rest on knowledge, not on assertion. They extend tolerance to all, +even to the intolerant, not as a privilege they bestow, but as a duty +they perform, and they seek to remove ignorance, not to punish it. +They see every religion as an expression of the DIVINE WISDOM, and +prefer its study to its condemnation, and its practice to proselytism. +Peace is their watch-word, as Truth is their aim. + +THEOSOPHY is the body of truths which forms the basis of all +religions, and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of +any. It offers a philosophy which renders life intelligible, and which +demonstrates the justice and the love which guide its evolution. It +puts death in its rightful place, as a recurring incident in an +endless life, opening the gateway of a fuller and more radiant +existence. It restores to the world the science of the spirit, +teaching man to know the spirit as himself, and the mind and body as +his servants. It illuminates the scriptures and doctrines of religions +by unveiling their hidden meanings, and thus justifying them at the +bar of intelligence, as they are ever justified in the eyes of +intuition. + +Members of the Theosophical Society study these truths, and +Theosophists endeavour to live them. Every one willing to study, to be +tolerant, to aim high, and to work perseveringly, is welcomed as a +member, and it rests with the member to become a true Theosophist. + +BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR STUDY. + + s. d. +An Outline of Theosophy. C. W. Leadbeater 1 0 +Ancient Wisdom. Annie Besant 5 0 +Theosophical Manuals. + Seven Principles of Man. Annie Besant 1 0 + Re-incarnation. Annie Besant 1 0 + Karma. Annie Besant 1 0 + Death--and After? Annie Besant 1 0 + The Astral Plane. C. W. Leadbeater 1 0 + The Devachanic Plane. C. W. Leadbeater 1 0 + Man and his Bodies. Annie Besant 1 0 +The Key to Theosophy. H. P. Blavatsky 6 0 +Esoteric Buddhism. A. P. Sinnett 2 6 +The Growth of the Soul. A. P. Sinnett 5 0 +Man's Place in the Universe 2 0 +Man Visible and Invisible (illustrated). C. W. Leadbeater 10 6 + +A student who has thoroughly mastered these may study The Secret +Doctrine. H. P. Blavatsky. Three volumes and separate index, £ 3. Man +Visible and Invisible (illustrated). C. W. Leadbeater 10 6 + + WORLD-RELIGIONS. s. d. +Fragments of a Faith Forgotten. G. R. S. Mead 10 6 +Esoteric Christianity. Annie Besant 5 0 +Four Great Religions. Annie Besant 2 0 +Orpheus. G. R. S. Mead 4 6 +The Kabalah. A. E. Waite 7 6 + + ETHICAL. +In the Outer Court. Annie Besant 2 0 +The Path of Discipleship. Annie Besant 2 0 +The Voice of the Silence. H. P. Blavatsky 1 6 +Light on the Path. Mabel Collins 1 6 +Bhagavad-Gitâ. Trans. Annie Besant 1 6 +Studies in the Bhagavad-Gitâ 1 6 +The Doctrine of the Heart 1 6 +The Upanishats. Trans. by G. R. S. Mead and J.C. Chattopadyaya. + Two Volumes, each 1 6 +Three Paths and Dharma. Annie Besant 2 0 +Theosophy of the Upanishats 3 0 +The Stanzas of Dayân. H.P. Blavatsky 1 6 + +VARIOUS. +Nature's Mysteries. A. P. Sinnett 2 0 +Clairvoyance. C. W. Leadbeater 2 0 +Dreams. C. W. Leadbeater 1 6 +The Building of the Kosmos. Annie Besant 2 0 +The Evolution of Life and Form. Annie Besant 2 0 +Some Problems of Life. Annie Besant 1 6 +Thought-Power, its Control and Culture. Annie Besant 1 6 +The Science of the Emotions. Bhagavan Das 3 6 +The Gospel and the Gospels. G. R. S. Mead 4 6 +Five Years of Theosophy 10 0 + + * * * * * + + + + +THE THEOSOPHICAL REVIEW. + +EDITED BY + +ANNIE BESANT AND G. R. S. MEAD. + +Amongst the Regular Contributors are: + +ANNIE BESANT. +ALEX. FULLERTON. +G. R. S. MEAD. +BERTRAM KEIGHTLEY. +A. P. SINNETT. +C. W. 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Leadbeater + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; background-color: #FFFFFF; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { width: 60%; padding: 1em; text-align: left; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} +table.tb1 { width: 80%; padding: 1em; text-align: left; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} +.tocpg {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} + +.f1 { font-size:smaller; } + +div.index { /* styles that apply to all text in an index */ + font-size: 90%; /*small type for compactness */ + } + ul.IX { + list-style-type: none; + font-size:inherit; + } + .IX li { /* list items in an index: compressed verticallly */ + margin-top: 0; + } + +.td1 { text-align:center; } +.li1 { margin-left:22%; } +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style:normal; +} /* page numbers */ + +a[name] { position: static; } + a:link { border:none; color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none; } + a:visited {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none; } + a:hover { color:#ff0000; } + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Clairvoyance, by Charles Webster Leadbeater + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Clairvoyance + +Author: Charles Webster Leadbeater + +Release Date: July 13, 2009 [EBook #29399] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLAIRVOYANCE *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Bryan Ness, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>CLAIRVOYANCE</h1> +<p> </p> +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>C. W. LEADBEATER</h2> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h4>SECOND EDITION</h4> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>LONDON</h3> +<h3>THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY</h3> +<h3>1903</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg f1">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">What Clairvoyance is.</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Simple Clairvoyance: Full</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Simple Clairvoyance: Partial</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Clairvoyance in Space: Intentional</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Clairvoyance in Space: Semi-Intentional</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Clairvoyance in Space: Unintentional</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Clairvoyance in Time: the Past</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Clairvoyance in Time: the Future</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="td1"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg"> </td> +</tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Methods of Development</a></span></td> +<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td></tr> +</table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CLAIRVOYANCE</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">What Clairvoyance is.</span></h2> + + +<p>Clairvoyance means literally nothing more than "clear-seeing," and it +is a word which has been sorely misused, and even degraded so far as +to be employed to describe the trickery of a mountebank in a variety +show. Even in its more restricted sense it covers a wide range of +phenomena, differing so greatly in character that it is not easy to +give a definition of the word which shall be at once succinct and +accurate. It has been called "spiritual vision," but no rendering +could well be more misleading than that, for in the vast majority of +cases there is no faculty connected with it which has the slightest +claim to be honoured by so lofty a name.</p> + +<p>For the purpose of this treatise we may, perhaps, define it as the +power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. It will be +as well to premise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> that it is very frequently (though by no means +always) accompanied by what is called clairaudience, or the power to +hear what would be inaudible to the ordinary physical ear; and we will +for the nonce take our title as covering this faculty also, in order +to avoid the clumsiness of perpetually using two long words where one +will suffice.</p> + +<p>Let me make two points clear before I begin. First, I am not writing +for those who do not believe that there is such a thing as +clairvoyance, nor am I seeking to convince those who are in doubt +about the matter. In so small a work as this I have no space for that; +such people must study the many books containing lists of cases, or +make experiments for themselves along mesmeric lines. I am addressing +myself to the better-instructed class who know that clairvoyance +exists, and are sufficiently interested in the subject to be glad of +information as to its methods and possibilities; and I would assure +them that what I write is the result of much careful study and +experiment, and that though some of the powers which I shall have to +describe may seem new and wonderful to them, I mention no single one +of which I have not myself seen examples.</p> + +<p>Secondly, though I shall endeavour to avoid technicalities as far as +possible, yet as I am writing in the main for students of Theosophy, I +shall feel myself at liberty sometimes to use, for brevity's sake and +with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>out detailed explanation, the ordinary Theosophical terms with +which I may safely assume them to be familiar.</p> + +<p>Should this little book fall into the hands of any to whom the +occasional use of such terms constitutes a difficulty, I can only +apologize to them and refer them for these preliminary explanations to +any elementary Theosophical work, such as Mrs. Besant's <i>Ancient +Wisdom</i> or <i>Man and His Bodies</i>. The truth is that the whole +Theosophical system hangs together so closely, and its various parts +are so interdependent, that to give a full explanation of every term +used would necessitate an exhaustive treatise on Theosophy as a +preface even to this short account of clairvoyance.</p> + +<p>Before a detailed explanation of clairvoyance can usefully be +attempted, however, it will be necessary for us to devote a little +time to some preliminary considerations, in order that we may have +clearly in mind a few broad facts as to the different planes on which +clairvoyant vision may be exercised, and the conditions which render +its exercise possible.</p> + +<p>We are constantly assured in Theosophical literature that all these +higher faculties are presently to be the heritage of mankind in +general—that the capacity of clairvoyance, for example, lies latent +in every one, and that those in whom it already manifests itself are +simply in that one particular a little in advance of the rest of us. +Now this statement is a true one, and yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> it seems quite vague and +unreal to the majority of people, simply because they regard such a +faculty as something absolutely different from anything they have yet +experienced, and feel fairly confident that they themselves, at any +rate, are not within measurable distance of its development.</p> + +<p>It may help to dispel this sense of unreality if we try to understand +that clairvoyance, like so many other things in nature, is mainly a +question of vibrations, and is in fact nothing but an extension of +powers which we are all using every day of our lives. We are living +all the while surrounded by a vast sea of mingled air and ether, the +latter inter-penetrating the former, as it does all physical matter; +and it is chiefly by means of vibrations in that vast sea of matter +that impressions reach us from the outside. This much we all know, but +it may perhaps never have occurred to many of us that the number of +these vibrations to which we are capable of responding is in reality +quite infinitesimal.</p> + +<p>Up among the exceedingly rapid vibrations which affect the ether there +is a certain small section—a <i>very</i> small section—to which the +retina of the human eye is capable of responding, and these particular +vibrations produce in us the sensation which we call light. That is to +say, we are capable of seeing only those objects from which light of +that particular kind can either issue or be reflected.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<p>In exactly the same way the tympanum of the human ear is capable of +responding to a certain very small range of comparatively slow +vibrations—slow enough to affect the air which surrounds us; and so +the only sounds which we can hear are those made by objects which are +able to vibrate at some rate within that particular range.</p> + +<p>In both cases it is a matter perfectly well known to science that +there are large numbers of vibrations both above and below these two +sections, and that consequently there is much light that we cannot +see, and there are many sounds to which our ears are deaf. In the case +of light the action of these higher and lower vibrations is easily +perceptible in the effects produced by the actinic rays at one end of +the spectrum and the heat rays at the other.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact there exist vibrations of every conceivable degree +of rapidity, filling the whole vast space intervening between the slow +sound waves and the swift light waves; nor is even that all, for there +are undoubtedly vibrations slower than those of sound, and a whole +infinity of them which are swifter than those known to us as light. So +we begin to understand that the vibrations by which we see and hear +are only like two tiny groups of a few strings selected from an +enormous harp of practically infinite extent, and when we think how +much we have been able to learn and infer from the use of those +minute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> fragments, we see vaguely what possibilities might lie before +us if we were enabled to utilize the vast and wonderful whole.</p> + +<p>Another fact which needs to be considered in this connection is that +different human beings vary considerably, though within relatively +narrow limits, in their capacity of response even to the very few +vibrations which are within reach of our physical senses. I am not +referring to the keenness of sight or of hearing that enables one man +to see a fainter object or hear a slighter sound than another; it is +not in the least a question of strength of vision, but of extent of +susceptibility.</p> + +<p>For example, if anyone will take a good bisulphide of carbon prism, +and by its means throw a clear spectrum on a sheet of white paper, and +then get a number of people to mark upon the paper the extreme limits +of the spectrum as it appears to them, he is fairly certain to find +that their powers of vision differ appreciably. Some will see the +violet extending much farther than the majority do; others will +perhaps see rather less violet than most, while gaining a +corresponding extension of vision at the red end. Some few there will +perhaps be who can see farther than ordinary at both ends, and these +will almost certainly be what we call sensitive people—susceptible in +fact to a greater range of vibrations than are most men of the present +day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p>In hearing, the same difference can be tested by taking some sound +which is just not too high to be audible—on the very verge of +audibility as it were—and discovering how many among a given number +of people are able to hear it. The squeak of a bat is a familiar +instance of such a sound, and experiment will show that on a summer +evening, when the whole air is full of the shrill, needle-like cries +of these little animals, quite a large number of men will be +absolutely unconscious of them, and unable to hear anything at all.</p> + +<p>Now these examples clearly show that there is no hard-and-fast limit +to man's power of response to either etheric or aerial vibrations, but +that some among us already have that power to a wider extent than +others; and it will even be found that the same man's capacity varies +on different occasions. It is therefore not difficult for us to +imagine that it might be possible for a man to develop this power, and +thus in time to learn to see much that is invisible to his fellow-men, +and hear much that is inaudible to them, since we know perfectly well +that enormous numbers of these additional vibrations do exist, and are +simply, as it were, awaiting recognition.</p> + +<p>The experiments with the Röntgen rays give us an example of the +startling results which are produced when even a very few of these +additional vibrations are brought within human ken, and the +transparency<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> to these rays of many substances hitherto considered +opaque at once shows us one way at least in which we may explain such +elementary clairvoyance as is involved in reading a letter inside a +closed box, or describing those present in an adjoining apartment. To +learn to see by means of the Röntgen rays in addition to those +ordinarily employed would be quite sufficient to enable anyone to +perform a feat of magic of this order.</p> + +<p>So far we have thought only of an extension of the purely physical +senses of man; and when we remember that a man's etheric body is in +reality merely the finer part of his physical frame, and that +therefore all his sense organs contain a large amount of etheric +matter of various degrees of density, the capacities of which are +still practically latent in most of us, we shall see that even if we +confine ourselves to this line of development alone there are enormous +possibilities of all kinds already opening out before us.</p> + +<p>But besides and beyond all this we know that man possesses an astral +and a mental body, each of which can in process of time be aroused +into activity, and will respond in turn to the vibrations of the +matter of its own plane, thus opening up before the Ego, as he learns +to function through these vehicles, two entirely new and far wider +worlds of knowledge and power. Now these new worlds, though they are +all around us and freely inter-penetrate one another,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> are not to be +thought of as distinct and entirely unconnected in substance, but +rather as melting the one into the other, the lowest astral forming a +direct series with the highest physical, just as the lowest mental in +its turn forms a direct series with the highest astral. We are not +called upon in thinking of them to imagine some new and strange kind +of matter, but simply to think of the ordinary physical kind as +subdivided so very much more finely and vibrating so very much more +rapidly as to introduce us to what are practically entirely new +conditions and qualities.</p> + +<p>It is not then difficult for us to grasp the possibility of a steady +and progressive extension of our senses, so that both by sight and by +hearing we may be able to appreciate vibrations far higher and far +lower than those which are ordinarily recognised. A large section of +these additional vibrations will still belong to the physical plane, +and will merely enable us to obtain impressions from the etheric part +of that plane, which is at present as a closed book to us. Such +impressions will still be received through the retina of the eye; of +course they will affect its etheric rather than its solid matter, but +we may nevertheless regard them as still appealing only to an organ +specialized to receive them, and not to the whole surface of the +etheric body.</p> + +<p>There are some abnormal cases, however, in which other parts of the +etheric body respond to these addi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>tional vibrations as readily as, or +even more readily than, the eye. Such vagaries are explicable in +various ways, but principally as effects of some partial astral +development, for it will be found that the sensitive parts of the body +almost invariably correspond with one or other of the <i>chakrams</i>, or +centres of vitality in the astral body. And though, if astral +consciousness be not yet developed, these centres may not be available +on their own plane, they are still strong enough to stimulate into +keener activity the etheric matter which they inter-penetrate.</p> + +<p>When we come to deal with the astral senses themselves the methods of +working are very different. The astral body has no specialized +sense-organs—a fact which perhaps needs some explanation, since many +students who are trying to comprehend its physiology seem to find it +difficult to reconcile with the statements that have been made as to +the perfect inter-penetration of the physical body by astral matter, +the exact correspondence between the two vehicles, and the fact that +every physical object has necessarily its astral counterpart.</p> + +<p>Now all these statements are true, and yet it is quite possible for +people who do not normally see astrally to misunderstand them. Every +order of physical matter has its corresponding order of astral matter +in constant association with it—not to be separated from it except by +a very considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> exertion of occult force, and even then only to +be held apart from it as long as force is being definitely exerted to +that end. But for all that the relation of the astral particles one to +another is far looser than is the case with their physical +correspondences.</p> + +<p>In a bar of iron, for example, we have a mass of physical molecules in +the solid condition—that is to say, capable of comparatively little +change in their relative positions, though each vibrating with immense +rapidity in its own sphere. The astral counterpart of this consists of +what we often call solid astral matter—that is, matter of the lowest +and densest sub-plane of the astral; but nevertheless its particles +are constantly and rapidly changing their relative position, moving +among one another as easily as those of a liquid on the physical plane +might do. So that there is no permanent association between any one +physical particle and that amount of astral matter which happens at +any given moment to be acting as its counterpart.</p> + +<p>This is equally true with respect to the astral body of man, which for +our purpose at the moment we may regard as consisting of two +parts—the denser aggregation which occupies the exact position of the +physical body, and the cloud of rarer astral matter which surrounds +that aggregation. In both these parts, and between them both, there is +going on at every moment of time the rapid inter-circulation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +particles which has been described, so that as one watches the +movement of the molecules in the astral body one is reminded of the +appearance of those in fiercely boiling water.</p> + +<p>This being so, it will be readily understood that though any given +organ of the physical body must always have as its counterpart a +certain amount of astral matter, it does not retain the same particles +for more than a few seconds at a time, and consequently there is +nothing corresponding to the specialization of physical nerve-matter +into optic or auditory nerves, and so on. So that though the physical +eye or ear has undoubtedly always its counterpart of astral matter, +that particular fragment of astral matter is no more (and no less) +capable of responding to the vibrations which produce astral sight or +astral hearing than any other part of the vehicle.</p> + +<p>It must never be forgotten that though we constantly have to speak of +"astral sight" or "astral hearing" in order to make ourselves +intelligible, all that we mean by those expressions is the faculty of +responding to such vibrations as convey to the man's consciousness, +when he is functioning in his astral body, information of the same +character as that conveyed to him by his eyes and ears while he is in +the physical body. But in the entirely different astral conditions, +specialized organs are not necessary for the attainment of this +result; there is matter in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> every part of the astral body which is +capable of such response, and consequently the man functioning in that +vehicle sees equally well objects behind him, beneath him, above him, +without needing to turn his head.</p> + +<p>There is, however, another point which it would hardly be fair to +leave entirely out of account, and that is the question of the +<i>chakrams</i> referred to above. Theosophical students are familiar with +the idea of the existence in both the astral and the etheric bodies of +man of certain centres of force which have to be vivified in turn by +the sacred serpent-fire as the man advances in evolution. Though these +cannot be described as organs in the ordinary sense of the word, since +it is not through them that the man sees or hears, as he does in +physical life through eyes and ears, yet it is apparently very largely +upon their vivification that the power of exercising these astral +senses depends, each of them as it is developed giving to the whole +astral body the power of response to a new set of vibrations.</p> + +<p>Neither have these centres, however, any permanent collection of +astral matter connected with them. They are simply vortices in the +matter of the body—vortices through which all the particles pass in +turn—points, perhaps, at which the higher force from planes above +impinges upon the astral body. Even this description gives but a very +partial idea of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> appearance, for they are in reality +four-dimensional vortices, so that the force which comes through them +and is the cause of their existence seems to well up from nowhere. But +at any rate, since all particles in turn pass through each of them, it +will be clear that it is thus possible for each in turn to evoke in +all the particles of the body the power of receptivity to a certain +set of vibrations, so that all the astral senses are equally active in +all parts of the body.</p> + +<p>The vision of the mental plane is again totally different, for in this +case we can no longer speak of separate senses such as sight and +hearing, but rather have to postulate one general sense which responds +so fully to the vibrations reaching it that when any object comes +within its cognition it at once comprehends it fully, and as it were +sees it, hears it, feels it, and knows all there is to know about it +by the one instantaneous operation. Yet even this wonderful faculty +differs in degree only and not in kind from those which are at our +command at the present time; on the mental plane, just as on the +physical, impressions are still conveyed by means of vibrations +travelling from the object seen to the seer.</p> + +<p>On the buddhic plane we meet for the first time with a quite new +faculty having nothing in common with those of which we have spoken, +for there a man cognizes any object by an entirely different method, +in which external vibrations play no part. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> object becomes part of +himself, and he studies it from the inside instead of from the +outside. But with <i>this</i> power ordinary clairvoyance has nothing to +do.</p> + +<p>The development, either entire or partial, of any one of these +faculties would come under our definition of clairvoyance—the power +to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. But these +faculties may be developed in various ways, and it will be well to say +a few words as to these different lines.</p> + +<p>We may presume that if it were possible for a man to be isolated +during his evolution from all but the gentlest outside influences, and +to unfold from the beginning in perfectly regular and normal fashion, +he would probably develop his senses in regular order also. He would +find his physical senses gradually extending their scope until they +responded to all the physical vibrations, of etheric as well as of +denser matter; then in orderly sequence would come sensibility to the +coarser part of the astral plane, and presently the finer part also +would be included, until in due course the faculty of the mental plane +dawned in its turn.</p> + +<p>In real life, however, development so regular as this is hardly ever +known, and many a man has occasional flashes of astral consciousness +without any awakening of etheric vision at all. And this irregularity +of development is one of the principal causes of man's extraordinary +liability to error in matters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> of clairvoyance—a liability from which +there is no escape except by a long course of careful training under a +qualified teacher.</p> + +<p>Students of Theosophical literature are well aware that there are such +teachers to be found—that even in this materialistic nineteenth +century the old saying is still true, that "when the pupil is ready, +the Master is ready also," and that "in the hall of learning, when he +is capable of entering there, the disciple will always find his +Master." They are well aware also that only under such guidance can a +man develop his latent powers in safety and with certainty, since they +know how fatally easy it is for the untrained clairvoyant to deceive +himself as to the meaning and value of what he sees, or even +absolutely to distort his vision completely in bringing it down into +his physical consciousness.</p> + +<p>It does not follow that even the pupil who is receiving regular +instruction in the use of occult powers will find them unfolding +themselves exactly in the regular order which was suggested above as +probably ideal. His previous progress may not have been such as to +make this for him the easiest or most desirable road; but at any rate +he is in the hands of one who is perfectly competent to be his guide +in spiritual development, and he rests in perfect contentment that the +way along which he is taken will be that which is the best way for +him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another great advantage which he gains is that whatever faculties he +may acquire are definitely under his command and can be used fully and +constantly when he needs them for his Theosophical work; whereas in +the case of the untrained man such powers often manifest themselves +only very partially and spasmodically, and appear to come and go, as +it were, at their own sweet will.</p> + +<p>It may reasonably be objected that if clairvoyant faculty is, as +stated, a part of the occult development of man, and so a sign of a +certain amount of progress along that line, it seems strange that it +should often be possessed by primitive peoples, or by the ignorant and +uncultured among our own race—persons who are obviously quite +undeveloped, from whatever point of view one regards them. No doubt +this does appear remarkable at first sight but the fact is that the +sensitiveness of the savage or of the coarse and vulgar European +ignoramus is not really at all the same thing as the faculty of his +properly trained brother, nor is it arrived at in the same way.</p> + +<p>An exact and detailed explanation of the difference would lead us into +rather recondite technicalities, but perhaps the general idea of the +distinction between the two may be caught from an example taken from +the very lowest plane of clairvoyance, in close contact with the +denser physical. The etheric double in man is in exceedingly close +relation to his nervous system,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> and any kind of action upon one of +them speedily reacts on the other. Now in the sporadic appearance of +etheric sight in the savage, whether of Central Africa or of Western +Europe, it has been observed that the corresponding nervous +disturbance is almost entirely in the sympathetic system, and that the +whole affair is practically beyond the man's control—is in fact a +sort of massive sensation vaguely belonging to the whole etheric body, +rather than an exact and definite sense-perception communicated +through a specialized organ.</p> + +<p>As in later races and amid higher development the strength of the man +is more and more thrown into the evolution of the mental faculties, +this vague sensitiveness usually disappears; but still later, when the +spiritual man begins to unfold, he regains his clairvoyant power. This +time, however, the faculty is a precise and exact one, under the +control of the man's will, and exercised through a definite +sense-organ; and it is noteworthy that any nervous action set up in +sympathy with it is now almost exclusively in the cerebro-spinal +system.</p> + +<p>On this subject Mrs. Besant writes:—"The lower forms of psychism are +more frequent in animals and in very unintelligent human beings than +in men and women in whom the intellectual powers are well developed. +They appear to be connected with the sympathetic system, not with the +cerebro-spinal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> The large nucleated ganglionic cells in this system +contain a very large proportion of etheric matter, and are hence more +easily affected by the coarser astral vibrations than are the cells in +which the proportion is less. As the cerebro-spinal system develops, +and the brain becomes more highly evolved, the sympathetic system +subsides into a subordinate position, and the sensitiveness to psychic +vibrations is dominated by the stronger and more active vibrations of +the higher nervous system. It is true that at a later stage of +evolution psychic sensitiveness reappears, but it is then developed in +connection with the cerebro-spinal centres, and is brought under the +control of the will. But the hysterical and ill-regulated psychism of +which we see so many lamentable examples is due to the small +development of the brain and the dominance of the sympathetic system."</p> + +<p>Occasional flashes of clairvoyance do, however, sometimes come to the +highly cultured and spiritual-minded man, even though he may never +have heard of the possibility of training such a faculty. In his case +such glimpses usually signify that he is approaching that stage in his +evolution when these powers will naturally begin to manifest +themselves, and their appearance should serve as an additional +stimulus to him to strive to maintain that high standard of moral +purity and mental balance without which clairvoyance is a curse and +not a blessing to its possessor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>Between those who are entirely unimpressible and those who are in full +possession of clairvoyant power there are many intermediate stages. +One to which it will be worth while to give a passing glance is the +stage in which a man, though he has no clairvoyant faculty in ordinary +life, yet exhibits it more or less fully under the influence of +mesmerism. This is a case in which the psychic nature is already +sensitive, but the consciousness is not yet capable of functioning in +it amidst the manifold distractions of physical life. It needs to be +set free by the temporary suspension of the outer senses in the +mesmeric trance before it can use the diviner faculties which are but +just beginning to dawn within it. But of course even in the mesmeric +trance there are innumerable degrees of lucidity, from the ordinary +patient who is blankly unintelligent to the man whose power of sight +is fully under the control of the operator, and can be directed +whithersoever he wills, or to the more advanced stage in which, when +the consciousness is once set free, it escapes altogether from the +grasp of the magnetizer, and soars into fields of exalted vision where +it is entirely beyond his reach.</p> + +<p>Another step along the same path is that upon which such perfect +suppression of the physical as that which occurs in the hypnotic +trance is not necessary, but the power of supernormal sight, though +still out of reach during waking life, becomes available when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> the +body is held in the bonds of ordinary sleep. At this stage of +development stood many of the prophets and seers of whom we read, who +were "warned of God in a dream," or communed with beings far higher +than themselves in the silent watches of the night.</p> + +<p>Most cultured people of the higher races of the world have this +development to some extent: that is to say, the senses of their astral +bodies are in full working order, and perfectly capable of receiving +impressions from objects and entities of their own plane. But to make +that fact of any use to them down here in the physical body, two +changes are usually necessary; first, that the Ego shall be awakened +to the realities of the astral plane, and induced to emerge from the +chrysalis formed by his own waking thoughts, and look round him to +observe and to learn; and secondly, that the consciousness shall be so +far retained during the return of the Ego into his physical body as to +enable him to impress upon his physical brain the recollection of what +he has seen or learnt.</p> + +<p>If the first of these changes has taken place, the second is of little +importance, since the Ego, the true man, will be able to profit by the +information to be obtained upon that plane, even though he may not +have the satisfaction of bringing through any remembrance of it into +his waking life down here.</p> + +<p>Students often ask how this clairvoyant faculty will first be +manifested in themselves—how they may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> know when they have reached +the stage at which its first faint foreshadowings are beginning to be +visible. Cases differ so widely that it is impossible to give to this +question any answer that will be universally applicable.</p> + +<p>Some people begin by a plunge, as it were, and under some unusual +stimulus become able just for once to see some striking vision; and +very often in such a case, because the experience does not repeat +itself, the seer comes in time to believe that on that occasion he +must have been the victim of hallucination. Others begin by becoming +intermittently conscious of the brilliant colours and vibrations of +the human aura; yet others find themselves with increasing frequency +seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and +deaf; others, again, see faces, landscapes, or coloured clouds +floating before their eyes in the dark before they sink to rest; while +perhaps the commonest experience of all is that of those who begin to +recollect with greater and greater clearness what they have seen and +heard on the other planes during sleep.</p> + +<p>Having now to some extent cleared our ground, we may proceed to +consider the various phenomena of clairvoyance.</p> + +<p>They differ so widely both in character and in degree that it is not +very easy to decide how they can most satisfactorily be classified. We +might, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> example, arrange them according to the kind of sight +employed—whether it were mental, astral, or merely etheric. We might +divide them according to the capacity of the clairvoyant, taking into +consideration whether he was trained or untrained; whether his vision +was regular and under his command, or spasmodic and independent of his +volition; whether he could exercise it only when under mesmeric +influence, or whether that assistance was unnecessary for him; whether +he was able to use his faculty when awake in the physical body, or +whether it was available only when he was temporarily away from that +body in sleep or trance.</p> + +<p>All these distinctions are of importance, and we shall have to take +them all into consideration as we go on, but perhaps on the whole the +most useful classification will be one something on the lines of that +adopted by Mr. Sinnett in his <i>Rationale of Mesmerism</i>—a book, by the +way, which all students of clairvoyance ought to read. In dealing with +the phenomena, then, we will arrange them rather according to the +capacity of the sight employed than to the plane upon which it is +exercised, so that we may group instances of clairvoyance under some +such headings as these:</p> + +<p>1. Simple clairvoyance—that is to say, a mere opening of sight, +enabling its possessor to see whatever astral or etheric entities +happen to be present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> around him, but not including the power of +observing either distant places or scenes belonging to any other time +than the present.</p> + +<p>2. Clairvoyance in space—the capacity to see scenes or events removed +from the seer in space, and either too far distant for ordinary +observation or concealed by intermediate objects.</p> + +<p>3. Clairvoyance in time—that is to say, the capacity to see objects +or events which are removed from the seer in time, or, in other words, +the power of looking into the past or the future.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Simple Clairvoyance: Full.</span></h2> + + +<p>We have defined this as a mere opening of etheric or astral sight, +which enables the possessor to see whatever may be present around him +on corresponding levels, but is not usually accompanied by the power +of seeing anything at a great distance or of reading either the past +or the future. It is hardly possible altogether to exclude these +latter faculties, for astral sight necessarily has considerably +greater extension than physical, and fragmentary pictures of both past +and future are often casually visible even to clairvoyants who do not +know how to seek specially for them; but there is nevertheless a very +real distinction between such incidental glimpses and the definite +power of projection of the sight either in space or time.</p> + +<p>We find among sensitive people all degrees of this kind of +clairvoyance, from that of the man who gets a vague impression which +hardly deserves the name of sight at all, up to the full possession of +etheric and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> astral vision respectively. Perhaps the simplest method +will be for us to begin by describing what would be visible in the +case of this fuller development of the power, as the cases of its +partial possession will then be seen to fall naturally into their +places.</p> + +<p>Let us take the etheric vision first. This consists simply, as has +already been said, in susceptibility to a far larger series of +physical vibrations than ordinary, but nevertheless its possession +brings into view a good deal to which the majority of the human race +still remains blind. Let us consider what changes its acquisition +produces in the aspect of familiar objects, animate and inanimate, and +then see to what entirely new factors it introduces us. But it must be +remembered that what I am about to describe is the result of the full +and perfectly-controlled possession of the faculty only, and that most +of the instances met with in real life will be likely to fall far +short of it in one direction or another.</p> + +<p>The most striking change produced in the appearance of inanimate +objects by the acquisition of this faculty is that most of them become +almost transparent, owing to the difference in wave-length of some of +the vibrations to which the man has now become susceptible. He finds +himself capable of performing with the utmost ease the proverbial feat +of "seeing through a brick wall," for to his newly-acquired vision the +brick wall seems to have a con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>sistency no greater than that of a +light mist. He therefore sees what is going on in an adjoining room +almost as though no intervening wall existed; he can describe with +accuracy the contents of a locked box, or read a sealed letter; with a +little practice he can find a given passage in a closed book. This +last feat, though perfectly easy to astral vision, presents +considerable difficulty to one using etheric sight, because of the +fact that each page has to be looked at <i>through</i> all those which +happen to be superimposed upon it.</p> + +<p>It is often asked whether under these circumstances a man sees always +with this abnormal sight, or only when he wishes to do so. The answer +is that if the faculty is perfectly developed it will be entirely +under his control, and he can use that or his more ordinary vision at +will. He changes from one to the other as readily and naturally as we +now change the focus of our eyes when we look up from our book to +follow the motions of some object a mile away. It is, as it were, a +focussing of consciousness on the one or the other aspect of what is +seen; and though the man would have quite clearly in his view the +aspect upon which his attention was for the moment fixed, he would +always be vaguely conscious of the other aspect too, just as when we +focus our sight upon any object held in our hands we yet vaguely see +the opposite wall of the room as a background.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another curious change, which comes from the possession of this sight, +is that the solid ground upon which the man walks becomes to a certain +extent transparent to him, so that he is able to see down into it to a +considerable depth, much as we can now see into fairly clear water. +This enables him to watch a creature burrowing underground, to +distinguish a vein of coal or of metal if not too far below the +surface, and so on.</p> + +<p>The limit of etheric sight when looking through solid matter appears +to be analogous to that imposed upon us when looking through water or +mist. We cannot see beyond a certain distance, because the medium +through which we are looking is not perfectly transparent.</p> + +<p>The appearance of animate objects is also considerably altered for the +man who has increased his visual powers to this extent. The bodies of +men and animals are for him in the main transparent, so that he can +watch the action of the various internal organs, and to some extent +diagnose some of their diseases.</p> + +<p>The extended sight also enables him to perceive, more or less clearly, +various classes of creatures, elemental and otherwise, whose bodies +are not capable of reflecting any of the rays within the limit of the +spectrum as ordinarily seen. Among the entities so seen will be some +of the lower orders of nature-spirits—those whose bodies are composed +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> the denser etheric matter. To this class belong nearly all the +fairies, gnomes, and brownies, about whom there are still so many +stories remaining among Scotch and Irish mountains and in remote +country places all over the world.</p> + +<p>The vast kingdom of nature-spirits is in the main an astral kingdom, +but still there is a large section of it which appertains to the +etheric part of the physical plane, and this section, of course, is +much more likely to come within the ken of ordinary people than the +others. Indeed, in reading the common fairy stories one frequently +comes across distinct indications that it is with this class that we +are dealing. Any student of fairy lore will remember how often mention +is made of some mysterious ointment or drug, which when applied to a +man's eyes enables him to see the members of the fairy commonwealth +whenever he happens to meet them.</p> + +<p>The story of such an application and its results occurs so constantly +and comes from so many different parts of the world that there must +certainly be some truth behind it, as there always is behind really +universal popular tradition. Now no such anointing of the eyes alone +could by any possibility open a man's astral vision, though certain +ointments rubbed over the whole body will very greatly assist the +astral body to leave the physical in full consciousness—a fact the +knowledge of which seems to have survived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> even to mediæval times, as +will be seen from the evidence given at some of the trials for +witchcraft. But the application to the physical eye might very easily +so stimulate its sensitiveness as to make it susceptible to some of +the etheric vibrations.</p> + +<p>The story frequently goes on to relate how when the human being who +has used this mystical ointment betrays his extended vision in some +way to a fairy, the latter strikes or stabs him in the eye, thus +depriving him not only of the etheric sight, but of that of the denser +physical plane as well. (See <i>The Science of Fairy Tales</i>, by E. S. +Hartland, in the "Contemporary Science" series—or indeed almost any +extensive collection of fairy stories.) If the sight acquired had been +astral, such a proceeding would have been entirely unavailing, for no +injury to the physical apparatus would affect an astral faculty; but +if the vision produced by the ointment were etheric, the destruction +of the physical eye would in most cases at once extinguish it, since +that is the mechanism by means of which it works.</p> + +<p>Anyone possessing this sight of which we are speaking would also be +able to perceive the etheric double of man; but since this is so +nearly identical in size with the physical, it would hardly be likely +to attract his attention unless it were partially projected in trance +or under the influence of anæsthetics. After death, when it withdraws +entirely from the dense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> body, it would be clearly visible to him, and +he would frequently see it hovering over newly made graves as he +passed through a churchyard or cemetery. If he were to attend a +spiritualistic séance he would see the etheric matter oozing out from +the side of the medium, and could observe the various ways in which +the communicating entities make use of it.</p> + +<p>Another fact which could hardly fail soon to thrust itself upon his +notice would be the extension of his perception of colour. He would +find himself able to see several entirely new colours, not in the +least resembling any of those included in the spectrum as we at +present know it, and therefore of course quite indescribable in any +terms at our command. And not only would he see new objects that were +wholly of these new colours, but he would also discover that +modifications had been introduced into the colour of many objects with +which he was quite familiar, according to whether they had or had not +some tinge of these new hues intermingled with the old. So that two +surfaces of colour which to ordinary eyes appeared to match perfectly +would often present distinctly different shades to his keener sight.</p> + +<p>We have now touched upon some of the principal changes which would be +introduced into a man's world when he gained etheric sight; and it +must always be remembered that in most cases a corre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>sponding change +would at the same time be brought about in his other senses also, so +that he would be capable of hearing, and perhaps even of feeling, more +than most of those around him. Now supposing that in addition to this +he obtained the sight of the astral plane, what further changes would +be observable?</p> + +<p>Well, the changes would be many and great; in fact, a whole new world +would open before his eyes. Let us consider its wonders briefly in the +same order as before, and see first what difference there would be in +the appearance of inanimate objects. On this point I may begin by +quoting a recent quaint answer given in <i>The Vâhan</i>.</p> + +<p>"There is a distinct difference between etheric sight and astral +sight, and it is the latter which seems to correspond to the fourth +dimension.</p> + +<p>"The easiest way to understand the difference is to take an example. +If you looked at a man with both the sights in turn, you would see the +buttons at the back of his coat in both cases; only if you used +etheric sight you would see them <i>through</i> him, and would see the +shank-side as nearest to you, but if you looked astrally, you would +see it not only like that, but just as if you were standing behind the +man as well.</p> + +<p>"Or if you were looking etherically at a wooden cube with writing on +all its sides, it would be as though the cube were glass, so that you +could see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> through it, and you would see the writing on the opposite +side all backwards, while that on the right and left sides would not +be clear to you at all unless you moved, because you would see it +edgewise. But if you looked at it astrally you would see all the sides +at once, and all the right way up, as though the whole cube had been +flattened out before you, and you would see every particle of the +inside as well—not <i>through</i> the others, but all flattened out. You +would be looking at it from another direction, at right angles to all +the directions that we know.</p> + +<p>"If you look at the back of a watch etherically you see all the wheels +through it, and the face <i>through them</i>, but backwards; if you look at +it astrally, you see the face right way up and all the wheels lying +separately, but nothing on the top of anything else."</p> + +<p>Here we have at once the keynote, the principal factor of the change; +the man is looking at everything from an absolutely new point of view, +entirely outside of anything that he has ever imagined before. He has +no longer the slightest difficulty in reading any page in a closed +book, because he is not now looking at it through all the other pages +before it or behind it, but is looking straight down upon it as though +it were the only page to be seen. The depth at which a vein of metal +or of coal may lie is no longer a barrier to his sight of it, because +he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> is not now looking through the intervening depth of earth at all. +The thickness of a wall, or the number of walls intervening between +the observer and the object, would make a great deal of difference to +the clearness of the etheric sight; they would make no difference +whatever to the astral sight, because on the astral plane they would +<i>not</i> intervene between the observer and the object. Of course that +sounds paradoxical and impossible, and it <i>is</i> quite inexplicable to a +mind not specially trained to grasp the idea; yet it is none the less +absolutely true.</p> + +<p>This carries us straight into the middle of the much-vexed question of +the fourth dimension—a question of the deepest interest, though one +that we cannot pretend to discuss in the space at our disposal. Those +who wish to study it as it deserves are recommended to begin with Mr. +C. H. Hinton's <i>Scientific Romances</i> or Dr. A. T. Schofield's <i>Another +World</i>, and then follow on with the former author's larger work, <i>A +New Era of Thought</i>. Mr. Hinton not only claims to be able himself to +grasp mentally some of the simpler fourth-dimensional figures, but +also states that anyone who will take the trouble to follow out his +directions may with perseverance acquire that mental grasp likewise. I +am not certain that the power to do this is within the reach of +everyone, as he thinks, for it appears to me to require considerable +mathematical ability; but I can at any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> rate bear witness that the +tesseract or fourth-dimensional cube which he describes is a reality, +for it is quite a familiar figure upon the astral plane. He has now +perfected a new method of representing the several dimensions by +colours instead of by arbitrary written symbols. He states that this +will very much simplify the study, as the reader will be able to +distinguish instantly by sight any part or feature of the tesseract. A +full description of this new method, with plates, is said to be ready +for the press, and is expected to appear within a year, so that +intending students of this fascinating subject might do well to await +its publication.</p> + +<p>I know that Madame Blavatsky, in alluding to the theory of the fourth +dimension, has expressed an opinion that it is only a clumsy way of +stating the idea of the entire permeability of matter, and that Mr. W. +T. Stead has followed along the same lines, presenting the conception +to his readers under the name of <i>throughth</i>. Careful, oft-repeated +and detailed investigation does, however, seem to show quite +conclusively that this explanation does not cover all the facts. It is +a perfect description of etheric vision, but the further and quite +different idea of the fourth dimension as expounded by Mr. Hinton is +the only one which gives any kind of explanation down here of the +constantly-observed facts of astral vision. I would therefore venture +deferentially to suggest that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> when Madame Blavatsky wrote as she did, +she had in mind etheric vision and not astral, and that the extreme +applicability of the phrase to this other and higher faculty, of which +she was not at the moment thinking, did not occur to her.</p> + +<p>The possession of this extraordinary and scarcely expressible power, +then, must always be borne in mind through all that follows. It lays +every point in the interior of every solid body absolutely open to the +gaze of the seer, just as every point in the interior of a circle lies +open to the gaze of a man looking down upon it.</p> + +<p>But even this is by no means all that it gives to its possessor. He +sees not only the inside as well as the outside of every object, but +also its astral counterpart. Every atom and molecule of physical +matter has its corresponding astral atoms and molecules, and the mass +which is built up out of these is clearly visible to our clairvoyant. +Usually the astral of any object projects somewhat beyond the physical +part of it, and thus metals, stones and other things are seen +surrounded by an astral aura.</p> + +<p>It will be seen at once that even in the study of inorganic matter a +man gains immensely by the acquisition of this vision. Not only does +he see the astral part of the object at which he looks, which before +was wholly hidden from him; not only does he see much more of its +physical constitution than he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> did before, but even what was visible +to him before is now seen much more clearly and truly. A moment's +consideration will show that his new vision approximates much more +closely to true perception than does physical sight. For example, if +he looks astrally at a glass cube, its sides will all appear equal, as +we know they really are, whereas on the physical plane he sees the +further side in perspective—that is, it appears smaller than the +nearer side, which is, of course, a mere allusion due to his physical +limitations.</p> + +<p>When we come to consider the additional facilities which it offers in +the observation of animate objects we see still more clearly the +advantages of the astral vision. It exhibits to the clairvoyant the +aura of plants and animals, and thus in the case of the latter their +desires and emotions, and whatever thoughts they may have, are all +plainly shown before his eyes.</p> + +<p>But it is in dealing with human beings that he will most appreciate +the value of this faculty, for he will often be able to help them far +more effectually when he guides himself by the information which it +gives him.</p> + +<p>He will be able to see the aura as far up as the astral body, and +though that leaves all the higher part of a man still hidden from his +gaze, he will nevertheless find it possible by careful observation to +learn a good deal about the higher part from what is within<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> his +reach. His capacity of examining the etheric double will give him +considerable advantage in locating and classifying any defects or +diseases of the nervous system, while from the appearance of the +astral body he will be at once aware of all the emotions, passions, +desires and tendencies of the man before him, and even of very many of +his thoughts also.</p> + +<p>As he looks at a person he will see him surrounded by the luminous +mist of the astral aura, flashing with all sorts of brilliant colours, +and constantly changing in hue and brilliancy with every variation of +the person's thoughts and feelings. He will see this aura flooded with +the beautiful rose-colour of pure affection, the rich blue of +devotional feeling, the hard, dull brown of selfishness, the deep +scarlet of anger, the horrible lurid red of sensuality, the livid grey +of fear, the black clouds of hatred and malice, or any of the other +hundredfold indications so easily to be read in it by a practised eye; +and thus it will be impossible for any persons to conceal from him the +real state of their feelings on any subject.</p> + +<p>These varied indications of the aura are of themselves a study of very +deep interest, but I have no space to deal with them in detail here. A +much fuller account of them, together with a large number of coloured +illustrations, will be found in my work on the subject <i>Man Visible +and Invisible</i>.</p> + +<p>Not only does the astral aura show him the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> temporary result of the +emotion passing through it at the moment, but it also gives him, by +the arrangement and proportion of its colours when in a condition of +comparative rest, a clue to the general disposition and character of +its owner. For the astral body is the expression of as much of the man +as can be manifested on that plane, so that from what is seen in it +much more which belongs to higher planes may be inferred with +considerable certainty.</p> + +<p>In this judgment of character our clairvoyant will be much helped by +so much of the person's thought as expresses itself on the astral +plane, and consequently comes within his purview. The true home of +thought is on the mental plane, and all thought first manifests itself +there as a vibration of the mind-body. But if it be in any way a +selfish thought, or if it be connected in any way with an emotion or a +desire, it immediately descends into the astral plane, and takes to +itself a visible form of astral matter.</p> + +<p>In the case of the majority of men almost all thought would fall under +one or other of these heads, so that practically the whole of their +personality would lie clearly before our friend's astral vision, since +their astral bodies and the thought-forms constantly radiating from +them would be to him as an open book in which their characteristics +were writ so largely that he who ran might read. Anyone wishing to +gain some idea as to <i>how</i> the thought-forms present them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>selves to +clairvoyant vision may satisfy themselves to some extent by examining +the illustrations accompanying Mrs. Besant's valuable article on the +subject in <i>Lucifer</i> for September 1896.</p> + +<p>We have seen something of the alteration in the appearance of both +animate and inanimate objects when viewed by one possessed of full +clairvoyant sight as far as the astral plane is concerned; let us now +consider what entirely new objects he will see. He will be conscious +of a far greater fulness in nature in many directions, but chiefly his +attention will be attracted by the living denizens of this new world. +No detailed account of them can be attempted within the space at our +disposal; for that the reader is referred to No. V. of the +<i>Theosophical Manuals</i>. Here we can do no more than barely enumerate a +few classes only of the vast hosts of astral inhabitants.</p> + +<p>He will be impressed by the protean forms of the ceaseless tide of +elemental essence, ever swirling around him, menacing often, yet +always retiring before a determined effort of the will; he will marvel +at the enormous army of entities temporarily called out of this ocean +into separate existence by the thoughts and wishes of man, whether +good or evil. He will watch the manifold tribes of the nature-spirits +at their work or at their play; he will sometimes be able to study +with ever-increasing delight the magnificent evolution of some of the +lower orders of the glorious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> kingdom of the devas, which corresponds +approximately to the angelic host of Christian terminology.</p> + +<p>But perhaps of even keener interest to him than any of these will be +the human denizens of the astral world, and he will find them +divisible into two great classes—those whom we call the living, and +those others, most of them infinitely more alive, whom we so foolishly +misname the dead. Among the former he will find here and there one +wide awake and fully conscious, perhaps sent to bring him some +message, or examining him keenly to see what progress he is making; +while the majority of his neighbours, when away from their physical +bodies during sleep, will drift idly by, so wrapped up in their own +cogitations as to be practically unconscious of what is going on +around them.</p> + +<p>Among the great host of the recently dead he will find all degrees of +consciousness and intelligence, and all shades of character—for +death, which seems to our limited vision so absolute a change, in +reality alters nothing of the man himself. On the day after his death +he is precisely the same man as he was the day before it, with the +same disposition, the same qualities, the same virtues and vices, save +only that he has cast aside his physical body; but the loss of that no +more makes him in any way a different man than would the removal of an +overcoat. So among the dead our student will find men intelligent and +stupid,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> kind-hearted and morose, serious and frivolous, +spiritually-minded and sensually-minded, just as among the living.</p> + +<p>Since he can not only see the dead, but speak with them, he can often +be of very great use to them, and give them information and guidance +which is of the utmost value to them. Many of them are in a condition +of great surprise and perplexity, and sometimes even of acute +distress, because they find the facts of the next world so unlike the +childish legends which are all that popular religion in the West has +to offer with reference to this transcendently important subject; and +therefore a man who understands this new world and can explain matters +is distinctly a friend in need.</p> + +<p>In many other ways a man who fully possesses this faculty may be of +use to the living as well as to the dead; but of this side of the +subject I have already written in my little book on <i>Invisible +Helpers</i>. In addition to astral entities he will see astral +corpses—shades and shells in all stages of decay; but these need only +be just mentioned here, as the reader desiring a further account of +them will find it in our third and fifth manuals.</p> + +<p>Another wonderful result which the full enjoyment of astral +clairvoyance brings to a man is that he has no longer any break in +consciousness. When he lies down at night he leaves his physical body +to the rest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> which it requires, while he goes about his business in +the far more comfortable astral vehicle. In the morning he returns to +and re-enters his physical body, but without any loss of consciousness +or memory between the two states, and thus he is able to live, as it +were, a double life which yet is one, and to be usefully employed +during the whole of it, instead of losing one-third of his existence +in blank unconsciousness.</p> + +<p>Another strange power of which he may find himself in possession +(though its full control belongs rather to the still higher devachanic +faculty), is that of magnifying at will the minutest physical or +astral particle to any desired size, as though by a microscope—though +no microscope ever made or ever likely to be made possesses even a +thousandth part of this psychic magnifying power. By its means the +hypothetical molecule and atom postulated by science become visible +and living realities to the occult student, and on this closer +examination he finds them to be much more complex in their structure +than the scientific man has yet realised them to be. It also enables +him to follow with the closest attention and the most lively interest +all kinds of electrical, magnetic, and other etheric action; and when +some of the specialists in these branches of science are able to +develop the power to see those things whereof they write so facilely, +some very wonderful and beautiful revelations may be expected.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> + +<p>This is one of the <i>siddhis</i> or powers described in Oriental books as +accruing to the man who devotes himself to spiritual development, +though the name under which it is there mentioned might not be +immediately recognizable. It is referred to as "the power of making +oneself large or small at will," and the reason of a description which +appears so oddly to reverse the fact is that in reality the method by +which this feat is performed is precisely that indicated in these +ancient books. It is by the use of temporary visual machinery of +inconceivable minuteness that the world of the infinitely little is so +clearly seen; and in the same way (or rather in the opposite way) it +is by temporarily enormously increasing the size of the machinery used +that it becomes possible to increase the breadth of one's view—in the +physical sense as well as, let us hope, in the moral—far beyond +anything that science has ever dreamt of as possible for man. So that +the alteration in size is really in the vehicle of the student's +consciousness, and not in anything outside of himself; and the old +Oriental book has, after all, put the case more accurately than we.</p> + +<p>Psychometry and second-sight <i>in excelsis</i> would also be among the +faculties which our friend would find at his command; but those will +be more fitly dealt with under a later heading, since in almost all +their manifestations they involve clairvoyance either in space or in +time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> + +<p>I have now indicated, though only in the roughest outlines, what a +trained student, possessed of full astral vision, would see in the +immensely wider world to which that vision introduced him; but I have +said nothing of the stupendous change in his mental attitude which +comes from the experiential certainty as to the existence of the soul, +its survival after death, the action of the law of karma, and other +points of equally paramount importance. The difference between even +the profoundest intellectual conviction and the precise knowledge +gained by direct personal experience must be felt in order to be +appreciated.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Simple Clairvoyance: Partial.</span></h2> + + +<p>The experiences of the untrained clairvoyant—and be it remembered +that that class includes all European clairvoyants except a very +few—will, however, usually fall very far short of what I have +attempted to indicate; they will fall short in many different ways—in +degree, in variety, or in permanence, and above all in precision.</p> + +<p>Sometimes, for example, a man's clairvoyance will be permanent, but +very partial, extending only perhaps to one or two classes of the +phenomena observable; he will find himself endowed with some isolated +fragment of higher vision, without apparently possessing other powers +of sight which ought normally to accompany that fragment, or even to +precede it. For example, one of my dearest friends has all his life +had the power to see the atomic ether and atomic astral matter, and to +recognize their structure, alike in darkness or in light, as +inter-penetrating everything else; yet he has only rarely seen +entities whose bodies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> are composed of the much more obvious lower +ethers or denser astral matter, and at any rate is certainly not +permanently able to see them. He simply finds himself in possession of +this special faculty, without any apparent reason to account for it, +or any recognizable relation to anything else: and beyond proving to +him the existence of these atomic planes and demonstrating their +arrangement, it is difficult to see of what particular use it is to +him at present. Still, there the thing is, and it is an earnest of +greater things to come—of further powers still awaiting development.</p> + +<p>There are many similar cases—similar, I mean, not in the possession +of that particular form of sight (which is unique in my experience), +but in showing the development of some one small part of the full and +clear vision of the astral and etheric planes. In nine cases out of +ten, however, such partial clairvoyance will at the same time lack +precision also—that is to say, there will be a good deal of vague +impression and inference about it, instead of the clear-cut definition +and certainty of the trained man. Examples of this type are constantly +to be found, especially among those who advertise themselves as "test +and business clairvoyants."</p> + +<p>Then, again, there are those who are only temporarily clairvoyant +under certain special conditions. Among these there are various +subdivisions, some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> being able to reproduce the state of clairvoyance +at will by again setting up the same conditions, while with others it +comes sporadically, without any observable reference to their +surroundings, and with yet others the power shows itself only once or +twice in the whole course of their lives.</p> + +<p>To the first of these subdivisions belong those who are clairvoyant +only when in the mesmeric trance—who when not so entranced are +incapable of seeing or hearing anything abnormal. These may sometimes +reach great heights of knowledge and be exceedingly precise in their +indications, but when that is so they are usually undergoing a course +of regular training, though for some reason unable as yet to set +themselves free from the leaden weight of earthly life without +assistance.</p> + +<p>In the same class we may put those—chiefly Orientals—who gain some +temporary sight only under the influence of certain drugs, or by means +of the performance of certain ceremonies. The ceremonialist sometimes +hypnotizes himself by his repetitions, and in that condition becomes +to some extent clairvoyant; more often he simply reduces himself to a +passive condition in which some other entity can obsess him and speak +through him. Sometimes, again, his ceremonies are not intended to +affect himself at all, but to invoke some astral entity who will give +him the required information; but of course<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> that is a case of magic, +and not of clairvoyance. Both the drugs and the ceremonies are methods +emphatically to be avoided by any one who wishes to approach +clairvoyance from the higher side, and use it for his own progress and +for the helping of others. The Central African medicine-man or +witch-doctor and some of the Tartar Shamans are good examples of the +type.</p> + +<p>Those to whom a certain amount of clairvoyant power has come +occasionally only, and without any reference to their own wish, have +often been hysterical or highly nervous persons, with whom the faculty +was to a large extent one of the symptoms of a disease. Its appearance +showed that the physical vehicle was weakened to such a degree that it +no longer presented any obstacle in the way of a certain modicum of +etheric or astral vision. An extreme example of this class is the man +who drinks himself into delirium tremens, and in the condition of +absolute physical ruin and impure psychic excitation brought about by +the ravages of that fell disease, is able to see for the time some of +the loathsome elemental and other entities which he has drawn round +himself by his long course of degraded and bestial indulgence. There +are, however, other cases where the power of sight has appeared and +disappeared without apparent reference to the state of the physical +health; but it seems probable that even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> in those, if they could have +been observed closely enough, some alteration in the condition of the +etheric double would have been noticed.</p> + +<p>Those who have only one instance of clairvoyance to report in the +whole of their lives are a difficult band to classify at all +exhaustively, because of the great variety of the contributory +circumstances. There are many among them to whom the experience has +come at some supreme moment of their lives, when it is comprehensible +that there might have been a temporary exaltation of faculty which +would be sufficient to account for it.</p> + +<p>In the case of another subdivision of them the solitary case has been +the seeing of an apparition, most commonly of some friend or relative +at the point of death. Two possibilities are then offered for our +choice, and in each of them the strong wish of the dying man is the +impelling force. That force may have enabled him to materialize +himself for a moment, in which case of course no clairvoyance was +needed or more probably it may have acted mesmerically upon the +percipient, and momentarily dulled his physical and stimulated his +higher sensitiveness. In either case the vision is the product of the +emergency, and is not repeated simply because the necessary conditions +are not repeated.</p> + +<p>There remains, however, an irresolvable residuum of cases in which a +solitary instance occurs of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> exercise of undoubted clairvoyance, +while yet the occasion seems to us wholly trivial and unimportant. +About these we can only frame hypotheses; the governing conditions are +evidently not on the physical plane, and a separate investigation of +each case would be necessary before we could speak with any certainty +as to its causes. In some such it has appeared that an astral entity +was endeavouring to make some communication, and was able to impress +only some unimportant detail on its subject—all the useful or +significant part of what it had to say failing to get through into the +subject's consciousness.</p> + +<p>In the investigation of the phenomena of clairvoyance all these varied +types and many others will be encountered, and a certain number of +cases of mere hallucination will be almost sure to appear also, and +will have to be carefully weeded out from the list of examples. The +student of such a subject needs an inexhaustible fund of patience and +steady perseverance, but if he goes on long enough he will begin dimly +to discern order behind the chaos, and will gradually get some idea of +the great laws under which the whole evolution is working.</p> + +<p>It will help him greatly in his efforts if he will adopt the order +which we have just followed—that is, if he will first take the +trouble to familiarize himself as thoroughly as may be with the actual +facts concerning the planes with which ordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> clairvoyance deals. +If he will learn what there really is to be seen with astral and +etheric sight, and what their respective limitations are, he will then +have, as it were, a standard by which to measure the cases which he +observes. Since all instances of partial sight must of necessity fit +into some niche in this whole, if he has the outline of the entire +scheme in his head he will find it comparatively easy with a little +practice to classify the instances with which he is called upon to +deal.</p> + +<p>We have said nothing as yet as to the still more wonderful +possibilities of clairvoyance upon the mental plane, nor indeed is it +necessary that much should be said, as it is exceedingly improbable +that the investigator will ever meet with any examples of it except +among pupils properly trained in some of the very highest schools of +occultism. For them it opens up yet another new world, vaster far than +all those beneath it—a world in which all that we can imagine of +utmost glory and splendour is the commonplace of existence. Some +account of its marvellous faculty, its eneffable bliss, its +magnificent opportunities for learning and for work, is given in the +sixth of our Theosophical manuals, and to that the student may be +referred.</p> + +<p>All that it has to give—all of it at least that he can assimilate—is +within the reach of the trained pupil, but for the untrained +clairvoyant to touch it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> hardly more than a bare possibility. It +has been done in mesmeric trance, but the occurrence is of exceeding +rarity, for it needs almost superhuman qualifications in the way of +lofty spiritual aspiration and absolute purity of thought and +intention upon the part both of the subject and the operator.</p> + +<p>To a type of clairvoyance such as this, and still more fully to that +which belongs to the plane next above it, the name of spiritual sight +may reasonably be applied; and since the celestial world to which it +opens our eyes lies all round us here and now, it is fit that our +passing reference to it should be made under the heading of simple +clairvoyance, though it may be necessary to allude to it again when +dealing with clairvoyance in space, to which we will now pass on.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Clairvoyance in Space: Intentional.</span></h2> + + +<p>We have defined this as the capacity to see events or scenes removed +from the seer in space and too far distant for ordinary observation. +The instances of this are so numerous and so various that we shall +find it desirable to attempt a somewhat more detailed classification +of them. It does not much matter what particular arrangement we adopt, +so long as it is comprehensive enough to include all our cases; +perhaps a convenient one will be to group them under the broad +divisions of intentional and unintentional clairvoyance in space, with +an intermediate class that might be described as semi-intentional—a +curious title, but I will explain it later.</p> + +<p>As before, I will begin by stating what is possible along this line +for the fully-trained seer, and endeavouring to explain how his +faculty works and under what limitations it acts. After that we shall +find ourselves in a better position to try to understand the manifold +examples of partial and untrained sight.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> Let us then in the first +place discuss intentional clairvoyance.</p> + +<p>It will be obvious from what has previously been said as to the power +of astral vision that any one possessing it in its fulness will be +able to see by its means practically anything in this world that he +wishes to see. The most secret places are open to his gaze, and +intervening obstacles have no existence for him, because of the change +in his point of view; so that if we grant him the power of moving +about in the astral body he can without difficulty go anywhere and see +anything within the limits of the planet. Indeed this is to a large +extent possible to him even without the necessity of moving the astral +body at all, as we shall presently see.</p> + +<p>Let us consider a little more closely the methods by which this +super-physical sight may be used to observe events taking place at a +distance. When, for example, a man here in England sees in minutest +detail something which is happening at the same moment in India or +America, how is it done?</p> + +<p>A very ingenious hypothesis has been offered to account for the +phenomenon. It has been suggested that every object is perpetually +throwing off radiations in all directions, similar in some respects +to, though infinitely finer than, rays of light, and that clairvoyance +is nothing but the power to see by means of these finer radiations. +Distance would in that case<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> be no bar to the sight, all intervening +objects would be penetrable by these rays, and they would be able to +cross one another to infinity in all directions without entanglement, +precisely as the vibrations of ordinary light do.</p> + +<p>Now though this is not exactly the way in which clairvoyance works, +the theory is nevertheless quite true in most of its premises. Every +object undoubtedly is throwing off radiations in all directions, and +it is precisely in this way, though on a higher plane, that the +âkâshic records seem to be formed. Of them it will be necessary to say +something under our next heading, so we will do no more than mention +them for the moment. The phenomena of psychometry are also dependent +upon these radiations, as will presently be explained.</p> + +<p>There are, however, certain practical difficulties in the way of using +these etheric vibrations (for that is, of course, what they are) as +the medium by means of which one may see anything taking place at a +distance. Intervening objects are not entirely transparent, and as the +actors in the scene which the experimenter tried to observe would +probably be at least equally transparent, it is obvious that serious +confusion would be quite likely to result.</p> + +<p>The additional dimension which would come into play if astral +radiations were sensed instead of etheric would obviate some of the +difficulties, but would on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> the other hand introduce some fresh +complications of its own; so that for practical purposes, in +endeavouring to understand clairvoyance, we may dismiss this +hypothesis of radiations from our minds, and turn to the methods of +seeing at a distance which are actually at the disposal of the +student. It will be found that there are five, four of them being +really varieties of clairvoyance, while the fifth does not properly +come under that head at all, but belongs to the domain of magic. Let +us take this last one first, and get it out of our way.</p> + +<p>1. <i>By the assistance of a nature-spirit.</i>—This method does not +necessarily involve the possession of any psychic faculty at all on +the part of the experimenter; he need only know how to induce some +denizen of the astral world to undertake the investigation for him. +This may be done either by invocation or by evocation; that is to say, +the operator may either persuade his astral coadjutor by prayers and +offerings to give him the help he desires, or he may compel his aid by +the determined exercise of a highly-developed will.</p> + +<p>This method has been largely practised in the East (where the entity +employed is usually a nature-spirit) and in old Atlantis, where "the +lords of the dark face" used a highly-specialized and peculiarly +venomous variety of artificial elemental for this purpose. Information +is sometimes obtained in the same sort of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> way at the spiritualistic +<i>séance</i> of modern days, but in that case the messenger employed is +more likely to be a recently-deceased human being functioning more or +less freely on the astral plane—though even here also it is sometimes +an obliging nature-spirit, who is amusing himself by posing as +somebody's departed relative. In any case, as I have said, this method +is not clairvoyant at all, but magical; and it is mentioned here only +in order that the reader may not become confused in the endeavour to +classify cases of its use under some of the following headings.</p> + +<p>2. <i>By means of an astral current.</i>—This is a phrase frequently and +rather loosely employed in some of our Theosophical literature to +cover a considerable variety of phenomena, and among others that which +I wish to explain. What is really done by the student who adopts this +method is not so much the setting in motion of a current in astral +matter, as the erection of a kind of temporary telephone through it.</p> + +<p>It is impossible here to give an exhaustive disquisition on astral +physics, even had I the requisite knowledge to write it; all I need +say is that it is possible to make in astral matter a definite +connecting-line that shall act as a telegraph-wire to convey +vibrations by means of which all that is going on at the other end of +it may be seen. Such a line is established, be it understood, not by a +direct projection through space of astral matter, but by such action +upon a line (or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> rather many lines) of particles of that matter as +will render them capable of forming a conductor for vibrations of the +character required.</p> + +<p>This preliminary action can be set up in two ways—either by the +transmission of energy from particle to particle, until the line is +formed, or by the use of a force from a higher plane which is capable +of acting upon the whole line simultaneously. Of course this latter +method implies far greater development, since it involves the +knowledge of (and the power to use) forces of a considerably higher +level; so that the man who could make his line in this way would not, +for his own use, need a line at all, since he could see far more +easily and completely by means of an altogether higher faculty.</p> + +<p>Even the simpler and purely astral operation is a difficult one to +describe, though quite an easy one to perform. It may be said to +partake somewhat of the nature of the magnetization of a bar of steel; +for it consists in what we might call the polarization, by an effort +of the human will, of a number of parallel lines of astral atoms +reaching from the operator to the scene which he wishes to observe. +All the atoms thus affected are held for the time with their axes +rigidly parallel to one another, so that they form a kind of temporary +tube along which the clairvoyant may look. This method has the +disadvantage that the telegraph line is liable to disarrangement or +even destruction by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> any sufficiently strong astral current which +happens to cross its path; but if the original effort of will were +fairly definite, this would be a contingency of only infrequent +occurrence.</p> + +<p>The view of a distant scene obtained by means of this "astral current" +is in many ways not unlike that seen through a telescope. Human +figures usually appear very small, like those on a distant stage, but +in spite of their diminutive size they are as clear as though they +were close by. Sometimes it is possible by this means to hear what is +said as well as to see what is done; but as in the majority of cases +this does not happen, we must consider it rather as the manifestation +of an additional power than as a necessary corollary of the faculty of +sight.</p> + +<p>It will be observed that in this case the seer does not usually leave +his physical body at all; there is no sort of projection of his astral +vehicle or of any part of himself towards that at which he is looking, +but he simply manufactures for himself a temporary astral telescope. +Consequently he has, to a certain extent, the use of his physical +powers even while he is examining the distant scene; for example, his +voice would usually still be under his control, so that he could +describe what he saw even while he was in the act of making his +observations. The consciousness of the man is, in fact, distinctly +still at this end of the line.</p> + +<p>This fact, however, has its limitations as well as its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> advantages, +and these again largely resemble the limitations of the man using a +telescope on the physical plane. The experimenter, for example, has no +power to shift this point of view; his telescope, so to speak, has a +particular field of view which cannot be enlarged or altered; he is +looking at his scene from a certain direction, and he cannot suddenly +turn it all round and see how it looks from the other side. If he has +sufficient psychic energy to spare, he may drop altogether the +telescope that he is using and manufacture an entirely new one for +himself which will approach his objective somewhat differently; but +this is not a course at all likely to be adopted in practice.</p> + +<p>But, it may be said, the mere fact that he is using astral sight ought +to enable him to see it from all sides at once. So it would if he were +using that sight in the normal way upon an object which was fairly +near him—within his astral reach, as it were; but at a distance of +hundreds or thousands of miles the case is very different. Astral +sight gives us the advantage of an additional dimension, but there is +still such a thing as position in that dimension, and it is naturally +a potent factor in limiting the use of the powers of its plane. Our +ordinary three-dimensional sight enables us to see at once every point +of the interior of a two-dimensional figure, such as a square, but in +order to do that the square must be within a reasonable distance from +our eyes; the mere additional dimension<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> will avail a man in London +but little in his endeavour to examine a square in Calcutta.</p> + +<p>Astral sight, when it is cramped by being directed along what is +practically a tube, is limited very much as physical sight would be +under similar circumstances; though if possessed in perfection it will +still continue to show, even at that distance, the auras, and +therefore all the emotions and most of the thoughts of the people +under observation.</p> + +<p>There are many people for whom this type of clairvoyance is very much +facilitated if they have at hand some physical object which can be +used as a starting-point for their astral tube—a convenient focus for +their will-power. A ball of crystal is the commonest and most +effectual of such foci, since it has the additional advantage of +possessing within itself qualities which stimulate psychic faculty; +but other objects are also employed, to which we shall find it +necessary to refer more particularly when we come to consider +semi-intentional clairvoyance.</p> + +<p>In connection with this astral-current form of clairvoyance, as with +others, we find that there are some psychics who are unable to use it +except when under the influence of mesmerism. The peculiarity in this +case is that among such psychics there are two varieties—one in which +by being thus set free the man is enabled to make a telescope for +himself, and another in which the magnetizer himself makes the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +telescope and the subject is simply enabled to see through it. In this +latter case obviously the subject has not enough will to form a tube +for himself, and the operator, though possessed of the necessary +will-power, is not clairvoyant, or he could see through his own tube +without needing help.</p> + +<p>Occasionally, though rarely, the tube which is formed possesses +another of the attributes of a telescope—that of magnifying the +objects at which it is directed until they seem of life-size. Of +course the objects must always be magnified to some extent, or they +would be absolutely invisible, but usually the extent is determined by +the size of the astral tube, and the whole thing is simply a tiny +moving picture. In the few cases where the figures are seen as of +life-size by this method, it is probable that an altogether new power +is beginning to dawn; but when this happens, careful observation is +needed in order to distinguish them from examples of our next class.</p> + +<p>3. <i>By the projection of a thought-form.</i>—The ability to use this +method of clairvoyance implies a development somewhat more advanced +than the last, since it necessitates a certain amount of control upon +the mental plane. All students of Theosophy are aware that thought +takes form, at any rate upon its own plane, and in the vast majority +of cases upon the astral plane also; but it may not be quite so +generally known that if a man thinks strongly of himself as present +at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> any given place, the form assumed by that particular thought will +be a likeness of the thinker himself, which will appear at the place +in question.</p> + +<p>Essentially this form must be composed of the matter of the mental +plane, but in very many cases it would draw round itself matter of the +astral plane also, and so would approach much nearer to visibility. +There are, in fact, many instances in which it has been seen by the +person thought of—most probably by means of the unconscious mesmeric +influence emanating from the original thinker. None of the +consciousness of the thinker would, however, be included within this +thought-form. When once sent out from him, it would normally be a +quite separate entity—not indeed absolutely unconnected with its +maker, but practically so as far as the possibility of receiving any +impression through it is concerned.</p> + +<p>This third type of clairvoyance consists, then, in the power to retain +so much connection with and so much hold over a newly-erected +thought-form as will render it possible to receive impressions by +means of it. Such impressions as were made upon the form would in this +case be transmitted to the thinker—not along an astral telegraph +line, as before, but by sympathetic vibration. In a perfect case of +this kind of clairvoyance it is almost as though the seer projected a +part of his consciousness into the thought-form, and used it as a kind +of outpost, from which observation was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> possible. He sees almost as +well as he would if he himself stood in the place of his thought-form.</p> + +<p>The figures at which he is looking will appear to him as of life-size +and close at hand, instead of tiny and at a distance, as in the +previous case; and he will find it possible to shift his point of view +if he wishes to do so. Clairaudience is perhaps less frequently +associated with this type of clairvoyance than with the last, but its +place is to some extent taken by a kind of mental perception of the +thoughts and intentions of those who are seen.</p> + +<p>Since the man's consciousness is still in the physical body, he will +be able (even while exercising the faculty) to hear and to speak, in +so far as he can do this without any distraction of his attention. The +moment that the intentness of his thought fails the whole vision is +gone, and he will have to construct a fresh thought-form before he can +resume it. Instances in which this kind of sight is possessed with any +degree of perfection by untrained people are naturally rarer than in +the case of the previous type, because of the capacity for mental +control required, and the generally finer nature of the forces +employed.</p> + +<p>4. <i>By travelling in the astral body.</i>—We enter here upon an entirely +new variety of clairvoyance, in which the consciousness of the seer no +longer remains in or closely connected with his physical body, but is +definitely transferred to the scene which he is ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>amining. Though it +has no doubt greater dangers for the untrained seer than either of the +methods previously described, it is yet quite the most satisfactory +form of clairvoyance open to him, for the immensely superior variety +which we shall consider under our fifth head is not available except +for specially trained students.</p> + +<p>In this case the man's body is either asleep or in trance, and its +organs are consequently not available for use while the vision is +going on, so that all description of what is seen, and all questioning +as to further particulars, must be postponed until the wanderer +returns to this plane. On the other hand the sight is much fuller and +more perfect; the man hears as well as sees everything which passes +before him, and can move about freely at will within the very wide +limits of the astral plane. He can see and study at leisure all the +other inhabitants of that plane, so that the great world of the +nature-spirits (of which the traditional fairy-land is but a very +small part) lies open before him, and even that of some of the lower +devas.</p> + +<p>He has also the immense advantage of being able to take part, as it +were, in the scenes which come before his eyes—of conversing at will +with these various astral entities, from whom so much information that +is curious and interesting may be obtained. If in addition he can +learn how to materialize himself (a matter of no great difficulty for +him when once the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> knack is acquired), he will be able to take part in +physical events or conversations at a distance, and to show himself to +an absent friend at will.</p> + +<p>Again, he has the additional power of being able to hunt about for +what he wants. By means of the varieties of clairvoyance previously +described, for all practical purposes he could find a person or a +place only when he was already acquainted with it, or when he was put +<i>en rapport</i> with it by touching something physically connected with +it, as in psychometry. It is true that by the third method a certain +amount of motion is possible, but the process is a tedious one except +for quite short distances.</p> + +<p>By the use of the astral body, however, a man can move about quite +freely and rapidly in any direction, and can (for example) find +without difficulty any place pointed out upon a map, without either +any previous knowledge of the spot or any object to establish a +connection with it. He can also readily rise high into the air so as +to gain a bird's-eye view of the country which he is examining, so as +to observe its extent, the contour of its coast-line, or its general +character. Indeed, in every way his power and freedom are far greater +when he uses this method than they have been in any of the previous +cases.</p> + +<p>A good example of the full possession of this power is given, on the +authority of the German writer Jung Stilling, by Mrs. Crowe in <i>The +Night Side of Nature</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> (p. 127). The story is related of a seer who is +stated to have resided in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, in +America. His habits were retired, and he spoke little; he was grave, +benevolent and pious, and nothing was known against his character +except that he had the reputation of possessing some secrets that were +considered not altogether <i>lawful</i>. Many extraordinary stories were +told of him, and amongst the rest the following:—</p> + +<p>"The wife of a ship captain (whose husband was on a voyage to Europe +and Africa, and from whom she had been long without tidings), being +overwhelmed with anxiety for his safety, was induced to address +herself to this person. Having listened to her story he begged her to +excuse him for a while, when he would bring her the intelligence she +required. He then passed into an inner room and she sat herself down +to wait; but his absence continuing longer than she expected, she +became impatient, thinking he had forgotten her, and softly +approaching the door she peeped through some aperture, and to her +surprise beheld him lying on a sofa as motionless as if he were dead. +She of course did not think it advisable to disturb him, but waited +his return, when he told her that her husband had not been able to +write to her for such and such reasons, but that he was then in a +coffee-house in London and would very shortly be home again.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Accordingly he arrived, and as the lady learnt from him that the +causes of his unusual silence had been precisely those alleged by the +man, she felt extremely desirous of ascertaining the truth of the rest +of the information. In this she was gratified, for he no sooner set +his eyes on the magician than he said that he had seen him before on a +certain day in a coffee-house in London, and that he told him that his +wife was extremely uneasy about him, and that he, the captain, had +thereon mentioned how he had been prevented writing, adding that he +was on the eve of embarking for America. He had then lost sight of the +stranger amongst the throng, and knew nothing more about him."</p> + +<p>We have of course no means now of knowing what evidence Jung Stilling +had of the truth of this story, though he declares himself to have +been quite satisfied with the authority on which he relates it; but so +many similar things have happened that there is no reason to doubt its +accuracy. The seer, however, must either have developed his faculty +for himself or learnt it in some school other than that from which +most of our Theosophical information is derived; for in our case there +is a well-understood regulation expressly forbidding the pupils from +giving any manifestation of such power which can be definitely proved +at both ends in that way, and so constitute what is called "a +phenomenon." That this regulation is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> emphatically a wise one is +proved to all who know anything of the history of our Society by the +disastrous results which followed from a very slight temporary +relaxation of it.</p> + +<p>I have given some quite modern cases almost exactly parallel to the +above in my little book on <i>Invisible Helpers</i>. An instance of a lady +well-known to myself, who frequently thus appears to friends at a +distance, is given by Mr. Stead in <i>Real Ghost Stories</i> (p. 27); and +Mr. Andrew Lang gives, in his <i>Dreams and Ghosts</i> (p. 89), an account +of how Mr. Cleave, then at Portsmouth, appeared intentionally on two +occasions to a young lady in London, and alarmed her considerably. +There is any amount of evidence to be had on the subject by any one +who cares to study it seriously.</p> + +<p>This paying of intentional astral visits seems very often to become +possible when the principles are loosened at the approach of death for +people who were unable to perform such a feat at any other time. There +are even more examples of this class than of the other; I epitomize a +good one given by Mr. Andrew Lang on p. 100 of the book last +cited—one of which he himself says, "Not many stories have such good +evidence in their favour."</p> + +<p>"Mary, the wife of John Goffe of Rochester, being afflicted with a +long illness, removed to her father's house at West Malling, about +nine miles from her own.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The day before her death she grew very impatiently desirous to see +her two children, whom she had left at home to the care of a nurse. +She was too ill to be moved, and between one and two o'clock in the +morning she fell into a trance. One widow Turner, who watched with her +that night, says that her eyes were open and fixed, and her jaw +fallen. Mrs. Turner put her hand upon her mouth, but could perceive no +breath. She thought her to be in a fit, and doubted whether she were +dead or alive.</p> + +<p>"The next morning the dying woman told her mother that she had been at +home with her children, saying, I was with them last night when I was +asleep.'</p> + +<p>"The nurse at Rochester, widow Alexander by name, affirms that a +little before two o'clock that morning she saw the likeness of the +said Mary Goffe come out of the next chamber (where the elder child +lay in a bed by itself), the door being left open, and stood by her +bedside for about a quarter of an hour; the younger child was there +lying by her. Her eyes moved and her mouth went, but she said nothing. +The nurse, moreover, says that she was perfectly awake; it was then +daylight, being one of the longest days in the year. She sat up in bed +and looked steadfastly on the apparition. In that time she heard the +bridge clock strike two, and a while after said: 'In the name of the +Father, Son and Holy Ghost, what art thou?' Thereupon the apparition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +removed and went away; she slipped on her clothes and followed, but +what became on't, she cannot tell."</p> + +<p>The nurse apparently was more frightened by its disappearance than its +presence, for after this she was afraid to stay in the house, and so +spent the rest of the time until six o'clock in walking up and down +outside. When the neighbours were awake she told her tale to them, and +they of course said she had dreamt it all; she naturally enough warmly +repudiated that idea, but could obtain no credence until the news of +the other side of the story arrived from West Malling, when people had +to admit that there might have been something in it.</p> + +<p>A noteworthy circumstance in this story is that the mother found it +necessary to pass from ordinary sleep into the profounder trance +condition before she could consciously visit her children; it can, +however, be paralleled here and there among the large number of +similar accounts which may be found in the literature of the subject.</p> + +<p>Two other stories of precisely the same type—in which a dying mother, +earnestly desiring to see her children, falls into a deep sleep, +visits them and returns to say that she has done so—are given by Dr. +F. G. Lee. In one of them the mother, when dying in Egypt, appears to +her children at Torquay, and is clearly seen in broad daylight by all +five of the children and also by the nursemaid. (<i>Glimpses of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> the +Supernatural</i>, vol. ii., p. 64.) In the other a Quaker lady dying at +Cockermouth is clearly seen and recognized in daylight by her three +children at Settle, the remainder of the story being practically +identical with the one given above. (<i>Glimpses in the Twilight</i>, p. +94.) Though these cases appear to be less widely known than that of +Mary Goffe, the evidence of their authenticity seems to be quite as +good, as will be seen by the attestations obtained by the reverend +author of the works from which they are quoted.</p> + +<p>The man who fully possesses this fourth type of clairvoyance has many +and great advantages at his disposal, even in addition to those already +mentioned. Not only can he visit without trouble or expense all the +beautiful and famous places of the earth, but if he happens to be a +scholar, think what it must mean to him that he has access to all the +libraries of the world! What must it be for the scientifically-minded +man to see taking place before his eyes so many of the processes of the +secret chemistry of nature, or for the philosopher to have revealed to +him so much more than ever before of the working of the great mysteries +of life and death? To him those who are gone from this plane are dead no +longer, but living and within reach for a long time to come; for him +many of the conceptions of religion are no longer matters of faith, but +of knowledge. Above all, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> can join the army of invisible helpers, and +really be of use on a large scale. Undoubtedly clairvoyance, even when +confined to the astral plane, is a great boon to the student.</p> + +<p>Certainly it has its dangers also, especially for the untrained; +danger from evil entities of various kinds, which may terrify or +injure those who allow themselves to lose the courage to face them +boldly; danger of deception of all sorts, of misconceiving and +mis-interpreting what is seen; greatest of all, the danger of becoming +conceited about the thing and of thinking it impossible to make a +mistake. But a little common-sense and a little experience should +easily guard a man against these.</p> + +<p>5. <i>By travelling in the mental body.</i>—This is simply a higher and, +as it were, glorified form of the last type. The vehicle employed is +no longer the astral body, but the mind-body—a vehicle, therefore, +belonging to the mental plane, and having within it all the +potentialities of the wonderful sense of that plane, so transcendent +in its action yet so impossible to describe. A man functioning in this +leaves his astral body behind him along with the physical, and if he +wishes to show himself upon the astral plane for any reason, he does +not send for his own astral vehicle, but just by a single action of +his will materializes one for his temporary need. Such an astral +materialization is sometimes called the mâyâvirûpa, and to form<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> it +for the first time usually needs the assistance of a qualified Master.</p> + +<p>The enormous advantages given by the possession of this power are the +capacity of entering upon all the glory and the beauty of the higher +land of bliss, and the possession, even when working on the astral +plane, of the far more comprehensive mental sense which opens up to +the student such marvellous vistas of knowledge, and practically +renders error all but impossible. This higher flight, however, is +possible for the trained man only, since only under definite training +can a man at this stage of evolution learn to employ his mental body +as a vehicle.</p> + +<p>Before leaving the subject of full and intentional clairvoyance, it +may be well to devote a few words to answering one or two questions as +to its limitations, which constantly occur to students. Is it +possible, we are often asked, for the seer to find any person with +whom he wishes to communicate, anywhere in the world, whether he be +living or dead?</p> + +<p>To this reply must be a conditional affirmative. Yes, it is possible +to find any person if the experimenter can, in some way or other, put +himself <i>en rapport</i> with that person. It would be hopeless to plunge +vaguely into space to find a total stranger among all the millions +around us without any kind of clue; but, on the other hand, a very +slight clue would usually be sufficient.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>If the clairvoyant knows anything of the man whom he seeks, he will +have no difficulty in finding him, for every man has what may be +called a kind of musical chord of his own—a chord which is the +expression of him as a whole, produced perhaps by a sort of average of +the rates of vibration of all his different vehicles on their +respective planes. If the operator knows how to discern that chord and +to strike it, it will by sympathetic vibration attract the attention +of the man instantly wherever he may be, and will evoke an immediate +response from him.</p> + +<p>Whether the man were living or recently dead would make no difference +at all, and clairvoyance of the fifth class could at once find him +even among the countless millions in the heaven-world, though in that +case the man himself would be unconscious that he was under +observation. Naturally a seer whose consciousness did not range higher +than the astral plane—who employed therefore one of the earlier +methods of seeing—would not be able to find a person upon the mental +plane at all; yet even he would at least be able to tell that the man +sought for was upon that plane, from the mere fact that the striking +of the chord as far up as the astral level produced no response.</p> + +<p>If the man sought be a stranger to the seeker, the latter will need +something connected with him to act as a clue—a photograph, a letter +written by him, an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> article which has belonged to him, and is +impregnated with his personal magnetism; any of these would do in the +hands of a practised seer.</p> + +<p>Again I say, it must not therefore be supposed that pupils who have +been taught how to use this art are at liberty to set up a kind of +intelligence office through which communication can be had with +missing or dead relatives. A message given from this side to such an +one might or might not be handed on, according to circumstances, but +even if it were, no reply might be brought, lest the transaction +should partake of the nature of a phenomenon—something which could be +proved on the physical plane to have been an act of magic.</p> + +<p>Another question often raised is as to whether, in the action of +psychic vision, there is any limitation as to distance. The reply +would seem to be that there should be no limit but that of the +respective planes. It must be remembered that the astral and mental +planes of our earth are as definitely its own as its atmosphere, +though they extend considerably further from it even in our +three-dimensional space than does the physical air. Consequently the +passage to, or the detailed sight of, other planets would not be +possible for any system of clairvoyance connected with these planes. +It <i>is</i> quite possible and easy for the man who can raise his +consciousness to the buddhic plane to pass to any other globe +belonging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> to our chain of worlds, but that is outside our present +subject.</p> + +<p>Still a good deal of additional information about other planets can be +obtained by the use of such clairvoyant faculties as we have been +describing. It is possible to make sight enormously clearer by passing +outside of the constant disturbances of the earth's atmosphere, and it +is also not difficult to learn how to put on an exceedingly high +magnifying power, so that even by ordinary clairvoyance a good deal of +very interesting astronomical knowledge may be gained. But as far as +this earth and its immediate surroundings are concerned, there is +practically no limitation.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Clairvoyance in Space: Semi-Intentional.</span></h2> + + +<p>Under this rather curious title I am grouping together the cases of +all those people who definitely set themselves to see something, but +have no idea what the something will be, and no control over the sight +after the visions have begun—psychic Micawbers, who put themselves +into a receptive condition, and then simply wait for something to turn +up. Many trance-mediums would come under this heading; they either in +some way hypnotize themselves or are hypnotized by some +"spirit-guide," and then they describe the scenes or persons that +happen to float before their vision. Sometimes, however, when in this +condition they see what is taking place at a distance, and so they +come to have a place among our "clairvoyants in space."</p> + +<p>But the largest and most widely-spread band of these semi-intentional +clairvoyants are the various kinds of crystal-gazers—those who, as +Mr. Andrew Lang puts it, "stare into a crystal ball, a cup, a mirror,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +a blob of ink (Egypt and India), a drop of blood (among the Maories of +New Zealand), a bowl of water (Red Indian), a pond (Roman and +African), water in a glass bowl (in Fez), or almost any polished +surface" (<i>Dreams and Ghosts</i>, p. 57).</p> + +<p>Two pages later Mr. Lang gives us a very good example of the kind of +vision most frequently seen in this way. "I had given a glass ball," +he says, "to a young lady, Miss Baillie, who had scarcely any success +with it. She lent it to Miss Leslie, who saw a large square, +old-fashioned red sofa covered with muslin, which she found in the +next country-house she visited. Miss Baillie's brother, a young +athlete, laughed at these experiments, took the ball into the study, +and came back looking 'gey gash.' He admitted that he had seen a +vision—somebody he knew under a lamp. He would discover during the +week whether he saw right or not. This was at 5.30 on a Sunday +afternoon.</p> + +<p>"On Tuesday, Mr. Baillie was at a dance in a town some forty miles +from his home, and met a Miss Preston. 'On Sunday,' he said, 'about +half-past five you were sitting under a standard lamp in a dress I +never saw you wear, a blue blouse with lace over the shoulders, +pouring out tea for a man in blue serge, whose back was towards me, so +that I only saw the tip of his moustache.'</p> + +<p>"'Why, the blinds must have been up,' said Miss Preston.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'I was at Dulby,' said Mr. Baillie, and he undeniably was."</p> + +<p>This is quite a typical case of crystal-gazing—the picture correct in +every detail, you see, and yet absolutely unimportant and bearing no +apparent signification of any sort to either party, except that it +served to prove to Mr. Baillie that there was something in +crystal-gazing. Perhaps more frequently the visions tend to be of a +romantic character—men in foreign dress, or beautiful though +generally unknown landscapes.</p> + +<p>Now what is the rationale of this kind of clairvoyance? As I have +indicated above, it belongs usually to the "astral-current" type, and +the crystal or other object simply acts as a focus for the will-power +of the seer, and a convenient starting-point for his astral tube. +There are some who can influence what they will see by their will, +that is to say they have the power of pointing their telescope as they +wish; but the great majority just form a fortuitous tube and see +whatever happens to present itself at the end of it.</p> + +<p>Sometimes it may be a scene comparatively near at hand, as in the case +just quoted; at other times it will be a far-away Oriental landscape; +at others yet it may be a reflection of some fragment of an âkâshic +record, and then the picture will contain figures in some antique +dress, and the phenomenon belongs to our third large division of +"clairvoyance in time." It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> said that visions of the future are +sometimes seen in crystals also—a further development to which we +must refer later.</p> + +<p>I have seen a clairvoyant use instead of the ordinary shining surface +a dead black one, produced by a handful of powdered charcoal in a +saucer. Indeed it does not seem to matter much what is used as a +focus, except that pure crystal has an undoubted advantage over other +substances in that its peculiar arrangement of elemental essence +renders it specially stimulating to the psychic faculties.</p> + +<p>It seems probable, however, that in cases where a tiny brilliant +object is employed—such as a point of light, or the drop of blood +used by the Maories—the instance is in reality merely one of +self-hypnotization. Among non-European nations the experiment is very +frequently preceded or accompanied by magical ceremonies and +invocations, so that it is quite likely that such sight as is gained +may sometimes be really that of some foreign entity, and so the +phenomenon may in fact be merely a case of temporary possession, and +not of clairvoyance at all.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Clairvoyance in Space: Unintentional.</span></h2> + + +<p>Under this heading we may group together all those cases in which +visions of some event which is taking place at a distance are seen +quite unexpectedly and without any kind of preparation. There are +people who are subject to such visions, while there are many others to +whom such a thing will happen only once in a life-time. The visions +are of all kinds and of all degrees of completeness, and apparently +may be produced by various causes. Sometimes the reason of the vision +is obvious, and the subject matter of the gravest importance; at other +times no reason at all is discoverable, and the events shown seem of +the most trivial nature.</p> + +<p>Sometimes these glimpses of the super-physical faculty come as waking +visions, and sometimes they manifest during sleep as vivid or +oft-repeated dreams. In this latter case the sight employed is perhaps +usually of the kind assigned to our fourth subdivision of clairvoyance +in space, for the sleeping man often travels in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> his astral body to +some spot with which his affections or interests are closely +connected, and simply watches what takes place there; in the former it +seems probable that the second type of clairvoyance, by means of the +astral current, is called into requisition. But in this case the +current or tube is formed quite unconsciously, and is often the +automatic result of a strong thought or emotion projected from one end +or the other—either from the seer or the person who is seen.</p> + +<p>The simplest plan will be to give a few instances of the different +kinds, and to intersperse among them such further explanations as may +seem necessary. Mr. Stead has collected a large and varied assortment +of recent and well-authenticated cases in his <i>Real Ghost Stories</i>, +and I will select some of my examples from them, occasionally +condensing slightly to save space.</p> + +<p>There are cases in which it is at once obvious to any Theosophical +student that the exceptional instance of clairvoyance was specially +brought about by one of the band whom we have called "Invisible +Helpers" in order that aid might be rendered to some one in sore need. +To this class, undoubtedly, belongs the story told by Captain Yonnt, +of the Napa Valley in California, to Dr. Bushnell, who repeats it in +his <i>Nature and the Supernatural</i> (p. 14).</p> + +<p>"About six or seven years previous, in a mid-winter's night, he had a +dream in which he saw what appeared to be a company of emigrants +arrested by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> the snows of the mountains, and perishing rapidly by cold +and hunger. He noted the very cast of the scenery, marked by a huge, +perpendicular front of white rock cliff; he saw the men cutting off +what appeared to be tree-tops rising out of deep gulfs of snow; he +distinguished the very features of the persons and the look of their +particular distress.</p> + +<p>"He awoke profoundly impressed by the distinctness and apparent +reality of the dream. He at length fell asleep, and dreamed exactly +the same dream over again. In the morning he could not expel it from +his mind. Falling in shortly after with an old hunter comrade, he told +his story, and was only the more deeply impressed by his recognizing +without hesitation the scenery of the dream. This comrade came over +the Sierra by the Carson Valley Pass, and declared that a spot in the +Pass exactly answered his description.</p> + +<p>"By this the unsophistical patriarch was decided. He immediately +collected a company of men, with mules and blankets and all necessary +provisions. The neighbours were laughing meantime at his credulity. +'No matter,' he said, 'I am able to do this, and I will, for I verily +believe that the fact is according to my dream.' The men were sent +into the mountains one hundred and fifty miles distant direct to the +Carson Valley Pass. And there they found the company exactly in the +condition of the dream, and brought in the remnant alive."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + +<p>Since it is not stated that Captain Yonnt was in the habit of seeing +visions, it seems clear that some helper, observing the forlorn +condition of the emigrant party, took the nearest impressionable and +otherwise suitable person (who happened to be the Captain) to the spot +in the astral body, and aroused him sufficiently to fix the scene +firmly in his memory. The helper may possibly have arranged an "astral +current" for the Captain instead, but the former suggestion is more +probable. At any rate the motive, and broadly the method, of the work +are obvious enough in this case.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the "astral current" may be set going by a strong emotional +thought at the other end of the line, and this may happen even though +the thinker has no such intention in his mind. In the rather striking +story which I am about to quote, it is evident that the link was +formed by the doctor's frequent thought about Mrs. Broughton, yet he +had clearly no especial wish that she should see what he was doing at +the time. That it was this kind of clairvoyance that was employed is +shown by the fixity of her point of view—which, be it observed, is +not the doctor's point of view sympathetically transferred (as it +might have been) since she sees his back without recognizing him. The +story is to be found in the <i>Proceedings of the Psychical Research +Society</i> (vol. ii., p. 160).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mrs. Broughton awoke one night in 1844, and roused her husband, +telling him that something dreadful had happened in France. He begged +her to go to sleep again, and not trouble him. She assured him that +she was not asleep when she saw what she insisted on telling him—what +she saw in fact.</p> + +<p>"First a carriage accident—which she did not actually see, but what +she saw was the result—a broken carriage, a crowd collected, a figure +gently raised and carried into the nearest house, then a figure lying +on a bed which she then recognized as the Duke of Orleans. Gradually +friends collecting round the bed—among them several members of the +French royal family—the queen, then the king, all silently, +tearfully, watching the evidently dying duke. One man (she could see +his back, but did not know who he was) was a doctor. He stood bending +over the duke, feeling his pulse, with his watch in the other hand. +And then all passed away, and she saw no more.</p> + +<p>"As soon as it was daylight she wrote down in her journal all that she +had seen. It was before the days of electric telegraph, and two or +more days passed before the <i>Times</i> announced 'The Death of the Duke +of Orleans.' Visiting Paris a short time afterwards she saw and +recognized the place of the accident and received the explanation of +her impression. The doctor who attended the dying duke was an old +friend of hers, and as he watched by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> the bed his mind had been +constantly occupied with her and her family."</p> + +<p>A commoner instance is that in which strong affection sets up the +necessary current; probably a fairly steady stream of mutual thought +is constantly flowing between the two parties in the case, and some +sudden need or dire extremity on the part of one of them endues this +stream temporarily with the polarizing power which is needful to +create the astral telescope. An illustrative example is quoted from +the same <i>Proceedings</i> (vol. i., p. 30).</p> + +<p>"On September 9th, 1848, at the siege of Mooltan, Major-General R——, +C.B., then adjutant of his regiment, was most severely and dangerously +wounded; and, supposing himself to be dying, asked one of the officers +with him to take the ring off his finger and send it to his wife, who +at the time was fully one hundred and fifty miles distant at +Ferozepore.</p> + +<p>"'On the night of September 9th, 1848,' writes his wife, 'I was lying +on my bed, between sleeping and waking, when I distinctly saw my +husband being carried off the field seriously wounded, and heard his +voice saying, "Take this ring off my finger and send it to my wife." +All the next day I could not get the sight or the voice out of my +mind.</p> + +<p>"'In due time I heard of General R—— having been severely wounded in +the assault of Mooltan. He survived, however, and is still living. It +was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> for some time after the siege that I heard from General +L——, the officer who helped to carry my husband off the field, that +the request as to the ring was actually made by him, just as I heard +it at Ferozepore at that very time."</p> + +<p>Then there is the very large class of casual clairvoyant visions which +have no traceable cause—which are apparently quite meaningless, and +have no recognizable relation to any events known to the seer. To this +class belong many of the landscapes seen by some people just before +they fall asleep. I quote a capital and very realistic account of an +experience of this sort from Mr. W. T. Stead's <i>Real Ghost Stories</i> +(p. 65).</p> + +<p>"I got into bed but was not able to go to sleep. I shut my eyes and +waited for sleep to come; instead of sleep, however, there came to me +a succession of curiously vivid clairvoyant pictures. There was no +light in the room, and it was perfectly dark; I had my eyes shut also. +But notwithstanding the darkness I suddenly was conscious of looking +at a scene of singular beauty. It was as if I saw a living miniature +about the size of a magic-lantern slide. At this moment I can recall +the scene as if I saw it again. It was a seaside piece. The moon was +shining upon the water, which rippled slowly on to the beach. Right +before me a long mole ran into the water.</p> + +<p>"On either side of the mole irregular rocks stood up above the +sea-level. On the shore stood several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> houses, square and rude, which +resembled nothing that I had ever seen in house architecture. No one +was stirring, but the moon was there and the sea and the gleam of the +moonlight on the rippling waters, just as if I had been looking on the +actual scene.</p> + +<p>"It was so beautiful that I remember thinking that if it continued I +should be so interested in looking at it that I should never go to +sleep. I was wide awake, and at the same time that I saw the scene I +distinctly heard the dripping of the rain outside the window. Then +suddenly, without any apparent object or reason, the scene changed.</p> + +<p>"The moonlit sea vanished, and in its place I was looking right into +the interior of a reading-room. It seemed as if it had been used as a +schoolroom in the daytime, and was employed as a reading-room in the +evening. I remember seeing one reader who had a curious resemblance to +Tim Harrington, although it was not he, hold up a magazine or book in +his hand and laugh. It was not a picture—it was there.</p> + +<p>"The scene was just as if you were looking through an opera-glass; you +saw the play of the muscles, the gleaming of the eye, every movement +of the unknown persons in the unnamed place into which you were +gazing. I saw all that without opening my eyes, nor did my eyes have +anything to do with it. You see such things as these as it were with +another sense which is more inside your head than in your eyes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This was a very poor and paltry experience, but it enabled me to +understand better how it is that clairvoyants see than any amount of +disquisition.</p> + +<p>"The pictures were <i>apropos</i> of nothing; they had been suggested by +nothing I had been reading or talking of; they simply came as if I had +been able to look through a glass at what was occurring somewhere else +in the world. I had my peep, and then it passed, nor have I had a +recurrence of a similar experience."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stead regards that as a "poor and paltry experience," and it may +perhaps be considered so when compared with the greater possibilities, +yet I know many students who would be very thankful to have even so +much of direct personal experience to tell. Small though it may be in +itself, it at once gives the seer a clue to the whole thing, and +clairvoyance would be a living actuality to a man who had seen even +that much in a way that it could never have been without that little +touch with the unseen world.</p> + +<p>These pictures were much too clear to have been mere reflections of +the thought of others, and besides, the description unmistakably shows +that they were views seen through an astral telescope; so either Mr. +Stead must quite unconsciously have set a current going for himself, +or (which is much more probable) some kindly astral entity set it in +motion for him, and gave him, to while away a tedious delay, any +pictures that happened to come handy at the end of the tube.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Clairvoyance in Time: the Past.</span></h2> + + +<p>Clairvoyance in time—that is to say, the power of reading the past +and the future—is, like all the other varieties, possessed by +different people in very varying degrees, ranging from the man who has +both faculties fully at his command, down to one who only occasionally +gets involuntary and very imperfect glimpses or reflections of these +scenes of other days. A person of the latter type might have, let us +say, a vision of some event in the past; but it would be liable to the +most serious distortion, and even if it happened to be fairly accurate +it would almost certainly be a mere isolated picture, and he would +probably be quite unable to relate it to what had occurred before or +after it, or to account for anything unusual which might appear in it. +The trained man, on the other hand, could follow the drama connected +with his picture backwards or forwards to any extent that might seem +desirable, and trace out with equal ease the causes which had led up +to it or the results which it in turn would produce.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> + +<p>We shall probably find it easier to grasp this somewhat difficult +section of our subject if we consider it in the subdivisions which +naturally suggest themselves, and deal first with the vision which +looks backwards into the past, leaving for later examination that +which pierces the veil of the future. In each case it will be well for +us to try to understand what we can of the <i>modus operandi</i>, even +though our success can at best be only a very modified one, owing +first to the imperfect information on some parts of the subject at +present possessed by our investigators, and secondly to the +ever-recurring failure of physical words to express a hundredth part +even of the little we do know about higher planes and faculties.</p> + +<p>In the case then of a detailed vision of the remote past, how is it +obtained, and to what plane of nature does it really belong? The +answer to both these questions is contained in the reply that it is +read from the âkâshic records; but that statement in return will +require a certain amount of explanation for many readers. The word is +in truth somewhat of a misnomer, for though the records are +undoubtedly read from the âkâsha, or matter of the mental plane, yet +it is not to it that they really belong. Still worse is the +alternative title, "records of the astral light," which has sometimes +been employed, for these records lie far beyond the astral plane, and +all that can be obtained on it are only broken glimpses of a kind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> of +double reflection of them, as will presently be explained.</p> + +<p>Like so many others of our Theosophical terms, the word âkâsha has +been very loosely used. In some of our earlier books it was considered +as synonymous with astral light, and in others it was employed to +signify any kind of invisible matter, from mûlaprakṛiti down to the +physical ether. In later books its use has been restricted to the +matter of the mental plane, and it is in that sense that the records +may be spoken of as âkâshic, for although they are not originally made +on that plane any more than on the astral, yet it is there that we +first come definitely into contact with them and find it possible to +do reliable work with them.</p> + +<p>This subject of the records is by no means an easy one to deal with, +for it is one of that numerous class which requires for its perfect +comprehension faculties of a far higher order than any which humanity +has yet evolved. The real solution of its problems lies on planes far +beyond any that we can possibly know at present, and any view that we +take of it must necessarily be of the most imperfect character, since +we cannot but look at it from below instead of from above. The idea +which we form of it must therefore be only partial, yet it need not +mislead us unless we allow ourselves to think of the tiny fragment +which is all that we can see as though it were the perfect whole. If +we are careful that such conceptions as we may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> form shall be accurate +as far as they go, we shall have nothing to unlearn, though much to +add, when in the course of our further progress we gradually acquire +the higher wisdom. Be it understood then at the commencement that a +thorough grasp of our subject is an impossibility at the present stage +of our evolution, and that many points will arise as to which no exact +explanation is yet obtainable, though it may often be possible to +suggest analogies and to indicate the lines along which an explanation +must lie.</p> + +<p>Let us then try to carry back our thoughts to the beginning of this +solar system to which we belong. We are all familiar with the ordinary +astronomical theory of its origin—that which is commonly called the +nebular hypothesis—according to which it first came into existence as +a gigantic glowing nebula, of a diameter far exceeding that of the +orbit of even the outermost of the planets, and then, as in the course +of countless ages that enormous sphere gradually cooled and +contracted, the system as we know it was formed.</p> + +<p>Occult science accepts that theory, in its broad outline, as correctly +representing the purely physical side of the evolution of our system, +but it would add that if we confine our attention to this physical +side only we shall have a very incomplete and incoherent idea of what +really happened. It would postulate, to begin with, that the exalted +Being who undertakes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> the formation of a system (whom we sometimes +call the Logos of the system) first of all forms in His mind a +complete conception of the whole of it with all its successive chains +of worlds. By the very act of forming that conception He calls the +whole into simultaneous objective existence on the plane of His +thought—a plane of course far above all those of which we know +anything—from which the various globes descend when required into +whatever state of further objectivity may be respectively destined for +them. Unless we constantly bear in mind this fact of the real +existence of the whole system from the very beginning on a higher +plane, we shall be perpetually misunderstanding the physical evolution +which we see taking place down here.</p> + +<p>But occultism has more than this to teach us on the subject. It tells +us not only that all this wonderful system to which we belong is +called into existence by the Logos, both on lower and on higher +planes, but also that its relation to Him is closer even than that, +for it is absolutely a part of Him—a partial expression of Him upon +the physical plane—and that the movement and energy of the whole +system is <i>His</i> energy, and is all carried on within the limits of His +aura. Stupendous as this conception is, it will yet not be wholly +unthinkable to those of us who have made any study of the subject of +the aura.</p> + +<p>We are familiar with the idea that as a person pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>gresses on the +upward path his causal body, which is the determining limit of his +aura, distinctly increases in size as well as in luminosity and purity +of colour. Many of us know from experience that the aura of a pupil +who has already made considerable advance on the Path is very much +larger than that of one who is but just setting his foot upon its +first step, while in the case of an Adept the proportional increase is +far greater still. We read in quite exoteric Oriental scriptures of +the immense extension of the aura of the Buddha; I think that three +miles is mentioned on one occasion as its limit, but whatever the +exact measurement may be, it is obvious that we have here another +record of this fact of the extremely rapid growth of the causal body +as man passes on his upward way. There can be little doubt that the +rate of this growth would itself increase in geometrical progression, +so that it need not surprise us to hear of an Adept on a still higher +level whose aura is capable of including the entire world at once; and +from this we may gradually lead our minds up to the conception that +there is a Being so exalted as to comprehend within Himself the whole +of our solar system. And we should remember that, enormous as this +seems to us, it is but as the tiniest drop in the vast ocean of space.</p> + +<p>So of the Logos (who has in Him all the capacities and qualities with +which we can possibly endow the highest God we can imagine) it is +literally true, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> was said of old, that "of Him and through Him, and +to Him are all things," and "in Him we live and move and have our +being."</p> + +<p>Now if this be so, it is clear that whatever happens within our system +happens absolutely within the consciousness of its Logos, and so we at +once see that the true record must be His memory; and furthermore, it +is obvious that on whatever plane that wondrous memory exists, it +cannot but be far above anything that we know, and consequently +whatever records we may find ourselves able to read must be only a +reflection of that great dominant fact, mirrored in the denser media +of the lower planes.</p> + +<p>On the astral plane it is at once evident that this is so—that what +we are dealing with is only a reflection of a reflection, and an +exceedingly imperfect one, for such records as can be reached there +are fragmentary in the extreme, and often seriously distorted. We know +how universally water is used as a symbol of the astral light, and in +this particular case it is a remarkably apt one. From the surface of +still water we may get a clear reflection of the surrounding objects, +just as from a mirror; but at the best it is only a reflection—a +representation in two dimensions of three-dimensional objects, and +therefore differing in all its qualities, except colour, from that +which it represents; and in addition to this, it is always reversed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<p>But let the surface of the water be ruffled by the wind and what do we +find then? A reflection still, certainly, but so broken up and +distorted as to be quite useless or even misleading as a guide to the +shape and real appearance of the objects reflected. Here and there for +a moment we might happen to get a clear reflection of some minute part +of the scene—of a single leaf from a tree, for example; but it would +need long labour and considerable knowledge of natural laws to build +up anything like a true conception of the object reflected by putting +together even a large number of such isolated fragments of an image of +it.</p> + +<p>Now in the astral plane we can never have anything approaching to what +we have imaged as a still surface, but on the contrary we have always +to deal with one in rapid and bewildering motion; judge, therefore, +how little we can depend upon getting a clear and definite reflection. +Thus a clairvoyant who possesses only the faculty of astral sight can +never rely upon any picture of the past that comes before him as being +accurate and perfect; here and there some part of it <i>may</i> be so, but +he has no means of knowing which it is. If he is under the care of a +competent teacher he may, by long and careful training, be shown how +to distinguish between reliable and unreliable impressions, and to +construct from the broken reflections some kind of image of the +object<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> reflected; but usually long before he has mastered those +difficulties he will have developed the mental sight, which renders +such labour unnecessary.</p> + +<p>On the next plane, which we call the mental, conditions are very +different. There the record is full and accurate, and it would be +impossible to make any mistake in the reading. That is to say, if +three clairvoyants possessing the powers of the mental plane agreed to +examine a certain record there, what would be presented to their +vision would be absolutely the same reflection in each case, and each +would acquire a correct impression from it in reading it. It does not +however follow that when they all compared notes later on the physical +plane their reports would agree exactly. It is well known that if +three people who witness an occurrence down here in the physical world +set to work to describe it afterwards, their accounts will differ +considerably, for each will have noticed especially those items which +most appeal to him, and will insensibly have made them the prominent +features of the event, sometimes ignoring other points which were in +reality much more important.</p> + +<p>Now in the case of an observation on the mental plane this personal +equation would not appreciably affect the impressions received, for +since each would thoroughly grasp the entire subject it would be +impossible for him to see its parts out of due proportion;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> but, +except in the case of carefully trained and experienced persons, this +factor does come into play in transferring the impressions to the +lower planes. It is in the nature of things impossible that any +account given down here of a vision or experience on the mental plane +can be complete, since nine-tenths of what is seen and felt there +could not be expressed by physical words at all; and, since all +expression must therefore be partial, there is obviously some +possibility of selection as to the part expressed. It is for this +reason that in all our Theosophical investigations of recent years so +much stress has been laid upon the constant checking and verifying of +clairvoyant testimony, nothing which rests upon the vision of one +person only having been allowed to appear in our later books.</p> + +<p>But even when the possibility of error from this factor of personal +equation has been reduced to a minimum by a careful system of +counter-checking, there still remains the very serious difficulty which +is inherent in the operation of bringing down impressions from a higher +plane to a lower one. This is something analogous to the difficulty +experienced by a painter in his endeavour to reproduce a +three-dimensional landscape on a flat surface—that is, practically in +two dimensions. Just as the artist needs long and careful training of +eye and hand before he can produce a satisfactory representation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> of +nature, so does the clairvoyant need long and careful training before he +can describe accurately on a lower plane what he sees on a higher one; +and the probability of getting an exact description from an untrained +person is about equal to that of getting a perfectly-finished landscape +from one who has never learnt how to draw.</p> + +<p>It must be remembered, too, that the most perfect picture is in +reality infinitely far from being a reproduction of the scene which it +represents, for hardly a single line or angle in it can ever be the +same as those in the object copied. It is simply a very ingenious +attempt to make upon one only of our five senses, by means of lines +and colours on a flat surface, an impression similar to that which +would have been made if we had actually had before us the scene +depicted. Except by a suggestion dependent entirely on our own +previous experience, it can convey to us nothing of the roar of the +sea, of the scent of the flowers, of the taste of the fruit, or of the +softness or hardness of the surface drawn.</p> + +<p>Of exactly similar nature, though far greater in degree, are the +difficulties experienced by a clairvoyant in his attempt to describe +upon the physical plane what he has seen upon the astral; and they are +furthermore greatly enhanced by the fact that, instead of having +merely to recall to the minds of his hearers conceptions with which +they are already familiar, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> the artist does when he paints men or +animals, fields or trees, he has to endeavour by the very imperfect +means at his disposal to suggest to them conceptions which in most +cases are absolutely new to them.</p> + +<p>Small wonder then that, however vivid and striking his descriptions +may seem to his audience, he himself should constantly be impressed +with their total inadequacy, and should feel that his best efforts +have entirely failed to convey any idea of what he really sees. And we +must remember that in the case of the report given down here of a +record read on the mental plane, this difficult operation of +transference from the higher to the lower has taken place not once but +twice, since the memory has been brought through the intervening +astral plane. Even in a case where the investigator has the advantage +of having developed his mental faculties so that he has the use of +them while awake in the physical body, he is still hampered by the +absolute incapacity of physical language to express what he sees.</p> + +<p>Try for a moment to realize fully what is called the fourth dimension, +of which we said something in an earlier chapter. It is easy enough to +think of our own three dimensions—to image in our minds the length, +breadth and height of any object; and we see that each of these three +dimensions is expressed by a line at right angles to both of the +others. The idea of the fourth dimension is that it might be possible +to draw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> a fourth line which shall be at right angles to all three of +those already existing.</p> + +<p>Now the ordinary mind cannot grasp this idea in the least, though some +few who have made a special study of the subject have gradually come +to be able to realize one or two very simple four-dimensional figures. +Still, no words that they can use on this plane can bring any image of +these figures before the minds of others, and if any reader who has +not specially trained himself along that line will make the effort to +visualize such a shape he will find it quite impossible. Now to +express such a form clearly in physical words would be, in effect, to +describe accurately a single object on the astral plane; but in +examining the records on the mental plane we should have to face the +additional difficulties of a fifth dimension! So that the +impossibility of fully explaining these records will be obvious to +even the most superficial observation.</p> + +<p>We have spoken of the records as the memory of the Logos, yet they are +very much more than a memory in an ordinary sense of the word. +Hopeless as it may be to imagine how these images appear from His +point of view, we yet know that as we rise higher and higher we must +be drawing nearer to the true memory—must be seeing more nearly as He +sees; so that great interest attaches to the experience of the +clairvoyant with reference to these records when he stands upon the +buddhic plane—the highest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> which his consciousness can reach even +when away from the physical body until he attains the level of the +Arhats.</p> + +<p>Here time and space no longer limit him; he no longer needs, as on the +mental plane, to pass a series of events in review, for past, present +and future are all alike simultaneously present to him, meaningless as +that sounds down here. Indeed, infinitely below the consciousness of +the Logos as even that exalted plane is, it is yet abundantly clear +from what we see there that to Him the record must be far more than +what we call a memory, for all that has happened in the past and all +that will happen in the future is <i>happening now</i> before His eyes just +as are the events of what we call the present time. Utterly +incredible, wildly incomprehensible, of course, to our limited +understanding; yet absolutely true for all that.</p> + +<p>Naturally we could not expect to understand at our present stage of +knowledge how so marvellous a result is produced, and to attempt an +explanation would only be to involve ourselves in a mist of words from +which we should gain no real information. Yet a line of thought recurs +to my mind which perhaps suggests the direction in which it is +possible that that explanation may lie: and whatever helps us to +realize that so astounding a statement may after all not be wholly +impossible will be of assistance in broadening our minds.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<p>Some thirty years ago I remember reading a very curious little book, +called, I think, <i>The Stars and the Earth</i>, the object of which was to +endeavour to show how it was scientifically possible that to the mind +of God the past and the present might be absolutely simultaneous. Its +arguments struck me at the time as decidedly ingenious, and I will +proceed to summarize them, as I think they will be found somewhat +suggestive in connection with the subject which we have been +considering.</p> + +<p>When we see anything, whether it be the book which we hold in our +hands or a star millions of miles away, we do so by means of a +vibration in the ether, commonly called a ray of light, which passes +from the object seen to our eyes. Now the speed with which this +vibration passes is so great—about 186,000 miles in a second—that +when we are considering any object in our own world we may regard it +as practically instantaneous. When, however, we come to deal with +interplanetary distances we have to take the speed of light into +consideration, for an appreciable period is occupied in traversing +these vast spaces. For example it takes eight minutes and a quarter +for light to travel to us from the sun, so that when we look at the +solar orb we see it by means of a ray of light which left it more than +eight minutes ago.</p> + +<p>From this follows a very curious result. The ray of light by which we +see the sun can obviously report<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> to us only the state of affairs +which existed in that luminary when it started on its journey, and +would not be in the least affected by anything that happened there +after it left; so that we really see the sun not as he <i>is</i>, but as he +was eight minutes ago. That is to say that if anything important took +place in the sun—the formation of a new sun-spot, for instance—an +astronomer who was watching the orb through his telescope at the time +would be quite unaware of the incident while it was happening, since +the ray of light bearing the news would not reach him until more than +eight minutes later.</p> + +<p>The difference is more striking when we consider the fixed stars, +because in their case the distances are so enormously greater. The +pole star, for example, is so far off that light, travelling at the +inconceivable speed above mentioned, takes a little more than fifty +years to reach our eyes; and from that follows the strange but +inevitable inference that we see the pole star not as and where it is +at this moment, but as and where it was fifty years ago. Nay, if +to-morrow some cosmic catastrophe were to shatter the pole star into +fragments, we should still see it peacefully shining in the sky all +the rest of our lives; our children would grow up to middle age and +gather their children about them in turn before the news of that +tremendous accident reached any terrestrial eye. In the same way there +are other stars so far distant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> that light takes thousands of years to +travel from them to us, and with reference to their condition our +information is therefore thousands of years behind time.</p> + +<p>Now carry the argument a step farther. Suppose that we were able to +place a man at the distance of 186,000 miles from the earth, and yet +to endow him with the wonderful faculty of being able from that +distance to see what was happening here as clearly as though he were +still close beside us. It is evident that a man so placed would see +everything a second after the time when it really happened, and so at +the present moment he would be seeing what happened a second ago. +Double the distance, and he would be two seconds behind time, and so +on; remove him to the distance of the sun (still allowing him to +preserve the same mysterious power of sight) and he would look down +and watch you doing not what you <i>are</i> doing now, but what you <i>were</i> +doing eight minutes and a quarter ago. Carry him away to the pole +star, and he would see passing before his eyes the events of fifty +years ago; he would be watching the childish gambols of those who at +the very same moment were really middle-aged men. Marvellous as this +may sound, it is literally and scientifically true, and cannot be +denied.</p> + +<p>The little book went on to argue logically enough that God, being +almighty, must possess the wonderful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> power of sight which we have +been postulating for our observer; and further, that being +omnipresent, He must be at each of the stations which we mentioned, +and also at every intermediate point, not successively but +simultaneously. Granting these premises, the inevitable deduction +follows that everything which has ever happened from the very +beginning of the world <i>must</i> be at this very moment taking place +before the eye of God—not a mere memory of it, but the actual +occurrence itself being now under His observation.</p> + +<p>All this is materialistic enough, and on the plane of purely physical +science, and we may therefore be assured that it is <i>not</i> the way in +which the memory of the Logos acts; yet it is neatly worked out and +absolutely incontrovertible, and as I have said before, it is not +without its use, since it gives us a glimpse of some possibilities +which otherwise might not occur to us.</p> + +<p>But, it may be asked, how is it possible, amid the bewildering +confusion of these records of the past, to find any particular picture +when it is wanted? As a matter of fact, the untrained clairvoyant +usually cannot do so without some special link to put him <i>en rapport</i> +with the subject required. Psychometry is an instance in point, and it +is quite probable that our ordinary memory is really only another +presentment of the same idea. It seems as though there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> were a sort of +magnetic attachment or affinity between any particle of matter and the +record which contains its history—an affinity which enables it to act +as a kind of conductor between that record and the faculties of anyone +who can read it.</p> + +<p>For example, I once brought from Stonehenge a tiny fragment of stone, +not larger than a pin's head, and on putting this into an envelope and +handing it to a psychometer who had no idea what it was, she at once +began to describe that wonderful ruin and the desolate country +surrounding it, and then went on to picture vividly what were +evidently scenes from its early history, showing that that +infinitesimal fragment had been sufficient to put her into +communication with the records connected with the spot from which it +came. The scenes through which we pass in the course of our life seem +to act in the same manner upon the cells of our brain as did the +history of Stonehenge upon that particle of stone: they establish a +connection with those cells by means of which our mind is put <i>en +rapport</i> with that particular portion of the records, and so we +"remember" what we have seen.</p> + +<p>Even a trained clairvoyant needs some link to enable him to find the +record of an event of which he has no previous knowledge. If, for +example, he wished to observe the landing of Julius Cæsar on the +shores of England, there are several ways in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> he might approach +the subject. If he happened to have visited the scene of the +occurrence, the simplest way would probably be to call up the image of +that spot, and then run back through its records until he reached the +period desired. If he had not seen the place, he might run back in +time to the date of the event, and then search the Channel for a fleet +of Roman galleys; or he might examine the records of Roman life at +about that period, where he would have no difficulty in identifying so +prominent a figure as Cæsar, or in tracing him when found through all +his Gallic wars until he set his foot upon British land.</p> + +<p>People often enquire as to the aspect of these records—whether they +appear near or far away from the eye, whether the figures in them are +large or small, whether the pictures follow one another as in a +panorama or melt into one another like dissolving views, and so on. +One can only reply that their appearance varies to a certain extent +according to the conditions under which they are seen. Upon the astral +plane the reflection is most often a simple picture, though +occasionally the figures seen would be endowed with motion; in this +latter case, instead of a mere snapshot a rather longer and more +perfect reflection has taken place.</p> + +<p>On the mental plane they have two widely different aspects. When the +visitor to that plane is not thinking specially of them in any way, +the records simply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> form a background to whatever is going on, just as +the reflections in a pier-glass at the end of a room might form a +background to the life of the people in it. It must always be borne in +mind that under these conditions they are really merely reflections +from the ceaseless activity of a great Consciousness upon a far higher +plane, and have very much the appearance of an endless succession of +the recently invented <i>cinematographe</i>, or living photographs. They do +not melt into one another like dissolving views, nor do a series of +ordinary pictures follow one another; but the action of the reflected +figures constantly goes on, as though one were watching the actors on +a distant stage.</p> + +<p>But if the trained investigator turns his attention specially to any +one scene, or wishes to call it up before him, an extraordinary change +at once takes place, for this is the plane of thought, and to think of +anything is to bring it instantaneously before you. For example, if a +man wills to see the record of that event to which we before +referred—the landing of Julius Cæsar—he finds himself in a moment +not looking at any picture, but standing on the shore among the +legionaries, with the whole scene being enacted around him, precisely +in every respect as he would have seen it if he had stood there in the +flesh on that autumn morning in the year 55 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span> Since what he sees is +but a reflection, the actors are of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> course entirely unconscious of +him, nor can any effort of his change the course of their action in +the smallest degree, except only that he can control the rate at which +the drama shall pass before him—can have the events of a whole year +rehearsed before his eyes in a single hour, or can at any moment stop +the movement altogether, and hold any particular scene in view as a +picture as long as he chooses.</p> + +<p>In truth he observes not only what he would have seen if he had been +there at the time in the flesh, but much more. He hears and +understands all that the people say, and he is conscious of all their +thoughts and motives; and one of the most interesting of the many +possibilities which open up before one who has learnt to read the +records is the study of the thought of ages long past—the thought of +the cave-men and the lake-dwellers as well as that which ruled the +mighty civilisations of Atlantis, of Egypt or Chaldæa. What splendid +possibilities open up before the man who is in full possession of this +power may easily be imagined. He has before him a field of historical +research of most entrancing interest. Not only can he review at his +leisure all history with which we are acquainted, correcting as he +examines it the many errors and misconceptions which have crept into +the accounts handed down to us; he can also range at will over the +whole story of the world from its very beginning, watching the slow +development of intellect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> in man, the descent of the Lords of the +Flame, and the growth of the mighty civilisations which they founded.</p> + +<p>Nor is his study confined to the progress of humanity alone; he has +before him, as in a museum, all the strange animal and vegetable forms +which occupied the stage in days when the world was young; he can +follow all the wonderful geological changes which have taken place, +and watch the course of the great cataclysms which have altered the +whole face of the earth again and again.</p> + +<p>In one especial case an even closer sympathy with the past is possible +to the reader of the records. If in the course of his enquiries he has +to look upon some scene in which he himself has in a former birth +taken part, he may deal with it in two ways; he can either regard it +in the usual manner as a spectator (though always, be it remembered, +as a spectator whose insight and sympathy are perfect) or he may once +more identify himself with that long-dead personality of his—may +throw himself back for the time into that life of long ago, and +absolutely experience over again the thoughts and the emotions, the +pleasures and the pains of a prehistoric past. No wilder and more +vivid adventures can be conceived than some of those through which he +thus may pass; yet through it all he must never lose hold of the +consciousness of his own individuality—must retain the power to +return at will to his present personality.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is often asked how it is possible for an investigator accurately to +determine the date of any picture from the far-distant past which he +disinters from the records. The fact is that it is sometimes rather +tedious work to find an exact date, but the thing can usually be done +if it is worth while to spend the time and trouble over it. If we are +dealing with Greek or Roman times the simplest method is usually to +look into the mind of the most intelligent person present in the +picture, and see what date he supposes it to be; or the investigator +might watch him writing a letter or other document and observe what +date, if any, was included in what was written. When once the Roman or +Greek date is thus obtained, to reduce it to our own system of +chronology is merely a matter of calculation.</p> + +<p>Another way which is frequently adopted is to turn from the scene +under examination to a contemporary picture in some great and +well-known city such as Rome, and note what monarch is reigning there, +or who are the consuls for the year; and when such data are discovered +a glance at any good history will give the rest. Sometimes a date can +be obtained by examining some public proclamation or some legal +document; in fact in the times of which we are speaking the difficulty +is easily surmounted.</p> + +<p>The matter is by no means so simple, however, when we come to deal +with periods much earlier than this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>—with a scene from early Egypt, +Chaldæa, or China, or to go further back still, from Atlantis itself +or any of its numerous colonies. A date can still be obtained easily +enough from the mind of any educated man, but there is no longer any +means of relating it to our own system of dates, since the man will be +reckoning by eras of which we know nothing, or by the reigns of kings +whose history is lost in the night of time.</p> + +<p>Our methods, nevertheless, are not yet exhausted. It must be +remembered that it is possible for the investigator to pass the +records before him at any speed that he may desire—at the rate of a +year in a second if he will, or even very much faster still. Now there +are one or two events in ancient history whose dates have already been +accurately fixed—as, for example, the sinking of Poseidonis in the +year 9564 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span> It is therefore obvious that if from the general +appearance of the surroundings it seems probable that a picture seen +is within measurable distance of one of these events, it can be +related to that event by the simple process of running through the +record rapidly, and counting the years between the two as they pass.</p> + +<p>Still, if those years ran into thousands, as they might sometimes do, +this plan would be insufferably tedious. In that case we are driven +back upon the astronomical method. In consequence of the movement +which is commonly called the precession of the equinoxes, though it +might more accurately be described as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> kind of second rotation of +the earth, the angle between the equator and the ecliptic steadily but +very slowly varies. Thus, after long intervals of time we find the +pole of the earth no longer pointing towards the same spot in the +apparent sphere of the heavens, or in other words, our pole-star is +not, as at present, α Ursæ Minoris, but some other celestial +body; and from this position of the pole of the earth, which can +easily be ascertained by careful observation of the night-sky of the +picture under consideration, an approximate date can be calculated +without difficulty.</p> + +<p>In estimating the date of occurrences which took place millions of +years ago in earlier races, the period of a secondary rotation (or the +precession of the equinoxes) is frequently used as a unit, but of +course absolute accuracy is not usually required in such cases, round +numbers being sufficient for all practical purposes in dealing with +epochs so remote.</p> + +<p>The accurate reading of the records, whether of one's own past lives +or those of others, must not, however, be thought of as an achievement +possible to anyone without careful previous training. As has been +already remarked, though occasional reflections may be had upon the +astral plane, the power to use the mental sense is necessary before +any reliable reading can be done. Indeed, to minimize the possibility +of error, that sense ought to be fully at the command of the +investigator while awake in the physical body; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> to acquire that +faculty needs years of ceaseless labour and rigid self-discipline.</p> + +<p>Many people seem to expect that as soon as they have signed their +application and joined the Theosophical Society they will at once +remember at least three or four of their past births; indeed, some of +them promptly begin to imagine recollections and declare that in their +last incarnation they were Mary Queen of Scots, Cleopatra, or Julius +Cæsar! Of course such extravagant claims simply bring discredit upon +those who are so foolish as to make them but unfortunately some of +that discredit is liable to be reflected, however unjustly, upon the +Society to which they belong, so that a man who feels seething within +him the conviction that he was Homer or Shakespeare would do well to +pause and apply common-sense tests on the physical plane before +publishing the news to the world.</p> + +<p>It is quite true that some people have had glimpses of scenes from +their past lives in dreams, but naturally these are usually +fragmentary and unreliable. I had myself in earlier life an experience +of this nature. Among my dreams I found that one was constantly +recurring—a dream of a house with a portico over-looking a beautiful +bay, not far from a hill on the top of which rose a graceful building. +I knew that house perfectly, and was as familiar with the position of +its rooms and the view from its door as I was with those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> of my home, +in this present life. In those days I knew nothing about +reincarnation, so that it seemed to me simply a curious coincidence +that this dream should repeat itself so often; and it was not until +some time after I had joined the Society that, when one who knew was +showing me some pictures of my last incarnation, I discovered that +this persistent dream had been in reality a partial recollection, and +that the house which I knew so well was the one in which I was born +more than two thousand years ago.</p> + +<p>But although there are several cases on record in which some +well-remembered scene has thus come through from one life to another, +a considerable development of occult faculty is necessary before an +investigator can definitely trace a line of incarnations, whether they +be his own or another man's. This will be obvious if we remember the +conditions of the problem which has to be worked out. To follow a +person from this life to the one preceding it, it is necessary first +of all to trace his present life backwards to his birth and then to +follow up in reverse order the stages by which the Ego descended into +incarnation.</p> + +<p>This will obviously take us back eventually to the condition of the +Ego upon the higher levels of the mental plane; so it will be seen +that to perform this task effectually the investigator must be able to +use the sense corresponding to that exalted level while awake in his +physical body—in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> other words, his consciousness must be centred in +the reincarnating Ego itself, and no longer in the lower personality. +In that case, the memory of the Ego being aroused, his own past +incarnations will be spread out before him like an open book, and he +would be able, if he wished, to examine the conditions of another Ego +upon that level and trace him backwards through the lower mental and +astral lives which led up to it, until he came to the last physical +death of that Ego, and through it to his previous life.</p> + +<p>There is no way but this in which the chain of lives can be followed +through with absolute certainty: and consequently we may at once put +aside as conscious or unconscious impostors those people who advertise +that they are able to trace out anyone's past incarnations for so many +shillings a head. Needless to say, the true occultist does not +advertise, and never under any circumstances accepts money for any +exhibition of his powers.</p> + +<p>Assuredly the student who wishes to acquire the power of following up +a line of incarnations can do so only by learning from a qualified +teacher how the work is to be done. There have been those who +persistently asserted that it was only necessary for a man to feel +good and devotional and "brotherly," and all the wisdom of the ages +would immediately flow in upon him; but a little common-sense will at +once expose the absurdity of such a position. How<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>ever good a child +may be, if he wants to know the multiplication table he must set to +work and learn it; and the case is precisely similar with the capacity +to use spiritual faculties. The faculties themselves will no doubt +manifest as the man evolves, but he can learn how to use them reliably +and to the best advantage only by steady hard work and persevering +effort.</p> + +<p>Take the case of those who wish to help others while on the astral +plane during sleep; it is obvious that the more knowledge they possess +here, the more valuable will their services be on that higher plane. +For example, the knowledge of languages would be useful to them, for +though on the mental plane men can communicate directly by +thought-transference, whatever their languages may be, on the astral +plane this is not so, and a thought must be definitely formulated in +words before it is comprehensible. If, therefore, you wish to help a +man on that plane, you must have some language in common by means of +which you can communicate with him, and consequently the more +languages you know the more widely useful you will be. In fact there +is perhaps no kind of knowledge for which a use cannot be found in the +work of the occultist.</p> + +<p>It would be well for all students to bear in mind that occultism is +the apotheosis of common-sense, and that every vision which comes to +them is not necessarily a picture from the âkâshic records, nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> every +experience a revelation from on high. It is better far to err on the +side of healthy scepticism than of over-credulity; and it is an +admirable rule never to hunt about for an occult explanation of +anything when a plain and obvious physical one is available. Our duty +is to endeavour to keep our balance always, and never to lose our +self-control, but to take a reasonable, common-sense view of whatever +may happen to us; so shall we be better Theosophists, wiser +occultists, and more useful helpers than we have ever been before.</p> + +<p>As usual, we find examples of all degrees of the power to see into +this memory of nature, from the trained man who can consult the record +for himself at will, down to the person who gets nothing but +occasional vague glimpses, or has even perhaps had only one such +glimpse. But even the man who possesses this faculty only partially +and occasionally still finds it of the deepest interest. The +psychometer, who needs an object physically connected with the past in +order to bring it all into life again around him, and the +crystal-gazer who can sometimes direct his less certain astral +telescope to some historic scene of long ago, may both derive the +greatest enjoyment from the exercise of their respective gifts, even +though they may not always understand exactly how their results are +produced, and may not have them fully under control under all +circumstances.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> + +<p>In many cases of the lower manifestations of these powers we find that +they are exercised unconsciously; many a crystal-gazer watches scenes +from the past without being able to distinguish them from visions of +the present, and many a vaguely-psychic person finds pictures +constantly arising before his eyes without ever realizing that he is +in effect psychometrizing the various objects around him as he happens +to touch them or stand near them.</p> + +<p>An interesting variant of this class of psychics is the man who is +able to psychometrize persons only, and not inanimate objects as is +more usual. In most cases this faculty shows itself erratically, so +that such a psychic will, when introduced to a stranger, often see in +a flash some prominent event in that stranger's earlier life, but on +other similar occasions will receive no special impression. More +rarely we meet with someone who gets detailed visions of the past life +of everyone whom he encounters. Perhaps one of the best examples of +this class was the German writer Zschokke, who describes in his +autobiography this extraordinary power of which he found himself +possessed. He says:—</p> + +<p>"It has happened to me occasionally at the first meeting with a total +stranger, when I have been listening in silence to his conversation, +that his past life up to the present moment, with many minute +circumstances belonging to one or other particular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> scene in it, has +come across me like a dream, but distinctly, entirely involuntarily +and unsought, occupying in duration a few minutes.</p> + +<p>"For a long time I was disposed to consider these fleeting visions as +a trick of the fancy—the more so as my dream-vision displayed to me +the dress and movements of the actors, the appearance of the room, the +furniture, and other accidents of the scene; till on one occasion, in +a gamesome mood, I narrated to my family the secret history of a +sempstress who had just before quitted the room. I had never seen the +person before. Nevertheless the hearers were astonished, and laughed +and would not be persuaded but that I had a previous acquaintance with +the former life of the person, inasmuch as what I had stated was +perfectly true.</p> + +<p>"I was not less astonished to find that my dream-vision agreed with +reality. I then gave more attention to the subject, and as often as +propriety allowed of it, I related to those whose lives had so passed +before me the substance of my dream-vision, to obtain from them its +contradiction or confirmation. On every occasion its confirmation +followed, not without amazement on the part of those who gave it.</p> + +<p>"On a certain fair-day I went into the town of Waldshut accompanied by +two young foresters, who are still alive. It was evening, and, tired +with our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> walk, we went into an inn called the 'Vine.' We took our +supper with a numerous company at the public table, when it happened +that they made themselves merry over the peculiarities and simplicity +of the Swiss in connection with the belief in mesmerism, Lavater's +physiognomical system and the like. One of my companions, whose +national pride was touched by their raillery, begged me to make some +reply, particularly in answer to a young man of superior appearance +who sat opposite, and had indulged in unrestrained ridicule.</p> + +<p>"It happened that the events of this person's life had just previously +passed before my mind. I turned to him with the question whether he +would reply to me with truth and candour if I narrated to him the most +secret passages of his history, he being as little known to me as I to +him? That would, I suggested, go something beyond Lavater's +physiognomical skill. He promised if I told the truth to admit it +openly. Then I narrated the events with which my dream-vision had +furnished me, and the table learnt the history of the young +tradesman's life, of his school years, his peccadilloes, and, finally, +of a little act of roguery committed by him on the strong-box of his +employer. I described the uninhabited room with its white walls, where +to the right of the brown door there had stood upon the table the +small black money-chest, etc. The man, much struck,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> admitted the +correctness of each circumstance—even, which I could not expect, of +the last."</p> + +<p>And after narrating this incident, the worthy Zschokke calmly goes on +to wonder whether perhaps after all this remarkable power, which he +had so often displayed, might not really have been always the result +of mere chance coincidence!</p> + +<p>Comparatively few accounts of persons possessing this faculty of +looking back into the past are to be found in the literature of the +subject, and it might therefore be supposed to be much less common +than prevision. I suspect, however, that the truth is rather that it +is much less commonly recognized. As I said before, it may very easily +happen that a person may see a picture of the past without recognizing +it as such, unless there happens to be in it something which attracts +special attention, such as a figure in armour or in antique costume. A +prevision also might not always be recognized as such at the time; but +the occurrence of the event foreseen recalls it vividly at the same +time that it manifests its nature, so that it is unlikely to be +overlooked. It is probable, therefore, that occasional glimpses of +these astral reflections of the âkâshic records are commoner than the +published accounts would lead us to believe.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Clairvoyance in Time: the Future.</span></h2> + + +<p>Even if, in a dim sort of way, we feel ourselves able to grasp the +idea that the whole of the past may be simultaneously and actively +present in a sufficiently exalted consciousness, we are confronted by +a far greater difficulty when we endeavour to realize how all the +future may also be comprehended in that consciousness. If we could +believe in the Mohammedan doctrine of kismet, or the Calvinistic +theory of predestination, the conception would be easy enough, but +knowing as we do that both these are grotesque distortions of the +truth, we must look round for a more acceptable hypothesis.</p> + +<p>There may still be some people who deny the possibility of prevision, +but such denial simply shows their ignorance of the evidence on the +subject. The large number of authenticated cases leaves no room for +doubt as to the fact, but many of them are of such a nature as to +render a reasonable explanation by no means easy to find. It is +evident that the Ego<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> possesses a certain amount of previsional +faculty, and if the events foreseen were always of great importance, +one might suppose that an extraordinary stimulus had enabled him for +that occasion only to make a clear impression of what he saw upon his +lower personality. No doubt that is the explanation of many of the +cases in which death or grave disaster is foreseen, but there are a +large number of instances on record to which it does not seem to +apply, since the events foretold are frequently exceedingly trivial +and unimportant.</p> + +<p>A well-known story of second-sight in Scotland will illustrate what I +mean. A man who had no belief in the occult was forewarned by a +Highland seer of the approaching death of a neighbour. The prophecy +was given with considerable wealth of detail, including a full +description of the funeral, with the names of the four pall-bearers +and others who would be present. The auditor seems to have laughed at +the whole story and promptly forgotten it, but the death of his +neighbour at the time foretold recalled the warning to his mind, and +he determined to falsify part of the prediction at any rate by being +one of the pall-bearers himself. He succeeded in getting matters +arranged as he wished, but just as the funeral was about to start he +was called away from his post by some small matter which detained him +only a minute or two. As he came hurrying back he saw with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> surprise +that the procession had started without him, and that the prediction +had been exactly fulfilled, for the four pall-bearers were those who +had been indicated in the vision.</p> + +<p>Now here is a very trifling matter, which could have been of no +possible importance to anybody, definitely foreseen months beforehand; +and although a man makes a determined effort to alter the arrangement +indicated he fails entirely to affect it in the least. Certainly this +looks very much like predestination, even down to the smallest detail, +and it is only when we examine this question from higher planes that +we are able to see our way to escape that theory. Of course, as I said +before about another branch of the subject, a full explanation eludes +us as yet, and obviously must do so until our knowledge is infinitely +greater than it is now; the most that we can hope to do for the +present is to indicate the line along which an explanation may be +found.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt whatever that, just as what is happening now is the +result of causes set in motion in the past, so what will happen in the +future will be the result of causes already in operation. Even down +here we can calculate that if certain actions are performed certain +results will follow, but our reckoning is constantly liable to be +disturbed by the interference of factors which we have not been able +to take into account. But if we raise our consciousness to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> mental +plane we can see very much farther into the results of our actions.</p> + +<p>We can trace, for example, the effect of a casual word, not only upon +the person to whom it was addressed, but through him on many others as +it is passed on in widening circles, until it seems to have affected +the whole country; and one glimpse of such a vision is far more +efficient than any number of moral precepts in impressing upon us the +necessity of extreme circumspection in thought, word, and deed. Not +only can we from that plane see thus fully the result of every action, +but we can also see where and in what way the results of other actions +apparently quite unconnected with it will interfere with and modify +it. In fact, it may be said that the results of all causes at present +in action are clearly visible—that the future, as it would be if no +entirely new causes should arise, lies open before our gaze.</p> + +<p>New causes of course do arise, because man's will is free; but in the +case of all ordinary people the use which they will make of their +freedom can be calculated beforehand with considerable accuracy. The +average man has so little real will that he is very much the creature +of circumstances; his action in previous lives places him amid certain +surroundings, and their influence upon him is so very much the most +important factor in his life-story that his future course may be +predicted with almost mathematical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> certainty. With the developed man +the case is different; for him also the main events of life are +arranged by his past actions, but the way in which he will allow them +to affect him, the methods by which he will deal with them and perhaps +triumph over them—these are all his own, and they cannot be foreseen +even on the mental plane except as probabilities.</p> + +<p>Looking down on man's life in this way from above, it seems as though +his free will could be exercised only at certain crises in his career. +He arrives at a point in his life where there are obviously two or +three alternative courses open before him; he is absolutely free to +choose which of them he pleases, and although some one who knew his +nature thoroughly well might feel almost certain what his choice would +be, such knowledge on his friend's part is in no sense a compelling +force.</p> + +<p>But when he <i>has</i> chosen, he has to go through with it and take the +consequences; having entered upon a particular path he may, in many +cases, be forced to go on for a very long way before he has any +opportunity to turn aside. His position is somewhat like that of the +driver of a train; when he comes to a junction he may have the points +set either this way or that, and so can pass on to whichever line he +pleases, but when he <i>has</i> passed on to one of them he is compelled to +run on along the line which he has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> selected until he reaches another +set of points, where again an opportunity of choice is offered to him.</p> + +<p>Now, in looking down from the mental plane, these points of new +departure would be clearly visible, and all the results of each choice +would lie open before us, certain to be worked out even to the +smallest detail. The only point which would remain uncertain would be +the all-important one as to which choice the man would make. We +should, in fact, have not one but several futures mapped out before +our eyes, without necessarily being able to determine which of them +would materialize itself into accomplished fact. In most instances we +should see so strong a probability that we should not hesitate to come +to a decision, but the case which I have described is certainly +theoretically possible. Still, even this much knowledge would enable +us to do with safety a good deal of prediction; and it is not +difficult for us to imagine that a far higher power than ours might +always be able to foresee which way every choice would go, and +consequently to prophesy with absolute certainty.</p> + +<p>On the buddhic plane, however, no such elaborate process of conscious +calculation is necessary, for, as I said before, in some manner which +down here is totally inexplicable, the past, the present, and the +future, are there all existing simultaneously. One can only accept +this fact, for its cause lies in the faculty of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> plane, and the +way in which this higher faculty works is naturally quite +incomprehensible to the physical brain. Yet now and then one may meet +with a hint that seems to bring us a trifle nearer to a dim +possibility of comprehension. One such hint was given by Dr. Oliver +Lodge in his address to the British Association at Cardiff. He said:</p> + +<p>"A luminous and helpful idea is that time is but a relative mode of +regarding things; we progress through phenomena at a certain definite +pace, and this subjective advance we interpret in an objective manner, +as if events moved necessarily in this order and at this precise rate. +But that may be only one mode of regarding them. The events may be in +some sense in existence always, both past and future, and it may be we +who are arriving at them, not they which are happening. The analogy of a +traveller in a railway train is useful; if he could never leave the +train nor alter its pace he would probably consider the landscapes as +necessarily successive and be unable to conceive their co-existence.... +We perceive, therefore, a possible fourth dimensional aspect about time, +the inexorableness of whose flow may be a natural part or our present +limitations. And if we once grasp the idea that past and future may be +actually existing, we can recognize that they may have a controlling +influence on all present action, and the two together may constitute the +'higher plane'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> or totality of things after which, as it seems to me, we +are impelled to seek, in connection with the directing of form or +determinism, and the action of living beings consciously directed to a +definite and preconceived end."</p> + +<p>Time is not in reality the fourth dimension at all; yet to look at it +for the moment from that point of view is some slight help towards +grasping the ungraspable. Suppose that we hold a wooden cone at right +angles to a sheet of paper, and slowly push it through it point first. +A microbe living on the surface of that sheet of paper, and having no +power of conceiving anything outside of that surface, could not only +never see the cone as a whole, but he could form no sort of conception +of such a body at all. All that he would see would be the sudden +appearance of a tiny circle, which would gradually and mysteriously +grow larger and larger until it vanished from his world as suddenly +and incomprehensibly as it had come into it.</p> + +<p>Thus, what were in reality a series of sections of the cone would +appear to him to be successive stages in the life of a circle, and it +would be impossible for him to grasp the idea that these successive +stages could be seen simultaneously. Yet it is, of course, easy enough +for us, looking down upon the transaction from another dimension, to +see that the microbe is simply under a delusion arising from its own +limita<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>tions, and that the cone exists as a whole all the while. Our +own delusion as to past, present, and future is possibly not +dissimilar, and the view that is gained of any sequence of events from +the buddhic plane corresponds to the view of the cone as a whole. +Naturally, any attempt to work out this suggestion lands us in a +series of startling paradoxes; but the fact remains a fact, +nevertheless, and the time will come when it will be clear as noonday +to our comprehension.</p> + +<p>When the pupil's consciousness is fully developed upon the buddhic +plane, therefore, perfect prevision is possible to him, though he may +not—nay, he certainly will not—be able to bring the whole result of +his sight through fully and in order into this light. Still, a great +deal of clear foresight is obviously within his power whenever he +likes to exercise it; and even when he is not exercising it, frequent +flashes of fore-knowledge come through into his ordinary life, so that +he often has an instantaneous intuition as to how things will turn out +even before their inception.</p> + +<p>Short of this perfect prevision we find, as in the previous cases, +that all degrees of this type of clairvoyance exist, from the +occasional vague premonitions which cannot in any true sense be called +sight at all, up to frequent and fairly complete second-sight. The +faculty to which this latter somewhat misleading name has been given +is an extremely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> interesting one, and would well repay more careful +and systematic study than has ever hitherto been given to it.</p> + +<p>It is best known to us as a not infrequent possession of the Scottish +Highlanders, though it is by no means confined to them. Occasional +instances of it have appeared in almost every nation, but it has +always been commonest among mountaineers and men of lonely life. With +us in England it is often spoken of as though it were the exclusive +appanage of the Celtic race, but in reality it has appeared among +similarly situated peoples the world over. It is stated, for example, +to be very common among the Westphalian peasantry.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the second-sight consists of a picture clearly foreshowing +some coming event; more frequently, perhaps, the glimpse of the future +is given by some symbolical appearance. It is noteworthy that the +events foreseen are invariably unpleasant ones—death being the +commonest of all; I do not recollect a single instance in which the +second-sight has shown anything which was not of the most gloomy +nature. It has a ghastly symbolism which is all its own—a symbolism +of shrouds and corpse-candles, and other funereal horrors. In some +cases it appears to be to a certain extent dependent on locality, for +it is stated that inhabitants of the Isle of Skye who possess the +faculty often lose it when they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> leave the island, even though it be +only to cross to the mainland. The gift of such sight is sometimes +hereditary in a family for generations, but this is not an invariable +rule, for it often appears sporadically in one member of a family +otherwise free from its lugubrious influence.</p> + +<p>An example in which an accurate vision of a coming event was seen some +months beforehand by second-sight has already been given. Here is +another and perhaps a more striking one, which I give exactly as it +was related to me by one of the actors in the scene.</p> + +<p>"We plunged into the jungle, and had walked on for about an hour +without much success, when Cameron, who happened to be next to me, +stopped suddenly, turned pale as death, and, pointing straight before +him, cried in accents of horror:</p> + +<p>"'See! see! merciful heaven, look there!'</p> + +<p>"'Where? what? what is it?' we all shouted confusedly, as we rushed up +to him and looked round in expectation of encountering a tiger—a +cobra—we hardly knew what, but assuredly something terrible, since it +had been sufficient to cause such evident emotion in our usually +self-contained comrade. But neither tiger nor cobra was +visible—nothing but Cameron pointing with ghastly, haggard face and +starting eyeballs at something we could not see.</p> + +<p>"'Cameron! Cameron' cried I, seizing his arm, "'for heaven's sake, +speak! What is the matter?'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Scarcely were the words out of my mouth when a low, but very peculiar +sound struck on my ear, and Cameron, dropping his pointing hand, said +in a hoarse, strained voice, 'There! you heard it? Thank God it's +over' and fell to the ground insensible.</p> + +<p>"There was a momentary confusion while we unfastened his collar, and I +dashed in his face some water which I fortunately had in my flask, +while another tried to pour brandy between his clenched teeth; and +under cover of it I whispered to the man next to me (one of our +greatest sceptics, by the way), 'Beauchamp, did <i>you</i> hear anything?'</p> + +<p>"'Why, yes,' he replied, a curious sound, very; a sort of crash or +rattle far away in the distance, yet very distinct; if the thing were +not utterly impossible, I could have sworn it was the rattle of +musketry.'</p> + +<p>"'Just my impression,' murmured I; 'but hush! he is recovering.'</p> + +<p>"In a minute or two he was able to speak feebly, and began to thank us +and apologize for giving trouble; and soon he sat up, leaning against +a tree, and in a firm, though still low voice said:</p> + +<p>"'My dear friends, I feel I owe you an explanation of my extraordinary +behaviour. It is an explanation that I would fain avoid giving; but it +must come some time, and so may as well be given now. You may perhaps +have noticed that when during our voyage you all joined in scoffing at +dreams, portents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> and visions, I invariably avoided giving any opinion +on the subject. I did so because, while I had no desire to court +ridicule or provoke discussion, I was unable to agree with you, +knowing only too well from my own dread experience that the world +which men agree to call that of the supernatural is just as real +as—nay, perhaps, even far more real than—this world we see about us. +In other words, I, like many of my countrymen, am cursed with the gift +of second-sight—that awful faculty which foretells in vision +calamities that are shortly to occur.</p> + +<p>"'Such a vision I had just now, and its exceptional horror moved me as +you have seen. I saw before me a corpse—not that of one who has died +a peaceful natural death, but that of the victim of some terrible +accident; a ghastly, shapeless mass, with a face swollen, crushed, +unrecognizable. I saw this dreadful object placed in a coffin, and the +funeral service performed over it. I saw the burial-ground, I saw the +clergyman: and though I had never seen either before, I can picture +both perfectly in my mind's eye now; I saw you, myself, Beauchamp, all +of us and many more, standing round as mourners; I saw the soldiers +raise their muskets after the service was over; I heard the volley +they fired—and then I knew no more.'</p> + +<p>"As he spoke of that volley of musketry I glanced across with a +shudder at Beauchamp, and the look of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> stony horror on that handsome +sceptic's face was not to be forgotten."</p> + +<p>This is only one incident (and by no means the principal one) in a +very remarkable story of psychic experience, but as for the moment we +are concerned merely with the example of second-sight which it gives +us, I need only say that later in the day the party of young soldiers +discovered the body of their commanding officer in the terrible +condition so graphically described by Mr. Cameron. The narrative +continues:</p> + +<p>"When, on the following evening, we arrived at our destination, and +our melancholy deposition had been taken down by the proper +authorities, Cameron and I went out for a quiet walk, to endeavour +with the assistance of the soothing influence of nature to shake off +something of the gloom which paralyzed our spirits. Suddenly he +clutched my arm, and, pointing through some rude railings, said in a +trembling voice, 'Yes, there it is! that is the burial-ground I saw +yesterday.' And when later on we were introduced to the chaplain of +the post, I noticed, though my friends did not, the irrepressible +shudder with which Cameron took his hand, and I knew that he had +recognized the clergyman of his vision."</p> + +<p>As for the occult rationale of all this, I presume Mr. Cameron's +vision was a pure case of second-sight, and if so the fact that the +two men who were evidently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> nearest to him (certainly one—probably +both—actually touching him) participated in it to the limited extent +of hearing the concluding volley, while the others who were not so +close did not, would show that the intensity with which the vision +impressed itself upon the seer occasioned vibrations in his mind-body +which were communicated to those of the persons in contact with him, +as in ordinary thought-transference. Anyone who wishes to read the +rest of the story will find it in the pages of <i>Lucifer</i>, vol. xx., p. +457.</p> + +<p>Scores of examples of similar nature to these might easily be +collected. With regard to the symbolical variety of this sight, it is +commonly stated among those who possess it that if on meeting a living +person they see a phantom shroud wrapped around him, it is a sure +prognostication of his death. The date of the approaching decease is +indicated either by the extent to which the shroud covers the body, or +by the time of day at which the vision is seen; for if it be in the +early morning they say that the man will die during the same day, but +if it be in the evening, then it will be only some time within a year.</p> + +<p>Another variant (and a remarkable one) of the symbolic form of +second-sight is that in which the headless apparition of the person +whose death is foretold manifests itself to the seer. An example of +that class is given in <i>Signs before Death</i> as having happened in the +family of Dr. Ferrier, though in that case, if I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> recollect rightly, +the vision did not occur until the time of the death, or very near it.</p> + +<p>Turning from seers who are regularly in possession of a certain +faculty, although its manifestations are only occasionally fully under +their control, we are confronted by a large number of isolated +instances of prevision in the case of people with whom it is not in +any way a regular faculty. Perhaps the majority of these occur in +dreams, although examples of the waking vision are by no means +wanting. Sometimes the prevision refers to an event of distinct +importance to the seer, and so justifies the action of the Ego in +taking the trouble to impress it. In other cases, the event is one +which is of no apparent importance, or is not in any way connected +with the man to whom the vision comes. Sometimes it is clear that the +intention of the Ego (or the communicating entity, whatever it may be) +is to warn the lower self of the approach of some calamity, either in +order that it may be prevented or, if that be not possible, that the +shock may be minimized by preparation.</p> + +<p>The event most frequently thus foreshadowed is, perhaps not +unnaturally, death—sometimes the death of the seer himself, sometimes +that of one dear to him. This type of prevision is so common in the +literature of the subject, and its object is so obvious, that we need +hardly cite examples of it; but one or two instances in which the +prophetic sight, though clearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> useful, was yet of a less sombre +character, will prove not uninteresting to the reader. The following +is culled from that storehouse of the student of the uncanny, Mrs. +Crowe's <i>Night Side of Nature</i>, p. 72.</p> + +<p>"A few years ago Dr. Watson, now residing at Glasgow, dreamt that he +received a summons to attend a patient at a place some miles from +where he was living; that he started on horseback, and that as he was +crossing a moor he saw a bull making furiously at him, whose horns he +only escaped by taking refuge on a spot inaccessible to the animal, +where he waited a long time till some people, observing his situation, +came to his assistance and released him.</p> + +<p>"Whilst at breakfast on the following morning the summons came, and +smiling at the odd coincidence (as he thought it), he started on +horseback. He was quite ignorant of the road he had to go, but by and +by he arrived at the moor, which he recognised, and presently the bull +appeared, coming full tilt towards him. But his dream had shown him +the place of refuge, for which he instantly made, and there he spent +three or four hours, besieged by the animal, till the country people +set him free. Dr. Watson declares that but for the dream he should not +have known in what direction to run for safety."</p> + +<p>Another case, in which a much longer interval separated the warning +and its fulfilment, is given by Dr. F. G. Lee, in <i>Glimpses of the +Supernatural</i>, vol. i., p. 240.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mrs. Hannah Green, the housekeeper of a country family in +Oxfordshire, dreamt one night that she had been left alone in the +house upon a Sunday evening, and that hearing a knock at the door of +the chief entrance she went to it and there found an ill-looking tramp +armed with a bludgeon, who insisted on forcing himself into the house. +She thought that she struggled for some time to prevent him so doing, +but quite ineffectually, and that, being struck down by him and +rendered insensible, he thereupon gained ingress to the mansion. On +this she awoke.</p> + +<p>"As nothing happened for a considerable period the circumstance of the +dream was soon forgotten, and, as she herself asserts, had altogether +passed away from her mind. However, seven years afterwards this same +housekeeper was left with two other servants to take charge of an +isolated mansion at Kensington (subsequently the town residence of the +family), when on a certain Sunday evening, her fellow-servants having +gone out and left her alone, she was suddenly startled by a loud knock +at the front door.</p> + +<p>"All of a sudden the remembrance of her former dream returned to her +with singular vividness and remarkable force, and she felt her lonely +isolation greatly. Accordingly, having at once lighted a lamp on the +hall table—during which act the loud knock was repeated with +vigour—she took the precaution to go up to a landing on the stair and +throw up the window;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> and there to her intense terror she saw in the +flesh the very man whom years previously she had seen in her dream, +armed with the bludgeon and demanding an entrance.</p> + +<p>"With great presence of mind she went down to the chief entrance, made +that and other doors and windows more secure, and then rang the +various bells of the house violently, and placed lights in the upper +rooms. It was concluded that by these acts the intruder was scared +away."</p> + +<p>Evidently in this case also the dream was of practical use, as without +it the worthy housekeeper would without doubt from sheer force of +habit have opened the door in the ordinary way in answer to the knock.</p> + +<p>It is not, however, only in dream that the Ego impresses his lower +self with what he thinks it well for it to know. Many instances +showing this might be taken from the books, but instead of quoting +from them I will give a case related only a few weeks ago by a lady of +my acquaintance—a case which, although not surrounded with any +romantic incident, has at least the merit of being new.</p> + +<p>My friend, then, has two quite young children, and a little while ago +the elder of them caught (as was supposed) a bad cold, and suffered +for some days from a complete stoppage in the upper part of the nose. +The mother thought little of this, expecting it to pass off, until one +day she suddenly saw before her in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> air what she describes as a +picture of a room, in the centre of which was a table on which her +child was lying insensible or dead, with some people bending over her. +The minutest details of the scene were clear to her, and she +particularly noticed that the child wore a white night-dress, whereas +she knew that all garments of that description possessed by her little +daughter happened to be pink.</p> + +<p>This vision impressed her considerably, and suggested to her for the +first time that the child might be suffering from something more +serious than a cold, so she carried her off to a hospital for +examination. The surgeon who attended to her discovered the presence +of a dangerous growth in the nose, which he pronounced must be +removed. A few days later the child was taken to the hospital for the +operation, and was put to bed. When the mother arrived at the hospital +she found she had forgotten to bring one of the child's night-dresses, +and so the nurses had to supply one, which was <i>white</i>. In this white +dress the operation was performed on the girl the next day, in the +room that her mother saw in her vision, every circumstance being +exactly reproduced.</p> + +<p>In all these cases the prevision achieved its result, but the books +are full of stories of warnings neglected or scouted, and of the +disaster that consequently followed. In some cases the information is +given to someone who has practically no power to interfere in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> the +matter, as in the historic instance when John Williams, a Cornish +mine-manager, foresaw in the minutest detail, eight or nine days +before it took place, the assassination of Mr. Spencer Perceval, the +then Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the lobby of the House of +Commons. Even in this case, however, it is just possible that +something might have been done, for we read that Mr. Williams was so +much impressed that he consulted his friends as to whether he ought +not to go up to London to warn Mr. Perceval. Unfortunately they +dissuaded him, and the assassination took place. It does not seem very +probable that, even if he had gone up to town and related his story, +much attention would have been paid to him, still there is just the +possibility that some precautions might have been taken which would +have prevented the murder.</p> + +<p>There is little to show us what particular action on higher planes led +to this curious prophetic vision. The parties were entirely unknown to +one another, so that it was not caused by any close sympathy between +them. If it was an attempt made by some helper to avert the threatened +doom, it seems strange that no one who was sufficiently impressible +could be found nearer than Cornwall. Perhaps Mr. Williams, when on the +astral plane during sleep, somehow came across this reflection of the +future, and being naturally horrified thereby, passed it on to his +lower mind in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> the hope that somehow something might be done to +prevent it; but it is impossible to diagnose the case with certainty +without examining the âkâshic records to see what actually took place.</p> + +<p>A typical instance of the absolutely purposeless foresight is that +related by Mr. Stead, in his <i>Real Ghost Stories</i> (p. 83), of his +friend Miss Freer, commonly known as Miss X. When staying at a country +house this lady, being wide awake and fully conscious, once saw a +dogcart drawn by a white horse standing at the hall door, with two +strangers in it, one of whom got out of the cart and stood playing +with a terrier. She noticed that he was wearing an ulster, and also +particularly observed the fresh wheel-marks made by the cart on the +gravel. Nevertheless there was no cart there at the time; but half an +hour later two strangers <i>did</i> drive up in such an equipage, and every +detail of the lady's vision was accurately fulfilled. Mr. Stead goes +on to cite another instance of equally purposeless prevision where +seven years separated the dream (for in this case it was a dream) and +its fulfilment.</p> + +<p>All these instances (and they are merely random selections from many +hundreds) show that a certain amount of prevision is undoubtedly +possible to the Ego, and such cases would evidently be much more +frequent if it were not for the exceeding density and lack of response +in the lower vehicles of the majority<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> of what we call civilized +mankind—qualities chiefly attributable to the gross practical +materialism of the present age. I am not thinking of any profession of +materialistic belief as common, but of the fact that in all practical +affairs of daily life nearly everyone is guided solely by +considerations of worldly interest in some shape or other.</p> + +<p>In many cases the Ego himself may be an undeveloped one, and his +prevision consequently very vague; in others he himself may see +clearly, but may find his lower vehicles so unimpressible that all he +can succeed in getting through into his physical brain may be an +indefinite presage of coming disaster. Again, there are cases in which +a premonition is not the work of the Ego at all, but of some outside +entity, who for some reason takes a friendly interest in the person to +whom the feeling comes. In the work which I quoted above, Mr. Stead +tells us of the certainty which he felt many months beforehand that be +would be left in charge of the <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i> though from an +ordinary point of view nothing seemed less probable. Whether that +fore-knowledge was the result of an impression made by his own Ego or +of a friendly hint from someone else it is impossible to say without +definite investigation, but his confidence in it was fully justified.</p> + +<p>There is one more variety of clairvoyance in time which ought not to +be left without mention. It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> a comparatively rare one, but there +are enough examples on record to claim our attention, though +unfortunately the particulars given do not usually include those which +we should require in order to be able to diagnose it with certainty. I +refer to the cases in which spectral armies or phantom flocks of +animals have been seen. In <i>The Night Side of Nature</i> (p. 462 <i>et +seq.</i>) we have accounts of several such visions. We are there told how +at Havarah Park, near Ripley, a body of soldiers in white uniform, +amounting to several hundreds, was seen by reputable people to go +through various evolutions and then vanish; and how some years earlier +a similar visionary army was seen in the neighbourhood of Inverness by +a respectable farmer and his son.</p> + +<p>In this case also the number of troops was very great, and the +spectators had not the slightest doubt at first that they were +substantial forms of flesh and blood. They counted at least sixteen +pairs of columns, and had abundance of time to observe every +particular. The front ranks marched seven abreast, and were +accompanied by a good many women and children, who were carrying tin +cans and other implements of cookery. The men were clothed in red, and +their arms shone brightly in the sun. In the midst of them was an +animal, a deer or a horse, they could not distinguish which, that they +were driving furiously forward with their bayonets.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> + +<p>The younger of the two men observed to the other that every now and +then the rear ranks were obliged to run to overtake the van; and the +elder one, who had been a soldier, remarked that that was always the +case, and recommended him if he ever served to try to march in the +front. There was only one mounted officer; he rode a grey dragoon +horse, and wore a gold-laced hat and blue Hussar cloak, with wide open +sleeves lined with red. The two spectators observed him so +particularly that they said afterwards they should recognize him +anywhere. They were, however, afraid of being ill-treated or forced to +go along with the troops, whom they concluded to have come from +Ireland, and landed at Kyntyre; and whilst they were climbing over a +dyke to get out of their way, the whole thing vanished.</p> + +<p>A phenomenon of the same sort was observed in the earlier part of this +century at Paderborn in Westphalia, and seen by at least thirty +people; but as, some years later, a review of twenty thousand men was +held on the very same spot, it was concluded that the vision must have +been some sort of second-sight—a faculty not uncommon in the +district.</p> + +<p>Such spectral hosts, however, are sometimes seen where an army of +ordinary men could by no possibility have marched, either before or +after. One of the most remarkable accounts of such apparitions is +given by Miss Harriet Martineau, in her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> description of <i>The English +Lakes</i>. She writes as follows:—</p> + +<p>"This Souter or Soutra Fell is the mountain on which ghosts appeared +in myriads, at intervals during ten years of the last century, +presenting the same appearances to twenty-six chosen witnesses, and to +all the inhabitants of all the cottages within view of the mountain, +and for a space of two hours and a half at one time—the spectral show +being closed by darkness! The mountain, be it remembered, is full of +precipices, which defy all marching of bodies of men; and the north +and west sides present a sheer perpendicular of 900 feet.</p> + +<p>"On Midsummer Eve, 1735, a farm servant of Mr. Lancaster, half a mile +from the mountain, saw the eastern side of its summit covered with +troops, which pursued their onward march for an hour. They came, in +distinct bodies, from an eminence on the north end, and disappeared in +a niche in the summit. When the poor fellow told his tale, he was +insulted on all hands, as original observers usually are when they see +anything wonderful. Two years after, also on a Midsummer Eve, Mr. +Lancaster saw some men there, apparently following their horses, as if +they had returned from hunting. He thought nothing of this; but he +happened to look up again ten minutes after, and saw the figures, now +mounted, and followed by an interminable array of troops, five +abreast,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> marching from the eminence and over the cleft as before. All +the family saw this, and the manœuvres of the force, as each +company was kept in order by a mounted officer, who galloped this way +and that. As the shades of twilight came on, the discipline appeared +to relax, and the troops intermingled, and rode at unequal paces, till +all was lost in darkness. Now of course all the Lancasters were +insulted, as their servant had been; but their justification was not +long delayed.</p> + +<p>"On the Midsummer Eve of the fearful 1745, twenty-six persons, +expressly summoned by the family, saw all that had been seen before, +and more. Carriages were now interspersed with the troops; and +everybody knew that no carriages had been, or could be, on the summit +of Souter Fell. The multitude was beyond imagination; for the troops +filled a space of half a mile, and marched quickly till night hid +them—still marching. There was nothing vaporous or indistinct about +the appearance of these spectres. So real did they seem, that some of +the people went up, the next morning, to look for the hoof-marks of +the horses; and awful it was to them to find not one foot-print on +heather or grass. The witnesses attested the whole story on oath +before a magistrate; and fearful were the expectations held by the +whole country-side about the coming events of the Scotch rebellion.</p> + +<p>"It now comes out that two other persons had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> seen something of the +sort in the interval—<i>viz.</i>, in 1743—but had concealed it, to escape +the insults to which their neighbours were subjected. Mr. Wren, of +Wilton Hall, and his farm servant, saw, one summer evening, a man and +a dog on the mountain, pursuing some horses along a place so steep +that a horse could hardly by any possibility keep a footing on it. +Their speed was prodigious, and their disappearance at the south end +of the fell so rapid, that Mr. Wren and the servant went up, the next +morning, to find the body of the man who must have been killed. Of +man, horse, or dog, they found not a trace and they came down and held +their tongues. When they did speak, they fared not much better for +having twenty-six sworn comrades in their disgrace.</p> + +<p>"As for the explanation, the editor of the <i>Lonsdale Magazine</i> +declared (vol. ii., p. 313) that it was discovered that on the +Midsummer Eve of 1745 the rebels were 'exercising on the western coast +of Scotland, whose movements had been reflected by some transparent +vapour, similar to the Fata Morgana.' This is not much in the way of +explanation; but it is, as far as we know, all that can be had at +present. These facts, however, brought out a good many more; as the +spectral march of the same kind seen in Leicestershire in 1707, and +the tradition of the tramp of armies over Helvellyn, on the eve of the +battle of Marston Moor."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> + +<p>Other cases are cited in which flocks of spectral sheep have been seen +on certain roads, and there are of course various German stories of +phantom cavalcades of hunters and robbers.</p> + +<p>Now in these cases, as so often happens in the investigation of occult +phenomena, there are several possible causes, any one of which would +be quite adequate to the production of the observed occurrences, but +in the absence of fuller information it is hardly feasible to do more +than guess as to which of these possible causes were in operation in +any particular instance.</p> + +<p>The explanation usually suggested (whenever the whole story is not +ridiculed as a falsehood) is that what is seen is a reflection by +mirage of the movements of a real body of troops, taking place at a +considerable distance. I have myself seen the ordinary mirage on +several occasions, and know something therefore of its wonderful +powers of deception; but it seems to me that we should need some +entirely new variety of mirage, quite different from that at present +known to science, to account for these tales of phantom armies, some +of which pass the spectator within a few yards.</p> + +<p>First of all, they may be, as apparently in the Westphalian case above +mentioned, simply instances of prevision on a gigantic scale—by whom +arranged, and for what purpose, it is not easy to divine. Again, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +may often belong to the past instead of the future, and be in fact the +reflection of scenes from the âkâshic records—though here again the +reason and method of such reflection is not obvious.</p> + +<p>There are plenty of tribes of nature-spirits perfectly capable, if for +any reason they wished to do so, of producing such appearances by +their wonderful power of glamour (see <i>Theosophical Manual, No. V.</i>, +p. 60), and such action would be quite in keeping with their delight +in mystifying and impressing human beings. Or it may even sometimes be +kindly intended by them as a warning to their friends of events that +they know to be about to take place. It seems as though some +explanation along these lines would be the most reasonable method of +accounting for the extraordinary series of phenomena described by Miss +Martineau—that is, if the stories told to her can be relied upon.</p> + +<p>Another possibility is that in some cases what have been taken for +soldiers were simply the nature-spirits themselves going through some +of the ordered evolutions in which they take so much delight, though +it must be admitted that these are rarely of a character which could +be mistaken for military manœuvres except by the most ignorant.</p> + +<p>The flocks of animals are probably in most instances mere records, but +there are cases where they, like the "wild huntsmen" of German story, +belong to an entirely different class of phenomena, which is +altogether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> outside of our present subject. Students of the occult +will be familiar with the fact that the circumstances surrounding any +scene of intense terror or passion, such as an exceptionally horrible +murder, are liable to be occasionally reproduced in a form which it +needs a very slight development of psychic faculty to be able to see +and it has sometimes happened that various animals formed part of such +surroundings, and consequently they also are periodically reproduced +by the action of the guilty conscience of the murderer (see <i>Manual +V.</i>, p. 83).</p> + +<p>Probably whatever foundation of fact underlies the various stories of +spectral horsemen and hunting-troops may generally be referred to this +category. This is also the explanation, evidently, of some of the +visions of ghostly armies, such as that remarkable re-enactment of the +battle of Edgehill which seems to have taken place at intervals for +some months after the date of the real struggle, as testified by a +justice of the peace, a clergyman, and other eye-witnesses, in a +curious contemporary pamphlet entitled <i>Prodigious Noises of War and +Battle, at Edgehill, near Keinton, in Northamptonshire</i>. According to +the pamphlet this case was investigated at the time by some officers +of the army, who clearly recognized many of the phantom figures that +they saw. This looks decidedly like an instance of the terrible power +of man's unrestrained passions to reproduce themselves, and to cause +in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> some strange way a kind of materialization of their record.</p> + +<p>In some cases it is clear that the flocks of animals seen have been +simply hordes of unclean artificial elementals taking that form in +order to feed upon the loathsome emanations of peculiarly horrible +places, such as would be the site of a gallows. An instance of this +kind is furnished by the celebrated "Gyb Ghosts," or ghosts of the +gibbet, described in <i>More Glimpses of the World Unseen</i>, p. 109, as +being repeatedly seen in the form of herds of mis-shapen swine-like +creatures, rushing, rooting and fighting night after night on the site +of that foul monument of crime. But these belong to the subject of +apparitions rather than to that of clairvoyance.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Methods of Development.</span></h2> + + +<p>When a man becomes convinced of the reality of the valuable power of +clairvoyance, his first question usually is, "How can I develop in my +own case this faculty which is said to be latent in everyone?"</p> + +<p>Now the fact is that there are many methods by which it may be +developed, but only one which can be at all safely recommended for +general use—that of which we shall speak last of all. Among the less +advanced nations of the world the clairvoyant state has been produced +in various objectionable ways; among some of the non-Aryan tribes of +India, by the use of intoxicating drugs or the inhaling of stupefying +fumes; among the dervishes, by whirling in a mad dance of religious +fervour until vertigo and insensibility supervene; among the followers +of the abominable practices of the Voodoo cult, by frightful +sacrifices and loathsome rites of black magic. Methods such as these +are happily not in vogue in our own race, yet even among us large +numbers of dabblers in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> ancient art adopt some plan of +self-hypnotization, such as the gazing at a bright spot or the +repetition of some formula until a condition of semi-stupefaction is +produced; while yet another school among them would endeavour to +arrive at similar results by the use of some of the Indian systems of +regulation of the breath.</p> + +<p>All these methods are unequivocally to be condemned as quite unsafe +for the practice of the ordinary man who has no idea of what he is +doing—who is simply making vague experiments in an unknown world. +Even the method of obtaining clairvoyance by allowing oneself to be +mesmerized by another person is one from which I should myself shrink +with the most decided distaste; and assuredly it should never be +attempted except under conditions of absolute trust and affection +between the magnetizer and the magnetized, and a perfection of purity +in heart and soul, in mind and intention, such as is rarely to be seen +among any but the greatest of saints.</p> + +<p>Experiments in connection with the mesmeric trance are of the deepest +interest, as offering (among other things) a possibility of proof of +the fact of clairvoyance to the sceptic, yet except under such +conditions as I have just mentioned—conditions, I quite admit, almost +impossible to realize—I should never counsel anyone to submit himself +as a subject for them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> + +<p>Curative mesmerism (in which, without putting the patient into the +trance state at all, an effort is made to relieve his pain, to remove +his disease, or to pour vitality into him by magnetic passes) stands +on an entirely different footing; and if the mesmerizer, even though +quite untrained, is himself in good health and animated by pure +intentions, no harm is likely to be done to the subject. In so extreme +a case as that of a surgical operation, a man might reasonably submit +himself even to the mesmeric trance, but it is certainly not a +condition with which one ought lightly to experiment. Indeed, I should +most strongly advise any one who did me the honour to ask for my +opinion on the subject, not to attempt any kind of experimental +investigation into what are still to him the abnormal forces of +nature, until he has first of all read carefully everything that has +been written on the subject, or—which is by far the best of +all—until he is under the guidance of a qualified teacher.</p> + +<p>But where, it will be said, is the qualified teacher to be found? Not, +most assuredly, among any who advertise themselves as teachers, who +offer to impart for so many guineas or dollars the sacred mysteries of +the ages, or hold "developing circles" to which casual applicants are +admitted at so much per head.</p> + +<p>Much has been said in this treatise of the necessity for careful +training—of the immense advantages of the trained over the untrained +clairvoyant; but that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> again brings us back to the same question—where +is this definite training to be had?</p> + +<p>The answer is, that the training may be had precisely where it has +always been to be found since the world's history began—at the hands +of the Great White Brotherhood of Adepts, which stands now, as it has +always stood, at the back of human evolution, guiding and helping it +under the sway of the great cosmic laws which represent to us the Will +of the Eternal.</p> + +<p>But how, it may be asked, is access to be gained to them? How is the +aspirant thirsting for knowledge to signify to them his wish for +instruction?</p> + +<p>Once more, by the time-honoured methods only. There is no new patent +whereby a man can qualify himself without trouble to become a pupil in +that School—no royal road to the learning which has to be acquired in +it. At the present day, just as in the mists of antiquity, the man who +wishes to attract their notice must enter upon the slow and toilsome +path of self-development—must learn first of all to take himself in +hand and make himself all that he ought to be. The steps of that path +are no secret; I have given them in full detail in <i>Invisible +Helpers</i>, so I need not repeat them here. But it is no easy road to +follow, and yet sooner or later all must follow it, for the great law +of evolution sweeps mankind slowly but resistlessly towards its goal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> + +<p>From those who are pressing into this path the great Masters select +their pupils, and it is only by qualifying himself to be taught that a +man can put himself in the way of getting the teaching. Without that +qualification, membership in any Lodge or Society, whether secret or +otherwise, will not advance his object in the slightest degree. It is +true, as we all know, that it was at the instance of some of these +Masters that our Theosophical Society was founded, and that from its +ranks some have been chosen to pass into closer relations with them. +But that choice depends upon the earnestness of the candidate, not +upon his mere membership of the Society or of any body within it.</p> + +<p>That, then, is the only absolutely safe way of developing +clairvoyance—to enter with all one's energy upon the path of moral +and mental evolution, at one stage of which this and other of the +higher faculties will spontaneously begin to show themselves. Yet +there is one practice which is advised by all the religions +alike—which if adopted carefully and reverently can do no harm to any +human being, yet from which a very pure type of clairvoyance has +sometimes been developed; and that is the practice of meditation.</p> + +<p>Let a man choose a certain time every day—a time when he can rely +upon being quiet and undisturbed, though preferably in the daytime +rather than at night—and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> set himself at that time to keep his mind +for a few minutes entirely free from all earthly thoughts of any kind +whatever and, when that is achieved, to direct the whole force of his +being towards the highest spiritual ideal that he happens to know. He +will find that to gain such perfect control of thought is enormously +more difficult than he supposes, but when he attains it it cannot but +be in every way most beneficial to him, and as he grows more and more +able to elevate and concentrate his thought, he may gradually find +that new worlds are opening before his sight.</p> + +<p>As a preliminary training towards the satisfactory achievement of such +meditation, he will find it desirable to make a practice of +concentration in the affairs of daily life—even in the smallest of +them. If he writes a letter, let him think of nothing else but that +letter until it is finished if he reads a book, let him see to it that +his thought is never allowed to wander from his author's meaning. He +must learn to hold his mind in check, and to be master of that also, +as well as of his lower passions he must patiently labour to acquire +absolute control of his thoughts, so that he will always know exactly +what he is thinking about, and why—so that he can use his mind, and +turn it or hold it still, as a practised swordsman turns his weapon +where he will.</p> + +<p>Yet after all, if those who so earnestly desire clair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>voyance could +possess it temporarily for a day or even an hour, it is far from +certain that they would choose to retain the gift. True, it opens +before them new worlds of study, new powers of usefulness, and for +this latter reason most of us feel it worth while; but it should be +remembered that for one whose duty still calls him to live in the +world it is by no means an unmixed blessing. Upon one in whom that +vision is opened the sorrow and the misery, the evil and the greed of +the world press as an ever-present burden, until in the earlier days +of his knowledge he often feels inclined to echo the passionate +adjuration contained in those rolling lines of Schiller's:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Dien Orakel zu verkünden, warum warfest du mich hin<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In die Stadt der ewig Blinden, mit dem aufgeschloss'nen Sinn?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Frommt's, den Schleier aufzuheben, wo das nahe Schreckniss droht?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nur der Irrthum ist das Leben; dieses Wissen ist der Tod.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nimm, O nimm die traur'ge Klarheit mir vom Aug' den blut'gen Schein!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Schrecklich ist es deiner Wahrheit sterbliches Gefäss zu seyn!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>which may perhaps be translated "Why hast thou cast me thus into the +town of the ever-blind, to proclaim thine oracle by the opened sense? +What profits it to lift the veil where the near darkness threatens? +Only ignorance is life; this knowledge is death. Take back this sad +clear-sightedness; take from mine eyes this cruel light! It is +horrible to be the mortal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> channel of thy truth." And again later he +cries, "Give me back my blindness, the happy darkness of my senses; +take back thy dreadful gift!"</p> + +<p>But this of course is a feeling which passes, for the higher sight +soon shows the pupil something beyond the sorrow—soon bears in upon +his soul the overwhelming certainty that, whatever appearances down +here may seem to indicate, all things are without shadow of doubt +working together for the eventual good of all. He reflects that the +sin and the suffering are there, whether he is able to perceive them +or not, and that when he can see them he is after all better able to +give efficient help than he would be if he were working in the dark; +and so by degrees he learns to bear his share of the heavy karma of +the world.</p> + +<p>Some misguided mortals there are who, having the good fortune to +possess some slight touch of this higher power, are nevertheless so +absolutely destitute of all right feeling in connection with it as to +use it for the most sordid ends—actually even to advertise themselves +as "test and business clairvoyants!" Needless to say, such use of the +faculty is a mere prostitution and degradation of it, showing that its +unfortunate possessor has somehow got hold of it before the moral side +of his nature has been sufficiently developed to stand the strain +which it imposes. A perception of the amount of evil karma that may be +generated by such action in a very short time changes one's dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>gust +into pity for the unhappy perpetrator of that sacrilegious folly.</p> + +<p>It is sometimes objected that the possession of clairvoyance destroys +all privacy, and confers a limit-less ability to explore the secrets +of others. No doubt it does confer such an <i>ability</i>, but nevertheless +the suggestion is an amusing one to anyone who knows anything +practically about the matter. Such an objection may possibly be +well-founded as regards the very limited powers of the "test and +business clairvoyant," but the man who brings it forward against those +who have had the faculty opened for them in the course of their +instruction, and consequently possess it fully, is forgetting three +fundamental facts: first, that it is quite inconceivable that anyone, +having before him the splendid fields for investigation which true +clairvoyance opens up, could ever have the slightest wish to pry into +the trumpery little secrets of any individual man; secondly, that even +if by some impossible chance our clairvoyant <i>had</i> such indecent +curiosity about matters of petty gossip, there is, after all, such a +thing as the honour of a gentleman, which, on that plane as on this, +would of course prevent him from contemplating for an instant the idea +of gratifying it; and thirdly, in case, by any unheard-of possibility, +one might encounter some variety of low-class pitri with whom the +above considerations would have no weight, full instructions are +always given to every pupil, as soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> as he develops any sign of +faculty, as to the limitations which are placed upon its use.</p> + +<p>Put briefly, these restrictions are that there shall be no prying, no +selfish use of the power, and no displaying of phenomena. That is to +say, that the same considerations which would govern the actions of a +man of right feeling upon the physical plane are expected to apply +upon the astral and mental planes also; that the pupil is never under +any circumstances to use the power which his additional knowledge +gives to him in order to promote his own worldly advantage, or indeed +in connection with gain in any way; and that he is never to give what +is called in spiritualistic circles "a test"—that is, to do anything +which will incontestably prove to sceptics on the physical plane that +he possesses what to them would appear to be an abnormal power.</p> + +<p>With regard to this latter proviso people often say, "But why should +he not? it would be so easy to confute and convince your sceptic, and +it would do him good!" Such critics lose sight of the fact that, in +the first place, none of those who know anything <i>want</i> to confute or +convince sceptics, or trouble themselves in the slightest degree about +the sceptic's attitude one way or the other; and in the second, they +fail to understand how much better it is for that sceptic that he +should gradually grow into an intellectual appreciation of the facts +of nature, instead of being suddenly introduced to them by a +knock-down blow, as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> were. But the subject was fully considered +many years ago in Mr. Sinnet's <i>Occult World</i>, and it is needless to +repeat again the arguments there adduced.</p> + +<p>It is very hard for some of our friends to realize that the silly +gossip and idle curiosity which so entirely fill the lives of the +brainless majority on earth can have no place in the more real life of +the disciple; and so they sometimes enquire whether, even without any +special wish to see, a clairvoyant might not casually observe some +secret which another person was trying to keep, in the same way as +one's glance might casually fall upon a sentence in someone else's +letter which happened to be lying open upon the table. Of course he +might, but what if he did? The man of honour would at once avert his +eyes, in one case as in the other, and it would be as though he had +not seen. If objectors could but grasp the idea that no pupil <i>cares</i> +about other people's business, except when it comes within his +province to try to help them, and that he has always a world of work +of his own to attend to, they would not be so hopelessly far from +understanding the facts of the wider life of the trained clairvoyant.</p> + +<p>Even from the little that I have said with regard to the restrictions +laid upon the pupil, it will be obvious that in very many cases he +will know much more than he is at liberty to say. That is of course +true in a far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> wider sense of the great Masters of Wisdom themselves, +and that is why those who have the privilege of occasionally entering +their presence pay so much respect to their lightest word even on +subjects quite apart from the direct teaching. For the opinion of a +Master, or even of one of his higher pupils, upon any subject is that +of a man whose opportunity of judging accurately is out of all +proportion to ours.</p> + +<p>His position and his extended faculties are in reality the heritage of +all mankind, and, far though we may now be from those grand powers, +they will none the less certainly be ours one day. Yet how different a +place will this old world be when humanity as a whole possesses the +higher clairvoyance! Think what the difference will be to history when +all can read the records; to science, when all the processes about +which now men theorize can be watched through all their course; to +medicine, when doctor and patient alike can see clearly and exactly +all that is being done; to philosophy, when there is no longer any +possibility of discussion as to its basis, because all alike can see a +wider aspect of the truth; to labour, when all work will be joy, +because every man will be put only to that which he can do best; to +education, when the minds and hearts of the children are open to the +teacher who is trying to form their character; to religion, when there +is no longer any possibility of dispute as to its broad dogmas, since +the truth about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> the states after death, and the Great Law that +governs the world, will be patent to all eyes.</p> + +<p>Above all, how far easier it will be then for the evolved men to help +one another under those so much freer conditions! The possibilities +that open before the mind are as glorious vistas stretching in all +directions, so that our seventh round should indeed be a veritable +golden age. Well for us that these grand faculties will not be +possessed by all humanity until it has evolved to a far higher level +in morality as well as in wisdom, else should we but repeat once more +under still worse conditions the terrible downfall of the great +Atlantean civilization, whose members failed to realize that increased +power meant increased responsibility. Yet we ourselves were most of us +among those very men let us hope that we have learnt wisdom by that +failure, and that when the possibilities of the wider life open before +us once more, this time we shall bear the trial better.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> + +<div class="index"> +<ul class="IX"> +<li class="li1">PAGE</li> +<li>Advantages of astral vision, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> mental vision, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> +<li> training, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Âkâshic records, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>Apparitions, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li>Armies, phantom, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li>Assassination of Mr. Perceval, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Aspect of the records, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li>Astral body, <a href="#Page_69">69</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> counterpart <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> +<li> current, <a href="#Page_62">62</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> +<li> matter, polarization of, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> +<li> senses, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> +<li> sight, <a href="#Page_37">37</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> +<li> telescope, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> +<li> world, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Aura, the, <a href="#Page_42">42</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Balance, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> + +<li>Bat's cry, experiment with, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li>Battle of Edgehill, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Body, the astral, <a href="#Page_69">69</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> the causal, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Brownies, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li>Buddhic faculty, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + +<li>Bull and the doctor, the story of, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Causal body, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li>Centres of vitality, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li>Cerebro-spinal system, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li>Ceremonies used to gain clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + +<li>Certainty of eventual good, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li>Character, judgment of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li>Chakrams, <a href="#Page_14">14-17</a></li> + +<li>Chord of a man, the, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>Clairaudience, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Clairvoyance by drugs or ceremonies, <a href="#Page_52">52</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> casual, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> +<li> does it destroy privacy?, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li></ul> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></li> + +<li>Clairvoyance during sleep, <a href="#Page_26">26</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> how first manifested, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> +<li> hysterical, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> +<li> limitations of, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> +<li> meaning of word, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> +<li> occasional flashes of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> +<li> of the uncultured, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +<li> on mental plane, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> +<li> on trivial subjects, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> +<li> partial and temporary, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> +<li> restrictions upon, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> +<li> sadness of, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> +<li> under mesmerism, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Clairvoyants, "test and business", <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li>Classification of phenomena, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li>Colours, new, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li>Common-sense in occultism, necessity of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>Consciousness, continuous, <a href="#Page_46">46</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> the focus of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Considerations, preliminary, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>Contemplation, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li>Continuous consciousness, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li>Control of thought, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li>Counterpart, astral, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + +<li>Crystal-gazing, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li>Curative mesmerism, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li>Curiosity not permitted, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li>Current, astral, <a href="#Page_62">62</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Dangers, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>Date, how to find a, <a href="#Page_119">119</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Dead, the, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li>Death, visits at, <a href="#Page_74">74</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Delirium tremens, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li>Dervishes, the, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + +<li>Devas, the, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li>Development, methods of, <a href="#Page_163">163</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> the path of, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> +<li> regular, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Difference between etheric and astral sight, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li>Difficulties, <a href="#Page_103">103</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Dimension, the fourth, <a href="#Page_38">38</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li>Distance, sight at a, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li>Double, the etheric, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li>Drugs used to gain clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + +<li>Duke of Orleans, the story of the, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><i>Earth, the Stars and the</i>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li>Edgehill, battle of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></li> + +<li>Elementals, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li>Equation, the personal, <a href="#Page_104">104</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Eternal now, the, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li>Etheric double, the, <a href="#Page_34">34</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> vision, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> <i>et seq.</i></li></ul></li> + +<li>Experiments in crystal-gazing, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a> <i>et seq.</i> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> with bat's cry, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> +<li> with spectrum, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Extension of senses, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +</ul> + + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Faculties, latent, <a href="#Page_7">7</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> buddhic, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Fairy ointment, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li>Finding a stranger, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>First manifestations of clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_25">25</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Flocks, phantom, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li>Focus of consciousness, the, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li>Fourth dimension, the, <a href="#Page_38">38</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li>Freewill limited, <a href="#Page_132">132</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Future prospects, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> +</ul> + + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Ghosts of the gibbet, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li>Glamour, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>Goffe, the story of Mary, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> +</ul> + + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Helpers, invisible, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li>Historical study, possibilities of, <a href="#Page_114">114</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Hinton's works, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Housekeeper's dream, the story of the, <a href="#Page_147">147</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>How a picture is found, <a href="#Page_116">116</a> <i>et seq.</i> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> to find a date, <a href="#Page_119">119</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> +<li> to investigate, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Huntsman, the wild, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>Hypnotization, self, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li>Hysterical clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> +</ul> + + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Incarnations, past, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Investigate, how to, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + +<li>Invisible helpers, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Judgment of character, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li>Jung Stilling's story, <a href="#Page_71">71</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Knowledge, the value of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> +</ul> + + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Latent faculties, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>Limitations of clairvoyance, the, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + +<li>Limited freewill, <a href="#Page_132">132</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Links needed, <a href="#Page_114">114</a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></li> + +<li>Lodge, address by Dr. Oliver, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li>Logos of the system, the, <a href="#Page_99">99</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Magic, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li>Magnifying, the power of, <a href="#Page_47">47-67</a></li> + +<li>Manifestations of clairvoyance, the first, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>Masters of Wisdom, the, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li>Materialization, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li>Mâyâvirûpa, the, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li>Meaning of word clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + +<li>Meditation, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li>Mediums, trance, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + +<li>Mental plane clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_56">56</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> plane sense, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> +<li> world, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Mesmerism, clairvoyance under, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> curative, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Methods of development, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + +<li>Micawbers, psychic, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + +<li>Mooltan, story of the siege of, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + +<li>Murder, reproduction of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Nature spirits, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>Necessity of common-sense in occultism, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>New colours, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li>Now, the eternal, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Occasional clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Ointment, fairy and witch, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li>Orleans, the story of the Duke of, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Other planets, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Partial and temporary clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li>Past incarnations, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Path of development, the, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li>Perceval, assassination of Mr., <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Personal equation, the, <a href="#Page_104">104</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Phantom flocks, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li>Phenomena, classification of, <a href="#Page_27">27</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> séance room, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Philadelphian seer, the story of a, <a href="#Page_72">72</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Physical objects, the transparency of, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li>Pictures before going to sleep, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li>Planets, other, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li>Polarization of astral matter, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li>Poseidonis, the sinking of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li>Possibilities of historical study, <a href="#Page_114">114</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Power of magnifying, the, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Power of response to vibrations, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></li> + +<li>Preliminary considerations, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>Premonition, Mr. Stead's, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li>Prevision, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + +<li>Prospects for the future, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li>Psychic Micawbers, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + +<li>Psychometry, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Qualifications of the student, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li>Qualified teachers, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Radiations, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + +<li>Records, âkâshic, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> aspect of the, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Regular development, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li>Reproduction of a murder, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Restrictions upon clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + +<li>Röntgen rays, the, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Sadness of clairvoyance, the, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li>Schiller's lines, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li>Séance-room phenomena, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li>Second-sight, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> <i>et seq.</i> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> the symbolism of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Seer, a Philadelphian, <a href="#Page_72">72</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Self-hypnotization, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li>Sense, extension of, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>Senses, astral, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li>Sight, astral, <a href="#Page_37">37</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> at a distance, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> +<li> spiritual, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Sleep, clairvoyance during, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>Society, the Theosophical, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li>Solar system, the, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li>Spectral armies, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li>Spectrum, experiment with the, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li>Spiritualistic phenomena, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li><i>Stars and the Earth, The</i>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li>Stories of crystal-gazing, <a href="#Page_84">84</a> <i>et seq.</i> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> second sight, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> <i>et seq.</i></li></ul></li> + +<li>Story by Jung Stilling, <a href="#Page_72">72</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Mr. Stead's, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> +<li> of Captain Yonnt, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> +<li> Mary Goffe, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> +<li> Miss X.'s dogcart, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> +<li> Mr. Stead's premonition, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Story of Souter Fell, <a href="#Page_156">156-157</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> the bull and the doctor, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> +<li> the Duke of Orleans, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +<li> the housekeeper's dream, <a href="#Page_147">147</a> <i>et seq.</i></li></ul> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></li> + +<li>Story of the siege of Mooltan, <a href="#Page_92">92</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> the white night-dress, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> +<li> Zschokke, <a href="#Page_127">127</a> <i>et seq.</i></li></ul></li> + +<li>Stranger, finding a, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>Sympathetic system, the, <a href="#Page_22">22</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>System, the Logos of the, <a href="#Page_99">99</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Teachers, qualified, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li>Telescope, the astral, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li>Temporary and partial clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li>Tests not given, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> + +<li>Theosophical Society, The, <a href="#Page_167">167</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> terms, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Thought-control, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li>Thought-forms, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Throughth, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Time only relative, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>Training, the advantages of, <a href="#Page_165">165</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> where to be had, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Trance mediums, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + +<li>Transparency of physical objects, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li>Trivial subjects, clairvoyance on, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Uncultured, clairvoyance in the, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +</ul> + + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Value of knowledge, the, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>Variable capacity of response, <a href="#Page_10">10</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Vibrations, <a href="#Page_9">9</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> power of response to, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Vision, astral, <a href="#Page_37">37</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> etheric, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> <i>et seq.</i></li></ul></li> + +<li>Visions, casual, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Visits at death, <a href="#Page_74">74</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + +<li>Voodoo or Obeah, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>White night-dress, the story of the, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li>Wild huntsman, the, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>Wisdom, the Masters of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li>World, the astral, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li> mental, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li></ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>X.'s story, Miss, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li>X Rays, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Yonnt's story, Captain, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Zschokke's story, <a href="#Page_127">127</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<h5>PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH.</h5> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THEOSOPHICAL_SOCIETY" id="THEOSOPHICAL_SOCIETY"></a>THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.</h2> + +<table summary="Theosophical Society"> + + <tr> <td class="td1"><strong>SATYÂNNÂSTI<br /><br /> + PARO DHARMAH</strong></td> + <td class="td1"><img src="images/seal.jpg" alt="Seal" width="110" height="118" /></td> + <td class="td1"><strong>THERE IS NO<br /><br /> + RELIGION<br /><br /> + HIGHER THAN TRUTH.</strong></td></tr> +</table> + +<h3><i>OBJECTS.</i></h3> +<p>To form a nucleus of the universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without +distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.</p> + +<p>To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and +science.</p> + +<p>To investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in +man.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Any person desiring information as to the Theosophical Society is +invited to communicate with any one of the following General +Secretaries:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">America</span>: Alexander Fullerton; New York, 46 Fifth Avenue.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Britain</span>: Bertram Keightley, M.A. (<i>pro tem.</i>); London, 28 Albemarle +Street, W.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">India</span>: Upendra Nath Basu, B.A., LL.B.; Benares, N.W.P.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Scandinavia</span>: Arvid Knös; Sweden, Engelbrechtsgatan 7, Stockholm.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Australia</span>: H. A. Wilson; Sydney, N.S.W., 42 Margaret Street.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">New Zealand</span>: C. W. Sanders; Auckland, Mutual Life Buildings, Lower +Queen Street.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Holland</span>: W. B. Fricke, Amsterdam, 76 Amsteldijk.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">France</span>: Dr. Th. Pascal Paris; 59 Avenue de la Bourdonnais.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Italy</span>: Rome, Società Teosofica, 70 Via di Pietra.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Germany</span>: Dr. Rudolph Steiner (<i>pro tem.</i>); 95 Kaiserallee, Friedenau, +Berlin.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Theosophical Society</span> is composed of students, belonging to any +religion in the world or to none, who are united by their approval of +the above objects, by their wish to remove religious antagonisms and +to draw together men of good-will whatsoever their religious +opinions, and by their desire to study religious truths and to share +the results of their studies with others. Their bond of union is not +the profession of a common belief, but a common search and aspiration +for Truth. They hold that Truth should be sought by study, by +reflection, by purity of life, by devotion to high ideals, and they +regard Truth as a prize to be striven for, not as a dogma to be +imposed by authority. They consider that belief should be the result +of individual study or intuition, and not its antecedent, and should +rest on knowledge, not on assertion. They extend tolerance to all, +even to the intolerant, not as a privilege they bestow, but as a duty +they perform, and they seek to remove ignorance, not to punish it. +They see every religion as an expression of the <span class="smcap">Divine Wisdom</span>, and +prefer its study to its condemnation, and its practice to proselytism. +Peace is their watch-word, as Truth is their aim.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Theosophy</span> is the body of truths which forms the basis of all +religions, and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of +any. It offers a philosophy which renders life intelligible, and which +demonstrates the justice and the love which guide its evolution. It +puts death in its rightful place, as a recurring incident in an +endless life, opening the gateway of a fuller and more radiant +existence. It restores to the world the science of the spirit, +teaching man to know the spirit as himself, and the mind and body as +his servants. It illuminates the scriptures and doctrines of religions +by unveiling their hidden meanings, and thus justifying them at the +bar of intelligence, as they are ever justified in the eyes of +intuition.</p> + +<p>Members of the Theosophical Society study these truths, and +Theosophists endeavour to live them. Every one willing to study, to be +tolerant, to aim high, and to work perseveringly, is welcomed as a +member, and it rests with the member to become a true Theosophist.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR STUDY.</h3> + +<table class="tb1" summary="Books Recommended for Study"> +<tr><td></td> +<td> </td> +<td class="tocpg">s.</td> +<td class="tocpg">d.</td> +</tr> +<tr><td>An Outline of Theosophy.</td><td>C. W. Leadbeater</td><td class="tocpg">1</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td>Ancient Wisdom.</td> +<td> Annie Besant</td> +<td class="tocpg">5</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td>Theosophical Manuals.</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr> +<tr><td> Seven Principles of Man.</td><td> Annie Besant</td> +<td class="tocpg">1</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td> Re-incarnation. </td><td> Annie Besant</td> +<td class="tocpg">1</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td> Karma. </td><td> Annie Besant</td> +<td class="tocpg">1</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td> Death—and After? </td><td> Annie Besant</td> +<td class="tocpg">1</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td> The Astral Plane.</td><td>C. W. Leadbeater</td> +<td class="tocpg">1</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td> The Devachanic Plane. </td><td>C. W. Leadbeater</td> +<td class="tocpg">1</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td> Man and his Bodies.</td><td> Annie Besant</td> +<td class="tocpg">1</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td>The Key to Theosophy. </td> +<td>H. P. Blavatsky</td> +<td class="tocpg">6</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td>Esoteric Buddhism. </td> +<td>A. P. Sinnett</td> +<td class="tocpg">2</td> +<td class="tocpg">6</td> +</tr> +<tr><td>The Growth of the Soul.</td><td>A. P. Sinnett</td><td class="tocpg">5</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td>Man's Place in the Universe</td><td></td><td class="tocpg">2</td> +<td class="tocpg">0</td> +</tr> +<tr><td>Man Visible and Invisible (illustrated).</td><td>C. W. Leadbeater</td><td class="tocpg">10</td> +<td class="tocpg">6</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="center">A student who has thoroughly mastered these may study<br /> +The Secret Doctrine. H. P. Blavatsky. Three volumes and separate index, £ 3. <br /> +Man Visible and Invisible (illustrated). C. W. Leadbeater 10 6</p> + +<table class="tb1" summary="List of Books"> + <tr> + <td class="center" colspan="2"><span class="smcap"><b>World-Religions.</b></span></td> + <td class="tocpg">s.</td> + <td class="tocpg">d.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="center" colspan="2"> </td> + <td class="tocpg"> </td> + <td class="tocpg"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Fragments of a Faith Forgotten.</td> + <td>G. R. S. Mead</td> + <td class="tocpg">10</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Esoteric Christianity.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">5</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Four Great Religions.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">2</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Orpheus.</td> + <td>G. R. S. Mead</td> + <td class="tocpg">4</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Kabalah.</td> + <td>A. E. Waite</td> + <td class="tocpg">7</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="center" colspan="2"> </td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="center" colspan="2"><span class="smcap"><b>Ethical.</b></span></td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="center" colspan="2"> </td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>In the Outer Court.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">2</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Path of Discipleship.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">2</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Voice of the Silence.</td> + <td>H. P. Blavatsky</td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Light on the Path.</td> + <td>Mabel Collins</td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bhagavad-Gitâ. Trans.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Studies in the Bhagavad-Gitâ</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Doctrine of the Heart</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Upanishats.</td> + <td>Trans. by G. R. S. Mead and J.C. Chattopadyaya.</td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Two Volumes, each</td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Three Paths and Dharma.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">2</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Theosophy of the Upanishats</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tocpg">3</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Stanzas of Dayân.</td> + <td>H.P. Blavatsky</td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="center" colspan="2"> </td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="center" colspan="2"><span class="smcap"><b>Various.</b></span></td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="center" colspan="2"> </td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Nature's Mysteries.</td> + <td>A. P. Sinnett</td> + <td class="tocpg">2</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Clairvoyance.</td> + <td>C. W. Leadbeater</td> + <td class="tocpg">2</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Dreams.</td> + <td>C. W. Leadbeater</td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Building of the Kosmos.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">2</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Evolution of Life and Form.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">2</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Some Problems of Life.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Thought-Power, its Control and Culture.</td> + <td>Annie Besant</td> + <td class="tocpg">1</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Science of the Emotions.</td> + <td>Bhagavan Das</td> + <td class="tocpg">3</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Gospel and the Gospels.</td> + <td>G. R. S. Mead</td> + <td class="tocpg">4</td> + <td class="tocpg">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Five Years of Theosophy</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tocpg">10</td> + <td class="tocpg">0</td> + </tr> +</table> +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<h2>THE THEOSOPHICAL REVIEW.</h2> +<h4>EDITED BY</h4> +<h3>ANNIE BESANT AND G. R. S. MEAD.</h3> +<h4>Amongst the Regular Contributors are:</h4> + +<table summary="List of Authors"> + <tr> + <td>ANNIE BESANT.</td> + <td>A. P. SINNETT.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>ALEX. FULLERTON.</td> + <td>C. W. LEADBEATER.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>G. R. S. MEAD.</td> + <td>DR. A. A. WELLS.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>BERTRAM KEIGHTLEY.</td> + <td>MICHAEL WOOD.</td> + </tr> +</table> +<h4>And other well-known Writers on Theosophy.</h4> +<h3>SINGLE COPIES, 1s. 12s. PER ANNUM.</h3> +<h3>Half-yearly Bound Volumes, Cloth, 8s. 6d.</h3> +<h5>ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.</h5> +<p>"THE THEOSOPHICAL REVIEW is a magazine of which any society might be +proud. It is weighty, striking, suggestive, and up to date. The +articles are all by recognised experts, and they all deal with some +aspect of a really profound subject. It is a very remarkable +shilling's worth."—<i>The Gentleman's Journal.</i></p> + +<p><i>All the above-named books are published at unit prices by THE +THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, 3 <span class="smcap">Langham Place, London, W.</span>, from +whom a full catalogue of works on Theosophy and kindred subjects can +be obtained, post free, on application.</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Clairvoyance, by Charles Webster Leadbeater + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLAIRVOYANCE *** + +***** This file should be named 29399-h.htm or 29399-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/3/9/29399/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Bryan Ness, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Clairvoyance + +Author: Charles Webster Leadbeater + +Release Date: July 13, 2009 [EBook #29399] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLAIRVOYANCE *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Bryan Ness, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + + CLAIRVOYANCE + + + BY + + C. W. LEADBEATER + + + + SECOND EDITION + + + + + LONDON + + THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY + + 1903 + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I. PAGE +WHAT CLAIRVOYANCE IS. 5 + +CHAPTER II. +SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE: FULL 29 + +CHAPTER III. +SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE: PARTIAL 50 + +CHAPTER IV. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: INTENTIONAL 58 + +CHAPTER V. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: SEMI-INTENTIONAL 83 + +CHAPTER VI. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: UNINTENTIONAL 87 + +CHAPTER VII. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN TIME: THE PAST 96 + +CHAPTER VIII. +CLAIRVOYANCE IN TIME: THE FUTURE 131 + +CHAPTER IX. +METHODS OF DEVELOPMENT 163 + + * * * * * + + + + +CLAIRVOYANCE + +CHAPTER I. + +WHAT CLAIRVOYANCE IS. + + +Clairvoyance means literally nothing more than "clear-seeing," and it +is a word which has been sorely misused, and even degraded so far as +to be employed to describe the trickery of a mountebank in a variety +show. Even in its more restricted sense it covers a wide range of +phenomena, differing so greatly in character that it is not easy to +give a definition of the word which shall be at once succinct and +accurate. It has been called "spiritual vision," but no rendering +could well be more misleading than that, for in the vast majority of +cases there is no faculty connected with it which has the slightest +claim to be honoured by so lofty a name. + +For the purpose of this treatise we may, perhaps, define it as the +power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. It will be +as well to premise that it is very frequently (though by no means +always) accompanied by what is called clairaudience, or the power to +hear what would be inaudible to the ordinary physical ear; and we will +for the nonce take our title as covering this faculty also, in order +to avoid the clumsiness of perpetually using two long words where one +will suffice. + +Let me make two points clear before I begin. First, I am not writing +for those who do not believe that there is such a thing as +clairvoyance, nor am I seeking to convince those who are in doubt +about the matter. In so small a work as this I have no space for that; +such people must study the many books containing lists of cases, or +make experiments for themselves along mesmeric lines. I am addressing +myself to the better-instructed class who know that clairvoyance +exists, and are sufficiently interested in the subject to be glad of +information as to its methods and possibilities; and I would assure +them that what I write is the result of much careful study and +experiment, and that though some of the powers which I shall have to +describe may seem new and wonderful to them, I mention no single one +of which I have not myself seen examples. + +Secondly, though I shall endeavour to avoid technicalities as far as +possible, yet as I am writing in the main for students of Theosophy, I +shall feel myself at liberty sometimes to use, for brevity's sake and +without detailed explanation, the ordinary Theosophical terms with +which I may safely assume them to be familiar. + +Should this little book fall into the hands of any to whom the +occasional use of such terms constitutes a difficulty, I can only +apologize to them and refer them for these preliminary explanations to +any elementary Theosophical work, such as Mrs. Besant's _Ancient +Wisdom_ or _Man and His Bodies_. The truth is that the whole +Theosophical system hangs together so closely, and its various parts +are so interdependent, that to give a full explanation of every term +used would necessitate an exhaustive treatise on Theosophy as a +preface even to this short account of clairvoyance. + +Before a detailed explanation of clairvoyance can usefully be +attempted, however, it will be necessary for us to devote a little +time to some preliminary considerations, in order that we may have +clearly in mind a few broad facts as to the different planes on which +clairvoyant vision may be exercised, and the conditions which render +its exercise possible. + +We are constantly assured in Theosophical literature that all these +higher faculties are presently to be the heritage of mankind in +general--that the capacity of clairvoyance, for example, lies latent +in every one, and that those in whom it already manifests itself are +simply in that one particular a little in advance of the rest of us. +Now this statement is a true one, and yet it seems quite vague and +unreal to the majority of people, simply because they regard such a +faculty as something absolutely different from anything they have yet +experienced, and feel fairly confident that they themselves, at any +rate, are not within measurable distance of its development. + +It may help to dispel this sense of unreality if we try to understand +that clairvoyance, like so many other things in nature, is mainly a +question of vibrations, and is in fact nothing but an extension of +powers which we are all using every day of our lives. We are living +all the while surrounded by a vast sea of mingled air and ether, the +latter inter-penetrating the former, as it does all physical matter; +and it is chiefly by means of vibrations in that vast sea of matter +that impressions reach us from the outside. This much we all know, but +it may perhaps never have occurred to many of us that the number of +these vibrations to which we are capable of responding is in reality +quite infinitesimal. + +Up among the exceedingly rapid vibrations which affect the ether there +is a certain small section--a _very_ small section--to which the +retina of the human eye is capable of responding, and these particular +vibrations produce in us the sensation which we call light. That is to +say, we are capable of seeing only those objects from which light of +that particular kind can either issue or be reflected. + +In exactly the same way the tympanum of the human ear is capable of +responding to a certain very small range of comparatively slow +vibrations--slow enough to affect the air which surrounds us; and so +the only sounds which we can hear are those made by objects which are +able to vibrate at some rate within that particular range. + +In both cases it is a matter perfectly well known to science that +there are large numbers of vibrations both above and below these two +sections, and that consequently there is much light that we cannot +see, and there are many sounds to which our ears are deaf. In the case +of light the action of these higher and lower vibrations is easily +perceptible in the effects produced by the actinic rays at one end of +the spectrum and the heat rays at the other. + +As a matter of fact there exist vibrations of every conceivable degree +of rapidity, filling the whole vast space intervening between the slow +sound waves and the swift light waves; nor is even that all, for there +are undoubtedly vibrations slower than those of sound, and a whole +infinity of them which are swifter than those known to us as light. So +we begin to understand that the vibrations by which we see and hear +are only like two tiny groups of a few strings selected from an +enormous harp of practically infinite extent, and when we think how +much we have been able to learn and infer from the use of those +minute fragments, we see vaguely what possibilities might lie before +us if we were enabled to utilize the vast and wonderful whole. + +Another fact which needs to be considered in this connection is that +different human beings vary considerably, though within relatively +narrow limits, in their capacity of response even to the very few +vibrations which are within reach of our physical senses. I am not +referring to the keenness of sight or of hearing that enables one man +to see a fainter object or hear a slighter sound than another; it is +not in the least a question of strength of vision, but of extent of +susceptibility. + +For example, if anyone will take a good bisulphide of carbon prism, +and by its means throw a clear spectrum on a sheet of white paper, and +then get a number of people to mark upon the paper the extreme limits +of the spectrum as it appears to them, he is fairly certain to find +that their powers of vision differ appreciably. Some will see the +violet extending much farther than the majority do; others will +perhaps see rather less violet than most, while gaining a +corresponding extension of vision at the red end. Some few there will +perhaps be who can see farther than ordinary at both ends, and these +will almost certainly be what we call sensitive people--susceptible in +fact to a greater range of vibrations than are most men of the present +day. + +In hearing, the same difference can be tested by taking some sound +which is just not too high to be audible--on the very verge of +audibility as it were--and discovering how many among a given number +of people are able to hear it. The squeak of a bat is a familiar +instance of such a sound, and experiment will show that on a summer +evening, when the whole air is full of the shrill, needle-like cries +of these little animals, quite a large number of men will be +absolutely unconscious of them, and unable to hear anything at all. + +Now these examples clearly show that there is no hard-and-fast limit +to man's power of response to either etheric or aerial vibrations, but +that some among us already have that power to a wider extent than +others; and it will even be found that the same man's capacity varies +on different occasions. It is therefore not difficult for us to +imagine that it might be possible for a man to develop this power, and +thus in time to learn to see much that is invisible to his fellow-men, +and hear much that is inaudible to them, since we know perfectly well +that enormous numbers of these additional vibrations do exist, and are +simply, as it were, awaiting recognition. + +The experiments with the Roentgen rays give us an example of the +startling results which are produced when even a very few of these +additional vibrations are brought within human ken, and the +transparency to these rays of many substances hitherto considered +opaque at once shows us one way at least in which we may explain such +elementary clairvoyance as is involved in reading a letter inside a +closed box, or describing those present in an adjoining apartment. To +learn to see by means of the Roentgen rays in addition to those +ordinarily employed would be quite sufficient to enable anyone to +perform a feat of magic of this order. + +So far we have thought only of an extension of the purely physical +senses of man; and when we remember that a man's etheric body is in +reality merely the finer part of his physical frame, and that +therefore all his sense organs contain a large amount of etheric +matter of various degrees of density, the capacities of which are +still practically latent in most of us, we shall see that even if we +confine ourselves to this line of development alone there are enormous +possibilities of all kinds already opening out before us. + +But besides and beyond all this we know that man possesses an astral +and a mental body, each of which can in process of time be aroused +into activity, and will respond in turn to the vibrations of the +matter of its own plane, thus opening up before the Ego, as he learns +to function through these vehicles, two entirely new and far wider +worlds of knowledge and power. Now these new worlds, though they are +all around us and freely inter-penetrate one another, are not to be +thought of as distinct and entirely unconnected in substance, but +rather as melting the one into the other, the lowest astral forming a +direct series with the highest physical, just as the lowest mental in +its turn forms a direct series with the highest astral. We are not +called upon in thinking of them to imagine some new and strange kind +of matter, but simply to think of the ordinary physical kind as +subdivided so very much more finely and vibrating so very much more +rapidly as to introduce us to what are practically entirely new +conditions and qualities. + +It is not then difficult for us to grasp the possibility of a steady +and progressive extension of our senses, so that both by sight and by +hearing we may be able to appreciate vibrations far higher and far +lower than those which are ordinarily recognised. A large section of +these additional vibrations will still belong to the physical plane, +and will merely enable us to obtain impressions from the etheric part +of that plane, which is at present as a closed book to us. Such +impressions will still be received through the retina of the eye; of +course they will affect its etheric rather than its solid matter, but +we may nevertheless regard them as still appealing only to an organ +specialized to receive them, and not to the whole surface of the +etheric body. + +There are some abnormal cases, however, in which other parts of the +etheric body respond to these additional vibrations as readily as, or +even more readily than, the eye. Such vagaries are explicable in +various ways, but principally as effects of some partial astral +development, for it will be found that the sensitive parts of the body +almost invariably correspond with one or other of the _chakrams_, or +centres of vitality in the astral body. And though, if astral +consciousness be not yet developed, these centres may not be available +on their own plane, they are still strong enough to stimulate into +keener activity the etheric matter which they inter-penetrate. + +When we come to deal with the astral senses themselves the methods of +working are very different. The astral body has no specialized +sense-organs--a fact which perhaps needs some explanation, since many +students who are trying to comprehend its physiology seem to find it +difficult to reconcile with the statements that have been made as to +the perfect inter-penetration of the physical body by astral matter, +the exact correspondence between the two vehicles, and the fact that +every physical object has necessarily its astral counterpart. + +Now all these statements are true, and yet it is quite possible for +people who do not normally see astrally to misunderstand them. Every +order of physical matter has its corresponding order of astral matter +in constant association with it--not to be separated from it except by +a very considerable exertion of occult force, and even then only to +be held apart from it as long as force is being definitely exerted to +that end. But for all that the relation of the astral particles one to +another is far looser than is the case with their physical +correspondences. + +In a bar of iron, for example, we have a mass of physical molecules in +the solid condition--that is to say, capable of comparatively little +change in their relative positions, though each vibrating with immense +rapidity in its own sphere. The astral counterpart of this consists of +what we often call solid astral matter--that is, matter of the lowest +and densest sub-plane of the astral; but nevertheless its particles +are constantly and rapidly changing their relative position, moving +among one another as easily as those of a liquid on the physical plane +might do. So that there is no permanent association between any one +physical particle and that amount of astral matter which happens at +any given moment to be acting as its counterpart. + +This is equally true with respect to the astral body of man, which for +our purpose at the moment we may regard as consisting of two +parts--the denser aggregation which occupies the exact position of the +physical body, and the cloud of rarer astral matter which surrounds +that aggregation. In both these parts, and between them both, there is +going on at every moment of time the rapid inter-circulation of the +particles which has been described, so that as one watches the +movement of the molecules in the astral body one is reminded of the +appearance of those in fiercely boiling water. + +This being so, it will be readily understood that though any given +organ of the physical body must always have as its counterpart a +certain amount of astral matter, it does not retain the same particles +for more than a few seconds at a time, and consequently there is +nothing corresponding to the specialization of physical nerve-matter +into optic or auditory nerves, and so on. So that though the physical +eye or ear has undoubtedly always its counterpart of astral matter, +that particular fragment of astral matter is no more (and no less) +capable of responding to the vibrations which produce astral sight or +astral hearing than any other part of the vehicle. + +It must never be forgotten that though we constantly have to speak of +"astral sight" or "astral hearing" in order to make ourselves +intelligible, all that we mean by those expressions is the faculty of +responding to such vibrations as convey to the man's consciousness, +when he is functioning in his astral body, information of the same +character as that conveyed to him by his eyes and ears while he is in +the physical body. But in the entirely different astral conditions, +specialized organs are not necessary for the attainment of this +result; there is matter in every part of the astral body which is +capable of such response, and consequently the man functioning in that +vehicle sees equally well objects behind him, beneath him, above him, +without needing to turn his head. + +There is, however, another point which it would hardly be fair to +leave entirely out of account, and that is the question of the +_chakrams_ referred to above. Theosophical students are familiar with +the idea of the existence in both the astral and the etheric bodies of +man of certain centres of force which have to be vivified in turn by +the sacred serpent-fire as the man advances in evolution. Though these +cannot be described as organs in the ordinary sense of the word, since +it is not through them that the man sees or hears, as he does in +physical life through eyes and ears, yet it is apparently very largely +upon their vivification that the power of exercising these astral +senses depends, each of them as it is developed giving to the whole +astral body the power of response to a new set of vibrations. + +Neither have these centres, however, any permanent collection of +astral matter connected with them. They are simply vortices in the +matter of the body--vortices through which all the particles pass in +turn--points, perhaps, at which the higher force from planes above +impinges upon the astral body. Even this description gives but a very +partial idea of their appearance, for they are in reality +four-dimensional vortices, so that the force which comes through them +and is the cause of their existence seems to well up from nowhere. But +at any rate, since all particles in turn pass through each of them, it +will be clear that it is thus possible for each in turn to evoke in +all the particles of the body the power of receptivity to a certain +set of vibrations, so that all the astral senses are equally active in +all parts of the body. + +The vision of the mental plane is again totally different, for in this +case we can no longer speak of separate senses such as sight and +hearing, but rather have to postulate one general sense which responds +so fully to the vibrations reaching it that when any object comes +within its cognition it at once comprehends it fully, and as it were +sees it, hears it, feels it, and knows all there is to know about it +by the one instantaneous operation. Yet even this wonderful faculty +differs in degree only and not in kind from those which are at our +command at the present time; on the mental plane, just as on the +physical, impressions are still conveyed by means of vibrations +travelling from the object seen to the seer. + +On the buddhic plane we meet for the first time with a quite new +faculty having nothing in common with those of which we have spoken, +for there a man cognizes any object by an entirely different method, +in which external vibrations play no part. The object becomes part of +himself, and he studies it from the inside instead of from the +outside. But with _this_ power ordinary clairvoyance has nothing to +do. + +The development, either entire or partial, of any one of these +faculties would come under our definition of clairvoyance--the power +to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight. But these +faculties may be developed in various ways, and it will be well to say +a few words as to these different lines. + +We may presume that if it were possible for a man to be isolated +during his evolution from all but the gentlest outside influences, and +to unfold from the beginning in perfectly regular and normal fashion, +he would probably develop his senses in regular order also. He would +find his physical senses gradually extending their scope until they +responded to all the physical vibrations, of etheric as well as of +denser matter; then in orderly sequence would come sensibility to the +coarser part of the astral plane, and presently the finer part also +would be included, until in due course the faculty of the mental plane +dawned in its turn. + +In real life, however, development so regular as this is hardly ever +known, and many a man has occasional flashes of astral consciousness +without any awakening of etheric vision at all. And this irregularity +of development is one of the principal causes of man's extraordinary +liability to error in matters of clairvoyance--a liability from which +there is no escape except by a long course of careful training under a +qualified teacher. + +Students of Theosophical literature are well aware that there are such +teachers to be found--that even in this materialistic nineteenth +century the old saying is still true, that "when the pupil is ready, +the Master is ready also," and that "in the hall of learning, when he +is capable of entering there, the disciple will always find his +Master." They are well aware also that only under such guidance can a +man develop his latent powers in safety and with certainty, since they +know how fatally easy it is for the untrained clairvoyant to deceive +himself as to the meaning and value of what he sees, or even +absolutely to distort his vision completely in bringing it down into +his physical consciousness. + +It does not follow that even the pupil who is receiving regular +instruction in the use of occult powers will find them unfolding +themselves exactly in the regular order which was suggested above as +probably ideal. His previous progress may not have been such as to +make this for him the easiest or most desirable road; but at any rate +he is in the hands of one who is perfectly competent to be his guide +in spiritual development, and he rests in perfect contentment that the +way along which he is taken will be that which is the best way for +him. + +Another great advantage which he gains is that whatever faculties he +may acquire are definitely under his command and can be used fully and +constantly when he needs them for his Theosophical work; whereas in +the case of the untrained man such powers often manifest themselves +only very partially and spasmodically, and appear to come and go, as +it were, at their own sweet will. + +It may reasonably be objected that if clairvoyant faculty is, as +stated, a part of the occult development of man, and so a sign of a +certain amount of progress along that line, it seems strange that it +should often be possessed by primitive peoples, or by the ignorant and +uncultured among our own race--persons who are obviously quite +undeveloped, from whatever point of view one regards them. No doubt +this does appear remarkable at first sight but the fact is that the +sensitiveness of the savage or of the coarse and vulgar European +ignoramus is not really at all the same thing as the faculty of his +properly trained brother, nor is it arrived at in the same way. + +An exact and detailed explanation of the difference would lead us into +rather recondite technicalities, but perhaps the general idea of the +distinction between the two may be caught from an example taken from +the very lowest plane of clairvoyance, in close contact with the +denser physical. The etheric double in man is in exceedingly close +relation to his nervous system, and any kind of action upon one of +them speedily reacts on the other. Now in the sporadic appearance of +etheric sight in the savage, whether of Central Africa or of Western +Europe, it has been observed that the corresponding nervous +disturbance is almost entirely in the sympathetic system, and that the +whole affair is practically beyond the man's control--is in fact a +sort of massive sensation vaguely belonging to the whole etheric body, +rather than an exact and definite sense-perception communicated +through a specialized organ. + +As in later races and amid higher development the strength of the man +is more and more thrown into the evolution of the mental faculties, +this vague sensitiveness usually disappears; but still later, when the +spiritual man begins to unfold, he regains his clairvoyant power. This +time, however, the faculty is a precise and exact one, under the +control of the man's will, and exercised through a definite +sense-organ; and it is noteworthy that any nervous action set up in +sympathy with it is now almost exclusively in the cerebro-spinal +system. + +On this subject Mrs. Besant writes:--"The lower forms of psychism are +more frequent in animals and in very unintelligent human beings than +in men and women in whom the intellectual powers are well developed. +They appear to be connected with the sympathetic system, not with the +cerebro-spinal. The large nucleated ganglionic cells in this system +contain a very large proportion of etheric matter, and are hence more +easily affected by the coarser astral vibrations than are the cells in +which the proportion is less. As the cerebro-spinal system develops, +and the brain becomes more highly evolved, the sympathetic system +subsides into a subordinate position, and the sensitiveness to psychic +vibrations is dominated by the stronger and more active vibrations of +the higher nervous system. It is true that at a later stage of +evolution psychic sensitiveness reappears, but it is then developed in +connection with the cerebro-spinal centres, and is brought under the +control of the will. But the hysterical and ill-regulated psychism of +which we see so many lamentable examples is due to the small +development of the brain and the dominance of the sympathetic system." + +Occasional flashes of clairvoyance do, however, sometimes come to the +highly cultured and spiritual-minded man, even though he may never +have heard of the possibility of training such a faculty. In his case +such glimpses usually signify that he is approaching that stage in his +evolution when these powers will naturally begin to manifest +themselves, and their appearance should serve as an additional +stimulus to him to strive to maintain that high standard of moral +purity and mental balance without which clairvoyance is a curse and +not a blessing to its possessor. + +Between those who are entirely unimpressible and those who are in full +possession of clairvoyant power there are many intermediate stages. +One to which it will be worth while to give a passing glance is the +stage in which a man, though he has no clairvoyant faculty in ordinary +life, yet exhibits it more or less fully under the influence of +mesmerism. This is a case in which the psychic nature is already +sensitive, but the consciousness is not yet capable of functioning in +it amidst the manifold distractions of physical life. It needs to be +set free by the temporary suspension of the outer senses in the +mesmeric trance before it can use the diviner faculties which are but +just beginning to dawn within it. But of course even in the mesmeric +trance there are innumerable degrees of lucidity, from the ordinary +patient who is blankly unintelligent to the man whose power of sight +is fully under the control of the operator, and can be directed +whithersoever he wills, or to the more advanced stage in which, when +the consciousness is once set free, it escapes altogether from the +grasp of the magnetizer, and soars into fields of exalted vision where +it is entirely beyond his reach. + +Another step along the same path is that upon which such perfect +suppression of the physical as that which occurs in the hypnotic +trance is not necessary, but the power of supernormal sight, though +still out of reach during waking life, becomes available when the +body is held in the bonds of ordinary sleep. At this stage of +development stood many of the prophets and seers of whom we read, who +were "warned of God in a dream," or communed with beings far higher +than themselves in the silent watches of the night. + +Most cultured people of the higher races of the world have this +development to some extent: that is to say, the senses of their astral +bodies are in full working order, and perfectly capable of receiving +impressions from objects and entities of their own plane. But to make +that fact of any use to them down here in the physical body, two +changes are usually necessary; first, that the Ego shall be awakened +to the realities of the astral plane, and induced to emerge from the +chrysalis formed by his own waking thoughts, and look round him to +observe and to learn; and secondly, that the consciousness shall be so +far retained during the return of the Ego into his physical body as to +enable him to impress upon his physical brain the recollection of what +he has seen or learnt. + +If the first of these changes has taken place, the second is of little +importance, since the Ego, the true man, will be able to profit by the +information to be obtained upon that plane, even though he may not +have the satisfaction of bringing through any remembrance of it into +his waking life down here. + +Students often ask how this clairvoyant faculty will first be +manifested in themselves--how they may know when they have reached +the stage at which its first faint foreshadowings are beginning to be +visible. Cases differ so widely that it is impossible to give to this +question any answer that will be universally applicable. + +Some people begin by a plunge, as it were, and under some unusual +stimulus become able just for once to see some striking vision; and +very often in such a case, because the experience does not repeat +itself, the seer comes in time to believe that on that occasion he +must have been the victim of hallucination. Others begin by becoming +intermittently conscious of the brilliant colours and vibrations of +the human aura; yet others find themselves with increasing frequency +seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and +deaf; others, again, see faces, landscapes, or coloured clouds +floating before their eyes in the dark before they sink to rest; while +perhaps the commonest experience of all is that of those who begin to +recollect with greater and greater clearness what they have seen and +heard on the other planes during sleep. + +Having now to some extent cleared our ground, we may proceed to +consider the various phenomena of clairvoyance. + +They differ so widely both in character and in degree that it is not +very easy to decide how they can most satisfactorily be classified. We +might, for example, arrange them according to the kind of sight +employed--whether it were mental, astral, or merely etheric. We might +divide them according to the capacity of the clairvoyant, taking into +consideration whether he was trained or untrained; whether his vision +was regular and under his command, or spasmodic and independent of his +volition; whether he could exercise it only when under mesmeric +influence, or whether that assistance was unnecessary for him; whether +he was able to use his faculty when awake in the physical body, or +whether it was available only when he was temporarily away from that +body in sleep or trance. + +All these distinctions are of importance, and we shall have to take +them all into consideration as we go on, but perhaps on the whole the +most useful classification will be one something on the lines of that +adopted by Mr. Sinnett in his _Rationale of Mesmerism_--a book, by the +way, which all students of clairvoyance ought to read. In dealing with +the phenomena, then, we will arrange them rather according to the +capacity of the sight employed than to the plane upon which it is +exercised, so that we may group instances of clairvoyance under some +such headings as these: + +1. Simple clairvoyance--that is to say, a mere opening of sight, +enabling its possessor to see whatever astral or etheric entities +happen to be present around him, but not including the power of +observing either distant places or scenes belonging to any other time +than the present. + +2. Clairvoyance in space--the capacity to see scenes or events removed +from the seer in space, and either too far distant for ordinary +observation or concealed by intermediate objects. + +3. Clairvoyance in time--that is to say, the capacity to see objects +or events which are removed from the seer in time, or, in other words, +the power of looking into the past or the future. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE: FULL. + + +We have defined this as a mere opening of etheric or astral sight, +which enables the possessor to see whatever may be present around him +on corresponding levels, but is not usually accompanied by the power +of seeing anything at a great distance or of reading either the past +or the future. It is hardly possible altogether to exclude these +latter faculties, for astral sight necessarily has considerably +greater extension than physical, and fragmentary pictures of both past +and future are often casually visible even to clairvoyants who do not +know how to seek specially for them; but there is nevertheless a very +real distinction between such incidental glimpses and the definite +power of projection of the sight either in space or time. + +We find among sensitive people all degrees of this kind of +clairvoyance, from that of the man who gets a vague impression which +hardly deserves the name of sight at all, up to the full possession of +etheric and astral vision respectively. Perhaps the simplest method +will be for us to begin by describing what would be visible in the +case of this fuller development of the power, as the cases of its +partial possession will then be seen to fall naturally into their +places. + +Let us take the etheric vision first. This consists simply, as has +already been said, in susceptibility to a far larger series of +physical vibrations than ordinary, but nevertheless its possession +brings into view a good deal to which the majority of the human race +still remains blind. Let us consider what changes its acquisition +produces in the aspect of familiar objects, animate and inanimate, and +then see to what entirely new factors it introduces us. But it must be +remembered that what I am about to describe is the result of the full +and perfectly-controlled possession of the faculty only, and that most +of the instances met with in real life will be likely to fall far +short of it in one direction or another. + +The most striking change produced in the appearance of inanimate +objects by the acquisition of this faculty is that most of them become +almost transparent, owing to the difference in wave-length of some of +the vibrations to which the man has now become susceptible. He finds +himself capable of performing with the utmost ease the proverbial feat +of "seeing through a brick wall," for to his newly-acquired vision the +brick wall seems to have a consistency no greater than that of a +light mist. He therefore sees what is going on in an adjoining room +almost as though no intervening wall existed; he can describe with +accuracy the contents of a locked box, or read a sealed letter; with a +little practice he can find a given passage in a closed book. This +last feat, though perfectly easy to astral vision, presents +considerable difficulty to one using etheric sight, because of the +fact that each page has to be looked at _through_ all those which +happen to be superimposed upon it. + +It is often asked whether under these circumstances a man sees always +with this abnormal sight, or only when he wishes to do so. The answer +is that if the faculty is perfectly developed it will be entirely +under his control, and he can use that or his more ordinary vision at +will. He changes from one to the other as readily and naturally as we +now change the focus of our eyes when we look up from our book to +follow the motions of some object a mile away. It is, as it were, a +focussing of consciousness on the one or the other aspect of what is +seen; and though the man would have quite clearly in his view the +aspect upon which his attention was for the moment fixed, he would +always be vaguely conscious of the other aspect too, just as when we +focus our sight upon any object held in our hands we yet vaguely see +the opposite wall of the room as a background. + +Another curious change, which comes from the possession of this sight, +is that the solid ground upon which the man walks becomes to a certain +extent transparent to him, so that he is able to see down into it to a +considerable depth, much as we can now see into fairly clear water. +This enables him to watch a creature burrowing underground, to +distinguish a vein of coal or of metal if not too far below the +surface, and so on. + +The limit of etheric sight when looking through solid matter appears +to be analogous to that imposed upon us when looking through water or +mist. We cannot see beyond a certain distance, because the medium +through which we are looking is not perfectly transparent. + +The appearance of animate objects is also considerably altered for the +man who has increased his visual powers to this extent. The bodies of +men and animals are for him in the main transparent, so that he can +watch the action of the various internal organs, and to some extent +diagnose some of their diseases. + +The extended sight also enables him to perceive, more or less clearly, +various classes of creatures, elemental and otherwise, whose bodies +are not capable of reflecting any of the rays within the limit of the +spectrum as ordinarily seen. Among the entities so seen will be some +of the lower orders of nature-spirits--those whose bodies are composed +of the denser etheric matter. To this class belong nearly all the +fairies, gnomes, and brownies, about whom there are still so many +stories remaining among Scotch and Irish mountains and in remote +country places all over the world. + +The vast kingdom of nature-spirits is in the main an astral kingdom, +but still there is a large section of it which appertains to the +etheric part of the physical plane, and this section, of course, is +much more likely to come within the ken of ordinary people than the +others. Indeed, in reading the common fairy stories one frequently +comes across distinct indications that it is with this class that we +are dealing. Any student of fairy lore will remember how often mention +is made of some mysterious ointment or drug, which when applied to a +man's eyes enables him to see the members of the fairy commonwealth +whenever he happens to meet them. + +The story of such an application and its results occurs so constantly +and comes from so many different parts of the world that there must +certainly be some truth behind it, as there always is behind really +universal popular tradition. Now no such anointing of the eyes alone +could by any possibility open a man's astral vision, though certain +ointments rubbed over the whole body will very greatly assist the +astral body to leave the physical in full consciousness--a fact the +knowledge of which seems to have survived even to mediaeval times, as +will be seen from the evidence given at some of the trials for +witchcraft. But the application to the physical eye might very easily +so stimulate its sensitiveness as to make it susceptible to some of +the etheric vibrations. + +The story frequently goes on to relate how when the human being who +has used this mystical ointment betrays his extended vision in some +way to a fairy, the latter strikes or stabs him in the eye, thus +depriving him not only of the etheric sight, but of that of the denser +physical plane as well. (See _The Science of Fairy Tales_, by E. S. +Hartland, in the "Contemporary Science" series--or indeed almost any +extensive collection of fairy stories.) If the sight acquired had been +astral, such a proceeding would have been entirely unavailing, for no +injury to the physical apparatus would affect an astral faculty; but +if the vision produced by the ointment were etheric, the destruction +of the physical eye would in most cases at once extinguish it, since +that is the mechanism by means of which it works. + +Anyone possessing this sight of which we are speaking would also be +able to perceive the etheric double of man; but since this is so +nearly identical in size with the physical, it would hardly be likely +to attract his attention unless it were partially projected in trance +or under the influence of anaesthetics. After death, when it withdraws +entirely from the dense body, it would be clearly visible to him, and +he would frequently see it hovering over newly made graves as he +passed through a churchyard or cemetery. If he were to attend a +spiritualistic seance he would see the etheric matter oozing out from +the side of the medium, and could observe the various ways in which +the communicating entities make use of it. + +Another fact which could hardly fail soon to thrust itself upon his +notice would be the extension of his perception of colour. He would +find himself able to see several entirely new colours, not in the +least resembling any of those included in the spectrum as we at +present know it, and therefore of course quite indescribable in any +terms at our command. And not only would he see new objects that were +wholly of these new colours, but he would also discover that +modifications had been introduced into the colour of many objects with +which he was quite familiar, according to whether they had or had not +some tinge of these new hues intermingled with the old. So that two +surfaces of colour which to ordinary eyes appeared to match perfectly +would often present distinctly different shades to his keener sight. + +We have now touched upon some of the principal changes which would be +introduced into a man's world when he gained etheric sight; and it +must always be remembered that in most cases a corresponding change +would at the same time be brought about in his other senses also, so +that he would be capable of hearing, and perhaps even of feeling, more +than most of those around him. Now supposing that in addition to this +he obtained the sight of the astral plane, what further changes would +be observable? + +Well, the changes would be many and great; in fact, a whole new world +would open before his eyes. Let us consider its wonders briefly in the +same order as before, and see first what difference there would be in +the appearance of inanimate objects. On this point I may begin by +quoting a recent quaint answer given in _The Vahan_. + +"There is a distinct difference between etheric sight and astral +sight, and it is the latter which seems to correspond to the fourth +dimension. + +"The easiest way to understand the difference is to take an example. +If you looked at a man with both the sights in turn, you would see the +buttons at the back of his coat in both cases; only if you used +etheric sight you would see them _through_ him, and would see the +shank-side as nearest to you, but if you looked astrally, you would +see it not only like that, but just as if you were standing behind the +man as well. + +"Or if you were looking etherically at a wooden cube with writing on +all its sides, it would be as though the cube were glass, so that you +could see through it, and you would see the writing on the opposite +side all backwards, while that on the right and left sides would not +be clear to you at all unless you moved, because you would see it +edgewise. But if you looked at it astrally you would see all the sides +at once, and all the right way up, as though the whole cube had been +flattened out before you, and you would see every particle of the +inside as well--not _through_ the others, but all flattened out. You +would be looking at it from another direction, at right angles to all +the directions that we know. + +"If you look at the back of a watch etherically you see all the wheels +through it, and the face _through them_, but backwards; if you look at +it astrally, you see the face right way up and all the wheels lying +separately, but nothing on the top of anything else." + +Here we have at once the keynote, the principal factor of the change; +the man is looking at everything from an absolutely new point of view, +entirely outside of anything that he has ever imagined before. He has +no longer the slightest difficulty in reading any page in a closed +book, because he is not now looking at it through all the other pages +before it or behind it, but is looking straight down upon it as though +it were the only page to be seen. The depth at which a vein of metal +or of coal may lie is no longer a barrier to his sight of it, because +he is not now looking through the intervening depth of earth at all. +The thickness of a wall, or the number of walls intervening between +the observer and the object, would make a great deal of difference to +the clearness of the etheric sight; they would make no difference +whatever to the astral sight, because on the astral plane they would +_not_ intervene between the observer and the object. Of course that +sounds paradoxical and impossible, and it _is_ quite inexplicable to a +mind not specially trained to grasp the idea; yet it is none the less +absolutely true. + +This carries us straight into the middle of the much-vexed question of +the fourth dimension--a question of the deepest interest, though one +that we cannot pretend to discuss in the space at our disposal. Those +who wish to study it as it deserves are recommended to begin with Mr. +C. H. Hinton's _Scientific Romances_ or Dr. A. T. Schofield's _Another +World_, and then follow on with the former author's larger work, _A +New Era of Thought_. Mr. Hinton not only claims to be able himself to +grasp mentally some of the simpler fourth-dimensional figures, but +also states that anyone who will take the trouble to follow out his +directions may with perseverance acquire that mental grasp likewise. I +am not certain that the power to do this is within the reach of +everyone, as he thinks, for it appears to me to require considerable +mathematical ability; but I can at any rate bear witness that the +tesseract or fourth-dimensional cube which he describes is a reality, +for it is quite a familiar figure upon the astral plane. He has now +perfected a new method of representing the several dimensions by +colours instead of by arbitrary written symbols. He states that this +will very much simplify the study, as the reader will be able to +distinguish instantly by sight any part or feature of the tesseract. A +full description of this new method, with plates, is said to be ready +for the press, and is expected to appear within a year, so that +intending students of this fascinating subject might do well to await +its publication. + +I know that Madame Blavatsky, in alluding to the theory of the fourth +dimension, has expressed an opinion that it is only a clumsy way of +stating the idea of the entire permeability of matter, and that Mr. W. +T. Stead has followed along the same lines, presenting the conception +to his readers under the name of _throughth_. Careful, oft-repeated +and detailed investigation does, however, seem to show quite +conclusively that this explanation does not cover all the facts. It is +a perfect description of etheric vision, but the further and quite +different idea of the fourth dimension as expounded by Mr. Hinton is +the only one which gives any kind of explanation down here of the +constantly-observed facts of astral vision. I would therefore venture +deferentially to suggest that when Madame Blavatsky wrote as she did, +she had in mind etheric vision and not astral, and that the extreme +applicability of the phrase to this other and higher faculty, of which +she was not at the moment thinking, did not occur to her. + +The possession of this extraordinary and scarcely expressible power, +then, must always be borne in mind through all that follows. It lays +every point in the interior of every solid body absolutely open to the +gaze of the seer, just as every point in the interior of a circle lies +open to the gaze of a man looking down upon it. + +But even this is by no means all that it gives to its possessor. He +sees not only the inside as well as the outside of every object, but +also its astral counterpart. Every atom and molecule of physical +matter has its corresponding astral atoms and molecules, and the mass +which is built up out of these is clearly visible to our clairvoyant. +Usually the astral of any object projects somewhat beyond the physical +part of it, and thus metals, stones and other things are seen +surrounded by an astral aura. + +It will be seen at once that even in the study of inorganic matter a +man gains immensely by the acquisition of this vision. Not only does +he see the astral part of the object at which he looks, which before +was wholly hidden from him; not only does he see much more of its +physical constitution than he did before, but even what was visible +to him before is now seen much more clearly and truly. A moment's +consideration will show that his new vision approximates much more +closely to true perception than does physical sight. For example, if +he looks astrally at a glass cube, its sides will all appear equal, as +we know they really are, whereas on the physical plane he sees the +further side in perspective--that is, it appears smaller than the +nearer side, which is, of course, a mere allusion due to his physical +limitations. + +When we come to consider the additional facilities which it offers in +the observation of animate objects we see still more clearly the +advantages of the astral vision. It exhibits to the clairvoyant the +aura of plants and animals, and thus in the case of the latter their +desires and emotions, and whatever thoughts they may have, are all +plainly shown before his eyes. + +But it is in dealing with human beings that he will most appreciate +the value of this faculty, for he will often be able to help them far +more effectually when he guides himself by the information which it +gives him. + +He will be able to see the aura as far up as the astral body, and +though that leaves all the higher part of a man still hidden from his +gaze, he will nevertheless find it possible by careful observation to +learn a good deal about the higher part from what is within his +reach. His capacity of examining the etheric double will give him +considerable advantage in locating and classifying any defects or +diseases of the nervous system, while from the appearance of the +astral body he will be at once aware of all the emotions, passions, +desires and tendencies of the man before him, and even of very many of +his thoughts also. + +As he looks at a person he will see him surrounded by the luminous +mist of the astral aura, flashing with all sorts of brilliant colours, +and constantly changing in hue and brilliancy with every variation of +the person's thoughts and feelings. He will see this aura flooded with +the beautiful rose-colour of pure affection, the rich blue of +devotional feeling, the hard, dull brown of selfishness, the deep +scarlet of anger, the horrible lurid red of sensuality, the livid grey +of fear, the black clouds of hatred and malice, or any of the other +hundredfold indications so easily to be read in it by a practised eye; +and thus it will be impossible for any persons to conceal from him the +real state of their feelings on any subject. + +These varied indications of the aura are of themselves a study of very +deep interest, but I have no space to deal with them in detail here. A +much fuller account of them, together with a large number of coloured +illustrations, will be found in my work on the subject _Man Visible +and Invisible_. + +Not only does the astral aura show him the temporary result of the +emotion passing through it at the moment, but it also gives him, by +the arrangement and proportion of its colours when in a condition of +comparative rest, a clue to the general disposition and character of +its owner. For the astral body is the expression of as much of the man +as can be manifested on that plane, so that from what is seen in it +much more which belongs to higher planes may be inferred with +considerable certainty. + +In this judgment of character our clairvoyant will be much helped by +so much of the person's thought as expresses itself on the astral +plane, and consequently comes within his purview. The true home of +thought is on the mental plane, and all thought first manifests itself +there as a vibration of the mind-body. But if it be in any way a +selfish thought, or if it be connected in any way with an emotion or a +desire, it immediately descends into the astral plane, and takes to +itself a visible form of astral matter. + +In the case of the majority of men almost all thought would fall under +one or other of these heads, so that practically the whole of their +personality would lie clearly before our friend's astral vision, since +their astral bodies and the thought-forms constantly radiating from +them would be to him as an open book in which their characteristics +were writ so largely that he who ran might read. Anyone wishing to +gain some idea as to _how_ the thought-forms present themselves to +clairvoyant vision may satisfy themselves to some extent by examining +the illustrations accompanying Mrs. Besant's valuable article on the +subject in _Lucifer_ for September 1896. + +We have seen something of the alteration in the appearance of both +animate and inanimate objects when viewed by one possessed of full +clairvoyant sight as far as the astral plane is concerned; let us now +consider what entirely new objects he will see. He will be conscious +of a far greater fulness in nature in many directions, but chiefly his +attention will be attracted by the living denizens of this new world. +No detailed account of them can be attempted within the space at our +disposal; for that the reader is referred to No. V. of the +_Theosophical Manuals_. Here we can do no more than barely enumerate a +few classes only of the vast hosts of astral inhabitants. + +He will be impressed by the protean forms of the ceaseless tide of +elemental essence, ever swirling around him, menacing often, yet +always retiring before a determined effort of the will; he will marvel +at the enormous army of entities temporarily called out of this ocean +into separate existence by the thoughts and wishes of man, whether +good or evil. He will watch the manifold tribes of the nature-spirits +at their work or at their play; he will sometimes be able to study +with ever-increasing delight the magnificent evolution of some of the +lower orders of the glorious kingdom of the devas, which corresponds +approximately to the angelic host of Christian terminology. + +But perhaps of even keener interest to him than any of these will be +the human denizens of the astral world, and he will find them +divisible into two great classes--those whom we call the living, and +those others, most of them infinitely more alive, whom we so foolishly +misname the dead. Among the former he will find here and there one +wide awake and fully conscious, perhaps sent to bring him some +message, or examining him keenly to see what progress he is making; +while the majority of his neighbours, when away from their physical +bodies during sleep, will drift idly by, so wrapped up in their own +cogitations as to be practically unconscious of what is going on +around them. + +Among the great host of the recently dead he will find all degrees of +consciousness and intelligence, and all shades of character--for +death, which seems to our limited vision so absolute a change, in +reality alters nothing of the man himself. On the day after his death +he is precisely the same man as he was the day before it, with the +same disposition, the same qualities, the same virtues and vices, save +only that he has cast aside his physical body; but the loss of that no +more makes him in any way a different man than would the removal of an +overcoat. So among the dead our student will find men intelligent and +stupid, kind-hearted and morose, serious and frivolous, +spiritually-minded and sensually-minded, just as among the living. + +Since he can not only see the dead, but speak with them, he can often +be of very great use to them, and give them information and guidance +which is of the utmost value to them. Many of them are in a condition +of great surprise and perplexity, and sometimes even of acute +distress, because they find the facts of the next world so unlike the +childish legends which are all that popular religion in the West has +to offer with reference to this transcendently important subject; and +therefore a man who understands this new world and can explain matters +is distinctly a friend in need. + +In many other ways a man who fully possesses this faculty may be of +use to the living as well as to the dead; but of this side of the +subject I have already written in my little book on _Invisible +Helpers_. In addition to astral entities he will see astral +corpses--shades and shells in all stages of decay; but these need only +be just mentioned here, as the reader desiring a further account of +them will find it in our third and fifth manuals. + +Another wonderful result which the full enjoyment of astral +clairvoyance brings to a man is that he has no longer any break in +consciousness. When he lies down at night he leaves his physical body +to the rest which it requires, while he goes about his business in +the far more comfortable astral vehicle. In the morning he returns to +and re-enters his physical body, but without any loss of consciousness +or memory between the two states, and thus he is able to live, as it +were, a double life which yet is one, and to be usefully employed +during the whole of it, instead of losing one-third of his existence +in blank unconsciousness. + +Another strange power of which he may find himself in possession +(though its full control belongs rather to the still higher devachanic +faculty), is that of magnifying at will the minutest physical or +astral particle to any desired size, as though by a microscope--though +no microscope ever made or ever likely to be made possesses even a +thousandth part of this psychic magnifying power. By its means the +hypothetical molecule and atom postulated by science become visible +and living realities to the occult student, and on this closer +examination he finds them to be much more complex in their structure +than the scientific man has yet realised them to be. It also enables +him to follow with the closest attention and the most lively interest +all kinds of electrical, magnetic, and other etheric action; and when +some of the specialists in these branches of science are able to +develop the power to see those things whereof they write so facilely, +some very wonderful and beautiful revelations may be expected. + +This is one of the _siddhis_ or powers described in Oriental books as +accruing to the man who devotes himself to spiritual development, +though the name under which it is there mentioned might not be +immediately recognizable. It is referred to as "the power of making +oneself large or small at will," and the reason of a description which +appears so oddly to reverse the fact is that in reality the method by +which this feat is performed is precisely that indicated in these +ancient books. It is by the use of temporary visual machinery of +inconceivable minuteness that the world of the infinitely little is so +clearly seen; and in the same way (or rather in the opposite way) it +is by temporarily enormously increasing the size of the machinery used +that it becomes possible to increase the breadth of one's view--in the +physical sense as well as, let us hope, in the moral--far beyond +anything that science has ever dreamt of as possible for man. So that +the alteration in size is really in the vehicle of the student's +consciousness, and not in anything outside of himself; and the old +Oriental book has, after all, put the case more accurately than we. + +Psychometry and second-sight _in excelsis_ would also be among the +faculties which our friend would find at his command; but those will +be more fitly dealt with under a later heading, since in almost all +their manifestations they involve clairvoyance either in space or in +time. + +I have now indicated, though only in the roughest outlines, what a +trained student, possessed of full astral vision, would see in the +immensely wider world to which that vision introduced him; but I have +said nothing of the stupendous change in his mental attitude which +comes from the experiential certainty as to the existence of the soul, +its survival after death, the action of the law of karma, and other +points of equally paramount importance. The difference between even +the profoundest intellectual conviction and the precise knowledge +gained by direct personal experience must be felt in order to be +appreciated. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE: PARTIAL. + + +The experiences of the untrained clairvoyant--and be it remembered +that that class includes all European clairvoyants except a very +few--will, however, usually fall very far short of what I have +attempted to indicate; they will fall short in many different ways--in +degree, in variety, or in permanence, and above all in precision. + +Sometimes, for example, a man's clairvoyance will be permanent, but +very partial, extending only perhaps to one or two classes of the +phenomena observable; he will find himself endowed with some isolated +fragment of higher vision, without apparently possessing other powers +of sight which ought normally to accompany that fragment, or even to +precede it. For example, one of my dearest friends has all his life +had the power to see the atomic ether and atomic astral matter, and to +recognize their structure, alike in darkness or in light, as +inter-penetrating everything else; yet he has only rarely seen +entities whose bodies are composed of the much more obvious lower +ethers or denser astral matter, and at any rate is certainly not +permanently able to see them. He simply finds himself in possession of +this special faculty, without any apparent reason to account for it, +or any recognizable relation to anything else: and beyond proving to +him the existence of these atomic planes and demonstrating their +arrangement, it is difficult to see of what particular use it is to +him at present. Still, there the thing is, and it is an earnest of +greater things to come--of further powers still awaiting development. + +There are many similar cases--similar, I mean, not in the possession +of that particular form of sight (which is unique in my experience), +but in showing the development of some one small part of the full and +clear vision of the astral and etheric planes. In nine cases out of +ten, however, such partial clairvoyance will at the same time lack +precision also--that is to say, there will be a good deal of vague +impression and inference about it, instead of the clear-cut definition +and certainty of the trained man. Examples of this type are constantly +to be found, especially among those who advertise themselves as "test +and business clairvoyants." + +Then, again, there are those who are only temporarily clairvoyant +under certain special conditions. Among these there are various +subdivisions, some being able to reproduce the state of clairvoyance +at will by again setting up the same conditions, while with others it +comes sporadically, without any observable reference to their +surroundings, and with yet others the power shows itself only once or +twice in the whole course of their lives. + +To the first of these subdivisions belong those who are clairvoyant +only when in the mesmeric trance--who when not so entranced are +incapable of seeing or hearing anything abnormal. These may sometimes +reach great heights of knowledge and be exceedingly precise in their +indications, but when that is so they are usually undergoing a course +of regular training, though for some reason unable as yet to set +themselves free from the leaden weight of earthly life without +assistance. + +In the same class we may put those--chiefly Orientals--who gain some +temporary sight only under the influence of certain drugs, or by means +of the performance of certain ceremonies. The ceremonialist sometimes +hypnotizes himself by his repetitions, and in that condition becomes +to some extent clairvoyant; more often he simply reduces himself to a +passive condition in which some other entity can obsess him and speak +through him. Sometimes, again, his ceremonies are not intended to +affect himself at all, but to invoke some astral entity who will give +him the required information; but of course that is a case of magic, +and not of clairvoyance. Both the drugs and the ceremonies are methods +emphatically to be avoided by any one who wishes to approach +clairvoyance from the higher side, and use it for his own progress and +for the helping of others. The Central African medicine-man or +witch-doctor and some of the Tartar Shamans are good examples of the +type. + +Those to whom a certain amount of clairvoyant power has come +occasionally only, and without any reference to their own wish, have +often been hysterical or highly nervous persons, with whom the faculty +was to a large extent one of the symptoms of a disease. Its appearance +showed that the physical vehicle was weakened to such a degree that it +no longer presented any obstacle in the way of a certain modicum of +etheric or astral vision. An extreme example of this class is the man +who drinks himself into delirium tremens, and in the condition of +absolute physical ruin and impure psychic excitation brought about by +the ravages of that fell disease, is able to see for the time some of +the loathsome elemental and other entities which he has drawn round +himself by his long course of degraded and bestial indulgence. There +are, however, other cases where the power of sight has appeared and +disappeared without apparent reference to the state of the physical +health; but it seems probable that even in those, if they could have +been observed closely enough, some alteration in the condition of the +etheric double would have been noticed. + +Those who have only one instance of clairvoyance to report in the +whole of their lives are a difficult band to classify at all +exhaustively, because of the great variety of the contributory +circumstances. There are many among them to whom the experience has +come at some supreme moment of their lives, when it is comprehensible +that there might have been a temporary exaltation of faculty which +would be sufficient to account for it. + +In the case of another subdivision of them the solitary case has been +the seeing of an apparition, most commonly of some friend or relative +at the point of death. Two possibilities are then offered for our +choice, and in each of them the strong wish of the dying man is the +impelling force. That force may have enabled him to materialize +himself for a moment, in which case of course no clairvoyance was +needed or more probably it may have acted mesmerically upon the +percipient, and momentarily dulled his physical and stimulated his +higher sensitiveness. In either case the vision is the product of the +emergency, and is not repeated simply because the necessary conditions +are not repeated. + +There remains, however, an irresolvable residuum of cases in which a +solitary instance occurs of the exercise of undoubted clairvoyance, +while yet the occasion seems to us wholly trivial and unimportant. +About these we can only frame hypotheses; the governing conditions are +evidently not on the physical plane, and a separate investigation of +each case would be necessary before we could speak with any certainty +as to its causes. In some such it has appeared that an astral entity +was endeavouring to make some communication, and was able to impress +only some unimportant detail on its subject--all the useful or +significant part of what it had to say failing to get through into the +subject's consciousness. + +In the investigation of the phenomena of clairvoyance all these varied +types and many others will be encountered, and a certain number of +cases of mere hallucination will be almost sure to appear also, and +will have to be carefully weeded out from the list of examples. The +student of such a subject needs an inexhaustible fund of patience and +steady perseverance, but if he goes on long enough he will begin dimly +to discern order behind the chaos, and will gradually get some idea of +the great laws under which the whole evolution is working. + +It will help him greatly in his efforts if he will adopt the order +which we have just followed--that is, if he will first take the +trouble to familiarize himself as thoroughly as may be with the actual +facts concerning the planes with which ordinary clairvoyance deals. +If he will learn what there really is to be seen with astral and +etheric sight, and what their respective limitations are, he will then +have, as it were, a standard by which to measure the cases which he +observes. Since all instances of partial sight must of necessity fit +into some niche in this whole, if he has the outline of the entire +scheme in his head he will find it comparatively easy with a little +practice to classify the instances with which he is called upon to +deal. + +We have said nothing as yet as to the still more wonderful +possibilities of clairvoyance upon the mental plane, nor indeed is it +necessary that much should be said, as it is exceedingly improbable +that the investigator will ever meet with any examples of it except +among pupils properly trained in some of the very highest schools of +occultism. For them it opens up yet another new world, vaster far than +all those beneath it--a world in which all that we can imagine of +utmost glory and splendour is the commonplace of existence. Some +account of its marvellous faculty, its eneffable bliss, its +magnificent opportunities for learning and for work, is given in the +sixth of our Theosophical manuals, and to that the student may be +referred. + +All that it has to give--all of it at least that he can assimilate--is +within the reach of the trained pupil, but for the untrained +clairvoyant to touch it is hardly more than a bare possibility. It +has been done in mesmeric trance, but the occurrence is of exceeding +rarity, for it needs almost superhuman qualifications in the way of +lofty spiritual aspiration and absolute purity of thought and +intention upon the part both of the subject and the operator. + +To a type of clairvoyance such as this, and still more fully to that +which belongs to the plane next above it, the name of spiritual sight +may reasonably be applied; and since the celestial world to which it +opens our eyes lies all round us here and now, it is fit that our +passing reference to it should be made under the heading of simple +clairvoyance, though it may be necessary to allude to it again when +dealing with clairvoyance in space, to which we will now pass on. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: INTENTIONAL. + + +We have defined this as the capacity to see events or scenes removed +from the seer in space and too far distant for ordinary observation. +The instances of this are so numerous and so various that we shall +find it desirable to attempt a somewhat more detailed classification +of them. It does not much matter what particular arrangement we adopt, +so long as it is comprehensive enough to include all our cases; +perhaps a convenient one will be to group them under the broad +divisions of intentional and unintentional clairvoyance in space, with +an intermediate class that might be described as semi-intentional--a +curious title, but I will explain it later. + +As before, I will begin by stating what is possible along this line +for the fully-trained seer, and endeavouring to explain how his +faculty works and under what limitations it acts. After that we shall +find ourselves in a better position to try to understand the manifold +examples of partial and untrained sight. Let us then in the first +place discuss intentional clairvoyance. + +It will be obvious from what has previously been said as to the power +of astral vision that any one possessing it in its fulness will be +able to see by its means practically anything in this world that he +wishes to see. The most secret places are open to his gaze, and +intervening obstacles have no existence for him, because of the change +in his point of view; so that if we grant him the power of moving +about in the astral body he can without difficulty go anywhere and see +anything within the limits of the planet. Indeed this is to a large +extent possible to him even without the necessity of moving the astral +body at all, as we shall presently see. + +Let us consider a little more closely the methods by which this +super-physical sight may be used to observe events taking place at a +distance. When, for example, a man here in England sees in minutest +detail something which is happening at the same moment in India or +America, how is it done? + +A very ingenious hypothesis has been offered to account for the +phenomenon. It has been suggested that every object is perpetually +throwing off radiations in all directions, similar in some respects +to, though infinitely finer than, rays of light, and that clairvoyance +is nothing but the power to see by means of these finer radiations. +Distance would in that case be no bar to the sight, all intervening +objects would be penetrable by these rays, and they would be able to +cross one another to infinity in all directions without entanglement, +precisely as the vibrations of ordinary light do. + +Now though this is not exactly the way in which clairvoyance works, +the theory is nevertheless quite true in most of its premises. Every +object undoubtedly is throwing off radiations in all directions, and +it is precisely in this way, though on a higher plane, that the +akashic records seem to be formed. Of them it will be necessary to say +something under our next heading, so we will do no more than mention +them for the moment. The phenomena of psychometry are also dependent +upon these radiations, as will presently be explained. + +There are, however, certain practical difficulties in the way of using +these etheric vibrations (for that is, of course, what they are) as +the medium by means of which one may see anything taking place at a +distance. Intervening objects are not entirely transparent, and as the +actors in the scene which the experimenter tried to observe would +probably be at least equally transparent, it is obvious that serious +confusion would be quite likely to result. + +The additional dimension which would come into play if astral +radiations were sensed instead of etheric would obviate some of the +difficulties, but would on the other hand introduce some fresh +complications of its own; so that for practical purposes, in +endeavouring to understand clairvoyance, we may dismiss this +hypothesis of radiations from our minds, and turn to the methods of +seeing at a distance which are actually at the disposal of the +student. It will be found that there are five, four of them being +really varieties of clairvoyance, while the fifth does not properly +come under that head at all, but belongs to the domain of magic. Let +us take this last one first, and get it out of our way. + +1. _By the assistance of a nature-spirit._--This method does not +necessarily involve the possession of any psychic faculty at all on +the part of the experimenter; he need only know how to induce some +denizen of the astral world to undertake the investigation for him. +This may be done either by invocation or by evocation; that is to say, +the operator may either persuade his astral coadjutor by prayers and +offerings to give him the help he desires, or he may compel his aid by +the determined exercise of a highly-developed will. + +This method has been largely practised in the East (where the entity +employed is usually a nature-spirit) and in old Atlantis, where "the +lords of the dark face" used a highly-specialized and peculiarly +venomous variety of artificial elemental for this purpose. Information +is sometimes obtained in the same sort of way at the spiritualistic +_seance_ of modern days, but in that case the messenger employed is +more likely to be a recently-deceased human being functioning more or +less freely on the astral plane--though even here also it is sometimes +an obliging nature-spirit, who is amusing himself by posing as +somebody's departed relative. In any case, as I have said, this method +is not clairvoyant at all, but magical; and it is mentioned here only +in order that the reader may not become confused in the endeavour to +classify cases of its use under some of the following headings. + +2. _By means of an astral current._--This is a phrase frequently and +rather loosely employed in some of our Theosophical literature to +cover a considerable variety of phenomena, and among others that which +I wish to explain. What is really done by the student who adopts this +method is not so much the setting in motion of a current in astral +matter, as the erection of a kind of temporary telephone through it. + +It is impossible here to give an exhaustive disquisition on astral +physics, even had I the requisite knowledge to write it; all I need +say is that it is possible to make in astral matter a definite +connecting-line that shall act as a telegraph-wire to convey +vibrations by means of which all that is going on at the other end of +it may be seen. Such a line is established, be it understood, not by a +direct projection through space of astral matter, but by such action +upon a line (or rather many lines) of particles of that matter as +will render them capable of forming a conductor for vibrations of the +character required. + +This preliminary action can be set up in two ways--either by the +transmission of energy from particle to particle, until the line is +formed, or by the use of a force from a higher plane which is capable +of acting upon the whole line simultaneously. Of course this latter +method implies far greater development, since it involves the +knowledge of (and the power to use) forces of a considerably higher +level; so that the man who could make his line in this way would not, +for his own use, need a line at all, since he could see far more +easily and completely by means of an altogether higher faculty. + +Even the simpler and purely astral operation is a difficult one to +describe, though quite an easy one to perform. It may be said to +partake somewhat of the nature of the magnetization of a bar of steel; +for it consists in what we might call the polarization, by an effort +of the human will, of a number of parallel lines of astral atoms +reaching from the operator to the scene which he wishes to observe. +All the atoms thus affected are held for the time with their axes +rigidly parallel to one another, so that they form a kind of temporary +tube along which the clairvoyant may look. This method has the +disadvantage that the telegraph line is liable to disarrangement or +even destruction by any sufficiently strong astral current which +happens to cross its path; but if the original effort of will were +fairly definite, this would be a contingency of only infrequent +occurrence. + +The view of a distant scene obtained by means of this "astral current" +is in many ways not unlike that seen through a telescope. Human +figures usually appear very small, like those on a distant stage, but +in spite of their diminutive size they are as clear as though they +were close by. Sometimes it is possible by this means to hear what is +said as well as to see what is done; but as in the majority of cases +this does not happen, we must consider it rather as the manifestation +of an additional power than as a necessary corollary of the faculty of +sight. + +It will be observed that in this case the seer does not usually leave +his physical body at all; there is no sort of projection of his astral +vehicle or of any part of himself towards that at which he is looking, +but he simply manufactures for himself a temporary astral telescope. +Consequently he has, to a certain extent, the use of his physical +powers even while he is examining the distant scene; for example, his +voice would usually still be under his control, so that he could +describe what he saw even while he was in the act of making his +observations. The consciousness of the man is, in fact, distinctly +still at this end of the line. + +This fact, however, has its limitations as well as its advantages, +and these again largely resemble the limitations of the man using a +telescope on the physical plane. The experimenter, for example, has no +power to shift this point of view; his telescope, so to speak, has a +particular field of view which cannot be enlarged or altered; he is +looking at his scene from a certain direction, and he cannot suddenly +turn it all round and see how it looks from the other side. If he has +sufficient psychic energy to spare, he may drop altogether the +telescope that he is using and manufacture an entirely new one for +himself which will approach his objective somewhat differently; but +this is not a course at all likely to be adopted in practice. + +But, it may be said, the mere fact that he is using astral sight ought +to enable him to see it from all sides at once. So it would if he were +using that sight in the normal way upon an object which was fairly +near him--within his astral reach, as it were; but at a distance of +hundreds or thousands of miles the case is very different. Astral +sight gives us the advantage of an additional dimension, but there is +still such a thing as position in that dimension, and it is naturally +a potent factor in limiting the use of the powers of its plane. Our +ordinary three-dimensional sight enables us to see at once every point +of the interior of a two-dimensional figure, such as a square, but in +order to do that the square must be within a reasonable distance from +our eyes; the mere additional dimension will avail a man in London +but little in his endeavour to examine a square in Calcutta. + +Astral sight, when it is cramped by being directed along what is +practically a tube, is limited very much as physical sight would be +under similar circumstances; though if possessed in perfection it will +still continue to show, even at that distance, the auras, and +therefore all the emotions and most of the thoughts of the people +under observation. + +There are many people for whom this type of clairvoyance is very much +facilitated if they have at hand some physical object which can be +used as a starting-point for their astral tube--a convenient focus for +their will-power. A ball of crystal is the commonest and most +effectual of such foci, since it has the additional advantage of +possessing within itself qualities which stimulate psychic faculty; +but other objects are also employed, to which we shall find it +necessary to refer more particularly when we come to consider +semi-intentional clairvoyance. + +In connection with this astral-current form of clairvoyance, as with +others, we find that there are some psychics who are unable to use it +except when under the influence of mesmerism. The peculiarity in this +case is that among such psychics there are two varieties--one in which +by being thus set free the man is enabled to make a telescope for +himself, and another in which the magnetizer himself makes the +telescope and the subject is simply enabled to see through it. In this +latter case obviously the subject has not enough will to form a tube +for himself, and the operator, though possessed of the necessary +will-power, is not clairvoyant, or he could see through his own tube +without needing help. + +Occasionally, though rarely, the tube which is formed possesses +another of the attributes of a telescope--that of magnifying the +objects at which it is directed until they seem of life-size. Of +course the objects must always be magnified to some extent, or they +would be absolutely invisible, but usually the extent is determined by +the size of the astral tube, and the whole thing is simply a tiny +moving picture. In the few cases where the figures are seen as of +life-size by this method, it is probable that an altogether new power +is beginning to dawn; but when this happens, careful observation is +needed in order to distinguish them from examples of our next class. + +3. _By the projection of a thought-form._--The ability to use this +method of clairvoyance implies a development somewhat more advanced +than the last, since it necessitates a certain amount of control upon +the mental plane. All students of Theosophy are aware that thought +takes form, at any rate upon its own plane, and in the vast majority +of cases upon the astral plane also; but it may not be quite so +generally known that if a man thinks strongly of himself as present +at any given place, the form assumed by that particular thought will +be a likeness of the thinker himself, which will appear at the place +in question. + +Essentially this form must be composed of the matter of the mental +plane, but in very many cases it would draw round itself matter of the +astral plane also, and so would approach much nearer to visibility. +There are, in fact, many instances in which it has been seen by the +person thought of--most probably by means of the unconscious mesmeric +influence emanating from the original thinker. None of the +consciousness of the thinker would, however, be included within this +thought-form. When once sent out from him, it would normally be a +quite separate entity--not indeed absolutely unconnected with its +maker, but practically so as far as the possibility of receiving any +impression through it is concerned. + +This third type of clairvoyance consists, then, in the power to retain +so much connection with and so much hold over a newly-erected +thought-form as will render it possible to receive impressions by +means of it. Such impressions as were made upon the form would in this +case be transmitted to the thinker--not along an astral telegraph +line, as before, but by sympathetic vibration. In a perfect case of +this kind of clairvoyance it is almost as though the seer projected a +part of his consciousness into the thought-form, and used it as a kind +of outpost, from which observation was possible. He sees almost as +well as he would if he himself stood in the place of his thought-form. + +The figures at which he is looking will appear to him as of life-size +and close at hand, instead of tiny and at a distance, as in the +previous case; and he will find it possible to shift his point of view +if he wishes to do so. Clairaudience is perhaps less frequently +associated with this type of clairvoyance than with the last, but its +place is to some extent taken by a kind of mental perception of the +thoughts and intentions of those who are seen. + +Since the man's consciousness is still in the physical body, he will +be able (even while exercising the faculty) to hear and to speak, in +so far as he can do this without any distraction of his attention. The +moment that the intentness of his thought fails the whole vision is +gone, and he will have to construct a fresh thought-form before he can +resume it. Instances in which this kind of sight is possessed with any +degree of perfection by untrained people are naturally rarer than in +the case of the previous type, because of the capacity for mental +control required, and the generally finer nature of the forces +employed. + +4. _By travelling in the astral body._--We enter here upon an entirely +new variety of clairvoyance, in which the consciousness of the seer no +longer remains in or closely connected with his physical body, but is +definitely transferred to the scene which he is examining. Though it +has no doubt greater dangers for the untrained seer than either of the +methods previously described, it is yet quite the most satisfactory +form of clairvoyance open to him, for the immensely superior variety +which we shall consider under our fifth head is not available except +for specially trained students. + +In this case the man's body is either asleep or in trance, and its +organs are consequently not available for use while the vision is +going on, so that all description of what is seen, and all questioning +as to further particulars, must be postponed until the wanderer +returns to this plane. On the other hand the sight is much fuller and +more perfect; the man hears as well as sees everything which passes +before him, and can move about freely at will within the very wide +limits of the astral plane. He can see and study at leisure all the +other inhabitants of that plane, so that the great world of the +nature-spirits (of which the traditional fairy-land is but a very +small part) lies open before him, and even that of some of the lower +devas. + +He has also the immense advantage of being able to take part, as it +were, in the scenes which come before his eyes--of conversing at will +with these various astral entities, from whom so much information that +is curious and interesting may be obtained. If in addition he can +learn how to materialize himself (a matter of no great difficulty for +him when once the knack is acquired), he will be able to take part in +physical events or conversations at a distance, and to show himself to +an absent friend at will. + +Again, he has the additional power of being able to hunt about for +what he wants. By means of the varieties of clairvoyance previously +described, for all practical purposes he could find a person or a +place only when he was already acquainted with it, or when he was put +_en rapport_ with it by touching something physically connected with +it, as in psychometry. It is true that by the third method a certain +amount of motion is possible, but the process is a tedious one except +for quite short distances. + +By the use of the astral body, however, a man can move about quite +freely and rapidly in any direction, and can (for example) find +without difficulty any place pointed out upon a map, without either +any previous knowledge of the spot or any object to establish a +connection with it. He can also readily rise high into the air so as +to gain a bird's-eye view of the country which he is examining, so as +to observe its extent, the contour of its coast-line, or its general +character. Indeed, in every way his power and freedom are far greater +when he uses this method than they have been in any of the previous +cases. + +A good example of the full possession of this power is given, on the +authority of the German writer Jung Stilling, by Mrs. Crowe in _The +Night Side of Nature_ (p. 127). The story is related of a seer who is +stated to have resided in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, in +America. His habits were retired, and he spoke little; he was grave, +benevolent and pious, and nothing was known against his character +except that he had the reputation of possessing some secrets that were +considered not altogether _lawful_. Many extraordinary stories were +told of him, and amongst the rest the following:-- + +"The wife of a ship captain (whose husband was on a voyage to Europe +and Africa, and from whom she had been long without tidings), being +overwhelmed with anxiety for his safety, was induced to address +herself to this person. Having listened to her story he begged her to +excuse him for a while, when he would bring her the intelligence she +required. He then passed into an inner room and she sat herself down +to wait; but his absence continuing longer than she expected, she +became impatient, thinking he had forgotten her, and softly +approaching the door she peeped through some aperture, and to her +surprise beheld him lying on a sofa as motionless as if he were dead. +She of course did not think it advisable to disturb him, but waited +his return, when he told her that her husband had not been able to +write to her for such and such reasons, but that he was then in a +coffee-house in London and would very shortly be home again. + +"Accordingly he arrived, and as the lady learnt from him that the +causes of his unusual silence had been precisely those alleged by the +man, she felt extremely desirous of ascertaining the truth of the rest +of the information. In this she was gratified, for he no sooner set +his eyes on the magician than he said that he had seen him before on a +certain day in a coffee-house in London, and that he told him that his +wife was extremely uneasy about him, and that he, the captain, had +thereon mentioned how he had been prevented writing, adding that he +was on the eve of embarking for America. He had then lost sight of the +stranger amongst the throng, and knew nothing more about him." + +We have of course no means now of knowing what evidence Jung Stilling +had of the truth of this story, though he declares himself to have +been quite satisfied with the authority on which he relates it; but so +many similar things have happened that there is no reason to doubt its +accuracy. The seer, however, must either have developed his faculty +for himself or learnt it in some school other than that from which +most of our Theosophical information is derived; for in our case there +is a well-understood regulation expressly forbidding the pupils from +giving any manifestation of such power which can be definitely proved +at both ends in that way, and so constitute what is called "a +phenomenon." That this regulation is emphatically a wise one is +proved to all who know anything of the history of our Society by the +disastrous results which followed from a very slight temporary +relaxation of it. + +I have given some quite modern cases almost exactly parallel to the +above in my little book on _Invisible Helpers_. An instance of a lady +well-known to myself, who frequently thus appears to friends at a +distance, is given by Mr. Stead in _Real Ghost Stories_ (p. 27); and +Mr. Andrew Lang gives, in his _Dreams and Ghosts_ (p. 89), an account +of how Mr. Cleave, then at Portsmouth, appeared intentionally on two +occasions to a young lady in London, and alarmed her considerably. +There is any amount of evidence to be had on the subject by any one +who cares to study it seriously. + +This paying of intentional astral visits seems very often to become +possible when the principles are loosened at the approach of death for +people who were unable to perform such a feat at any other time. There +are even more examples of this class than of the other; I epitomize a +good one given by Mr. Andrew Lang on p. 100 of the book last +cited--one of which he himself says, "Not many stories have such good +evidence in their favour." + +"Mary, the wife of John Goffe of Rochester, being afflicted with a +long illness, removed to her father's house at West Malling, about +nine miles from her own. + +"The day before her death she grew very impatiently desirous to see +her two children, whom she had left at home to the care of a nurse. +She was too ill to be moved, and between one and two o'clock in the +morning she fell into a trance. One widow Turner, who watched with her +that night, says that her eyes were open and fixed, and her jaw +fallen. Mrs. Turner put her hand upon her mouth, but could perceive no +breath. She thought her to be in a fit, and doubted whether she were +dead or alive. + +"The next morning the dying woman told her mother that she had been at +home with her children, saying, I was with them last night when I was +asleep.' + +"The nurse at Rochester, widow Alexander by name, affirms that a +little before two o'clock that morning she saw the likeness of the +said Mary Goffe come out of the next chamber (where the elder child +lay in a bed by itself), the door being left open, and stood by her +bedside for about a quarter of an hour; the younger child was there +lying by her. Her eyes moved and her mouth went, but she said nothing. +The nurse, moreover, says that she was perfectly awake; it was then +daylight, being one of the longest days in the year. She sat up in bed +and looked steadfastly on the apparition. In that time she heard the +bridge clock strike two, and a while after said: 'In the name of the +Father, Son and Holy Ghost, what art thou?' Thereupon the apparition +removed and went away; she slipped on her clothes and followed, but +what became on't, she cannot tell." + +The nurse apparently was more frightened by its disappearance than its +presence, for after this she was afraid to stay in the house, and so +spent the rest of the time until six o'clock in walking up and down +outside. When the neighbours were awake she told her tale to them, and +they of course said she had dreamt it all; she naturally enough warmly +repudiated that idea, but could obtain no credence until the news of +the other side of the story arrived from West Malling, when people had +to admit that there might have been something in it. + +A noteworthy circumstance in this story is that the mother found it +necessary to pass from ordinary sleep into the profounder trance +condition before she could consciously visit her children; it can, +however, be paralleled here and there among the large number of +similar accounts which may be found in the literature of the subject. + +Two other stories of precisely the same type--in which a dying mother, +earnestly desiring to see her children, falls into a deep sleep, +visits them and returns to say that she has done so--are given by Dr. +F. G. Lee. In one of them the mother, when dying in Egypt, appears to +her children at Torquay, and is clearly seen in broad daylight by all +five of the children and also by the nursemaid. (_Glimpses of the +Supernatural_, vol. ii., p. 64.) In the other a Quaker lady dying at +Cockermouth is clearly seen and recognized in daylight by her three +children at Settle, the remainder of the story being practically +identical with the one given above. (_Glimpses in the Twilight_, p. +94.) Though these cases appear to be less widely known than that of +Mary Goffe, the evidence of their authenticity seems to be quite as +good, as will be seen by the attestations obtained by the reverend +author of the works from which they are quoted. + +The man who fully possesses this fourth type of clairvoyance has many +and great advantages at his disposal, even in addition to those already +mentioned. Not only can he visit without trouble or expense all the +beautiful and famous places of the earth, but if he happens to be a +scholar, think what it must mean to him that he has access to all the +libraries of the world! What must it be for the scientifically-minded +man to see taking place before his eyes so many of the processes of the +secret chemistry of nature, or for the philosopher to have revealed to +him so much more than ever before of the working of the great mysteries +of life and death? To him those who are gone from this plane are dead no +longer, but living and within reach for a long time to come; for him +many of the conceptions of religion are no longer matters of faith, but +of knowledge. Above all, he can join the army of invisible helpers, and +really be of use on a large scale. Undoubtedly clairvoyance, even when +confined to the astral plane, is a great boon to the student. + +Certainly it has its dangers also, especially for the untrained; +danger from evil entities of various kinds, which may terrify or +injure those who allow themselves to lose the courage to face them +boldly; danger of deception of all sorts, of misconceiving and +mis-interpreting what is seen; greatest of all, the danger of becoming +conceited about the thing and of thinking it impossible to make a +mistake. But a little common-sense and a little experience should +easily guard a man against these. + +5. _By travelling in the mental body._--This is simply a higher and, +as it were, glorified form of the last type. The vehicle employed is +no longer the astral body, but the mind-body--a vehicle, therefore, +belonging to the mental plane, and having within it all the +potentialities of the wonderful sense of that plane, so transcendent +in its action yet so impossible to describe. A man functioning in this +leaves his astral body behind him along with the physical, and if he +wishes to show himself upon the astral plane for any reason, he does +not send for his own astral vehicle, but just by a single action of +his will materializes one for his temporary need. Such an astral +materialization is sometimes called the mayavirupa, and to form it +for the first time usually needs the assistance of a qualified Master. + +The enormous advantages given by the possession of this power are the +capacity of entering upon all the glory and the beauty of the higher +land of bliss, and the possession, even when working on the astral +plane, of the far more comprehensive mental sense which opens up to +the student such marvellous vistas of knowledge, and practically +renders error all but impossible. This higher flight, however, is +possible for the trained man only, since only under definite training +can a man at this stage of evolution learn to employ his mental body +as a vehicle. + +Before leaving the subject of full and intentional clairvoyance, it +may be well to devote a few words to answering one or two questions as +to its limitations, which constantly occur to students. Is it +possible, we are often asked, for the seer to find any person with +whom he wishes to communicate, anywhere in the world, whether he be +living or dead? + +To this reply must be a conditional affirmative. Yes, it is possible +to find any person if the experimenter can, in some way or other, put +himself _en rapport_ with that person. It would be hopeless to plunge +vaguely into space to find a total stranger among all the millions +around us without any kind of clue; but, on the other hand, a very +slight clue would usually be sufficient. + +If the clairvoyant knows anything of the man whom he seeks, he will +have no difficulty in finding him, for every man has what may be +called a kind of musical chord of his own--a chord which is the +expression of him as a whole, produced perhaps by a sort of average of +the rates of vibration of all his different vehicles on their +respective planes. If the operator knows how to discern that chord and +to strike it, it will by sympathetic vibration attract the attention +of the man instantly wherever he may be, and will evoke an immediate +response from him. + +Whether the man were living or recently dead would make no difference +at all, and clairvoyance of the fifth class could at once find him +even among the countless millions in the heaven-world, though in that +case the man himself would be unconscious that he was under +observation. Naturally a seer whose consciousness did not range higher +than the astral plane--who employed therefore one of the earlier +methods of seeing--would not be able to find a person upon the mental +plane at all; yet even he would at least be able to tell that the man +sought for was upon that plane, from the mere fact that the striking +of the chord as far up as the astral level produced no response. + +If the man sought be a stranger to the seeker, the latter will need +something connected with him to act as a clue--a photograph, a letter +written by him, an article which has belonged to him, and is +impregnated with his personal magnetism; any of these would do in the +hands of a practised seer. + +Again I say, it must not therefore be supposed that pupils who have +been taught how to use this art are at liberty to set up a kind of +intelligence office through which communication can be had with +missing or dead relatives. A message given from this side to such an +one might or might not be handed on, according to circumstances, but +even if it were, no reply might be brought, lest the transaction +should partake of the nature of a phenomenon--something which could be +proved on the physical plane to have been an act of magic. + +Another question often raised is as to whether, in the action of +psychic vision, there is any limitation as to distance. The reply +would seem to be that there should be no limit but that of the +respective planes. It must be remembered that the astral and mental +planes of our earth are as definitely its own as its atmosphere, +though they extend considerably further from it even in our +three-dimensional space than does the physical air. Consequently the +passage to, or the detailed sight of, other planets would not be +possible for any system of clairvoyance connected with these planes. +It _is_ quite possible and easy for the man who can raise his +consciousness to the buddhic plane to pass to any other globe +belonging to our chain of worlds, but that is outside our present +subject. + +Still a good deal of additional information about other planets can be +obtained by the use of such clairvoyant faculties as we have been +describing. It is possible to make sight enormously clearer by passing +outside of the constant disturbances of the earth's atmosphere, and it +is also not difficult to learn how to put on an exceedingly high +magnifying power, so that even by ordinary clairvoyance a good deal of +very interesting astronomical knowledge may be gained. But as far as +this earth and its immediate surroundings are concerned, there is +practically no limitation. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: SEMI-INTENTIONAL. + + +Under this rather curious title I am grouping together the cases of +all those people who definitely set themselves to see something, but +have no idea what the something will be, and no control over the sight +after the visions have begun--psychic Micawbers, who put themselves +into a receptive condition, and then simply wait for something to turn +up. Many trance-mediums would come under this heading; they either in +some way hypnotize themselves or are hypnotized by some +"spirit-guide," and then they describe the scenes or persons that +happen to float before their vision. Sometimes, however, when in this +condition they see what is taking place at a distance, and so they +come to have a place among our "clairvoyants in space." + +But the largest and most widely-spread band of these semi-intentional +clairvoyants are the various kinds of crystal-gazers--those who, as +Mr. Andrew Lang puts it, "stare into a crystal ball, a cup, a mirror, +a blob of ink (Egypt and India), a drop of blood (among the Maories of +New Zealand), a bowl of water (Red Indian), a pond (Roman and +African), water in a glass bowl (in Fez), or almost any polished +surface" (_Dreams and Ghosts_, p. 57). + +Two pages later Mr. Lang gives us a very good example of the kind of +vision most frequently seen in this way. "I had given a glass ball," +he says, "to a young lady, Miss Baillie, who had scarcely any success +with it. She lent it to Miss Leslie, who saw a large square, +old-fashioned red sofa covered with muslin, which she found in the +next country-house she visited. Miss Baillie's brother, a young +athlete, laughed at these experiments, took the ball into the study, +and came back looking 'gey gash.' He admitted that he had seen a +vision--somebody he knew under a lamp. He would discover during the +week whether he saw right or not. This was at 5.30 on a Sunday +afternoon. + +"On Tuesday, Mr. Baillie was at a dance in a town some forty miles +from his home, and met a Miss Preston. 'On Sunday,' he said, 'about +half-past five you were sitting under a standard lamp in a dress I +never saw you wear, a blue blouse with lace over the shoulders, +pouring out tea for a man in blue serge, whose back was towards me, so +that I only saw the tip of his moustache.' + +"'Why, the blinds must have been up,' said Miss Preston. + +"'I was at Dulby,' said Mr. Baillie, and he undeniably was." + +This is quite a typical case of crystal-gazing--the picture correct in +every detail, you see, and yet absolutely unimportant and bearing no +apparent signification of any sort to either party, except that it +served to prove to Mr. Baillie that there was something in +crystal-gazing. Perhaps more frequently the visions tend to be of a +romantic character--men in foreign dress, or beautiful though +generally unknown landscapes. + +Now what is the rationale of this kind of clairvoyance? As I have +indicated above, it belongs usually to the "astral-current" type, and +the crystal or other object simply acts as a focus for the will-power +of the seer, and a convenient starting-point for his astral tube. +There are some who can influence what they will see by their will, +that is to say they have the power of pointing their telescope as they +wish; but the great majority just form a fortuitous tube and see +whatever happens to present itself at the end of it. + +Sometimes it may be a scene comparatively near at hand, as in the case +just quoted; at other times it will be a far-away Oriental landscape; +at others yet it may be a reflection of some fragment of an akashic +record, and then the picture will contain figures in some antique +dress, and the phenomenon belongs to our third large division of +"clairvoyance in time." It is said that visions of the future are +sometimes seen in crystals also--a further development to which we +must refer later. + +I have seen a clairvoyant use instead of the ordinary shining surface +a dead black one, produced by a handful of powdered charcoal in a +saucer. Indeed it does not seem to matter much what is used as a +focus, except that pure crystal has an undoubted advantage over other +substances in that its peculiar arrangement of elemental essence +renders it specially stimulating to the psychic faculties. + +It seems probable, however, that in cases where a tiny brilliant +object is employed--such as a point of light, or the drop of blood +used by the Maories--the instance is in reality merely one of +self-hypnotization. Among non-European nations the experiment is very +frequently preceded or accompanied by magical ceremonies and +invocations, so that it is quite likely that such sight as is gained +may sometimes be really that of some foreign entity, and so the +phenomenon may in fact be merely a case of temporary possession, and +not of clairvoyance at all. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN SPACE: UNINTENTIONAL. + + +Under this heading we may group together all those cases in which +visions of some event which is taking place at a distance are seen +quite unexpectedly and without any kind of preparation. There are +people who are subject to such visions, while there are many others to +whom such a thing will happen only once in a life-time. The visions +are of all kinds and of all degrees of completeness, and apparently +may be produced by various causes. Sometimes the reason of the vision +is obvious, and the subject matter of the gravest importance; at other +times no reason at all is discoverable, and the events shown seem of +the most trivial nature. + +Sometimes these glimpses of the super-physical faculty come as waking +visions, and sometimes they manifest during sleep as vivid or +oft-repeated dreams. In this latter case the sight employed is perhaps +usually of the kind assigned to our fourth subdivision of clairvoyance +in space, for the sleeping man often travels in his astral body to +some spot with which his affections or interests are closely +connected, and simply watches what takes place there; in the former it +seems probable that the second type of clairvoyance, by means of the +astral current, is called into requisition. But in this case the +current or tube is formed quite unconsciously, and is often the +automatic result of a strong thought or emotion projected from one end +or the other--either from the seer or the person who is seen. + +The simplest plan will be to give a few instances of the different +kinds, and to intersperse among them such further explanations as may +seem necessary. Mr. Stead has collected a large and varied assortment +of recent and well-authenticated cases in his _Real Ghost Stories_, +and I will select some of my examples from them, occasionally +condensing slightly to save space. + +There are cases in which it is at once obvious to any Theosophical +student that the exceptional instance of clairvoyance was specially +brought about by one of the band whom we have called "Invisible +Helpers" in order that aid might be rendered to some one in sore need. +To this class, undoubtedly, belongs the story told by Captain Yonnt, +of the Napa Valley in California, to Dr. Bushnell, who repeats it in +his _Nature and the Supernatural_ (p. 14). + +"About six or seven years previous, in a mid-winter's night, he had a +dream in which he saw what appeared to be a company of emigrants +arrested by the snows of the mountains, and perishing rapidly by cold +and hunger. He noted the very cast of the scenery, marked by a huge, +perpendicular front of white rock cliff; he saw the men cutting off +what appeared to be tree-tops rising out of deep gulfs of snow; he +distinguished the very features of the persons and the look of their +particular distress. + +"He awoke profoundly impressed by the distinctness and apparent +reality of the dream. He at length fell asleep, and dreamed exactly +the same dream over again. In the morning he could not expel it from +his mind. Falling in shortly after with an old hunter comrade, he told +his story, and was only the more deeply impressed by his recognizing +without hesitation the scenery of the dream. This comrade came over +the Sierra by the Carson Valley Pass, and declared that a spot in the +Pass exactly answered his description. + +"By this the unsophistical patriarch was decided. He immediately +collected a company of men, with mules and blankets and all necessary +provisions. The neighbours were laughing meantime at his credulity. +'No matter,' he said, 'I am able to do this, and I will, for I verily +believe that the fact is according to my dream.' The men were sent +into the mountains one hundred and fifty miles distant direct to the +Carson Valley Pass. And there they found the company exactly in the +condition of the dream, and brought in the remnant alive." + +Since it is not stated that Captain Yonnt was in the habit of seeing +visions, it seems clear that some helper, observing the forlorn +condition of the emigrant party, took the nearest impressionable and +otherwise suitable person (who happened to be the Captain) to the spot +in the astral body, and aroused him sufficiently to fix the scene +firmly in his memory. The helper may possibly have arranged an "astral +current" for the Captain instead, but the former suggestion is more +probable. At any rate the motive, and broadly the method, of the work +are obvious enough in this case. + +Sometimes the "astral current" may be set going by a strong emotional +thought at the other end of the line, and this may happen even though +the thinker has no such intention in his mind. In the rather striking +story which I am about to quote, it is evident that the link was +formed by the doctor's frequent thought about Mrs. Broughton, yet he +had clearly no especial wish that she should see what he was doing at +the time. That it was this kind of clairvoyance that was employed is +shown by the fixity of her point of view--which, be it observed, is +not the doctor's point of view sympathetically transferred (as it +might have been) since she sees his back without recognizing him. The +story is to be found in the _Proceedings of the Psychical Research +Society_ (vol. ii., p. 160). + +"Mrs. Broughton awoke one night in 1844, and roused her husband, +telling him that something dreadful had happened in France. He begged +her to go to sleep again, and not trouble him. She assured him that +she was not asleep when she saw what she insisted on telling him--what +she saw in fact. + +"First a carriage accident--which she did not actually see, but what +she saw was the result--a broken carriage, a crowd collected, a figure +gently raised and carried into the nearest house, then a figure lying +on a bed which she then recognized as the Duke of Orleans. Gradually +friends collecting round the bed--among them several members of the +French royal family--the queen, then the king, all silently, +tearfully, watching the evidently dying duke. One man (she could see +his back, but did not know who he was) was a doctor. He stood bending +over the duke, feeling his pulse, with his watch in the other hand. +And then all passed away, and she saw no more. + +"As soon as it was daylight she wrote down in her journal all that she +had seen. It was before the days of electric telegraph, and two or +more days passed before the _Times_ announced 'The Death of the Duke +of Orleans.' Visiting Paris a short time afterwards she saw and +recognized the place of the accident and received the explanation of +her impression. The doctor who attended the dying duke was an old +friend of hers, and as he watched by the bed his mind had been +constantly occupied with her and her family." + +A commoner instance is that in which strong affection sets up the +necessary current; probably a fairly steady stream of mutual thought +is constantly flowing between the two parties in the case, and some +sudden need or dire extremity on the part of one of them endues this +stream temporarily with the polarizing power which is needful to +create the astral telescope. An illustrative example is quoted from +the same _Proceedings_ (vol. i., p. 30). + +"On September 9th, 1848, at the siege of Mooltan, Major-General R----, +C.B., then adjutant of his regiment, was most severely and dangerously +wounded; and, supposing himself to be dying, asked one of the officers +with him to take the ring off his finger and send it to his wife, who +at the time was fully one hundred and fifty miles distant at +Ferozepore. + +"'On the night of September 9th, 1848,' writes his wife, 'I was lying +on my bed, between sleeping and waking, when I distinctly saw my +husband being carried off the field seriously wounded, and heard his +voice saying, "Take this ring off my finger and send it to my wife." +All the next day I could not get the sight or the voice out of my +mind. + +"'In due time I heard of General R---- having been severely wounded in +the assault of Mooltan. He survived, however, and is still living. It +was not for some time after the siege that I heard from General +L----, the officer who helped to carry my husband off the field, that +the request as to the ring was actually made by him, just as I heard +it at Ferozepore at that very time." + +Then there is the very large class of casual clairvoyant visions which +have no traceable cause--which are apparently quite meaningless, and +have no recognizable relation to any events known to the seer. To this +class belong many of the landscapes seen by some people just before +they fall asleep. I quote a capital and very realistic account of an +experience of this sort from Mr. W. T. Stead's _Real Ghost Stories_ +(p. 65). + +"I got into bed but was not able to go to sleep. I shut my eyes and +waited for sleep to come; instead of sleep, however, there came to me +a succession of curiously vivid clairvoyant pictures. There was no +light in the room, and it was perfectly dark; I had my eyes shut also. +But notwithstanding the darkness I suddenly was conscious of looking +at a scene of singular beauty. It was as if I saw a living miniature +about the size of a magic-lantern slide. At this moment I can recall +the scene as if I saw it again. It was a seaside piece. The moon was +shining upon the water, which rippled slowly on to the beach. Right +before me a long mole ran into the water. + +"On either side of the mole irregular rocks stood up above the +sea-level. On the shore stood several houses, square and rude, which +resembled nothing that I had ever seen in house architecture. No one +was stirring, but the moon was there and the sea and the gleam of the +moonlight on the rippling waters, just as if I had been looking on the +actual scene. + +"It was so beautiful that I remember thinking that if it continued I +should be so interested in looking at it that I should never go to +sleep. I was wide awake, and at the same time that I saw the scene I +distinctly heard the dripping of the rain outside the window. Then +suddenly, without any apparent object or reason, the scene changed. + +"The moonlit sea vanished, and in its place I was looking right into +the interior of a reading-room. It seemed as if it had been used as a +schoolroom in the daytime, and was employed as a reading-room in the +evening. I remember seeing one reader who had a curious resemblance to +Tim Harrington, although it was not he, hold up a magazine or book in +his hand and laugh. It was not a picture--it was there. + +"The scene was just as if you were looking through an opera-glass; you +saw the play of the muscles, the gleaming of the eye, every movement +of the unknown persons in the unnamed place into which you were +gazing. I saw all that without opening my eyes, nor did my eyes have +anything to do with it. You see such things as these as it were with +another sense which is more inside your head than in your eyes. + +"This was a very poor and paltry experience, but it enabled me to +understand better how it is that clairvoyants see than any amount of +disquisition. + +"The pictures were _apropos_ of nothing; they had been suggested by +nothing I had been reading or talking of; they simply came as if I had +been able to look through a glass at what was occurring somewhere else +in the world. I had my peep, and then it passed, nor have I had a +recurrence of a similar experience." + +Mr. Stead regards that as a "poor and paltry experience," and it may +perhaps be considered so when compared with the greater possibilities, +yet I know many students who would be very thankful to have even so +much of direct personal experience to tell. Small though it may be in +itself, it at once gives the seer a clue to the whole thing, and +clairvoyance would be a living actuality to a man who had seen even +that much in a way that it could never have been without that little +touch with the unseen world. + +These pictures were much too clear to have been mere reflections of +the thought of others, and besides, the description unmistakably shows +that they were views seen through an astral telescope; so either Mr. +Stead must quite unconsciously have set a current going for himself, +or (which is much more probable) some kindly astral entity set it in +motion for him, and gave him, to while away a tedious delay, any +pictures that happened to come handy at the end of the tube. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN TIME: THE PAST. + + +Clairvoyance in time--that is to say, the power of reading the past +and the future--is, like all the other varieties, possessed by +different people in very varying degrees, ranging from the man who has +both faculties fully at his command, down to one who only occasionally +gets involuntary and very imperfect glimpses or reflections of these +scenes of other days. A person of the latter type might have, let us +say, a vision of some event in the past; but it would be liable to the +most serious distortion, and even if it happened to be fairly accurate +it would almost certainly be a mere isolated picture, and he would +probably be quite unable to relate it to what had occurred before or +after it, or to account for anything unusual which might appear in it. +The trained man, on the other hand, could follow the drama connected +with his picture backwards or forwards to any extent that might seem +desirable, and trace out with equal ease the causes which had led up +to it or the results which it in turn would produce. + +We shall probably find it easier to grasp this somewhat difficult +section of our subject if we consider it in the subdivisions which +naturally suggest themselves, and deal first with the vision which +looks backwards into the past, leaving for later examination that +which pierces the veil of the future. In each case it will be well for +us to try to understand what we can of the _modus operandi_, even +though our success can at best be only a very modified one, owing +first to the imperfect information on some parts of the subject at +present possessed by our investigators, and secondly to the +ever-recurring failure of physical words to express a hundredth part +even of the little we do know about higher planes and faculties. + +In the case then of a detailed vision of the remote past, how is it +obtained, and to what plane of nature does it really belong? The +answer to both these questions is contained in the reply that it is +read from the akashic records; but that statement in return will +require a certain amount of explanation for many readers. The word is +in truth somewhat of a misnomer, for though the records are +undoubtedly read from the akasha, or matter of the mental plane, yet +it is not to it that they really belong. Still worse is the +alternative title, "records of the astral light," which has sometimes +been employed, for these records lie far beyond the astral plane, and +all that can be obtained on it are only broken glimpses of a kind of +double reflection of them, as will presently be explained. + +Like so many others of our Theosophical terms, the word akasha has +been very loosely used. In some of our earlier books it was considered +as synonymous with astral light, and in others it was employed to +signify any kind of invisible matter, from mulaprakriti down to the +physical ether. In later books its use has been restricted to the +matter of the mental plane, and it is in that sense that the records +may be spoken of as akashic, for although they are not originally made +on that plane any more than on the astral, yet it is there that we +first come definitely into contact with them and find it possible to +do reliable work with them. + +This subject of the records is by no means an easy one to deal with, +for it is one of that numerous class which requires for its perfect +comprehension faculties of a far higher order than any which humanity +has yet evolved. The real solution of its problems lies on planes far +beyond any that we can possibly know at present, and any view that we +take of it must necessarily be of the most imperfect character, since +we cannot but look at it from below instead of from above. The idea +which we form of it must therefore be only partial, yet it need not +mislead us unless we allow ourselves to think of the tiny fragment +which is all that we can see as though it were the perfect whole. If +we are careful that such conceptions as we may form shall be accurate +as far as they go, we shall have nothing to unlearn, though much to +add, when in the course of our further progress we gradually acquire +the higher wisdom. Be it understood then at the commencement that a +thorough grasp of our subject is an impossibility at the present stage +of our evolution, and that many points will arise as to which no exact +explanation is yet obtainable, though it may often be possible to +suggest analogies and to indicate the lines along which an explanation +must lie. + +Let us then try to carry back our thoughts to the beginning of this +solar system to which we belong. We are all familiar with the ordinary +astronomical theory of its origin--that which is commonly called the +nebular hypothesis--according to which it first came into existence as +a gigantic glowing nebula, of a diameter far exceeding that of the +orbit of even the outermost of the planets, and then, as in the course +of countless ages that enormous sphere gradually cooled and +contracted, the system as we know it was formed. + +Occult science accepts that theory, in its broad outline, as correctly +representing the purely physical side of the evolution of our system, +but it would add that if we confine our attention to this physical +side only we shall have a very incomplete and incoherent idea of what +really happened. It would postulate, to begin with, that the exalted +Being who undertakes the formation of a system (whom we sometimes +call the Logos of the system) first of all forms in His mind a +complete conception of the whole of it with all its successive chains +of worlds. By the very act of forming that conception He calls the +whole into simultaneous objective existence on the plane of His +thought--a plane of course far above all those of which we know +anything--from which the various globes descend when required into +whatever state of further objectivity may be respectively destined for +them. Unless we constantly bear in mind this fact of the real +existence of the whole system from the very beginning on a higher +plane, we shall be perpetually misunderstanding the physical evolution +which we see taking place down here. + +But occultism has more than this to teach us on the subject. It tells +us not only that all this wonderful system to which we belong is +called into existence by the Logos, both on lower and on higher +planes, but also that its relation to Him is closer even than that, +for it is absolutely a part of Him--a partial expression of Him upon +the physical plane--and that the movement and energy of the whole +system is _His_ energy, and is all carried on within the limits of His +aura. Stupendous as this conception is, it will yet not be wholly +unthinkable to those of us who have made any study of the subject of +the aura. + +We are familiar with the idea that as a person progresses on the +upward path his causal body, which is the determining limit of his +aura, distinctly increases in size as well as in luminosity and purity +of colour. Many of us know from experience that the aura of a pupil +who has already made considerable advance on the Path is very much +larger than that of one who is but just setting his foot upon its +first step, while in the case of an Adept the proportional increase is +far greater still. We read in quite exoteric Oriental scriptures of +the immense extension of the aura of the Buddha; I think that three +miles is mentioned on one occasion as its limit, but whatever the +exact measurement may be, it is obvious that we have here another +record of this fact of the extremely rapid growth of the causal body +as man passes on his upward way. There can be little doubt that the +rate of this growth would itself increase in geometrical progression, +so that it need not surprise us to hear of an Adept on a still higher +level whose aura is capable of including the entire world at once; and +from this we may gradually lead our minds up to the conception that +there is a Being so exalted as to comprehend within Himself the whole +of our solar system. And we should remember that, enormous as this +seems to us, it is but as the tiniest drop in the vast ocean of space. + +So of the Logos (who has in Him all the capacities and qualities with +which we can possibly endow the highest God we can imagine) it is +literally true, as was said of old, that "of Him and through Him, and +to Him are all things," and "in Him we live and move and have our +being." + +Now if this be so, it is clear that whatever happens within our system +happens absolutely within the consciousness of its Logos, and so we at +once see that the true record must be His memory; and furthermore, it +is obvious that on whatever plane that wondrous memory exists, it +cannot but be far above anything that we know, and consequently +whatever records we may find ourselves able to read must be only a +reflection of that great dominant fact, mirrored in the denser media +of the lower planes. + +On the astral plane it is at once evident that this is so--that what +we are dealing with is only a reflection of a reflection, and an +exceedingly imperfect one, for such records as can be reached there +are fragmentary in the extreme, and often seriously distorted. We know +how universally water is used as a symbol of the astral light, and in +this particular case it is a remarkably apt one. From the surface of +still water we may get a clear reflection of the surrounding objects, +just as from a mirror; but at the best it is only a reflection--a +representation in two dimensions of three-dimensional objects, and +therefore differing in all its qualities, except colour, from that +which it represents; and in addition to this, it is always reversed. + +But let the surface of the water be ruffled by the wind and what do we +find then? A reflection still, certainly, but so broken up and +distorted as to be quite useless or even misleading as a guide to the +shape and real appearance of the objects reflected. Here and there for +a moment we might happen to get a clear reflection of some minute part +of the scene--of a single leaf from a tree, for example; but it would +need long labour and considerable knowledge of natural laws to build +up anything like a true conception of the object reflected by putting +together even a large number of such isolated fragments of an image of +it. + +Now in the astral plane we can never have anything approaching to what +we have imaged as a still surface, but on the contrary we have always +to deal with one in rapid and bewildering motion; judge, therefore, +how little we can depend upon getting a clear and definite reflection. +Thus a clairvoyant who possesses only the faculty of astral sight can +never rely upon any picture of the past that comes before him as being +accurate and perfect; here and there some part of it _may_ be so, but +he has no means of knowing which it is. If he is under the care of a +competent teacher he may, by long and careful training, be shown how +to distinguish between reliable and unreliable impressions, and to +construct from the broken reflections some kind of image of the +object reflected; but usually long before he has mastered those +difficulties he will have developed the mental sight, which renders +such labour unnecessary. + +On the next plane, which we call the mental, conditions are very +different. There the record is full and accurate, and it would be +impossible to make any mistake in the reading. That is to say, if +three clairvoyants possessing the powers of the mental plane agreed to +examine a certain record there, what would be presented to their +vision would be absolutely the same reflection in each case, and each +would acquire a correct impression from it in reading it. It does not +however follow that when they all compared notes later on the physical +plane their reports would agree exactly. It is well known that if +three people who witness an occurrence down here in the physical world +set to work to describe it afterwards, their accounts will differ +considerably, for each will have noticed especially those items which +most appeal to him, and will insensibly have made them the prominent +features of the event, sometimes ignoring other points which were in +reality much more important. + +Now in the case of an observation on the mental plane this personal +equation would not appreciably affect the impressions received, for +since each would thoroughly grasp the entire subject it would be +impossible for him to see its parts out of due proportion; but, +except in the case of carefully trained and experienced persons, this +factor does come into play in transferring the impressions to the +lower planes. It is in the nature of things impossible that any +account given down here of a vision or experience on the mental plane +can be complete, since nine-tenths of what is seen and felt there +could not be expressed by physical words at all; and, since all +expression must therefore be partial, there is obviously some +possibility of selection as to the part expressed. It is for this +reason that in all our Theosophical investigations of recent years so +much stress has been laid upon the constant checking and verifying of +clairvoyant testimony, nothing which rests upon the vision of one +person only having been allowed to appear in our later books. + +But even when the possibility of error from this factor of personal +equation has been reduced to a minimum by a careful system of +counter-checking, there still remains the very serious difficulty which +is inherent in the operation of bringing down impressions from a higher +plane to a lower one. This is something analogous to the difficulty +experienced by a painter in his endeavour to reproduce a +three-dimensional landscape on a flat surface--that is, practically in +two dimensions. Just as the artist needs long and careful training of +eye and hand before he can produce a satisfactory representation of +nature, so does the clairvoyant need long and careful training before he +can describe accurately on a lower plane what he sees on a higher one; +and the probability of getting an exact description from an untrained +person is about equal to that of getting a perfectly-finished landscape +from one who has never learnt how to draw. + +It must be remembered, too, that the most perfect picture is in +reality infinitely far from being a reproduction of the scene which it +represents, for hardly a single line or angle in it can ever be the +same as those in the object copied. It is simply a very ingenious +attempt to make upon one only of our five senses, by means of lines +and colours on a flat surface, an impression similar to that which +would have been made if we had actually had before us the scene +depicted. Except by a suggestion dependent entirely on our own +previous experience, it can convey to us nothing of the roar of the +sea, of the scent of the flowers, of the taste of the fruit, or of the +softness or hardness of the surface drawn. + +Of exactly similar nature, though far greater in degree, are the +difficulties experienced by a clairvoyant in his attempt to describe +upon the physical plane what he has seen upon the astral; and they are +furthermore greatly enhanced by the fact that, instead of having +merely to recall to the minds of his hearers conceptions with which +they are already familiar, as the artist does when he paints men or +animals, fields or trees, he has to endeavour by the very imperfect +means at his disposal to suggest to them conceptions which in most +cases are absolutely new to them. + +Small wonder then that, however vivid and striking his descriptions +may seem to his audience, he himself should constantly be impressed +with their total inadequacy, and should feel that his best efforts +have entirely failed to convey any idea of what he really sees. And we +must remember that in the case of the report given down here of a +record read on the mental plane, this difficult operation of +transference from the higher to the lower has taken place not once but +twice, since the memory has been brought through the intervening +astral plane. Even in a case where the investigator has the advantage +of having developed his mental faculties so that he has the use of +them while awake in the physical body, he is still hampered by the +absolute incapacity of physical language to express what he sees. + +Try for a moment to realize fully what is called the fourth dimension, +of which we said something in an earlier chapter. It is easy enough to +think of our own three dimensions--to image in our minds the length, +breadth and height of any object; and we see that each of these three +dimensions is expressed by a line at right angles to both of the +others. The idea of the fourth dimension is that it might be possible +to draw a fourth line which shall be at right angles to all three of +those already existing. + +Now the ordinary mind cannot grasp this idea in the least, though some +few who have made a special study of the subject have gradually come +to be able to realize one or two very simple four-dimensional figures. +Still, no words that they can use on this plane can bring any image of +these figures before the minds of others, and if any reader who has +not specially trained himself along that line will make the effort to +visualize such a shape he will find it quite impossible. Now to +express such a form clearly in physical words would be, in effect, to +describe accurately a single object on the astral plane; but in +examining the records on the mental plane we should have to face the +additional difficulties of a fifth dimension! So that the +impossibility of fully explaining these records will be obvious to +even the most superficial observation. + +We have spoken of the records as the memory of the Logos, yet they are +very much more than a memory in an ordinary sense of the word. +Hopeless as it may be to imagine how these images appear from His +point of view, we yet know that as we rise higher and higher we must +be drawing nearer to the true memory--must be seeing more nearly as He +sees; so that great interest attaches to the experience of the +clairvoyant with reference to these records when he stands upon the +buddhic plane--the highest which his consciousness can reach even +when away from the physical body until he attains the level of the +Arhats. + +Here time and space no longer limit him; he no longer needs, as on the +mental plane, to pass a series of events in review, for past, present +and future are all alike simultaneously present to him, meaningless as +that sounds down here. Indeed, infinitely below the consciousness of +the Logos as even that exalted plane is, it is yet abundantly clear +from what we see there that to Him the record must be far more than +what we call a memory, for all that has happened in the past and all +that will happen in the future is _happening now_ before His eyes just +as are the events of what we call the present time. Utterly +incredible, wildly incomprehensible, of course, to our limited +understanding; yet absolutely true for all that. + +Naturally we could not expect to understand at our present stage of +knowledge how so marvellous a result is produced, and to attempt an +explanation would only be to involve ourselves in a mist of words from +which we should gain no real information. Yet a line of thought recurs +to my mind which perhaps suggests the direction in which it is +possible that that explanation may lie: and whatever helps us to +realize that so astounding a statement may after all not be wholly +impossible will be of assistance in broadening our minds. + +Some thirty years ago I remember reading a very curious little book, +called, I think, _The Stars and the Earth_, the object of which was to +endeavour to show how it was scientifically possible that to the mind +of God the past and the present might be absolutely simultaneous. Its +arguments struck me at the time as decidedly ingenious, and I will +proceed to summarize them, as I think they will be found somewhat +suggestive in connection with the subject which we have been +considering. + +When we see anything, whether it be the book which we hold in our +hands or a star millions of miles away, we do so by means of a +vibration in the ether, commonly called a ray of light, which passes +from the object seen to our eyes. Now the speed with which this +vibration passes is so great--about 186,000 miles in a second--that +when we are considering any object in our own world we may regard it +as practically instantaneous. When, however, we come to deal with +interplanetary distances we have to take the speed of light into +consideration, for an appreciable period is occupied in traversing +these vast spaces. For example it takes eight minutes and a quarter +for light to travel to us from the sun, so that when we look at the +solar orb we see it by means of a ray of light which left it more than +eight minutes ago. + +From this follows a very curious result. The ray of light by which we +see the sun can obviously report to us only the state of affairs +which existed in that luminary when it started on its journey, and +would not be in the least affected by anything that happened there +after it left; so that we really see the sun not as he _is_, but as he +was eight minutes ago. That is to say that if anything important took +place in the sun--the formation of a new sun-spot, for instance--an +astronomer who was watching the orb through his telescope at the time +would be quite unaware of the incident while it was happening, since +the ray of light bearing the news would not reach him until more than +eight minutes later. + +The difference is more striking when we consider the fixed stars, +because in their case the distances are so enormously greater. The +pole star, for example, is so far off that light, travelling at the +inconceivable speed above mentioned, takes a little more than fifty +years to reach our eyes; and from that follows the strange but +inevitable inference that we see the pole star not as and where it is +at this moment, but as and where it was fifty years ago. Nay, if +to-morrow some cosmic catastrophe were to shatter the pole star into +fragments, we should still see it peacefully shining in the sky all +the rest of our lives; our children would grow up to middle age and +gather their children about them in turn before the news of that +tremendous accident reached any terrestrial eye. In the same way there +are other stars so far distant that light takes thousands of years to +travel from them to us, and with reference to their condition our +information is therefore thousands of years behind time. + +Now carry the argument a step farther. Suppose that we were able to +place a man at the distance of 186,000 miles from the earth, and yet +to endow him with the wonderful faculty of being able from that +distance to see what was happening here as clearly as though he were +still close beside us. It is evident that a man so placed would see +everything a second after the time when it really happened, and so at +the present moment he would be seeing what happened a second ago. +Double the distance, and he would be two seconds behind time, and so +on; remove him to the distance of the sun (still allowing him to +preserve the same mysterious power of sight) and he would look down +and watch you doing not what you _are_ doing now, but what you _were_ +doing eight minutes and a quarter ago. Carry him away to the pole +star, and he would see passing before his eyes the events of fifty +years ago; he would be watching the childish gambols of those who at +the very same moment were really middle-aged men. Marvellous as this +may sound, it is literally and scientifically true, and cannot be +denied. + +The little book went on to argue logically enough that God, being +almighty, must possess the wonderful power of sight which we have +been postulating for our observer; and further, that being +omnipresent, He must be at each of the stations which we mentioned, +and also at every intermediate point, not successively but +simultaneously. Granting these premises, the inevitable deduction +follows that everything which has ever happened from the very +beginning of the world _must_ be at this very moment taking place +before the eye of God--not a mere memory of it, but the actual +occurrence itself being now under His observation. + +All this is materialistic enough, and on the plane of purely physical +science, and we may therefore be assured that it is _not_ the way in +which the memory of the Logos acts; yet it is neatly worked out and +absolutely incontrovertible, and as I have said before, it is not +without its use, since it gives us a glimpse of some possibilities +which otherwise might not occur to us. + +But, it may be asked, how is it possible, amid the bewildering +confusion of these records of the past, to find any particular picture +when it is wanted? As a matter of fact, the untrained clairvoyant +usually cannot do so without some special link to put him _en rapport_ +with the subject required. Psychometry is an instance in point, and it +is quite probable that our ordinary memory is really only another +presentment of the same idea. It seems as though there were a sort of +magnetic attachment or affinity between any particle of matter and the +record which contains its history--an affinity which enables it to act +as a kind of conductor between that record and the faculties of anyone +who can read it. + +For example, I once brought from Stonehenge a tiny fragment of stone, +not larger than a pin's head, and on putting this into an envelope and +handing it to a psychometer who had no idea what it was, she at once +began to describe that wonderful ruin and the desolate country +surrounding it, and then went on to picture vividly what were +evidently scenes from its early history, showing that that +infinitesimal fragment had been sufficient to put her into +communication with the records connected with the spot from which it +came. The scenes through which we pass in the course of our life seem +to act in the same manner upon the cells of our brain as did the +history of Stonehenge upon that particle of stone: they establish a +connection with those cells by means of which our mind is put _en +rapport_ with that particular portion of the records, and so we +"remember" what we have seen. + +Even a trained clairvoyant needs some link to enable him to find the +record of an event of which he has no previous knowledge. If, for +example, he wished to observe the landing of Julius Caesar on the +shores of England, there are several ways in which he might approach +the subject. If he happened to have visited the scene of the +occurrence, the simplest way would probably be to call up the image of +that spot, and then run back through its records until he reached the +period desired. If he had not seen the place, he might run back in +time to the date of the event, and then search the Channel for a fleet +of Roman galleys; or he might examine the records of Roman life at +about that period, where he would have no difficulty in identifying so +prominent a figure as Caesar, or in tracing him when found through all +his Gallic wars until he set his foot upon British land. + +People often enquire as to the aspect of these records--whether they +appear near or far away from the eye, whether the figures in them are +large or small, whether the pictures follow one another as in a +panorama or melt into one another like dissolving views, and so on. +One can only reply that their appearance varies to a certain extent +according to the conditions under which they are seen. Upon the astral +plane the reflection is most often a simple picture, though +occasionally the figures seen would be endowed with motion; in this +latter case, instead of a mere snapshot a rather longer and more +perfect reflection has taken place. + +On the mental plane they have two widely different aspects. When the +visitor to that plane is not thinking specially of them in any way, +the records simply form a background to whatever is going on, just as +the reflections in a pier-glass at the end of a room might form a +background to the life of the people in it. It must always be borne in +mind that under these conditions they are really merely reflections +from the ceaseless activity of a great Consciousness upon a far higher +plane, and have very much the appearance of an endless succession of +the recently invented _cinematographe_, or living photographs. They do +not melt into one another like dissolving views, nor do a series of +ordinary pictures follow one another; but the action of the reflected +figures constantly goes on, as though one were watching the actors on +a distant stage. + +But if the trained investigator turns his attention specially to any +one scene, or wishes to call it up before him, an extraordinary change +at once takes place, for this is the plane of thought, and to think of +anything is to bring it instantaneously before you. For example, if a +man wills to see the record of that event to which we before +referred--the landing of Julius Caesar--he finds himself in a moment +not looking at any picture, but standing on the shore among the +legionaries, with the whole scene being enacted around him, precisely +in every respect as he would have seen it if he had stood there in the +flesh on that autumn morning in the year 55 B.C. Since what he sees is +but a reflection, the actors are of course entirely unconscious of +him, nor can any effort of his change the course of their action in +the smallest degree, except only that he can control the rate at which +the drama shall pass before him--can have the events of a whole year +rehearsed before his eyes in a single hour, or can at any moment stop +the movement altogether, and hold any particular scene in view as a +picture as long as he chooses. + +In truth he observes not only what he would have seen if he had been +there at the time in the flesh, but much more. He hears and +understands all that the people say, and he is conscious of all their +thoughts and motives; and one of the most interesting of the many +possibilities which open up before one who has learnt to read the +records is the study of the thought of ages long past--the thought of +the cave-men and the lake-dwellers as well as that which ruled the +mighty civilisations of Atlantis, of Egypt or Chaldaea. What splendid +possibilities open up before the man who is in full possession of this +power may easily be imagined. He has before him a field of historical +research of most entrancing interest. Not only can he review at his +leisure all history with which we are acquainted, correcting as he +examines it the many errors and misconceptions which have crept into +the accounts handed down to us; he can also range at will over the +whole story of the world from its very beginning, watching the slow +development of intellect in man, the descent of the Lords of the +Flame, and the growth of the mighty civilisations which they founded. + +Nor is his study confined to the progress of humanity alone; he has +before him, as in a museum, all the strange animal and vegetable forms +which occupied the stage in days when the world was young; he can +follow all the wonderful geological changes which have taken place, +and watch the course of the great cataclysms which have altered the +whole face of the earth again and again. + +In one especial case an even closer sympathy with the past is possible +to the reader of the records. If in the course of his enquiries he has +to look upon some scene in which he himself has in a former birth +taken part, he may deal with it in two ways; he can either regard it +in the usual manner as a spectator (though always, be it remembered, +as a spectator whose insight and sympathy are perfect) or he may once +more identify himself with that long-dead personality of his--may +throw himself back for the time into that life of long ago, and +absolutely experience over again the thoughts and the emotions, the +pleasures and the pains of a prehistoric past. No wilder and more +vivid adventures can be conceived than some of those through which he +thus may pass; yet through it all he must never lose hold of the +consciousness of his own individuality--must retain the power to +return at will to his present personality. + +It is often asked how it is possible for an investigator accurately to +determine the date of any picture from the far-distant past which he +disinters from the records. The fact is that it is sometimes rather +tedious work to find an exact date, but the thing can usually be done +if it is worth while to spend the time and trouble over it. If we are +dealing with Greek or Roman times the simplest method is usually to +look into the mind of the most intelligent person present in the +picture, and see what date he supposes it to be; or the investigator +might watch him writing a letter or other document and observe what +date, if any, was included in what was written. When once the Roman or +Greek date is thus obtained, to reduce it to our own system of +chronology is merely a matter of calculation. + +Another way which is frequently adopted is to turn from the scene +under examination to a contemporary picture in some great and +well-known city such as Rome, and note what monarch is reigning there, +or who are the consuls for the year; and when such data are discovered +a glance at any good history will give the rest. Sometimes a date can +be obtained by examining some public proclamation or some legal +document; in fact in the times of which we are speaking the difficulty +is easily surmounted. + +The matter is by no means so simple, however, when we come to deal +with periods much earlier than this--with a scene from early Egypt, +Chaldaea, or China, or to go further back still, from Atlantis itself +or any of its numerous colonies. A date can still be obtained easily +enough from the mind of any educated man, but there is no longer any +means of relating it to our own system of dates, since the man will be +reckoning by eras of which we know nothing, or by the reigns of kings +whose history is lost in the night of time. + +Our methods, nevertheless, are not yet exhausted. It must be +remembered that it is possible for the investigator to pass the +records before him at any speed that he may desire--at the rate of a +year in a second if he will, or even very much faster still. Now there +are one or two events in ancient history whose dates have already been +accurately fixed--as, for example, the sinking of Poseidonis in the +year 9564 B.C. It is therefore obvious that if from the general +appearance of the surroundings it seems probable that a picture seen +is within measurable distance of one of these events, it can be +related to that event by the simple process of running through the +record rapidly, and counting the years between the two as they pass. + +Still, if those years ran into thousands, as they might sometimes do, +this plan would be insufferably tedious. In that case we are driven +back upon the astronomical method. In consequence of the movement +which is commonly called the precession of the equinoxes, though it +might more accurately be described as a kind of second rotation of +the earth, the angle between the equator and the ecliptic steadily but +very slowly varies. Thus, after long intervals of time we find the +pole of the earth no longer pointing towards the same spot in the +apparent sphere of the heavens, or in other words, our pole-star is +not, as at present, [Greek: a] Ursae Minoris, but some other celestial +body; and from this position of the pole of the earth, which can +easily be ascertained by careful observation of the night-sky of the +picture under consideration, an approximate date can be calculated +without difficulty. + +In estimating the date of occurrences which took place millions of +years ago in earlier races, the period of a secondary rotation (or the +precession of the equinoxes) is frequently used as a unit, but of +course absolute accuracy is not usually required in such cases, round +numbers being sufficient for all practical purposes in dealing with +epochs so remote. + +The accurate reading of the records, whether of one's own past lives +or those of others, must not, however, be thought of as an achievement +possible to anyone without careful previous training. As has been +already remarked, though occasional reflections may be had upon the +astral plane, the power to use the mental sense is necessary before +any reliable reading can be done. Indeed, to minimize the possibility +of error, that sense ought to be fully at the command of the +investigator while awake in the physical body; and to acquire that +faculty needs years of ceaseless labour and rigid self-discipline. + +Many people seem to expect that as soon as they have signed their +application and joined the Theosophical Society they will at once +remember at least three or four of their past births; indeed, some of +them promptly begin to imagine recollections and declare that in their +last incarnation they were Mary Queen of Scots, Cleopatra, or Julius +Caesar! Of course such extravagant claims simply bring discredit upon +those who are so foolish as to make them but unfortunately some of +that discredit is liable to be reflected, however unjustly, upon the +Society to which they belong, so that a man who feels seething within +him the conviction that he was Homer or Shakespeare would do well to +pause and apply common-sense tests on the physical plane before +publishing the news to the world. + +It is quite true that some people have had glimpses of scenes from +their past lives in dreams, but naturally these are usually +fragmentary and unreliable. I had myself in earlier life an experience +of this nature. Among my dreams I found that one was constantly +recurring--a dream of a house with a portico over-looking a beautiful +bay, not far from a hill on the top of which rose a graceful building. +I knew that house perfectly, and was as familiar with the position of +its rooms and the view from its door as I was with those of my home, +in this present life. In those days I knew nothing about +reincarnation, so that it seemed to me simply a curious coincidence +that this dream should repeat itself so often; and it was not until +some time after I had joined the Society that, when one who knew was +showing me some pictures of my last incarnation, I discovered that +this persistent dream had been in reality a partial recollection, and +that the house which I knew so well was the one in which I was born +more than two thousand years ago. + +But although there are several cases on record in which some +well-remembered scene has thus come through from one life to another, +a considerable development of occult faculty is necessary before an +investigator can definitely trace a line of incarnations, whether they +be his own or another man's. This will be obvious if we remember the +conditions of the problem which has to be worked out. To follow a +person from this life to the one preceding it, it is necessary first +of all to trace his present life backwards to his birth and then to +follow up in reverse order the stages by which the Ego descended into +incarnation. + +This will obviously take us back eventually to the condition of the +Ego upon the higher levels of the mental plane; so it will be seen +that to perform this task effectually the investigator must be able to +use the sense corresponding to that exalted level while awake in his +physical body--in other words, his consciousness must be centred in +the reincarnating Ego itself, and no longer in the lower personality. +In that case, the memory of the Ego being aroused, his own past +incarnations will be spread out before him like an open book, and he +would be able, if he wished, to examine the conditions of another Ego +upon that level and trace him backwards through the lower mental and +astral lives which led up to it, until he came to the last physical +death of that Ego, and through it to his previous life. + +There is no way but this in which the chain of lives can be followed +through with absolute certainty: and consequently we may at once put +aside as conscious or unconscious impostors those people who advertise +that they are able to trace out anyone's past incarnations for so many +shillings a head. Needless to say, the true occultist does not +advertise, and never under any circumstances accepts money for any +exhibition of his powers. + +Assuredly the student who wishes to acquire the power of following up +a line of incarnations can do so only by learning from a qualified +teacher how the work is to be done. There have been those who +persistently asserted that it was only necessary for a man to feel +good and devotional and "brotherly," and all the wisdom of the ages +would immediately flow in upon him; but a little common-sense will at +once expose the absurdity of such a position. However good a child +may be, if he wants to know the multiplication table he must set to +work and learn it; and the case is precisely similar with the capacity +to use spiritual faculties. The faculties themselves will no doubt +manifest as the man evolves, but he can learn how to use them reliably +and to the best advantage only by steady hard work and persevering +effort. + +Take the case of those who wish to help others while on the astral +plane during sleep; it is obvious that the more knowledge they possess +here, the more valuable will their services be on that higher plane. +For example, the knowledge of languages would be useful to them, for +though on the mental plane men can communicate directly by +thought-transference, whatever their languages may be, on the astral +plane this is not so, and a thought must be definitely formulated in +words before it is comprehensible. If, therefore, you wish to help a +man on that plane, you must have some language in common by means of +which you can communicate with him, and consequently the more +languages you know the more widely useful you will be. In fact there +is perhaps no kind of knowledge for which a use cannot be found in the +work of the occultist. + +It would be well for all students to bear in mind that occultism is +the apotheosis of common-sense, and that every vision which comes to +them is not necessarily a picture from the akashic records, nor every +experience a revelation from on high. It is better far to err on the +side of healthy scepticism than of over-credulity; and it is an +admirable rule never to hunt about for an occult explanation of +anything when a plain and obvious physical one is available. Our duty +is to endeavour to keep our balance always, and never to lose our +self-control, but to take a reasonable, common-sense view of whatever +may happen to us; so shall we be better Theosophists, wiser +occultists, and more useful helpers than we have ever been before. + +As usual, we find examples of all degrees of the power to see into +this memory of nature, from the trained man who can consult the record +for himself at will, down to the person who gets nothing but +occasional vague glimpses, or has even perhaps had only one such +glimpse. But even the man who possesses this faculty only partially +and occasionally still finds it of the deepest interest. The +psychometer, who needs an object physically connected with the past in +order to bring it all into life again around him, and the +crystal-gazer who can sometimes direct his less certain astral +telescope to some historic scene of long ago, may both derive the +greatest enjoyment from the exercise of their respective gifts, even +though they may not always understand exactly how their results are +produced, and may not have them fully under control under all +circumstances. + +In many cases of the lower manifestations of these powers we find that +they are exercised unconsciously; many a crystal-gazer watches scenes +from the past without being able to distinguish them from visions of +the present, and many a vaguely-psychic person finds pictures +constantly arising before his eyes without ever realizing that he is +in effect psychometrizing the various objects around him as he happens +to touch them or stand near them. + +An interesting variant of this class of psychics is the man who is +able to psychometrize persons only, and not inanimate objects as is +more usual. In most cases this faculty shows itself erratically, so +that such a psychic will, when introduced to a stranger, often see in +a flash some prominent event in that stranger's earlier life, but on +other similar occasions will receive no special impression. More +rarely we meet with someone who gets detailed visions of the past life +of everyone whom he encounters. Perhaps one of the best examples of +this class was the German writer Zschokke, who describes in his +autobiography this extraordinary power of which he found himself +possessed. He says:-- + +"It has happened to me occasionally at the first meeting with a total +stranger, when I have been listening in silence to his conversation, +that his past life up to the present moment, with many minute +circumstances belonging to one or other particular scene in it, has +come across me like a dream, but distinctly, entirely involuntarily +and unsought, occupying in duration a few minutes. + +"For a long time I was disposed to consider these fleeting visions as +a trick of the fancy--the more so as my dream-vision displayed to me +the dress and movements of the actors, the appearance of the room, the +furniture, and other accidents of the scene; till on one occasion, in +a gamesome mood, I narrated to my family the secret history of a +sempstress who had just before quitted the room. I had never seen the +person before. Nevertheless the hearers were astonished, and laughed +and would not be persuaded but that I had a previous acquaintance with +the former life of the person, inasmuch as what I had stated was +perfectly true. + +"I was not less astonished to find that my dream-vision agreed with +reality. I then gave more attention to the subject, and as often as +propriety allowed of it, I related to those whose lives had so passed +before me the substance of my dream-vision, to obtain from them its +contradiction or confirmation. On every occasion its confirmation +followed, not without amazement on the part of those who gave it. + +"On a certain fair-day I went into the town of Waldshut accompanied by +two young foresters, who are still alive. It was evening, and, tired +with our walk, we went into an inn called the 'Vine.' We took our +supper with a numerous company at the public table, when it happened +that they made themselves merry over the peculiarities and simplicity +of the Swiss in connection with the belief in mesmerism, Lavater's +physiognomical system and the like. One of my companions, whose +national pride was touched by their raillery, begged me to make some +reply, particularly in answer to a young man of superior appearance +who sat opposite, and had indulged in unrestrained ridicule. + +"It happened that the events of this person's life had just previously +passed before my mind. I turned to him with the question whether he +would reply to me with truth and candour if I narrated to him the most +secret passages of his history, he being as little known to me as I to +him? That would, I suggested, go something beyond Lavater's +physiognomical skill. He promised if I told the truth to admit it +openly. Then I narrated the events with which my dream-vision had +furnished me, and the table learnt the history of the young +tradesman's life, of his school years, his peccadilloes, and, finally, +of a little act of roguery committed by him on the strong-box of his +employer. I described the uninhabited room with its white walls, where +to the right of the brown door there had stood upon the table the +small black money-chest, etc. The man, much struck, admitted the +correctness of each circumstance--even, which I could not expect, of +the last." + +And after narrating this incident, the worthy Zschokke calmly goes on +to wonder whether perhaps after all this remarkable power, which he +had so often displayed, might not really have been always the result +of mere chance coincidence! + +Comparatively few accounts of persons possessing this faculty of +looking back into the past are to be found in the literature of the +subject, and it might therefore be supposed to be much less common +than prevision. I suspect, however, that the truth is rather that it +is much less commonly recognized. As I said before, it may very easily +happen that a person may see a picture of the past without recognizing +it as such, unless there happens to be in it something which attracts +special attention, such as a figure in armour or in antique costume. A +prevision also might not always be recognized as such at the time; but +the occurrence of the event foreseen recalls it vividly at the same +time that it manifests its nature, so that it is unlikely to be +overlooked. It is probable, therefore, that occasional glimpses of +these astral reflections of the akashic records are commoner than the +published accounts would lead us to believe. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CLAIRVOYANCE IN TIME: THE FUTURE. + + +Even if, in a dim sort of way, we feel ourselves able to grasp the +idea that the whole of the past may be simultaneously and actively +present in a sufficiently exalted consciousness, we are confronted by +a far greater difficulty when we endeavour to realize how all the +future may also be comprehended in that consciousness. If we could +believe in the Mohammedan doctrine of kismet, or the Calvinistic +theory of predestination, the conception would be easy enough, but +knowing as we do that both these are grotesque distortions of the +truth, we must look round for a more acceptable hypothesis. + +There may still be some people who deny the possibility of prevision, +but such denial simply shows their ignorance of the evidence on the +subject. The large number of authenticated cases leaves no room for +doubt as to the fact, but many of them are of such a nature as to +render a reasonable explanation by no means easy to find. It is +evident that the Ego possesses a certain amount of previsional +faculty, and if the events foreseen were always of great importance, +one might suppose that an extraordinary stimulus had enabled him for +that occasion only to make a clear impression of what he saw upon his +lower personality. No doubt that is the explanation of many of the +cases in which death or grave disaster is foreseen, but there are a +large number of instances on record to which it does not seem to +apply, since the events foretold are frequently exceedingly trivial +and unimportant. + +A well-known story of second-sight in Scotland will illustrate what I +mean. A man who had no belief in the occult was forewarned by a +Highland seer of the approaching death of a neighbour. The prophecy +was given with considerable wealth of detail, including a full +description of the funeral, with the names of the four pall-bearers +and others who would be present. The auditor seems to have laughed at +the whole story and promptly forgotten it, but the death of his +neighbour at the time foretold recalled the warning to his mind, and +he determined to falsify part of the prediction at any rate by being +one of the pall-bearers himself. He succeeded in getting matters +arranged as he wished, but just as the funeral was about to start he +was called away from his post by some small matter which detained him +only a minute or two. As he came hurrying back he saw with surprise +that the procession had started without him, and that the prediction +had been exactly fulfilled, for the four pall-bearers were those who +had been indicated in the vision. + +Now here is a very trifling matter, which could have been of no +possible importance to anybody, definitely foreseen months beforehand; +and although a man makes a determined effort to alter the arrangement +indicated he fails entirely to affect it in the least. Certainly this +looks very much like predestination, even down to the smallest detail, +and it is only when we examine this question from higher planes that +we are able to see our way to escape that theory. Of course, as I said +before about another branch of the subject, a full explanation eludes +us as yet, and obviously must do so until our knowledge is infinitely +greater than it is now; the most that we can hope to do for the +present is to indicate the line along which an explanation may be +found. + +There is no doubt whatever that, just as what is happening now is the +result of causes set in motion in the past, so what will happen in the +future will be the result of causes already in operation. Even down +here we can calculate that if certain actions are performed certain +results will follow, but our reckoning is constantly liable to be +disturbed by the interference of factors which we have not been able +to take into account. But if we raise our consciousness to the mental +plane we can see very much farther into the results of our actions. + +We can trace, for example, the effect of a casual word, not only upon +the person to whom it was addressed, but through him on many others as +it is passed on in widening circles, until it seems to have affected +the whole country; and one glimpse of such a vision is far more +efficient than any number of moral precepts in impressing upon us the +necessity of extreme circumspection in thought, word, and deed. Not +only can we from that plane see thus fully the result of every action, +but we can also see where and in what way the results of other actions +apparently quite unconnected with it will interfere with and modify +it. In fact, it may be said that the results of all causes at present +in action are clearly visible--that the future, as it would be if no +entirely new causes should arise, lies open before our gaze. + +New causes of course do arise, because man's will is free; but in the +case of all ordinary people the use which they will make of their +freedom can be calculated beforehand with considerable accuracy. The +average man has so little real will that he is very much the creature +of circumstances; his action in previous lives places him amid certain +surroundings, and their influence upon him is so very much the most +important factor in his life-story that his future course may be +predicted with almost mathematical certainty. With the developed man +the case is different; for him also the main events of life are +arranged by his past actions, but the way in which he will allow them +to affect him, the methods by which he will deal with them and perhaps +triumph over them--these are all his own, and they cannot be foreseen +even on the mental plane except as probabilities. + +Looking down on man's life in this way from above, it seems as though +his free will could be exercised only at certain crises in his career. +He arrives at a point in his life where there are obviously two or +three alternative courses open before him; he is absolutely free to +choose which of them he pleases, and although some one who knew his +nature thoroughly well might feel almost certain what his choice would +be, such knowledge on his friend's part is in no sense a compelling +force. + +But when he _has_ chosen, he has to go through with it and take the +consequences; having entered upon a particular path he may, in many +cases, be forced to go on for a very long way before he has any +opportunity to turn aside. His position is somewhat like that of the +driver of a train; when he comes to a junction he may have the points +set either this way or that, and so can pass on to whichever line he +pleases, but when he _has_ passed on to one of them he is compelled to +run on along the line which he has selected until he reaches another +set of points, where again an opportunity of choice is offered to him. + +Now, in looking down from the mental plane, these points of new +departure would be clearly visible, and all the results of each choice +would lie open before us, certain to be worked out even to the +smallest detail. The only point which would remain uncertain would be +the all-important one as to which choice the man would make. We +should, in fact, have not one but several futures mapped out before +our eyes, without necessarily being able to determine which of them +would materialize itself into accomplished fact. In most instances we +should see so strong a probability that we should not hesitate to come +to a decision, but the case which I have described is certainly +theoretically possible. Still, even this much knowledge would enable +us to do with safety a good deal of prediction; and it is not +difficult for us to imagine that a far higher power than ours might +always be able to foresee which way every choice would go, and +consequently to prophesy with absolute certainty. + +On the buddhic plane, however, no such elaborate process of conscious +calculation is necessary, for, as I said before, in some manner which +down here is totally inexplicable, the past, the present, and the +future, are there all existing simultaneously. One can only accept +this fact, for its cause lies in the faculty of the plane, and the +way in which this higher faculty works is naturally quite +incomprehensible to the physical brain. Yet now and then one may meet +with a hint that seems to bring us a trifle nearer to a dim +possibility of comprehension. One such hint was given by Dr. Oliver +Lodge in his address to the British Association at Cardiff. He said: + +"A luminous and helpful idea is that time is but a relative mode of +regarding things; we progress through phenomena at a certain definite +pace, and this subjective advance we interpret in an objective manner, +as if events moved necessarily in this order and at this precise rate. +But that may be only one mode of regarding them. The events may be in +some sense in existence always, both past and future, and it may be we +who are arriving at them, not they which are happening. The analogy of a +traveller in a railway train is useful; if he could never leave the +train nor alter its pace he would probably consider the landscapes as +necessarily successive and be unable to conceive their co-existence.... +We perceive, therefore, a possible fourth dimensional aspect about time, +the inexorableness of whose flow may be a natural part or our present +limitations. And if we once grasp the idea that past and future may be +actually existing, we can recognize that they may have a controlling +influence on all present action, and the two together may constitute the +'higher plane' or totality of things after which, as it seems to me, we +are impelled to seek, in connection with the directing of form or +determinism, and the action of living beings consciously directed to a +definite and preconceived end." + +Time is not in reality the fourth dimension at all; yet to look at it +for the moment from that point of view is some slight help towards +grasping the ungraspable. Suppose that we hold a wooden cone at right +angles to a sheet of paper, and slowly push it through it point first. +A microbe living on the surface of that sheet of paper, and having no +power of conceiving anything outside of that surface, could not only +never see the cone as a whole, but he could form no sort of conception +of such a body at all. All that he would see would be the sudden +appearance of a tiny circle, which would gradually and mysteriously +grow larger and larger until it vanished from his world as suddenly +and incomprehensibly as it had come into it. + +Thus, what were in reality a series of sections of the cone would +appear to him to be successive stages in the life of a circle, and it +would be impossible for him to grasp the idea that these successive +stages could be seen simultaneously. Yet it is, of course, easy enough +for us, looking down upon the transaction from another dimension, to +see that the microbe is simply under a delusion arising from its own +limitations, and that the cone exists as a whole all the while. Our +own delusion as to past, present, and future is possibly not +dissimilar, and the view that is gained of any sequence of events from +the buddhic plane corresponds to the view of the cone as a whole. +Naturally, any attempt to work out this suggestion lands us in a +series of startling paradoxes; but the fact remains a fact, +nevertheless, and the time will come when it will be clear as noonday +to our comprehension. + +When the pupil's consciousness is fully developed upon the buddhic +plane, therefore, perfect prevision is possible to him, though he may +not--nay, he certainly will not--be able to bring the whole result of +his sight through fully and in order into this light. Still, a great +deal of clear foresight is obviously within his power whenever he +likes to exercise it; and even when he is not exercising it, frequent +flashes of fore-knowledge come through into his ordinary life, so that +he often has an instantaneous intuition as to how things will turn out +even before their inception. + +Short of this perfect prevision we find, as in the previous cases, +that all degrees of this type of clairvoyance exist, from the +occasional vague premonitions which cannot in any true sense be called +sight at all, up to frequent and fairly complete second-sight. The +faculty to which this latter somewhat misleading name has been given +is an extremely interesting one, and would well repay more careful +and systematic study than has ever hitherto been given to it. + +It is best known to us as a not infrequent possession of the Scottish +Highlanders, though it is by no means confined to them. Occasional +instances of it have appeared in almost every nation, but it has +always been commonest among mountaineers and men of lonely life. With +us in England it is often spoken of as though it were the exclusive +appanage of the Celtic race, but in reality it has appeared among +similarly situated peoples the world over. It is stated, for example, +to be very common among the Westphalian peasantry. + +Sometimes the second-sight consists of a picture clearly foreshowing +some coming event; more frequently, perhaps, the glimpse of the future +is given by some symbolical appearance. It is noteworthy that the +events foreseen are invariably unpleasant ones--death being the +commonest of all; I do not recollect a single instance in which the +second-sight has shown anything which was not of the most gloomy +nature. It has a ghastly symbolism which is all its own--a symbolism +of shrouds and corpse-candles, and other funereal horrors. In some +cases it appears to be to a certain extent dependent on locality, for +it is stated that inhabitants of the Isle of Skye who possess the +faculty often lose it when they leave the island, even though it be +only to cross to the mainland. The gift of such sight is sometimes +hereditary in a family for generations, but this is not an invariable +rule, for it often appears sporadically in one member of a family +otherwise free from its lugubrious influence. + +An example in which an accurate vision of a coming event was seen some +months beforehand by second-sight has already been given. Here is +another and perhaps a more striking one, which I give exactly as it +was related to me by one of the actors in the scene. + +"We plunged into the jungle, and had walked on for about an hour +without much success, when Cameron, who happened to be next to me, +stopped suddenly, turned pale as death, and, pointing straight before +him, cried in accents of horror: + +"'See! see! merciful heaven, look there!' + +"'Where? what? what is it?' we all shouted confusedly, as we rushed up +to him and looked round in expectation of encountering a tiger--a +cobra--we hardly knew what, but assuredly something terrible, since it +had been sufficient to cause such evident emotion in our usually +self-contained comrade. But neither tiger nor cobra was +visible--nothing but Cameron pointing with ghastly, haggard face and +starting eyeballs at something we could not see. + +"'Cameron! Cameron' cried I, seizing his arm, "'for heaven's sake, +speak! What is the matter?' + +"Scarcely were the words out of my mouth when a low, but very peculiar +sound struck on my ear, and Cameron, dropping his pointing hand, said +in a hoarse, strained voice, 'There! you heard it? Thank God it's +over' and fell to the ground insensible. + +"There was a momentary confusion while we unfastened his collar, and I +dashed in his face some water which I fortunately had in my flask, +while another tried to pour brandy between his clenched teeth; and +under cover of it I whispered to the man next to me (one of our +greatest sceptics, by the way), 'Beauchamp, did _you_ hear anything?' + +"'Why, yes,' he replied, a curious sound, very; a sort of crash or +rattle far away in the distance, yet very distinct; if the thing were +not utterly impossible, I could have sworn it was the rattle of +musketry.' + +"'Just my impression,' murmured I; 'but hush! he is recovering.' + +"In a minute or two he was able to speak feebly, and began to thank us +and apologize for giving trouble; and soon he sat up, leaning against +a tree, and in a firm, though still low voice said: + +"'My dear friends, I feel I owe you an explanation of my extraordinary +behaviour. It is an explanation that I would fain avoid giving; but it +must come some time, and so may as well be given now. You may perhaps +have noticed that when during our voyage you all joined in scoffing at +dreams, portents and visions, I invariably avoided giving any opinion +on the subject. I did so because, while I had no desire to court +ridicule or provoke discussion, I was unable to agree with you, +knowing only too well from my own dread experience that the world +which men agree to call that of the supernatural is just as real +as--nay, perhaps, even far more real than--this world we see about us. +In other words, I, like many of my countrymen, am cursed with the gift +of second-sight--that awful faculty which foretells in vision +calamities that are shortly to occur. + +"'Such a vision I had just now, and its exceptional horror moved me as +you have seen. I saw before me a corpse--not that of one who has died +a peaceful natural death, but that of the victim of some terrible +accident; a ghastly, shapeless mass, with a face swollen, crushed, +unrecognizable. I saw this dreadful object placed in a coffin, and the +funeral service performed over it. I saw the burial-ground, I saw the +clergyman: and though I had never seen either before, I can picture +both perfectly in my mind's eye now; I saw you, myself, Beauchamp, all +of us and many more, standing round as mourners; I saw the soldiers +raise their muskets after the service was over; I heard the volley +they fired--and then I knew no more.' + +"As he spoke of that volley of musketry I glanced across with a +shudder at Beauchamp, and the look of stony horror on that handsome +sceptic's face was not to be forgotten." + +This is only one incident (and by no means the principal one) in a +very remarkable story of psychic experience, but as for the moment we +are concerned merely with the example of second-sight which it gives +us, I need only say that later in the day the party of young soldiers +discovered the body of their commanding officer in the terrible +condition so graphically described by Mr. Cameron. The narrative +continues: + +"When, on the following evening, we arrived at our destination, and +our melancholy deposition had been taken down by the proper +authorities, Cameron and I went out for a quiet walk, to endeavour +with the assistance of the soothing influence of nature to shake off +something of the gloom which paralyzed our spirits. Suddenly he +clutched my arm, and, pointing through some rude railings, said in a +trembling voice, 'Yes, there it is! that is the burial-ground I saw +yesterday.' And when later on we were introduced to the chaplain of +the post, I noticed, though my friends did not, the irrepressible +shudder with which Cameron took his hand, and I knew that he had +recognized the clergyman of his vision." + +As for the occult rationale of all this, I presume Mr. Cameron's +vision was a pure case of second-sight, and if so the fact that the +two men who were evidently nearest to him (certainly one--probably +both--actually touching him) participated in it to the limited extent +of hearing the concluding volley, while the others who were not so +close did not, would show that the intensity with which the vision +impressed itself upon the seer occasioned vibrations in his mind-body +which were communicated to those of the persons in contact with him, +as in ordinary thought-transference. Anyone who wishes to read the +rest of the story will find it in the pages of _Lucifer_, vol. xx., p. +457. + +Scores of examples of similar nature to these might easily be +collected. With regard to the symbolical variety of this sight, it is +commonly stated among those who possess it that if on meeting a living +person they see a phantom shroud wrapped around him, it is a sure +prognostication of his death. The date of the approaching decease is +indicated either by the extent to which the shroud covers the body, or +by the time of day at which the vision is seen; for if it be in the +early morning they say that the man will die during the same day, but +if it be in the evening, then it will be only some time within a year. + +Another variant (and a remarkable one) of the symbolic form of +second-sight is that in which the headless apparition of the person +whose death is foretold manifests itself to the seer. An example of +that class is given in _Signs before Death_ as having happened in the +family of Dr. Ferrier, though in that case, if I recollect rightly, +the vision did not occur until the time of the death, or very near it. + +Turning from seers who are regularly in possession of a certain +faculty, although its manifestations are only occasionally fully under +their control, we are confronted by a large number of isolated +instances of prevision in the case of people with whom it is not in +any way a regular faculty. Perhaps the majority of these occur in +dreams, although examples of the waking vision are by no means +wanting. Sometimes the prevision refers to an event of distinct +importance to the seer, and so justifies the action of the Ego in +taking the trouble to impress it. In other cases, the event is one +which is of no apparent importance, or is not in any way connected +with the man to whom the vision comes. Sometimes it is clear that the +intention of the Ego (or the communicating entity, whatever it may be) +is to warn the lower self of the approach of some calamity, either in +order that it may be prevented or, if that be not possible, that the +shock may be minimized by preparation. + +The event most frequently thus foreshadowed is, perhaps not +unnaturally, death--sometimes the death of the seer himself, sometimes +that of one dear to him. This type of prevision is so common in the +literature of the subject, and its object is so obvious, that we need +hardly cite examples of it; but one or two instances in which the +prophetic sight, though clearly useful, was yet of a less sombre +character, will prove not uninteresting to the reader. The following +is culled from that storehouse of the student of the uncanny, Mrs. +Crowe's _Night Side of Nature_, p. 72. + +"A few years ago Dr. Watson, now residing at Glasgow, dreamt that he +received a summons to attend a patient at a place some miles from +where he was living; that he started on horseback, and that as he was +crossing a moor he saw a bull making furiously at him, whose horns he +only escaped by taking refuge on a spot inaccessible to the animal, +where he waited a long time till some people, observing his situation, +came to his assistance and released him. + +"Whilst at breakfast on the following morning the summons came, and +smiling at the odd coincidence (as he thought it), he started on +horseback. He was quite ignorant of the road he had to go, but by and +by he arrived at the moor, which he recognised, and presently the bull +appeared, coming full tilt towards him. But his dream had shown him +the place of refuge, for which he instantly made, and there he spent +three or four hours, besieged by the animal, till the country people +set him free. Dr. Watson declares that but for the dream he should not +have known in what direction to run for safety." + +Another case, in which a much longer interval separated the warning +and its fulfilment, is given by Dr. F. G. Lee, in _Glimpses of the +Supernatural_, vol. i., p. 240. + +"Mrs. Hannah Green, the housekeeper of a country family in +Oxfordshire, dreamt one night that she had been left alone in the +house upon a Sunday evening, and that hearing a knock at the door of +the chief entrance she went to it and there found an ill-looking tramp +armed with a bludgeon, who insisted on forcing himself into the house. +She thought that she struggled for some time to prevent him so doing, +but quite ineffectually, and that, being struck down by him and +rendered insensible, he thereupon gained ingress to the mansion. On +this she awoke. + +"As nothing happened for a considerable period the circumstance of the +dream was soon forgotten, and, as she herself asserts, had altogether +passed away from her mind. However, seven years afterwards this same +housekeeper was left with two other servants to take charge of an +isolated mansion at Kensington (subsequently the town residence of the +family), when on a certain Sunday evening, her fellow-servants having +gone out and left her alone, she was suddenly startled by a loud knock +at the front door. + +"All of a sudden the remembrance of her former dream returned to her +with singular vividness and remarkable force, and she felt her lonely +isolation greatly. Accordingly, having at once lighted a lamp on the +hall table--during which act the loud knock was repeated with +vigour--she took the precaution to go up to a landing on the stair and +throw up the window; and there to her intense terror she saw in the +flesh the very man whom years previously she had seen in her dream, +armed with the bludgeon and demanding an entrance. + +"With great presence of mind she went down to the chief entrance, made +that and other doors and windows more secure, and then rang the +various bells of the house violently, and placed lights in the upper +rooms. It was concluded that by these acts the intruder was scared +away." + +Evidently in this case also the dream was of practical use, as without +it the worthy housekeeper would without doubt from sheer force of +habit have opened the door in the ordinary way in answer to the knock. + +It is not, however, only in dream that the Ego impresses his lower +self with what he thinks it well for it to know. Many instances +showing this might be taken from the books, but instead of quoting +from them I will give a case related only a few weeks ago by a lady of +my acquaintance--a case which, although not surrounded with any +romantic incident, has at least the merit of being new. + +My friend, then, has two quite young children, and a little while ago +the elder of them caught (as was supposed) a bad cold, and suffered +for some days from a complete stoppage in the upper part of the nose. +The mother thought little of this, expecting it to pass off, until one +day she suddenly saw before her in the air what she describes as a +picture of a room, in the centre of which was a table on which her +child was lying insensible or dead, with some people bending over her. +The minutest details of the scene were clear to her, and she +particularly noticed that the child wore a white night-dress, whereas +she knew that all garments of that description possessed by her little +daughter happened to be pink. + +This vision impressed her considerably, and suggested to her for the +first time that the child might be suffering from something more +serious than a cold, so she carried her off to a hospital for +examination. The surgeon who attended to her discovered the presence +of a dangerous growth in the nose, which he pronounced must be +removed. A few days later the child was taken to the hospital for the +operation, and was put to bed. When the mother arrived at the hospital +she found she had forgotten to bring one of the child's night-dresses, +and so the nurses had to supply one, which was _white_. In this white +dress the operation was performed on the girl the next day, in the +room that her mother saw in her vision, every circumstance being +exactly reproduced. + +In all these cases the prevision achieved its result, but the books +are full of stories of warnings neglected or scouted, and of the +disaster that consequently followed. In some cases the information is +given to someone who has practically no power to interfere in the +matter, as in the historic instance when John Williams, a Cornish +mine-manager, foresaw in the minutest detail, eight or nine days +before it took place, the assassination of Mr. Spencer Perceval, the +then Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the lobby of the House of +Commons. Even in this case, however, it is just possible that +something might have been done, for we read that Mr. Williams was so +much impressed that he consulted his friends as to whether he ought +not to go up to London to warn Mr. Perceval. Unfortunately they +dissuaded him, and the assassination took place. It does not seem very +probable that, even if he had gone up to town and related his story, +much attention would have been paid to him, still there is just the +possibility that some precautions might have been taken which would +have prevented the murder. + +There is little to show us what particular action on higher planes led +to this curious prophetic vision. The parties were entirely unknown to +one another, so that it was not caused by any close sympathy between +them. If it was an attempt made by some helper to avert the threatened +doom, it seems strange that no one who was sufficiently impressible +could be found nearer than Cornwall. Perhaps Mr. Williams, when on the +astral plane during sleep, somehow came across this reflection of the +future, and being naturally horrified thereby, passed it on to his +lower mind in the hope that somehow something might be done to +prevent it; but it is impossible to diagnose the case with certainty +without examining the akashic records to see what actually took place. + +A typical instance of the absolutely purposeless foresight is that +related by Mr. Stead, in his _Real Ghost Stories_ (p. 83), of his +friend Miss Freer, commonly known as Miss X. When staying at a country +house this lady, being wide awake and fully conscious, once saw a +dogcart drawn by a white horse standing at the hall door, with two +strangers in it, one of whom got out of the cart and stood playing +with a terrier. She noticed that he was wearing an ulster, and also +particularly observed the fresh wheel-marks made by the cart on the +gravel. Nevertheless there was no cart there at the time; but half an +hour later two strangers _did_ drive up in such an equipage, and every +detail of the lady's vision was accurately fulfilled. Mr. Stead goes +on to cite another instance of equally purposeless prevision where +seven years separated the dream (for in this case it was a dream) and +its fulfilment. + +All these instances (and they are merely random selections from many +hundreds) show that a certain amount of prevision is undoubtedly +possible to the Ego, and such cases would evidently be much more +frequent if it were not for the exceeding density and lack of response +in the lower vehicles of the majority of what we call civilized +mankind--qualities chiefly attributable to the gross practical +materialism of the present age. I am not thinking of any profession of +materialistic belief as common, but of the fact that in all practical +affairs of daily life nearly everyone is guided solely by +considerations of worldly interest in some shape or other. + +In many cases the Ego himself may be an undeveloped one, and his +prevision consequently very vague; in others he himself may see +clearly, but may find his lower vehicles so unimpressible that all he +can succeed in getting through into his physical brain may be an +indefinite presage of coming disaster. Again, there are cases in which +a premonition is not the work of the Ego at all, but of some outside +entity, who for some reason takes a friendly interest in the person to +whom the feeling comes. In the work which I quoted above, Mr. Stead +tells us of the certainty which he felt many months beforehand that be +would be left in charge of the _Pall Mall Gazette_ though from an +ordinary point of view nothing seemed less probable. Whether that +fore-knowledge was the result of an impression made by his own Ego or +of a friendly hint from someone else it is impossible to say without +definite investigation, but his confidence in it was fully justified. + +There is one more variety of clairvoyance in time which ought not to +be left without mention. It is a comparatively rare one, but there +are enough examples on record to claim our attention, though +unfortunately the particulars given do not usually include those which +we should require in order to be able to diagnose it with certainty. I +refer to the cases in which spectral armies or phantom flocks of +animals have been seen. In _The Night Side of Nature_ (p. 462 _et +seq._) we have accounts of several such visions. We are there told how +at Havarah Park, near Ripley, a body of soldiers in white uniform, +amounting to several hundreds, was seen by reputable people to go +through various evolutions and then vanish; and how some years earlier +a similar visionary army was seen in the neighbourhood of Inverness by +a respectable farmer and his son. + +In this case also the number of troops was very great, and the +spectators had not the slightest doubt at first that they were +substantial forms of flesh and blood. They counted at least sixteen +pairs of columns, and had abundance of time to observe every +particular. The front ranks marched seven abreast, and were +accompanied by a good many women and children, who were carrying tin +cans and other implements of cookery. The men were clothed in red, and +their arms shone brightly in the sun. In the midst of them was an +animal, a deer or a horse, they could not distinguish which, that they +were driving furiously forward with their bayonets. + +The younger of the two men observed to the other that every now and +then the rear ranks were obliged to run to overtake the van; and the +elder one, who had been a soldier, remarked that that was always the +case, and recommended him if he ever served to try to march in the +front. There was only one mounted officer; he rode a grey dragoon +horse, and wore a gold-laced hat and blue Hussar cloak, with wide open +sleeves lined with red. The two spectators observed him so +particularly that they said afterwards they should recognize him +anywhere. They were, however, afraid of being ill-treated or forced to +go along with the troops, whom they concluded to have come from +Ireland, and landed at Kyntyre; and whilst they were climbing over a +dyke to get out of their way, the whole thing vanished. + +A phenomenon of the same sort was observed in the earlier part of this +century at Paderborn in Westphalia, and seen by at least thirty +people; but as, some years later, a review of twenty thousand men was +held on the very same spot, it was concluded that the vision must have +been some sort of second-sight--a faculty not uncommon in the +district. + +Such spectral hosts, however, are sometimes seen where an army of +ordinary men could by no possibility have marched, either before or +after. One of the most remarkable accounts of such apparitions is +given by Miss Harriet Martineau, in her description of _The English +Lakes_. She writes as follows:-- + +"This Souter or Soutra Fell is the mountain on which ghosts appeared +in myriads, at intervals during ten years of the last century, +presenting the same appearances to twenty-six chosen witnesses, and to +all the inhabitants of all the cottages within view of the mountain, +and for a space of two hours and a half at one time--the spectral show +being closed by darkness! The mountain, be it remembered, is full of +precipices, which defy all marching of bodies of men; and the north +and west sides present a sheer perpendicular of 900 feet. + +"On Midsummer Eve, 1735, a farm servant of Mr. Lancaster, half a mile +from the mountain, saw the eastern side of its summit covered with +troops, which pursued their onward march for an hour. They came, in +distinct bodies, from an eminence on the north end, and disappeared in +a niche in the summit. When the poor fellow told his tale, he was +insulted on all hands, as original observers usually are when they see +anything wonderful. Two years after, also on a Midsummer Eve, Mr. +Lancaster saw some men there, apparently following their horses, as if +they had returned from hunting. He thought nothing of this; but he +happened to look up again ten minutes after, and saw the figures, now +mounted, and followed by an interminable array of troops, five +abreast, marching from the eminence and over the cleft as before. All +the family saw this, and the manoeuvres of the force, as each +company was kept in order by a mounted officer, who galloped this way +and that. As the shades of twilight came on, the discipline appeared +to relax, and the troops intermingled, and rode at unequal paces, till +all was lost in darkness. Now of course all the Lancasters were +insulted, as their servant had been; but their justification was not +long delayed. + +"On the Midsummer Eve of the fearful 1745, twenty-six persons, +expressly summoned by the family, saw all that had been seen before, +and more. Carriages were now interspersed with the troops; and +everybody knew that no carriages had been, or could be, on the summit +of Souter Fell. The multitude was beyond imagination; for the troops +filled a space of half a mile, and marched quickly till night hid +them--still marching. There was nothing vaporous or indistinct about +the appearance of these spectres. So real did they seem, that some of +the people went up, the next morning, to look for the hoof-marks of +the horses; and awful it was to them to find not one foot-print on +heather or grass. The witnesses attested the whole story on oath +before a magistrate; and fearful were the expectations held by the +whole country-side about the coming events of the Scotch rebellion. + +"It now comes out that two other persons had seen something of the +sort in the interval--_viz._, in 1743--but had concealed it, to escape +the insults to which their neighbours were subjected. Mr. Wren, of +Wilton Hall, and his farm servant, saw, one summer evening, a man and +a dog on the mountain, pursuing some horses along a place so steep +that a horse could hardly by any possibility keep a footing on it. +Their speed was prodigious, and their disappearance at the south end +of the fell so rapid, that Mr. Wren and the servant went up, the next +morning, to find the body of the man who must have been killed. Of +man, horse, or dog, they found not a trace and they came down and held +their tongues. When they did speak, they fared not much better for +having twenty-six sworn comrades in their disgrace. + +"As for the explanation, the editor of the _Lonsdale Magazine_ +declared (vol. ii., p. 313) that it was discovered that on the +Midsummer Eve of 1745 the rebels were 'exercising on the western coast +of Scotland, whose movements had been reflected by some transparent +vapour, similar to the Fata Morgana.' This is not much in the way of +explanation; but it is, as far as we know, all that can be had at +present. These facts, however, brought out a good many more; as the +spectral march of the same kind seen in Leicestershire in 1707, and +the tradition of the tramp of armies over Helvellyn, on the eve of the +battle of Marston Moor." + +Other cases are cited in which flocks of spectral sheep have been seen +on certain roads, and there are of course various German stories of +phantom cavalcades of hunters and robbers. + +Now in these cases, as so often happens in the investigation of occult +phenomena, there are several possible causes, any one of which would +be quite adequate to the production of the observed occurrences, but +in the absence of fuller information it is hardly feasible to do more +than guess as to which of these possible causes were in operation in +any particular instance. + +The explanation usually suggested (whenever the whole story is not +ridiculed as a falsehood) is that what is seen is a reflection by +mirage of the movements of a real body of troops, taking place at a +considerable distance. I have myself seen the ordinary mirage on +several occasions, and know something therefore of its wonderful +powers of deception; but it seems to me that we should need some +entirely new variety of mirage, quite different from that at present +known to science, to account for these tales of phantom armies, some +of which pass the spectator within a few yards. + +First of all, they may be, as apparently in the Westphalian case above +mentioned, simply instances of prevision on a gigantic scale--by whom +arranged, and for what purpose, it is not easy to divine. Again, they +may often belong to the past instead of the future, and be in fact the +reflection of scenes from the akashic records--though here again the +reason and method of such reflection is not obvious. + +There are plenty of tribes of nature-spirits perfectly capable, if for +any reason they wished to do so, of producing such appearances by +their wonderful power of glamour (see _Theosophical Manual, No. V._, +p. 60), and such action would be quite in keeping with their delight +in mystifying and impressing human beings. Or it may even sometimes be +kindly intended by them as a warning to their friends of events that +they know to be about to take place. It seems as though some +explanation along these lines would be the most reasonable method of +accounting for the extraordinary series of phenomena described by Miss +Martineau--that is, if the stories told to her can be relied upon. + +Another possibility is that in some cases what have been taken for +soldiers were simply the nature-spirits themselves going through some +of the ordered evolutions in which they take so much delight, though +it must be admitted that these are rarely of a character which could +be mistaken for military manoeuvres except by the most ignorant. + +The flocks of animals are probably in most instances mere records, but +there are cases where they, like the "wild huntsmen" of German story, +belong to an entirely different class of phenomena, which is +altogether outside of our present subject. Students of the occult +will be familiar with the fact that the circumstances surrounding any +scene of intense terror or passion, such as an exceptionally horrible +murder, are liable to be occasionally reproduced in a form which it +needs a very slight development of psychic faculty to be able to see +and it has sometimes happened that various animals formed part of such +surroundings, and consequently they also are periodically reproduced +by the action of the guilty conscience of the murderer (see _Manual +V._, p. 83). + +Probably whatever foundation of fact underlies the various stories of +spectral horsemen and hunting-troops may generally be referred to this +category. This is also the explanation, evidently, of some of the +visions of ghostly armies, such as that remarkable re-enactment of the +battle of Edgehill which seems to have taken place at intervals for +some months after the date of the real struggle, as testified by a +justice of the peace, a clergyman, and other eye-witnesses, in a +curious contemporary pamphlet entitled _Prodigious Noises of War and +Battle, at Edgehill, near Keinton, in Northamptonshire_. According to +the pamphlet this case was investigated at the time by some officers +of the army, who clearly recognized many of the phantom figures that +they saw. This looks decidedly like an instance of the terrible power +of man's unrestrained passions to reproduce themselves, and to cause +in some strange way a kind of materialization of their record. + +In some cases it is clear that the flocks of animals seen have been +simply hordes of unclean artificial elementals taking that form in +order to feed upon the loathsome emanations of peculiarly horrible +places, such as would be the site of a gallows. An instance of this +kind is furnished by the celebrated "Gyb Ghosts," or ghosts of the +gibbet, described in _More Glimpses of the World Unseen_, p. 109, as +being repeatedly seen in the form of herds of mis-shapen swine-like +creatures, rushing, rooting and fighting night after night on the site +of that foul monument of crime. But these belong to the subject of +apparitions rather than to that of clairvoyance. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +METHODS OF DEVELOPMENT. + + +When a man becomes convinced of the reality of the valuable power of +clairvoyance, his first question usually is, "How can I develop in my +own case this faculty which is said to be latent in everyone?" + +Now the fact is that there are many methods by which it may be +developed, but only one which can be at all safely recommended for +general use--that of which we shall speak last of all. Among the less +advanced nations of the world the clairvoyant state has been produced +in various objectionable ways; among some of the non-Aryan tribes of +India, by the use of intoxicating drugs or the inhaling of stupefying +fumes; among the dervishes, by whirling in a mad dance of religious +fervour until vertigo and insensibility supervene; among the followers +of the abominable practices of the Voodoo cult, by frightful +sacrifices and loathsome rites of black magic. Methods such as these +are happily not in vogue in our own race, yet even among us large +numbers of dabblers in this ancient art adopt some plan of +self-hypnotization, such as the gazing at a bright spot or the +repetition of some formula until a condition of semi-stupefaction is +produced; while yet another school among them would endeavour to +arrive at similar results by the use of some of the Indian systems of +regulation of the breath. + +All these methods are unequivocally to be condemned as quite unsafe +for the practice of the ordinary man who has no idea of what he is +doing--who is simply making vague experiments in an unknown world. +Even the method of obtaining clairvoyance by allowing oneself to be +mesmerized by another person is one from which I should myself shrink +with the most decided distaste; and assuredly it should never be +attempted except under conditions of absolute trust and affection +between the magnetizer and the magnetized, and a perfection of purity +in heart and soul, in mind and intention, such as is rarely to be seen +among any but the greatest of saints. + +Experiments in connection with the mesmeric trance are of the deepest +interest, as offering (among other things) a possibility of proof of +the fact of clairvoyance to the sceptic, yet except under such +conditions as I have just mentioned--conditions, I quite admit, almost +impossible to realize--I should never counsel anyone to submit himself +as a subject for them. + +Curative mesmerism (in which, without putting the patient into the +trance state at all, an effort is made to relieve his pain, to remove +his disease, or to pour vitality into him by magnetic passes) stands +on an entirely different footing; and if the mesmerizer, even though +quite untrained, is himself in good health and animated by pure +intentions, no harm is likely to be done to the subject. In so extreme +a case as that of a surgical operation, a man might reasonably submit +himself even to the mesmeric trance, but it is certainly not a +condition with which one ought lightly to experiment. Indeed, I should +most strongly advise any one who did me the honour to ask for my +opinion on the subject, not to attempt any kind of experimental +investigation into what are still to him the abnormal forces of +nature, until he has first of all read carefully everything that has +been written on the subject, or--which is by far the best of +all--until he is under the guidance of a qualified teacher. + +But where, it will be said, is the qualified teacher to be found? Not, +most assuredly, among any who advertise themselves as teachers, who +offer to impart for so many guineas or dollars the sacred mysteries of +the ages, or hold "developing circles" to which casual applicants are +admitted at so much per head. + +Much has been said in this treatise of the necessity for careful +training--of the immense advantages of the trained over the untrained +clairvoyant; but that again brings us back to the same question--where +is this definite training to be had? + +The answer is, that the training may be had precisely where it has +always been to be found since the world's history began--at the hands +of the Great White Brotherhood of Adepts, which stands now, as it has +always stood, at the back of human evolution, guiding and helping it +under the sway of the great cosmic laws which represent to us the Will +of the Eternal. + +But how, it may be asked, is access to be gained to them? How is the +aspirant thirsting for knowledge to signify to them his wish for +instruction? + +Once more, by the time-honoured methods only. There is no new patent +whereby a man can qualify himself without trouble to become a pupil in +that School--no royal road to the learning which has to be acquired in +it. At the present day, just as in the mists of antiquity, the man who +wishes to attract their notice must enter upon the slow and toilsome +path of self-development--must learn first of all to take himself in +hand and make himself all that he ought to be. The steps of that path +are no secret; I have given them in full detail in _Invisible +Helpers_, so I need not repeat them here. But it is no easy road to +follow, and yet sooner or later all must follow it, for the great law +of evolution sweeps mankind slowly but resistlessly towards its goal. + +From those who are pressing into this path the great Masters select +their pupils, and it is only by qualifying himself to be taught that a +man can put himself in the way of getting the teaching. Without that +qualification, membership in any Lodge or Society, whether secret or +otherwise, will not advance his object in the slightest degree. It is +true, as we all know, that it was at the instance of some of these +Masters that our Theosophical Society was founded, and that from its +ranks some have been chosen to pass into closer relations with them. +But that choice depends upon the earnestness of the candidate, not +upon his mere membership of the Society or of any body within it. + +That, then, is the only absolutely safe way of developing +clairvoyance--to enter with all one's energy upon the path of moral +and mental evolution, at one stage of which this and other of the +higher faculties will spontaneously begin to show themselves. Yet +there is one practice which is advised by all the religions +alike--which if adopted carefully and reverently can do no harm to any +human being, yet from which a very pure type of clairvoyance has +sometimes been developed; and that is the practice of meditation. + +Let a man choose a certain time every day--a time when he can rely +upon being quiet and undisturbed, though preferably in the daytime +rather than at night--and set himself at that time to keep his mind +for a few minutes entirely free from all earthly thoughts of any kind +whatever and, when that is achieved, to direct the whole force of his +being towards the highest spiritual ideal that he happens to know. He +will find that to gain such perfect control of thought is enormously +more difficult than he supposes, but when he attains it it cannot but +be in every way most beneficial to him, and as he grows more and more +able to elevate and concentrate his thought, he may gradually find +that new worlds are opening before his sight. + +As a preliminary training towards the satisfactory achievement of such +meditation, he will find it desirable to make a practice of +concentration in the affairs of daily life--even in the smallest of +them. If he writes a letter, let him think of nothing else but that +letter until it is finished if he reads a book, let him see to it that +his thought is never allowed to wander from his author's meaning. He +must learn to hold his mind in check, and to be master of that also, +as well as of his lower passions he must patiently labour to acquire +absolute control of his thoughts, so that he will always know exactly +what he is thinking about, and why--so that he can use his mind, and +turn it or hold it still, as a practised swordsman turns his weapon +where he will. + +Yet after all, if those who so earnestly desire clairvoyance could +possess it temporarily for a day or even an hour, it is far from +certain that they would choose to retain the gift. True, it opens +before them new worlds of study, new powers of usefulness, and for +this latter reason most of us feel it worth while; but it should be +remembered that for one whose duty still calls him to live in the +world it is by no means an unmixed blessing. Upon one in whom that +vision is opened the sorrow and the misery, the evil and the greed of +the world press as an ever-present burden, until in the earlier days +of his knowledge he often feels inclined to echo the passionate +adjuration contained in those rolling lines of Schiller's: + + Dien Orakel zu verkuenden, warum warfest du mich hin + In die Stadt der ewig Blinden, mit dem aufgeschloss'nen Sinn? + Frommt's, den Schleier aufzuheben, wo das nahe Schreckniss droht? + Nur der Irrthum ist das Leben; dieses Wissen ist der Tod. + Nimm, O nimm die traur'ge Klarheit mir vom Aug' den blut'gen Schein! + Schrecklich ist es deiner Wahrheit sterbliches Gefaess zu seyn! + +which may perhaps be translated "Why hast thou cast me thus into the +town of the ever-blind, to proclaim thine oracle by the opened sense? +What profits it to lift the veil where the near darkness threatens? +Only ignorance is life; this knowledge is death. Take back this sad +clear-sightedness; take from mine eyes this cruel light! It is +horrible to be the mortal channel of thy truth." And again later he +cries, "Give me back my blindness, the happy darkness of my senses; +take back thy dreadful gift!" + +But this of course is a feeling which passes, for the higher sight +soon shows the pupil something beyond the sorrow--soon bears in upon +his soul the overwhelming certainty that, whatever appearances down +here may seem to indicate, all things are without shadow of doubt +working together for the eventual good of all. He reflects that the +sin and the suffering are there, whether he is able to perceive them +or not, and that when he can see them he is after all better able to +give efficient help than he would be if he were working in the dark; +and so by degrees he learns to bear his share of the heavy karma of +the world. + +Some misguided mortals there are who, having the good fortune to +possess some slight touch of this higher power, are nevertheless so +absolutely destitute of all right feeling in connection with it as to +use it for the most sordid ends--actually even to advertise themselves +as "test and business clairvoyants!" Needless to say, such use of the +faculty is a mere prostitution and degradation of it, showing that its +unfortunate possessor has somehow got hold of it before the moral side +of his nature has been sufficiently developed to stand the strain +which it imposes. A perception of the amount of evil karma that may be +generated by such action in a very short time changes one's disgust +into pity for the unhappy perpetrator of that sacrilegious folly. + +It is sometimes objected that the possession of clairvoyance destroys +all privacy, and confers a limit-less ability to explore the secrets +of others. No doubt it does confer such an _ability_, but nevertheless +the suggestion is an amusing one to anyone who knows anything +practically about the matter. Such an objection may possibly be +well-founded as regards the very limited powers of the "test and +business clairvoyant," but the man who brings it forward against those +who have had the faculty opened for them in the course of their +instruction, and consequently possess it fully, is forgetting three +fundamental facts: first, that it is quite inconceivable that anyone, +having before him the splendid fields for investigation which true +clairvoyance opens up, could ever have the slightest wish to pry into +the trumpery little secrets of any individual man; secondly, that even +if by some impossible chance our clairvoyant _had_ such indecent +curiosity about matters of petty gossip, there is, after all, such a +thing as the honour of a gentleman, which, on that plane as on this, +would of course prevent him from contemplating for an instant the idea +of gratifying it; and thirdly, in case, by any unheard-of possibility, +one might encounter some variety of low-class pitri with whom the +above considerations would have no weight, full instructions are +always given to every pupil, as soon as he develops any sign of +faculty, as to the limitations which are placed upon its use. + +Put briefly, these restrictions are that there shall be no prying, no +selfish use of the power, and no displaying of phenomena. That is to +say, that the same considerations which would govern the actions of a +man of right feeling upon the physical plane are expected to apply +upon the astral and mental planes also; that the pupil is never under +any circumstances to use the power which his additional knowledge +gives to him in order to promote his own worldly advantage, or indeed +in connection with gain in any way; and that he is never to give what +is called in spiritualistic circles "a test"--that is, to do anything +which will incontestably prove to sceptics on the physical plane that +he possesses what to them would appear to be an abnormal power. + +With regard to this latter proviso people often say, "But why should +he not? it would be so easy to confute and convince your sceptic, and +it would do him good!" Such critics lose sight of the fact that, in +the first place, none of those who know anything _want_ to confute or +convince sceptics, or trouble themselves in the slightest degree about +the sceptic's attitude one way or the other; and in the second, they +fail to understand how much better it is for that sceptic that he +should gradually grow into an intellectual appreciation of the facts +of nature, instead of being suddenly introduced to them by a +knock-down blow, as it were. But the subject was fully considered +many years ago in Mr. Sinnet's _Occult World_, and it is needless to +repeat again the arguments there adduced. + +It is very hard for some of our friends to realize that the silly +gossip and idle curiosity which so entirely fill the lives of the +brainless majority on earth can have no place in the more real life of +the disciple; and so they sometimes enquire whether, even without any +special wish to see, a clairvoyant might not casually observe some +secret which another person was trying to keep, in the same way as +one's glance might casually fall upon a sentence in someone else's +letter which happened to be lying open upon the table. Of course he +might, but what if he did? The man of honour would at once avert his +eyes, in one case as in the other, and it would be as though he had +not seen. If objectors could but grasp the idea that no pupil _cares_ +about other people's business, except when it comes within his +province to try to help them, and that he has always a world of work +of his own to attend to, they would not be so hopelessly far from +understanding the facts of the wider life of the trained clairvoyant. + +Even from the little that I have said with regard to the restrictions +laid upon the pupil, it will be obvious that in very many cases he +will know much more than he is at liberty to say. That is of course +true in a far wider sense of the great Masters of Wisdom themselves, +and that is why those who have the privilege of occasionally entering +their presence pay so much respect to their lightest word even on +subjects quite apart from the direct teaching. For the opinion of a +Master, or even of one of his higher pupils, upon any subject is that +of a man whose opportunity of judging accurately is out of all +proportion to ours. + +His position and his extended faculties are in reality the heritage of +all mankind, and, far though we may now be from those grand powers, +they will none the less certainly be ours one day. Yet how different a +place will this old world be when humanity as a whole possesses the +higher clairvoyance! Think what the difference will be to history when +all can read the records; to science, when all the processes about +which now men theorize can be watched through all their course; to +medicine, when doctor and patient alike can see clearly and exactly +all that is being done; to philosophy, when there is no longer any +possibility of discussion as to its basis, because all alike can see a +wider aspect of the truth; to labour, when all work will be joy, +because every man will be put only to that which he can do best; to +education, when the minds and hearts of the children are open to the +teacher who is trying to form their character; to religion, when there +is no longer any possibility of dispute as to its broad dogmas, since +the truth about the states after death, and the Great Law that +governs the world, will be patent to all eyes. + +Above all, how far easier it will be then for the evolved men to help +one another under those so much freer conditions! The possibilities +that open before the mind are as glorious vistas stretching in all +directions, so that our seventh round should indeed be a veritable +golden age. Well for us that these grand faculties will not be +possessed by all humanity until it has evolved to a far higher level +in morality as well as in wisdom, else should we but repeat once more +under still worse conditions the terrible downfall of the great +Atlantean civilization, whose members failed to realize that increased +power meant increased responsibility. Yet we ourselves were most of us +among those very men let us hope that we have learnt wisdom by that +failure, and that when the possibilities of the wider life open before +us once more, this time we shall bear the trial better. + + + + +INDEX + + + PAGE + +Advantages of astral vision, 41, 65, 71 + mental vision, 79 + training, 20, 56, 70, 103, 116, 121 + +Akashic records, 85, 97 _et seq._, 160 + +Apparitions, 54 + +Armies, phantom, 154 + +Assassination of Mr. Perceval, 151 + +Aspect of the records, 115 + +Astral body, 69 + counterpart 16 + current, 62 _et seq._, 88, 95 + matter, polarization of, 63 + senses, 17 + sight, 37 _et seq._, 59 _et seq._, 66 + telescope, 65, 85, 103 + world, 81, 103 + +Aura, the, 42 _et seq._, 101 + + +Balance, 126 + +Bat's cry, experiment with, 11 + +Battle of Edgehill, 161 + +Body, the astral, 69 + the causal, 101 + +Brownies, 33 + +Buddhic faculty, 18, 108, 136, 139 + +Bull and the doctor, the story of, 147 + + +Causal body, 101 + +Centres of vitality, 14, 17 + +Cerebro-spinal system, 22 + +Ceremonies used to gain clairvoyance, 52, 163 + +Certainty of eventual good, 174 + +Character, judgment of, 42 + +Chakrams, 14-17 + +Chord of a man, the, 80 + +Clairaudience, 6, 69 _et seq._ + +Clairvoyance by drugs or ceremonies, 52 _et seq._, 163 + casual, 93 + does it destroy privacy?, 171 + +Clairvoyance during sleep, 26 + how first manifested, 26 + hysterical, 53 + limitations of, 79, 81, 171 + meaning of word, 5 + occasional flashes of, 23 + of the uncultured, 21 + on mental plane, 56 + on trivial subjects, 55, 95, 152 + partial and temporary, 54 + restrictions upon, 81, 171 + sadness of, 169 + under mesmerism, 24, 52, 164 + +Clairvoyants, "test and business", 51, 170 + +Classification of phenomena, 27 + +Colours, new, 35 + +Common-sense in occultism, necessity of, 125 + +Consciousness, continuous, 46 + the focus of, 31 + +Considerations, preliminary, 7 + +Contemplation, 167 + +Continuous consciousness, 46 + +Control of thought, 168 + +Counterpart, astral, 16 + +Crystal-gazing, 66, 84 _et seq._, 127 + +Curative mesmerism, 165 + +Curiosity not permitted, 173 + +Current, astral, 62 _et seq._, 88, 95 + + +Dangers, 78 + +Date, how to find a, 119 _et seq._ + +Dead, the, 45, 62 + +Death, visits at, 74 _et seq._ + +Delirium tremens, 53 + +Dervishes, the, 163 + +Devas, the, 44 + +Development, methods of, 163 + the path of, 167 + regular, 19 + +Difference between etheric and astral sight, 36 + +Difficulties, 103 _et seq._ + +Dimension, the fourth, 38 _et seq._, 65, 107, 137 + +Distance, sight at a, 59, 81 + +Double, the etheric, 34 + +Drugs used to gain clairvoyance, 52, 163 + +Duke of Orleans, the story of the, 90 + + +_Earth, the Stars and the_, 110 + +Edgehill, battle of, 161 + +Elementals, 32, 44, 162 + +Equation, the personal, 104 _et seq._ + +Eternal now, the, 109, 137 + +Etheric double, the, 34 + vision, 30 _et seq._ + +Experiments in crystal-gazing, 66, 84 _et seq._ + with bat's cry, 11 + with spectrum, 10 + +Extension of senses, 12 + + +Faculties, latent, 7 + buddhic, 18, 108, 136, 139 + +Fairy ointment, 34 + +Finding a stranger, 80 + +First manifestations of clairvoyance, 25 _et seq._ + +Flocks, phantom, 154, 160, 162 + +Focus of consciousness, the, 31 + +Fourth dimension, the, 38 _et seq._, 65, 107, 137 + +Freewill limited, 132 _et seq._ + +Future prospects, 175 + + +Ghosts of the gibbet, 162 + +Glamour, 160 + +Goffe, the story of Mary, 75 + + +Helpers, invisible, 46, 74, 88, 166 + +Historical study, possibilities of, 114 _et seq._ + +Hinton's works, 38 + +Housekeeper's dream, the story of the, 147 _et seq._ + +How a picture is found, 116 _et seq._ + to find a date, 119 _et seq._ + to investigate, 55 + +Huntsman, the wild, 160 + +Hypnotization, self, 86 + +Hysterical clairvoyance, 53 + + +Incarnations, past, 118, 123 _et seq._ + +Investigate, how to, 55 + +Invisible helpers, 46, 74, 88, 166 + + +Judgment of character, 42 + +Jung Stilling's story, 71 _et seq._ + + +Knowledge, the value of, 125 + + +Latent faculties, 7 + +Limitations of clairvoyance, the, 79, 81, 171 + +Limited freewill, 132 _et seq._ + +Links needed, 114 + +Lodge, address by Dr. Oliver, 137 + +Logos of the system, the, 99 _et seq._ + + +Magic, 53 + +Magnifying, the power of, 47-67 + +Manifestations of clairvoyance, the first, 26 + +Masters of Wisdom, the, 20, 167, 174 + +Materialization, 70 + +Mayavirupa, the, 78 + +Meaning of word clairvoyance, 5 + +Meditation, 167 + +Mediums, trance, 83 + +Mental plane clairvoyance, 56 + plane sense, 18 + world, 80, 104, 115 + +Mesmerism, clairvoyance under, 24, 62, 164 + curative, 165 + +Methods of development, 163 + +Micawbers, psychic, 83 + +Mooltan, story of the siege of, 92 + +Murder, reproduction of, 161 + + +Nature spirits, 33, 44, 61, 160 + +Necessity of common-sense in occultism, 125 + +New colours, 35 + +Now, the eternal, 109, 137 + + +Occasional clairvoyance, 23 + +Ointment, fairy and witch, 34 + +Orleans, the story of the Duke of, 90 + +Other planets, 81 + + +Partial and temporary clairvoyance, 54 + +Past incarnations, 118, 123 _et seq._ + +Path of development, the, 167 + +Perceval, assassination of Mr., 151 + +Personal equation, the, 104 _et seq._ + +Phantom flocks, 154, 160, 162 + +Phenomena, classification of, 27 + seance room, 35, 62 + +Philadelphian seer, the story of a, 72 _et seq._ + +Physical objects, the transparency of, 32 + +Pictures before going to sleep, 93 + +Planets, other, 81 + +Polarization of astral matter, 63 + +Poseidonis, the sinking of, 120 + +Possibilities of historical study, 114 _et seq._ + +Power of magnifying, the, 47, 67 + +Power of response to vibrations, 9, 11 + +Preliminary considerations, 7 + +Premonition, Mr. Stead's, 153 + +Prevision, 132, 139 + +Prospects for the future, 175 + +Psychic Micawbers, 83 + +Psychometry, 114, 127 + + +Qualifications of the student, 166 + +Qualified teachers, 165 + + +Radiations, 59 + +Records, akashic, 85, 97 _et seq._, 160 + aspect of the, 115 + +Regular development, 19 + +Reproduction of a murder, 161 + +Restrictions upon clairvoyance, 81, 171 + +Roentgen rays, the, 11 + + +Sadness of clairvoyance, the, 169 + +Schiller's lines, 169 + +Seance-room phenomena, 35, 62 + +Second-sight, 140 _et seq._ + the symbolism of, 145 + +Seer, a Philadelphian, 72 _et seq._ + +Self-hypnotization, 86 + +Sense, extension of, 12 + +Senses, astral, 17 + +Sight, astral, 37 _et seq._, 59 _et seq._, 66 + at a distance, 59, 81 + spiritual, 57 + +Sleep, clairvoyance during, 26 + +Society, the Theosophical, 167 + +Solar system, the, 99 + +Spectral armies, 154 + +Spectrum, experiment with the, 10 + +Spiritualistic phenomena, 35, 62 + +_Stars and the Earth, The_, 110 + +Stories of crystal-gazing, 84 _et seq._ + second sight, 132, 140 _et seq._ + +Story by Jung Stilling, 72 + Mr. Stead's, 93 + of Captain Yonnt, 89 + Mary Goffe, 75 + Miss X.'s dogcart, 152 + Mr. Stead's premonition, 153 + +Story of Souter Fell, 156-7 + the bull and the doctor, 147 + the Duke of Orleans, 90 + the housekeeper's dream, 147 _et seq._ + +Story of the siege of Mooltan, 92 + the white night-dress, 149 + Zschokke, 127 _et seq._ + +Stranger, finding a, 80 + +Sympathetic system, the, 22 _et seq._ + +System, the Logos of the, 99 _et seq._ + + +Teachers, qualified, 165 + +Telescope, the astral, 65, 85, 103 + +Temporary and partial clairvoyance, 54 + +Tests not given, 172 + +Theosophical Society, The, 167 + terms, 7 + +Thought-control, 168 + +Thought-forms, 43, 67 + +Throughth, 39 + +Time only relative, 138 + +Training, the advantages of, 165 + where to be had, 167 + +Trance mediums, 83 + +Transparency of physical objects, 32 + +Trivial subjects, clairvoyance on, 55, 95, 152 + + +Uncultured, clairvoyance in the, 21 + + +Value of knowledge, the, 125 + +Variable capacity of response, 10 _et seq._ + +Vibrations, 9 + power of response to, 11 + +Vision, astral, 37 _et seq._, 59 _et seq._, 66 + etheric, 30 _et seq._ + +Visions, casual, 141 + +Visits at death, 74 _et seq._ + +Voodoo or Obeah, 163 + + +White night-dress, the story of the, 149 + +Wild huntsman, the, 160 + +Wisdom, the Masters of, 20, 167, 174 + +World, the astral, 81, 103 + mental, 80, 104, 115 + + +X.'s story, Miss, 152 + +X Rays, 11 + + +Yonnt's story, Captain, 89 + + +Zschokke's story, 127 _et seq._ + + +PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH. + + * * * * * + + + + +THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. + +SATYANNASTI PARO DHARMAH + +[Illustration] + +THERE IS NO RELIGION HIGHER THAN TRUTH. + + +_OBJECTS._ + +To form a nucleus of the universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without +distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour. + +To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and +science. + +To investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in +man. + + * * * * * + +Any person desiring information as to the Theosophical Society is +invited to communicate with any one of the following General +Secretaries: + +AMERICA: Alexander Fullerton; New York, 46 Fifth Avenue. + +BRITAIN: Bertram Keightley, M.A. (_pro tem._); London, 28 Albemarle +Street, W. + +INDIA: Upendra Nath Basu, B.A., LL.B.; Benares, N.W.P. + +SCANDINAVIA: Arvid Knoes; Sweden, Engelbrechtsgatan 7, Stockholm. + +AUSTRALIA: H. A. Wilson; Sydney, N.S.W., 42 Margaret Street. + +NEW ZEALAND: C. W. Sanders; Auckland, Mutual Life Buildings, Lower +Queen Street. + +HOLLAND: W. B. Fricke, Amsterdam, 76 Amsteldijk. + +FRANCE: Dr. Th. Pascal Paris; 59 Avenue de la Bourdonnais. + +ITALY: Rome, Societa Teosofica, 70 Via di Pietra. + +GERMANY: Dr. Rudolph Steiner (_pro tem._); 95 Kaiserallee, Friedenau, +Berlin. + + * * * * * + +THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY is composed of students, belonging to any +religion in the world or to none, who are united by their approval of +the above objects, by their wish to remove religious antagonisms and +to draw together men of good-will whatsoever their religious +opinions, and by their desire to study religious truths and to share +the results of their studies with others. Their bond of union is not +the profession of a common belief, but a common search and aspiration +for Truth. They hold that Truth should be sought by study, by +reflection, by purity of life, by devotion to high ideals, and they +regard Truth as a prize to be striven for, not as a dogma to be +imposed by authority. They consider that belief should be the result +of individual study or intuition, and not its antecedent, and should +rest on knowledge, not on assertion. They extend tolerance to all, +even to the intolerant, not as a privilege they bestow, but as a duty +they perform, and they seek to remove ignorance, not to punish it. +They see every religion as an expression of the DIVINE WISDOM, and +prefer its study to its condemnation, and its practice to proselytism. +Peace is their watch-word, as Truth is their aim. + +THEOSOPHY is the body of truths which forms the basis of all +religions, and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of +any. It offers a philosophy which renders life intelligible, and which +demonstrates the justice and the love which guide its evolution. It +puts death in its rightful place, as a recurring incident in an +endless life, opening the gateway of a fuller and more radiant +existence. It restores to the world the science of the spirit, +teaching man to know the spirit as himself, and the mind and body as +his servants. It illuminates the scriptures and doctrines of religions +by unveiling their hidden meanings, and thus justifying them at the +bar of intelligence, as they are ever justified in the eyes of +intuition. + +Members of the Theosophical Society study these truths, and +Theosophists endeavour to live them. Every one willing to study, to be +tolerant, to aim high, and to work perseveringly, is welcomed as a +member, and it rests with the member to become a true Theosophist. + +BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR STUDY. + + s. d. +An Outline of Theosophy. C. W. Leadbeater 1 0 +Ancient Wisdom. Annie Besant 5 0 +Theosophical Manuals. + Seven Principles of Man. Annie Besant 1 0 + Re-incarnation. Annie Besant 1 0 + Karma. Annie Besant 1 0 + Death--and After? Annie Besant 1 0 + The Astral Plane. C. W. Leadbeater 1 0 + The Devachanic Plane. C. W. Leadbeater 1 0 + Man and his Bodies. Annie Besant 1 0 +The Key to Theosophy. H. P. Blavatsky 6 0 +Esoteric Buddhism. A. P. Sinnett 2 6 +The Growth of the Soul. A. P. Sinnett 5 0 +Man's Place in the Universe 2 0 +Man Visible and Invisible (illustrated). C. W. Leadbeater 10 6 + +A student who has thoroughly mastered these may study The Secret +Doctrine. H. P. Blavatsky. Three volumes and separate index, L 3. Man +Visible and Invisible (illustrated). C. W. Leadbeater 10 6 + + WORLD-RELIGIONS. s. d. +Fragments of a Faith Forgotten. G. R. S. Mead 10 6 +Esoteric Christianity. Annie Besant 5 0 +Four Great Religions. Annie Besant 2 0 +Orpheus. G. R. S. Mead 4 6 +The Kabalah. A. E. Waite 7 6 + + ETHICAL. +In the Outer Court. Annie Besant 2 0 +The Path of Discipleship. Annie Besant 2 0 +The Voice of the Silence. H. P. Blavatsky 1 6 +Light on the Path. Mabel Collins 1 6 +Bhagavad-Gita. Trans. Annie Besant 1 6 +Studies in the Bhagavad-Gita 1 6 +The Doctrine of the Heart 1 6 +The Upanishats. Trans. by G. R. S. Mead and J.C. Chattopadyaya. + Two Volumes, each 1 6 +Three Paths and Dharma. Annie Besant 2 0 +Theosophy of the Upanishats 3 0 +The Stanzas of Dayan. H.P. Blavatsky 1 6 + +VARIOUS. +Nature's Mysteries. A. P. Sinnett 2 0 +Clairvoyance. C. W. Leadbeater 2 0 +Dreams. C. W. Leadbeater 1 6 +The Building of the Kosmos. Annie Besant 2 0 +The Evolution of Life and Form. Annie Besant 2 0 +Some Problems of Life. Annie Besant 1 6 +Thought-Power, its Control and Culture. Annie Besant 1 6 +The Science of the Emotions. Bhagavan Das 3 6 +The Gospel and the Gospels. G. R. S. Mead 4 6 +Five Years of Theosophy 10 0 + + * * * * * + + + + +THE THEOSOPHICAL REVIEW. + +EDITED BY + +ANNIE BESANT AND G. R. S. MEAD. + +Amongst the Regular Contributors are: + +ANNIE BESANT. +ALEX. FULLERTON. +G. R. S. MEAD. +BERTRAM KEIGHTLEY. +A. P. SINNETT. +C. W. 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