As just stated, metaphysics and theology are to be avoided. But since Mysticism is generally associated with belief in an Unconditioned Absolute, and since such an Absolute is fatal to the claims of any genuine Nature Mysticism, a preliminary flyin
The general character of the nature-mystic's main contention will now be sufficiently obvious. He maintains that man and his environment are not connected in any merely external fashion, but that they are sharers in the same kind of Being, and ther
At this point we wish to impress upon the minds of the students of this book that what has been above said regarding that class of mental communications generally classed under the head of Telepathy also applies to many much higher phases of occult
Let us begin with that great master of modern science, Sir William Crookes, the inventor of the celebrated "Crookes' Tubes," without which the discovery of the X-Ray and Radio-Activity would have been impossible. Several years ago, this eminent scie
A writer has given the following directions for making a "home-made Ouija Board," viz., "A Planchette may be used as an 'Ouija' by laying down a sheet of paper upon which the letters of the alphabet have been written or printed in a fairly large sem
"Every living being is a dynamic focus. A dynamic focus tends ever to propagate the motion that is proper to it. Propagated motion becomes transformed according to the medium it traverses. Motion always tends to propagate itself. Therefore, when we
So much for the conceptions of modern western science, which agree in the main with those of the ancient oriental occultists, although of course different names and terms are employed. But, we think it worth while to call your attention to the fact
We have defined this as the capacity to see events or scenes removed from the seer in space and too far distant for ordinary observation. The instances of this are so numerous and so various that we shall find it desirable to attempt a somewhat mo
Under this rather curious title I am grouping together the cases of all those people who definitely set themselves to see something, but have no idea what the something will be, and no control over the sight after the visions have begun--psychic M
Under this heading we may group together all those cases in which visions of some event which is taking place at a distance are seen quite unexpectedly and without any kind of preparation. There are people who are subject to such visions, while th
Even if, in a dim sort of way, we feel ourselves able to grasp the idea that the whole of the past may be simultaneously and actively present in a sufficiently exalted consciousness, we are confronted by a far greater difficulty when we endeavour
Clairvoyance in time--that is to say, the power of reading the past and the future--is, like all the other varieties, possessed by different people in very varying degrees, ranging from the man who has both faculties fully at his command, down to
Accession of the Emperor Justinian--His place in history--Overthrow of the Vandal kingdom in Africa by Belisarius--Battles of Ad Decimum and Tricamaron--Belisarius' triumph--Fall of the Burgundian kingdom--Death of Amalaric, king of Spain--Amalasuen
Anastasius, the Eastern Emperor--His character--His disputes with his subjects--Theodoric and the king of the Gepidse--War of Sinnium and its consequences--Raid on the coast of Italy--Reconciliation between the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople--
Justinian begins his great Gothic war--Dalmatia recovered for the Empire--Belisarius lands in Sicily--Siege of Palermo--The South of Italy overrun--Naples taken by a stratagem--Theodahad deposed by the Goths--Witigis elected king--The Goths evacuate
Clouds in the horizon--Anxiety as to the succession--Death of Eutharic, son-in-law of Theodoric--His son Athalaric proclaimed as Theodoric's heir--Pope and Emperor reconciled--Anti-Jewish riot at Ravenna--Strained relations of Theodoric and his Cath
Transformation in the character of Theodoric--His title--Embassies to Zeno and Anastasius--Theodoric's care for the rebuilding of cities and repair of aqueducts--Encouragement of commerce and manufactures--Revival of agriculture--Anecdotes of Theodo
Any attempt at a scientific explanation of the phenomenon of "crystal seering," to use an irregular but comprehensive term, would perhaps fall short of completeness, and certainly would depend largely upon the exercise of what Professor Huxley was wont
The faculty of second sight is not by any means the most common of the psychic powers. Psychometric impressions which proceed by the sense of touch into that of a superior order of feeling are far more general. We are affected much more than is gen
AFFLICTION.—When a planet is on the cross (square) or in opposition, it is said to afflict. AIRY SIGNS.—Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. These are the mental signs. ANGLES.—The cardinal points forming the cross or square; the first, fourth, seventh,
The foregoing short treatise will gain some practical value by a statement of the conditions most suitable for scrying. A diffused natural light, preferably from the north, is always better than an artificial light. The subject should sit with
Under this head we propose to cite a few of the obstacles to be met with in the process of inducing the psychic vision, and some also which may be expected in connection with the faculty when induced. Putting aside the greatest of all obstacles—that
This steady effort towards the simplifying of your tangled character, its gradual emancipation from the fetters of the unreal, is not to dispense you from that other special training of the attention which the diligent practice of meditation and re
Recollection, the art which the practical man is now invited to learn, is in essence no more and no less than the subjection of the attention to the control of the will. It is not, therefore, a purely mystical activity. In one form or another it is
So, in a measure, you have found yourself: have retreated behind all that flowing appearance, that busy, unstable consciousness with its moods and obsessions, its feverish alternations of interest and apathy, its conflicts and irrational impulses, w
Concentration, recollection, a profound self-criticism, the stilling of his busy surface-intellect, his restless emotions of enmity and desire, the voluntary achievement of an attitude of disinterested love--by these strange paths the practical man
And here the practical man, who has been strangely silent during the last stages of our discourse, shakes himself like a terrier which has achieved dry land again after a bath; and asks once more, with a certain explosive violence, his dear old ques
There can be little doubt that the Sarsens were first of all roughly hewn into shape, before they were conveyed to the site. It stands to reason that a primitive race, when faced with the problem of transporting a vast mass of stone, would first of
The five Sarsen Trilithons already mentioned were raised into position from the inside of the circle. Investigation has shown this to be a fact. It therefore stands to reason that the Foreign Stones were erected last, and not first as has so often b
We passed over the goodly plain, or rather sea of carpet, which I think for evenness, extent, verdure, and innumerable flocks, to be one of the most delightful prospects in nature.--Evelyn's Diary, 1654. There is not a county in England
Salisbury Cathedral and its neighbour Stonehenge are two eminent monuments of art and rudeness, and may show the first essay and the last perfection in architecture.--Dr. Johnson, letter to Mrs. Thrale, 1783. Stonehenge is one of those
Each statement is furnished with a reference to the particular pages in this book, where fuller information and arguments for and against may be found. I. WHEN AND BY WHOM STONEHENGE WAS BUILT (a) Stonehenge was erected about the year 1700
In the Name of the Lord, Amen. My Child shall know, that the Stone called the Philosophers Stone, comes out of Saturn. And therefore when it is perfected, it makes projection, as well in mans Body from all Diseases, which may assault them either
Give the party two drops the first day in water of Violets, the second day two drops more in good Wine.
Give the party three drops in the beginning of the Fit, early in a morning, in good distilled water of St. John's wort, or of Succory, and the next day two drops more fasting.
Let one drop fall upon the tongue of the Patient, it will attract it forth immediately like unto a Mist or Fume, and restore the party again; but if he were taken in the Body, or in the Members and Limbs, then give him three drops at once in good wi
Give one drop in baulm water, or Valerian water six days together, the seventh day give three drops in good wine, and it is sufficient. In the Falling Sickness, and its kinds, as Epilepsie, Catalepsie, and Analepsie. In the beginning of the F
Naturalism takes refuge in the doctrine of association, when it does not attain anything with its first claims, and applies this theory in such a way that it seems possible from this standpoint to interpret mental processes as having an approximat
The aim and method of the strict type of naturalism may be easily defined. In its details it will become more distinct as we proceed with our analysis. Taking it as a whole, we may say that it is an endeavour on a large scale after consistent simp
The aim of our study has been to define our attitude to naturalism, and to maintain in the teeth of naturalism the validity and freedom of the religious conception of the world. This seemed to be cramped and menaced by those "reductions to simpler t
3. This unified self-consciousness is consciousness of the ego. It is only by means of an artificial abstraction that we can leave out of account in the consideration of processes of thought the peculiar factor of personal relationship that absolu
Those whose protests we have hitherto been considering have not added to their criticism of the mechanical theory any positive contribution of their own, or at least they give nothing more than very slight hints pointing towards a psychical theory
A.--PAMPHLET LITERATURE. Sec. 1.--Witchcraft under Elizabeth (see ch. II). A large part of the evidence for the trials of Elizabeth's reign is derived from the pamphlets issued soon after the trials. These pamphlets furnish a peculiar s
In an earlier chapter we followed the progress of opinion from James I to the Restoration. We saw that in the course of little more than a half-century the centre of the controversy had been considerably shifted: we noted that there was a growing
Some one has remarked that witchcraft came into England with the Stuarts and went out with them. This offhand way of fixing the rise and fall of a movement has just enough truth about it to cause misconception. Nothing is easier than to glance at
1558. John Thirkle, "taylour, detected of conjuringe," to be examined. Acts of Privy Council, n. s., VII, 6. ---- Several persons in London charged with conjuration to be sent to the Bishop of London for examination.
1.--Charged with Causing Death. 1603. Yorkshire. Mary Pannel. 1606. Hertford. Johanna Harrison and her daughter. 1612. Northampton. Helen Jenkinson, Arthur Bill, Mary Barber. 1612. Lancaster. Chattox,
I doubt not but the title of this book will amuse some of my reading friends a little at first; they will make a pause, perhaps, as they do at a witch's prayer, and be some time resolving whether they had best look into it or no, lest they should
Tho' I am writing the History of the Devil, I have not undertaken to do the like of all the Kinds of People, Male or Female, who set up for Devils in the World: This would be a Task for the Devil indeed, and fit only for him to undertake, for thei
Of God's calling a Church out of the midst of a degenerate World, and of Satan's new Measures upon that Incident: How he attack'd them immediately, and his Success in those Attacks. Satan having, as I have said in the preceding Chapte
It is true, as that learn'd and pleasant Author, the inimitable Dr. Brown says, the Devil is his own Hell; one of the most constituting Parts of his Infelicity is, that he cannot act upon Mankind brevi Manu, by his own inherent Power, as well as R
Infinite Advantages attend the Devil in his retired Government, as they respect the Management of his Interests, and the carrying on his absolute Monarchy in the World; particularly as it gives him room to act by the Agency of his inferior Ministe
In our last three lessons we considered that class of Psychomancy arising from the erection and employment of the "Astral Tube." In the present lesson we pass to a consideration of the third class of phenomena, namely, that occasioned by the actua
"Clairaudience" is a term sometimes used to indicate Astral Hearing. Some writers on this subject treat "Clairaudience" as a separate class of phenomena. But we fail to see the distinction they make. It, of course, employs a different Astral Sense f
There has been a great revival of interest in the subject of "Crystal Gazing," particularly in England, of late years, and many interesting accounts have appeared in the papers and magazines regarding the results of the experiments. But the majori
Concentration. In the first place, the student should cultivate the faculty of Concentration, that is the power to hold the attention upon an object for some time. Very few persons possess this power, although they may think they do. The best way to
The Student will have noted that in many cases mentioned in these lessons, the Psychomantic vision manifested during physical sleep. The reason of this occurrence is that in the majority of persons the physical nature, when awake, holds the attent