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

neutralize his psychic power—the stronger and more positive your belief in your immunity, and your denial of his power over you, the more do you rob him of any such power. The average person, not knowing this, is more or less passive to psychic influences of other persons, and may be affected by them to a greater or less extent, depending upon the psychic development of the person seeking to influence him. At the extreme of the sensitive pole of psychic influence, we find those persons who believe firmly that the other person has power over them, and who are more or less afraid of him. This belief and fear acts to make them particularly sensitive and impressionable, and easily affected by his psychic induction. This is the reason that the so-called witches and sorcerers and others of evil repute have been able to acquire such a power over their victims, and to cause so much trouble. The secret is that the victims believed in the power of the other person, and feared their power. The greater the belief in, and fear of, the power of the person, the greater the susceptibility to his influence; the greater the sense of power of neutralizing the power, and the disbelief in his power to affect them, the greater the degree of immunity: this is the rule!

Accordingly we find that persons in various stages of the history of the world have been affected by the influences of witches, sorcerers, and other unprincipled persons. In most cases these so-called witches and sorcerers themselves were under the delusion that they were assisted by the devil or some other supernatural being. They did not realize that they were simply using perfectly natural methods, and employing perfectly natural forces. For that matter, you must remember that magnetism and electricity, in ancient days, were considered as supernatural forces in some way connected with demonic powers.

Studying the history of witchcraft, sorcery, black-magic, and the like, you will find that the devotees thereof usually employed some psychometric method. In other cases they would mould little figures of clay, or of wax, in the general shape and appearance of the person whom they wished to affect. It was thought that these little figures were endowed with some supernatural powers or attributes, but of course this was mere superstition. The whole power of these little figures arose from the fact that they aided the imagination of the spell-worker in forming a mental image of the person sought to be influenced; and thus established a strong en rapport condition. Added to this, you must remember that the fear and belief of the public greatly aided the spell-worker and increased his power and influence over these poor persons.

I will give you a typical case, taken from an old German book, which thoroughly illustrates the principles involved in cases of this kind. Understand this case, and you will have the secret and working principle of them all. The story is told by an eminent German physician of the last century. He relates that he was consulted by one of his patients, a wealthy farmer living near by. The farmer complained that he was disturbed every night by strange noises which sounded like someone pounding iron. The disturbances occurred between the hours of ten o'clock and midnight, each and every night. The physician asked him if he suspected anyone of causing the strange trouble. The farmer answered that he suspected an old enemy of his, an old village blacksmith living several miles away from his farm. It appears that an old long-standing feud between them had broken out afresh, and that the blacksmith had made threats of employing his "hex" (witchcraft) powers on the old farmer. The blacksmith was reputed to be a sort of "hex" or male-witch, and the farmer believed in his diabolic powers and was very much in fear of them. So you see the ideal condition for psychic receptivity was present.

The physician called on the blacksmith, and taking him by surprise, gazing sternly into his eyes and asked him: "What do you do every night between ten and twelve o'clock?" The blacksmith, frightened and disturbed, stammered out: "I hammer a bar of iron every night at that time, and all the while I think intently of a bad neighbor of mine who once cheated me out of some money; and I 'will' at the same time that the noise will disturb his rest, until he will pay me back my money to get peace and quiet." The physician bade him to desist from his evil practices, under threats of dire punishment; and then went to the farmer and made him straighten out the financial dispute between the two. Thereafter, there was no more trouble.

So you see in this case all the necessary elements were present. First there was the belief of the blacksmith in his own powers—this gave him self-confidence and psychic power. Then there was the belief and fear on the part of the farmer—this made him an easy subject, and very susceptible to psychic induction, etc. Then there was the action of the blacksmith beating the iron—this gave force and clearness to his visualization of the idea he wished to induce in the mind of the other. And, finally, there was his will employed in every stroke, going out in the direction of the concentrated wish and purpose of influencing the farmer. You see, then, that every psychic element was present. It was no wonder that the old farmer was disturbed.

Among the negroes of the South, in America; and among the Hawaiians; we find marked instances of this kind. The negro Voodoo men and women work black magic on those of their race who are superstitious and credulous, and who have a mortal fear of the Voodoo. You see the conditions obtained are much the same as in the case of the German case just cited. Travellers who have visited the countries in which there is a large negro population, have many interesting tales to recite of the terrible workings of these Voodoo black magicians. In some cases, sickness and even death is the result. But, mark you this! it is only those who believe in, and fear, the power of the Voodoos that are affected. In Hawaii, the Kahunas or native magicians are renowned for their power to cause sickness and death to those who have offended them; or to those who have offended some client of the Kahuna, and who have hired the latter to "pray" the enemy to sickness or death. The poor ignorant Hawaiians, believing implicitly in the power of the Kahunas, and being in deadly fear of them, are very susceptible to their psychic influence, and naturally fall easy victims, unless they buy of the Kahuna, or make peace with his client. White persons living in Hawaii are not affected by the Kahunas, for they do not believe in them, neither do they fear them. Unconsciously, but still strongly, they deny the power, and are immune. So, you see, the principle working out here, also. Once you have the master-key, you may unlock many doors of mystery which have heretofore been closed to you.

We do not have to fall back on cases of witchcraft, however, in order to illustrate this phase of the use of psychic influence for selfish ends. In Europe and America there are teachers of a low form of occultism who instruct their pupils in the art of producing induced mental states in the minds of others, for purposes of financial gain or other selfish ends. For instance, there is a Western teacher who instructs his pupils to induce desired mental states in prospective customers, or others whom they may wish to influence for selfish reasons. This teacher tells his pupils to: "Imagine your prospective customer, or other person, as seated in a chair before which you are standing. Make the imagined picture as strong as possible, for upon this depends your success. Then proceed to 'treat' this person just as if he were actually present. Concentrate your will upon him, and tell him what you expect to tell him when you meet him. Use all of the arguments that you can think of, and at the same time hold the thought that he must do as you say. Try to imagine him as complying with your wishes in every respect, for this imagining will tend to 'come true' when you really meet the person. This rule may be used, not only in the case of prospective customers, but also in the case of persons whom you wish to influence in any way whatsoever." Surely this is a case of employing psychic powers for selfish purposes, if anything is.

Again, in Europe and America, particularly in the latter country, we find many persons who have picked up a smattering of occult knowledge by means of some of the many healing cults and organizations which teach the power of thought over physical diseases. In the instruction along the lines of distant mental healing, the student is taught to visualize the patient as strongly and clearly as possible, and to then proceed to make statements of health and strength. The mind of the patient, and that of the healer, cooperate and in many cases work wonderful cures. As you will see in the last lesson of this course, there is great power in the mind to induce healthful vibrations in the mind of others, and the work is a good and worthy one. But, alas! as is so often the case, the good teaching is sometimes perverted, and applied for unworthy and selfish ends. Some of the persons who have picked up the principles of mental healing have discovered that the same power may be used in a bad as well as in a good direction. They accordingly, proceed to "treat" other persons with the object of persuading them to do things calculated to benefit the person using the psychic power. They seek to get these other persons under their psychic influence, and to then take advantage of them in some way or other.

I hope that it is practically unnecessary for me to warn my students against evil practices of this kind—I trust that I have not drawn any students of this class to me. In case, however, that some of you may have been, or may be in the future, tempted to use your psychic powers improperly, in this way, I wish to caution and warn you positively against so doing. Outside of the ordinary morality which should prevent you from taking advantage of another person in this way, I wish to say to you that anyone so misusing psychic or astral powers will inevitably bring down upon his head, sooner or later, certain occult astral forces which will prove disastrous to him. He will become involved in the web of his own making, and will suffer greatly. Never by any means allow yourself to be tempted into indulging in any of the practices of Black Magic, under any form of disguise. You will live to regret it if you do. Employ your powers, when you develop them, for the good of others; or at least, for purely scientific investigation and knowledge.

The scientific investigator of this phase of psychic influence, will wish to become acquainted with what the occultists call "the astral tube." In this phase of the phenomena, you manifest upon the astral plane, rather than upon the physical. The astral form of telepathy is manifested, rather than the ordinary form. While there are a number of technical points involved in the production of the astral tube, I shall endeavor to instruct you regarding its creation and use in as plain words as possible, omitting all reference to technical occult details which would only serve to distract your attention and confuse your mind. The advanced occult student will understand these omitted technicalities without being told of them; the others would not know what