How to become a clairvoyant

Much easier than has been imagined

Would you like to become a clairvoyant ? Would you like to understand the experiment of gazing into crystal; to unfold the mysteries of the future; to see what is going on at a great distance, and to learn the methods by which hidden things are found ?

A crystal ball on a table

All these are much easier than has been imagined.

After long and tedious research in investigating the nature of the mystic powers of clairvoyance, psychologists declare that this faculty is by no means so rare as has been commonly supposed.

Clairvoyance is the faculty of being able to see what is taking place in a distant locality by the exercise of a strange power which is superhuman; of beholding persons and objects, perhaps hundreds, even thousands of miles away.

This strange art has been practiced by the different people of the earth ever since the beginning, of history. By the ancients it was regarded as a part of magic, and only within recent years has it been considered from a scientific stand-point.

The practicability of the art of clairvoyance has been the cause of much controversy, and some of the visions described by psychists are astounding. Many persons are the possessors of clairvoyant powers, but are wholly unconscious of the fact. They cannot tell until they have experimented. In the first place the methods of the art of clairvoyance must be fully understood by the beginner, who must have entire confidence in himself to master the art. The instruments used in conducting experiments in the clairvoyant art are very few in number and of extremely simple construction. The most wonderful results have been obtained from the use of a crystal of glass or quartz. This is known as crystal gazing. In the person who looks into the glass and sees the visions is called the "percipient." The act consists of simply gazing fixedly into the crystal, and after a few moments have elapsed, if the gazer be of the proper psychical equipment, images will begin to appear in the crystal, becoming gradually more and more distinct, and seeming either as if on the surface of the glass, or else, contained within it.

To the person who, for the first time, has experimented in crystal gazing, there is apt to come the dread sensations of uncanniness or a creepy feeling as he beholds the images distinctly outlined in the mystic glass, but after a time, if the experiments are continued, the unpleasant effects at first experienced will gradually disappear.

What causes these images to appear in the crystal and from where do they come ? Psychologists declare that they proceed directly from the mind of the crystal gazer. They explain this astounding statement by saying that the gazer have the power to vary the image voluntarily to a great extend by directing his thoughts in this or that channel. For instance, if the gazer or "percipient" chooses to think of a well-known house in a distant city, all the inmates of that house will appear after a few moments of gazing within the crystal in a manner so lifelike that it is startling.

This is mysteriously, strange, especially so when the images of the people reflected in the crystal are seen to do certain things, and later it is learned that they were performing exactly those acts as reflected in the crystal at the time - perhaps doing things quite out of he ordinary, and unexpected that they would not care for outsiders to behold - all this assumes the supernatural, and certainly as a phenomenon invites serious and respectful scientific investigation. Such is the nature of that part of clairvoyance known as "crystal gazing" or "crystal vision".

It is not at all similar to the hocuspocus of the familiar old humbugs who advertise extensively to draw back the veil of mystery at the rate of from 25 cents to $1 per draw.

The phenomenon of true crystal gazing presents the perplexing problem of ascertaining how these visions are induced; to what extent they are supernatural, and of what importance they are in acquiring information that is outside the realm of the physical senses.

The art of "crystal gazing" requires no special training, and any one can do it who cares to make the experiment. All that is necessary is to concentrate the thoughts as completely as possible upon the crystal, placing the glass upon a table or holding it in the hand, and waiting to see what will happen.

If you are not a born crystal gazer, nothing at all will appear and the crystal will remain blank. On the other hand, if you are susceptible in that kind of way, you are likely to behold more or less curious visions, which will be interesting even though they may have no special value.

Practice counts for good deal in crystal gazing, and after a while you are more likely to "see things" than at the first attempt. A person who is really susceptible in this way and little children are often very much so—will begin to behold pictures immediately on taking the crystal in hand. Others will have to wait for a time before the pictures appear. But it must not be expected that the pictures shall on every occasion present what are properly to be called visions, the fact being that most of them have no distinguishable meaning.

A certain lady of Indianapolis who is very susceptible to the strange influences and who has experimented extensively in crystal gazing, and whose word is not to be disputed, declares that she saw in one sitting the following images in the crystal:

Psychologists have accumulated a great number of instances, several hundred in all, where, according to well authenticated accounts, crystal and other clairvoyant visions of things happening at great distances were afterward proved to have been correct.

In some cases towns, houses, people and things which the percipient had never beheld were accurately described by them. It is noticeable, however, that all of these are instances merely of the supernormal acquisition of information as to things going on at the time when the visions were seen, and have nothing to do with looking into the future. That sort of clairvoyance which pretends to power of prophecy, predicting the price of stocks, etc..., is a fraud every time.

In more than one seemingly well-authenticated case a simulacrum or spectre of the percipient (without the latter's knowledge) is said to have actually appeared to the person or persons seen by the crystal gazer at a distance, at the very time of the vision. This is what is technically known to psychical experimenters as a "phantasm of the living," and the phenomenon needs more space for its discussion than is here available.

In addition to crystal gazing there are several other experiments in the clairvoyant art.

One consists in trying to determine the whereabouts of an absent person, who is away and traveling perhaps, by the use of a map. The seer holds a pencil upon the map, and the person who is anxious to obtain the information in question places his hand upon that of the clairvoyant, thinking intently the while of the absent individual. The pencil moves over the map at random at first, but finally adopts a more definite direction, and in the end (if the seer’s power amounts to anything) comes to a stop at the point where the missing man or woman is at the time.

It is said, though maybe it is only a made-up story, that a castaway on a desert island in the Pacific was once located in this remarkable manner, a vessel being sent to the place indicated by the clairvoyant and rescuing him.

Another experiment is made by sealing up bits of writing in envelopes and asking the percipient to read them. Or the hands of a hunting-case watch are turned by the sterm-winder at random, and inquiry made as to the time indicated. In this latter case nobody can possibly know the time shown until the watch is opened, and so the test is a particularly good one. Simpler than the writing test is one that is made by putting a playing card into an envelope, and demanding to know its suit and denomination.

Some of the results obtained by the psychical people with the card test and watch test have been quite extraordinary. They are worth trying in any company, because they will afford amusement, even though nobody present shows signs of being a clairvoyant. But, when using cards in this way, it should be remembered that two or three failures prove nothing. Quite a number of trials should be made, the percipient concentrating his or her mind each time upon the envelope and making every effort to think of the correct card. Then add up the results and find out what the average of correctness has been.

The Saint Paul globe, November 02, 1902