Clairvoyance and Occult Powers, William Walker Atkinson [best book clubs TXT] 📗

means of the connecting link of material objects, such as bit of stone, piece of hair, article of wearing apparel etc., which has had previous associations with the thing, person or scene regarding which clairvoyant vision is required.

Without going into technical occult explanations, I would say that the virtue of these articles consists entirely of their associative value. That is to say, they carry in them certain vibrations of past experience which serve as a connecting link, or associated filament, with the thing which is sought to be brought into the field of clairvoyant vision.

To reach clairvoyantly a thing, scene, or person in this way is akin to the unwinding of a ball of yarn, when you hold the loose end in your hand. Or, it is like giving a keen-scented dog a sniff at a handkerchief once carried by the person whom you wish him to nose out for you.

A well-known authority on the subject of psychic phenomena has said on this point: "The untrained clairvoyant usually cannot find any particular astral picture when it is wanted, without some special link to put him en rapport with the subject required. Psychometry is an instance in point. 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 instance, 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 the infinitessimal 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 way 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."

One of the simplest and most common form of psychometry is that in which the psychometrist is able to tell the physical condition of a person by means of holding to the forehead, or even in the hand, some trinket or small article such as a handkerchief recently worn on the person of the individual regarding whom the information is sought. In the case of some very sensitive psychometrists, the psychic person "takes on" the condition of the other person whose former article of clothing, trinket, etc., she is holding. She will often actually experience the physical pain and distress of the person, and will be able to indicate from what ailment the person is suffering. Some persons attain great proficiency in this direction, and are a great assistance to wise physicians who avail themselves of their services. Some successful physicians themselves possess this faculty well developed, and use it to great advantage, though, as a rule they keep very quiet about it, from fear of creating unfavorable comment from their fellow-physicians and from the general public who "do not believe in such tom-foolery."

A step further is the power of some psychometrists to correctly describe the personal characteristics, and even the past history of persons with whom they come in contact, or whose "associated article" they have in their hands. Some very remarkable instances of this phase of psychometry are related in the books containing the history of clairvoyance. An interesting case is that related by Zschokke, the eminent German writer, who relates in his autobiography his wonderful experience in this direction. Listen to the story in his own words: "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 seamstress who had just 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 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 candor, 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 that if I told the truth he would admit it openly. Then I narrated the events with which my dream vision had furnished me, and the table learned 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 strongbox 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 money-chest, etc. The man, much struck, admitted the correctness of each circumstance—even, which I could not expect, of the last."

The above incident is typical of this class of psychometry, and many persons have had at least flashes of this phase of the power. The only remarkable thing about this particular case is its faithfulness regarding details—this shows a very fine development of the astral sense. The feature that makes it psychometric, instead of pure clairvoyance, is that the presence of the other person was necessary to produce the phenomenon—a bit of clothing would probably have answered as well. Zschokke does not seem to have been able to manifest time-clairvoyance independent of the presence of the person concerned—he needs the associated link, or loose end of the psychic ball of yarn.

Next in order in the list of the phenomena of psychometry is that in which the psychometrist is able to describe a distant scene by means of a bit of mineral, plant, or similar object, once located at that place. In such cases, the psychometrist gets en rapport with the distant scene by means of the connecting link mentioned. Having obtained this, he is able to relate the events that are happening on that scene at that particular moment. Some very interesting cases are mentioned in which the psychometrist has been able to "spy" in on a certain place, by means of some small article which has recently been located in that place. For instance I once gave a young psychometrist a penholder from the office of a lawyer, a friend of mine, located about eight hundred miles from the psychometrist. She gave a perfect picture of the interior of the office, the scene across the street visible from the office window, and certain events that were happening in the office at that moment, which were verified by careful inquiry as to persons and time. Every occultist, or investigator of psychic phenomena has experienced many cases of this kind.

Another phase of psychometry is that in which the psychometer is able to sense the conditions existing underground, by means of a piece of mineral or metal which originally was located there. Some wonderful instances of phychometric discernment of mines, etc., have been recorded. In this phase of psychometry, all that is needed is a piece of the coal, mineral or metal which has come from the mine. Following up this psychic "lead" the psychometrist is able to describe the veins or strata of the surrounding land, although they have not yet been uncovered or discovered.

Still another form of psychometric discernment is that in which the psychometrist gets en rapport with the past history of an object, or of its surroundings, by means of the object itself. In this way, the psychometrist holding in his hand, or pressing to his head, a bullet from a battle field, is able to picture the battle itself. Or, given a piece of ancient pottery or stone implement, the psychometrist is able to picture the time and peoples connected with the object in the past—sometimes after many centuries are past. I once handed a good psychometrist a bit of ornament taken from an Egyptian mummy over three thousand years old. Though the psychometrist did not know what the object was, or from whence it had come, she was able to picture not only the scenes in which the Egyptian had lived, but also the scenes connected with the manufacture of the ornament, some three hundred years before that time—for it turned out that the ornament itself was an antique when the Egyptian had acquired it. In another case, I had the psychometrist describe in detail the animal life, and the physical phenomena, of the age in which a fossil had existed when alive—many thousands of years ago. In the proper place in this book, I will explain just how it is possible to penetrate the secrets of the past by psychometric vision—that is to say, the psychic laws making the same possible.

Some of the most remarkable of recorded instances of this form of psychometry known to the Western world are those related in the works of a geologist named Denton, who some fifty years ago conducted a series of investigations into the phenomena of psychometry. His recorded experiments fill several volumes. Being a geologist, he was able to select the best subjects for the experiments, and also to verify and decide upon the accuracy of the reports given by the psychometrists. His wife, herself, was a gifted psychometrist, and it has been said of her, by good authority, that "she is able, by putting a piece of matter (whatever be its nature) to her head, to see, either with her eyes closed or open, all that the piece of matter, figuratively speaking, ever saw, heard, or experienced." The following examples will give a good idea of the Denton experiments, which are typical of