Laws of Occultism

Occult Data
THE WORD occult means that which is hidden. Occultism, consequently, is the science of
hidden forces, and the art of subjecting such forces to human control. Here we will consider
the data upon which occultism rests.

Its subjects are not directly apprehended by the five senses upon which the physical scientist
relies for all knowledge. The line of demarcation between that which is called occult is,
therefore, constantly changing; for scientists every now and then invent a device by which
some hitherto occult force is made directly perceptible to the physical senses. It is then no
longer considered occult.

Not long since, for instance, the power of the lodestone was held to be occult. Indeed, so far
as any knowledge of its nature is concerned, the physical scientists should include the force
of gravitation in the occult category; for they admit it operates across immense space in
which there is nothing that can be apprehended by the five senses, yet fail to explain by
what hidden means the force is transmitted.

The infrared and ultraviolet rays of light, also were occult a few years ago, and are so yet to
the majority of people.

All mental forces fall properly into this category, as is admitted in the case of hypnotism,
exhibiting, as it does, the power of one mind over another.

It is clear, then, that the common application of the word occult, since it depends upon the
experience of the speaker—for what is hidden to one may be perceived by another—is
wholly arbitrary.

Man Fears That Which He Does Not Understand

The word carries with it an air of mystery, it is true; but all forces are mysterious to those
who have not studied them; and what is mysterious to the ignorant is obvious to the
learned. Yet in all nature, nothing can come permanently under this ban; for all mysteries
may be solved. Thus, the simplest conveniences of modern civilization are mysterious to the
untutored savage. He is wont to attribute their power to some supernatural agency. But
there is nothing supernatural—nothing, that is, not governed by natural laws. Above and
below, all obey those by which they manifest; and while these laws are uncomprehended
any phenomenon seems mysterious.

It was this uncomprehension that caused the terror of the Red Man, who, not understanding
the natural laws underlying its geysers and boiling paintpots, feared to enter the Yellowstone
Park: while the White Man, sure that its riddles could be solved, has made it his national
playground. And just as the savage inclines to attribute such phenomena to some

1
supernatural agency, or similarly to attribute the powers of the burning-glass, and to regard
photographs with reverence, so other men, more highly endowed, but not less ignorant in
that special direction, can see in spiritual phenomena only Divine intervention and miracles.
Thus do all of us fear that which we do not understand; but with understanding comes
courage, for with the dawning of the light of the mind we see how any hidden danger—if
danger there be—may be circumvented. Knowledge reveals it either as a scarecrow or as a
menace, the one to be ignored and the other avoided except as it can be made subservient
to the will of man.

Progression Depends Upon Knowledge

Man’s only progression, here or hereafter, must be founded on knowledge. Only by its
means can he subjugate his external environment and enjoy its opportunities. He who is
ignorant of the laws of his physical body incurs illness. He who is ignorant of the laws
governing acquisition remains in poverty. He who is ignorant of the social laws of his land is
likely to be deprived of his liberty.

So it is also with things spiritual. Only through a knowledge of spiritual laws can man mold
his spiritual environment and enjoy, while yet on earth, spiritual powers. Ignorant of the
laws of his spiritual body, he incurs moral maladies that follow him beyond the tomb.
Ignorant of the laws governing the acquisition of spiritual attributes, he misses the greatest
treasures of this life, and passes to the life beyond in spiritual poverty. If, still ignorant, he
goes to the new life with no knowledge of the laws and customs of the denizens of that
realm, or if he contacts them while he is still embodied, he may, in his unenlightened
condition, be deprived of his liberty. Only through knowledge of himself, and of the powers
and forces by which he is environed, can he expect to progress. And it is for this reason that
the occultist applies himself to the acquisition of such knowledge.

Its acquisition, like everything else, depends much upon a proper beginning, and the occult
student, starting out on his voyage in search of the Golden Fleece of spiritual truth, needs to
take care that he sets sail from the right port and in the right direction. At the very
beginning, then, of our bold enterprise, in which we purpose to carry the student safely
across the muddy tide of metaphysics and land him securely on the bright shores of occult
knowledge, we must indicate our port of debarkation and show it to be a true port.

All Knowledge Is Based Upon Experience

No better starting point can be found for such a purpose, nor another nearly so strong and
well defended, as the fundamental assertion, I AM.

Following Nature as our safest pilot, we discover that the first glimmer of consciousness—
that which foreshadows knowledge—is concerned with distinguishing the Me from the
Notme. Thus a sensation registers as something distinct from me but affecting me; and it
matters not whether we accept the statement of the Cartesian school, “I think, therefore I

2
am,” or prefer the version of Eliphas Levi, the learned French Magus, “I am, therefore I
think,” the fact remains that the assertion “I AM” is irrefutable.

By no quirk of speculation can we deny the existence of the thinker, who must postulate a
being able to think before he can find ground on which to stand to make denial. When he
admits the existence of a being able to form an opinion, he has established himself as an
entity; for, clearly, if there is no thinker, there can be no thought; and if there is no thought
there can be no denial. Consequently, no one can deny his own existence; and from this
undeniable premise any correct system of philosophy must start.

The consciousness of the thinker, thus firmly established, is a perception of relations. These
relations may be subjective or objective, but to be conscious of them he must be able to
compare them. Where there is no change, no relative conditions, there can be no
consciousness.

Similarly, limited perceptions of relations mean limited consciousness, and greater

perceptions of relative conditions bring greater consciousness. Evolution is thus observed to
be in the direction of increased perceptions, that is, to be moving toward greater
consciousness. Therefore, as evolution continues, consciousness expands; and as evolution
advances toward infinity, the perceptions increase, until absolute consciousness is
approached.

In the same way, lower forms of life than man have perceptions of the narrower world in
which they live, and these constitute the basis of their actions. But man has not only
perception of his immediate environment, he can recall in memory many of these external
perceptions and combine them in a new order. Such a complex mental grouping is called a
concept. Concepts, in turn, combine into the larger group we call knowledge, which is thus
seen to rest upon experience-gained perceptions, grouped in memory.

Even though we gain the knowledge from books, it is nevertheless gained by experience; for
to read another’s writing is an experience as truly as if one were to feel in himself the
physical sensations of the writer. Such an experience is, of course, mental rather than
physical; but it is still an experience. Reasoning, also, is an experience, arising from the
comparison of relations held in memory. In very truth we have no knowledge except that
gained through experience, and that experience is a continually increasing consciousness of
relations of various perceptions and concepts.

The first form of this consciousness is decidedly limited; for as a newborn babe I possess
scarcely more than the instinct inherent in all life to struggle for existence. To what extent
these inherited instincts and tendencies depend upon previous experiences of the soul
before birth in human form does not concern us now. Enough that I, together with all living
beings, have an instinct to sustain existence. This instinct leads to actions that supply
nourishment to the body, and these actions register impressions on the consciousness. At
this time, I am unaware of more than a few primitive sensations, and my consciousness has
a very limited scope. But limited as it is, there soon develops a dim perception of relations.

3
Thus I become aware that the sensation I later call hunger is appeased by taking
nourishment, and that certain actions on my part lead to this nourishment being furnished
by my mother. Here I take my first step in positive knowledge; for I have discovered the
relation existing between two sets of sensations.

All knowledge possible to me, here and hereafter, must rest upon a similar basis; for there is
no knowledge that does not rest upon experience, and no experience apart from a
perception of relations.

In this typical case I find that a certain set of sensations is followed by another set of
sensations. The same thing happens over and over again, until the connection is established
in memory. Because of the repeated association of these two sets of sensations in my
experience I conclude that the first set is always followed by the other set. This is
KNOWLEDGE.

Growing from infancy to childhood, my perception of relations gains a wider scope. Day by
day I add to the store of such experiences, and of others. Some objects have thus attracted
my attention through the sense of sight, and I have discovered that things thus seen have
come into my possession when reached for. So I reach for the object of my desire. Since my
experience so far has been very limited, my knowledge is only partial and I reach for an
object across the room with the same assurance as if it were near at hand. But I am unable
to procure it, and this adds to my experience.

Later I learn, by repetition of this experience, and comparison of it with similar experiences
in which I have successfully gained possession of the coveted object, that some objects are
close at hand and others are distant. Thus I correct my first impression that reaching brings
an object within range of the sense of touch, and a knowledge of the relation called distance
enters my mind. This knowledge is emphasized and made important to me through the
sensations of pleasure and pain.

Illustrating the function of pleasure and pain, when learning to walk if I reach for a chair that
is too far away, expecting it to support me, I fall and am hurt. But if I am correct in my
estimate of distance, I avoid the pain of falling and take pleasure in my achievement.
Pleasure and pain, when applied by Nature rather than by man, always are educational;
never reward and punishment as society conceives them. (See Chapter 4, Course XIX,
Organic Alchemy, Serial Lesson 212).

Again, a lighted candle looks very pretty and inviting, and I desire to gain impressions of it
through other senses than the sense of sight. I expect a pleasurable sensation to follow
touching or tasting it, because it is pleasing to the eye. But in this instance my knowledge is
imperfect, and the result is pain. Therefore, after touching the lighted candle I revise my
opinion of it, and decide that while it is pleasant to sight, it is painful to both touch and
taste. And in later years I can form the generalization that acting upon imperfect knowledge
often brings some painful result. This is TRUTH.

4
We now see that Truth is the conformity of cognition to reality. And while at this early age
my limited experience causes me to form many erroneous conclusions from the impressions
reaching me from the universe, a wider range of experience enables me to revise my early
conclusions and approach more nearly the truth. Thus is growth in consciousness the
continued approximation of cognition to reality, casting away that which proves erroneous,
and confirming that which proves consistent.

In later life there are experiences of a mental nature by which the results of other person’s
experiences are conveyed to me through speech and writing. Even a thought, however, is a
movement in some substance, and implies a perception of relations. The process, therefore,
of following the reasoning of another is an experience as truly as is physical action. And I find
that through mental effort I can draw conclusions regarding the probable result of a certain
course of action. I myself have never had the experience derived from such actions in my
own life, but I can compare them with those which I have had which are most like them. If
the resultant conclusions are correct, if they parallel reality, I derive benefit from them; but
if they are erroneous I suffer. When I have taken this step I rely more upon mental
experience to furnish me the necessary knowledge.

But whether the experience be mental or physical, we have but one reason to rely upon it;
which is that it furnishes us with more or less accurate data for future action.

It is only because we have found, in a similar way, that we can more or less clearly anticipate
conditions and profit by that anticipation that we learn to rely upon the processes of the
mind. Sense impressions and reason are thus alike valuable only in so far as they furnish
correct knowledge; for upon this depends the ability of the organism continuously to adapt
itself to environment, and upon this ability depends its survival. Failure to adapt itself to an
environment accurately apprehended and correctly reasoned upon means first pain, and
finally death. On the other hand, continuous adaptation means continued life, and the more
perfect the adaptation the fuller the life.

Man, then, has found that reason based upon the perceptions of his physical senses is
necessary for adaptation and consequent survival; but its value depends upon their
accuracy. Therefore, if some other means can be discovered that will give more accurate
results, or additional information, progress demands its adoption.

The Proper Test of Either Physical or Psychical Faculties

That such other faculties exist in nature—faculties which, relied upon bring satisfactory
results—needs but a glance about us to demonstrate. For example, the homing pigeon
needs neither reason nor any past experience of the region over which it flies to find its way
unerringly to its roost, hundreds of strange miles away. And a honeybee needs neither
reason nor compass to take a straight course to its hive through forests and over mountains.
The oriole also needs no previous experience to enable it to build its cleverly-woven hanging
nest. These and many other instincts of wild creatures are reliable within their boundaries,
just as man’s reason is reliable within certain limits. Experience alone determines in any case

5
how much reliance can be placed on either; and this conformity of later experience to
expected results alone is the test of the value of any faculty.

To learn thus to check the reports of the senses by experience—to test in the laboratory of
life the accuracy of observation and the conclusions based thereon; especially to be able to
do this mentally, without going through the slow and usually painful process of physical
testing—is the greater part of wisdom.

Early in his life the great sage, Giordano Bruno, found out this truth. Looking across the
undulating foothills to Mt. Vesuvius, apparently scarred and bare of all vegetation, he
desired greatly to visit the volcano and observe its barren stretches at close range. Finally
the opportunity came for him to take the journey and he set forth from his native fields and
vineyards. What was his surprise on reaching the distant mountain to find its sides covered
with vegetation, while, looking back on the lands of his fathers from that distance, they
seemed as barren and destitute of life as the mountain had seemed. This lesson was never
forgotten.

From it he learned to distrust the reports of his senses, and thereafter carefully devised
means of checking and testing the accuracy of all sense impressions. As a result he became
the greatest scientist of his time and assisted in the overthrow of the Aristotelian system of
philosophy and the establishment of the Heliocentric system of astronomy, by his
achievements proving that he had found the true method of Wisdom.

His greatness was directly connected with the fact that he early discovered what we must all
discover before we can correct and improve our knowledge—namely that we constantly
misinterpret our sense impressions, and despite repeated efforts to check them one against
another and to subject them to reason we almost daily draw from their reports wrong
conclusions.

Thus we see a familiar face across the street and go to offer greetings only to find ourselves
confronted by an utter stranger. We have made a mistake. Or we hear a sound, and conclude
it comes from a great distance; but investigation proves it to be a faint sound close at hand
that, because of lack of volume, we mistook for a greater sound, more remote.

But in addition to the reports received by these physical senses, we have to consider the
claims of the superphysical senses; for some people declare they are able to check the
impressions of the physical senses by impressions received through other avenues. They also
assert that they are able to draw correct conclusions without the ordinary process of
reasoning. Both the truth and the reliability of such impressions and conclusions must be
subjected to the same tests. Their value—like the value of more usual conclusions—can be
determined only by experience.

We have just found that our only excuse for accepting the reports of the physical senses and
ordinary reason as a basis for action is that conclusions based upon them have coincided

6
with later experience. The reliability and truth of other methods of interpreting phenomena
must be determined by the same standard.

Thus if by some other faculty than physical sight I see a friend approaching, and later this
friend actually pays me a visit, and I ascertain he was on the way at the time I had the vision,
I tentatively conclude there is an inner sense of sight. If I have frequent experiences of this
kind, as some persons certainly do, and if on each occasion when I see the event by
clairvoyant vision, the external event actually transpires, though I had no means of knowing,
through any physical avenue, that it would so transpire, I am gradually justified in placing
confidence in such visions as a basis of future action.

If, again, some business proposition is presented to me and even before I have reasoned
about the matter I feel that it will prove a failure, and events later prove this intuition
correct; and such occurrences frequently take place, I am justified in concluding that there is
a possibility of arriving at a correct judgment apart from reasoning. And if on many
occasions I find the experience with reality coincides with the impressions received through
intuition, I am justified in basing future actions upon intuition.

If in such a case the report of physical sight or ordinary reason conflicts with the inner sense
of sight, and with intuition, I must then reflect which has more generally proved correct in
the past, and incline toward that one.

The Dogmatism of Material Scientists

It should be unnecessary to call attention to the foregoing obvious truths. But there is a
tendency among material scientists to overlook the fact that the physical senses are but
instruments by which reality may be determined, and that their value lies wholly in their
ability correctly to report the universe and to direct man’s actions in conformity therewith.

To assert, as many of them do, that the physical senses and reason are the only means by
which the universe may be apprehended and knowledge gained, is thoroughly unscientific;
for any such assertion is an assumption not verified by experience.

When it takes this attitude, material science is as dogmatic as the religions it ridicules; for it
assumes a superiority and infallibility that its own history refutes. It boasts of its
experimental methods, but fails to apply those methods except to a very limited section of
the universe—a limited section which it dogmatically assumes to be the only legitimate field
of investigation. When scientists take such an unwarranted stand, sincere men, seeking the
truth in all regions; seeking, that is, to conform cognition to the infinite and inexhaustible
Reality, must protest.

Attempts like this to narrow the field of inquiry arise from a very natural effort to bring the
subject of study—this vast universe—within reach of the circumscribed intelligence of the
investigator.

7
It is not a new attempt. The Inquisition rose to a similar attempt, and haled before it, a few
hundred years ago, the famous scientist, Galileo, who had dared to investigate beyond the
ecclesiastical limits and to inquire into the solar system. Such breadth of inquiry was then
held sacrilegious, just as the breadth of inquiry of Psychical Research and still more of
Occultism is subject to the reproach of orthodox physical scientists. For while today the
legitimate field of experimental investigation has expanded to include the entire realm of
physical phenomena, it is still restricted to that comparatively limited field, and those who
declare that there are vaster realms to be explored, interior to the physical, are considered
to be as foolish as were the first astronomers who declared the earth to be, not the center
of the universe, but merely one planet among many, moving around a sun a million times
larger.

Yet since we agree that all knowledge must be based upon experience, and since repeated
experiences, as we have just seen, tend to correct false impressions derived from a
toolimited experience, it is clear that any avenue by which man can arrive at that wider and
more accurate cognition is legitimate, and that the only test of its usefulness lies in the
verity.

Thus if I have a dream, and this dream is followed in a few days by a certain event, and I have
the same dream again and again, and on each occasion it is followed by the same event, the
dream is just as useful a source of information regarding the approach of this particular
event as if the information had come through some recognized physical channel.

If such dreaming is cultivated and the images thus presented to the mind are found by
experience invariably to signify approaching events, and by this means situations are
foretold accurately and repeatedly that could not have been known by any merely physical
means, these dreams become a legitimate source of valuable knowledge, whose reliability
has been determined by repeated experiment.

As a matter of fact, many people receive information through such dreams, and there are
indisputable records of lives having been saved by them.

True, I am not justified in coming to the conclusion that dreams, clairvoyance, telepathy, and
other psychic activities now called occult, are to be relied upon without full proof; and I am
not justified in accepting loose explanations of them; or any explanations that have not been
tested thoroughly by experiments.

Thus if I hear a voice clairaudiently, purporting to come from someone long since dead, I
may accept the fact that I hear the voice and wait for further confirmation of its supposed
source. Devices have been arranged to check physical experiments against false conclusions;
and tests may be contrived in these cases also to preclude the possibility of deception in
determining the identity of a discarnate entity. Nor am I justified in following the advice
received through this clairaudient faculty unless I have found through repeated observation
of information so gained that it is reliable. Even then, on some particular occasions the
information gained might lead astray, just as I might find the advice of a friend unusually

8
good, but on some special occasion it would prove faulty. The accuracy and value of
information received through any channel, physical or psychical, equally requires
experimental determination.

The literature covering the field of psychical research, here just touched upon, will prove
amply to any unprejudicated mind that there are senses and faculties other than the five
physical senses.

Physical science, as yet unable to account for these powers, conveniently ignores them, and,
assuming an air of enlightened superiority, puts the entire matter aside by simply saying
“Bosh!” This is bad enough, as an exhibition of the limitations of our advanced men of
science, but it is worse because to the lay mind the utterances of these savants are
considered final.

The general impression is that material science is infallible, when the truth is that it is
undergoing a constant process of revision, each decade trying to correct the mistakes of the
previous decade. Thus what is accepted as scientific today was unknown a few years ago,
and may in its turn be refuted in years to come. Indeed, many of the very things science
proclaimed to be impossible thirty years ago are now accomplished facts. Current scientific
opinion is thus continually overthrown by new discoveries, and the whole structure must be
rebuilt to conform to the altered conceptions.

This is not at all to the discredit of material science, and occult science should follow the
same procedure; for, as we have been seeing, it conforms to the method by which
knowledge grows; but nevertheless to build upon the conclusions of material science alone
is to build upon the ever-shifting sands. Its conclusions should be steadied and bettered by
the binding cement brought from other and wider regions. Superphysical Faculties

But whatever the value of the conclusions of others, every true scientist after assimilating
them, desires to read the Book of Nature for himself. Sooner or later he examines the
ground of his own first-hand knowledge, and here he well may start with the positive
knowledge “I AM.” This, certainly, he knows of himself.

Next, he discovers there is something else than I AM: The Universe Exists. This he Feels.

It is from these feelings that he endeavors to determine the nature of that universe in
relation to himself; to the one who feels and knows. And here he discovers the dimly felt
presence of the superphysical senses and is almost sure to learn that in his community is
someone claiming to possess these senses in a more marked form.

Through this person, or others of the same sort, the earnest scientist supplements the
knowledge gained from physical research with the further knowledge to be gained from
psychical research. It is probable that his first experiments will be inconclusive; but if he
persists over a sufficiently extensive area, he will discover beyond the shadow of a doubt—
as has every scientist who has done thorough work in this field—that there assuredly are

9
faculties, principles, and forces as yet undreamed of by materialistic philosophers. With this
conviction he becomes an occult scientist.

The Inadequacies of Physical Science

Already in the realm of physical science he has found its advocates making claim to
knowledge they can in no way substantiate. He knows that the things conceded to be the
very bulwarks of scientific accuracy and precision are very far from it when put to the test.

Such discrepancies between theory and practice are not loudly announced to the general
public, because the bread and butter of scientific men depend upon their reputation for
knowledge and accuracy. For example, the Law of Gravitation, which is the basis of all
astronomical and mechanical reckoning, and is stated thus—The attraction of Gravity
between two bodies is directly in proportion to the product of their masses and inversely as
the square of their distance—does not give precision in celestial calculations. By all the
teachings of physical science the planets should exert an influence upon each other which
could be exactly measured according to this law. But as a matter of experience it is found
that a decimal must be added to the squares of their distances, and even with this
tampering with figures to make the answer coincide with observed results the actual
positions of the planets continue to vary from their calculated places, and there is a
continual alteration of the mathematical formulas in an attempt to get the correct answer.

Again, take the theory of the tides as accepted and taught in the schools of the land. One
might suppose, from the definite way it is set forth, that this theory is the essence of
scientific accuracy. But in actual practice the tides do not at all coincide with their theoretical
rise and fall; indeed, the divergence is sometimes so wide that the Moon apparently repels
the tides instead of attracting them and they occur at points almost opposite those at which
they would theoretically be calculated. Therefore in actually predetermining the tides for
practical purposes their fluctuations are frankly calculated from past observations. It is the
case of getting the right answer without knowing why, like a schoolboy working a problem
whose answer is given in the back of the book.

Noting this familiar performance on the part of men of standing in the scientific world, our
occult investigator is not surprised to find that there are many claims advanced by
enthusiastic students of occultism also that cannot be verified. But he no more throws over
all of occultism when he makes this disconcerting discovery, than, under similar
circumstances, he casts aside all the findings of physical science.

The Proof of the Pudding Is in the Eating

At this stage, his attention may be called to Astrology. No one can seriously and thoroughly
investigate this occult science without becoming convinced that certain positions of the
planets coincide with certain characteristics and events in the life of men.

10
No psychic sense is needed for such a demonstration. It is purely a matter of experiment. For
if a certain angular relation of two planets coincides always with events of a certain nature,
and enough birth charts of persons having this position can be secured to prove it to be
much more than a coincidence, no amount of theoretical argument can refute the facts.

Physical science is reluctant to accept such conclusions, or even to make the necessary
experiments to verify them, because it has so far found no adequate theory to account for
them. Isabel M. Lewis, of the U.S. Naval Observatory, writing in Nature Magazine for April
1931, says: “It is doubtful, indeed, if any astronomer would know how to cast a horoscope or
make astrological predictions of any kind.” (See Chapter 6, Course XVII, Cosmic Alchemy,
Serial Lesson 169) Yet these same astronomers, ignorant even of how to set up a birth chart,
freely pass judgment that astrology must be false because they have no theoretical grounds
by which to explain it.

Alchemy may next claim the attention of our investigator. Although he knows it is
stigmatized as an exploded science, he no longer accepts as final the dictum of a school he
has found to be often prejudiced, a dictum, moreover, pronounced by men without
knowledge of the subject they condemn. He finds that the two chief tenets of alchemy, as
laid down by the ancients, are that there is a Primitive First Substance of which all physical
matter is composed, and that it is possible to transmute one or more metals into another
totally distinct metal.

Such ideas have been ridiculed by chemists until within the last few years. Now, however, it
has been proved that all atoms are built up in a special way of particles of electricity, some
negatively charged, others equally positively charged, all held within a certain volume by the
interaction of the attraction between the negative electrons and the positive positrons.
Thus, has electricity been demonstrated as the Primitive First Substance.

Furthermore, radium decays into helium and lead. Professor Ramsey has transmuted copper
into lithium. Other scientists, through bombarding the atoms of one or two elements, much
as radium bombards on its own, occasionally score a direct hit and smash out a piece of the
nucleus of the element and thereby transmute each part into an atom of some other
element. Thus the very theory and processes of alchemy, so long scoffed at by material
scientists, have now been demonstrated in their own laboratories.

By methods as experimental as theirs, under conditions as strictly scientific, the Occult

Scientist has demonstrated Magic, Astrology, and Alchemy. This makes him reluctant to
discard any branch of occultism without first giving it a thorough investigation.

He approaches different methods of divination with, perhaps, a good deal of skepticism; but
even in this he is surprised to find results that cannot be attributed to coincidence, and he is
forced to conclude that there are laws underlying such matters totally ignored by physical
science. But then, he reflects, physical science has never determined the laws governing the
source of the sun’s heat. Every theory it has formulated to account for this phenomenon—

11
and, for that matter, for numerous others—has been torn to shreds by later investigation. It
is not astonishing, then, that it has failed to discover the mental laws governing divination.

But just as the true scientist finds the material sciences oppressed by many erroneous ideas
and theories, so also he finds speculation and supposition so largely covering the facts of
occult science that he can gain very little through reading the current works upon such
subjects.

Mystical folly and absurd and conflicting doctrines meet him on every hand. Everyone whom
he consults has an opinion, but usually quite unsupported by experimental facts. His only
recourse seems to be to advance, step by step, applying the methods of experimental
science to psychical and spiritual things, and so gain knowledge at first hand. He knows that
to do this requires application, effort, keen discrimination and, finally, the development of
the senses of the unconscious mind.

Although intuition and thought transference undoubtedly are activities or perceptions of the
unconscious mind, because they so commonly reported the phenomena of the physical
plane the ancients classified them as physical senses, along with the other five. But whether
five or seven, the experience gained through these physical senses is the foundation of all
knowledge of physical life.

The Seven Psychic Senses

There are also seven psychic senses by which the phenomena of the world interior to the
physical are reported to the unconscious mind, and from thence may be raised into the
region of physical consciousness. The experience gained through the use of these psychic
senses is the foundation of knowledge of life on the inner planes. Nor are they so rare as to
make this manner of investigation a practical impossibility; for more people than is generally
supposed possess at least one of them in a more or less advanced stage of development.
The number is unknown because the ridicule that follows the announcement that one
possesses such a faculty frequently deters people from making their psychic ability known.
Nevertheless, even a little candid investigation will reveal the fact that such senses exist, and
that by their use worlds other than the physical may be explored and understood, even as
the physical world is explored and understood through the reports of the physical senses.

Moreover, even as the physical senses may be developed to a state of keenness and
accuracy, so may the psychic senses be roused from their dormant condition and be
educated to a state of efficiency

In this education, either one of two methods may be followed. One is negative, mediumistic,
passive and destructive to the individuality. It brings a train of evil results and should never
be allowed. The other method is positive, controlling, active, and tends to build up the Will
and Individuality, increasing the power of the mentality and bringing greater vigor to the
body.

12
Psychic Senses Are Not Infallible
This constructive method of training brings highly satisfactory results, and may be followed
without danger. Moreover, as the psychic senses develop, their reports should be carefully
analyzed and verified. They are yet immature, and as it took years after birth to educate the
sense of sight so that it became a reliable guide to effort, it may take that long to develop
psychic-sight, or any psychic sense, to a comparative degree of accuracy.

Most persons’ psychic senses when first awakened are just about as accurate as were their
physical senses immediately after birth. Consequently it is absurd to take the reports of
these rudimentary faculties as indisputable. Yet they can be developed through exercise; and
experience will indicate just how much reliability can be placed upon their reports.

It will be found that they often give information that later can be verified—such information
as could not possibly be gained at the time through the physical senses. And as the reliability
of the psychic senses increases they may safely be used to report the phenomena of the
inner worlds. These reports may be checked, one against another, and compared with later
experiences of those realms in such a way as to give the same certainty about the things of
the inner worlds as may be had through the physical senses about the things of the outer
world.

At a still later period of occult development, if the student has had the patience and ability
to follow so far the royal road leading to initiation, it becomes possible to leave the physical
body consciously and travel on a plane interior to the physical.

Means may be devised by which it is possible to prove with scientific certainty that this
journey was an actual fact, and that the places thus visited were actually entered. When he
makes such a journey, the student is able to say with certainty that there are inner regions,
just as when he visits a city on the physical plane he is certain that such a city exists, and can
describe it.

Immortality is more difficult of proof. Still, one who visits the homes of the dead and
converses with them has ample assurance of life after death.

In our experience with the material world we have often found the instincts implanted by
nature a better index to reality than reasoning from limited premises; so in this matter also
we find our instincts a better guide than prejudice. Thus, instinct teaches animals to prepare
warm dens for winter and stock them with food. They do not know of winter by individual
experience, for they make this preparation for the first winter of life. Similarly, man
instinctively looks for a future life and strives to prepare for it. The occultist, urged on by
instinct, prepares for a life immortal, a life of never-ending progression; and by the
development of his individual faculties explores its realms, and while yet on earth gains
knowledge of its laws.

We repeat that the data upon which occult science rests is purely experimental, and even as
in physical science it is necessary to form a hypothesis as a working basis, so also in occult

13
science certain working hypotheses are essential. But occult science does not stand or fall by
the correctness of theories any more than does physical science.

For example, the science of chemistry was founded upon Dalton’s Atomic Theory, until
recently universally accepted. But with the explosion of that theory which so long served as
a working hypothesis for all chemists, and the adoption of the Electronic Theory in its stead,
chemistry does not fall.

Neither does the disproof of any prevalent occult theory seriously affect occultism. Its truths
are based upon observed phenomena carefully checked and compared. Yet when some ideas
not sufficiently checked and confirmed are admitted to the edifice, they can be removed or
improved without destroying the whole structure. We Make No Claim to
Infallibility
Every science and every religion of the past which has claimed infallibility has lived to see
such claim disproved. In the very nature of things, as I trust I have clearly shown, any claim
to infallibility is absurd; because knowledge of the universe is endless and the evolution of
intelligence is toward the acquisition of more and more knowledge.
Nor are we attempting to get our ideas accepted on faith. On the contrary, we indicate to the
student just how to go about it to develop his own intelligence and his own psychic faculties,
and earnestly advise him to disprove or verify every statement we make by experiments of
his own.

Most religions teach that there is a life after death. But they discourage any attempt to prove
such an existence. We, THE CHURCH OF LIGHT, however, believe that painstaking research
should be carried out on every possible plane, and in all departments of nature, including
those physical and those spiritual, to the end that man may not merely believe, but may
know, the conditions under which he is required to live in each distinct realm, that he may
utilize the laws and principles so discovered to be successful, in the larger sense, wherever
he may function.

Physical life is but a fragment of that total life which is man’s inheritance. The more
knowledge we have of the laws of the physical plane, including occult laws, the surer our
chances of physical success. Physical success is not to be ignored.

But we must also, if we are to have a basis for success in our life in its vaster scope, acquire a
knowledge of the laws governing other planes. The more comprehensive our knowledge,
the better we are fitted to adjust ourselves to the demands of this wider life. It is this
knowledge that THE RELIGION OF THE STARS attempts to furnish.

These lessons make no claim to infallibility. They do, however, present the present views of
those on various planes, including the physical, who anciently or in modern times, have
been specially qualified for, and have carried out, research on every available plane. They are
offered to students, therefore, not as the final word after which nothing more can be said;

14
but drawing from high intelligences on various planes, as the best information available at
the present moment of evolution.

15
Chapter 2
Astral Substance
PHYSICAL science has now moved to a position where it fully endorses the dictum of the old
alchemists that all existence is composed of the “first matter.” Mass and energy are
convertible, each into the other. To quote from The Evolution of Physics (1938), by Albert
Einstein and Leopold Infeld: “Mass is energy and energy has mass. The two conservation
laws of mass and energy are combined by the relativity theory into one, the conservation
law of mass-energy.” The conversion of matter into energy provides a tremendous force
which, as so-called atomic energy, may in the future be used to destroy much of mankind, or
harnessed by industry may provide many necessities and luxuries of a new and higher
civilization.

In addition to matter, which is one aspect of energy, physics also must deal with field. There
are, for instance, the gravitational field between material particles, and electric fields and
magnetic fields. To quote further from The Evolution of Physics:

“Field represents energy, matter represents mass. . . . We could therefore say: Matter is
where the concentration of energy is great, field where the concentration of energy is small.
But if this is the case, then the difference between matter and field is a quantitative rather
than a qualitative one. There is no sense in regarding matter and field as two qualities quite
different from each other. We cannot imagine a definite surface separating distinctly field
and matter.

“What impresses our senses as matter is really a great concentration of energy into
comparatively small space.” The energy thus concentrated has the properties of positive and
negative charges of electricity. The positive electric charge, or particle, having a mass equal
to that of the electron, and a charge of the same magnitude but differing in sign, is called a
positron. The negative electric charge, or particle, having a mass equal to that of the
positron, and a charge of the same magnitude but differing in sign, is called an electron.
These two electrical particles are the bricks from which all matter is built.

A positron and an electron when united have weight, but are electrically neutral. The
prevalent theory at the present time is that the nucleus of an atom contains heavy neutral
pieces of matter, formed by the union of positrons and electrons held together by the
interaction of the attraction between the negative electrons and the positive positrons—
about 1848 units of weight—tied up closely with a positron whose weight is one unit and
whose electrical charge is plus one. Such a combination of positive and negative charges
constitute a proton. All atoms of matter have at their core one or more protons.

16
In 1932, Chadwick discovered that in addition to protons at the nucleus of an atom, there
may be other particles built up of positrons and electrons much as are the protons, but
containing an additional electron, so that they are electrically neutral and weigh 1849 units.
These are neutrons, which because they bear no electrical charge, when they are used to
bombard other atoms easily penetrate to their nuclei. Atoms having the same number of
free electrons, and thus the same chemical properties, may have in their nuclei a different
number of neutrons, and thus a different atomic mass. Such atomic twins are called
isotopes.

The positive charge on the proton of an atom is balanced by the negative charge on an
electron which revolves in an elliptical orbit around the nucleus of which the proton forms a
part. Each atom has an equal number of protons and free revolving electrons, and thus is
electrically neutral.

The electrons that revolve around the nucleus of an atom—which contains protons and may
contain neutrons—much as the planets revolve around the sun, are arranged in zones. There
are not more than two electrons revolving in the zone next to the nucleus, not more than
eight in the second zone, and not more than eight in the third zone. Zones farther out may
have more than eight electrons. It is the arrangement of these revolving electrons which
determines the chemical properties of an atom.

Although two of the chemical elements had not been isolated until 1947, the atomic table
listed 92 different elements. Hydrogen, the lightest element, and number 1 in the table, has
one free electron revolving in an orbit about its nucleus. The next heaviest element, helium,
has two free electrons revolving around its nucleus; lithium, the third heaviest has three;
beryllium, the fourth heaviest element has four, and uranium, the heaviest element found in
a natural state, with an atomic weight of 238.5, has 92 electrons revolving in its outer region.
The synthetically produced neptunium has 93, the synthetically produced plutonium has 94,
the synthetically produced americuim has 95, and the synthetically produced curium has 96.

By bombarding ordinary uranium with neutrons it is possible to produce neptunium and

plutonium. Plutonium and the uranium isotope U235 have a tendency to fission.
Bombarding ordinary uranium (U238) gives the uranium isotope U239 plus energy. This
isotope is radioactive, and one-half the quantity thus obtained will change into neptunium in
23 minutes. Neptunium is also radioactive, and one half of it will then change into plutonium
in 2.3 days. In the fission of either uranium 235 or plutonium, a chain reaction results
through the release of other neutrons which bombard other nuclei. Once the process is
started, it continues until the whole mass is broken down into other elements. The sum of
the separate weights of the resulting particles is different than the weight of the parent
particle. This means that matter is converted into energy. In the explosion of U235 or
plutonium, only one-tenth of one percent of matter is thus converted into what is commonly
called atomic energy. The problem at this writing is to find a method of controlling the
fission of plutonium, so its energy may be released slowly and provide power for the wheels
of industry.

17
In addition to field, where energy concentration is so great that it is commonly called matter,
science has observed that energy moves across vast regions of space and exerts an
influence. Just how the sun holds the earth in its orbit, and with the moon influences the
tides, has so far not been explained. The law of gravitation discovered by Newton states that
any particle of matter attracts any other particle with a force proportional inversely to the
square of the distance between them, and directly to the product of their masses. But the
process by which one particle thus reaches out across space, or through some material
obstacle, to attract the other particle is as yet unknown.

Not only do the sun, planets and stars reach across empty space to influence the earth and
other orbs through gravitational pull, but they radiate light and radiant heat and other forms
of electromagnetism which in some manner traverse vast space. How does the sun reach
across 93 million empty miles to light our days? How does its warmth traverse 93 million
miles to keep earth’s temperature genial enough to encourage vegetable and animal
growth?

To account for these and other electromagnetic phenomena science invented the ether. The
ether was frictionless, it penetrated everything. It sheared into positive and negative
electrical particles. It carried, by means of its waves, radiant heat, light, radio waves, and
other electromagnetic energy across space, and in the case of radio waves through the walls
of your home where they are picked up and the modulations they carry are amplified by
your radio set to give you information and enjoyment.

The tendency of advanced physics now is to forget the ether and try to explain all
phenomena, including matter, gravitation and electromagnetic waves in terms of field. All
are supposed to be characteristic distortions of space. Space takes the place of the ether.
However, this new conception still holds unsolved problems. To quote once more from The
Evolution of Physics:

“The theory of relativity stresses the importance of the field concept in physics. But we have
not yet succeeded in formulating a pure field physics. For the present we must still assume
the existence of both: field and matter.”

It is not unlikely that in due course of time radio waves will be commonly mentioned as
distortions of space. But in common parlance radio programs come over the ether.

Not only so, but recent text books on physics still refer to the ether. The most recent such
text book to which I have access is Simplified Physics, by Sidney Aylmer Small and Charles
Ramsey Clark, published in 1943. It gives the prevailing present view:

“When things take place in presumably empty space we must assume that empty space is
not empty, that a vacuum has something in it. To this material that our senses cannot detect
but that our intellects demand in order that we may think about light and wireless we give
the name of the ether or simply ether.

18
“The ether, then, is something pervading all materials and space, even that space which to
our senses seems empty. It transmits heat, light, chemical energy and wireless waves. It
when stressed or strained produces magnetism and when sheared (sliced) forms positive
and negative charges of electricity.”

Because electromagnetism transmits energy from the outer plane to the inner plane, and
from the inner plane to the outer plane, the ether will repeatedly be referred to throughout
Brotherhood of Light lessons. It would be awkward each time to speak instead of distortions
of space, and confusing to most readers who are unfamiliar with relativity and the field
theory. But the reader who is familiar with relativity and the field theory can substitute
certain warpings of space when etheric energy is mentioned, and different warpings of
space when astral substance is mentioned. And his conceptions will probably be more
precise. But for most it is easier to think of matter, not as space distorted in one way, radio
waves as space distorted in another way, and the mental image of a cow as space distorted
in still another manner. It is much easier for the ordinary individual to think of any existence
in terms of substance.

Even the relativists and those most enthusiastic about the field theory of existence still
sanction the use of the word ether as it will be employed in Brotherhood of Light lessons. To
quote once again from The Evolution of Physics:

“Our only way out seems to be to take for granted the fact that space has the physical
property of transmitting electromagnetic waves, and not to bother too much about the
meaning of this statement. We may still use the word ether, but only to express some
physical property of space. The word ether has changed its meanings many times in the
development of science. At the moment it no longer stands for a medium built up of
particles. Its story, by no means finished, is continued by the relativity theory.”

The most essential difference between that which is commonly referred to as etheric energy
and physical energy is its velocity. Things having low velocities have the properties of
physical things. But as velocities increase these properties undergo marked change. As
velocities increase, time slows down, the length of an object decreases in the direction of its
movement, and its mass increases. These results postulated by the Special Theory of
Relativity have been tested experimentally and are now universally accepted by those
highest in the ranks of physical science.

At the velocity of light an object or an energy acquires some remarkable properties.

Commonly, for instance, the walls of our homes keep objects out; but radio waves having
their origin a thousand miles away have no difficulty in coming into the room in which we
sit. In empty space they have the velocity of light, 186,284 miles per second (1942).

But there is another group of commonly observed phenomena which cannot be explained
either by the properties of physical substance or by the properties of electromagnetic
energies. Scientists term these the psi phenomena. Psi phenomena embrace all the

19
phenomena covered by the terms extrasensory perception and all the phenomena covered
by the term psychokinetic effect.

Extrasensory perception embraces all means of acquiring information in which the physical
senses or reason are not involved, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy,
precognition and postcognition. The psychokinetic effect, or psychokinesis, embraces those
phenomena in which physical things are moved or influenced without any physical or
electromagnetic contact with them. The influencing of mechanically released dice to come
to rest with the faces up which had been decided upon, which is the test commonly used in
university experiments to prove the existence of this phenomenon, and the influence of
planetary energies over human life and other life are examples of psychokinesis. All psi
phenomena are due to inner-plane energies.

It was the Special Theory of Relativity, followed to its practical and logical conclusions which
led to the discovery of releasing and utilizing atomic energy. And it is this same Special
Theory of Relativity followed to its practical and logical conclusions which indicates both
how inner-plane energies operate and what can be done to cause them to work more to the
individual’s advantage.

This theory postulates that at the velocity of light an object loses all its length, time stands
still, and gravitation loses its power. Therefore, on the inner plane where velocity is greater
than light, time, distance and gravitation are of a quite different order than they are on the
physical plane. And innumerable experiments carried out in various universities prove that
this is actually the case.

By 1947, Duke University Laboratory alone had conducted over one million trials of
extrasensory perception; other university laboratories, following similar methods had
reported over two million trials, and there were something over a million trials, with
responses from over 46,000 subjects made by the Zenith radio program in the winter of
1937-38.

These experiments indicate that, as the Special Theory of Relativity carried to its logical
conclusion indicates, on the inner plane where velocities are greater than that of light, not
only the Now can be perceived, but consciousness can move either forward or backward
along world lines. Moving backward, it can perceive happenings of the past. Moving forward
it can perceive happenings of the future.

One of the serious difficulties now confronting university experimenters is to devise methods
by which precognitive clairvoyance can be separated from pure telepathy. It is recognized
that perceiving things as they will exist in the future is relatively common. Therefore, if a
record is made of the sender’s thought at the time the subject makes his call, there is no
proof that the information was not obtained through clairvoyantly seeing this record, rather
than through telepathy. And if any objective record is ever made of the sender’s thought
after it is sent, there is no proof that the information was not obtained through perceiving
this record as it will exist in the future.

20
The university experiments indicate also, as the Special Theory of Relativity carried to its
logical conclusion indicates, that distance has no effect upon inner-plane perception. Both
clairvoyance and telepathy experiments indicate that, other things being equal, it is as easy
to get a telepathic message, or to witness an event clairvoyantly, when the distance is a
hundred miles or a thousand miles, as when the distance is only that separating two rooms
in the same building.

Furthermore, as the Special Theory of Relativity carried to its logical conclusion indicates, on
the inner plane where velocities are greater than that of light, gravitation loses its influence
on things. Along with the experiments on extrasensory perception, various universities have
been conducting experiments also with the psychokinetic effect. And they have proved by
exhaustive experiments that the mind, operating through space, can influence physical
objects, such as the fall of mechanically released dice, in a predetermined way.

The mind and thoughts of the individual exerting this influence are not physical. They belong
to the inner, or astral, plane. If one thinks of a cloud or of a star, no effort need be made to
overcome the influence of gravitation on the thoughts. Nor does it take longer to think of a
star which is light years away than to think of a cloud a few hundred feet above the earth.
Yet mind and thought have an existence, and possess energy, or they could not influence
physical objects, such as the fall of dice in the psychokinetic tests.

Although the field conception of electromagnetic energies is making the old conceptions of
the ether obsolete, it is convenient to refer to ether waves in connection with both light and
radio. And if the field conception could be carried far enough, it would probably reveal that
mental images, astrological energies, disembodied human beings, and the high velocity
counterparts of all physical things, are other elastic distortions of space. But because people
are familiar with substance, and are not familiar with elastic distortions of space, they will be
able to grasp the function of electromagnetism better if they think of it as lines of force or
waves in etheric substance. And they will be better able to grasp the functions and the
properties of the inner plane, where velocities are greater than light, if they think of that
region as being composed of astral substance, which is frictionless and which penetrates and
moves freely through physical and etheric substances.

This brings us to an extremely important fact confirmed by ample observation. For an

innerplane energy to influence a physical object, or for a physical energy to influence inner-
plane conditions, electromagnetic energies—which have approximately the velocity of
light—must be present to transmit the energies of one plane to the other. Such
electromagnetic energies are generated by every cell of the body, especially by the nerve
and brain cells, and constitute both the nerve currents and the life of the human form. All
psychic phenomena in which there are physical manifestations are produced through the
utilization of electromagnetic energies by an intelligence operating from the inner plane.

Even the most orthodox psychology now embraces the idea that man has a subconscious, or
unconscious mind. This unconscious mind, which exists and functions on the inner plane, is

21
composed of the thoughts, emotions and other states of consciousness which the individual
has experienced in his past. These thoughts, energized by emotion, have been organized in
the unconscious mind according to the Law of Association. And, as modern psychiatry and
psychoanalysis demonstrate, at all times they exercise a powerful influence over the
conscious thoughts, emotions and behavior.

Not only do the desires of the thought cells and thought-cell groups of the unconscious mind
largely determine the individual’s thoughts, emotions and actions, but they also exert
psychokinetic power to mold his physical environment to bring into his life the conditions
and events they desire. The events and conditions some of these thought-cell groups desire
are beneficial to the individual, but unfortunately the desires of other thought-cell groups
are for conditions and events which are detrimental to the individual.

So long as the individual is unaware of the desires of the various thought-cell groups within
his unconscious mind his power to direct his own destiny is sadly limited. Even though he
has a brilliant intellect and exercises excellent reasoning power, the desires of certain groups
of thought cells within his unconscious mind, exercising psychokinetic power may, and often
do, attract into his life misfortune. Some of the thought-cell groups may have been so
organized in his unconscious mind that they work for, and bring him unusual good fortune
where business, or honor or speculation is concerned, and other thought-cell groups may
have been so organized that they work for, and bring him miserable health, unhappiness in
marriage, and repeated difficulty with his friends.

All Physical Things Have an Astral Counterpart

Even as all physical objects possess mass, so also do they have an astral, or inner-plane
counterpart. As material scientists are not agreed on the structure of matter, it would be
presumptuous to go further and describe in detail that of which things on the inner, or
astral, plane are composed. It is simpler merely to state they are composed of astral
substance, and to state the observed properties of this substance.

While all physical things have an astral counterpart, there are innumerable objects, energies
and intelligences on the astral plane which have no physical counterpart. So long as the
astral counterpart of any object is bound to it by etheric, or electromagnetic energies there
is an exchange of energies between the physical counterpart and the astral counterpart. The
energies, having approximately the velocity of light, make contact with the low velocities of
physical substance and also make contact with the high velocities of astral substance.
Through them the physical object transmits energy to, and influences, its astral counterpart,
and the astral object transmits energy to, and influences, its physical counterpart.

While the physical also tends to shape the astral counterpart, the most significant relation
which commonly exists between physical substance and its astral counterpart is that the
astral interpenetrates and has a molding power over the physical.

22
This astral counterpart also records and retains in its frictionless substance every experience
of a life form. The most outstanding characteristic of astral substance is its responsiveness to
the molding power of thought. All life forms react to environment through an awareness
which is recorded in their astral forms. And this record of experiences not only persists and
continues to influence the destiny of the life form, but the strongest such recorded energies
impress the astral counterpart of the germ cells, and through this association hand down to
subsequent generations racial memories which express as instinct and racial habits and
racial physical characteristics.

The astral counterpart exerts a formative influence over all life. It seems quite certain, for
instance, that the force which causes a seed to grow into an organism of a certain form and
with certain functions does not lie merely in its chemical properties. Nor does it appear to lie
in any particular arrangement of its cells; for two vegetable seeds of the same size and
apparently of the same chemical and molecular composition, when planted in the same soil
may produce plants whose forms and properties are totally dissimilar. Likewise there is very
little observable difference in the chemical composition and molecular structure of sperms
and germs that generate animals of entirely different species. Though as yet beyond the
view of physical science, this formative power that molds every living thing to its proper
shape and structure must lie somewhere.

It is now commonly recognized by psychologists that all memory resides in the subconscious,
or unconscious mind. This means that memory is recorded in astral substance, and to be
recalled by physical consciousness it must utilize electromagnetic energies to impress the
physical cells of the brain.

Every theory based upon a material foundation that has so far been advanced to account for
memory has been found inadequate. But if we consider that accompanying and
interpenetrating the physical brain is another brain of finer substance, an astral brain, the
whole mechanism becomes explainable.

Anything Once Known is Never Forgotten

We know something of the way physical sensations are transmitted to the physical brain,
namely, by nerve currents that follow the nerves much as electricity follows a wire. These
nerve currents actually are electrical in nature and communicate movements to the brain
that result in setting up a state of consciousness. But such motions in time die away; yet
memory shows that in some manner they are preserved. What preserves them, and how?
The sensations thus recorded on the physical brain may be entirely forgotten for years—
showing that the motions in the physical brain have ceased—and then be suddenly recalled.
How does this happen? Or sensations may be completely forgotten by the objective
consciousness, and entirely beyond recall by any objective process, yet be recovered when
the person is in a state of hypnotic trance.

23
It is by experiments with subjects under such hypnotic influence that we know nothing felt
or known is ever forgotten. What substance is fine and strong enough to preserve the most
delicate impressions for an indefinite period? Scarcely the nerve currents, which are
constantly changing, rippling along the fine wires of the nerves and hurrying one sensation
on top of another as a telephone wire carries the sound of voices. The telephone does not
remember; the phonograph, in a way, does. Connect the telephone to a phonographic blank
disc and the impressions made are comparatively permanent. What is the phonographic disc
attached to the human brain? It is evident that the motions transmitted through the nerves
to the brain are retained permanently in some substance which is capable under proper
conditions of again imparting them to the brain in something closely resembling their
original form and intensity. Whatever this substance may be, it certainly is something not
subject to physical or chemical change.

But if we consider that accompanying and interpenetrating the physical brain is an astral
brain, composed of frictionless substance with the property of permanently recording
impressions, the matter is cleared up. As every motion imparted to astral substance is
retained indefinitely, every sensation which imparts motion to the astral brain is registered
in a comparatively ineffaceable manner. It is not retained by the physical brain, because the
physical substance is constantly removed and replenished, and any movement in its parts is
retarded by friction, even its molecular motion, which expresses as heat, being subject to
retardation through cooling. But even as space offers imperceptible resistance to rays of
light, or to the planetary bodies passing through it, so astral substance retains permanently,
or practically so, all motions imparted to it. Under proper conditions these motions residing
in the astral brain can be focused on the electromagnetism of the physical brain and impart
motions to it in such a manner that it is recognized objectively; and the resultant
consciousness is then called memory.

The astral brain in which memory resides is commonly called the Subjective Mind, the
Subliminal Mind, the Subconscious Mind, or the Unconscious Mind. The better and more
recent works on psychology call it the Unconscious Mind. It is constituted of those motions
derived from experience that reside—organized in a manner later to be explained—in the
astral form and do not at the time transmit their motions to the physical brain, remaining
below the threshold of objective consciousness; while the Objective Mind, on the other
hand, is constituted of those motions derived from experiences that reside in the astral form
which at the time are able to communicate their energies to electromagnetism in sufficient
power to transmit their motions to the physical brain and thus impress Objective
Consciousness.

As an iceberg largely remains submerged below the surface of the sea, so man has one
mind, or soul, but the major portion of it, the unconscious mind, remains below the surface
of objective consciousness. It is only that small, keen, bright clever reasoning peak of his
mind, or soul, which emerges above the surface of objective consciousness which is
designated as the objective mind.

24
Psychologists recognize that comparatively few of the actions of man or of other forms of life
result from the direction of the objective mind. Many of the physiological processes, for
instance, such as assimilation, secretion and circulation, are carried on during sleep. They
are wholly directed by the unconscious mind. And the unconscious mind in turn is
influenced about equally by the physical environment and the astral environment.

Humans Are About Equally Influenced by Two Environments

Man has a physical body, and he has an astral body. The physical body, and through its nerve
currents, which are electrical in nature, his mind, or soul, which resides on the inner plane—
the small emergent part being the Objective Mind and the submerged part the Unconscious
Mind—are influenced by his outer-plane environment. His astral body and his mind, or soul,
are influenced by his inner-plane environment; and the thought cells so affected in turn
influence his physical body. Thus does man live in, and is influenced by, both an outer-plane
world and an inner-plane world.

From the outer world he is influenced by the objects and people he contacts, by what
people say—either vocally or through screen portrayal or the printed page—and by the
weather. Objects and people also influence him from the inner plane, but instead of through
physical contact chiefly through their character vibrations. From the inner plane he is also
influenced, not by what people say, but by their thoughts and the thoughts of other life
forms. From the inner plane he is also influenced by the weather; but this weather is not
physical, it is the impact of astrological energies.

As to the degree in which man while still on earth is influenced by each of his two
environments, there has been a vast amount of observation, carefully checked, which
indicates that if we consider man to consist of his physical body, his astral body, his mind, or
soul, and the thoughts he thinks, the inner-plane environment—which includes objects, the
actions and thoughts of intelligent entities, and astrological energies—has as much influence
over his thoughts, feelings and behavior as do all outer-plane conditions and energies,
including the influence of his associates.

This being true, it behooves people to gain as much knowledge as possible about their
innerplane environment in addition to knowledge of the outer-plane environment. While
they usually think of it in different terms, almost everyone realizes that his survival depends
upon his ability to adapt himself to his environment, and that the more perfectly he adapts
himself to his environment the more successful he becomes. His ability to adapt himself to
his environment depends upon his knowledge of himself and that environment and the
extent to which he makes application of that knowledge. Consequently, the individual
ignorant of the astral world and its energies can live only half as successfully as if he
understood and used knowledge of both planes. Inner-Plane Senses
Relative to physical sensations, biologists hold that at first there was only one diffused primal
sensitivity or irritability in response to stimulus. It is assumed that this diffused primal
sensitivity was the sense of touch. In ameboid life, for instance, it is assumed that there is

25
only the world of tangible objects accessible through actual physical contact which is
apprehended through the sense of touch and possibly a rudimentary sense of temperature.
Then as evolution took place, through a vast amount of trial and error, the other senses
slowly and gradually developed from this sense of touch. Taste is one specialization of this
sense of touch. Smell is the sense of touch developed in a slightly different direction so that
things can be touched a bit more remotely. Another canalization of this sense of touch is the
ability to apprehend and interpret vibrations of air by the faculty of hearing.

It is common also to include the sense of sight as one of the five physical senses. It is the
ability to sense and interpret waves of energy called light. But as light is not material, strictly
speaking the ability to reach out, not merely feet or miles as with the sense of hearing, but
also across light years of empty space, as we do with sight, is hardly physical unless we
interpret all common perception as physical. In that case, because animals commonly
apprehend conditions through intuition, and telepathy is a common means of
communication among them, we are justified in adopting the classification of the ancients
and considering all seven as physical senses.

As already mentioned, university experiments have proved the existence also of an

innerplane faculty of apprehending information. It is called the faculty of extrasensory
perception. It embraces all inner-plane means of gaining information. And undoubtedly
animals other than man possess this faculty in some degree.

But even as the diffused primal sense of touch became canalized and specialized, so
extrasensory perception by which the unconscious mind of creatures apprehends things on
the inner plane, through exercise and effort at discrimination becomes specialized and more
serviceable. We may assume that this sensitivity to inner-plane entities and their vibrations,
to the thoughts of intelligent entities, and to astrological energies is universal in some
degree with life forms. But ability in selection and interpretation of inner-plane conditions by
this universal sense varies widely.

An artist may take his dog to an art gallery. If it happens to be a greyhound, it has keener
sight than its master. The dog can see all the pictures in the gallery as easily as can the artist.
But the effect upon his consciousness is vastly different. The dog simply sees flat surfaces
daubed with color. If a bone is pictured, he pays no attention to it. He has neither the power
to select a picture which conveys information or emotional appeal, nor the power to give it
interpretation.

Nor is it because they cannot look about them on the inner plane with the senses of the
astral form that people fail to gain more information through extrasensory perception. In
some degree at least all people have the faculty of extrasensory perception. But more often
than not they cannot focus the attention of their unconscious mind on the information
sought, and even when they do, they often are unable to interpret it correctly. And in
addition—the most formidable barrier of all—when their unconscious mind perceives
something important correctly, it is unable to compete with cerebral activity and sense

26
impressions which monopolize the electrical energies of the brain and nervous system which
must be used to impress a thought or sensation on the brain and thus bring it into objective
consciousness.

Even as on the physical plane the general sense of touch has been specialized into different
types of perception, so also on the inner plane the general extrasensory faculty has been
specialized. Corresponding to touch is the astral sense of psychometry. Corresponding to
taste is the astral sense of energy absorption. Corresponding to smell is the astral sense of
aroma detection. Corresponding to hearing is the astral sense of clairaudience.
Corresponding to sight is the astral sense of clairvoyance. Corresponding to intuition is the
astral faculty of inspiration. Corresponding to telepathy is the astral faculty of spiritual
communion.

On the inner plane all things and thoughts in the universe seem to be related to each other
in precisely the same manner that all experiences and thoughts which the individual has
ever had persist and are related to each other in his own unconscious mind. And for the
individual to contact those he desires to contact with the appropriate astral sense and bring
them before the attention of objective consciousness the same laws are operative and must
be used that enable him to contact and bring to the attention of objective consciousness the
memory of thoughts and experiences he has forgotten.

In Course V, Esoteric Psychology, it is pointed out that all mental processes are governed by
the LAW OF ASSOCIATION. Among the most powerful associations by Resemblance is that of
identical or similar resonance. This is the key to making contact with things or thoughts,
past, present or future, on the inner plane; for there thoughts and things having the same
vibration are together. Distance on the inner plane is of a different order than in the physical
world; there it is measured by disparity in vibratory rates.

On the physical plane the visibility of things and the audibility of sounds diminish with
distance, and thus the number of objects it is possible to see or the number of sounds that
can be heard is narrowly limited. But virtually all experimenters in ESP are agreed that
distance has no effect on extrasensory perception. That which is on the other side of the
earth is as easily seen as that which is in the same room, and the thought of a person on the
other side of the earth is as easily apprehended as the thought of a person in the same
room. If the pronouncements of university scientists who have experimented exhaustively
with extrasensory perception are to be taken seriously, nothing in the universe is beyond the
range of extrasensory perception, and thus the number of things which it is possible to see
clairvoyantly is infinite.

Furthermore, on the inner plane time is of a different order, and consciousness can direct its
attention either forward or backward and by means of the appropriate astral sense perceive
objects, life forms and thoughts as they existed in the past or as they will exist in the future.

These are the potentialities of the astral senses; potentialities meagerly employed as yet by
man on earth. But for that matter man has only recently begun to utilize the potentialities of

27
his own outer-plane senses and reason. Potentially they make accessible incalculable
knowledge of physics, chemistry and electricity; yet it is only in late years we have used
them to acquire that knowledge on which is founded modern science and industry.

Most people, however, at some time in their lives, have observed authentic instances of the
operation of one of the astral senses. Spontaneous information has come to them, or to one
of their acquaintances, in a manner that precludes its acquisition through reason and the
outer-plane senses. And there are others, usually unaware of the source or manner of their
inspiration, who employ their astral senses in making contact with information on the inner
plane, and bring this information up into objective consciousness in the course of their
creative work. These are the people to whom we apply the title genius.

All genius draws upon information acquired by its unconscious mind which is less accessible
to the objective minds of others. Whether it is the great poet, the great artist, the musical
prodigy, the mathematical wizard or the most outstanding personalities in science and
invention, they each and all, as their biographies reveal, either in dreams, in states of
exhaustion resulting from concentration on their problems, while in semi-reverie, or other
states which favor the unconscious impressing the information it has gained on the brain,
have experienced uprushes from the unconscious mind which have given them knowledge
or ability beyond that of those to whom the term genius cannot be applied.

While those who train their psychic faculties, and those who have outstanding spontaneous
extrasensory experiences, usually know the information is coming through from the inner
plane, most people are unable to distinguish between their normal thoughts and opinions
and those derived from extrasensory sources. In the university experiments it is reported
that those who give good performances are unable to determine at the time whether
extrasensory perception is operating and therefore whether or not what they are doing is
directed by anything but chance. Even of those who employ extrasensory perception most
successfully, it is only the rare individual who can be sure when he is or is not using it.

But merely the ability to employ the astral senses does not confer genius. Genius must have
a brain which can, and does, utilize the information and power which uprushes from the
unconscious. It requires the harmonious cooperation of the Unconscious Mind and the
Objective Mind.

Personal Survival After Death

As demonstrated under hypnosis and in psychoanalysis, nothing known by the individual is
ever forgotten. His experiences, including his thoughts and the expression of personal traits,
are organized and retained in frictionless astral substance. That this inner-plane
organization, which expresses as an identifiable personality, survives beyond the tomb is
attested by a vast and steadily increasing mass of evidence, as set forth in the writings of Dr.
John King, Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rev. G. Vale Owen, J. Arthur Hill, Horace
Leaf, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, W. T. Stead, Dr. A. D. Watson, William O. Stevens, Stewart Edward
White, and a score of others.

28
Those who have passed to the inner plane may, or may not, have acquired information of
value. In psychic work, when information comes through in a continuous stream of
intelligence, one may be sure it is coming from some inner-plane entity. It is the opinion of
this inner-plane entity which is being received. When information arrives in messages which
are continuous, they are not merely the conclusions of the individual himself derived from
his own inner-plane observations. Conclusions reached by the unconscious from its own
inner-plane observations, and information acquired through the independent use of its
astral senses, do not come through as a continuous stream of intelligence, or a
wellformulated message, but as uprushes from the unconscious, as flash after flash of
relevant information, which only when pieced together gives complete knowledge of the
matter about which knowledge is sought.

29
Chapter 3
Astral Vibrations
IT is common knowledge that the energy of all life on earth is transmitted across space from
the sun. Furthermore, we are also taught that all physical bodies exert a gravitational
influence upon all other physical bodies independent of whether or not there are other
physical bodies between them. Then again, energy is propelled to far distant points by radio.
Yet in spite of the general recognition of these facts the great scientific men of the world are
quite unagreed as to the nature of light, gravitation and radio. How then am I to explain still
another form of energy which, like that commonly recognized as coming from the sun, has a
wide variety of influences, like gravitation is unhampered by passing through obstacles, and
like radio is capable of conveying intelligence? Such a form of energy is astral vibration.

Not so long ago scientific men were agreed that light is the ether moving in transverse
waves. But even as the chemistry of the nineteenth century has been displaced by entirely
new conceptions, so we find physics and mechanics and geometry also in the throes of
revolution. This started with the apparent verification of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity by
the eclipse observations of May 29, 1919, and September 21, 1921. And it has been gaining
momentum since through this theory’s apparent verification by all the experiments that thus
far have been devised to test its validity.

It may be pointed out that the test of any theory is its ability to predict new phenomena and
to correct all known phenomena in the field which it covers. Einstein’s Special Theory of
Relativity may ultimately fall, just as the recently accepted theories of chemistry, those of
geometry, those even of mechanics, as well as those of biology have fallen in the face of new
discoveries. But at the present moment Einstein’s Special Theory meets the
abovementioned tests better than any other advanced in the realms of mathematics and
physics. And in the same manner the theory of astral substance and astral vibration covers
the field of biology, astrology and psychic phenomena better than any yet set forth. No other
theory has been forthcoming satisfactorily to explain a mass of carefully collected
astrological, biological and psychological facts.

The theory of astral substance and astral vibration, however, does adequately explain all the
known facts of astrology, of psychic phenomena, of biology and of psychology. And at the
same time in each of the sciences mentioned it has been able to predict new phenomena,
such as, for instance, the influence of certain positions of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto upon

30
life before such positions had ever actually been observed, and the possibilities and
apparent limitations of divination.

But it is not to be supposed that the theory of astral substance and astral vibration as here
set forth may not in time need considerable revision to keep pace with new conceptions,
such as that suggested in the final paragraph of Chapter III of The Evolution of Physics
(1938), by Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld; “The theory of relativity stresses the
importance of the field concept in physics. But we have not yet succeeded in formulating a
pure field physics. For the present we must still assume the existence of both: field and
matter.” And while the astral field concept may take precedence in the future, for the
present we must continue to speak both of astral substance and astral vibrations.

This pure field concept relates to Einstein’s General Theory, The Special Theory of Relativity,
which is now taught in most universities as fundamental to understanding physics does not
make it a necessity. And as we will have repeated occasions to refer to this Special Theory of
Relativity, its present standing in university circles should be established. For this purpose let
me quote from an article by H. P. Robertson, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematical Physics,
Princeton University, which appeared in the June 1939, issue of Scientific American
Magazine:

“In view of these developments one may say that at present the special theory of relativity is
one of the most thoroughly accepted and most firmly established doctrines of modern
physics. It has permeated the field of mechanics, electromagnetism (including optics) and
atomic physics; while it may appear desirable to have further direct checks on the validity of
its mechanical aspects, a deviation from the predicted effects would constitute a most
puzzling—and, at least temporarily distressing—jolt for modern physics.”

This Special Theory of Relativity holds that physical velocities cannot exceed that of light, and
that anything moving with a velocity of light no longer possesses length, has infinite mass
and so is practically impervious to the pull of gravitation, and that for it time has come to a
standstill.

According to Einstein, if a bullet could be shot from a gun with a velocity of 160,000 miles
per second, due to its motion the bullet would shrink to about half its previous length. Yes,
and we may add that if the same bullet could be shot from a gun with a velocity greater than
light it would not only lose its length, but its other physical properties, and then exist as a
bullet on the astral plane. Einstein’s assertion that nothing can move faster than light is true
of physical things. But to cover all phases of existence it must be modified by the explanation
that anything that moves faster than light is no longer physical, and therefore is not a thing
according to Einstein’s conception—for it then loses all its physical properties and acquires
those of the astral world.

The reason that light, radio and other electromagnetic phenomena present so many
difficulties in the way of explaining their behavior, is that they have velocities intermediate
between those of slow-moving physical substance and fast-moving astral substance. And it is

31
because the gap between the velocity of physical substance and the velocity of astral
substance is too great to bridge, that the inner-plane world affects the outer-plane world,
and the outer-plane world affects the inner-plane world only through first imparting motion
to electromagnetic energy which has a velocity intermediate and thus can be directly
influenced by, and directly influence, both the low-velocity and the high-velocity regions.

But when we speak of velocities, we must not confuse these with frequency of vibration;
although when vibratory frequencies of low-velocity physical substance become high
enough they are able to influence electromagnetic energies, and when electromagnetic
energies have certain frequencies they are able to influence the high-velocity astral world.

Vibratory frequencies of from about 16 per second to 30,000 per second—about 12

octaves—in physical substance can be distinguished by the human ear as sound.
Deathdealing vibrations in physical substances of frequencies higher than those commonly
employed in radio have been developed in laboratories; but they cannot be heard.

Those used in radio are not vibrations of physical substance. They are electromagnetic
frequencies. Such as are used in commercial radio have frequencies of from 550,000 to
1,000,000 per second. The short and the ultra-short radio waves have frequencies
considerably higher. But these Hertzian radiations are only the lower electromagnetic
frequencies. Above them are the infrared, or dark-heat waves. Light, which is about 45
octaves above sound, and is electromagnetic rather than physical, is next above the infrared.
We can feel the sensation of heat for about two octaves and see the vibrations as light only
for about one octave. Above visible light is ultraviolet radiation, which is sometimes called
the chemical ray. Of higher frequency still are the x-rays, and the gamma rays are still higher.
As all of these are vibrations in the Boundary-Line realm of velocities, they are referred to as
different bands in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Now under certain conditions physical substance gains the power profoundly to influence
electromagnetic energies: and under certain conditions electromagnetic energies gain the
power profoundly to influence astral substance. For instance, when an iron is heated its
molecules are given greater speed. They are physical substance. But when they attain a
certain frequency of oscillation the iron becomes red hot or white hot and then radiates
light, which is not physical, but an electromagnetic radiation.

A current of electricity moving over a wire develops a field of force about the wire. If it is an
alternating current of low frequency, say of 60 cycles such as is commonly used in
transmitting electricity for light and power, at each reversal practically all of the field of
energy folds back on the wire. But under certain conditions the energy does not mostly fold
back, but keeps right on going. The conditions are that the oscillations must be sufficiently
frequent. When they attain sufficient frequency the energy radiates, and we have waves
such as are used in radio.

Furthermore, even as molecular vibrations, which are physical, when they attain certain
frequencies are able to impart much energy to electromagnetic waves; and electrical

32
energies, which are at least granular, moving over wires when given certain frequencies
radiate nonphysical energy into space; so electromagnetic energies generated in living
organisms when given certain frequencies are able profoundly to affect energies of the still
higher-velocity astral world.

And when astral-world velocities are attained, existence acquires properties that are
contradictory to physical experience, but which are none the less consistent with what the
Special Theory of Relativity demands when such velocities are present. Under these
velocities time as we know it no longer exists, distance as we know it disappears and is
supplanted by difference in vibratory frequency, gravitation gives way and its place is taken
by the principle of resonance, and instead of mechanical power thought energy performs
many similar functions. These new properties of existence, displacing those with which we
are so familiar on the physical plane, permit of various conditions that contradict material
experience.

Now all of this, I am well aware, may seem to some highly technical. But it is a necessary
prelude, in view of latest scientific opinion, to any adequate discussion of astral vibration.
And it leads up to a consideration of astrology.

It may be thought that in the third chapter of a course designed to lead the student by easy
and systematic steps from complete ignorance of such subjects to a grasp of those
fundamental principles which it is advisable to know before attempting the detailed mastery
of the various occult sciences, that the subject of astrology is out of place. This is not the
case, however, and the student will find that the sooner he grasps the general significance of
astrology the quicker and the easier will he be able to master the whole range of the occult.

This is true for two distinct reasons. One is that all life is constantly being influenced by
unseen currents of energy radiated by the planets. Consequently, the precise effect of any
other occult force at any given time cannot be known unless the power of planetary currents
to modify its influence also be taken into account.

The other reason is that through a peculiar sympathy that pervades all Nature, and the fact
that Nature tends to express similar qualities in numerous octaves, when the planetary
affinity of an object is known—it being but the expression of the same quality on one octave
that the planet expresses on another octave of Nature’s scale—this planetary rulership, as it
is called, affords a true index to otherwise unknown attributes of the object. Thus through
their relationship to the orbs above we easily learn the occult properties of things we
otherwise might never know. Astrology, therefore, is the golden key that unlocks the
mysteries. It is the most perfect instrument in existence, I am convinced, for the
interpretation of man’s true relation to the universe and to God. And as a religion is what
man believes to be his relation to the universe and to God, when rightly understood, there
can be no more perfect religion than the Religion of the Stars.

Now right here is where the student proves himself liberal minded or a bigot. He may recoil
upon his egotism and declare he knows he has a free will and that the stars have no power

33
to influence him. Yet while agreeing with him in the matter of free will, for astrology does
not imply fatality, I must point out that the question of whether he is influenced by streams
of energy from the planets impinging upon his astral body can be decided, as can any
scientific fact, only by experimental evidence.

In spite of educational prejudice, or preconception, if he will put his opinions to the test, and
before passing final judgment learn to erect a chart and judge it according to the rules of the
science, he will then indicate a true scientific spirit. But many are afraid to put their ideas to
the test. They are so self-opinionated they will not investigate anything with which they are
not already familiar. They pass sentence without trial, preferring to remain in the rut of error
rather than take the trouble to determine the correctness of their opinions. Such an attitude
is inexcusable and leads to stagnation. To condemn a subject without examination is bigotry.
And such bigotry is equaled in its folly only by many prevalent mystical notions that anyone
of average intelligence who takes the pains to investigate carefully can quickly and
completely disprove.

If it apparently does not seem reasonable that streams of unseen energy radiated by the
planets affect human life and destiny, let us consider that listening to an opera by radio also
seems unreasonable. To be sure, nothing seems more unreasonable than life itself; and
scientists have puzzled over it centuries without offering any adequate explanation of it. Yet
it exists. And the only way to determine if the planets influence human life is to experiment
with them. Any person of average intelligence can in a short time, and at trifling expense for
tables of the positions of the planets—those for one year being called an Ephemeris—for
various years, learn to set up a map showing the positions of the planets at the time of birth
of each of his friends and relatives. Such a map is called a horoscope. From examining such
charts it will be apparent very shortly that persons born near noon, when the sun is
overhead, have great ambition and ultimately rise to a position of prominence in the
particular environment in which they move. It will quickly be recognized that persons born
just before sunrise also have a power to rise in the world, in these cases through personal
effort, and they continue the struggle to rise as long as life lasts. Then the next step in the
investigation will be convincing that any person born when the planet Mars is rising on the
eastern horizon is aggressive and warlike; but if Saturn is there instead, the person is careful
and cautious.

Still more advanced experiments, in which the movements of the planets after birth are
calculated, will show that special after-birth positions, called progressed aspects, coincide
with specific events in the life, and that from progressed aspects the time and characteristics
of events can, within rather narrow limits, be predicted. This is not fatality, it is merely the
ability to predict by astronomical calculations when certain streams of energy will fall upon
the person’s astral body in such a way as to give unusual activity to certain thought cells
within the person’s unconscious mind. The person, if aware of the currents reaching him
from the planets, does not need to act in the manner usually indicated. But if unaware of
the influence, the thought cells thus stimulated lead him to fulfill the prediction.

34
Someone may now interpose the objection that astrologers still use the geocentric positions
of the planets, but that astronomers have long ago abandoned geocentric astronomy. This is
a misconception, for every astrologer knows that the sun is the center of the Solar System.
So does the astronomer, yet when he wishes to calculate where the shadow of an eclipse
will fall upon the earth, or when he wishes to determine the moment a star will cross the
meridian, he does not calculate these positions in reference to the sun as a center, but in
reference to some particular point on the earth. Likewise the mariner does not calculate the
position of a star with reference to the sun as a center to find his position at sea. He must
know the position of the star in relation to the earth, and to some definite spot on the earth,
at some particular interval of time.

So even as the light of the star that enables the mariner to find his position at sea comes to
the earth from a given angle at a given time, making his calculations possible, likewise the
energies from the planets that influence life reach the earth from given directions at given
times. And it is the direction from which these energies are received on the earth, and the
manner in which they converge and combine on earth, that determines their influence upon
earthly life and destiny.

It is true that astrologers sometimes fail in their predictions; but when the published report
of one of the largest and best equipped hospitals in the land shows that in diagnosing
disease 53 per cent of its diagnoses, as shown by hospital records, have been wrong, we
should be somewhat lenient with astrologers. (“Dr. Richard Cabot says of the findings of the
Massachusetts General Hospital Clinic, where precision is carried to the nth degree, that
post mortem examination proves that in 47 percent the diagnosis of the clinic is correct.”—
William Howard Hay, M.D., in Progress, for September 1923.)

Architects also make blunders at times, and chemists sometimes fail in their analyses and in
their synthetic processes. Even astronomers occasionally err in their calculations. The fault in
each of these cases is not so much the fault of the science as the fallibility of those
employing it. None of the sciences is yet in a perfected state, but with the same amount of
critical investigation astrology will rival, I am persuaded, other sciences in the precision of its
results.

Nature of Planetary Influences

Having, I hope, made it plain that the rules of astrological practice are independent of any
theory, and that their accuracy should be determined by observation, let us next inquire into
the probable manner in which planetary positions indicate the character at birth, and
afterward by giving new energy to certain thought cells, have an influence over the life.

To start with, we know that the sun is a giant electromagnet radiating lines of energy into
space, and that these lines of energy are cut by the various planets revolving around the sun
much as the armatures of a dynamo, as commonly installed in our power plants, cut the

35
lines of energy radiated by the electromagnet at the center. I quote from an article by Edgar
Lucian Larkin, director of Mt. Lowe Observatory, published in the spring of 1923:

“The astronomers at the Mt. Wilson Observatory made a great discovery with their new
delicate magnetometers, that rotating sun spots are surrounded by an electromagnetic field
of force, and magnetic lines extend to space. This is an important fact in Nature. A dynamo is
a rotating metallic mass in an electromagnetic field of force between poles. Then the earth is
an armature, since it contains metals and is in rapid rotation.”

The great physicist, Tyndall, many years ago indicated how dependent upon the sun are
most mechanical actions, chemical changes, and other manifestations of power on the
surface of the earth. And to this conception, investigators into the occult have added the
assurance that whatever of a mental and spiritual nature is expressed on earth also derives
its energy from the sun.

The sun, then, should be regarded as sending forth not only light, radiant heat,
electromagnetic energy, and exerting the power of gravitation, but also as radiating still finer
energies through astral and spiritual substances which when expressed manifest as mental
and moral attributes. In fact, whatever energies exist upon the earth, we may be sure they
were chiefly derived from the sun.

The boundless regions of space undoubtedly are fields of energy; for thousands of universes
other than our own, with all its countless hordes of suns and systems, are known to be
rushing through it with an average speed, so astronomers say, of 480 miles per second.
These universes, over a million of which are known to exist, have long been recognized as
Spiral Nebulae, and they certainly radiate energies other than the light by which they are
seen. Our universe, known as the Galaxy, or Milky Way, also is traveling at a distance of
100,000 to 1,000,000 light years from the other known universes. (Light travels 186,284
miles per second, according to 1942 findings, and one light year are the distance light travels
in one year.) And while there are stars in our universe that move with much greater speed,
and some that move slower, the more than a billion suns comprising our universe have a
usual speed among themselves of from 8 to 21 miles per second. Our sun, carrying with it
the earth and other planets of the Solar System, travels with a speed of about 12 miles per
second; and the earth on which we live moves in its orbit around the sun at the rate of 18
miles per second. These figures, of course, stagger the imagination. But I have taken them
from the recent reports of well-recognized astronomers for the purpose of indicating that
the heavenly bodies are moving with great speed, and that, as we know through the very
fact of being able to see them, they are each radiating energy. Therefore, as they move, each
in its appointed path, they cut fields of energy set up by the other moving suns and
universes.

This being the case we may regard our sun as a great step-down transformer. Our earth and
the other planets probably are not suitably constituted for handling the high frequencies
that abound in the path of the sun. We are most of us aware that the voltage of electricity as

36
it comes from a powerhouse to be carried any distance is too high to be used in the ordinary
electric appliances. It is necessary to install transformers to lower the voltage before the
current is permitted to flow over the lighting system or common power wires. So the sun
may be looked upon, not merely as a dynamo, but as a transformer of the high-tension
energies of space, stepping them down to such frequencies that they set up a new field of
energy about the sun.

The planets revolving about the sun in elliptical paths cut the energy field of the sun. This is
not an electromagnetic field of energy only, but also an astral energy field and a spiritual
energy field. And the planets cutting this huge energy field in turn become transformers and
transmitters of energy. That is, each being of different chemical composition and different
density of material, they each are adapted to picking up energies and stepping them down
to certain other frequencies and radiating these into space.

In this manner, similar in principle to that which may be observed in modern electrical
appliances, the energies of space are gathered up by the sun and again radiated. Then the
planets gather up this energy, and each giving it a special trend, again radiate it into space.
Thus it reaches the earth and man from the particular direction occupied by the planets at
the time, and endowed with the particular attributes imparted to it by each.

As no one up to the present time has been able to explain in a thoroughly satisfactory
manner just what light, magnetism and electricity are, it would be premature for me to try
to explain just what the astral light is. But this energy by which the influence of the planets is
transmitted to the earth is seen by clairvoyants as a peculiar light. It varies in color and
luminosity even as the sunlight does, and seems to be the all-pervading medium of vision for
those who have left the physical plane and now live in the adjacent astral realms.

As physical science is in heated debate as to how light and other electromagnetic energies
traverse space, we need not be too positive as to the nature of the vibrations that transmit
energy from the planets to the astral body of man and other things; but we need not remain
in doubt that such energies do reach and influence all things upon the earth. For this is a
matter easily ascertained by experiment.

Then again, if I am asked why planetary influence is ranged so that there are seven distinct
kinds of influence, one kind being transmitted by each of the seven planets more anciently
known, and the more recently discovered planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto transmitting
an influence that is the octave expression of Mercury, Venus and the Moon, I can only
answer it is because the septenary division is the one mostly adhered to by Nature. Why is it
there are seven tones in music, the eighth being a higher expression of the first? Why does
the light that comes from the sun, when passed through a prism, or as seen in a rainbow,
dissolve itself into seven distinct colors? Why is it that the 92 chemical elements also tend to
follow the same septenary law, the atomic number being determined by the number of
electrons revolving about the nucleus of an atom, given multiples of such electrons
expressing similar qualities on lower and higher octaves, as witnessed in bromine, iodine,

37
chlorine and fluorine, which each express qualities common to all, but with greater or less
activity? The impulses and thoughts of man, likewise, are susceptible to a grouping in which
there are seven well-marked families, and in which three of the families have expressions on
a higher octave which gives them additional characteristics.

Therefore, even as in other departments of Nature, so we observe in planetary influences

also, a definite grouping of qualities. We find the same quality that is expressed by the
influence of a planet upon human life to be expressed in sound by a certain musical tone, to
be expressed in color by a certain hue, to be expressed among minerals by a certain metal,
to be expressed among stones by a certain gem, to be expressed among numbers and letters
by certain of each, to be expressed among human thoughts by a definite group, and among
peoples by particular nations. In other words, the same quality of energy expresses in all
these and many other domains of existence, but in each case the expression belongs to a
given octave.

1. The Sun, as directly affecting life upon the earth, radiates those frequencies of astral
light that produce a dignified and life-giving influence. It is the same quality that expresses in
terms of ordinary light as the color Orange. It expresses in sound as the tone D, and in
human thought as Power.

2. The Moon, cutting the field of energy set up by the sun, and the field also due to the
earth, is so composed that the wavelengths and frequencies it transmits into space exert an
influence that is plastic and receptive. It is the same quality that expresses in terms of color
as the Green ray of the solar spectrum. It expresses in sound as the tone F, and in human
thought as Domesticity.

3. The planet Mercury, acting as a transformer and transmitter of energy, radiates an

influence that is sharp, active, changeable and clever. It is the same quality that expresses in
color as Violet. It expresses in sound as the tone B, and in human thought as Intelligence.

4. Venus transforms the solar energies to a different rate of vibration. Her influence is
clinging and submissive. It is the love quality which expresses in color as the Yellow ray. In
sound it expresses as the tone E, and in human thought as Sociability.

5. The energies radiated by the sun when gathered up and transformed to a different
rate by the planet Mars exert an influence energetic and combative. It is the same quality
that expresses in color as Red. In sound it is the tone C, and in human thought Aggression.

6. Jupiter, largest of all the planets, transmits an influence that is cheerful and
beneficent. It is the same quality that expresses in color as the Indigo ray of the solar
spectrum. It expresses in sound as the tone A, and in human thought as Religion.

7. Saturn, the planet with the rings around it, transforms the energies it receives into
such wavelengths and frequencies that they exert an influence that is cold and reflective. It
is the same quality that expresses in color as Blue. In sound it expresses as the tone G, and
in human thought as Safety.

38
8. Uranus is merely the higher octave of Mercury, transmitting an influence original and
disruptive. It is a quality expressed in color by all combined into a dazzling white. Its tones
are above the physical, such as the astral chimes often heard by psychics. It expresses in
human thought as Individuality.

9. Neptune is the octave of Venus, and transmits an influence visionary and idealistic. It
is a quality expressed by iridescence, in which colors glint and change and flow one into
another. Its tones are likewise above the physical, combining as the music of the spheres,
and in human thought the same quality expresses as the Utopian.

10. Pluto is the octave of the Moon, transmitting an influence that is forceful and
compelling. The domestic impulses are expanded to embrace a larger group. It is a quality
expressed by ultraviolet or infrared in color, and by either harmony or discord of tones. In
human thought it expresses as Universal Welfare.

Signs Act As Sounding Boards

As an instrument affects the tone sounded on it, it should also be expected that the tone
quality of a given planetary influence is greatly affected by the astral conditions of the
particular portion of the heavens occupied by the planet at the time the note is sounded.
We are well aware, for instance, that the effect upon the ear of the tone C is much different
when the tone emanates from a cello than when it emanates from a calliope.

Due to the field of energy of the combined sun and earth the astral vibrations received from
the planets when in one part of the heavens and those received when in a different part of
the heavens, although always the same in pitch, are different in tone quality. That is, they
are sent from various sounding boards. Observation proves that the path in which the sun
and planets apparently move about the earth is divided into twelve distinct sounding
boards, or instruments, for astral tones. This path in which the sun and planets apparently
travel is called the Zodiac. It commences, due to the polarity of the earth in relation to the
sun, at that portion of the sky where the sun crosses the celestial equator from the south to
the north in spring each year. The north and south hemispheres of the earth, as indicated by
the magnetic needle, are of opposite polarity, and where the sun apparently crosses from
one polarity of the earth to the other in coming north is where the zodiac begins.

This zodiac is divided into twelve equal sections, called signs of the zodiac. Each sign, or
section, of the zodiac is named after a particular constellation of stars which pictures its
influence, but which does not coincide with it either in location or extent. As each sign of the
zodiac has its own quality as a sounding board from which planetary tones may be sent to
earth, it follows that the influence of a planet when in one zodiacal sign is not the same as
when in another zodiacal sign. The planet Mars, for instance, when in the sign Aries has a
pleasing quality like the tone C sounded on a cornet, but when in the sign Cancer the same

39
tone is displeasing like the tone C sounded on an old tin can. This tone quality as influencing
life on earth has been determined by careful observation for each planet when in each sign.

Houses Influence Volume and Show Department of Life Affected

But besides the quality of a tone we must also take into consideration the acoustic
conditions where the tone is heard. Due to these conditions, in some great auditoriums it is
easy for the slightest tone to be distinctly heard, and in other halls a tone does not carry, or
is reflected from walls and ceilings in such manner as to produce a confusion of sounds. Of
this, public speakers are well aware. And in like manner the astral vibrations reaching any
particular point on the earth are subject to the conditions of the environment in which they
are received. The earth and its atmosphere have an astral counterpart, through which astral
vibrations must make their way to reach any point on the earth’s surface. When these rays
come from directly overhead they have less astral substance to traverse, and when they
come from other directions they have more in varying degree. The surface of the earth, too,
is rotating at the equator at the rate of over one thousand miles an hour, which evidently
has an influence upon the field of energy about the earth, which again must have an
influence upon any astral waves reaching the earth’s surface at a given point.

So we find that the direction from which the astral vibrations of the planets are received,
with regard to that point on the earth where received, has an influence upon both the
volume and the trend of their influence. This variation in the volume of a planet’s energy
that actually reaches the spot, and the particular trend that is given to it, may be accurately
mapped by a circle divided into twelve equal sections called Mundane Houses. The circle
represents a line around the earth to the east with the observer at the center. A horizontal
line across the circle represents a line passing from the eastern to the western horizon. A
vertical line through the circle represents a line from zenith to nadir. Each of the four
quadrants thus mapped then may be divided into three equal sections by other lines
radiating from the center. And it is found, and may be experimentally verified, that the
volume of energy received from a planet when in the section of the sky mapped by one of
these Mundane Houses is not the same, nor has it an influence upon the same department
of life, as when received from some section of the sky mapped by a different Mundane
House.

Aspects Indicate Fortune or Misfortune

We now have three different factors under consideration, all pertaining to the manner in
which the planets affect life upon the earth: 1. The pitch, or tone, of the astral vibration
radiated by a planet. 2. The tone quality, or resonance, given to the astral vibration radiated
by a planet by the particular zodiacal sign which acts as a sounding board from which it is

40
sounded. 3. The acoustic condition of the auditorium, the point on earth where the astral
vibration has an influence, which determines the volume of energy received, and the
particular department of life it most influences. And there is yet another consideration
before we have spread before us all the more important factors of astrological influence. 4.
The manner in which each tone harmonizes or discords with each and all other tones
reaching the same spot.

We are doubtless all familiar with the formation of small whirlpools, so frequently to be seen
in large numbers at time of high water in our streams. Currents of water meet at just such
angles of convergence that they whirl with the proper velocity to form an independent
entity, which endures as such for some period of time amid the boiling, seething flood about
it. A funnel-shaped hole in the stream is observed, the waters around it forming a rotating
wall. Something has been constructed in the surface of the raging torrent that did not before
exist. It has properties quite distinct from any other part of the stream. But currents of water
meeting under different conditions, from an angle, let us say, that is more obtuse do not
form any such entity. They merely roll and toss and foam, as they tumble along, without
forming anything distinct and apart from the general current of the stream.

Those of us who have lived on the desert are also familiar with whirling dust columns.
Currents of air meeting at just the proper angle form a rotating air column that sucks up
sand and dust, and sometimes larger things, the column of whirling sand reaching from
earth to sky, moving off across the desert as an entity possessing properties quite apart from
the surrounding atmosphere. There are also stronger winds on the desert that give rise to
sand storms, but these have not the properties of the whirling columns. Waterspouts and
tornadoes are less familiar to most of us, yet they also present an instructive lesson on how
currents of air meeting at the proper angle and velocity become agents of terrific power.

Further, light waves under certain circumstances may be brought together in such a manner
as to produce, not more light, but less light. This interference of certain light waves with
others gives rise to the dark lines of the spectrum. The waves so combine as to cancel each
other’s motion.

Now, therefore, with these familiar illustrations of water, air and light currents acquiring
distinctive properties due to the manner in which they join, we need not be surprised to
learn that astral currents when they converge at certain angles possess distinctive
properties.

And even as careful study of water currents indicates the conditions under which whirlpools
form, so also careful observation has established the conditions under which the astral
currents from the planets meet to acquire certain definite influences. Whirlwinds all do not
have the same properties. They vary greatly in height, in area, and in movement. Neither do
astral currents when they join in such a manner as to acquire distinctive properties, express
always the same characteristics. In fact, there are ten different kinds of astral whirls known,
each formed by a distinct angle of meeting, and expressing distinctive characteristics.

41
These astral whirls are not produced by the meeting of the rays of the planets from all
angles. They are formed only when the planetary rays meet at definite angles, which have
been learned through observation. When the angle at which the astral vibrations from two
planets meet is such as to form a definite condition, comparable to a whirlwind, or to a
rapids in a river, or to the undertow on an ocean beach, this angle is called an Aspect.

In all, then, there are ten aspects, or definite angles at which planetary rays meet to exert a
definite influence. The disturbance in the astral streams when they meet from certain angles
is, like a cyclone, very violent and destructive. When they meet from other angles the result
is the formation of energies that tend to bind together and build up the astral organisms
that they contact. These energies are such that they may be constructively utilized by the
astral forms receiving them. But other energies, formed by astral currents meeting at other
angles, exhibit an explosive tendency when contacting astral forms.

Experience teaches that astral currents from the planets meeting at a right angle, one-half a
right angle, one and one-half a right angle, and twice a right angle, each has a disintegrative,
or destructive, influence. A right angle, of course, is ninety degrees, and the aspect formed
by planetary rays meeting at a right angle is called a Square.

When planetary rays meet at an angle of one hundred and twenty degrees, the aspect is
called a Trine. And experience shows that when planetary rays converge at a trine, one-half a
trine, or one-fourth a trine, each aspect, having an influence peculiar to itself, the influence
is distinctly integrative and constructive.

The other three aspects recognized—when two planets are in the same degree of the
zodiac, when two planets are in the same degree of declination, and when two planets are
one hundred and fifty degrees apart—do not seem integrative or disintegrative in
themselves, but depend for their constructive or destructive attributes upon the tone and
quality of the planetary streams they combine.

Now the question arises, why it is that all things in the same vicinity are not affected by the
planetary streams of energy that converge there in the same way? Before answering this I
will ask counter questions. Why is it that when the tone C is sounded in a room where there
is a piano, the C string in the piano responds with a sound, and the other strings remain
silent? And why is it, listening to a radio, that it is possible to hear a concert given at a
distant place, yet not hear other concerts that are being broadcast from the same place
using different frequencies? It is because vibrations strike a sympathetic response from, and
thus influence, other things having a similar vibratory key.

The astral body of man, and the astral forms of things, contain centers of energy of the same
key as each of the planets. But in one person or thing the center of energy keyed to one
planet may be so small in volume as to be capable of almost no response, while the center
of energy keyed to another planetary influence may be so large that it is constantly sounding
a response to the influence of that planet. All persons and things sound a response,
transmitting the influence of all the planets in some small degree. But usually the center of

42
energy that transmits the astral vibration of some one planet is more prominent than the
centers of energy that respond to those of the other planets. And when it has been
determined which planetary influence the person or thing responds to most strongly, the
person or thing is said to be Ruled by that planet.

Diverse Functions of Astral Vibrations

It will now be seen that astral vibration is the means by which energy is communicated from
one astral body to another. By it the clairvoyant sees events happening at a great distance,
or in the past or in the future. By it tones are carried to the astral ear, giving rise to
clairaudience. Events and environment impress their influence upon the astral forms of all
things, and these influences being constantly radiated are carried by them to a sensitive
person who thus psychometrizes the object. Thoughts are carried from one part of the
universe to another by astral vibrations from the living to the dead, and from the dead to
the living. Also it is the means by which the planets each send a special grade of energy to
the earth; and each reaching the earth from a certain sign of the zodiac possesses a specific
tone quality; and reaching the thing or person from a given direction, or mundane house,
has a special volume and trend; and converging with other planetary rays at given angles
results in a definite constructive or destructive influence. Thus does astral vibration underlie
all occult manifestation.

43
Chapter 4
Doctrine of Nativities
NOW that it has been shown that astral vibrations from the planets have such an important
and far-reaching influence upon all life, the next step is to indicate more precisely how these
vibrations affect humanity.

Yet the reader should not be given the impression that the destiny of the soul commences at
its birth into human life, and that planetary influences operating at this birth are determined
by chance. Therefore, it seems advisable first to outline the old Hermetic teachings in regard
to the soul.

If the old Hermetic Law of Correspondences holds true—“As it is below, so it is above; as on

the earth, so in the sky”—then not only the astral world, but the spiritual world, the angelic
world, and the celestial world, are subject to the same sevenfold division as the physical
world. In other words, the things and entities of these worlds are, even as the things and
entities of earth, subject to planetary rulership. Of course, in the higher worlds the
vibrations are transmitted by finer substances than the astral, but nevertheless, the entities
of these realms belong to definite planetary families. All those things on any plane that are
ruled by a certain planet —transmit that planet’s influence more freely than any other—are
said to belong to its planetary family. Souls are no exception to this, and at the moment of
differentiation in the higher realms each belongs to a certain planetary family.

I may not here speak of the angelic parenthood of souls or of the circumstances surrounding
their first existence as differentiated entities. These things are explained in Course II,
Astrological Signatures. I may here mention, however, that at its first existence as a soul it is
endowed with a definite polarity, or quality. After its differentiation the life impulse —that
impulse which we observe causing all forms of life to struggle to live—carries the soul down
through fleeting forms in the lower spiritual world, down through other fleeting and
elemental forms in the astral world, and finally enables it to incarnate in the mineral realm
of a planet.

Do not think that the rocks and metals are devoid of life. Professor Chunder Bose, through
extensive experiments, has demonstrated that metals, for instance, are sensitive, may be put
to sleep, may be intoxicated, or may be killed. The difference between their sensitiveness
and that of higher forms of life is one of degree, due to less complex organization. The idea

44
that I wish to convey here, however, is not merely that rocks and grass and trees as well as
animals are endowed with souls, but that the soul evolves through these different forms.

The Astral Body Is Built of Stellar Cells and Stellar Structure

In its descent to incarnate in the mineral, and in its ascent through innumerable lower forms
of physical life, the soul has experiences of different kinds. The awareness and emotions
accompanying these experiences build thought elements into the high-velocity, or stellar,
body. Through other experiences these thought elements become organized as stellar cells,
and these in turn into dynamic stellar structures.

Thoughts, in the sense I here use the term, embrace every form of consciousness and
include the sensations felt by even the lowest forms of life. All life forms react to
environment through an awareness which builds mental elements into their finer forms. And
a birth chart—even the birth chart of a primitive creature—is a map of the character, that is,
of the thought organizations of the finer form, as these have been constructed up to the
moment of physical birth.

Living physical matter is composed of protoplasm, which is a combination of chemical

elements. And the inner-plane, astral or stellar body of every living creature is composed of
psychoplasm, formed of thought elements in various kinds of combinations.

The physical body is built of cells of protoplasm and their secretions; and the astral body,
wherein resides the soul, or character, or unconscious mind, as it is variously called, is built
of thought cells, or stellar cells, as they are also termed. These stellar cells are not all alike;
but are composed of thought elements of various kinds and in different proportions. They, in
turn, enter into the formation of stellar structures, just as the physical cells are organized
into the bony structure, the muscular structure, the nervous structure, etc., of the physical
body.

Due to its original Polarity, the soul, through the Law of Affinity—the Law that Like attracts
Like—builds a form of similar polarity. Its experiences in this form add thought elements and
thought cells to its astral body. Therefore, as a result of living for a time in this form it
possesses qualities that it did not have before. And these qualities, after it has passed
through a period of assimilation on the astral plane, cause it to be attracted to, and enable it
to mold and function in, an organism of more complex structure.

The soul, then, after it starts on its pilgrimage to matter and back to spirit again, at every
step of its journey is governed by the Law of Affinity. That is, the kind of an external form it is
attracted to on the physical plane depends upon the thought organization (thought
signifying any type of consciousness) of its astral form. The thought organization of its astral
form depends upon the various experiences it has previously had, each adding thought
elements and aiding to organize definite thought cells and thought structures in the astral

45
form. And these thought cells and thought structures, which in reality are stored up
experiences gained in other forms, give it the ability to handle the life processes, and thus
build about it the new and more complex body to which it is now attracted.

The soul accomplishes its evolution, therefore, by being attracted to one form, dwelling for a
time in it and undergoing certain experiences, then repelling this form and passing to the
astral world. We speak of this repelling of the physical form and passing to the astral plane
as death.

Then on the astral plane there is a period of existence during which other experiences are
added, and the physical experiences are assimilated and still further organized. These
assimilated experiences—derived from both the physical world and the astral world—
persisting as stellar cells and stellar structures in the astral body, give it the ability when
cyclic law again attracts it to earth to attach itself to the forming crystal, the spore, the
divided cell, or the fertilized seed that forms the physical conditions for the growth of a new
physical entity. These experiences in directing the life processes that molded some simpler
form in the past, also give it the unconscious, or astral, intelligence which enables it to
organize about itself, or grow, the more complex life form which it now animates.

I speak of intelligence advisedly. We are all too apt to take for granted the myriad wonders
performed by the plants and insects and animals about us. To be sure, the intelligence they
display is not on a level with that exercised by humanity. Yet from the same soil and air one
plant will subtract, as in the case of the common red clover, the material to build a head of
long-tubed flowers, painting them rose and purple as flaming advertisements to the bumble
bees upon which the fertilization and consequent life of the species depends; while another
plant subtracts the material, as in the case of the common white sage, for a shrub whose
foliage is mostly white, instead of green and whose flowers are white with very short tubes,
easily accessible to the honey bees, and so exposed as to attract them, and thus use them as
carriers of the fertilizing pollen. Plants also are far more sensitive than is usually supposed.
They possess energy very similar to the nerve currents of higher animal life. The difference
between the sense of feelings in plants and that in animals is one of degree. This has been
adequately and scientifically demonstrated by Professor Chunder Bose.

Economic problems that still perplex humanity, such as the division of labor, have been
solved by the ants and the bees. The orb weaver spider thoroughly tests his base line, then
produces radial lines that are as accurately spaced as if drawn by a human architect. The
oriole builds a hanging basket nest that any basketmaker might envy, and the wasps here in
California anticipate cold storage. They sting spiders in such a manner as to paralyze them
without producing death, and with them they fill the nests in which they lay their eggs, that
the young may have fresh meat to eat during the larval stage. A thousand other instances of
the intelligence of plants and animals might be cited. We may call it instinct if we wish, but
this instinct is the expression of an intelligent adaptation of a means to an end.

46
Neither does this instinct spring into existence spontaneously. It is the result of experiences
which are added to the thought cells of the astral body. The organization of its astral form is
responsible for the soul being attracted to the species of life which it is to animate. The
physical sperm and germ, or cell life, that are the commencement of the new physical form,
also have an astral counterpart. And through the thought cells associated with the genes—
those portions of the reproductive cell handed down from generation to generation—race
characteristics add their experiences, or mental elements, to the astral body of the entity
that uses these cells as a physical basis of life. Thus certain race experiences are
communicated to the astral body of each entity incarnating in the species.

The entity cannot incarnate in the species, however, until it has had such experiences in
lower forms of life as will give it the unconscious, or astral, intelligence to build up the new
physical form it is to occupy. Even the food of the higher forms of life has had enough
experience in cell building that it more readily and intelligently performs that function again.
Bacteria are the lowest forms of life above the minerals, and certain bacteria can draw their
sustenance directly from inorganic minerals. Plant life does this with greater difficulty, and
the nitrates generated by bacteria, and the humus—decomposed organic life—in the soil are
a great aid to thrifty growth. This is because the astral counterparts of such organic products
have already had some experience with life processes, and therefore the more readily
perform these functions.

For this reason it is impractical for chemists to make food. The chemist can make bread that
contains just the correct amount of each chemical element. But if this bread is to sustain life,
in some manner these elements must be given the intelligence usually acquired through the
experience of growth. They must be forced at once from the kindergarten, as it were, to high
school intelligence.

Each Cell Has a Soul

Each cell is an entity, and possesses an intelligence of its own. It may thus be said to be the
expression of the soul. It has recently been estimated that there are about as many cells in
the human body as there are suns in our galaxy—possibly 40,000,000,000. However, to bring
our comparison nearer home, let us say there are 180,000,000 people in the United States.
Now each person in the United States has a soul, and lives his own life. The United States
forms the opportunity for him to live and evolve such qualities as he can. Likewise the
physical body of man affords the opportunity for its numerous population of cell life to
undergo evolution. The President of the United States governs the inhabitants of the United
States in much the same manner that the soul of man governs the cell life comprising his
body. And as the mind of the President is not the aggregate of the 180,000,000 minds he
governs, neither is the soul of man the aggregate of the minds of the cells comprising his
body. And were the comparison drawn still closer, the soul of man would be likened to an
imperial ruler to whom the subject cells should give unquestioning obedience.

47
The reproductive cells which unite to furnish the physical conditions by which a human soul
may build about itself a physical body, each may be said to have a soul. But the souls, or
intelligences stored in the astral forms of these reproductive cells are, like other cell life,
undergoing their own evolution, and they do not become the soul of the child. The soul of
the incarnating child has its own astral form, in which are stored as organizations of stellar
cells, all the experiences of its past.

The union of the sperm and germ furnish the conditions for it to become attached to the
physical cells, and through cell division to build up about it a human form. The heredity
genes in these reproductive cells form the physical link by which race and family
characteristics, stored up in the stellar cells of their astral counterparts, are transmitted to
the astral body of the child. These race and family characteristics are experiences which are
handed on from generation to generation, even as human traditions are passed from one to
another by word of mouth. They are thus acquired by the incarnating soul through mental
experience. They are experiences derived through the astral rather than through the
physical. But as we shall later discern, experiences coming from the astral plane are quite as
effective as those coming from the physical.

The soul that incarnates in human form has evolved up through innumerable lower forms of
life, at each step gaining new experiences that enable it to be attracted to, and more or less
successfully build about itself, a higher form. It now, along with other souls, exists on the
astral plane. Whenever there is a ripened ovule in the female organism, one of the
conditions is fulfilled for attracting a soul from the astral plane. The intense emotions of the
sexual union raise the parents’ vibrations to a state where they unconsciously are closely in
touch with the astral plane. They actually attract entities from the astral plane to them at
this time that correspond to the plane of their desires and emotions and the harmony or
discord between them. They contact energies at this time that they do not at any other,
which makes it exceedingly important that the motives be lofty and pure.

This astral plane, inhabited as it is by innumerable entities and forms of life, is not away off
somewhere in space. It is all about us, and it requires but the proper conditions to be
contacted at any time. Observation indicates, however, that astral substance does not
communicate motion directly to physical substance. The difference in velocity between the
two planes seems to be too great for such direct transmission. But electromagnetism, whose
velocity seems to lie between them, performs the function of transmitting energy from the
physical to the astral, and from the astral to the physical.

To be able to affect physical substance, an astral entity must utilize electromagnetic energy
that already is associated with physical substance. Certain persons emanate electromagnetic
energy in large volume, and in such a form that it can be used to transmit astral motions to
atomic matter. Astral entities then use this electromagnetic energy for the production of
supernormal physical phenomena. And the person furnishing the excess of electromagnetic
energy is called a Medium.

48
It is this electromagnetic energy that constitutes the vital principle of all physical life. When
associated with minerals it is called Mineral Magnetism. As the vital element in vegetable
life, binding together the thought cells and the physical cells and furnishing the motive
power for the various vegetative functions, it is known as Vegetable Magnetism. In the
animal kingdom it binds together the astral and the physical body, constitutes the vital
energy, and is known as Animal Magnetism. In man it performs a like function, and is known
as Personal Magnetism. Its quality depends upon the organization of the physical life it
vitalizes. It persists only so long as the astral counterpart and the physical are held together,
forming the means by which energy is conveyed from one to the other. At the death of the
organism this electromagnetic counterpart, or electromagnetic organization, quickly
dissipates as the physical particles disintegrate.

Now, nerve currents are electric energies. And when the intense vibrations of sexual union
create an electromagnetic vortex, this also creates a vortex in astral substance, and the field
of force so created, if there is a ripened ovule in the female organism, attracts the soul of a
child of corresponding vibration.

That is, the souls on the astral plane, that have evolved through the various lower forms of
life to a point where they are now ready for human incarnation, vary as greatly in quality as
do the people of the world which they become. This variance is due to their having had a
different polarity at differentiation, which in the course of evolution attracted them to
widely different experiences, and these divergent experiences organized different thought
cells in their astral bodies.

From the cosmic standpoint such variety seems necessary, for if all had the same
experiences, all would become fitted for the same task in cosmic construction, and it seems
that cosmic needs are such as to require souls whose educations bring out a wide variety of
talents. But however that may be, the astral bodies of different souls have been differently
organized through experiences, and the vibrations of the parents at the time of union
attracts a soul whose astral body corresponds in vibratory rate to the vibrations set in
motion by the parents. Even should there be no physical union of the parents—for the astral
plane is ever ready to utilize whatever conditions permit the physical incarnation of the life
forms which crowd it—if conception takes place, it is the vibratory rates of the parents,
imparted to the sperm and germ, that determine the type of soul which is able to become
attached to the fertilized cell.

If the general plane of the parents’ thoughts are low, and particularly if they are on a low
plane during union, the soul attracted will be of corresponding low moral bias. If their love
vibrations are exalted, and the general level of their thoughts and aspirations are high, a soul
of high spiritual qualities will be attracted. The mental abilities of the soul attracted, as
distinct from the moral, depend more upon the intensity of the union. And the physical
strength and vitality depend more upon the harmony between the parents. The soul thus
attracted is magnetically attached at the climax of the union to the physical ovule through
the electromagnetic field then formed.

49
The positive electric energies which are the foundation of the future child’s vitality are
furnished by the father. They are strong or weak as he is or is not virile and intense at the
time of union. The receptive magnetic energies which are the foundation of the future
child’s constitution and general health are furnished by the mother. They are strong or weak
as she is, or is not, virile and intense at the time of union.

Upon the harmony between the parents, and the balance in intensity, depend the physical
balance and in a measure the general success and happiness of the future child. That is, any
discord or lack of balance between the parents in general, and especially at the time of
union, will attract a soul in whose astral form are similar qualities. And these discordant
thought cells in its astral body will during life attract inharmony in environment and
inharmonious events. Did parents but more fully understand the importance of complete
harmony between them, certain souls now born in human form would be compelled to
evolve higher upon the astral plane before incarnating, and there would be fewer children
born with improper equipment for life.

When conception takes place the astral form of the soul becomes permanently attached to
the united sperm and germ. The electromagnetic energy furnished by the father becomes
the vital force, and that furnished by the mother becomes the magnetic force, and together
they form the electromagnetic form. Through the medium of this electromagnetic energy
the astral form attracts the physical particles in the process of growth in such a manner as
nearly as possible to build a physical counterpart of the astral form. The astral form is the
mold which the physical particles strive to fill in detail, even as hot metal will take the form
of the mold into which it is poured. In so far as the physical materials at hand will permit, the
physical body grows into an exact likeness of the astral body.

The child, during the period of gestation, has entered an environment largely influenced by
the thoughts and feelings of the mother. Both the physical and the astral bodies of mother
and child are closely associated. There is a constant exchange of energies between them. As
a consequence, mothers frequently notice that their natures and dispositions change
markedly during pregnancy. This is due to the astral vibrations of the child communicating
themselves to the mother. If there is a marked discord between the astral makeup of the
mother and the child, she will suffer from this discord. In this case the discord may not
belong either to the mother or to the child except that their association, due to difference in
vibratory rates in their astral bodies, sets up discord.

But of far more importance than the temporary influence of the child upon the disposition
of the mother is the mother’s influence upon the unborn child. The child’s astral form at this
stage is unusually plastic and receptive to vibrations. Thus it is that cases are known in which
the mother kept the image of a loved one in her mind during gestation, and the child when
born resembled in features this loved one rather than the father or the mother. A sudden
strong desire during pregnancy, or a sudden fright, sometimes results in a birthmark more or
less resembling the object causing it. Such fright, when extreme, has been known to deform
the offspring. In this intimate relation between mother and child during pregnancy the

50
mother has a wonderful power for good. Her thoughts, her emotions, and her desires are
the environment in which the child is living. They communicate rates of motion to its astral
form, modifying the thought organizations already there. Upon the thought organization of
the astral form, thus modified by the mother’s influence, depends the character of the child
when born and the events of its life.

It is not necessary here to enter into a discussion of the Prenatal Epoch, as the theory of the
relation between the time of conception and the time of birth is called, for this is treated in
Chapter 8, Course X-I, Progressing the Horoscope, Serial Lesson 117. Nevertheless, it should
be pointed out that gestation is under astrological law, and that the child will not be born
and live until the astral vibrations at that place set up by planetary positions correspond in
pitch, tone, harmony and discord with the astral vibrations of the child then born. It is not to
be supposed that this vibratory correspondence is so strict as to allow no latitude. For
instance, in tone, the vibrations between certain limits all are said to produce middle C. The
color red, likewise, is not a set number of vibrations per second, but those vibrations within
a certain range. In the case of birth, however, if the difference between the vibrations of the
astral body and those of the planetary influences at the time of birth are extensive, the child
suffers, and if too great it will die under the first discordant Progressed Aspect. Hence it is
that instrumental deliveries and artificial births may cause an entity to function through a
form incapable of responding to its internal nature. Yet there are other times than at the end
of the nine-month period, notably at seven months from conception, when the vibrations
set up by the planets correspond closely enough with the astral form of the child for it to be
born and live to a ripe old age.

The Birth Chart Accurately Maps the Character as It Has Been Built
Up to the Moment of Birth
While there is a certain range of vibratory rates within which the similarity between those of
the character and those in the sky is close enough that the child then born will live,
nevertheless this similarity—as careful analysis of tens of thousands of birth charts by our
Research Department proves—is always close enough that the outstanding factors of
character are accurately mapped in the birth chart.

And as not only the abilities, but every event of life, is an expression of, or is attracted by,
those thought organizations which comprise the character, the birth chart gives a clear
picture of the life if nothing special is done to change the character. That is, as all that
happens is the result of character, the only manner in which the destiny can be changed is to
change the character. Furthermore, as destiny is the outcome of character, and through
intelligently directed effort the character can be changed, the life indicated by the chart of
birth—which is merely a map of the character with which the individual is born—can be
markedly altered in any direction desired.

As indicated in Chapter 3 (Serial Lesson 41), scientific astrology need concern itself with but
four sets of factors: 1. The 12 zodiacal signs and their 36 decanate subdivisions. 2. The 10

51
planets. 3. The 12 mundane houses. 4. The 10 aspects. In that chapter it was indicated what
each of these four sets of factors represents as an influence from without. Now, therefore,
let us consider, that we may the better understand how the character and thus the fortune
can be altered in any direction desired, what each of these factors maps in the astral body.

Signs Map the Zones of the Astral Body

Aries always maps the region of the head, Taurus the region of the neck and ears, Gemini
the hands and arms, etc. They also map the series to which the thought cells in the
compartments of the astral body coincident with these zones belong. Thus the thought cells
in the Aries zone belong to the I Am series, those in the Taurus zone to the I Have series,
those in the Gemini zone to the I Think series, etc.

Mundane Houses Map the Compartments of the Astral Body

The astral, or inner-plane body, is divided not merely into zones as is the physical body—
head, neck, arms and hands, heart and back, etc.—but is also separated into 12 different
compartments. And these compartments of the astral body are not located in reference to
the zones of the astral body the same in different persons. That is, compartment one may
largely lie in the Aries zone, the Gemini zone, or some of the other zones, according to the
character of the individual. This relationship is indicated by the manner in which the signs
are arranged in relation to the houses in the particular birth chart.

Yet whatever zone covers it, experiences relating to health and the personality build their
thought elements into the 1st compartment; experiences relating to personal property build
their thought elements into the 2nd compartment; experiences relating to short journeys
and brethren build their elements into the 3rd compartment; experiences relating to the
home build their thought elements into the 4th compartment; experiences relating to love
affairs, entertainment and children build their thought elements into the 5th
compartment—and so on in such a manner that every department of life builds by its
experiences, thought cells in one of the 12 compartments of the astral body.

In a birth chart the houses accurately map these 12 compartments of the astral body. Each
house of the birth chart, therefore, maps the thought cells relating to one department of the
life. As what comes into the life, and whether it comes fortunately or as a misfortune, is
determined wholly by the amount of activity and the harmony or discord of the thought
cells in the astral body relating to that department of life, the houses of a birth chart
accurately map what may be expected if nothing special is done about it, from each
department of the life. That is, what happens is due to the activity of the thought cells
working from the high-velocity plane; and if we know how they are organized and energized
we can discern the events they will attract to the individual in whose finer form they make
their abode.

52
Planets Map Dynamic Stellar Structures Which are Also Receiving
Sets
The thought cells of a particular type which have had added to them experiences of greatest
intensity, and through repetition of similar experiences the greatest volume of energy,
become organized through these intense and closely related experiences into a stellar
structure of a highly active nature. We call such an energetic group of thought cells in the
astral body a Dynamic Stellar Structure. And in the birth chart it is always mapped by the
planet ruling the thought element which is most active in it.

To put it another way, those experiences which are most intense and belong to a given
planetary family build a highly dynamic organization of thought cells in some particular
region of the astral body; and this energetic organization of stellar cells is always mapped in
the birth chart by the planet most closely related to the experiences which are responsible
for its construction. Such a dynamic stellar structure acts as a receiving set for transmitting
to the thought cells of the astral body the vibrations of the planet mapping it in the birth
chart.

Aspects Map Stellar Aerials Which Pick Up, Radio Fashion, Invisible Energies

Experiences, however, are not isolated events, but through the Law of Association (see
Course V, Esoteric Psychology) are related to other experiences. Events that affect one
department of life also frequently affect other departments. Furthermore, experiences are
pleasant or painful, that is, harmonious or discordant; and it is the amount of harmony built
into the thought cells thus formed that determines the fortune they will attract to the
individual; and it is the amount of discord built into the thought cells so formed that
determines the misfortune they will attract to the individual. In other words, if they feel
happy, they work from their high-velocity plane to attract good fortune; but if they feel
mean, they work with equal diligence to attract misfortune.

These relations between types of experiences of sufficient energy to form dynamic stellar
structures, build lines across the astral body from one dynamic structure to other dynamic
structures with which experience has thus associated them. Such a line forms a ready
avenue by which the compartment of the astral body at one end is able to transmit energy
to the compartment of the astral body at the other end. That is, departments of life so
associated continue throughout life, if nothing special is done about it, to have an influence
of a particular kind over each other.

Such a line, by its length, also indicates whether the two compartments are associated
harmoniously or inharmoniously, and thus whether the thought elements mapped by the
planet at either end have entered into a harmonious or discordant thought-cell compound.

But in addition to this, each such line acts as a stellar aerial to pick up, radio fashion, the
energies of similar quality radiated from the planets. That is, if it is of a length suitable only

53
to picking up discord, it will pick up the energies of the planets mapped at each end only so
loaded with static that this energy disturbs the thought cells in a very disagreeable manner.
But if it is of such length as to pick up the energies mapped at each end harmoniously, it
delivers these planetary energies to the thought cells at either end in such pleasing quality
as to cause them to work from their high-velocity plane to attract fortunate conditions into
the life.

These lines across the astral body, which, unless something special is done to change them,
all through life pick up, radio fashion, planetary energy, thought energy, and character
energy radiated from objects, in a particular manner, are called PERMANENT STELLAR
AERIALS. They are mapped in the birth chart by the ASPECTS.

Character Constantly Reacts to the Forces of Its Environment

Environment constantly stimulates changes in all life forms; and chief among these
environmental forces are the invisible radiations from the planets. As the planets move
forward after birth through the signs of the zodiac the energies fall upon the zone of the
astral body governed by the sign they are passing through. And it seems that the astral body
of a child is more plastic and receptive to these astral vibrations during the early days and
months of its life than when older. Furthermore, the energies then received do not spend
their force at once, but are liberated through cycles.

In the same way that we determine the cycles governing the different stages of development
of the embryo in a duck egg, and can thus make definite predictions from this knowledge, or
as we can predict that a certain strain of corn when planted will be out of the ground in so
many days, in so many weeks will tassel, in so many months will be in the milk, and that one
hundred days from the time placed in the ground will mature; we can also determine the
cycles governing similar releases of energy stored in the human astral body. That method is
through observation.

The Three Releases of Energy

Observation acquaints us with the fact that there are three distinct releases of energy, each
measured by its own cycle. The most important such release is at the ratio of the
movements of the planets during one day after birth releasing energy then stored during
one year of life. The next most important such release of energy is at the ratio of the
movements of the planets during one month after birth releasing energy then stored during
one year of life. And the least important such release of energy is at the ratio of the
movements of the planets during one day after birth releasing energy then stored during the
same day of life.

Because the mapping of these three methods of energy storage and release is done by
moving, or “progressing” the planets through the degrees and signs of the birth chart, the

54
releases of energy after this manner are called Progressions. They are comparable to the
releases of energy of a clock which has an hour hand, a minute hand, and a second hand.

Energy is stored up in the clock by being imparted to a spring, or by weights being lifted. The
energy stored up in the clock weights is not released all at once—no more so than the
energy stored up by planetary movements immediately following birth. In the case of the
clock it is released by the cyclic movement of the pendulum or other device; and in the case
of the birth chart it is released by the cyclic motion of our earth about the Sun.

The Hour hand of the clock corresponds to the important day for a year ratio of release in
the astral body, which is the ratio of Major Progressions.

The Minute hand of the clock corresponds to the next most important month for a year ratio
of release in the astral body, which is the ratio of Minor Progressions.

The Second hand of the clock corresponds to the least important day for a day ratio of
release in the astral body, which is the ratio of Transits.

As the planets thus move forward after birth, regardless of aspect, or aerial, they store up
energy which when released according to the ratios of progression, imparts their type of
energy to the zone where they are shown by progression; and this gives the thought cells of
the indicated region more than their normal activity. And this is true whether the planet
moves through the sign by Major Progression, by Minor Progression or by Transit; although
the amount of energy thus imparted and released by Major Progression is far greater.

Progressed Aspects Map Temporary Stellar Aerials

From what has now been said I think it will be clear that the function of Progressions is to
map those structural changes which take place in the astral body, in obedience to cyclic law,
that permit energies from the planets at definite and predictable times, to reach certain
groups of thought cells in volume enough to give them extraordinary activities.

When a planet progressing according to one of the three indicated ratios forms an aspect
with a planet in the birth chart, or with another major progressed planet, the energy release
then builds across the astral body a line which acts as an aerial which picks up and transmits
to its two terminals, energy of the type of the two planets involved in the aspect. Experience
proves that these temporary stellar aerials, mapped by progressed aspects, while their
influence may be felt over a somewhat longer period, are seldom clear cut enough to pick

up sufficient energy to bring an event into the life either before or after the planets are
within one degree of the perfect aspect.

These temporary stellar aerials thus formed by the cyclic release of energy, have a length
indicated by the aspect which maps them, and this determines whether the astral energy,
from any source derived—thought energy, and character-vibration energy as well as

55
planetary energy—which they pick up, will be given a harmonious turn, or will be loaded
with discordant static.

To the extent they transmit energy which is harmonious to the stellar cells at their terminals,
are the thought cells there given an impetus to work to attract favorable events. Likewise, to
the extent these temporary stellar aerials transmit energy which is discordant to the stellar
cells at their terminals, are the thought groups there located given an impetus to attract
misfortune.

Events Are Attracted Into the Life Only by Unusual Thought-Cell

Activities
The stellar cells of which the astral body is composed, the more active of which are
organized into dynamic stellar structures which are mapped by the planets in the birth chart,
have a certain intelligence of their own, and work from the high-velocity plane to attract into
the life conditions and events corresponding to the way they feel.

When they receive no additional energy from any source they have only the amount and
kind of activity indicated by the birth chart. It is only when, from some source—astrological
vibrations, thought vibrations, or the character vibrations of objects—they receive an
additional energy supply that their activity is greater than the normal thus shown.

The whole problem of predicting the nature and time of events by natal astrology, therefore
is to ascertain the time when certain groups of stellar cells within the astral body will receive
additional energy; and in what volume and in what harmony or discord it will reach them.
And it is this that a knowledge of Progressed Aspects enables us to do.

Because, except some special effort based on astrological knowledge is made, the stellar
cells of the astral body receive additional energy of sufficient intensity only when Progressed
Aspects indicate Temporary Stellar Aerials have been formed across the astral body; events
apart from the normal everyday trend of life are attracted only when Progressed Aspects are
present within one degree of perfect. And as the temporary stellar aerial thus mapped is
plainly associated with certain compartments of the astral body, as mapped by the houses of
the birth chart influenced by the aspect, the department of life to which the thought cells
belong which are thus given additional activity is readily apparent.

The families to which the thought cells belong, and therefore their type of activity—
aggressive, social, timid and cunning, etc—are indicated by the planets involved in the
Progressed Aspect. The department of life to which they will give increased activity is shown
by the house rulership of the planets involved in the Progressed Aspect. And—taking also
into consideration the normal harmony or discord of the thought cells thus given activity—
the nature of a Progressed Aspect determines whether, and to what extent, the unusual
activity of the thought cells thus given energy will be favorable or unfavorable in the type of
events they attract.

56
Events Shown by Progressed Aspects Are Not Inevitable but Are
Subject to Intelligent Control
While it is true that the structure of the astral body responds to cyclic law and tends to build
lines, or temporary stellar aerials across the astral body, at the time energy is released
through Progressed Aspects; it is also true that the astral body, unconscious mind, or
character, as it is variously called, is equally responsive to properly directed thoughts and
emotions.

Anything that can be done in the way of structural changes and adding energy to thought
cells by planets, can be done equally well through persistently directed thoughts and
cultivated experiences. The thought cells were built into the astral body in the first place
through states of consciousness stimulated by environment. They were not built there by
the environment, but by the mental reaction to it. And by cultivating a proper reaction to
planetary vibrations at the time of the release of energy by Progressed Aspects the events
usually to be expected can be markedly changed in the direction desired.

A Complete Reading of a Birth Chart

In a complete birth chart reading, therefore, the following seven factors should be included:

1. The person receiving the birth chart should be told just what it represents

2. He should be told, in connection with each department of life, what will be attracted, and
why, if nothing special is done about it.

3. He should be informed as to the best methods to follow to change the destiny of each
department of life in the desired direction.

4. He should be told what a progressed aspect represents.

5. He should be told what events each progressed aspect during the period covered may be
expected to attract if nothing special is done about it.

6. In connection with each progressed aspect during the period covered he should be told
the very best method of causing the energies then present to attract, not what they
otherwise would, but what he desires.

7. To show that the basis for such information is at hand he should be given an accurately
erected chart of the time of day of birth.

57
Chapter 5
Doctrine of Mediumship
IT IS NOT within the province of these lessons on mediumship to offer proof that the
numerous kinds of psychic phenomena considered are genuine, but to cite where such proof
may be found and to explain them according to the findings of Hermetic Initiates.

The most convincing proof, to be sure, is that based upon personal experience, and
thousands are having such proof each day. But my personal experience, or your personal
experience, has very little weight with those who have had no like occurrence. We must
refer such to the innumerable cases of psychic phenomena, belonging to all classes, which
have been painstakingly collected by men of international scientific standing and integrity. A
host of such phenomena have been witnessed and critically analyzed under such
circumstances as to make fraud or illusion impossible. The person nowadays who denies a
wide variety of psychic phenomena, ranging from telepathy, clairvoyance and premonition
to, and including, haunted houses and materializations, is merely behind the times and
ignorant. Of the many men of international scientific reputation who have seriously
investigated such psychic phenomena I know of not a single one who remains unconvinced
of their genuineness.

Since these lessons were first written there has been a vast amount of additional proof
published. In 1923 Charles Richet, Professor of Physiology in the University of Paris, came
out with a book of over six hundred pages, Thirty Years of Psychical Research, in which he
gives a large number of carefully verified instances of the numerous types of psychic
phenomena. In 1920 there appeared in English, Phenomena and Materialization, by Baron
Von Schrenk Notzing, a large volume illustrated with two hundred twenty-five photographs
of spirit materializations. The conditions under which these photographs were obtained
were of the strictest nature, and not only afford positive proof that materializations actually
take place, but yield much new knowledge of the manner in which they are formed.

In 1922 there was published, Death and Its Mystery, by Camille Flammarion, a large
collection of authentic instances of telepathy, clairvoyance, the sight of future events, etc.
Also in 1922, another book of the same series, At the Moment of Death, by Flammarion, was
published. This book contains a large collection of well-verified cases of phantasms of the
living, apparitions of the dying, psychic warnings of approaching death, deaths announced
by blows from invisible agents, and other psychic manifestations of the dying. In 1923 the
third of this series, After Death, by Flammarion, appeared. It contains a large collection of
verified cases where the dead have returned according to previous agreement, and of other
manifestations and apparitions after death. The latter are arranged according to the length
of time after death that they appeared, and constitute conclusive proof that the dead do
sometimes return, the length of time elapsing after death before the return being any time
from a few minutes to thirty years.

58
Finally, in 1924, Haunted Houses, by Flammarion, was published. This book is a collection of
a very large number of cases of genuine hauntings, and forever disposes of the question of
whether or not there actually are haunted houses. Camille Flammarion, who has attained an
international reputation as a scientist through his astronomical work, has been gathering
data on psychic subjects for the last fifty years. In 1899 he intensified his efforts in this
direction, and put forth a wide and systematic effort to collect well-authenticated cases of
psychic phenomena. Up to that time he had received some 500 psychic observations. Since
then he has received more than 5,600 different psychic observations. The Psychic Research
Societies of France, England, Italy, Germany and other countries have published about as
many more that have come to his notice, so that he had some ten or eleven thousand
different psychic observations from which to draw conclusions.

Facts are always of greater weight than theories. Here we have facts; innumerable facts;
verified facts; incontrovertible facts; all testifying that psychic phenomena take place, and a
great many of them testifying that the dead survive.

It seems strange that the very religions that teach life after death are so bitter against proof
being offered that such is the case. If an enlightened people are to believe in a life after
death there must be some proof of it. What better proof can there be than that the dead
return and manifest a personality that is recognizable? If the dead still live, why should we
think there are insurmountable barriers to communicating with them? As I write no airship
has flown across the Pacific Ocean. Some think such a feat impossible. But it will be done. A
retrospect shows a thousand obstacles to man’s achievement that were once thought
insurmountable. But one by one they have been overcome. Today’s psychic phenomena, it is
true, is more or less sporadic and imperfect. But in spite of this, a vast proportion of it is
genuine. As such it points the way to a more perfect form that may be brought under the
control of the human will.

I should not omit mention of The Case for Spirit Photography (1923), and The Coming of the
Fairies (1922), by A. Conan Doyle. The former book relates instances of spirit photography
and is illustrated from spirit photographs. The latter is an account of an investigation of some
fairies which were photographed by two little girls under such circumstances as to make
fraud impossible.

There are other books and many magazine articles that have appeared in the last few years,
all offering definite examples of psychic phenomena. But those mentioned will be quite
conclusive to any person who can be convinced through reading about the experiences of
others. To those who must have personal experience to convince them, there is always open
the more arduous, but very satisfactory road of experimental investigation. Of this I feel
confident; any person who will approach the problem with an unbiased mind and investigate
painstakingly over a long period cannot but be satisfied both as to the reality of the various
kinds of psychic phenomena and that the human personality survives death.

59
This being the case, the question naturally arises: how it is possible for those existing on
other planes of life to manifest themselves through such phenomena, or in any manner
communicate with those yet in the flesh. To answer this question we must first understand,
in its broadest sense, what the term mediumship implies.

Take the smith who shapes a horseshoe. When the iron is placed in the fire it is cold,
meaning that it has a slow molecular motion. The fire, on the other hand, has a swift
molecular motion—is hot. Through contact some of the molecular motion of the fire is
imparted to the iron, increasing its molecular motion. It, in turn, becomes hot, which is but
another way of stating that it is a passive agent of the fire in the forge and has become a
medium for the transmission of its energy.

Next the smith removes the red-hot iron from the fire, places it upon the anvil, and by
means of blows from a hammer shapes it to the form he desires.

He has in his mind an image of the shape it is to assume. His motor nerves respond to his
mind as mediums for transmitting his thoughts to his muscles. The hammer in his hand is the
medium through which he transmits the energy of his muscles in a particular manner to the
iron he is shaping. The iron he shapes, the fire in the forge, the hammer in his hand, his
muscles and nerves; all are mediums through which the smith transmits a subjective form of
energy called an idea into an objective form of energy called a horseshoe. There is an
unbroken chain of mediumship between the active thought held in the smith’s mind and the
passive piece of iron that has become a horseshoe. In each instance that which was more
active controlled and used as a medium that which was less active. And this is one of the
fundamental laws of mediumship, that the passive is always controlled by the active.

This law in mediumship is as fundamental as that of the conservation of energy.

Conservation of energy not only applies to psychic matters, but is the very Gibraltar upon
which physical science rests. It is the law that energy can never be created or destroyed.
Therefore, all energy existing today is derived from some preexisting form of energy.

Energy may be transformed in a thousand different ways, some of which were noticed in the
case of the smith shaping the iron, but it can never be lost to one thing except through
giving it to something else. Thus the energy residing in the mineral and in the carbon of the
air is assimilated by plant life, and this still later is organized into the cell life of an animal,
finally to return to the soil to be assimilated by some other life form. The energy reaching
the earth from the sun may be stored up in plant life and buried, subjected to great pressure
which transforms it into coal, and finally be dug up by man and used as fuel to generate
power for use in all the intricate ways of modern manufacturing industry. In fact, a little
reflection will show that the whole Solar System is but the medium through which the Sun
exercises its controlling power. To be sure, as still further reflection will indicate, everything
in existence from the highest spiritual beings to the dense rocks of earth are mediums for
transmitting particular kinds of energy.

60
To sum up the extent of mediumship, without taking space to enumerate examples in proof
of it, the statement may be made that the whole Universe is mediumistic in the sense of
receiving and again transmitting energy, God being the One Great Controlling Power.

Now if we look about us we perceive that everything is in motion. At least a close analysis
will reveal that those things which are stationary are only so because of our dull perceptions.
This motion implies that something is acting as a medium for the transmission of energy.
Thus positive and negative electric charges oscillating about each other may set up the
particular transverse wave motions that we call light. Space then becomes the medium for
the transmission of energy. It is passive to and controlled by the electric charges. Likewise,
molecular motion, as heat, may be transmitted from one object to another. In this case the
heat is the controlling agent, and the object receiving the heat the passive medium. Or
radiant heat, which is electromagnetic motion, may be transmitted across space without a
material agent, communicating motion to the molecules of physical substance, and the
physical substance becomes hot, as when we place an object in the sunshine. The physical
object then becomes the medium for the expression on the physical plane of an energy
received through a nonmaterial medium, from a distant controlling center, the sun. The
radio is another instance of the power of a distant controlling influence to transmit energy
through space and set up physical motions through a passive receiving medium.

The mind of man, as taught by Hermetic Science, is an organization of energy in astral and
still finer substances. These astral energies may be communicated to physical substance, as
was seen in the case of the smith shaping the horseshoe. Mental energies, residing as they
do in substances finer than the physical, are more active than physical energies, and hence,
following our fundamental law that the passive is always controlled by the active, they
exercise a controlling power over the physical.

It is not the volume of energy present that determines its power to control so much as its
relative activity. This relative activity may obtain by virtue of various circumstances, as when
the throttle of an engine is opened, or a small shove is given to an object nicely balanced on
the edge of a precipice. In such cases neither the throttle nor the shove generates the large
amount of energy used. They but release in a definite direction energy that is already
present. Nevertheless, at the moment they exercise controlling power the throttle and the
shove relatively are more active than the energies released by them.

The human mind, also, by advantage of its intense activity, constantly releases energies
already existing on the physical plane.

One is justified in saying, I believe, that man is man and not something else because he has
learned how to utilize and control very numerous and complex forces and functions. The
soul, which embraces all the various states of consciousness stored in his astral and spiritual
makeup, is able to function through the body of man on the physical plane only because
through a long period of education and effort it has learned how to control such a body.

61
The process of evolution is a schooling in the capture, storage, and release of energy. The
physical bodies of all kinds of mundane life are the mediums through which energy
previously existing is diverted into special channels by the intelligences occupying such
bodies. This energy may merely be the food partaken of, which is utilized in the movements
and life processes of the organism. Or it may consist of the finer astral energies radiated by
the Sun and planets. But in any case the height of an organism in the evolutionary scale is
determined by its power to control and intelligently direct complex energies.

The mollusks, the fishes in the sea, the amphibians, the reptiles, the birds of the air and the
beasts of the field each capture, store, and release energy. They are all mediums in the sense
of receiving and transmitting force. Each, however, in the order named, has improved upon
the methods of the previous one in the power to control and intelligently direct this energy.
Furthermore, man is superior to all other forms upon the earth, not by virtue of the volume
of energy within his body, but by his ability to control and intelligently direct himself. So long
as he has the power intelligently to direct himself, he is able to utilize not only the energy of
his own body, but a multitude of other energies by which he is surrounded.

The whole struggle for survival is but a struggle of the species and the individual to preserve
and perpetuate the control of its organism. Any tendency, therefore, to relinquish the
control of the human body or to permit another to control it, tends toward the destruction
of the individuality.

This is immediately apparent from a study of material biology only. But when we consider
the methods by which a soul evolves through form after form, in each learning how to
control some new function and process, until at last it has had experience enough in
intelligently controlling energy to be able to incarnate in human shape, we see from a new
angle that the control of one’s organism is perhaps the most vital thing in human life.

That which people who are striving to accomplish anything continually do is to endeavor to
acquire greater and greater control over their own bodies, their own energies, and their own
thoughts. To be unusually accomplished in any direction means that an unusual amount of
control has been gained over some set of muscles, or over some mental process, or both.
Control over self is the first requisite to success, and the greater the control the more certain
the success. If there is good control in one direction and lack of it in another, there will be
good prospects of success in the direction of the control, and none in the direction of lack of
control.

If we but reflect upon the steps that must be taken by the child in learning to control and
intelligently direct himself before he is capable of making his own way in the world we will
perceive how vastly important is this element of control. It is only through repeated effort
over considerable time that he learns to talk. At first he cannot control and properly direct
the muscles of the tongue and mouth to produce the sounds he wishes to make. Learning to
walk is another process that takes considerable time. Bye and bye, through repeated effort,
control is gained over the muscles used in walking. We thus might proceed with one thing

62
after another that the child must learn, each requiring repeated effort over and over again
until that nice coordination between mind and muscles is attained which enables him to
perform the desired act. This laborious process of gaining control of his body on the part of
the child is but a similar, though briefer, process to that followed by the whole of life in its
evolutionary struggle.

We also are familiar with the fact that an acquired power is soon lost if not used. A
marksman, a musician, a mathematician, all must keep in practice if they are to excel. The
college athlete ten years after leaving usually is unable to do any one of many things he
could easily do while in college. Even a doctor or a lawyer must keep in practice to be able to
do good work. A faculty not used atrophies.

Fish that live for generations in the water of underground caverns often lose their sight. The
vermiform appendix, which causes men so much trouble, appears to be but the degenerate
vestige of a larger tract present in man’s ancestors, which was used to break up cellulose
when they ate, as do horses and cows now, grasses and vegetables having this abundant in
their structure. A change of diet has caused it to be no longer used for its original purpose.
Through lack of use it has grown smaller and smaller, until now it is present only in
miniature.

It will be seen, I believe, without further illustrations, which could be supplied indefinitely,
that the acquirement of control over one’s body, or any portion of it, is at the expense of
much energy, and that such control when once gained is easily lost. Further, it should be
evident that as gain in control is progress, loss of control is retrogression.

Also, as control is gained by effort and practice, loss of control certainly follows lack of effort
and practice. And of all forms of lack of effort toward, and practice in, self-control, the most
rapid method of losing such control is to relinquish the controlling power to some other
entity.

Every form of life, from its birth to its death, must struggle against the invasion of its
organism and more or less complete control of it by other entities. Plants must resist various
insects and parasitic forms. Note how certain insects cause the oak to grow oak-galls,
distortions that are of no benefit to the tree, but benefit the insects only. Animals must
resist parasites and a thousand kinds of germs, and man also must keep his body clean and
vigorous if he would resist the ravages of disease.

Man, too, has had to struggle continually against autocratic powers that would enslave him
physically and financially, and against religious hierarchies that would enslave his mind.
Whenever any form of life ceases to resist invasion, there are always entities eager to use
this loss of control for their own advantage. Whenever man has relaxed his vigilance
politically, he has been despoiled. Look at history and weigh this well. Whenever man ceases
to resist it, religious intolerance takes control. Read history again. Likewise, whenever man
relinquishes the control of his body and mind to another he is inviting slavery to a master of
whose identity he cannot be sure.

63
But of even greater importance is this, that every time a person delivers the control of any
faculty or function to another he is undoing what it took him so long to learn to do. The
control which is so vital a factor in his life was gained by getting his nerves and muscles into
the habit of obeying him. Such a habit is readily destroyed. Even the habit of thinking
correctly is easily superseded by the habit of permitting some other entity to do the
thinking. It is so much easier. A man who has been sober all his life can become a habitual
drunkard in a few weeks, and unable to remain sober. A man, likewise, who has a
remarkable power of self-control built up over a lifetime can so destroy that self-control in a
few weeks by permitting some other entity to use his brain and body that he finds it
impossible to do what he wishes to do, and impossible to refrain from doing as the
dominating entity suggests.

There is another biological law that any life-form that becomes a parasite ceases to evolve
and degenerates to a lower level. No longer being under the necessity of procuring food in
open competition with other forms of life, having found a way in which to live with little
effort, it sinks to a lower biological level. In a manner not dissimilar, those who permit
themselves to be dominated by some other intelligence, not only lose the power to control
themselves, but become so dependent upon other intelligences that they fail to progress
and tend physically, mentally, and morally to slip back.

The soul gained whatever control it has over the brain and physical body through organizing
lines of force in the astral form. These special astral lines of force, organized by ceaseless
effort to control the thoughts and actions, transmit the orders of the soul to the brain and
nervous system. The electromagnetic motions, thus set up, cause the person to think
objectively in a certain way and to act in a certain way, just as the soul dictates.

Now, however, if the soul turns the control of its brain and actions temporarily over to some
other entity, this other entity, in order to exercise control, must organize lines of force in the
person’s astral form suitable to transmitting its orders to the person’s brain and nervous
system. Just as every time the person exercises control over his own actions, the lines of
force in his astral body establishing such control are strengthened, so any time any foreign
entity exercises control over the person such lines of force are strengthened and will, the
more readily, enable a foreign entity to obtain and exercise controlling power.

Further, in order that the invading entity, whether it be a hypnotist on the material plane or
a discarnate entity on the astral plane, may be insured against its control being interrupted
inopportunely, it becomes necessary for it temporarily to resist any effort of the person to
break such control. The very act of resisting the person’s attempts to regain complete control
of his own body directs energies toward breaking down the lines of force in the astral body
by which the soul has been accustomed to control his own brain and body.

The spirit medium, therefore, who undergoes so-called development by becoming passive
and permitting some discarnate entity to take control, is undoing the most important work
of his life and of evolution. Instead of resisting invasion he is permitting another entity to

64
build lines of force in his astral body that when strong enough will permit that entity to take
possession of the brain and body in spite of its rightful owner any time it desires to do so. He
is permitting lines of force to be established that provide an open door by which any other
entity on the physical or astral plane may gain a like control over him in spite of himself. He
is permitting lines of force in his astral body which he has spent so much time and effort in
building, and by which he exercises control over his body and its functions, to be wantonly
destroyed.

Every time a person goes wholly or partially under the control of a spirit, a mesmerist, or a
hypnotist, he is assisting in the destruction of his own individuality. Permitting such control is
irresponsible and disintegrative mediumship. Such practices persisted in bring the
unfortunate subject or medium to a state where he is helpless to repel the invasion of his
organism by any active entity, incarnate or discarnate. Irresponsible mediumship tends to
destroy the will and soul.

There are various ways by which these negative states may be induced and irresponsible
mediumship attained. The first requisite is to attain a blank, passive state of mind in which
the soul has no point of contact with or control over the objective thoughts and actions. In
developing circles the sitters are so arranged as to generate a strong current from their
electromagnetic emanations, which is used by astral entities present to produce a mesmeric
effect, and so hasten absolute passivity. In hypnotism the attention is fixed steadily in some
direction to produce a state of abstraction in which the subject accepts without resistance
any suggestion offered him.

In all these cases the divine soul ceases to act with much force upon the unconscious mind,
other lines of force being set up in it by the dominating idea or entity. It matters not whether
the operator is a hypnotist, a discarnate entity, or the combined thought forms of other
people with whom the subject associates, the effect is the same. He sees, hears, and desires
what the operator demands. These things may be true or false, but the subject has no
method of discriminating. If the controlling entity is intelligent it may impart useful
information. If not, it may utter mere nonsense. In any case the subject is not exercising his
own functions, but merely shadowing what some other entity wishes him to do or feel. For
this he is paying a fearful price, for he is gradually losing the power to direct his own
organism, and is becoming the abject slave to disintegrative forces. He is undoing what he
has struggled so hard to accomplish, losing the ability to mould a form to meet his needs.

For those unfortunate individuals who have become irresponsible mediums I have only
sympathy and no word of condemnation. Many of them have added to the happiness of the
world by bringing comfort to those whose loved ones have passed on, and the assurance
that there is a life after physical death. Many of them have submitted themselves to the
most rigid tests of scientific men, and have thus provided irrefutable proof of the various
kinds of psychic phenomena, proof also that is beyond denial that those who have passed
through the tomb yet live. The world owes a great obligation to a host of self-sacrificing
spirit mediums.

65
The world also owes its thanks to valiant doctors who have injected serums into their own
veins to prove their effect. It owes its thanks to thousands of others who have suffered
martyrdom for the sake of science. Nor have I one word of objection to any person, after he
has weighed the consequences well, developing the irresponsible phase of mediumship. If
he is convinced he can be of greater benefit to society by permitting his individuality to be
destroyed that entities from another plane may use him as an instrument by which to
manifest on the physical plane, he should have full option in the matter. It is desirable,
however, that all the facts be known beforehand so that those who do not wish to make
such a heroic sacrifice may not be led into it under misapprehension.

If the astral plane, where disembodied entities dwell, were the abode of human beings only,
the matter of surrendering self-control would not assume so serious an aspect. The thought
even of surrendering the body and brain to discarnate human beings is not altogether
pleasant when it is remembered that all the vicious, criminal, insane, and morbid people
who die do not, for considerable time, change in their desires, tendencies, and traits. In fact,
the lower strata of mankind remain very close to the earth for some time, being earth bound
by their physical desires. They welcome the opportunity to realize those desires through the
physical body of any mediumistic person they can seize. Many an act of crime, many a
repulsive habit formed, many an erratic action, may be laid at the door of a discarnate entity
who has found opportunity temporarily to get control of some person whose power of
resistance is weak.

But depraved human beings, and those not depraved, are not the only astral entities by any
means. Every insect, reptile, fish and mammal that dies on the earth exists for a time on the
astral plane. In addition to these forms of life, with which we are more familiar, there are
also countless myriads of other forms, some of which are called elementals, which have no
counterpart on earth, but live wholly on the astral plane. These elementals have a certain
amount of intelligence. Other astral entities have intelligence in different degrees. Some are
malicious, some are cunning, some are mischievous, some harmless and mirthful. Any one
of these creatures may find the opportunity to take control of an irresponsible medium. The
lines of force permitting foreign control have been established in developing, and provide an
open door, by which any astral entity may find it convenient to enter and manifest itself,
even as an animal may walk into a house when the door is open.

Such entities are not above impersonation, and some are quite clever at it. Surely no one in
his right mind can listen to the senseless drivel sometimes given forth by a medium in the
trance state as coming from an intelligent loved one who has passed beyond, without
realizing there is imposture. The mightiest intellects of the world are supposed by some to
come back through mediums and utter time worn platitudes and inane remarks. They revel
in the puerile and frivolous. Nor is the medium a fraud, he has merely been taken possession
of by some astral entity who delights in perpetuating a hoax.

Yet because of such obvious untruthfulness and lack of integrity on the part of the entities
that all too often control mediums we must not jump to the conclusion that all

66
communications are unreliable, or that irresponsible mediums never really transmit
messages from the dead. Sometimes the messages are genuine, and reveal beyond doubt
the personality of the loved one. Sometimes the control is a departed friend who offers such
proof of his identity that it cannot be disputed. Particularly when the mediumship is
developed and practiced in the sanctity of the home, and is accompanied by high spiritual
ideals and noble desires is it more common to receive genuine communications from the
dead. A pure heart and noble trend of mind do not tend to attract low or mischievous astral
entities.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle vouches for the following case of a spirit message which cannot be
satisfactorily explained except as a genuine communication from the dead. He maintains
that the circumstances were fully investigated and found to be quite authentic:

It seems in Australia the two sons of a couple interested in spiritualism had a boat in which
they occasionally took a ride on the bay. On the particular day in question no one knew they
were going boating, and no one saw them go. But at evening they failed to show up for
dinner. Considerable concern was felt and after a time, when they failed still to appear, a
seance was held. One of the youths took control of the medium and stated that a squall had
upset their boat and that he had been devoured by a large fish which he described. No trace
of the boys or the boat was found, but some days later a large shark, of a species which is
almost never seen in those waters, drifted upon the beach, and in its stomach were found
the watch and pocket knife of the boy who stated through the medium he had been
devoured when the boat upset. The shark, a large blue one, if I remember correctly, also
answered his description, being of great rarity in that region.

As no one knew the youths went boating, or knew that they upset, the information could
not have been received telepathically from a living person. Besides, it would be beyond the
power of any living person unless he was actually with the boys when the accident took
place, to know what kind of a fish had devoured him, or that he had been eaten by a shark.
Yet the description of this unusual fish was furnished.

My very plain statement of the effects of irresponsible mediumship, based upon careful
research and observations covering more than a quarter of a century and an intimate
acquaintance with a great number of mediums, may seem quite discouraging to those who
have hopes of communicating with their loved ones who have passed beyond the physical
plane. But it need not be so, for I have so far only considered the negative, irresponsible and
disintegrative phases of mediumship. There is another form of mediumship that is positive,
responsible, and constructive, by which it is possible, and without any injurious effects, to
duplicate any phenomena that may be produced by the irresponsible and disintegrative
method.

Tasting, smelling, seeing, hearing, and feeling are all forms of mediumship. Through direct
contact with substances, or small portions of substances, the organs of taste, feeling, and
smell have energy imparted to them that is transmitted by the nerves to the brain and

67
thence through electromagnetic motions to the unconscious mind. Such mediumship does
not depend upon negativeness and passivity, but upon the development of sensitive organs
and upon the alertness that enables them to receive impressions from the outside world.

The faculty of clairvoyance may be exercised with no more negativeness than it is necessary
to exercise in the ordinary sense of sight. Transverse wave motions in space convey the
image of an object to the eye. Through the optic nerve and brain the image is registered in
the astral consciousness. Wave motions in the astral substance, corresponding to a
transverse motion in space, convey the image of an astral object—and all physical objects
have astral counterparts—to the organ of sight of the astral body. Through the astral eyes
the image is registered upon the unconscious mind. When the image is raised into the region
of consciousness the result is clairvoyance. Material objects offer no resistance to the
passage of astral vibrations, hence by clairvoyance one may see what is transpiring on the
opposite side of the earth, or in the homes of the dead. To do this requires the development
of the ability to direct the astral sense of sight and the ability to raise from the astral brain
the image so received into the physical brain. This is no more negative or disintegrative than
is the exercise of memory, which it greatly resembles.

The old hermetic scientists classified telepathy as the seventh sense, intuition being the
sixth. It certainly presupposes a particular kind of sensitiveness by which the wave motions
sent out through space by a person thinking may be intercepted and registered. It would
seem, much as in a radio set, that the receiver must be able to tune in, or be keyed to a
similar rate of vibration, in order to receive thought messages. Such ability does not depend
upon negativeness, but upon sensitiveness or ability to extend consciousness. It is a faculty
that may be cultivated without in any manner impairing self-control.

To hear another person speak it is not necessary that we subject our will to his. Neither is it
necessary to be in any manner under the control of another in order to hear clairaudiently.
The astral body has organs of hearing, astral ears. Just as wave motions in the air carry
sound to the physical ear, so other similar wave motions in astral substance carry astral
sounds to the astral ear. The ability to hear clairaudiently may be cultivated much as the
ability to hear physically may be cultivated, and exercised with no more injury.

To feel an object which we can touch necessitates a certain form of mediumship, but does
not necessitate our being under some other entity’s control. Everything has its astral
counterpart, which retains as modes of motion the vibrations of its past and present
environment. Through the astral sense of touch, called psychometry these vibrations may be
discerned, and their meaning may then be interpreted by the soul. This interpretation when
raised into the region of consciousness may reveal all the events that have happened in the
vicinity of the object. But this exercise of the psychometric faculty, while requiring alertness
and the development of the ability to recognize the sense impressions of the astral body,
needs no more irresponsible mediumship than does the physical sense of touch.

68
Prevision, the seeing of that which is still in the future, is not dependent upon the
disintegrative forms of mediumship. If one is so situated as to observe an aeronaut drop a
sand bag from a balloon, he may predict to a friend standing in an adjoining room that in a
few seconds a bag of sand will strike the earth at about a given spot. The friend, not seeing
the balloon, may be quite startled at the fulfillment of the prediction. Man’s astral senses
are able to see the various factors converging which culminate in an event.

It should be remembered that all that is ever experienced is retained in the unconscious
mind, or soul. This is proved both by hypnosis and by psychoanalysis. Under hypnosis a
subject may be made to recall any event of his past, events which are entirely beyond his
ability to remember in his normal waking state. Likewise, through the free association
method, the psychoanalyst causes his patient to remember events even in minute detail,
which have long been forgotten, and which ordinarily could not have been recalled.
Whatever man once knows he never loses, for he retains it in his soul. Moreover, what any
man has ever known is never lost to the human race, for the record is preserved as modes of
motion persisting in the astral world, and may be recovered by any person who can tune in
on this record.

With such a storehouse of information to draw from, in addition to the use of the psychic
sense organs, previsions, remarkable as they often are, seem less astounding.

These storehouses of knowledge are invariably drawn upon by those whom the world calls
geniuses. Usually the genius is unaware of the source of his knowledge and inspiration.
Nevertheless a critical comparison of the birth charts of people who are naturally psychic
reveals that any person who has the planet Neptune unusually prominent in his chart of
birth may develop the ability to contact and draw information, consciously or unconsciously,
from the astral plane. Thomas A. Edison, the inventor, for instance, may or may not have
faith in psychic matters, yet he has the Sun and Mercury in conjunction with Neptune, and
all exceedingly strong by position, in his birth chart. This makes it unusually easy for him,
through extrasensory perception, to contact and draw information from the inner planes. In
fact, of all the geniuses whose birth charts I have examined up to the present time, I have so
far found not one in which a prominent Neptune is absent. It would seem that every
imaginable form of knowledge exists on the inner planes of life, and is accessible to those
who can raise their vibrations sufficiently to tune in on it. Genius is the ability to contact
such higher planes and assimilate the knowledge so received in such a manner as to be able
to transmit it to less capable minds.

Not only do inanimate objects retain in their astral counterparts the impress of the events
that transpire in their vicinity, but all organic material retains the mental impress of the life
form that organized it. The desires and fears of an animal, for instance, are strongly
implanted in the astral substance associated with its flesh. When man eats this flesh its
astral vibrations tend to build up and fortify the animal nature within himself. If the animal
was slain while in great pain or terror, this influence is incorporated into the astral

69
counterpart of the flesh, and has a tendency to impart a similar vibration to the person
eating it.

It is undoubtedly true that the original vibrations of the food one eats may be changed. Yet
the food has had its astral vibrations polarized toward the soul of the form of which it was a
portion, and so transmits more readily the grades of energy necessary for that form. Now
man can obtain the proper chemical elements in organized form from widely different
combinations of food. But while any balanced ration may supply him with blood and tissue
and also transmit a grade of astral vibrations, still it is found he has greater difficulty in
raising the tones to higher octaves of transmission with some foods than with others.

One of the laws of mediumship is that the grade of energy transmitted by anything depends
upon the refinement of the substance. The more refined the instrument the higher and
more potent the grade of energy that may be transmitted through it. Some foods have
become so set in transmitting only the lower octaves of astral force that it is almost
impossible to raise their vibrations to a point where they will transmit higher grades. At the
same time these strongly polarized foods, such as the flesh of animals, while unaccustomed
to transmitting finer forces, are capable of conveying even more readily those energies,
which also are very useful in their proper place, that go to build up brute strength and
physical force. The higher kinds of vegetable foods, not having been dominated by desires,
not so strongly polarized, may more readily be converted into a medium for the transmission
of those higher kinds of energy that nourish the intellect and soul powers.

From the laws of mediumship thus far mentioned it may be seen that life depends upon an
organization capable of receiving and transmitting complex forms of energy, and the more
refined the organization the higher the grade of energy transmitted and the higher the
quality of life. Life, Light, and Love originate with God, and the amount of energy,
intelligence, and affection any being expresses depends upon its ability to receive, utilize,
and transmit some portion of these universal qualities.

In addition to pointing out the general laws of mediumship, I have been at some pains to
explain the disintegrative effect of irresponsible mediumship. In the two following chapters
(Serial Lessons 44 and 45) I shall take up and explain the methods by which the various kinds
of spiritistic and psychic phenomena are produced. But the student should not forget that
any phenomena produced on the physical plane by a discarnate entity operating through a
medium under control, might have been produced by the medium without such
disintegrative control if he had undergone proper training.

Full instructions on the training necessary to produce such phenomena by the constructive
method, and without being under the control of another, will be furnished the neophyte at
the proper time. As to the methods by which the faculties of clairvoyance, telepathy,
clairaudience, psychometry, and prevision may be developed along constructive lines, these
are furnished without cost to all Church of Light members who demonstrate their fitness to
use this knowledge by passing examinations on the B. of L. courses.

70
Chapter 6
Spiritism
AS IT IS now impossible for the well-informed person to doubt the reality of a wide variety of
psychic phenomena, there is an increasing demand for their rational explanation. I propose,
therefore, to take up, one after another the various types of such phenomena, and elucidate
them according to the doctrines of Hermetic Science.

Before doing this, however, it may be well to mention a few of the numerous other ways in
which mediumship plays a part in human life.

It has already been mentioned that the active always controls the passive, and that the
grade of energy transmitted by anything depends upon its refinement. A water pipe
transmits a flow of water because it has a structure suited to such transmission. A copper
wire, on the other hand, because of difference in composition and form, will not transmit
water, but is a medium for the ready transmission of electricity. A coarse-textured man,
because his nervous system and brain are coarser in structure, transmits a grosser form of
emotional and sensational energy, and consequently enjoys a form of recreation quite
repugnant to the fine-skinned, fine-haired, more sensitive person. The finer the structure
and the more highly organized it is, the finer the quality of energy that may pass through it.

In man we find the climax of physical evolution. In his brain and nervous system there is
greater refinement and a higher organization than in any other mundane form. As a
consequence, man is able to receive and transmit more subtle energies than lower forms of
life.

Man A Microcosm
His physical body is the product of evolution, as the many vestigial structures present in it
clearly prove. Embryology also points this out in no uncertain terms, for the human embryo,
as do all embryos, briefly recapitulates the history of its ancestry. The life forms through
which it has developed are shown in the forming child. In addition to such a physical history,
man also contains within himself the history of his soul’s evolution through lower life forms.
The various traits of character, the impulses and desires, present in lower forms of life, are
all present in man, as psychoanalysis plainly reveals. But for the most part they have been
developed, transformed, and sublimated, into something higher and more beautiful.
Nevertheless, in man are the vestiges, both of the structures and the tendencies, of
innumerable other and lower forms of life.

It is further true, as a study of natal astrology demonstrates, that man has within himself in
miniature all that is in the heavens above. The zodiacal signs and the planets, as well as
other celestial bodies, have their correspondences within his constitution. When they move
they produce discernible changes in man. When they form definite relations to each other,

71
called aspects, man feels differently than he did when such aspects were not formed, and
unless he understands the source of his impulses, he may act in response to these feelings.

Because man has within himself something corresponding to all that is below him in the
scale of evolution, and correspondences to all in the sky above, and also, it is to be inferred,
to all forms of intelligences above him in the evolutionary scale, the ancient Hermetics called
man a microcosm. This means that man may be considered a universe in miniature.

Man A Transformer of Energy

As a microcosm, or little universe, man is able to receive and transmit a very wide variety of
energies. In addition to the energy derived from the food he eats and the air he breathes, he
is also the medium for countless other forces.

His astral body constantly receives and transmits the energy radiated by the planets. Even as
the sun acts as a transformer for the high-frequency energies of space, so man in his turn
acts as a transformer of planetary energies. He is also a transmitter of intellectual and
spiritual energies that reach him as wave motions from regions of greater intelligence and
spirituality. The grade of intellectual and spiritual force he transmits depends upon his
mental development and soul unfoldment.

The astral energies radiated by the planets are intercepted by his astral body, being received
more freely at those points in his astral structure, as indicated by planets in his birth chart,
that were organized by states of consciousness previous to his birth. These astral energies
are even more essential to the welfare of the astral body than is sunlight to the welfare of
the physical body. Only a portion of such energies received, however, is utilized by the
person. The balance undergoes transformation, or change in frequency of vibration, and is
again radiated, much as the sun and planets receive energy of a more general character and
giving it a special trend radiate it again.

Likewise, such spiritual and intellectual energy as man receives or generates is again in large
measure radiated. As seen by clairvoyant vision this radiation is of two distinct and separate
qualities. The more gross astral energies and thought vibrations flow forth to remain in
contact with the earth, and may be received in measure by lower life forms. In other words,
the thoughts and feelings of man, as well as certain other astral energies, flow about and
permeate the earth, so that other life forms coming in contact with them may receive and
appropriate such of them as their organization will permit. In the upward struggle of the
seven sub-mundane degrees of life, this force radiated by man and penetrating to the very
center of the earth, is of great assistance. It affords these degrees of life from mineral to
man whatever of intellectual energies they are capable of absorbing and utilizing. It thus
hastens their evolution through providing them with mental nutriment and the incentive to
effort.

The other and more spiritual portion of the force radiated by man travels away from the
earth and the astral plane immediately surrounding it. There are seven super-mundane

72
realms of life; realms of life whose denizens have never been, and never will be, incarnated
on earth. They form a gradation in spirituality of seven steps between man and the angel.
Being too spiritual and lacking in penetrative and initiative force for incarnation in gross
matter, they depend upon man for all knowledge of material conditions. The higher essences
of man’s intellectual and spiritual endeavors may be assimilated by them and give them
information that is a requisite of their progress.

But now I must return to earth, and to matters that are susceptible of proof by the average
man.

Action of Mind at A Distance

A very common phenomenon, and one that should be understood by everyone so that all
may avoid becoming the dupes of unscrupulous practical psychologists, is the exercise of
thought power to influence another person’s thoughts and actions without the intervention
of the spoken word or any sign.

It is possible, for instance, in a public gathering, to concentrate the mind on some person
and make him turn and look at one. If the person is known to the experimenter it will be
much easier thus to influence him, for a point of contact will previously have been
established. But it is possible thus to influence a total stranger. Such experiments which have
been rigidly tested out and after coincidence has been eliminated found actually to produce
the desired effect, are very simple, but they demonstrate in a very forcible and convenient
way that the mind of one person can, and sometimes does, influence another person at a
distance.

Further, it is not uncommon for a hypnotist to direct the actions of his subject by mental
command alone. There is plenty of irrefutable evidence that this has been successfully done.
The various kinds of absent treatments applied by metaphysicians, mental scientists,
christian scientists, and new thought practitioners, are practical applications of this power of
one person to influence another at a distance.

The thought of one individual sets up lines of force in astral substance which reach the
second individual, and if the experiment is successful, sets up vibrations similar to the
thought held, in the unconscious mind or astral body of the other individual. If the person to
whom the thought is sent is one who is in the habit of controlling his own thoughts and
actions his unconscious mind will repel, and will not accept the thought sent to it, unless it is
a thought quite acceptable and perceived to be for his welfare. But if the person has
cultivated irresponsible mediumship, or is naturally negative, the thought will enter the
unconscious mind and may quite dominate it. The thoughts and actions then will be those
willed by the person sending the thought.

No person who habitually controls his own thoughts and actions need be dominated by any
other person or entity. The soul that has built the body about itself, under normal
circumstances is quite able to resist foreign invasion from any source. It is aware that to turn

73
around and look at someone who is concentrating on it in a public meeting is not apt to
prove detrimental, but it will resist detrimental mental commands even as it would resist
them if they were uttered aloud.

Power of Thought to Change Bodily Form

Once a thought image has been accepted, however, particularly if the image be strong and
vivid, momentous results may follow. The physical body is shaped and moulded by the astral
body. Normally this moulding is quite gradual, but when the image in the unconscious mind
is supported by an unusual amount of energy it brings about such a radical and abrupt
change in the astral form that the physical also is drastically transformed. In proof of this, it
would be an easy matter to cite numerous instances in which persons have been instantly
healed by mental or spiritual treatment, such healing being accompanied by marked
changes in the body and its functions. Almost everyone nowadays knows of one or more
such cases.

Stigmata
But this power of the mind, acting through imagination upon the astral body, to make radical
changes in the physical, is even more dramatically exemplified in numerous cases of
stigmata. Stigmata is the receiving upon the body, through religious devotion, wounds
similar to those of which the Nazarene died on the cross. Holes are formed in the palms of
the hands and on the soles of the feet, and the side opens as if it had been pierced by a
spear. Blood actually flows from these holes, and also often from wounds on the forehead
where the Nazarene wore His crown of thorns, being caused solely through the action of the
mind.

Saint Francis of Assisi received such stigmata. Yet as he lived so long ago, materialists put the
whole matter down as a legend. But cases of stigmata also occur at the present day, and
have been thoroughly investigated by competent scientists. The verdict is that stigmata do
actually occur, and that they emit blood.

Speaking in Strange Tongues

Before leaving the subject of the power of one mind to influence another at a distance, it is
well worth recording that a command given in a language that the person influenced does
not understand has almost as much force as if given in his own language. His unconscious
mind, having much keener perceptions than his objective mind, recognizes the thought
behind the words, and tends to be influenced by this thought.

From this ability of the unconscious mind to recognize the import of words of a strange
language, to speaking in strange tongues, is but a step. There is no doubt now of the ability
of many persons when more or less under the control of a hypnotist or astral entity, to talk
intelligently in a language with which they are normally unfamiliar. Such ability is reported to
have been common among the saints and early Christian fathers. By certain religious sects at

74
the present day, talking in strange tongues and the ability to heal by laying on of the hands is
required of those who claim to have received grace in full measure. To be sure, in many
instances this strange speech is unintelligible, but at other times it is really recognizable talk.

In these cases, as in the cases of the saints of old who often had aureoles about their heads,
appeared simultaneously in more than one locality, possessed an “odour of sanctity,” had
the faculty of prophecy, suffered levitation, and were insensible to fire; it is difficult to
determine just how much of the phenomena is produced by the activity of their own
unconscious minds and how much is due to the control exercised over them by discarnate
entities. In cases of speaking in tongues at religious conversions, I believe, from my own
observations, that a high percentage in their emotional frenzy become dominated and
controlled by astral entities of some kind.

The Ouija Board

One of the most familiar approaches to psychic phenomena is by way of the Ouija board or
planchette. Particularly since the war, during which so many gallant sons and fathers laid
down their lives, has the Ouija board come into vogue. Little wonder, when the craving is so
strong to again converse with loved ones from whom violently parted.

The Ouija board and planchette consist of either a flat board or a dial upon which are printed
letters, numbers, and perhaps a few useful words. There is a movable pointer so arranged
that it may easily be moved over the board in such a manner as to point to the characters on
the board or dial. This pointer is of such size that one or several persons may rest their finger
tips gently upon it.

In operating the Ouija board—and the planchette works practically the same—the most
approved method is to place the board upon the laps of two persons, preferably a lady and a
gentleman. The fingers of both are placed lightly but firmly upon the small table which acts
as a pointer, this table being on the board and permitted to move freely over it. In a few
minutes this small table commences to move; at first slowly, and then with more speed.
Thus it is able to talk by touching the letters and characters printed on the board, and if
questions are asked it will answer them.

In using the Ouija board and similar appliances, the more negative and passive the
experimenters, as a rule, the more satisfactory the results. The questions may be asked
either orally or mentally and are answered with equal success.

Now, most of the motions made by man are not the result of premeditated thought, but are
directed by the unconscious mind. To be sure, we think of walking and then walk. But
walking is a very elaborate and intricate process of balancing the action of one muscle
against another. That is, the nervous system has been educated to respond with the utmost
alacrity to commands issued by the unconscious mind.

75
Because of the facility with which the unconscious mind can cause unconscious muscular
actions, it is easier, in the normal run of things, for the unconscious mind to communicate
intelligent thoughts through directing appropriate muscular actions than for it to impress the
thoughts directly upon the physical brain. Hence it is that the use of unconscious muscular
activity is the easiest method possible, under ordinary circumstances, for communicating
that which is in the unconscious mind to the cognition of the physical brain. It is due to this
that more people can get psychic messages through the Ouija board and such devices than
through any other method.

Range of Information of the Soul

As has been pointed out in the last chapter (Serial Lesson 44), the field of information
accessible to the unconscious mind is enormously greater than that open to the physical
consciousness. All that the person has ever experienced or known is stored up in the
unconscious mind. The range of the astral perceptions is infinitely greater than those of the
physical senses. It may tune in on almost any imaginable source of information, not only on
the record preserved in the astral world of all that man has known and thought, but it may
also come mentally in touch with still higher centers of information. Therefore, the questions
that the soul of a person using the Ouija board may answer intelligently are exceedingly
wide in scope. And undoubtedly it is commonly the case that a portion of the information
given through the Ouija board emanates from the experimenter’s unconscious mind.

While such a range of perception and such a storehouse of knowledge may be used by the
unconscious mind, it is probable, because the unconscious mind requires much training to
utilize a very extensive range, that in many cases a large part of the information received
through the Ouija board comes from some discarnate entity. This is all the more certain
because the astral world about and interpenetrating the earth is so crowded with astral
entities who seem to have no objection whatever to taking control of a negative person and
manifesting through him whatever of intelligence, or lack of it, they possess.

Another factor influencing the veracity of psychic communications of all kinds is the
susceptibility of the unconscious mind to suggestion. It has been educated to obey the
desires of the objective mind. Therefore, if there is a strong desire for a certain type of
manifestation, and no controlling entity is present, it quite naturally endeavors of itself to
produce the phenomena. If there is a strong desire present on the part of the experimenter
to receive a message of a certain kind, or on the part of other persons present, which it is
able to perceive, it will try to deliver such a message as is wanted. The message but reflects
the desire of someone present, and may be widely at variance with the truth. And even
though some other entity is in control and trying to give a truthful and important message,
the unconscious mind, under the influence of the desires of those present, may still have
power enough to warp the message out of all semblance to its original self. Truthful, serious
messages may be expected only when those present are serious, and above all else, desire
the truth, however discomforting it may be.

76
Factors Influencing Veracity of Spirit Messages
We now perceive that in all spirit messages there are three factors which may be present in
widely varying proportions, and which may have an influence upon the message. There is
the unconscious mind of the medium, which may be entirely responsible for the message, or
which may have almost nothing whatever to do with it. There is the desire and combined
thought force of those present acting upon the subconscious mind of the medium. This may
amount to almost nothing in some instances, and in others may be the deciding element.
Then there is the presence of one or more astral entities, which may be intelligent or may be
ignorant, which may be impersonations and hoaxes, or may be as they represent themselves
to be. They may have but partial control of the medium and not be responsible for the
message, or they may be in complete control and the sole authors of it. The self-controlled
clairvoyant can see these entities and can feel whether or not they are genuine or are
wearing a mask of deception, but the irresponsible medium has no way of knowing whether
or not his controls are as represented.

Proof of Human Survival

Undoubtedly those who have once lived on the earth and passed to the next realm
sometimes communicate with those yet in the flesh through such simple devices as the
Ouija board. Ouija board answers usually are trivial and shallow, or but shadow the thoughts
of those present. Yet occasionally information is thus received of astounding correctness and
great value. Instances are recorded in which such messages have saved lives, and other
instances in which information was received known to no living person. People who have
disappeared leaving no trace, drowned without witnesses, have been able to communicate
the method of their death and direct searchers to the physical remains.

There are other cases recorded where people have been directed to dig for mineral deposits
where there were no surface indications; consequently the location could have been known
to no living person, and the mineral deposits so located have proven of great value. These
are exceptional cases, it is true, and many a poor dupe has been sent to dig for mineral
where there was none. Yet these successful cases cannot be accounted for by the theory
that the knowledge was transmitted from the mind of some living person. Undoubtedly, as I
said, under certain circumstances those physically dead communicate again with the living.

The range of power of the unconscious mind of living man is so extensive that it taxes
human ingenuity to the utmost to devise any test by which human survival may be proved.
One of the tests, recently devised, called cross-correspondences, is meeting with
considerable success. The discarnate personality, through several widely separated
mediums, gives fragments of classical quotations, or other matters with which he was
familiar when on earth, and of which the mediums are quite ignorant. These fragmentary
messages, having no meaning separately, are directed to be sent to the Psychical Research
Society, where they are pieced together, and not only make sense, but reveal something that
research shows the person giving the message was familiar with, and would naturally use to

77
establish his identity. These experiments are yet in their infancy, yet even so far as they have
been carried, they seem to me to establish the survival of the human personality beyond a
reasonable doubt.

In these communications which we have been considering, the medium is more or less
under control. I shall not violently condemn the use of the Ouija board. It does imply,
however, loss of control of the body and mind in small degree. In just so far as there is
success with the Ouija board, precisely so much has disintegrative and irresponsible
mediumship been established. Some force other than the normal personality has usurped
the power temporarily to use a portion of the astral brain, nervous system, and muscles. It is
so much lost in the struggle to command the body and progress in evolution. Yet a few
raindrops do not make a river, nor do a few drinks make a drunkard. Many people believe
that strong liquor in moderation is more beneficial than the reverse. They admit that excess
is ruinous, but contend that the pleasure to be derived from drinking within limits is greater
than the harm done the body by the alcohol.

Such persons could with equal logic extend their argument to the use of the Ouija board. At
least it seems to be the least harmful of negative mediumistic endeavors. As a rule the
amount of control is small. And while I know of a few persons who have gone to excess with
the Ouija board and landed in the psychopathic ward, as also I know certain drunkards who
once believed they could “drink or leave it alone,” yet I also know hundreds of people who
have experimented with the Ouija board, and even with automatic writing, which requires a
stronger extraneous control, who, from all appearances, are none the worse for it.

Wise Spiritual Intelligences Use Impression

Of this, however, I am quite positive; truly wise spiritual intelligences do not make a practice
of communicating through a person under control. In dire necessity, on some rare occasion,
they may do so, but only because no other avenue is available and the message must be
given.

Wise spiritual intelligences, when they are permitted to do so, give their messages by
impression. Aware of the disintegrative effect upon the medium of controlling him, they
refuse to exercise such control. They merely talk forcefully to the astral counterpart of the
person they wish to impress. The astral body is not controlled, but has full knowledge of
what is being said and who is saying it. It is a matter of conversation, not always one sided,
even as two people ordinarily talk on meeting. This communication, which is given by an
astral person—a disembodied person—to the astral counterpart of a person still in the flesh,
rises from the unconscious mind into the region of objective consciousness. It may seem, if
the person is not accustomed to receiving such impressions, but a vague realization that a
certain thing is a fact. If the person receiving the message is a little more advanced in psychic
matters, it may rise into objective consciousness as a series of complete and precise
sentences, but with no very clear knowledge of the source from which derived. But if the

78
receiver has practiced to develop the ability, he may be as fully aware of who is talking and
what is being said as if he were talking to a friend in the flesh.

A great deal of information, and I am sorry to say misinformation also, is given by those of
the inner planes to those on the outer plane who delve into occult matters, without the
recipient being aware of the source from which his impressions come. He merely feels that
something is true, or all at once some information flashes into his mind. I speak of
misinformation advisedly, for those who pass to the next plane of life do not immediately
become all wise. Until educated away from them, which may be a very long time for one
who on earth was very set in his ideas, they still hold to the same beliefs and habits of
thought that they held on earth. They may be quite as much in error, and quite as dogmatic
about it, as anyone in the world. Only those who keep an open mind and endeavor to learn
the unprejudiced truth make rapid progress on the inner planes toward a better
understanding of truth than those on earth. And these, invariably, when they find a seeker
who is worthy, endeavor to impress him with a knowledge of truth as they have found it.
Hence the oft repeated slogan in occult circles that whenever the neophyte is ready, behold,
the master appears. But a master teaches, admonishes, and advises his chosen pupil, the
same as he would do if he were a spirit in the flesh. No true master places his neophyte, or
anyone else, under control.

It is always a joy to the scholarly men of earth to find someone with a desire to emulate
them in the acquirement of knowledge. As I know from observation and experience, those
who master difficult branches of learning are ever eager to help the younger student who
aspires to acquaint himself in the same branch. And when they find a pupil who shows
considerable ability they go to great pains to help him over the difficult parts of the road.

This is quite as true of wise spiritual intelligences. They are always eager to find a pupil who
is worthy of instruction. Yet they are not desirous of shouldering all his responsibilities in life,
or of advising him on every trivial matter. Each soul should cultivate his individuality and
learn to decide his own issues whenever possible. But wise spiritual beings are ever ready to
advise us if we indicate by our efforts and aspirations that we are striving to help ourselves.
This they do through impression.

Automatic Writing
Next to the Ouija board in popularity is automatic writing. The medium sits at a table with a
sheet of paper before him. He grasps a pencil in his hand and places his hand in the position
of one writing. He then becomes passive and awaits results. When the controlling entity has
succeeded in establishing rapport with the sitter—which really consists of organizing such
lines of force between its astral form and the astral form of the sitter that it can
communicate its own motions to the form of the subject—the hand begins to write through
no volitional effort of the medium, and usually the medium is ignorant of what is being
written.

79
Rapport
Before going further I should explain more about rapport. Both those in the flesh and those
out of the flesh can raise and lower their vibrations temporarily to a certain extent, much as
the strings of a musical instrument can be changed in tension. To communicate rates of
motion from one entity to another requires only that some of the vibrations of their astral
bodies have similar frequencies. This forms a point of contact through which the more active
can inject its rates of motion if the frequencies are made synchronous—that is, vibrate in
unison, the crest of a wave motion in one corresponding in point of time to the crest of a
wave motion in the other. Synchronism is easy when one of the entities becomes passive.

The active entity, once a point of contact is established, injects more and more of its rates of
motion into the astral body of the medium. The vibrations of the medium are thus raised or
lowered until they very largely vibrate in unison to those of the controlling entity. The entity
then has complete control and the medium is powerless.

Rapport is established when the vibrations of one entity vibrate in unison with those of
another entity. Rapport does not imply control, for two persons may be in rapport and
neither exercise control of the other. Rapport merely facilitates the exchange of energy, and
may be the result of similar rates of energy present due to similar thoughts and similar
planetary influences at birth, or it may be produced artificially by raising or lowering the
vibrations. Rapport is very important and valuable, but in the case of negative mediumship it
is a principle used by the controlling entity for obtaining control of the medium. Once
control is gained, the more thorough the rapport the fuller the control.

The astral world is so crowded with entities of different grades and kinds that a call sent out
by a medium for a control is quite sure to be answered by something. It may even be
answered by the deceased personality who is supposed to be in control. But however the
message may be communicated through an irresponsible medium; whether by the Ouija
board, automatic writing, table tipping, the control of the medium’s vocal organs, or in some
other fashion; in addition to the probability of some entity exercising control of the
medium’s body, there is also a possibility that the message emanates from, or at least is
colored by, the unconscious mind of the medium or the thoughts, conscious and
subconscious, of those present.

In automatic writing the controlling entity, after establishing rapport with the medium, is
able to direct the arm and hand in writing whatever it may desire.

Table Tipping
In table tipping unconscious muscular contractions, such as are used in Ouija board
communications and automatic writing, are made use of to start with, but there soon
develops an additional factor. Those present sit in a circle about a small table, placing their
finger tips lightly upon it. Soon the table begins to vibrate distinctly, and when this vibration

80
reaches a certain tension the table begins to move about in a more or less intelligent
manner.

It is truly wonderful what power of expression can manifest through a small wooden table. It
often moves toward one of the sitters and actually caresses him, or it may manifest enmity
through violent gyrations. Someone present asks the table if the control is a certain person
long dead, and when the right name is mentioned the table pounds violently on the floor. It
answers questions by pounding on the floor or rocking violently to express an affirmative,
and slows almost to a stop to express a negative reply. It also communicates by a
prearranged code, tapping on the floor, or moving in a certain manner to make itself
understood.

The additional factors, of which I made mention, are the electromagnetic emanations of
those present, which are used by the control to set the table vibrating and to assist in its
movements. The control, through its rapport, or close association with the astral form of the
medium, is able to communicate motions set up by it in astral substance to these
electromagnetic forces drawn from the sitters. This electromagnetic force may then be
directed through the table and its motions imparted to the physical substance of the table.

The use of electromagnetic energy drawn from organic substance, and in the case of table
tipping drawn from the medium and others present, seems to be an absolute requisite for
the exerting of physical force by a discarnate entity. Another rule, while perhaps not
absolute, yet at least of common observance, is that the more physical force exerted by a
discarnate entity the less intelligence it manifests. Clairvoyants and seers of all ages claim
that strong physical manifestations of psychic force are nearly always produced by entities
low in intelligence, chiefly elementals, but who possess much strength in the lower astral
currents. It is truly surprising how many mediums who do healing or produce physical
phenomena claim American Indians as controls. They hold that the Indians are closer to the
earth and consequently have more power to give strong physical manifestations.

In table tipping the particles of the table become so charged with energy as to give the
impression of being alive. Anyone who has had experience with genuine table tipping could
not be deceived as to whether or not there is a strong psychic influence present, for there is
a peculiar vibration in the wood that may be distinctly felt before, and as, the table begins to
move. Not infrequently, also, the table is levitated completely from the floor, or continues to
rock, while no fingers are closer than several inches above it, and on occasions it moves
entirely across the room with no one touching it. Levitation
This brings us to the subject of levitation. The movement of light objects, and also the
movement of heavy objects, at a distance from the medium, sometimes at a great distance,
and without physical contact of any kind, has been thoroughly established by men of
international scientific reputation. Chairs, tables, and many other objects, including
sometimes the medium, are lifted into the air and suspended there without visible means of
support.

81
The late Mr. W. J. Crawford, D.Sc., lecturer in engineering at the Municipal Technical
Institute, Belfast, by a great number of experiments, established, through placing the
medium on a weighing machine, that it is customary for the medium to gain in weight as
much as the object lifted; also, that when an object is made heavier than normal, the
medium, though at a distance, loses in weight the amount gained by the object. This leads to
the conclusion that there is an invisible astral and electromagnetic connection between the
medium and the object acted upon. The controlling entity extends the medium’s astral body,
and this becomes the moulding power by which electromagnetic emanations present are
used as energy to lift the distant object or to hold it down. It is as if an invisible and
extremely elastic arm reached out from the medium to act upon the physical object.

Other experiments indicate that it is quite common where objects are lifted or moved by
invisible forces, for each of the persons present, some more and some less, to contribute to
the moving force. Each person in the circle may gain something in weight when a heavy
object like an oak table or a piano is lifted from the floor by an invisible force. The controlling
entity is able not only to use the electromagnetic emanations of the medium, but also to use
extensions from the astral bodies and the electromagnetic energies of every person present,
in more or less degree, in the lifting of material objects. If a sudden shock disturbs the
medium, the object will drop to the floor, because the communicating lines of force
between the medium and the object have been broken.

It would be stating more than has been proved, and more than is probable, to say that
objects are only levitated by pressure exerted by an extension of the medium’s astral and
electromagnetic bodies. In certain cases of hauntings, which will be discussed in the next
chapter (Serial Lesson 45), objects apparently move when there is no human medium near,
and irrespective of whether or not there are witnesses. It is not uncommon for pictures to
be violently thrown from the wall, clocks to stop, raps, knocks, and other physical
manifestations to take place at the moment of death of a relative in a distant land. The dying
person may act through the astral body and electromagnetic emanations of some person in
the house where the manifestations take place, may use the electromagnetic emanations
drawn from his own body, or in rarer instances there may be electromagnetic energy
associated with the physical substance of the environment that is available. It seems that it
is not always essential for the production of physical phenomena to have a human being to
draw upon, but such human is at least present in by far the majority of cases. Certainly, in all
cases, there is present an available supply of electromagnetic energy that has been
associated with organic life.

If we bear in mind the way in which an extension of a medium’s astral body is able to act as a
lever to lift objects at a distance, we at once see how an extension of the medium’s astral
body, which is able to assume any desired form, may hold the medium to the floor. In this way,
certain mediums are able to increase their weight at will, although of course, being in a trance
state, they know nothing about how the effect is produced. Spirit Rappings

82
We also now are able to perceive how spirit raps and knocks are produced. These noises in
the home of the Fox sisters were the commencement of modern spiritualism. They may
occur on a table, on the walls, on the ceiling, or apparently even from the air overhead.
When the raps seem to come from a wall or solid object, the wall or object vibrates as if it
had received a blow. An invisible projection from the medium sufficiently strong to lift a
chair or table, it seems to me, should experience little difficulty in striking a blow that can be
heard, or in producing condensation and sudden expansion of the air in limited areas to
produce an explosive effect. But in all these cases the noises are, as I believe, produced
through electromagnetic motions organized by astral lines of force from the medium, to
such a consistency as to be able to communicate motion to physical substance.

Slate Writing
Slate writing and direct writing are doubtless produced by extensions of the medium’s astral
body being used by the controlling entity to establish lines of electromagnetic energy
sufficiently strong to write messages with a pencil. Slate writing is usually accomplished by
placing a bit of slate pencil between two slates, that have been washed clean, locking the
slates together, and giving them to the medium or to some person present to hold. In a few
minutes the noise of writing is heard on the inside of the slates, and after a rap is given by
the entity as a signal that the work is finished, the slates are opened and found to contain a
message signed by some deceased person.

Other writing is produced on blank sheets of paper on which have been placed bits of lead
pencil.

Precipitation
Still another phase of writing is known as precipitation. Cases are on record where blank
sheets of paper have been covered with writing, voluminous MSS. containing information
unknown to the medium, being so received in a short time. Beautiful pictures also
sometimes appear on slates or upon paper in the same manner.

The rapidity with which such writing and such pictures are produced leads to the belief that
the controlling entity is able to visualize clearly a whole picture, or a whole page of writing,
and to transfer bits of pencil, or the various pigments, to the slate or page almost at once.
That matter may be made to pass through matter was first demonstrated by Prof. Zollner
and set forth in his book, Transcendental Physics. The experiments with materializations, to
be discussed in the next chapter, indicate that dematerialization of matter sometimes takes
place. The bits of pencil used in precipitated writings, and the pigments used in precipitated
pictures, may be materialized from nonmaterial substance, or they may be produced by
collecting the minute particles of all substances that exist in the air. But more likely they are
derived from existing pencils and pigments and are transported to the place where

83
precipitated in a dematerialized state, to assume the normal physical form again when
precipitated as writing or as a picture.

In these cases also, the controlling entity undoubtedly uses the astral body and
electromagnetic emanations of the medium. It uses them to build such lines of force as will
collect and precipitate the proper materials in the form it has visualized.

Extrasensory Perception
The discovery of Pluto, the inner-plane planet and the planet of statistics and mass
production, early in 1930, was immediately followed by the application of experimental
methods and statistics to the investigation of telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition by a
dozen universities, encouraged by the work of Dr. J. B. Rhine at Duke University. The
university scientists now group these and allied faculties of the soul under the one term,
extrasensory perception, usually designated merely as ESP.

Dr. Rhine published his monograph, Extra-Sensory Perception, in 1934; Stuart and Pratt
published, Handbook for Testing Extra-Sensory Perception, and Rhine published, New
Frontiers of the Mind, in 1937; and in 1940 Rhine, Pratt, Greenwood, Smith and Stuart
collaborated in publishing, Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years. The painstaking work
of these men, and that of other university experimenters, not only conclusively prove that
man possesses ability to gain information by telepathy and clairvoyance, but that almost as
easily it is possible to gain information of the future, termed by them precognition.

Also coincident with the discovery of Pluto, university scientists began to accept, and use in
teaching physics, Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. This acceptance is now practically
universal.

Relativity holds that time and velocity are always interrelated, that physical velocities cannot
exceed that of light, that anything moving with the velocity of light no longer possesses
length, has infinite mass, and for it time has come to a standstill. Yet in the region where the
soul chiefly functions, on the inner plane, or astral world, velocities are greater than those of
light, and there consequently is a different order of gravitation, a different order of distance,
and a different order of time.

This slower time of the inner plane enables us in a logical manner to account for both post
cognition and precognition: Seeing something as it existed at some particular instance in the
past or as it will probably appear at some particular instant in the future; which the
university scientists prove man sometimes actually does. When we move our consciousness
to the inner plane—the realm in which life normally functions after physical death—where
velocities are greater than those of light, an infinite number of events can be condensed into
one moment of this stand-still time and we are able to see backward and forward along the
time flow of external life and observe or have in one moment, experiences which in the
rapid time of external life would occupy days, months or even years.

84
Relativity also makes clear why the inner-plane high-velocity, slow-time region cannot
exchange energies with the low-velocity, fast-time region of outer-plane existence directly,
but that all contact between the two must be made through Boundary-Line electromagnetic
energies which have approximately the velocity of light. The various relations of inner-plane
existence and outer-plane existence are set forth in full detail in Chapters 9, 11 and 13 (Serial
Lessons Nos. 14, 16, 18) Course IV, Ancient Masonry, Chapter 1 (Serial Lesson No. 118),
Course XI, Divination and Character Reading, and Course XX, The Next Life.

Seance Rooms
Now, before closing this chapter, as I have repeatedly referred to irresponsible mediums and
their séances, I should perhaps give a certain warning to the less experienced about séance
rooms. Every person should, it seems to me, avail himself, if the opportunity arises, of seeing
some genuine psychic phenomena. People of a scientific turn of mind and positive makeup
can investigate mediums with impunity. Persons less positive readily become influenced by
astral entities if they attend séances, it is particularly true if they attend developing circles.

It is quite common for the entities controlling the medium to use the astral and
electromagnetic energies of the medium to crush any resistance offered to their control of
other persons present. They also use these energies to form a point of contact with persons
present, following them home and endeavoring to make the contact permanent and take full
control. If such a person is mediumistic or sensitive, the astral entities may gain a power of
influence, even though the person is unaware of it. Such a person, if no more serious
influence is experienced, gets the seance habit, and runs to a medium for advice on every
trivial occasion. He becomes a séance addict. The séance room, while it serves a useful
scientific purpose, is not without its dangers.

85
Chapter 7
Phenomenal Spiritism
BEFORE discussing the weird subject of haunted houses, and the astounding discoveries
recently made in regard to materializations, it will probably be best first to explain certain
phenomena of more common experience.

Among these, and having occurred to some member of almost every family at some time,
are monitions. Monitions differ from premonitions in that while they denote a recognition of
some event or condition that could not be known by the normal faculties, they do not
anticipate future events.

These monitions generally occur at the time of an accident to an acquaintance, at the time
of the illness of some person not present, or at the time of some absent person’s death. But
sometimes they occur concerning trivial matters. They occur to persons who are not
generally regarded as unusually sensitive, and who, perhaps, have had no other such
experience in their lives.

More commonly there are no objective phenomena. The person receiving the monition sees
the image of a distant friend, or hears the friend calling him, or hears a loud knock on the
wall, or has a dream in which he sees the friend dying or meeting with an accident. Later the
news comes that the friend actually has died, or has had an accident.

Thousands of people have had such experiences, and there is a multitude of authentic cases
on record.

Premonitions
Premonitions, also, are of everyday experience. There are numerous authentic records in
which, without knowing a certain person is approaching, and perhaps not having seen him
for a long time, other persons will commence to talk about him, and be very much surprised
when he puts in an appearance. At times someone will see the phantasm of the approaching
person so plainly for a moment as to think it an objective reality, and believe he actually sees
the person in the flesh, until he appears and disclaims having been in that vicinity before.
Sometimes a person usually normal sees a friend enter a distant building at a certain hour of
the day, which he times, and later verifies from the friend that he actually entered the
building about that hour. Sometimes an acquaintance is seen talking to a stranger, at a place
beyond the normal powers to discern, and later upon describing the place and the stranger,
the acquaintance verifies the description as accurate. Happenings seen in dreams, also, not
infrequently are found to be records of what has actually transpired, or what actually later
comes to pass.

86
Recorded cases of this kind are so numerous that a book might easily be filled with them.
They reveal that the astral body has sense organs by which it may recognize that which is
happening at a distance.

In the case of accident, or the death of an acquaintance, it is highly probable that there is a
conscious or subconscious desire on the part of the person dying or hurt to communicate
this information. The wave motions thus sent out are intercepted by the person receiving
the information. In other cases it seems that the clairvoyant faculty, or other astral sense
organ, has perceived the happening or condition and made the astral brain aware of it.
Conditions then have been favorable for the astral brain to impress this information on the
physical brain and obtain a conscious recognition of it.

Because of the difficulty experienced by the astral brain in impressing information perceived
by it upon physical consciousness, it often makes use of symbols. Because of the association
of thoughts, one thought, or image, suggesting another, the astral brain often finds much
less resistance to presenting information in symbolic form than to presenting it as
conversation or as an image of the happening. It is sometimes easier for it, for instance, to
produce the sensation of smelling a strong pipe, to acquaint a person of the astral presence
of someone who before death smoked a strong pipe, than to show a phantasm of the
person, or to cause his voice to be heard. Symbolism is the easiest method, and the most
common one, by which the astral brain transmits information to the everyday
consciousness.

But whether it makes use of symbolism, or some more direct method of apprising the
external consciousness of something, it is frequently not able to gain the recognition of the
external consciousness at the time the information is first perceived. It may be hours, days,
or even weeks, after the astral brain recognizes some important fact, before it finds suitable
conditions—such as unusually sound sleep, or sufficient lack of alertness to facilitate some
involuntary movement—for transmitting the knowledge to the physical brain.

Not all monitions, and not all premonitions are confined to subjective phenomena.
Sometimes several persons present see the same vision, or hear the same knock or
disturbance, and sometimes physical objects are moved with no one touching them. In such
cases either an astral entity, or the astral brain of some person present, uses the
electromagnetic emanations of those present to cause a movement of physical matter.
Electromagnetic energy derived from organic substance, and preferably from a living person
of mediumistic temperament, so far as is now known, is an absolute requisite for the psychic
production of movement without physical contact.

In all cases the controlling entity, whether it be the astral brain of some person in the flesh,
or some discarnate entity, or merely a strong thought form, does not generate the energy
used. By establishing proper rapport with a source of energy it merely directs it into a given
channel. It acts on much the same principle as the electrician who closes a switch that
permits an electric current to flow through and set in motion ponderous machinery. The

87
electrician need not be strong to do this, neither need the controlling entity be strong to
produce startling physical manifestations of psychic phenomena. The entity needs a
sufficient supply of electromagnetic energy that has been generated through organic
processes, and needs to effect a rapport with the astral substance associated with it. The
electromagnetic energy is directed by means of the astral substance associated with it, and
when rapport has been established this astral substance may be controlled, if no opposing
intelligence is also in rapport with it, with very little effort and in a surprisingly effective
manner.

Bilocation
Similar principles are involved in cases of bilocation. Bilocation takes place when a person
appears simultaneously in two different locations. The lives of the saints, and other
legendary literature, abound with mention of such cases. Authentic cases are also known at
the present day. The double, which appears at a distant spot and perhaps to several persons,
and sometimes even moves objects, may be the astral body, or it may be a thought form.

A thought is primarily certain rates of motion in astral substance that assume a form. Such
an astral thought form may, or may not, be vitalized with electromagnetic energy. That
thoughts are capable of communicating such motions is demonstrated through the
photography of thought forms by Dr. Baraduc of France and others. If one person thinks
strongly of another, the image of the thinker will be conveyed through astral vibrations to
the astral brain of the person thought of. If the person thought of is receptive, his astral
brain will perceive this image of the thinker, and if he is accustomed to bring up into
everyday consciousness the things he perceives in the astral—if he is sensitive—these rates
of motion will be communicated to his physical brain and he will apparently see the person
doing the thinking.

Another person, who is not a sensitive, may be present and perceive nothing. But if the thinker
has the ability to impart strong electromagnetic motion to the thought form it is possible to
set up such electromagnetic oscillations that it will register as a transparent image upon the
physical organs of sight of those who are not in the least psychic. The person may thus be seen
distinctly by many people at a long distance from his body. But really he does not leave the
physical, only projects a thought form vitalized with electromagnetic force. By this means he
may appear simultaneously in several localities at the same time. Astral Travel
Yet only a portion of the cases of bilocation can be explained as thought forms. In other
cases, undoubtedly, the person is traveling in his astral body. The electromagnetic
emanations of a person may be sent to a distance, or may be used by the astral body to
build up a visible form at a long distance from the physical body, but the etheric body, being
continuously dependent upon the life processes of the physical, never leaves the close
proximity of the physical form. The astral body, however, is not so restricted, and during

88
physical life may almost entirely leave the physical body. When so absent it is connected
with the physical by a very thin line of force in astral substance.

The astral body when absent from the physical may visit the homes of the dead in astral
realms, may attend schools on either plane and bring back the memory of what has been
seen and heard, or may visit distant physical or astral lands. Full instructions for developing
the ability to do these things are presented in the MS., “How to Travel in the Astral,” which is
given without charge to all members of The Church of Light who pass the final examinations
on eleven courses of study. This astral body, being occupied by the mind, or soul, when it
appears at a distant place is able to carry on intelligent conversation, which a thought form
cannot do. The physical body, meantime, acts in a purely mechanical and automatic manner.
In order to become visible to the physical sense of sight, or to move physical objects, the
astral body utilizes the electromagnetic emanations of its own physical body, or the
electromagnetic emanations of the persons to whom it appears, or who are in the vicinity of
the objects moved.

It should be understood that these electromagnetic energies used by astral entities both in
the flesh and out of the flesh to produce physical phenomena, are generated by organic life.
They are emanations from the etheric counterpart. This etheric counterpart never leaves the
physical replica. It is sometimes taught that an etheric “shell” may be drawn from the dead
physical body and used to simulate the deceased person. I believe such teaching to be an
error, and a close study of the biological processes that generate and maintain the etheric
bodies of organic life leads me to conclude that the etheric body is so closely associated
with, and dependent upon, the chemical processes of the physical that it never leaves its
immediate vicinity.

At death the astral body of man usually severs its connection with the etheric body. The
etheric body then has no more intelligence than the physical corpse. It is, in fact, the vitality
of the physical body. After death there is still some energy radiated by the corpse until it
dissolves, but as the physical body disintegrates so does the etheric body. It might furnish
some energy to an astral entity if a point of contact could be established, but not nearly so
potent as may be derived from a living person. Its organization is possible only so long as the
cells of the body carry on their life processes, for from them it draws its energy. Until the
body disintegrates it may hover over the corpse, and is often seen as phosphorescent light.
But I have every reason to believe that it cannot be disconnected from the corpse and used
as a vehicle for magical work, or control a medium for the purpose of impersonation.

89
Etherealization
In a seance room, and sometimes elsewhere, an astral entity—which may be either a
deceased person or one yet in the flesh or a nonhuman intelligence—by getting in rapport
with a medium’s astral body may be able to utilize the electromagnetic energy present to
rarefy the atmosphere in limited areas and set the atmospheric particles in such rapid
vibration as to produce a luminous effect. This luminous area may take the form of a hand or
face, or even a human figure. Such a manifestation is called an etherealization.

Or the entity may set the ether to vibrating in a certain spot with the frequency of light. This
light may then be moved about the room. Such lights are not infrequent at spirit seances, and
are sometimes also seen elsewhere. Spirit Photographs
From etherealization to spirit photographs is but a step. If there is a figure present luminous
enough to be seen, it probably also can impress a photographic negative. In point of fact,
faces of the deceased, messages written in their own handwriting and signed with their
signatures, and relating things that only they could know, appear on photographic negatives
even when they are invisible to the human eye. Some astral entity has succeed in utilizing
the electromagnetic emanations of those present to set up rates of motion in the ether that
impress the negative much as light would do. A photographic negative is much more
sensitive to certain high light vibrations than the human eye. So while it is not uncommon
for the presence photographed to be seen by persons in the same room, yet it may also be
photographed while invisible to the human eye.

Other than human astral entities may likewise be photographed. There are myriads of
magnetic elementals, nature spirits, and such creatures, so dense in their structure and so
close to the earth that it takes only a moderate development of clairvoyance to see them.
Fairies, pixies, and the like are not mere fables. Their power, no doubt, has often been
exaggerated; for it is doubtful if they are able in any manner to affect human life and destiny
except through rapport with, and at least partial control of, some human medium.
Nevertheless, they exist as astral entities. As such, through rapport with a human medium,
they may collect about themselves sufficient of the electromagnetic emanations of the
medium to become visible to physical eyes, and to impress a photographic negative with
their pictures.

Inspirational Speaking
Another phase of mediumship, one of the most common in fact, is inspirational speaking. A
medium takes the rostrum and goes fully or partially under control. Some astral entity may
direct the speech that follows, but far more frequently the astral brain of the medium simply
receives the thought emanations from the astral brains of the audience. These thoughts—
which are not only the conscious opinions of the audience, but also the information
contained in their astral brains—are constantly radiating their energy through the astral

90
substance. They are received by the medium’s brain and become the source of his
inspiration. He gives back to the audience their ideas and opinions colored by his own.

Test Readings
In test readings also, although the medium may have a wider source of information, it is
common for the information to be gathered from the minds of the clients. The medium, of
course, knows nothing about the source of information. Yet when a question is asked or
written, whatever information about the subject is present in the astral brain of the client is
radiating energy through astral substance. The medium then tunes in, unconsciously, on
these wave motions and combines the various factors so received in a manner that will give
a plausible answer.

Trumpet Speaking
Trumpet speaking is still another rather common form of mediumship. The controlling astral
entity in such manifestations utilizes the electromagnetic force present to produce motions
in the atmosphere within a trumpet or megaphone that give a rate of vibration similar to
that used in speaking. These compressions and rarefactions produce the same effect as
someone talking. The trumpet is often picked up by invisible hands and carried about the
room, talking, singing songs, and laughing. It is probable that the astral vocal chords of the
medium, or the entity, are actually placed in relation to the trumpet just as they would be in
speaking through it physically. About these astral vocal chords are attracted compressed air
or other atomic matter of sufficient consistency to be used to produce the effect of a
physical voice speaking through the trumpet.

Apports
The carrying of physical objects long distances through no physical agency is a more rare
phase of mediumship. Objects obtained in this manner are called apports.

The most astounding phenomena in connection with such apports that have come to my
attention were those produced some years ago at seances held in Australia under the
leadership of the late Mr. Stanford.

The medium was stripped and searched and taken into a room specially prepared by the
investigators with the view of making deception impossible. Under such conditions antiques
and other objects of considerable volume and weight, upon demand, suddenly appeared in
the midst of the investigators, apparently being pilfered from countries sometimes
thousands of miles distant.

To produce such an effect it is necessary not only that the astral body of the medium be able
to travel to the spot where the apport is located, but also that he organize lines of
electromagnetic force from his physical body to his distant astral body. This electromagnetic
energy, then, must be used as a magnetic force to polarize the protons and electrons within

91
the atoms of the object to be transported. The object when thus reduced to its electronic
state may be moved with the speed of electricity along the lines of electromagnetic force
established by the medium. In this dematerialized state physical things would offer no
resistance, no more so at least than to radio waves, and the object could be transported into
a locked room as easily as anywhere else. Then when it had reached its destination, if the
polarizing force were removed the object would resume its normal shape and properties.

Many years ago Zollner, professor of physical astronomy of Leipzig, experimenting with the
medium, Slade, had proof of the movement of objects without contact, and also that matter
could be made to pass through matter. This was set forth in his book, Transcendental
Physics, now unfortunately out of print. At the present time, since it is known that the
electrons of what appears to be solid matter are relatively as far apart as the planets of the
solar system—there being about as much space for the particles to pass as there is in
proportion to their size for the planets to pass each other—the mystery of matter passing
through matter is not so great. If the force used to suspend the motion of the electrons were
similar to an electric force, the electrons would not retain their original relative positions,
and the form would be completely destroyed. But if the movement of the electrons can be
suspended, say, by something similar to a magnetic force, then when matter has passed
through matter and the magnetic force is removed, they again resume their original
motions, and there appears the original object.

Materialized Flowers
It is difficult to say just what percentage of the flowers that so often suddenly appear,
apparently out of space, in a seance room, are really apports and what percentage are
materialized flowers. Probably the most of them have been culled from someone’s garden
and brought to the room by invisible agencies as apports.

On the other hand, it is not impossible that flowers are at times actually materialized. This is
not more wonderful than that the materialized form of Katie King should give Crooks a lock
of her hair, or that the materialization Phygia should permit Richet to cut hair from her head,
or that Mme. d’Esperance should allow sitters to cut off pieces of the materialized draperies
surrounding her.

Perhaps I may here be pardoned for relating a personal experience: Many years ago some
persons of my acquaintance held regular private seances at which they sometimes beheld
wonderful phenomena. At one of these circles a person present wished a token from a loved
one long dead. Slate writing was a common thing in the circle and slates were present. The
controlling entity told the lady making the request to take off her wedding ring and lay it on
the slate. This was done, and the slate kept in full sight, although given no special notice as
some of those present were engaged in conversation. Presently, on taking up the slate, the
lady found a beautiful golden rose painted on it. This rose, which expert jewelers
pronounced gold plating, was as perfect twenty-five years later as on the day it was painted.

92
The discarnate person was very fond of roses. Evidently the electromagnetic forces of the
medium were directed by some astral intelligence in such a manner as to overcome the
cohesion of some of the atoms of the gold ring and place them in the desired arrangement
to form a rose. It was a case of precipitation in which gold was the substance used.

Materialization
This brings us to the most wonderful of all psychic phenomena—to materialization.

The evidence for the genuiness of materializations is voluminous and quite irrefutable. As a
rule they do not form instantly, but gradually condense from a white nebulous vapor about a
nucleus. This white vapor, called “ectoplasm," from two words meaning “outside," and
“form," is a condensation of the emanations from the medium’s body. It is really an
extension of the medium’s astral body about which physical particles are collected in such a
manner as to give it temporarily, and sometimes permanently, the properties of physical
substance.

The startling thing about ectoplasm is that it seems capable of assuming the form, shape,
and properties, not only of any conceivable inorganic substance, but also of any conceivable
living organ or organism.

Quoting from Thirty Years of Psychical Research, by Richet:

“In any case we can, thanks to the experiments of Crawford, Ochorwicz, Mme. Bisson, and
Schrenck-Notzing, form some idea of the genesis of these phenomena, and sketch out a kind
of embryology. This embryogenesis may not be identical in all cases, but in some that have
been exactly observed and illustrated by photography, a kind of nebulous, gelatinous
substance exudes from the medium’s body and gradually is organized into a living, moving
form. The ectoplasmic cloud would seem to become living substance while at the same time
veils develop around it that conceal the mechanism of its condensation into living tissues”
(page 491).

“I have also, like Geley, Schrenck-Notzing and Mme. Bisson, been able to see the first
lineaments of materializations as they were formed. A kind of liquid or pasty jelly emerges
from the mouth or the breast of Marthe which organizes itself under degrees, acquiring the
shape of a face or a limb. Under very good conditions of visibility, I have seen this paste
spread on my knee, and slowly take form so as to show the rudiment of the radius, the
cubitus, or metacarpal bone whose increasing pressure I could feel on my knee” (page 467).

In the experiments of Sir Wm. Crookes with the medium Home, everything witnessed took
place in the light, and materializations were frequent. His experiments with the medium
Florence Cook and the materialization which called itself Katie King were even more
conclusive. His letter of March, 1874, says:

“I have at last obtained the absolute proof I have been seeking. On March the 2nd, during a
seance at my house, Katie (the apparition), having moved among us, retired behind the

93
curtain and a moment later called me, saying, ‘Come into the cabinet and raise my medium’s
head.’ Katie stood before me in her usual white robe and wearing her turban. I went toward
the bookcase to raise Miss Cook, and Katie moved aside to let me pass. Miss Cook had
slipped down, and I had the satisfaction of seeing that she was not dressed like Katie, but
was wearing her usual dress of black velvet.”

Crookes says further:

“Katie is six inches taller than Miss Cook; yesterday with bare feet, she was four and one-half
inches taller. Her neck was bare and did not show the cicatrice that is on Miss Cooke’s neck.
Her ears are not pierced, her complexion is very fair, and her fingers much longer than those
of Miss Cook.”

Richet, speaking of a seance he held with Eusapia Palidino, at which Mme. Curie was
present, says:

“It seems hard to imagine a more convincing experiment, for in twenty-nine seconds the
element of surprise is eliminated. In this case there was not only the materialization of a
hand, but also of a ring. As all experiments demonstrate, materializations of objects,
garments, and woven stuffs are simultaneous with human forms, these latter never
appearing naked, but covered by veils which are at first white semi-luminous clouds which
end by taking the consistence of real woven fabrics.”

Many scientific men of international reputation have experimented with numerous

materializing mediums and found them genuine, as did Geley who, “after describing very
precisely the variations in the gelatinous embryo-plastic mass, adds: ‘I do not say merely,
There was no trickery, I say, There was no possibility of trickery. Nearly all the
materializations took place under my own eyes, and I have observed the whole of their
genesis and development.’”

Baron Von Schrenck-Notzing in his book, Phenomena and Materialization, gives a critical
account of his own very extensive experiments, and illustrates it with reproductions from
225 photographs of materialized forms in all their various stages of development as they
exude from the medium and take human shape.

Although no further evidence is necessary to make certain the fact that materializations
actually take place, still more recent experiments leave no possible loophole of uncertainty. I
quote from Richet:

Plaster Casts of Materializations

“Geley and I took the precaution of introducing, unknown to any other person, a small
quantity of cholesterin in the bath of melted paraffin wax placed before the medium during
the seance. This substance is soluble in paraffin without discoloring it, but on adding
sulphuric acid it takes a deep violet-red tint; so that we could be absolutely certain that any

94
moulds obtained should be from the paraffin provided by ourselves. We therefore had
certain proof that the moulds obtained could not have been prepared in advance but must
have been produced during the seance itself. Absolute certainty was thus secured.

“During the seance the medium’s hands were held firmly by Geley and myself on the right
hand, and on the left, so that he could not liberate either hand. A first mould was obtained
of a child’s hand, then a second of both hands, right and left; a third time of a child’s foot.
The creases in the skin and the veins were visible on the plaster casts made from the
moulds.

“By reason of the narrowness at the wrist these moulds could not be obtained from living
hands, for the whole hand would have to be withdrawn through the narrow opening at the
wrist. Professional modellers secure their results by threads attached to the hands, which
are pulled through the plaster. In the moulds here considered there was nothing of the sort;
they were produced by a materialization followed by a dematerialization, for this latter was
necessary to disengage the hand from the paraffin ‘glove.’

“These experiments, which we intend to resume on account of their importance, afford an

absolute proof of a materialization followed by a dematerialization, for even if the medium
had the means to produce the result by a normal process, he could not have made use of
them. We defy the most skillful modellers to obtain such moulds, without using the plan of
two segments separated by a thread and afterwards united.

“We therefore affirm that there was a materialization and a dematerialization of an

ectoplasmic or fluidic hand, and we think that this is the first time that such rigorous
conditions of experiment have been imposed.”

I may add that the experiments were continued, and casts of folded hands were obtained.
Reproductions from photographs of some of these casts are given in the Scientific American,
for November 1923.

It remains but to be said, in regard to the nature of the materializations, that once formed
there is a circulation of the blood, warmth, perspiration, and the other functions exhibited
by ordinary flesh and blood, as well as intelligent action. Small pieces of skin left behind
when a form dematerialized has been found under the microscope to differ not in the least
from ordinary human cuticle. A full formed materialization is actual human flesh and blood
as long as it lasts.

In regard to the method by which materialization is accomplished, I believe in all cases the
form condenses about a projection of the medium’s astral body. The atmosphere contains all
the elements of which the body is composed in minute states of subdivision. Such particles,
no doubt, may be utilized to assist in building up the materializing form. But recent
experiments go to show that in some instances, at least, the material is drawn from the
medium’s body. Mediums have been weighed before a materialization has taken place, and
then again while there was a materialized form present. A comparison of the weights

95
indicates that substance is subtracted from the medium’s body. The materialized form, in
such instances, approximates in weight the amount lost by the medium. Further, in some
instances weighing shows that others present at the seance also lose weight during the
manifestation, indicating that they likewise furnish substance for the materializing form.

It appears, then, in those cases in which the materialization is quite bulky, that commonly
flesh and blood from those present, chiefly from the medium, is dematerialized, and then
gradually materialized about an extension of the medium’s astral body. This projection of the
medium’s astral body may assume any shape, and the materialization will conform to it in
contour and texture. When dematerialization takes place the flesh and blood extracted from
those present is returned to the original owners.

Not only at seances, but also where there are hauntings, a peculiar cool draught, a draught
that gives the impression of rapid evaporation rather than of moving air, is commonly felt
just before there are physical manifestations. Such a draught is really the sensation felt when
electromagnetic energy is drawn from the person to supply it for the manifestation. In the
case of materializations this electromagnetic energy is used to dematerialize physical
substance and with it build up a different form. So far as investigations have gone it would
seem that all materializations are composed of substance that has not been created at the
moment, but that has been drawn from some other already existing matter.

When a complete personality materializes, the astral body of the medium is almost wholly
absent and occupying the materialized form. Even as when a person travels in the astral
body, only a slight line of communication may connect the astral form and the physical body.
Should this line be severed, death ensues. Therefore, it is quite dangerous to the medium
unexpectedly to grab a materialized form, and quite dangerous to a person out of the
physical body in sleep rudely to awaken him. In either case the shock if severe enough may
sever the astral thread connecting the two bodies, or at least cause severe injury to the
nervous system.

Hauntings
A different order of phenomena from any so far considered are hauntings. Hauntings, while
of numerous kinds, may roughly be classified in four categories. There are hauntings that
only occur in association with some particular person or some particular type of person.
There are other hauntings which are not associated with some person or particular type of
person, but are associated with some particular locality. Both these phases of hauntings
sometimes are obviously associated in some manner with a person who has died or been
killed. Both phases, likewise, sometimes occur under such circumstances as to show no
association with a dead person, and, indeed, to make such association extremely unlikely.

Localities that are haunted independent of the presence of a person of mediumistic

temperament, and which indicate the influence of a dead person, usually are places where
death has taken place under great stress of mind. More rarely the place haunted is a locality
where the deceased long resided previous to death.

96
The intense emotion, or mental attitude, chains the astral body to the particular spot, which
has become permeated with the electromagnetic emanations of the person during life.
These electromagnetic emanations, with which rapport has never been completely severed,
enable the entity to exercise considerable physical force. Doors may be opened, physical
objects moved, or some tragic event may be performed in pantomime. When a person goes
to sleep after working unusually hard at some routine employment he often repeats the
work over and over again in his dreams. A ghost, such as I have mentioned, because
something has been impressed strongly on his emotions, for a very similar reason repeats
some act over and over again. He has not freed himself from a strain to his mentality. He is
said to be earthbound.

Other ghosts appear only in the presence of persons of mediumistic temperament upon
whose electromagnetic emanations they draw for force enough to make their presence
known. They, likewise, may be earthbound human beings, not yet freed from some intense
emotion. They may be attached to the locality of death, to the place where they resided
before death, or occasionally can manifest themselves at other places through being able to
use the electromagnetic emanations of a person to whom they are attached.

As a rule a ghost possesses almost no intelligence, because it is wholly under the control of
and dominated by the idea that binds it to earth. It is like a hypnotized person who has been
put to sleep and told to do some one thing over and over. The hypnotic subject does this,
and pays no attention to anything else, being quite oblivious to the presence and questions
of others. Ghosts of this class are deceased human beings under the influence of powerful
autosuggestion.

If they can be induced to talk they may be convinced of the error of their ways and go about
their business in the astral world and cease to burden the earth with their presence. But it is
like trying to argue with a subject in the deep hypnotic state. Usually they can perceive only
the idea that dominates them. If the idea is to perform some physical task, such as returning
stolen money or giving some information, as soon as this is accomplished they haunt no
more and pass into other regions on the astral plane.

Differing from the above in that they show no association with a person who has died are
the so-called poltergeist phenomena.

Noises, uproars, the throwing of sticks and stones by unseen hands, the opening and closing
of doors by invisible agency, the movement of furniture and breaking of crockery without
physical contact, and other phenomena of a trivial or mischievous character are rather more
numerous than most people suppose. This class of phenomena is usually due to nonhuman
astral entities called elementals.

In far the more numerous cases of this kind the phenomena take place only in the presence
of a certain person, who is often an adolescent boy or girl.

97
Mischievous astral entities are able to get in rapport with such persons of unusual
mediumistic tendencies and use their electromagnetic emanations to manifest physical
violence. In some instances it is also quite possible that the astral counterpart of the
mediumistic individual has a part in directing the phenomena. When the mediumistic
individual departs from the vicinity, in these cases, either the phenomena follow the
medium, or cease.

In still more rare instances these poltergeist phenomena take place in certain localities
irrespective of how many persons are present, and irrespective of any person being in the
immediate vicinity. If people take notice of the phenomena, or of a human ghost,
electromagnetic energy sometimes is drawn from them to strengthen the manifestation,
their thoughts establishing a line of communication for the transfer of energy. Such
phenomena are made possible through the electromagnetic emanations of people’s
thoughts being made use of by elementals. These thought forms may converge at certain
places due to a variety of causes. A building so haunted, or one haunted by a human ghost,
when torn down usually destroys the condition of rapport, and there being no adequate
supply of electromagnetic energy to draw upon, the phenomena cease.

Fake Mediums
Let us now return to the subject of mediums.

It should be understood that a demonstration of mediumistic power requires the

expenditure of energy. The medium himself radiates a limited supply of electromagnetic
energy, and other persons present also a limited amount. Enough energy is only occasionally
available to make a thrilling demonstration. But the public, ignoring this fact, demands that
the medium repeat the phenomena every time he is asked. This is just as sensible as to ask
an athlete who has established a world record as a foot racer to repeat his best work on all
occasions.

Certain conditions are necessary for the athlete to establish a record, and certain conditions
are necessary for a medium to do his best work. If, because a medium cannot under
different circumstances and at different times repeat his performance, we assert his claims
are false, we also should demand that a world champion runner be able to make his record
again any time we suggest, without going into training, without spiked shoes, and on the
pavement or in the mud. As a matter of fact, an athlete is seldom able to reach his record
more than once. Likewise, if a medium once produces genuine phenomena, about which
there can be no doubt because all possibility of trickery has been guarded against, this
establishes the phenomena as real.

It has been objected by some that the condition of darkness imposed at some seances is
merely to facilitate fraud. Yet the same criticism might be leveled at radio operators. Radio
messages do not carry so well in sunlight as in darkness, and strange to say some radio
operators claim that moonlight is beneficial to radio work. They say that a message will carry
farther from east to west when the full moon has just risen than at any other time. Yet why

98
admit that a noon day sun interferes with radio and not admit that it may interfere with
psychic phenomena?

It is related of the famed discoverer of photography that in order to bring his invention
before the public he desired to take a photograph of a famous court beauty. He diligently
explained the condition that was necessary: that he could only take the picture by sunlight.
As the lady knew she appeared to better advantage by the false light of the evening
ballroom, she insisted her picture be taken by lamplight. As the inventor could not take the
photograph as demanded, he was laughed out of court, and his discovery called a hoax. All
the evidence goes to show that it takes more energy to produce physical manifestations of
psychic phenomena in the light than it does in the dark.

To be sure, it is probable that any good medium will perpetrate frauds under given
circumstances. We might almost say that in negative mediumship unless the medium is
sufficiently under control to be quite unaware of what he is doing the results are not of the
best.

A hypnotized subject tries to do whatever he is told, and even though he is going through a
lot of nonsense, believes he is performing as he is told to do. If he is told to smoke a cigar,
and no cigar is at hand, he will proceed to smoke a stick, and if he has no match, goes
through the motion of lighting one, and is unconscious of the fact that he is not strictly
carrying out his orders.

Of course there is no excuse for mediums who premeditate fraud. But once a medium is in
the trance state he is no more responsible for his actions than is a hypnotized subject. If
those present demand a certain type of phenomena, this suggestion takes hold of the mind,
and he tries to produce them. He may be able to produce genuine phenomena, just as the
hypnotized subject would actually smoke a cigar if one were present. But if genuine
phenomena are not forthcoming, the suggestion to produce them has the effect of causing
him to stimulate them to the best of his ability. For this he is nowise responsible, for one of
the essential conditions of this kind of mediumship is that the medium must be unconscious
of and irresponsible for his actions while under control. If fraud takes place, which is not
prepared for in advance by the medium, the only ones at fault are the experimenters, whose
duty it is to make fraud impossible.

Even in clairaudience, clairvoyance, psychometry, telepathy, and prevision, the irresponsible

medium only hears, sees, feels, thinks, or has cognizance of, what is imparted to him by his
control. Everything is second hand, and depends for its veracity upon both the integrity and
the ability of the controlling entity. On the other hand, the person who develops these
faculties by the integrative method is not dependent upon another for information. He uses
his astral sense organs as he does his physical sense organs. He controls himself and his
faculties. This is the difference between disintegrative mediumship and mastership.

99
100