Practical Psychomancy and Crystal Gazing

LESSON VI.

CRYSTAL GAZING

There has been a great revival of interest in the subject of "Crystal Gazing," particularly in England, of late years, and many interesting accounts have appeared in the papers and magazines regarding the results of the experiments. But the majority of the writers on the subject persist in treating it as a thing separate and apart from other forms of Psychomancy – in fact, many of them ignore Psychomancy altogether and are apparently under the impression that there is no connection between it and their favorite subject of Crystal Gazing. This attitude is somewhat amusing to persons who have made a careful study of Psychic Phenomena and who know that Crystal Gazing is not a distinct phenomenon, but is merely a method of bringing into action the Psychomantic faculties.

In many respects the Crystal acts in a manner akin to that of the "associated object" in Psychometry, but there is one point of distinction which should not be overlooked by the student. The "associated object" gives to the Psychometrist a starting point for the Astral Tube, and also serves to "point the Astral Telescope" (if one may use the term) in the right direction, by reason of its affinity with the distant scene, etc. But the Crystal does not so act, for it is not closely allied to, or in sympathy with other things, when used in the ordinary manner. Instead of being the "eye-lens of the telescope," it is really a "Magic Mirror" which is turned first this way and that, and which reflects whatever comes within its field, just as does any other mirror. The trained and developed Psychomancer, however, may direct his Mirror to any desired point, and may hold it there by means of a concentrated Will.

The favor with which Crystal Gazing meets with at the hands of beginners is due to the fact that it is the easiest method known by which the Astral Vision may be awakened. With the majority of people, the power may be awakened only by the aid of some physical object which may act as a starting-point for the Astral Tube, or as one writer has expressed it, "a convenient focus for the Will-power." A number of objects may be so employed, but the Crystal or Glass Ball is the best for the purpose because of certain atomic and molecular arrangements which tend to promote the manifestation of the psychic power and faculties.

Crystal Gazing, as a method for inducing Psychomantic vision, has been quite common among all peoples, in all times. Not only the Crystal but many other objects are similarly used. In Australia the native priests use water and shining objects, or in some cases, flame. In New Zealand some of the natives use a drop of blood. The Fijians fill a hole with water, and gaze into it. Some South American tribes use the polished surface of a black stone. The American Indians used water and shining bits of flint or quartz. And so the story goes. As Lang states it, people "stare into a crystal ball; a cup; a mirror; a blot of ink (Egypt and India); a drop of blood (the Maoris of New Zealand); a bowl of water (American Indians); a pond (Roman and African); water in a glass bowl (Fez); or almost any polished surface, etc."

We quote a typical case of Crystal Gazing, related by Mr. Andrew Lang. He says:

"I had given a glass ball 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 afterward found in the next country-house she visited). Miss Baillie's brother, a young athlete, laughed at these experiments, took the ball into his study, and came back looking 'gey gash.' He admitted that he had seen a vision – somebody he knew, under a lamp. He said 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 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."

Stead relates the following experience with the Crystal: "Miss X. upon looking into the crystal on two occasions as a test, to see if she could see men when she was several miles off, saw not me, but a different friend of mine on each occasion. She had never seen either of my friends before, but immediately identified them both on seeing them afterward at my office. On one of the evenings on which we experimented in the vain attempts to photograph a Double, I dined with Madam C. and her friend at a neighboring restaurant. As she glanced at the water bottle, Madame C. saw a picture beginning to form, and, looking at it from curiosity, described with considerable detail an elderly gentleman whom she had never seen before, and whom I did not in the least recognize from her description at the moment. Three hours afterwards, when the seance was over, Madam C. entered the room and recognized Mr. Elliott, of Messrs. Elliott & Fry, as the gentleman whom she had seen and described in the water bottle at the restaurant. On another occasion the picture was less agreeable: it was an old man lying dead in bed with some one weeping at his feet; but who it was, or what it related to, no one knew."

As a matter of general interest, we also quote Mr. Stead's remarks on crystal gazing, which agree with our own views and experience. He says: "There are some people who cannot look into an ordinary globular bottle without seeing pictures form themselves, without any effort or will on their part, in the crystal globe. Crystal gazing seems to be the least dangerous and most simple of all forms of experimenting. You simply look into a crystal globe the size of a five-shilling piece, or a water bottle which is full of clear water, and which is placed so that too much light does not fall upon it, and then simply look at it. You make no incantations, and engage in no mumbo-jumbo business; you simply look at it for two or three minutes, taking care not to tire yourself, winking as much as you please, but fixing your thought upon whatever you wish to see. Then, if you have the faculty, the glass will cloud over with a milky mist, and in the centre the image is gradually precipitated in just the same way as a photograph forms on the sensitive plate."

(See Lesson II, for further particulars on Crystal Gazing, and suggestions for the successful development of the power.)

LESSON VII.

ASTRAL PROJECTION

In our last three lessons we considered that class of Psychomancy arising from the erection and employment of the "Astral Tube." In the present lesson we pass to a consideration of the third class of phenomena, namely, that occasioned by the actual projection of one's Astral Body to distant points.

In this class of phenomena the consciousness of the person does not remain within the physical organism, but is actually projected along with the Astral Body to the point being psychically viewed or examined. This form of Psychomancy is, of course, a higher degree of manifestation than the class previously described. Here physical consciousness is temporarily suspended (perhaps for but a moment or so) and the Astral Body containing the consciousness of the individual is projected to some point, perhaps far distant, with the rapidity of thought, where it examines objects there situated, receiving sensations through and by means of the Astral Senses. This phenomena may arise while the person is in a trance, or sleep, etc., or else in a moment of concentrated abstraction, when one is "day-dreaming"; in a "brown study"; or "wrapped in thought," as the familiar terms run. When he returns to his physical body he "comes to himself," and what he has seen or heard seems to him like a "day-dream" or fantasy – unless he be a trained seer, in which case the two planes of consciousness will be closely related, and almost continuous.

Besides the more familiar phases of this class of phenomena, there are wonderful possibilities open for the developed Psychomancer along these lines. As a leading writer on this subject has said concerning it: "He has also the immense advantage of being able to take part, as it were, in the scenes which come before his eyes. If, in addition, he can learn how to materialize himself, 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."

The trained experimenter along these lines has also the advantage of being able to search about on the Astral Plane for what he desires to find or locate. He is able to direct his Astral Body to definite places, either by means similar to finding one's way on the physical plane, or else by following up the psychic clue afforded by a piece of clothing, a lock of hair, a piece of stone, or some other object connected with the person or place desired, by means of a higher form of Psychometry. Of course, the person whose powers are not so highly developed is not able to have such control over his Astral Body, or to manifest such a degree of trained power. He is like a child learning to walk, or read – he is awkward, and must learn to direct his movements. There are many degrees of power, from the occasional, spontaneous manifestations, to those of the highly trained Occultists who travel in the Astral even more easily than in the physical, and with the same degree of certainty and control.

The pages of reliable works on Occultism and Psychic Research are filled with illustrations and examples of cases along these lines, in which the Astral Body of persons have traveled to distant scenes, and have reported occurrences and scenes witnessed there, sometimes materializing so as to be seen by the persons in the places visited. We herewith mention a few of these cases, in order to illustrate the principle.

A well-known example is that of the Philadelphian, mentioned by the German writer Jung Stilling, and quoted by some English writers. The man in question was a well-known character, respected, of good reputation and steady habits. He had the reputation of possessing Psychomantic powers which he sometimes manifested for the benefit of friends and others. He was once consulted by the wife of a sea captain, whose husband was on a voyage to Europe and Africa, and whose vessel had been long overdue, and from whom no tidings had been received for a long time.

The Psychomancer listened to the story of the anxious and distressed wife, and then excused himself from the room for a short time, retiring into an adjoining room. Becoming alarmed at his continued absence from the room, the lady quietly opened the connecting door, and peeped in the second room, where much to her surprise and alarm she saw the old man lying on a couch, showing all the appearances of death. She waited in great alarm for a long time, when he aroused himself and returned to her. He told her that he had visited her husband in a coffee-house in London, and gave her the reasons for his not having written, adding that he would soon return to Philadelphia.

When the husband finally returned, his wife questioned him regarding the matter, and he informed her that the reasons given by the Psychomancer were correct in every detail. Upon being taken into the presence of the man, the old sea captain uttered an exclamation of surprise, saying that he had seen the man on a certain day in a coffee-house in London, and that the man had told him that his wife was worried about him, and that he had answered the man, saying that he had been prevented from writing for certain reasons, and that he was on the very eve of setting sail for America. He said that he had then lost sight of the stranger suddenly.

W. T. Stead relates the case of a lady of his acquaintance who has spontaneously developed the power to travel in her Astral Body, and to materialize the same unconsciously. She became a source of great worry and distress to many of her friends, to whom she would pay unexpected and involuntary visits, frightening them out of their wits by the materialization of what they supposed must be the "ghost" of the lady, whom they thought must have died suddenly. The occurrences, however, became so frequent that her friends at last became familiar with the nature of the appearances, and viewed them with merely great interest and wonder.

The English Society for Psychical Research have several hundred well-authenticated instances of such appearances in their published records. One of the well-known cases is that of a gentleman described as "S. H. B.," a member of the London Stock Exchange, and a man of considerable business note. He relates his story as follows:

"One Sunday night in November, 1881, I was in Kildare Gardens, when I willed very strongly that I would visit in the spirit two lady friends, the Misses V., who were living three miles off, in Hogarth Road. I willed that I should do this at one o'clock in the morning, and having willed it, I went to sleep. Next Thursday, when I first met my friends, the elder lady told me she woke up and saw my apparition advancing to her bedside. She screamed and woke her sister, who also saw me." (A signed statement of the two sisters accompanies this statement, both ladies fixing the time at one o'clock, and saying that Mr. B. wore evening dress.)

"Again, on December 1, 1882, I was at Southall. At half-past nine I sat down to endeavor to fix my mind so strongly upon the interior of a house at Kew, where Miss V. and her sister lived, that I seemed to be actually in the house. I was conscious, but was in a kind of mesmeric sleep. When I went to bed that night, I willed to be in the front bedroom of that house at Kew at twelve, and to make my presence felt by the inmates. Next day I went to Kew. Miss V.'s married sister told me, without any prompting from me, that she had seen me in the passage going from one room to another at half-past nine o'clock, and that at twelve, when she was wide awake, she saw me come to the front bedroom, where she slept, and take her hair, which is very long, into my hand. She said I then took her hand and gazed into the palm intently. She said, 'You need not look at the lines, for I never had any trouble.' She then woke her sister. When Mrs. L. told me this. I took out the entry that I had made the previous night and read it to her. Mrs. L. is quite sure she was not dreaming. She had only seen me once before, two years previously, at a fancy ball."

"Again, on March 22, 1884, I wrote to Mr. Gurney, of the Psychical Research Society, telling him I was going to make my presence felt by Miss V., at 44 Norland Square, at midnight. Ten days afterwards, I saw Miss V., when she voluntarily told me that on Saturday at midnight, she distinctly saw me, when she was quite wide awake."

We have related these accounts in order to show instances of the appearance of a materialized Astral Body. But, we must remember that these cases of materialization are very rare as compared to the cases of Astral Projection (without materialization) in ordinary Clairvoyance. And yet the phenomena is practically the same in both instances, leaving out the phase of materialization. In many instances the individual actually travels in his Astral Body to the distant scene and there witnesses the events occurring at that point. There is a "ghost" within each one of us, which under certain favorable conditions travels away from our physical body and "sees things" at far-off points. Under certain other conditions it materializes, and is visible to others, but in the majority of cases it merely "sees" without being seen. The Psychomancer, in this phase of the phenomena, actually travels from the location of the physical body, to the other points desired, and reports what he or she sees and hears there.

Astral Projection is frequently developed by faithful practice of, and demonstration of, the simpler forms of Psychomancy. It is all a matter of successive steps of development.

LESSON VIII.

SPACE PSYCHOMANCY

As we stated in previous lessons, "Space Psychomancy" is the exercise of the faculty in the direction of perceiving far-distant scenes, persons, objects, etc.

Of course, there is really an exercise of Space Psychomancy in some instances of Simple Psychomancy. But we make the distinction because in the case of objects seen by Simple Psychomancy at some little distance from the observer, the impression is received by means of the rays, or vibrations from the objects themselves, by means of the developed Astral Senses, acting in a simple manner; while in the case of Space Psychomancy (in the technical sense of the term) the impression is received by means of either the erection of the Astral Tube, or else by the actual projection of the consciousness in the Astral Body – the latter being an actual visiting of the scene.

A little illustration may perhaps make clearer the above distinction. Let us suppose a man on the physical Plane with ordinary eyesight – such a man could not see an object beyond the average distance of vision, and he would be like a person devoid of Psychomantic powers. Then let us suppose a man of extraordinary visual powers, such as many hunters or seafaring men – such a one could see things invisible to the first man, and would thus resemble the person manifesting Simple Psychomancy. Then let us suppose a third man, using a telescope – this man could see things that neither of the other two could perceive, and he would thus resemble the person manifesting along the lines of Space Psychomancy by means of the Astral Tube. And, finally, let us suppose a fourth man, who possessed magical wings which would instantly transport him to the distant scene, whence he could view the objects, personally, and at close range – well this man would be like the person who was able to project his Astral Body, and thus view the distant scenes at will, and at short range, without the difficulties attendant upon the use of the telescope-like Astral Tube – to see the object on any and all sides, and from all points of view —to get inside of it, as well as outside.

The following interesting cases are quoted to illustrate the principle:

Captain Yount, of the Napa Valley, California, had a peculiar experience while asleep. He had a remarkably clear vision in which appeared a band of emigrants perishing from cold and hunger amidst a mountain range. He noted particularly, and in detail, the scenery and appearance of the canyon. He saw a huge, perpendicular cliff of white rock; and the emigrants cutting off what appeared to be the tops of trees arising from great drifts of snow; he even saw plainly the features of some of the party. He awoke, sorely distressed by the vividness and the nature of his "dream," for so he considered it to be. But, by-and-by, he fell asleep again, and saw the scene repeated, with equal distinctness. In the morning he found that he could not get the "dream" out of his mind, and he told it to some of his friends. One of the hearers of the story was an old hunter, who at once recognized the place seen in the dream as a place across the Sierras, known as a point in the Carson Valley Pass. So earnest was the old hunter, that Captain Yount, and his friends, organized a rescue party and set out with provisions, mules, and blankets to seek the perishing emigrants. Notwithstanding the ridicule of the public, the rescuers persisted in their search, and finally about one hundred and fifty miles distant, in the Carson Valley Pass, they found the scene as described by Captain Yount, and in the identical spot seen in the dream were found the party of emigrants, the surviving members of whom were rescued and brought over the mountain.

Another interesting account is given in the reports of the Society for Psychical Research, of England. It relates that an English lady, Mrs. Broughton, awoke one night in 1844, and aroused her husband, telling him that she had had a strange vision of a scene in France. She stated that she had seen a broken-down carriage, evidently wrecked in an accident, and a crowd gathered around the figure of a man, whose body was then raised and carried into a nearby house. She said that the body was then placed in a bed, when she recognized his features as those of the Duke of Orleans. Then friends gathered around the bed, and later came the king and queen of France, all weeping. She saw the doctor, who stood over the Duke, feeling his pulse, with his watch in his other hand, but she could only see the doctor's back. Then the scene had faded from her vision. When daylight finally came, she recorded the vision in her journal. It was before the days of the telegraph, and it was more than two days before the newspapers announced the death of the Duke of Orleans. The lady visited Paris afterwards, and recognized the place of the accident. It then appeared that the attending physician whose face she could not see in her vision, was an old friend of hers, who then told her that as he watched the bed his mind had involuntarily dwelt upon her and her family.

The well-known case of Swedenborg gives us another illustration of this class of Psychomancy. It is related that in the latter part of September, 1759, at four o'clock one Saturday afternoon, Swedenborg arrived home from England, and disembarked at Gothenburg. Mr. W. Castel met him and invited him to dinner, at which meal there were fifteen persons gathered around the table. At six o'clock that evening Swedenborg went out a few minutes, returning to the table excited and pale. When questioned, he said that there was a fire at Stockholm, 200 miles distant, which was steadily spreading. He grew very restless, and frequently left the room. He said that the house of one of his friends, whose name he mentioned, was already in ashes, and that his own was in danger. At eight o'clock after he had been out again, he returned crying out cheerfully, "Thank heaven! the fire is out, the third door from my house."

The news of the occurrence excited the whole town, and the officials made inquiry regarding it, and Swedenborg was summoned before the governor, and requested to relate what he had seen, in detail. Answering the governor, he told when and where the fire had started; how it had begun; how, when and where it had stopped; and the time it lasted, the number of houses destroyed, people injured, etc. On the following Monday morning a courier arrived from Stockholm, bringing news of the fire, having left the town while it was still burning. On the next day after, Tuesday morning, another courier arrived at the governor's palace with a full report of the fire, which corresponded precisely with the vision of Swedenborg – the fire had stopped precisely at eight o'clock, the minute that Swedenborg had so announced it to the company.

Stead relates the following instance of this class of Psychomancy, which was told him by the wife of a Dean of the Episcopal Church. The lady said: "I was staying in Virginia, some hundred miles away from home, when one morning about eleven o'clock, I felt an overpowering sleepiness, which drowsiness was quite unusual, and which caused me to lie down. In my sleep I saw quite distinctly my home in Richmond in flames. The fire had broken out in one wing of the house, which I saw with dismay was where I kept all my best dresses. The people were all trying to check the flames, but it was no use. My husband was there, walking about before the burning house, carrying a portrait in his hand. Everything was quite clear and distinct, exactly as if I had actually been present and seen everything. After a time I woke up, and going downstairs told my friends the strange dream I had had. They laughed at me, and made such game of my vision that I did my best to think no more about it. I was traveling about, a day or two passed, and when Sunday came I found myself in a church where some relatives were worshipping. When I entered the pew they looked rather strange, and as soon as the service was over I asked them what was the matter. 'Don't be alarmed,' they said 'there is nothing serious.' Then they handed me a postcard from my husband which simply said, 'House burned out; covered by insurance.' The day was the date upon which my dream occurred. I hastened home, and then I learned that everything had happened exactly as I had seen it. The fire had broken out in the wing I had seen blazing. My clothes were all burnt, and the oddest thing about it was that my husband, having rescued a favorite picture from the burning building, had carried it about among the crowd for some time before he could find a place in which to put it safely."