Hidden things of life in magic crystal

Latest Development of Clairvoyance Becomes a Fad in Society Circles

Psychic Mystery Which Admits of an Easy Explanation by Those Who Have Made a Study of the Science.

When Prof Thomson Jay Hudson began to exploit his theories on the duality of the human mind following along the lines laid down by scientists for years past, he may have cleared away barriers of doubt and wonder concerning what up to that time had been regarded more or less as explainable psychological mysteries. But at the same time he laid the foundation for a curiosity that being allowed full ven throughout the length and breadth of the land rapidly is bringing to us especially in the great commercial centers. If the word of eminent physicians is to be believed, a race of men and women who not alone are losing their mental poise but who in the absence of intelligence necessary to beneficial results from experiments in such a field become an actual menace to society.

That Hudson and other writers on this subject have warned their reader against delving too deeply into the mysteries of experimental psychology evidently has served only to whet the curiosity thus aroused by these interesting and valuable works for today in London and New York statistics show that full 40 par cent of the adult population are experimenting in some branch of what has been known as the "occult art". Hypnotism, mesmerism, clairvoyance, clairaudience, second sight, spiritism, and their various phenomena being chased under the generic head of psychology, have formed a subject too engrossing in its interest to withstand. Today we find experimental work going on from the humble cottager with his planchette to the woman of society versed in every technicality of this still mysterious subject.

Some Society Mediums

Crystal gazing has taken the greatest hold. Today there are to be found in almost every house along Fifth Avenue and in the homes of most of the upper fashionable circles some members of the family who make their dally trips to the so called mediums, where in the quiet of some secluded and dimly lighted room they are permitted to see in the little sphere of crystal scenes of days that have passed, and as some of the more ignorant believe visions of what is to come. And in not a few cases the women of the "upper ten" practice this fascinating study themselves and act as mediums for their friends. For lately it has become more generally known that "medium" powers are not an exclusive birthright but belong to all who choose to knock correctly at the door.

There is no doubt that superstition still is impossible for the exercise of much of the existing curiosity about psychic science for notwithstanding the fact that experimental investigation has swept away much of the belief in spiritualism nevertheless large numbers of persons, even those seemingly intelligent, still have a lurking suspicion that there may be something in it after all. Though we have developed from the age of spooks and soothsayers and have reached the more practical standpoint of belief and intelligence superstition and the desire to peer into the unknown remain two ineradicable attributes of the mind. In deed among some of the seemingly most sane persons the so called mystical exorcists a wonderful and far reaching influence.

Case of Percy Foxwell

Crystal gazing has received a fresh impetus in New York owing to the news recently received of another "test" case, which while in itself may seem wonderful to many persons, in reality establishes no greater truths than have been proved time and again by the London Society for Psychical Research.

This body composed of the most eminent scientists of the world, men whose credibility is not open to question, has done more in the way of proving the truth and actuality of psychic phenomena than perhaps ever has been done by any body or investigators before. In short they have forced science to recognize the fact that psychic phenomena do exist and by their experiments have placed the subject almost in the class of exact sciences.

The latest test case affecting crystal gazing concerns a young lawyer of Thames Ditton, London, named Percy Foxwell.

Foxwell, it appears, left his home in his usual health and spirits. During the afternoon Mrs Foxwell received a telegram from her husband asking her not to wait dinner as he could not return until later. From that moment nothing more was seen or heard of him. Mrs Foxwell was distracted at his disappearance. The police were communicated with and special detectives engaged. Days passed but nothing transpired. A reward of £50 afterward increased to £500 was offered for infortation concerning the whereabouts of the missing lawyer but still without result.

It was in a condition bordering upon despair that Mrs Foxwell determined to seek the aid of clairvoyance. To this end she called upon a Mr von Bourg, a clairvoyant and avowed spiritualist who is practicing professionally in the west end of London.

Saw Picture of the Dead

Von Bourg not only gave her many details correctly but through his psychic powers enabled her to see in his crystal, first the form of her husband in life then his dead body lying in the water. Not only that, Mr von Bourg and another medium accurately described the position of the water asserting that it was not more than a mile from the house, that there was grass on the banks and a drooping tree overhanging where the body was lying.

The mediums declared themselves conscious of severe pains on the left side of the head and attributed this to the probability that Mr Foxwell had met with his death by a blow on the left side of the skull.

Subsequently under the directions of the mediums, the spot indicated by them was sought and found and the next morning Mr Foxwell's body was found not far from the spot by some water men. At the Inquest, held later, the doctors called attention to some slight depressions on the left side of the head possibly due to blows.

On another occasion a friend went to see von Bourg for a few minutes conversation Mr von Bourg asserts that when shaking hands with his friend a strange repellant feeling came over him, a feeling which in spite of all his efforts he could not shake off. He persuaded his friend to hold the crystal with the result that von Bourg predicted that within twenty four hours he would be in the most serious financial difficulties. The sequel of the case was that his friend next morning found him self a ruined man through the extensive embezzlements of one of his employees.

It Is Easy to Explain

Again a lady called upon him professionally. She did not tell him her business at once but as she sat before him, Mr von Bourg distinctly saw in "his minds eye" that usually she wore around her neck a long gold chain, although when she entered the apartment that chain was not there. He immediately put the question to her : "You have come to consult me concerning lost jewelry ?". The lady admitted such was the fact. A day or two later Mr von Bourg went to Brighton and there by means of his crystal showed where the missing Jewelry would eventually be found. A few days afterward he received a telegram stating that the jewels had been discovered in the very spot that he had predicted - under the edge of a carnet.

While these cases may seem extraordinary to those who have not studied this interesting subject, nevertheless they merely form examples of the A B C of psychic science, and the possibility of such cases would not be questioned by and student of the subject. They form only another proof of the existence of that branch of that phenomena which is so ably described in that interesting worm "Phantasms of the Living" which in the proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research ably demonstrate the fact that scientific Investigators of modern time have proved that even many of the ghost stories which have horrified the minds of the young for ages past in many cases have had strong foundation in fact. A review of this work will establish beyond doubt the fact that phantasms of the dead as of the living, can be made apparent to the objective senses. Many cases are on record where so called ghosts have been viewed by several persons at one time, some of them beyond doubt in a normal mental state. The conditions necessary for the projection of such phantasms on the crystal are exactly those that operate in the transference of other phantasms made apparent in space to the naked eye and are easily explainable on the hypothesis established by the theory of the dual mind when coupled with the law of suggestion.

Prof Hudson's Definition

Once the theory of the dual mind is grasped and one understands the great meaning of the power of suggestion, all of these so called mysterious phenomena easily are understood and a lightning like glance is cast not only into the subject itself, but into the hitherto laughed at realm of psychotherapeutic mind healing, which as a religion flourishes under the name of Christian Science.

Hudson separates the mentality into the "objective" and the "subjective" minds. He clearly describes the difference between the two as follows : "The objective mind takes cognizance of the objective word. Its media of observation are the five physical senses. It Is the outgrowth of mans physical necessities. It is his guide in his struggle with his material environment. Its highest function is that of reasoning".

"The subjective mind takes cognizance of its environment by means independent of the physical senses. It perceives by intuition It is the seat of the emotions and the storehouse of memory. It performs its highest functions when the objective senses are in abeyance. It is that intelligence which makes itself manifest in a hypnotic subject when he is in a state of somnambulism".

In this State many of tho most wonderful feats of the subjective mind are performed. It sees without the use of the natural organs of vision, and in this as in many other grades or degrees of the hypnotic state it can be made apparently to leave the body and travel to distant lands and bring back intelligence oftimes of the most exact and truthful character. It has also the power to read the thoughts of others even to minutest details, to read the contents of sealed envelopes and closed books. In short it is the "subjective" mind that possesses what is popularly known as the clairvoyant power and the ability to apprehend the thoughts of others without the aid of the ordinary objective means of communication.

It Is the Soul

The real distinctive difference between the two minds seems to consist in the fact that the objective mind merely the function of the physical brain while the subjective mind is a distinctive entity, possessing independent powers and functions, having a mental organization of its own and being capable of sustaining an existence independently of the body. In other words it is the soul.

This grasped, much light is thrown onto the subject when we understand that the subjective mind (the term is used to prevent confusion) is incapable of inductive reasoning and is completely under the control of suggestion. The subjective mind which reasons only deductively from what it is told (for it accepts as absolute fact every impression conveyed), to a logical issue, often reaches the most improbable conclusions. And it is controllable by its own objective mind as well as by the objective mind of others. The clairvoyant medium therefore may be described as the man who has the power to raise the information possessed by his subjective mind to the threshold of his consciousness his objective mind. It should be understood that the power of thought transference - which not even tho most skeptical scientist longer doubts - exists only between the subjective minds and those persons are called mediums who can with their subjective minds read the subjective minds of others and then as before said raise them to the threshold of their own consciousness. The facts thus discovered once unfolded to the objective senses of the listener at once are understood as truths.

The "subjective" mind is most active when the objective mind is dethroned, as in sleep. In the hour of death it Is all paramount. It reigns supreme. Is It any wonder then that at such a time, if one should be facing death by violence, the unconscious thought and desire to acquaint those dear ones at home of the circumstances surrounding our taking off be flashed with lightning like rapidity from our subjective mind to that of the person or persons most interested ? Surely this is the fact perhaps in every case though not always are such messages raised to the conscious mind of the receiver.

In events such as the one described of Foxwell, the receiver of the message visits a "medium". The medium at one sees the scene of the disaster. He reads the stricken mind of the wife and finds hidden in the store house of her subjective mind the message flashed to it in the moment of death. He tells her of the picture even to the most minute details of her husbands taking off, and as in this case, projects the vision of horror on the crystal sphere. It is here the sceptic halts and it is here that that mysterious hypnosis plays its part.

In few cases of crystal reading can the listener see the scenes described by the medium, but when they can be seen, it is because the objective mind is dethroned for the time being by hypnosis and the subjective mind allowed to operate free from the trammels of objective reason. The same law operates in the well authenticated cases of so called spirit photography, which, despite the doubts cast upon them owing to the many charlatans, undoubtedly do exist.

It is a fact that few persons can see the visions in the crystal. This Is because they are in doubt about them. And it is a well authenticated fact that failure to produce psychic phenomena is not only likely but almost certain where doubt exists. For this "subjective" mind accepts as fact that doubt, and it can reason only deductively from that premise. Let the subjective mind be assured of the fact and it will accept it with the same certainty. Thus it is that so much of the well known phenomena has been attributed by the ignorant to spiritism. The medium has been asked if "the speaker is not John Smith long since departed". Immediately the reply has been "yes", the subjective mind accepting at once as fact the suggestion that this is the spirit of the dead that is talking. And it will enter into the most spirited and logical arguments to prove that such is the fact. Nor should It be taken as an evidence of charlatanism that the medium believes he is in direct communication with the souls of the departed, for often he is operating under laws, natural, but which he does not understand. He knows of the existence of the phenomena and has no hypothesis under which he can explain them other than that of communication with the spirits of the dead. Possibly this is the case with von Bourg.

Clairvoyance and crystal gazing stand really among the simplest of the so called occult arts. The person gifted with second sight usually is one of a highly nervous temperament, and he presuming the medium to be a man - is influenced by forces over which he has personally little control. The questionable gift of second sight develops usually at an early age. The boy Is known as "old fashioned" since his ways are not ways of other boys, and he is more given to brooding than playing. Most of the clairvoyants inform us that in the early teens they insensibly develop the faculty of predicting the future.

A Simple Modus Operandi

Should misfortune be imminent, the medium is affected in a strange manner; he is irritable gloomy end pessimistic, while the conviction gradually asserts itself that disaster is on the tapis. In later years, as the "gift" is developed, the mature clairvoyant cultivates his gift to such a degree that his faculties are susceptible to apparently the most trifling influences. In a sense, he becomes magnetic and it is by this magnetism that he is able to absorb the thoughts of his subjects.

Crystal gazing is a development of clairvoyant. Instead of merely telling the subject the picture which he sees in his mind, the medium projects the pictures into the crystal so that the subject can see for himself or herself what has happened or what is likely to happen. The crystal is a polished piece of rock crystal generally of considerable value.

The modus operandi is simplicity itself. The clairvoyant seats himself opposite his subject and taking the crystal polishes it. The subject takes it in both hands and holds it for a few minutes, meanwhile fixing the mind on the matter of moment. The clairvoyant then reads the thoughts of the subject, sees in his "mind's eye" certain eventualities ; pictures come up before his mental vision and fade away, until at length one is fixed firmly in the mind. He then fixes his thoughts on the crystal, and as soon as the picture has faded from his mind he takes the stone, wipes it, and holds it under a strong light. It is then that the picture which has been formed by his mind can be seen on the crystal if the subject is in the subjective state.

Great Danger in Experiments

The great danger to humanity in allowing the subjective mind to gain control over the objective senses has been pointed out by the most eminent scientists and physicians. Its danger lies in the fact that the subjective mind has no power of reason by induction, and it does not require a vast sweep of the imagination to show under such a system of life how far moral degradation can reach. Much more is it evident then how dangerous it is to allow the objectlve reason to be dethroned by a power when the laws under which that power operates are not understood; yet the number of persons in this class is legion. And dally are the ranks being added to.

The subjective mind is paramount in the insane, and so on down the line until we reach the fully developed dual mentality subjective and objective equally poised, with reason In control, which some folk call genius.

The Times, Washington, August 24, 1902