Fragments of truth

Contents

CHAPTEB PAGE)

I Psychic Phenomena 1

II Miracles 34

Chapter One

Phenomenon challenges man's curiosity, even when it does not permanently hold his interest; and death has always been the chief phenomenon of his observation. From the time when the first mother gazed, through her misty eyes of tears, at the dead body of her child, and sought to follow, into the silence and darkness, the animating principle which had made that body so dear to her, man has fitfully tried to penetrate the misty veil, in order to ascertain what has become of the unwilling pioneer of the Shadow World. At all times some souls have sought to solve the mystery of life and death and to prove if there is anything in man that persists after the body becomes cold and dumb.

Both profane and sacred history record that, in every period, some thinkers have believed in the immortality of man, and have endeavored to keep in touch with those who died; while the priesthood has ever sought to discourage, or prohibit, this public practice. To the inquiring mind, this would seem a strange position for priestcraft to assume, since any discovery would tend to support the contention of the priests; therefore, a thinker must conclude that such investigations would either ultimately destroy the religious orders, or that the priesthood had esoteric knowledge, on the subject, that proved, the practice inimical to the investigator. The Occultist says there is truth in both alternatives.

Old wine in new bottles. Psychic phenomenon is the re-christened lesser Magic of the ancients — a phase of the power of mind, as old as humanity. By Magic is meant, of course, the control of certain natural forces, through a knowledge of their laws, and not the tricks of legerdemain. In its modern aspects, it does not delve as deeply into Soul Power, nor cover as wide a range in expression as did the ancient Temple Magic, or mediaeval Ceremonial Magic. This is due to the fact that people have largely neglected the study of the lower aspects of Occultism, as well as of the higher, during the last thousand years — the second half of the Piscine Age. During this period; man has been more interested in the objective — the material — than in the subjective. There have been times, however, when his attention has been diverted, temporarily, and he has turned, wonderingly, to examine his own inner nature and its relationship to the evolutionary plan.

Modern psychic phenomenon, like ancient Jewish psychism, is largely, though not exclusively, confined to necromancy, but with this difference: at present, either the ourja board, or automatic writing, often takes the place of a medium, for there is a distinct tendency, in this age, to individualization and to acquire knowledge without the intervention of intermediaries. Necromancy, however, is always the same in results, whether it be produced through a medium, as in Spiritism, by the help of an ouija board, as in modern parlor pastime, or as practised in ancient demonism, or through blood sacrifices, as in voodooism and in devil worship.

Broadly speaking, modern psychic phenomenon, of this class, is embraced in five general groups of manifestation :

First, inspirational writing and speaking.

Second, visions, premonitions, phantoms and phantasms.

Third, clairvoyance and clairaudience, yoga and crystal gazing.

Fourth, psychic healing.

Fifth, physical phenomena.

In discussing a topic, of this kind, with the general public, a student of Occultism is somewhat perplexed, how to proceed, because of the infinite complexity of the subject. The grossly materialistic, the mercenary religionist and the credulous creed-man will, perforce, deny the actuality of the phenomena. It is, therefore, useless to waste effort in those directions. The reader, the thinker, the investigator must acknowledge the facts of the phenomena even though they may doubt the various explanations given to account for them. The divergence of opinions has greatly narrowed, during the last fifty years, until there may be said to be but three remaining explanations ; namely, fraud, Spiritism and Occultism. It is admitted, by all investigators, that fraud runs through much of the phenomena, but it is equally true that there is a residuum wherein neither conscious nor unconscious fraud exists and this becomes more and more evident as the accumulation of evidence multiplies.

The chief differences in opinion between the progressed Spiritist and the Occultist, are these : the latter maintains that some phenomena are produced by intelligences less than man, under man's direction; some by the Subjective mind, either of the medium, or of the investigator, or of both co-operating ; while still other manifestations are by incarnated egos who temporarily and voluntarily operate, at times, out of their physical bodies for the purpose of producing such phenomena. This was particularly true in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. Then .materialism was aggressive and theology was rapidly being destroyed by facts, and with it much of the innate religious convictions of men. To counteract this, some of the religious, Occult Brotherhoods, notably those which are the souls of Buddhism and of Brahminism, respectively (as the Society of Jesus is the soul of Catholicism), resolved to use their knowledge of magic for the purpose of awakening an interest in matters pertaining to spirit. Some of those Occultists, therefore, attended, subjectively, test seances, especially those in which learned occidental scientists were interested, and there produced a higher and a more marvellous class of phenomena than is usually now seen. This was convincing, to many of the investigators, and thus an impetus was given to Spiritism, which is destined to aid in destroying materialism.

It is true that, through their investigations, many individuals have suffered and others will have cause to suffer; but the movement was not originated, merely accelerated, by the Occultists referred to, on the theory that a legitimate end justifies the means — a proposition which does not meet with the approval of all esotericists.

All psychic phenomenon is produced through the control of certain natural forces ; whether the producer be an Occultist, an excarnated man, or an elemental. The law, of course, is the same and is sometimes used by evil entities, selfishly and malignantly; often by practical jokers, mischievously — for death does not change the nature of a man — and still more often by the mentally vainglorious, who desire to be worshipped and to direct the affairs^ of others— as so many do while incarnated; and, occasionally, by Occultists for an unselfish and higher purpose, as narrated.

If one is resolved to make a personal investigation of these dangerous matters, it is well to heed Saint Paul's warning and "try the spirits. ,, One is at liberty also to investigate whether, or not, arsenic destroys life. Some persons have found that, in small quantities, it does not; in larger quantities, it does: that some forms of life, human or otherwise, resist the poison better than others. One may adopt the conclusions of scientific investigators, in either of the cases cited, or follow to satiety the rounds of phenomena and of experimentation.

It does not require a highly trained intelligence to produce phenomena in modern Spiritism. The essential element is passivity — the yielding of one 's body, brain and mind to any chance intelligence who cares to manifest through those center. The word mediumship connotes a higher, or a stronger control. The medium, having temporarily yielded his body to another entity, is seldom in a position to observe the phenomena produced through it, and, therefore, personally, can learn little through such an experience. Investigators can, through physical observation, watch the phenomenon of obsession but cannot actually know the method by which it is accomplished, nor the identity of the operator — unless the investigator, himself, has clairvoyant powers to observe, on the subjective side of life, the operating entity and his procedure. Therefore, the investigation of psychic phenomena, by either mediums, or non-clairvoyant investigators, is unreliable and unsatisfactory.

It is true that the medium may excite the wonderment, or the admiration of some people, through the display of his easily acquired powers, or make a precarious living in that manner, or give temporary comfort to those who receive messages from real, or pretended, departed friends; and, if any of these is the motive for mediumship, then no one has the right to question it. But if the effort is to obtain facts — ultimate truth — a better way must be found.

It may not be out of place to give a word of caution to persons now contemplating entering upon mediumship. The history of Spiritism, since its recrudescence in 1849 with the Fox sisters, is not such as to encourage mediumship. In the vast majority of cases, in which genuine phenomenon is produced, is found a rapid impairment of the body and of the intelligence of the medium, and the greater the phenomena produced the quicker the deterioration. Nor is physical injury the only thing to be feared; for often, with the bodily havoc, there is an equal moral degeneration. The reason for this is not hard to understand when it is learned how phenomenon is produced.

The law of psychic phenomenon, as observed from the occult side, is: Phenomenon is produced by the self-directed magnetism of the operator acting upon the tractable magnetism of the body, or thing, through which the phenomenon occurs.

The human, incarnated ego has a physical body which it moves at will. The ego is a more intangible entity than its body. How, then, can it control its physical counterpart?

The Occultist answers, through the red corpuscles, or magnetic portion of the blood. The magnetic force of the ego, acting upon the magnetism of the blood, forces the blood magnetism over selected nerves causing them to automatically act upon the muscles ; and these, in turn, upon the bones and flesh. Thus an arm is raised or lowered.

Again : apply this law to moving a table. The particles composing that piece of furniture are held together by the magnetism that is inherent in the atoms composing the wood. If the wood were completely demagnetized, disintegration would take place and the table would crumble into finest powder. The man not only controls his own magnetism, arm and hand, but also the tractable magnetism of the atoms of the table, and thus there is exerted magnetic and mechanical force, controlled by mind or will.

When the ego loses, or lays down, its physical vehicle, it is still an intangible, magnetic entity and uses the same law in producing physical phenomena. If it desires to move a table and is strong enough to do so — for there is a difference in mental strength between egos both incarnated and excarnated — it uses its own magnetism to control the magnetism of the atoms of the table, causing it to move. If the excarnated ego has a medium to use in the experiment, it uses the body of the medium in the same manner as it formerly used its own. Or, the excarnated ego, not being sufficiently strong in itself, may draw upon the magnetism of the medium and of any negative investigators present; and, by the absorption of such extraneous magnetism, acquire sufficient force to move the table. It is this constant vampirization of the magnetism of the medium which depletes his body; and it is the lack of magnetism in the medium which prompts him to resort to fraud when unable to furnish the obsessing entity the requisite force to produce the phenomena. This explains why different persons get different results from the same medium at various times, as witness Slade, Paladino and hosts of others.

The investigator is not without danger also, though to a less degree than the medium. A trained, positive mind is seldom influenced at the beginning of such investigations. It will be on guard and naturally critical, as scientific agnosticism generally is. As long as it remains positive, it is comparatively safe; but no mind, at this period of our evolution, is continually positive. Business complications, family cares, overwork, sickness or indisposition all interact on mind and body and produce, or intensify, negativeness. When negative, even a strong mind is vulnerable by psychic forces. For, be it remembered, the influence of the seance room does not cease with the closing of its doors. The entities which are attracted to a center of that kind will attach themselves to an investigator and seek to influence him in his own home, or elsewhere, and await their opportunity in that regard. For this reason almost all investigators are, in a measure, sooner or later affected by the influences they study.

This is noticeable, even with leading scientists and trained minds, who, after years of research along these lines, accept evidence, as conclusive, which, in the beginning of their investigations, they would have entirely rejected — evidence which, in their professional work, they would exclude. Under the influences brought to bear upon them by the disembodied entities, their minds seem to lose discerning power, and the relationship between cause and effect. And this should not be a cause of wonderment to those who have given any attention to the power of suggestion. An ego loses nothing of its mental power by giving up its body.

It can therefore mentally suggest to another ego, either in or out of a physical body.

A constantly repeated suggestion is like the dripping of water on a stone, it wears out opposition, and, in time, the suggestion is accepted wholly, or in part. Fortunately, for humanity, all disembodied spirits are not malignant. They are like humanity, as we see it in daily life — minus their physical bodies. Therefore they are actuated by ordinary, human impulses and must be judged solely from this viewpoint. For example :

A propagandist is a fanatic, whether incarnated, or excarnated. If he were a Spiritist in earthlife he would naturally continue persistently in his work after death. If he could convince a noted scientist, writer, speaker or statesman, he would spare no effort to accomplish his purpose, because, through such a convert, many other proselytes would be made to his cause.

On the subjective plane there are good, bad and indifferent entities and no one can foretell the character of the mind one may contact during psychic investigation. It is not in accordance with experience, in such matters, to say that each mind will attract to itself only such minds as are in consonance with its own character. The insane asylums are filled with negatively good people who adorned family and social life before they were obsessed. Nor is it to be understood that in all such cases their insanity was produced through the study of psychism. Negative persons are always in danger of psychic influences but are more apt to escape them if they ignore that realm than if they voluntarily intrude upon it. It is true that minds, of similar natures, are attracted to each other on the subjective, the objective and the interblended planes. And, while our friends, in physical life, may be similar, in a measure, to ourselves, yet it is also true that we sometimes suffer from undesired contact with criminals — and the same is true in the astral world. In neither of the cases cited, do we know of the danger until after the damage is done.

Possession and obsession are but varying degrees of the same condition — the partial, or complete control of one mind or body by another mind. And it may be interesting, viewed from the subjective side of life, to see how this is accomplished. The obsessing entity approaches its victim and studies his character — which is indicated by the victim's aura and the pictures contained therein. The obsessor works upon the victim's weaknesses. If one of those weaknesses is vanity, then it flatters him and tells the victim what a great ego he is and how he has been selected to be a messenger to the people — to teach new and greater truths to the world. Or, if love is his vulnerable side, then the victim's love nature is appealed to and the obsessor poses as a child, a parent, or a lover; and, through the victim's human emotions, wins his confidence. The message may be conveyed to the victim through a medium, ouija board, or through mental suggestion, but, slowly, as the snake approaches the charmed bird, the obsessor draws nearer to its victim until, at length, the two auras blend. Little by little the victim's hand and arm may be controlled, as in automatic writing, until soon, if the practice is persisted in, the mind, will and body of the victim comes under the dominion of the obsessor to do with as it wills. Then, when the obsessor desires to use the body of its victim, it overpowers and crowds out the ego and usurps his rightful place. Commencing as subjective hypnotism it ends too frequently in insanity.

Obsession may be guarded against by observing a few common-sense rules. First, never undertake psychic investigation until duly equipped for the work. The proper method of preparation will be given later.

Second, cultivate a positive, mental attitude at all times. This does not mean to be aggressive, but to have a calm reserve and watchfulness of all mental processes. Never drift mentally; but, consciously direct the mind along any selected line of thought. In other words, practise concentration at all times.

Third, learn to practise self-control and then no one else can ever control you.

Fourth, put aside the fear of being controlled, and never doubt your own ability to protect yourself; fear lowers the vibration of one's aura and renders one more negative.

The investigation of psychic phenomena has not produced unalloyed evil. Pioneers always pay the price of leadership, while those who follow, reap the benefits. During the last fifty years, humanity, as a whole, has benefited through the investigation of psychism, for, by an overwhelming preponderance of evidence, it has been established that the human personality survives bodily death. And, while this does not prove immortality, it lays the foundation for it. It is only logical to infer that if the mind persists independently of the body, even for a brief time, then, unless some other cause intervenes, it may persist indefinitely — and this is in perfect accord with Occult Philosophy, which teaches that as long as man, by conscious effort, seeks evolvement, he will be immortal ; and that only devolvement, or stagnation, will destroy his identity.

A further benefit has come to the Occident, through the investigation of psychic phenomena, and that is the removal of the fear of death. The old theology, of the West, painted death so horribly, and so forbiddingly described an inane Heaven and a gruesome Hell, that both the transition and the post-mortem states of existence filled one with fear. Man is prone to believe that which he desires to believe, and many men gladly accepted the alternative view of the materialist — that death was annihilation. But now the Occident begins to know what the Occultist has always known, that death is but a change of consciousness — a passing from a denser into a finer form of matter.

There is, undoubtedly, much of value to be learned through the proper study of psychism, but, so far, the results seem negligibly small compared with the effort and the cost — not only during the last seventy years, but through all the weary centuries of man's evolution on this planet — for we are still but tasting the old wine from new bottles.

Physicists have carefully investigated modern necromancy, but have any new laws of physics been revealed to, or through, them? Chemists have investigated, but has the world been enriched through new facts revealed to them by subjective entities? In turn all the learned professions, arts and sciences have furnished votaries to the cult, but the spirits have added but little to the store of human knowledge. Why?

We have collected an amazing mass of platitudes and of chatter, but no substantial revelations. Why?

Is it because man becomes less intelligent as he gains experience and broadens his vision?

That is not in accordance with past observations. The channel of communication between the two worlds seems to be open, and no prohibition seems placed on spirits to speak either wisely, or foolishly. In the absence of any other satisfactory answer to these questions, may we not accept, as a possible explanation, the teachings of Occultism, on this subject?

Occultists say that when a man dies he is drawn by gravic force to that state, plane or subjective world, corresponding to his general vibration — or character. That the less developed characters and intelligences are, therefore, earthbound, because the first subjective plane is denser than the others. The more highly developed man, therefore, quickly passes through the first subjective plane to other and better states, leaving the undeveloped men and "angel guides," to contact this world of ours and to blindly lead the blind.

Is it not possible, then, to reach higher intelligences, to contact finer, inner worlds and to gain valuable information?

The Occultist would answer, yes. There is always a proper and an improper way of doing everything, and there is a successful and an unsuccessful method of studying psychism — of investigating psychic phenomena.

There has always been a higher and a lower Occultism, a greater and a lesser magic. Aaron had studied this subject well and did not hesitate to compete with the Egyptian Magicians of

Pharaoh's Court, and, by reason of his greater knowledge, overpowered them.

By the study of Occultism, the occult may be mastered. All explorers, who go into an unknown country, first seek to learn what they can about that country — and, particularly, the dangers to be encountered there. Then, protecting themselves, as best they can, and, having made all provisions that foresight may suggest, they enter upon their quest. A like procedure is a sensible one in the study of psychism — or lesser magic; but, probably the unwise will, in the future, as in the past, rush in where the wiser ones cautiously tread.

Before a student of Occultism enters upon an investigation of necromancy, and of other branches of lesser magics — for there are other branches — he first studies the art of concentration. Having the theory well fixed in his mind, he commences the practice of specialized concentration upon the free Cosmic Forces which surround him — particularly the positive force of Cosmic Blue. The correct shade of this color can be seen in the current leaping from pole to pole in a static machine, or where the trolley makes an imperfect contact with the wire. As has been shown more fully in "The History and Power of Mind," concentrating upon a Cosmic Force draws that Force into the human aura. If the Force is of higher vibration than the aura, it will raise the vibration of the aura to its own rate. No malignant or ignorant entity ever vibrates as high as the color mentioned, therefore, it would be as impossible for an entity to obsess a person whose aura vibrates that color as it would be for glass to cut a diamond — for the higher vibration repels the lower, and even Paul became blind in the presence of an Angelic Being.

The student whose aura is normally vibrating electric blue, is not only invulnerable to psychic influences, but is prepared to contact the higher planes of the inner life which correspond to that color — by reason of synchronous vibrations.

The next step for the student is to develop independent clairvoyance and clairaudience, by concentrating upon the electric Blue Force, before mentioned, and later, upon the Yellow Cosmic Force. When these Forces are condensed in the two ganglia of the brain, known respectively as the pineal gland and the pituitary body, the vibration of these ganglia is raised until they function as inner vision and inner hearing.

Having acquired the ability to see the inner worlds, the student now looks down upon the first subjective plane and studies the psychic forces there at work — much as a person looks down from an upper window on the street below and watches the " madding crowd.' '

Stepping behind the scenes and looking through the eyes of the student of Occultism at the actors — producers of psychic phenomena — and their work, the first thing that impresses one is the seeming inextricable blending of truth and falsehood. A total falsehood soon dies, though it may cause much destruction and sorrow during its brief life. But a lie, which is half a truth, gains power and vitality by reason of its truthful element; and, therefore, its life is longer and more dangerous.

The lowest class associated with Spiritism is composed of tricksters, who pose as mediums, and, through sleight of hand, or mechanical contrivances, beguile the untrained investigator until they are either self-exposed, by carelessness, or crude effort, or are exposed by a careful observer. These imitations of mediums bring derision to the movement, which they misrepresent, and but little profit to themselves — since they are soon driven out of town, as common frauds, by the authorities ; and, becoming compulsive itinerants, never again acquire a serious following.

The next class are real mediums who are constantly, or intermittently, controlled by disembodied entities. But here again truth and falsehood blend, for many mediums, abandoned by their former controls, or, unable, for a time, through physical depletion, to furnish the controlling entity with the requisite magnetism, resort to fraud to hold their followers. This is so confusing to the non-clairvoyant investigator, who is attracted by the actual phenomena and repelled by the fraud, that he often abandons the entire study in disgust.

Many controls are what they claim to be, Indians, criminals and annualized men and women without physical bodies. Some are of the ordinary run of humanity, who have never progressed much along intellectual, or ethical lines, in their late lives. Others are materialists who are earthbound, because of their mode of thought, but help to compose that motley throng who cannot rise to higher planes and are contented with using the minds and bodies of those left on earth.

Occasionally, there are sincere souls, who, unwisely, seek to use a medium to send comfort to the dear ones left behind ; but, whenever this effort is made, it is usually followed later by messages from impersonators, with ulterior motives. And last and worst of all, are the various grades of devolving egos, those who are hopelessly depraved and destructive, who are on the downward path to annihilation, for all destructive centers, sooner or later, destroy themselves.

When watching the kinds of phenomena produced, one is again confronted by the real and the imitation, the true, the false and the compounding of the two ; and this is particularly the case during the examination of the first four of the enumerated classes.

Inspirational writing and speaking belong to the highest order of psychic phenomena, because they blend into true inspiration; and here the line of distinction sometimes becomes very thin. In these cases the intelligence of the medium must cooperate with a secondary intelligence, not necessarily that of a spirit, or of an individual, for, in true inspiration, a connection between the medium and the Universal Consciousness may be made. Most of the sacred writings have come to the world in this way — and, therefore, are called inspired.

Some one, keenly sensitive along spiritual lines, receives from Divine Consciousness — God — certain ideas, or sometimes words, and these are transmitted to others through speech, or writing. And this, in a lesser degree, is true of all the greatest writers of the world. They are people who have not necessarily received their ideas from other intelligences, but who have been able to attach themselves subconsciously to the Universal Consciousness and to receive from It ideas, phrases and sometimes whole treatises.

For example, Tennyson said that sometimes couplets came to him complete, and all that he did was to commit to paper that which floated into his mind from the ether. And was it not Byron who said: "I lisped in numbers, for the numbers earner'

This does not necessarily mean that those poets were communicating with spirits. It was more probable that their sub-conscious minds were connected with the literary current in the Universal Consciousness and, through It, received an inflow of ideas ; and, their minds being rhythmical, they expressed those ideas in poetry. This kind of inspiration is much more rare than are cases in which the secondary intelligence is that of an individual.

It would not be fair to discuss psychic phenomena unless this aspect were included in the discussion, though, strictly speaking, it belongs to higher Magic, or Occultism. The mere mention of it, as a possibility, opens the door to subsequent imposition, so excarnated entities — spirits — may try to pose as Deity and impose upon sensitives who are experimenting along the line indicated.

But there is a safeguard for the student, even though he be not an independent clairvoyant: In true inspiration there never is a magnetic, or psychic control, either mental or physical. True inspiration is, as the root words indicate, a breathing in, an absorption of ideas, expressions, or both, and there is no danger of obsession ; but, instead, a great benefit and uplift is given to the speaker, or writer, who is able to consciously tap Cosmic Consciousness, for his source of supply. And it should be clearly understood that the tapping process is done through concentration, effort and intellectual preparation. It is not a gift of God to be bestowed upon passive, negative, ignorant individuals. There is no royal road to inspiration, learning and success.