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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Read the Crystal, by Sepharial
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: How to Read the Crystal
+       or, Crystal and Seer
+
+Author: Sepharial
+
+Release Date: September 14, 2008 [EBook #26622]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO READ THE CRYSTAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Ruth Hart
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Note:  In the original text, the Concise Dictionary of
+Astrological Terms displayed a small astrological glyph illustration
+next to each term, but I have not indicated these in this online text.]
+
+
+
+HOW TO READ THE CRYSTAL
+OR, CRYSTAL AND SEER
+
+WITH A CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGICAL TERMS
+
+BY
+
+SEPHARIAL
+
+AUTHOR OF "BOOK OF CARDS," "THE LITTLE BOOK OF MAGIC," ETC.
+
+
+LONDON FOULSHAM & CO., LTD.
+10 & 11, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C.
+1922
+
+
+_Printed in Great Britain_
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Chapter I.     A Postulate                                5
+Chapter II.    Qualifications                            13
+Chapter III.   Preliminaries                             17
+Chapter IV.    The Vision                                21
+Chapter V.     Difficulties                              25
+Chapter VI.    Symbols                                   29
+Chapter VII.   Some Experiences                          35
+Chapter VIII.  Directions for Using the Ovoids and
+               Spheres for Crystal or Mirror Vision      51
+Chapter IX.    Consise Dictionary of Astrological Terms  53
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A POSTULATE
+
+Any attempt at a scientific explanation of the phenomenon of
+"crystal seering," to use an irregular but comprehensive term,
+would perhaps fall short of completeness, and certainly would
+depend largely upon the exercise of what Professor Huxley was
+wont to call "the scientific imagination." The reasons for this are
+obvious. We know comparatively little about atomic structure in
+relation to nervous organism. We are informed to a certain degree
+upon atomic ratios; we know that all bodies are regarded by the
+physicist as a congeries of atoms, and that these atoms are
+"centres of force." Primarily, the atomic theory would refer all
+heterogeneous bodies to one homogeneous substance, from which
+substance, by means of a process loosely referred to as
+"differentiation," all the elements are derived. These elements are
+the result of atomic arrangement, and the atoms of each are known
+to have various vibrations, the extent of which is called the "mean
+free path of vibration." The indestructibility of matter, the fact that
+all nature is convertible, and the absolute association of matter and
+force, lead to the conclusion that since every change in matter
+implies a change of force, matter must be ever living and active,
+and primarily of a spiritual nature. The great Swedenborg, no less
+a scientist than a spiritual seer, laid down his doctrine of
+"Correspondences" upon the primary concept of the spiritual
+origin of all force and matter. Matter, he argued, was the ultimate
+expression of Spirit, as Form was that of Force. Spirit was to Force
+what Matter was to Form--our ideas of Matter and Form being
+closely related. Hence, for every _Spiritual Force_ there is a
+corresponding _Material Form_, and the material or natural world
+corresponds at all points with the world of spirit, without being
+identical. This, in brief, is the conclusion to which the "scientific
+imagination" of the present day, extending as it does from the
+known into the unknown, is slowly but surely leading up.
+
+Taking as our postulate the scientific statement of the atomic
+structure of bodies, atomic vibration and molecular arrangement,
+we turn to consider the action exerted by such bodies upon the
+nervous organism of man.
+
+The function of the brain--which must be regarded as the bulbous
+root of a nervous plant whose branches grow downwards--is
+twofold; to affect, and to be affected. In its active or positive
+condition it affects the whole of the vital and muscular processes
+in the man, finding expression in vital action. In its passive or
+negative state it is affected by impressions coming to it in different
+ways through the sense-organs, resulting in nervous and mental
+action. It is this latter phase of brain-function with which we are
+immediately concerned.
+
+The range of our sense-perception puts us momentarily and
+continually in relation with the material world, or rather with a
+_certain portion_ of it. We say a certain portion because we
+know from scientific experience that the scale or gamut of
+sense-perception is limited, both as to its extent and as to its
+quality. Many insects, birds, and quadrupeds have keener perceptions
+in some respects than man. The photographic plate can register
+impressions which are beyond the perception of our highest sense
+of sight. The Röntgen rays have put us into relations with a new
+order of impression--records quite beyond the range of our normal
+vision. The animalcule and microbic life, itself microscopic, has
+yet its own order of sense-organs related to a world of vitality
+beyond our ken. These, and a host of other observations, serve to
+show that our normal perceptions are extremely limited, and,
+further, that nature does not cease to exist where we cease to
+perceive her.
+
+The relation of our sense-organs to the several degrees of matter,
+to solids, fluids, gases, atmospheric and etheric motions, vary in
+different individuals to such a wide extent that the average
+wool-sorter leaves many an artist behind in his perception of
+colour-shades. The same odour is perceptible by one person and
+unrecognisable by another. In the gradation of sound, too, the
+same differences of perception will be commonly noticed. But
+quite apart from the scale or range of perception, the _quality_ of a
+sense-impression is found to vary with different persons. By this
+we mean that the same body will affect different persons in
+dissimilar manner. Hence arises the variety of "tastes" in regard to
+forms, colours, flavours, scents, sounds, fabrics, etc., what is
+agreeable to one being highly objectionable to another. The
+experience is to common to need illustration; but the conclusion to
+which we are led is that, in relation to the nervous system of man,
+every material body has a variable effect. And this clears the
+ground for a statement of our views in regard to the Crystal and its
+effects upon the seer.
+
+The Crystal itself is a clear pellucid piece of quartz or beryl,
+sometimes oval in shape, but more generally spheroidal. It is
+accredited by Reichenbach and other researchers with highly
+magnetic qualities capable of producing in a suitable subject a
+state analogous to the ordinary waking trance of the hypnotists. It
+is believed that all bodies convey, or are the vehicles of, a certain
+universal magnetic property, variously called Od, Odyle, etc.,
+which is regarded as an inert and passive substance underlying the
+more active forces familiar to us in kinetic, calorific, and
+electrical phenomena. In this respect it bears a position analogous
+to the Argon of the atmosphere. It is capable of taking up,
+sympathetically, the vibrations of those bodies or elements to
+which it is temporarily related. But of itself it has no activity,
+although in its still, well-like, and calm depths it holds the
+potentiality of all magnetic forces. This Odyle, then, is particularly
+potent in the quartz or beryl, when brought into activity by the
+intention of the seer. It produces and retains more readily in that
+form the various images communicated to it from the soul of man.
+And the soul, in this connection, must be regarded as the
+repository of all that complex mass of emotions, thoughts,
+impressions, perceptions, feelings, etc., included in the inner life
+of man; for the soul of man is not the less a scientific fact because
+there are those who bandy words concerning its origin and nature.
+Reichenbach has shown by a series of experiments upon sensitive
+and hypnotised subjects that metals and other substances produce
+very marked effects in contact with the human body. Those
+experiments showed, too, that the same substance affected
+different patients in diverse manner. The hypnotic experiments of
+Dr. Charcot, the well-known French biologist, also demonstrate
+the _rapport_ existing between the sensitive patient and foreign
+bodies when in proximity or contact; as for example, when a bottle
+containing a poison was taken at random from among a number of
+others of exactly similar appearance, and applied to the back of the
+patient's neck, the hypnotised subject would once develop all the
+symptoms of poisoning by arsenic, strychnine, prussic acid, etc., it
+being afterwards ascertained that the bottle thus applied actually
+contained the toxine whose effects had been portrayed by the
+subject.
+
+It need not, then, be a matter of surprise to learn that the Crystal
+exerts a very definite and sensible effect upon the nervous system
+of a certain order of subjects. It does not affect all alike, nor act
+in exactly the same way on those whom it does so affect. Where its
+action is more or less rapid and remarkable, the quartz or beryl
+Crystal may be taken as the most effective medium for producing
+the vision. In other cases the concave mirror, either of polished
+copper or black japan, will be found serviceable for inducing the
+clairvoyant state. In some other cases, again, a bowl of water is
+sufficient. The ecstatic vision was first induced in the case of
+Jacob Boehme by the sun's rays falling upon a bowl of water
+which caught and dazzled his eyes while he was engaged in the
+humble task of cobbling a pair of shoes. As a consequence of this
+exaltation of the sense of sight we have those remarkable
+works, "The Aurora," "The Four Complexions," "The Signatura
+Rerum," and many others, together with a volume of letters and
+commentaries which, in addition to being of a highly spiritual
+nature, must also be regarded as scholarly when referred to their
+authorship.
+
+In cases like the above it may be said that the clairvoyant faculty is
+constitutional and already fully developed, waiting only the
+circumstances which shall serve to bring it into active play,
+Emanuel Swedenborg, if we remember rightly, was 54 years of
+age before he awoke to the consciousness of his spiritual vision.
+
+The medium employed for inducing the clairvoyant state cannot
+be definitely prescribed. It must remain a matter of experiment for
+each investigator. This, however, may be said:  _Every person
+whose life is not wholly sunk in selfish and material pleasures, but
+in whom the aspiration to a nobler and purer life is a hunger the
+world cannot satisfy, has within himself the power to see and
+know that which he seeks behind the veil of his earthly senses.
+Nature has never produced a desire she could not satisfy. There is
+no hope, however vague, that the soul cannot define, and no
+aspiration, however high, that the wings of the spirit cannot reach.
+Therefore be patient and strive_.
+
+That there are some in whom the psychic faculties are more prone
+to activity than in others is certain, as also some in whom these
+powers are native, by spiritual or hereditary succession; all of
+which may be determined from their genitures by the astrological
+art. In others, the determination of the natural powers takes a more
+practical and mundane tendency, making them more successful in
+the affairs of daily life than in aught of a spiritual nature St. Paul
+has spoken of a diversity of gifts. "One star differeth from another
+in glory," he says, in very truth. This distribution of natural gifts
+proceeds from the celestial world, and is so ordered that each
+person born on this earth may fulfil his part in the economy of
+life. And because the spiritual needs of mankind are of primary
+importance, there are those born in whom the power of spiritual
+interpretation is the dominant faculty, such persons being the
+natural channels of intercourse between the superior and inferior
+worlds. These are to mankind what a certain order of microbic life
+is to the body of man--organic interpreters, translating the
+elements of food into blood, nerve, fibre, tissue, etc., agreeably to
+the laws of their being.
+
+For those who would aspire to the gift of pure vision, and in whom
+the faculty is striving for expression, the following pages are
+written. To others we would say, Be content. All birds are not
+eagles. The nightingale has a song, the humming-bird a plumage
+which the eagle will never possess. The nightingale may sing to
+the stars, humming-bird to the flowers, but the eagle, whose
+tireless eyes gaze into the heart of day, is uncompanioned in its
+lofty loneliness in the barren mountain-tops.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+QUALIFICATIONS
+
+There are in existence certain magical works, such as those of
+Trithemius and Barrett, wherein the use of the Crystal is
+accompanied by certain rites and invocations. This ceremonial
+magic we are disposed to repudiate as highly dangerous. It brings
+into play a number of forces which may well prove disastrous in
+inexperienced hands. All action and reaction are equal and
+opposite. A child might easily fire a cannon, but could not
+possibly withstand its recoil. So in the education of the spiritual
+faculties, it is better to encourage their natural development by
+legitimate exercise than to invoke the action of stimulants which
+we may not afterwards be able to control. The continual fretting of
+the water will wear away a rock, though none doubts the water is
+softer than the rock. If the barrier between this and the soul-world
+be like granite, yet the patient and persistent action of a
+determined mind will sooner or later wear it away, the last layer
+will break down, and the light will stream through, dazzling the
+unaccustomed eyes with its effulgence.
+
+It is our desire to indicate by what means and by what persons the
+natural development of the clairvoyant faculty may be achieved.
+
+First, in regard to the subject, medium or seer. There are two
+distinct temperament in which the faculty is likely to be dominant,
+and capable of high and rapid culture. There is the nervous
+temperament associated, with a high muscular development,
+classified as the "mental-motive" temperament. It is characterized
+by extreme activity of body and mind, a certain nervous
+excitability, prominent features, full osseous development,
+prominent brows, intent gaze, and generally a swarthy complexion.
+This type represents the _positive_ seers, in whom the mind
+goes out towards the images of the soul. The other, in whom
+the _passive_ temperament is present, and to whom the soul-images
+come by passive reflection, as things mirrored in a moveless
+lake, are known by the following characteristics: Full and
+lymphatic habit, pale or delicate complexion, generally blue
+eyes, straight fine hair; small, plump, and cold hands; a high,
+piping or feeble voice, and languid disposition.
+
+These two types--of which there are many varieties--achieve their
+psychic development by quite opposite means. The positive seer
+works with effort, throwing out the soul-images by the power of
+his will, perceiving them with more or less accuracy, and
+thereafter turning them over in the mind, reasoning and
+questioning concerning their import and meaning. The passive
+seer, on the contrary, works not at all and makes no effort, the
+visions coming slowly, almost imperceptibly, and in most cases
+having a literal interpretation. The visions in this case are not
+allegorical, emblematic, or symbolic, as in the case of the positive
+seer, but are actual visions of facts just as they have happened, or
+will transpire in the future. Of the two orders, the passive is the
+more serviceable because the more perspicuous, but it has the
+disadvantage of being largely under the control of external
+influences, and hence is frequently incapable of "seeing" anything
+whatever.
+
+The positive type of seer exercises an introspective vision,
+searching inwardly towards the soul-world whence the revelations
+proceed. Of what nature these revelations are will appear in the
+following pages. The passive type of seer, on the contrary, remains
+_in statu quo_, open to impressions coming inwards towards the
+perceptive faculty, but making no effort towards either outward
+or inward searching. The success of each depends upon the
+observance of that method which is agreeable to their respective
+temperaments.
+
+In regard to the qualifications which should supplement and
+sustain the natural aptitude of the seer or seeress, the following
+remarks may be of general service.
+
+Self-possession and confidence in one's own soul-faculties must
+be the firm rock upon which all revelations should rest. The purer
+the intention and motive of the seer, the more lucid will be the
+visions accorded. No reliable vision can be obtained by one whose
+nature is not inherently truthful. Any selfish desire dominanting
+the mind in regard to any thing or person will distort the visions
+and render them misleading, while a persistent self-seeking spirit
+will effectually shut the doors upon all visions whatsoever.
+Therefore, above all things it is essential for the investigator to
+have an unflinching love of truth, to be resigned to the will of
+Heaven, to accept the revelations accorded in a spirit of grateful
+confidence, and finally to dispel all doubt and controversy
+by appeal to the eyes of one's own immortal soul. These are
+qualifications with which the seer or seeress should be invested,
+and if with these the quest is unsuccessful after a period of earnest
+trial, it must be taken as sufficient warrant that the faculty is not
+in the category of one's individual powers. Haply, the same
+qualifications brought to bear upon some other psychic faculty
+will result in a rich recompense.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+PRELIMINARIES
+
+Having obtained a good Crystal, as free as possible from blemish,
+care must be taken to keep it is much as possible in a dark place
+when not in use. The best covering therefore is a black one of soft
+material, such as velvet, which will not scratch the polished
+surface of the quartz.[*] Exposure to the sun's rays not only scores
+the faces of the crystal, but also puts the odylic substance into
+activity, distributing and dissipating the magnetic force stored up
+therein. It must not be understood that the visions are in the crystal
+itself. They are in the soul of the seer. But the odylic substance is
+acted upon by the nervo-vital emanations of the body of the seer,
+and reacts upon the brain centres by means of the optic nerves.
+That is why it is necessary to keep the crystal as free as possible
+from disturbing elements. For the same reason, when in use, the
+crystal should be overshadowed by the seer, and so placed that _no
+direct rays_ of light from sun, or lamp, or gasalier may fall upon
+it. The odyle, as has been already stated, rapidly responds to
+surrounding magnetic conditions, and to the vibrations of
+surrounding Bodies, and to none more powerfully than the etheric
+perturbation caused by combustion--indeed, to light of any kind.
+
+[*] It is bad policy to buy a cheap article. A good crystal
+is more than worth the outlay. Our publishers supply crystals,
+varying from 15s. 6d. upward, and from what we have seen of
+them we can safely recommend them as reliable articles.
+
+For similar reasons the room in which the sitting is conducted
+should be only moderately warm and shady as possible, provided
+it be not actually dark. A light by which one can just see to read
+average print is sufficient for the purpose in view. The crystal with
+which we have had the most satisfactory and surprising results is a
+cube of fine azure beryl, the deep blue of its serene depths being
+peculiarly restful and inspiring. But, as we have said, nothing is
+more effective than the white quartz crystal when found suitable.
+
+It is important that all persons sitting in the same room as the seer
+should be at arm's length away from him--farther if possible.
+Silence should be uniformly observed by those present. A recorder
+should be at hand to set down everything the seer may give voice
+to. If any questions are addressed to the seer while the sitting is in
+progress, they should be spoken in an undertone and as nearly a
+monotone as may be so that the seer is not suddenly surprised into
+consciousness of his surroundings, and the psychic thread thereby
+broken.
+
+At first the sittings should not be of longer duration than fifteen
+minutes, but it is important they should take place _regularly_,
+every day if possible, and always at the same hour and in the
+_same place_. By this method of procedure it will be found that a
+cumulative effect is produced and success more speedily ensured.
+The reason is obvious. All actions tend to repeat themselves, to
+become automatic, to pass from the purposive into the habitual,
+and hence the psychic faculties will, if actuated at any set time and
+place, tend to bestir themselves towards the same end as that to
+which they were first moved by the conscious will and intention of
+the seer.
+
+Until definite and satisfactory results are obtained, not more than
+two persons should be present at the sittings, and these should be
+in sympathy with the seer and each other. When the sitting is over,
+it will be found agreeable and useful to discuss the results
+obtained; or if none are elicited, the seer can give an account of his
+or her impressions and feelings during the sitting. It will be
+interesting to note these experiences and to compare them from
+time to time.
+
+The seer or seeress must not be disheartened if at the first few
+sittings nothing of any moment takes place, but must persevere,
+with patience and self-control. Indeed, when one comes to
+consider the fact that for hundreds of generations the psychic
+faculties inherent in mankind have lain in absolute neglect, that
+perhaps the faculty of "clear vision" has never yet been brought
+into activity by any save the most remote of our ancestors, it will
+not be thought remarkable that it should be at first difficult get any
+definite results. Rather should it be a matter of surprise that the
+power is still with us, that it is not wholly irresponsive to the voice
+of the soul. While, in the course of physical evolution, many
+important functions have undergone remarkable changes, and
+organs, once active and useful, have become stunted, impotent,
+and in some cases extinct; yet it is said that seeds have lain
+dormant in arid soil for hundreds of years, to spring into leaf and
+flower as soon as the rains have fallen and the climate changed.
+The faculty of pure vision is like the latent seed-life. It waits only
+the conditions which favour its growth and development; and
+though for hundreds of years it may have lain dormant, yet in a
+few days, weeks, or months it may attain the proportions of a
+beautiful flower, a thing of wonder and delight, gracing the garden
+of the soul.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE VISION
+
+Visions seen in the crystal are of two kinds, both of which may be
+conveyed to the perception of the seer in two ways. The two kinds
+of visions are: 1, Direct visions; 2, Symbolic visions. The first of
+these is a representation of scene or incident exactly as it will
+transpire, or has already happened, either in relation to the seer,
+those sitting with him, or yet in relation to public affairs. The
+second order of vision is a representation, by means of symbol,
+ideograph, or other indirect means, of events similar to those
+conveyed by direct vision.
+
+In most cases it will be found that answers, to questions take the
+form of symbols. But this is not always so, as will appear from
+the following remarks concerning the manner in which these
+impressions or visions are conveyed to the perception of the seer.
+
+The vision is conveyed in one of two ways--first, as a vivid picture
+affecting the focus and retina of the eye, perfect in its outline and
+colouring, and giving the impression of being either distant or near
+or at moderate range, Secondly, it may be conveyed as a vivid
+impression accompanied by a hazy and undefined formation in the
+crystal field. In this form it becomes an apperception rather than a
+perception, the consciousness receiving the impression of the
+vision to be conveyed before it has had time to form and define
+itself in the crystal.
+
+The _direct_ vision is more generally found in association with the
+_passive_ type of seer. It is not usually so regular and constant as
+the symbolic vision, owing to the peculiarities of the negative
+temperament. When it does appear however, it is particularly lucid
+and actual, and has its literal fulfilment in the world of experience
+and fact. It is an actual representation of past or future event, or
+yet of what is then presently happening at some place more or less
+distant.
+
+The _symbolical_ vision is more closely associated with the
+_positive_ temperament. It has the advantage of being more ready
+and constant in its manifestation than the _direct_ vision, while on
+the other hand it is frequently a matter of speculation as to what
+the symbolic vision may portend.
+
+The positive temperament, centripetal and forceful in its action,
+appears to throw off the soul-images, afterwards going out towards
+them in a mood of speculative inquiry. The passive temperament,
+however, centrifugal and sensitive, most frequently feels first and
+sees afterwards, the visionary process being wholly devoid of
+speculation or mental activity. The one sees and thinks, the other
+feels and sees that, in a word, is the distinction between the two
+temperaments.
+
+In the early stages of development the crystal will begin to cloud
+over, first becoming dull, then suffused with milky clouds, among
+which sparkle a large number of little specks of light like gold dust
+in the sunlight. The focus of the eyes is inconstant, the
+pupil rapidly expanding and contracting, the crystal at times
+disappearing entirely in a haze or film which seems to pass before
+the eyes. Then the haze will disappear, and the crystal will loom
+up into full view again, accompanied by a lapse of the seer into
+full consciousness. This may be the only experience of the first
+few sittings, it may be that of many; but, sooner or later, there will
+come a moment when the milky clouds and dancing starlights will
+suddenly vanish--a bright azure expanse like an open summer sky
+will occupy the field of vision; the brain will take up a spasmodic
+action, as if opening and shutting in the superior coronal region;
+there will be a tightening of the scalp on a level with the base of
+the brain, as if the floor of the cerebrum were contracting; the seer
+will catch his breath with a spasmodic sigh, and the first vision
+will stand out, clear and life-like, against the azure screen of
+heaven.
+
+The danger at this supreme moment is that the seer will be
+surprised into full waking consciousness. During the process of
+abstraction which precedes every vision or series of visions,
+the consciousness of the seer is gradually and imperceptibly
+withdrawn from his surroundings. He forgets that he is seated in
+this or that room, that such a person is at his right hand, such
+another at his left. He forgets that he is gazing into the crystal. He
+hears nothing, sees nothing, save what is passing before the eyes
+of his soul. He loses sight, for the time, even of his own identity.
+
+Therefore, when his vision is suddenly arrested by an apparition,
+startling in its reality and instantaneous production, even though
+hoped for and expected, the reaction is so violent and rapid that
+the seer is frequently carried back into the full consciousness
+of his physical conditions. Therefore, the qualifications of
+self-possession and confidence in one's own soul-faculties have been
+stated as of primary importance in this domain of research. Excess
+of joy or fear at sight of the vision will be fatal to its continuance
+and to the condition of mind required for the process of
+development. This fact must therefore be borne in mind.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+DIFFICULTIES
+
+Under this head we propose to cite a few of the obstacles to be met
+with in the process of inducing the psychic vision, and some also
+which may be expected in connection with the faculty when
+induced.
+
+Putting aside the greatest of all obstacles--that of constitutional
+unfitness--as having been already discussed in preceding pages,
+the first obstacle to be avoided is that of ill-health. The importance
+of a moderate and sustaining diet in regard to psychic development
+cannot be too strongly urged. All overloading of the stomach with
+indigestible food and addiction to alcoholic drinks tends to cloud
+the spiritual perception, It depletes the brain-centres, gives the
+heart too much work, and overthrows the equilibrium of the
+system. Ill-health follows; the mind is centred upon the suffering
+body, spiritual aspiration ceases, and the soul folds its wings and
+falls into the sleep of oblivion. The consciousness of man works
+from a centre, which co-ordinates and includes all the phenomena
+of thought, feeling, and volition. This centre of consciousness is
+capable of rapid displacement, alternating between the most
+external of our bodily functions and the most internal of our
+spiritual operations. It cannot be active in all parts of our complex
+constitution at one and the same moment. Hence it follows that
+when one part of our nature is active another is dormant as
+happens in sleeping and waking, dream-life being that wherein the
+centre of consciousness hovers between the body and the soul.
+
+With these considerations in mind it will be obvious to every one
+that a condition in which the consciousness is held in bondage by
+the infirmities of the body is not one conducive to psychic
+development. The constitution need not be robust, but it should at
+all events be free from disorder and pain. Some of the most
+ethereal natures are associated with a delicate organism, but while
+the balance is maintained the soul is free to develop its latent
+powers.
+
+It is advisable not to sit for crystal reading, or indeed for any order
+of psychic exercise, immediately after or before a meal. The body
+should be at rest, and the mind contented and tranquil. Again, the
+attitude of the seer should not be too expectant or over-anxious in
+regard to the production of the vision. Let the development take its
+natural course. Do not force the young plant in its growth or it will
+come to a premature end. Take time, as Nature does. It is a great
+work, and much patience is needed. The acorn becomes the sturdy
+oak only because Nature is contented with small results, because
+she can afford to wait and is never in a hurry to see the result of
+her operations. And because she is patient and careful in her
+beginnings, her works are wonderfully great and complete in their
+issues. Above all, they endure. Whoever breathes slowest will live
+the longest. This is an Eastern saying which voices a fundamental
+truth.
+
+The vision is produced. The faculty of clairvoyance has become
+more or less under the control of the mind. New difficulties arise,
+and, of these, two will be conspicuous. The first is that of
+time-measure, and the other is that of interpretation. The former is
+peculiar to both orders of vision, the _direct_ and the _symbolic_.
+The difficulty of interpretation is, of course, peculiar to the latter
+order of vision.
+
+Time-measure is, perhaps, the greatest difficulty encountered by
+the seer. It is sometimes impossible to determine whether a vision
+relates to the past, the present, or the future. In most cases,
+however, the seer learns by experience how to distinguish, and
+frequently it will be found that an intuitive impression of
+the period involved comes with the vision itself. In our own
+experience the foreground, middle distance, and background, mark
+off the present, the approximate, and the distant future. In tracing
+the succession of events, we have found it convenient to think of
+time-measure at the outset, bending the sight upon, each month or
+year separately and in succession, noting the visions that arise with
+each in order. And as regards the past or future, we distinguish
+between them by an intuitive sense rather than by any other
+means, and very rarely is this sense deceived, for it is part of the
+psychic faculty we had in training.
+
+Therefore, if the vision appears in the foreground and, as it were,
+at the feet of the seer, then it may be taken as relating to the
+present or a quite recent date. In the same way, the middle distance
+indicates the near past or future, and the background denotes the
+more distant past or future. The other difficulty we have
+mentioned is that of interpretation of such symbols as may arise.
+The following pages will indicate some of the symbols and their
+meanings. The rest must be left to the intuition of the seer.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+SYMBOLS
+
+Symbols are thought-forms which convey, by the association of
+ideas, a definite meaning in regard to the mind that generates
+them. They depend wholly upon the laws of thought, and the
+correspondence that exists between the spiritual and material
+worlds, between the subject and the object of our consciousness.
+
+Among the ancients symbols were the original form of record, of
+communicating ideas, and of writing. The hieroglyphs of the
+Egyptians, the word-pictures of the aborigines of Central America,
+the ideographic writing of ancient Mongolia, are all forms
+of symbolic writing, drawn from natural objects. The Hebrew
+alphabet, the names of its 22 letters, clearly indicate the nomadic
+and simple life of those "dwellers in tents." Thus the names of the
+letters include such objects as ox, tent, tent-door, tent-peg, camel,
+fish, fish-hook, an eye, a hand, a basket, a rope-coil, a head, an
+ox-goad, water, etc. From the combination of these simple forms the
+words are constructed. Thus the word used to signify "knowledge"
+is derived from three letters, Yod, Daleth, Oin, which mean a
+hand, a door, an eye. The _hand_ denotes action, power, etc.; the
+_door_ denotes entering, initiation, etc.; the _eye_ denotes seeing,
+vision. Therefore the three ideograph; when combined, denote
+"opening the door to see," which is a very graphic way of
+conveying the idea of acquiring knowledge. One cannot help
+seeing the hand of the young Hebrew drawing aside the canvas
+door of the tent and peeping in to see what secrets may be learned!
+
+All symbols, therefore, may be translated by reference to the
+known nature, quality, and uses of the objects they represent. Thus
+a foot signifies a journey, and also understanding; a mouth denotes
+speech, revelation; an ear news, information, and, if ugly and
+distorted, scandal or abuse. The sun, shining brightly, denotes
+prosperity, honours. The moon, when crescent denotes success,
+increase, and improvement. When gibbous, it denotes sickness,
+decadence, losses, and trouble. The sun eclipsed shows death or
+ruin of a man; the moon, similarly afflicted, denotes equal danger
+to a woman. These are natural interpretations.
+
+Every symbol, however, has a threefold interpretation, and the
+nature of the inquiry or the purpose for which the vision is sought
+must determine the meaning of the symbols. If they refer to the
+spiritual world the interpretation must be agreeable to the nature of
+the spirit, and similarly if they refer to the intellectual or physical
+worlds. Thus a pair of scales would denote Divine Justice in the
+spiritual sense, judgment in the intellectual sense, and obligation
+in the material sense. If the scales were evenly balanced the
+augury would be good. But if weighed down on one side it is
+_Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin_, "Thou art weighed and found
+wanting"; it shows a corrupt judgment, a wrong conclusion, an
+unbalanced mind, failure in one's obligations, injustice, etc. And if
+a sword should lie across the scales or be seen overhead, then a
+speedy judgment will be meted out.
+
+A ship is a symbol of intercourse, of trading, of voyaging, etc. If in
+full sail it shows that the communication with the spiritual world is
+increasing, that news from far-off lands will come to hand, that
+trade will increase, that a voyage will be taken. If aught is written
+on the sails it will be an additional source of enlightenment. If the
+symbol of death be written there, it shows speedy translation to a
+far-off country in which the subject will die. That far-off country
+may be the spiritual world itself in which case the death would be
+a natural one. But if the ship's sails are drooping, then it denotes a
+falling away of spiritual influx of intelligence, and of trade.
+Expected news will not come.
+
+Black bread denotes a famine, and if it be spotted with yellow
+blotches it shows a plague. This symbol was seen, with a goat
+butting at it, in June, 1896. There followed a famine and plague in
+India, which country is said to be ruled by the zodiacal sign
+Capricorn! The symbol was not deciphered till the event came to
+throw light upon it. In the same way a leaf of shamrock, denoting
+the Triple Alliance, has been seen split down the centre with a
+black line, denoting the fracture of the treaty. It would also seem
+to indicate that Ireland, whose symbol is the shamrock, will be
+separated by an autonomous government from the existing United
+Kingdom.
+
+In similar manner all symbols arising in the crystal may be
+interpreted by reference to their known qualities and uses, as well
+as the associations existing between them and other things,
+persons, and places, in the mind of the seer. As we have already
+said, however, the meanings of most of the symbols will be
+conveyed to the consciousness of the trained seer at the time of
+their appearance in the crystal. Experience will correct many
+errors, and a symbol, once known, will assume a constant meaning
+with each seer, so that after repeated occurrence it will hold a
+definite signification.
+
+It should be mentioned, however, that the same symbol will have
+different meanings with different seers. It is difficult to say why
+this is the case. But it probably arises from the difference of
+individual temperament, and the Order to which the soul belongs
+in the spiritual world. These dissimilarities exist between
+individuals down to the lowest of our sensations. We have the
+same laws of thought and the same general constitution. Humanity
+holds us all within the bonds of a single nature. Yet, despite this
+fact, we have differences of opinion, of emotion, of sympathy and
+antipathy, of taste, and so forth, Therefore it would appear that the
+soul images projected by the magical power of the mind must have
+different significations with each of us, their interpretation being
+in some peculiar way in agreement with the nature of the person
+who sees them. Necessarily no definite rule can be laid down as to
+interpretation, but it is advisable that the seer or seeress should be
+his or her own interpreter.
+
+Thus, although every symbol has some general signification in
+agreement with its natural qualities and uses, yet it obtains a
+particular signification in regard to each person. It is within
+common experience that this is the case in regard to dreams,
+wherein the faculty of seership is acting in its normal plane. Every
+person is a seer in dream-life, but few persons pay that attention to
+dreams that their origin and nature warrant. The crystal is but a
+means of bringing this normal faculty of dreaming into activity in
+the waking life. Yet, as stated above, the differences of import or
+meaning, even in the dream-world, of any particular symbol is a
+common experience. Thus one person will dream to be wading in
+water whenever there is trouble ahead. Another will dream of a
+naked child when similar troubles are about to occur, Butcher's
+meat will signify financial troubles to one person, to another a
+fortunate speculation. The controlling factor in this matter is
+probably to be found in the constitution of the mental and psychic
+qualities conferred by the hereditary and psychic influences
+converging at the conception of an individual, and expressed in the
+birth. Probably, too, an argument could be established in regard to
+the influence of the planets ruling at the nativity, and also from the
+dominion of the signs of the zodiac in the horoscope of birth. But
+this would be beyond the scope and intention of this short treatise.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+SOME EXPERIENCES
+
+The following facts, in connection with predictions made from the
+Crystal, have come within the knowledge of the writer, either as
+personal experiences or in association with others in which the
+faculty of clear vision is active.
+
+A lady of title visited the seer in the month of June, 1896, and was
+told that she would hear news from abroad in some hot country
+concerning the birth of a child, a boy, who would arrive in the
+following year in the month of February. The lady did hear such
+news, and in February, 1897, a boy was born to the lady's sister in
+India. The same lady was told that on a certain date, while
+travelling, she would meet with an accident to the right leg. She
+fell between the platform and the footboard while getting into a
+train, and suffered severe abrasion of the right leg, together with a
+serious muscular strain which laid her up for several days.
+Previous to that the lady was to be surprised by some good fortune
+happening to her son in connection with papers and a contest. This
+happened at the time specified. Her son passed his examination for
+the military college with honours.
+
+Mrs. H. was consulted by a lady of some ability in a special line of
+literature. This fact was not, however, within the knowledge of the
+seeress. She was told that she would go up a certain staircase into
+a dingy room with a roll of something under her arm. She would
+see a dark man who was thick-set and of quiet demeanour. The
+man would take the roll, and it would be a source of good fortune
+to her at a later date.
+
+The lady-consultant did so take a certain manuscript rolled up
+beneath her arm. She went up the dingy staircase described by the
+seeress, and saw the man whose description had been given.
+
+The manuscript was transferred from her hand to that of the
+publisher, for such was the man's occupation. The manuscript was
+accepted, and later on was published. So the prediction was
+literally fulfilled.
+
+In the first case cited the vision was _symbolical_, and the
+interpretation was made by the seer himself. In the second case the
+vision was literal, and needed no interpretation. These two cases
+will serve for an illustration of the two types of vision.
+
+Mrs. A. was consulted by a lady of the writer's acquaintance in
+1893. She was told that she would not marry the person to whom
+she was then engaged, but would have to wait till a certain person,
+who was described, should come from a foreign country and take
+her away. This would happen, it was said, in the month of January,
+three years later. This event transpired in due course exactly as
+predicted, though nothing was further from the probable course of
+events; in fact, the lady was not a little irate at the allusion to
+the breaking off of her then existing relations, while the idea of
+marrying a person whom she had never seen, and for whom she
+could have no sort of regard, was naturally revolting to one so
+wholly absorbed as she was at the time.
+
+Mrs. G. consulted the seer on September 27th, 1894. She was told
+she would have sickness incidental to the loins and shooting pains
+in the knees. [A figure was seen with a black cloth around the
+loins, the figure stooping and resting its hands upon its knees.] She
+would be the owner of a house in the month of December. [A
+house was seen covered with snow; the trees were bare.] A
+removal would be made when the trees were without leaf. [A bird
+was seen on a branch without leaf; the bird flies off.] The
+consultant would be engaged in a dispute concerning money.
+[Several hands seen grabbing at a pile of money.]
+
+These events came to pass at the time predicted. It is advisable to
+note that in the first instance the symbolical vision is seen; in the
+second, a _literal_ vision supervenes; and in the third and fourth
+cases the vision reverts to the symbolical. Here we have an
+instance of the overlapping of the two conditions of the
+temperament, the active and the passive state alternating.
+
+As an illustration of the extreme difficulty of interpretation in the
+normal state of consciousness a symbol may be cited which was
+seen in the crystal for Miss X. "A shield, and a lion rampant
+thereon, in red." Now this might mean anything. It suggests the
+armorial bearings of a princely family. The lion rampant might
+mean the anger of a person in authority, as the lion is the avowed
+king of beasts. Its colour, red, and its attitude are naturally
+expressive of anger. The shield might be a protection, though little
+needed by a lion, especially if the assailant were the fragile Miss
+X. to whom the vision had reference.
+
+Now observe the interpretation of the seer. "You will hear news
+from a man of medium height and fair complexion concerning a
+foreign country. A letter will come in reference to something
+written by you which will be the very best thing that could happen.
+You will score a great success." This interpretation, which is quite
+in line with the fact and which afterwards transpired, is probably
+as far removed from all that one might have expected as anything
+could well be. But we have to remember that the condition in
+which the seer voices the interpretation of symbols seen by him is
+a psychological one, and no doubt in that state natural symbols
+take on quite a different signification to that which they would
+hold in the normal state of waking consciousness. How often do
+dreams have a marked influence upon the dreamer while still
+asleep; how often do they assume proportions of magnitude and
+become pregnant with meaning to the dreamer, only to dissolve
+into ridiculous triviality and nonsense as soon as the person
+awakes! It would indeed appear that a complete hiatus exists
+between the visionary and the waking states of consciousness, so
+that even the laws of thought undergo a change when the centre of
+consciousness is removed from the outer to the inner world of
+thought and feeling.
+
+The writer has known cases of sickness predicted with remarkable
+accuracy, the time and the nature of the sickness being foretold
+with more or less accuracy. The reception of unexpected letters
+and telegrams; their import and consequences; the various
+changes, voyages, business negotiations and speculations
+occurring in the consultants' lives have been foretold by means of
+the crystal. Deaths have been foreseen, and even changes in the
+religious views of the consultant or his associates.
+
+In one case the writer saw a vision of a public square in which was
+the effigy of a lamb mounted upon a pedestal. The lamb was made
+of solid silver and was mounted on marble. A Catholic priest came
+along and pointed at the lamb. Immediately a flash of lightning
+came from the sky and struck the effigy, melting off one of its
+ears.
+
+This was stated to signify that the community to which the consultant
+belonged would immediately lose a member by conversion to
+the Roman Church. By the next mail the consultant learned
+that such was the case--an important member of the community
+having gone over to the Roman Catholics exactly as predicted.
+
+In another case a man was seen dressed in black and wearing the
+habit of a judge. He held some papers in his hands which he was
+endeavouring to conceal. He appeared unsuccessful in his efforts.
+A snake was seen at his feet. It rose up against him. A change took
+place in the field of the vision and the same man was seen lying on
+his death-bed. From this it was predicted that the man designated
+by the vision would be guilty of misrepresentation, and would be
+cut off by death three years from that time. The prediction was in
+every respect verified.
+
+Not unfrequently the visionary state is induced by excessive
+emotion, during which the prophetic faculty is considerably
+heightened. Some temperaments of a peculiarly sensitive order
+will fall into the clairvoyant condition while engaged in thought.
+The thread of thought is broken, and there appears a vision wholly
+unconnected with the subject but a moment ago in the mind. It
+would appear that the soul of the sensitive, while probing the
+depths of its inner consciousness, suddenly comes into contact
+with the thin partition which may be said to divide the outer world
+of thought and doubt from the inner world of intuition and direct
+perception, and, breaking through, emerges into the light beyond.
+The same may be said of cases which manifest the faculty of clear
+visions while in the hypnotic state, whether spontaneous or
+induced. The trance condition frequently manifests this faculty in
+conjunction with others, such as clairvoyance or clear-hearing and
+the sense of psychic touch.
+
+The following instance, which was reported in the _Morning
+Leader_ of Friday, 14th August, 1896, is remarkable for its
+extreme pertinence to the subject under consideration:
+
+"Last month a man named David Thomas, who had for a short
+time been employed by Lord Windsor as his estate carpenter, was
+found shot dead in a lonely spot on the roadside near Fairwater, a
+village not far from Cardiff. No trace of the murderer could be
+found, and no motive has been supplied for the fell deed.
+
+"David Thomas was, from all accounts, a quiet, peaceable fellow,
+well liked by his intimates, and happy in his domestic relations.
+He was a native of the little fishing village Aberaeron, in
+Cardiganshire, but he had lived in Glamorganshire for some years,
+and had married a respectable woman, a native of the Vale of
+Glamorgan. A few months ago he received the appointment of
+carpenter on Lord Windsor's estate. He then removed with his
+family to live in the little village of St. Fagan's a few miles out of
+Cardiff. He had hardly settled down there when the tragedy took
+place. It happened on a Saturday night. He had given up work
+early, and had come home to cut the grass in the little green in
+front of his cottage, and to tidy up his new home. Early in the
+afternoon he seems to have grown tired of the work and went
+indoors. His wife asked him to take the children out for a stroll. He
+made no reply, and his wife, busy in another part of the house, did
+not pay much attention to his subsequent movements. She knows,
+however, that he washed and went upstairs to put himself tidy, and
+then went out--without the children.
+
+"He seems to have met a friend on the road, and went for a walk
+with him. They called at a public-house, and had a glass or two of
+beer. Then, about ten o'clock, they parted. Thomas was quite
+cheerful, and started for home at a brisk pace. He came presently
+to a lonely part of the road. A wayfarer heard a pistol shot and a
+scream, and presently met a man who was hurrying away from the
+direction of the scream, and who wished him a gruff good-night.
+Two hundred yards farther on the traveller saw in the dim night
+the body of a man stretched out on the side of the road. He fetched
+assistance: the body was that of David Thomas. He had been shot
+about a hundred yards behind, but he had not been killed outright.
+He had run in terror up the road, spouting blood as he went, and
+leaving a ghastly trail behind him.
+
+"But a weird story which is told in the _Western Mail_ of Cardiff
+serves to lend that touch of horror to the tale which renders it more
+thrilling than any story which the most daring novelist would
+venture to create.
+
+"A young girl, who is not yet 20, has been in the habit for some
+time past of attending séances held by the Cardiff Psychological
+Society. One night at a séance, while in a state of trance, she was
+seized with a strange convulsion. Through her lips came the
+words:
+
+"'I--WILL--have--my--revenge.'
+
+"'Who are you, friend?' asked the interlocutor.
+
+"'David--Thomas. I--was--shot.'
+
+"This entirely unexpected answer was followed by sensational
+statements concerning the murder and the identity of the murderer.
+Some days after she was taken out to Fairwater--which she had
+never before visited--and reenacted in a trance the scene of the
+murder.
+
+"The story leaked out, and came to the ears of the _Western Mail_.
+Doubts were cast at once on the _bôna fides_ of the girl and the
+whole story. An offer was made to repeat the experiment in the
+presence of two _Mail_ representatives. The offer was accepted,
+and one night this week, at ten o'clock, the little party met outside
+the Railway Inn, where poor David Thomas had had his last drink.
+
+"A start was made. The medium walked at an easy pace between a
+male and female friend, whose arms were linked. The faint outline
+of the road ahead led always on towards a wall of blackness.
+
+"At last they came near Fairwater. Suddenly the medium spoke:
+
+"'I see a pistol right in front of me--held towards me--it is a shiny
+one--there it is, held up--it has a large mouth.'
+
+"Forty yards farther on the medium spoke again: 'Hark! I hear
+footsteps! I see a man!'
+
+"'Where?'
+
+"'Right in front of us. There he is, creeping along the hedge. He is
+keeping out of sight.'
+
+"'What is he like? How is he dressed?'
+
+"The medium described her vision very minutely. Her pace
+increased suddenly; she dragged her linked companions on with a
+lurch forward. The farmhouse where she first saw the phantom
+stranger was well passed. She was following him, eagerly now.
+
+"A piercing scream came from the girl. A pressman sprang to her
+side and helped to prevent her body pitching headlong forward.
+
+"This was at the spot where David Thomas fell at the first shot.
+
+"'O--o--oh!' moaned the medium, twisting her left arm round to
+the back, to a spot immediately below the shoulder-blade, as if in
+intense agony. Then, supported on either side, she staggered
+forward.
+
+"A light was struck to see her face. It was the hue of death. Her
+eyes were turned until the whites only were visible.
+
+"'Let her go down!'
+
+"Moaning, she was allowed to sink, and lay there prone. Her
+moans expressed intense agony, and were like those of a man
+dying, blood gurgling in the sound; it was scarce conceivable a
+woman actually lay there.
+
+"'Speak, friend,' said her interlocutor, and presently came the slow
+answer, a whisper:
+
+"'David--T-T-Thomas.'
+
+"'What do you want of us, friend?'
+
+"'I--was--shot!' The tones of the voice were those of a man.
+
+"'Who shot you?'
+
+"A name was given.
+
+"'What do you want to do, my friend?'
+
+"Slowly, distinctly, with relentless purpose came the answer:
+
+"'I--will--have--my revenge. He shot me.'
+
+"Then the medium told them where the pistol had been bought by
+the murderer a year ago under an assumed name, and where the
+pistol would be found. All this while the poor girl lay prone on the
+roadside under the thin sinister telegraphic pole.
+
+"Gradually she revived. 'Look, look!' she cried, in a voice of
+horror, 'Look at the blood.'
+
+"'Where?'
+
+"'Here--look! Look here!' indicating spots not visible to any one
+else. 'Take me away,' she shuddered, but before her frightened
+exclamation could be obeyed her body suddenly stiffened.' He is
+there!' she said, with a pitiful horror in her tone, but with her face
+expressionless and her eyes still white.
+
+"'What do you see?'
+
+"'The ghost.'
+
+"Then the party returned, shaken in mind and surfeited with
+horrors."
+
+Examples of a similar nature might be multiplied indefinitely, and
+would but serve to show what has already been stated as a matter
+of personal experience among all those in whom the psychic
+faculties have attained any degree of development, viz., that the
+_rapport_ existing between the human soul and the world of
+subjective consciousness is capable of being actively induced by
+recourse to appropriate means, or cultivated, where it exists to any
+degree, by means of the crystal and other accessories, such as the
+metal disc used in China, or the Shiva-lingam stones used in India.
+
+The following example of the psychic sense of feeling will serve
+to show that all the senses, not that of vision alone, are capable of
+development under suitable conditions. A contributor to the
+_Westminster Budget_, in December, 1893, sends the following
+account of the use of the divining rod for the purpose of
+spring-finding:
+
+"A few weeks ago took place some operations with the divining
+rod by Mr. Stears, of Hull, who was called to Mr. S. Campion's
+farm at East Heslerton, near Malton, to search for a water supply.
+At that time he marked two places near the farmhouse where, he
+said, the presence of water was indicated by the rod. Since then
+Mr. E. Halliday, plumber of Malton, has bored an artesian well at
+one of the places indicated, and found a very copious supply of
+water at a depth of 87 feet, after going through sand, clay, and a
+bed of what Mr. Halliday says is quartz and lead ore. Mr.
+Campion, who was previously without a supply of pure water, is
+delighted with the results of the visit of the 'diviner,' and has faith
+in his power with the rod. Mr. Stears has since been called in to
+experiment on several farms on the Birdsall estate of Lord
+Middleton, the operations being conducted in the presence of
+Julia, Lady Middleton, the Hon. Geoffrey and Mrs. Dawnay, Mr.
+Persons (Lord Middleton's agent), and others. Other farms were
+visited, and Mr. Stears, after employing the rod, indicated the
+presence of water at each. Mr. Halliday has also received
+instructions to make tests at these places, and operations are now
+in progress. Mr. Stears has successfully 'divined' for water on two
+of Mr. Lett's farms in the East Riding, and also at Amotherby, near
+Malton; and his success is drawing fresh attention to the 'divining
+rod' and its capabilities in the hands of a duly 'inspired' professor.
+Mr. Stears claims that he can also discover metals as well as water,
+and he alleges that not one person in 10,000 can use the rod
+successfully. His explanation of the power he possesses beyond
+the ordinary run of his fellow-men is that it is what he would call
+'animal electricity,' because at times, after using the rod for a long
+period, he loses his power with it, and only recovers it after a short
+rest and refreshment. In the presence of Lady Middleton and the
+rest of the company he made several interesting experiments--for
+instance, standing on a china dish, to show that china is a
+non-conducting agent (the rod ceasing to oscillate even when over
+water); finding metals hid in the ground, etc."
+
+Mrs. Louise Cotton, writing of the operation itself, says:
+
+"When a sensitive person who has the power of feeling the
+existence of water or mineral under the surface of the earth, steps
+exactly over the course of a spring or running water, or metallic
+vein, etc., the piece of wood or other medium used turns in
+the hands--in most cases upwards for water and downwards
+for minerals. The motion varies according to individual
+temperaments: in some hands the turning is slow and but slightly
+felt, or scarcely perceptible by lookers-on; with others it rotates
+rapidly, and when held tightly by the thumb, the bark of the branch
+or twig often peels off; and, with very susceptible operators. I have
+seen the rod fly, out of the hands, or, if very tightly held, break."
+
+As yet, however, the majority of people are wholly oblivious to
+the fact that such psychic faculties exist, and even those who
+possess them, _i.e._, who have them in something like working
+efficiency, are conscious of having but an imperfect control over
+them.
+
+Probably it is as suggested by Mr. F. H. Myers, these things are, as
+yet, imperfectly understood. Genius, far from being a condition
+bordering on neurosis or other nervous ailments--as Lombroso and
+Nordau have erroneously taught--is an exaltation of faculty which
+brings its subject into relations with a plane of life possibly far in
+advance of one's normal experience; so that while new centres of
+activity are as yet under imperfect control, the normal functions of
+the brain and other centres of action are left in neglect. Hence, to
+the casual observer, the erratic nature of Genius is not
+distinguishable from some incipent forms of insanity.
+
+In just the same way the opening up of new centres of activity in
+the psychic nature of man is frequently attended by temporary loss
+of control over the normal brain functions. Loss of memory,
+hysteria, absentmindedness, unconscious utterance of one's
+thoughts, illusions and hallucinations, irritability, indifference to
+one's surroundings, and similar perversions, are among the
+products of the newly-evolved psychic faculty.
+
+These, however, will pass away when the faculty has been brought
+under control of the mind. Nature is jealous of its offspring, and
+concentrates the whole of its forces when in the act of generation.
+That is the reason of its apparent neglect of powers and function
+already under its control while the evolution of a new faculty is in
+process.
+
+The would-be seer, therefore, must be prepared to pay the price of
+any success which may attend his efforts in the direction of
+inducing clairvoyance by means of the crystal.
+
+"The universe is thine. Take what thou wilt, but pay the price," is
+the mandate of Nature. "What shall be the price of this new
+faculty?" the reader may ask. The answer is the same in regard to
+this or any other faculty of the soul: "What is it worth to yourself?
+That is the price you must pay."
+
+With this equation in mind the reader is asked to consider
+seriously the phenomena indicated in the foregoing pages.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DIRECTIONS FOR USING THE OVOIDS AND SHPERES FOR CRYSTAL OR MIRROR
+VISION
+
+Daylight and artificial light are both equally suitable. A North
+light is the best suited to the human eye.
+
+Observer should sit back to the light, holding the Ovoid or Sphere
+in the palm of the hand, which may rest comfortably on the lap, or
+it can be placed on a table with a stand under it, and a back screen
+of black velvet or dark material. The latter materially assists by
+cutting off side lights and reflections. Steady gazing in complete
+silence is absolutely necessary, for unlike other occult phenomena,
+the distraction the attention of primary (ordinary) consciousness is
+a great disadvantage. Success depends chiefly upon idiosyncrasy
+or faculty in the gazers, for "Seers" are very often men and women
+of imperfect education, in fact they seem "born rather than made"
+but the faculty may be developed in many people, seemingly at
+first insensitive, by frequent short trials, say fifteen to twenty
+minutes at a time, or less if they get tired.
+
+Success is indicated when the Sphere or Ovoid, ceasing to reflect,
+becomes milky, a clouded colour following (generally red, and its
+complementary green), turning to blackness, which seems to roll
+away like a curtain, disclosing to the view of the student, pictures,
+scenes, figures in action, sentences of warnings, advice, etc., etc.
+
+Revival of latent or lapsed memory is one of the leading features
+of this experiment. A book of instructions, carefully copied by
+Raphael from the old astrological works, is prepared specially for
+his crystals, price 1s. 2d. post free.
+
+THE PRACTICE OF CRYSTAL VISION
+
+Magi Spheres are considered the best. The price a few years ago
+was £3 3s. each, but the sale having become larger and the process
+less expensive, they are now sent packed with instructions for 15s.
+6d., in a velvet-lined specially made jewel case. "Some persons
+see at once, others after a time. Women see better than men
+visions of the past, present, and future, on the subjects upon which
+the mind feels anxious. It does not require a knowledge of
+astrology to be able to use the crystal."
+
+  No. 1, in case, with instruction, 15s. 6d.
+   "  2,    "          "         "  21s.
+   "  3,    "          "         "  50s.
+   "  4,    "          "         "  60s.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGICAL TERMS
+
+AFFLICTION.--When a planet is on the cross (square) or in
+opposition, it is said to afflict.
+
+AIRY SIGNS.--Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. These are the mental
+signs.
+
+ANGLES.--The cardinal points forming the cross or square; the
+first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses.
+
+APPLICATION.--As its name implies, when one planet applies to
+another. The Moon applies to all the planets, being the quickest
+traveller.
+
+AQUARIUS (the Water bearer).--The eleventh sign of the zodiac,
+or 300° from the 0° of Aries. The Sun enters Aquarius about the
+21st of January each year.
+
+ARIES (the Ram).--The first sign of the zodiac. In making up the
+360° in the zodiac, we count from 0° of Aries. The Sun enters
+Aries on the 21st of March each year.
+
+ASCENDANT.--This is the first house, or that point which rises at
+birth.
+
+ASCENDING.--When a planet is between the fourth and tenth
+house; it is always the east.
+
+ASPECTS.--This means the relationship one planet, or sign, has to
+another in the zodiac. The Table of Aspects should be well
+studied; it is important.
+
+BENEFICS.--Jupiter and Venus are always good, because they
+give Hope and Love, and, if we add the Sun, we have Faith, Hope,
+and Charity.
+
+BESIEGED.--A term used when a planet is found between two
+others; if between Jupiter and Venus, it is good; if between Saturn
+and Mars, evil.
+
+BI-CORPOREAL SIGNS.--So-called because they are double. It
+is rarely used. The signs are Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces.
+
+CADENT.--The third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth houses are cadent.
+It means falling from angles.
+
+CANCER (the Crab).--The fourth sign of the zodiac; it is 90° from
+0°. The Sun enters Cancer on 21st June.
+
+CAPRICORN (the Goat).--The tenth sign of the zodiac, into
+which the Sun enters on the 21st of December.
+
+CARDINAL SIGNS.--Aries, Cancer, Libra, and, Capricorn. These
+four signs form the
+
+         S
+       E + W
+         N
+
+they are important signs.
+
+COMMON SIGNS.--Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.
+
+CONJUNCTION.--When two planets are close together, or within
+orbs of each other. At New Moon the Moon is conjunction Sun.
+
+CULMINATE.--When a planet is in the mid-heaven, it is said to
+culminate; it means being on the cusp of the tenth.
+
+CUSP.--The beginning of any house. At noon the Sun is on the
+cusp of the tenth house. It means the first point of the houses.
+
+DECLINATION.--The distance any planet is North or South of
+the Equator.
+
+DECREASING IN LIGHT.--When a planet is past the opposition
+of the Sun, it is then said to be weak.
+
+DEGREE.--The 360th part of the zodiac; its mark is °; 90° is a
+square; 120° a trine of the zodiac.
+
+DESCENDANT.--The seventh house, or opposite to the
+Ascendant; the West.
+
+DESCENDING.--When a planet is between the tenth and seventh
+houses.
+
+DETRIMENT.--A planet in a sign opposite to its own house is in
+its detriment. The house of the Moon is Cancer. When the Moon is
+in Capricorn, it is in its detriment.
+
+DIGNITIES.--When a planet is in exaltation, or in an angle,
+increasing in light, etc.
+
+DIRECT.--When the planets are moving in their true order
+through the zodiac.
+
+DIRECTIONS.--The period after birth. The position of the planets
+as life advances. The Sun moves about one degree per day, and
+this is equivalent to one year. The thirtieth day after birth would
+denote the thirtieth year of life, and the Directions would be taken
+out of the ephemeris for this day, the Sun's aspects forming the
+primary directions and the Moon the secondary.
+
+DRAGON'S HEAD.--The Moon's North Node, or when she crosses
+the ecliptic into north latitude. The Moon's course is of
+serpentine form, having a head and tail.
+
+DRAGON'S TAIL.--The Moon's South Node when she crosses into
+south latitude.
+
+EARTHLY SIGNS.--Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.
+
+ECLIPSE.--An obscuration of a heavenly body, owing to the
+interposition of another. The Moon in the shadow of the Sun is
+eclipsed.
+
+ECLIPTIC.--The circle of the heavens which the Sun appears to
+describe in the course of the year, in consequence of the earth's
+motion round him.
+
+ELEVATED.--The planet nearest to the mid-heaven is elevated
+over any other.
+
+EPHEMERIS.--A Table for each day, giving the latitude and
+longitude of the planets. "Raphael's" _Ephemeris_, price 1s., is
+considered the best. It is all that is needed to cast the horoscope.
+
+EQUINOCTIAL SIGNS.--Aries and Libra.
+
+EXALTATION.--There are certain houses in which a planet is
+exalted, as follows: Sun, Aries; Moon, Taurus; Mercury, Gemini;
+Jupiter, Cancer; Saturn, Libra; Mars, Capricorn; Venus, Pisces.
+
+FALL.--When a planet is in a sign opposite to its exaltation, it is
+weak.
+
+FEMININE SIGNS.--The odd signs, as Taurus, Cancer, Virgo,
+Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces.
+
+FIERY SIGNS.--Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.
+
+FIGURE.--A map of the heavens is called by astrologers a figure.
+
+FIXED SIGNS.--Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius.
+
+FORTUNES.--Jupiter, Venus, and the Sun when well placed.
+
+FRUITFUL SIGNS.--Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.
+
+GEMINI.--The third sign, or house of Mercury. The Sun enters the
+sign about 21st May.
+
+GENETHLIACAL.--That which applies to the geneture in nativity.
+
+GEOCENTRIC.--As viewed from the centre of the earth.
+
+GELIOCENTRIC.--As seen from or having reference to the centre
+of the Sun.
+
+HOUSES.--One of the twelve divisions of the zodiac.
+
+IMUM COELE.--The fourth house, or lower meridian.
+
+INCREASING IN LIGHT.--When the Moon or any planet is leaving
+the Sun, until the opposition is reached.
+
+INFORTUNES.--Saturn, Mars, and Uranus when afflicted.
+
+INTERCEPTED.--A sign lying between the cusp of two houses.
+
+LATITUDE.--The distance of any planet north or south of the
+ecliptic.
+
+LEO.--The fifth sign in the zodiac; the house of the Sun.
+
+LIBRA.--The seventh sign and house of Venus.
+
+LOGARITHMS.--Of great use to astrologers. A Table of artificial
+numbers; to be found at the back of "Raphael's" _Ephemeris_.
+
+LONGITUDE.--The angular distance of a heavenly body from the
+first point of Aries, measured from the ecliptic as seen from the
+earth.
+
+LORD.--The ruler of a sign or house. Mars is the lord of Aries,
+and if Aries was in Ascendant, it would be lord and ruler.
+
+LUMINARIES.--The Sun and Moon.
+
+LUNATION.--A lunar period.
+
+MALEFICS.--See Infortunes.
+
+MASCULINE SIGNS.--Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius,
+Aquarius.
+
+MASCULINE PLANETS.--Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
+
+MODERN ASTROLOGY.--A monthly magazine of interest to all
+thinkers.
+
+NORTHERN SIGNS.--Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo,
+Virgo.
+
+OCCIDENTAL.--The western portion of the map.
+
+OPPOSITION.--When two planets are opposite each other, or
+180° distant.
+
+ORBS.--The orbs of the planets are the number of degrees allowed
+to each in which their influence is felt. Five degrees all round is
+the safest number to give.
+
+ORIENTAL.--When a planet is in the eastern part of the heavens.
+
+PARALLELS.--The declination north or south of the equator. It is
+a position considered of the nature of a conjunction.
+
+PART OF FORTUNE.--A point in the horoscope where the rays
+of the Sun and Moon converge.
+
+PISCES.--The twelfth sign of the zodiac.
+
+QUERENT.--One who asks a horary question.
+
+QUESITED.--The one enquired about.
+
+QUINTILE.--An aspect of 72° in longitude.
+
+RADICAL.--That which is connected with the radix, or root,
+dealing with the horoscope.
+
+RECEPTION.--The planet that receives the aspect.
+
+RECTIFICATION.--A method by which the true Ascendant is
+discovered.
+
+RETROGRADE.--An apparent motion of a planet that is not in the
+order of the signs.
+
+REVOLUTIONS.--A solar revolution is the return of the Sun to its
+place at birth.
+
+SAGITTARUS.--The ninth sign of the zodiac.
+
+SCHEME.--A map of the heavens.
+
+SEMI-SEXTILE.--A difference of 300 in longitude; a weak, good
+aspect.
+
+SEMI-SQUARE.--An aspect of 450 difference in longitude; an
+evil aspect.
+
+SEPARATION.--When a planet is separating from another.
+
+SESQUIQUADRATE.--An evil aspect being a difference of 1350
+in longitude.
+
+SEXTILE.--A good aspect, a difference of 60° in longitude.
+
+SIGNIFICATION.--The ruling planet, or word, of the Ascendant.
+
+SOUTHERN SIGNS.--Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius Capricorn,
+Aquarius, Pisces.
+
+SPECULUM.--A Table of the aspects in the horoscope.
+
+STATIONARY.--When a planet appears to have no motion, it is
+said to be stationary.
+
+SUCCEDENT.--Those houses which follow the angles. The second,
+fifth, eighth, and eleventh.
+
+TABLE OF HOUSES.--A Table for calculating nativities.
+
+TAURUS.--The second sign of the zodiac and the house of Venus.
+
+TRANSITS.--The passing of the planets over places or points in
+the horoscopes by daily motion, as seen from the Ephemeris.
+
+TRINE.--A good aspect; a difference of 120° in longitude.
+
+URANUS.--The name given to the planet Uranus, or Herschel.
+
+VIRGO.--The sixth sign in the zodiac; the house of Mercury.
+
+ZENITH.--The point directly overhead. The pole of the horizon.
+
+ZODIAC.--The belt of the heavens containing the twelve signs,
+divided into 300 parts each, making 3600.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Read the Crystal, by Sepharial
+
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Read the Crystal, by Sepharial
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: How to Read the Crystal
+       or, Crystal and Seer
+
+Author: Sepharial
+
+Release Date: September 14, 2008 [EBook #26622]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO READ THE CRYSTAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Ruth Hart
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<p>[Note:  In the original text, the Concise Dictionary of Astrological Terms
+displayed a small astrological glyph illustration next to each term,
+but I have not included these diagrams in this online text.]</p>
+
+<br>
+
+
+<center>
+
+<p>HOW TO READ THE CRYSTAL<br>
+OR, CRYSTAL AND SEER</p>
+
+<p>WITH A CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGICAL TERMS</p>
+
+<p>BY</p>
+
+<p>SEPHARIAL</p>
+
+<p>AUTHOR OF "BOOK OF CARDS," &quot;THE LITTLE BOOK OF
+MAGIC," ETC.<br>
+&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>LONDON FOULSHAM &amp; CO., LTD. <br>
+10 &amp; 11, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C. <br>
+1922<br>
+&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><i>Printed in Great Britain</i></p>
+
+
+<p><br>
+CONTENTS</p>
+<br>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter I.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#1">A Postulate</a></td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;5</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter II.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#2">
+Qualifications</a></td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;13</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter III.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#3">
+Preliminaries</a></td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;17</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#4">The Vision</a></td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;21</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter V.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5">Difficulties</a></td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;25</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#6">Symbols</a></td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;29</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#7">Some
+Experiences</a></td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;35</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#8">Directions
+for Using the Ovoids and Spheres <br>for Crystal or Mirror Vision</a> </td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;51</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#9">Consise
+Dictionary of Astrological Terms</a></td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;&nbsp;53</td></tr>
+
+</table>
+</center>
+
+<br>
+<a name="1"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER I.</p>
+
+<p>A POSTULATE</p>
+
+<p>Any attempt at a scientific explanation of the phenomenon of
+"crystal seering," to use an irregular but comprehensive term, would perhaps
+fall short of completeness, and certainly would depend largely upon the exercise
+of what Professor Huxley was wont to call "the scientific imagination." The
+reasons for this are obvious. We know comparatively little about atomic
+structure in relation to nervous organism. We are informed to a certain degree
+upon atomic ratios; we know that all bodies are regarded by the physicist as a
+congeries of atoms, and that these atoms are "centres of force." Primarily, the
+atomic theory would refer all heterogeneous bodies to one homogeneous substance,
+from which substance, by means of a process loosely referred to as
+"differentiation," all the elements are derived. These elements are the result
+of atomic arrangement, and the atoms of each are known to have various
+vibrations, the extent of which is called the "mean free path of vibration."
+The indestructibility of matter, the fact that all nature is convertible, and
+the absolute association of matter and force, lead to the conclusion that since
+every change in matter implies a change of force, matter must be ever living and
+active, and primarily of a spiritual nature. The great Swedenborg, no less a
+scientist than a spiritual seer, laid down his doctrine of "Correspondences"
+upon the primary concept of the spiritual origin of all force and matter.
+Matter, he argued, was the ultimate expression of Spirit, as Form was that of
+Force. Spirit was to Force what Matter was to Form—our ideas of Matter and Form
+being closely related. Hence, for every <i>Spiritual Force</i> there is a
+corresponding <i>Material Form</i>, and the material or natural world
+corresponds at all points with the world of spirit, without being identical.
+This, in brief, is the conclusion to which the "scientific imagination" of the
+present day, extending as it does from the known into the unknown, is slowly but
+surely leading up.</p>
+
+<p>Taking as our postulate the scientific statement of the atomic
+structure of bodies, atomic vibration and molecular arrangement, we turn to
+consider the action exerted by such bodies upon the nervous organism of man.</p>
+
+<p>The function of the brain—which must be regarded as the
+bulbous root of a nervous plant whose branches grow downwards—is twofold; to
+affect, and to be affected. In its active or positive condition it affects the
+whole of the vital and muscular processes in the man, finding expression in
+vital action. In its passive or negative state it is affected by impressions
+coming to it in different ways through the sense-organs, resulting in nervous
+and mental action. It is this latter phase of brain-function with which we are
+immediately concerned.</p>
+
+<p>The range of our sense-perception puts us momentarily and
+continually in relation with the material world, or rather with a <i>certain
+portion</i> of it. We say a certain portion because we know from scientific
+experience that the scale or gamut of sense-perception is limited, both as to
+its extent and as to its quality. Many insects, birds, and quadrupeds have
+keener perceptions in some respects than man. The photographic plate can
+register impressions which are beyond the perception of our highest sense of
+sight. The Röntgen rays have put us into relations with a new order of
+impression—records quite beyond the range of our normal vision. The animalcule
+and microbic life, itself microscopic, has yet its own order of sense-organs
+related to a world of vitality beyond our ken. These, and a host of other
+observations, serve to show that our normal perceptions are extremely limited,
+and, further, that nature does not cease to exist where we cease to perceive
+her.</p>
+
+<p>The relation of our sense-organs to the several degrees of
+matter, to solids, fluids, gases, atmospheric and etheric motions, vary in
+different individuals to such a wide extent that the average wool-sorter
+leaves many an artist behind in his perception of colour-shades. The same odour
+is perceptible by one person and unrecognisable by another. In the gradation of
+sound, too, the same differences of perception will be commonly noticed. But
+quite apart from the scale or range of perception, the <i>quality</i> of a
+sense-impression is found to vary with different persons. By this we mean that
+the same body will affect different persons in dissimilar manner. Hence arises
+the variety of "tastes" in regard to forms, colours, flavours, scents, sounds,
+fabrics, etc., what is agreeable to one being highly objectionable to another.
+The experience is to common to need illustration; but the conclusion to which we
+are led is that, in relation to the nervous system of man, every material body
+has a variable effect. And this clears the ground for a statement of our views
+in regard to the Crystal and its effects upon the seer.</p>
+
+<p>The Crystal itself is a clear pellucid piece of quartz or
+beryl, sometimes oval in shape, but more generally spheroidal. It is accredited
+by Reichenbach and other researchers with highly magnetic qualities capable of
+producing in a suitable subject a state analogous to the ordinary waking trance
+of the hypnotists. It is believed that all bodies convey, or are the vehicles
+of, a certain universal magnetic property, variously called Od, Odyle, etc.,
+which is regarded as an inert and passive substance underlying the more active
+forces familiar to us in kinetic, calorific, and electrical phenomena. In
+this respect it bears a position analogous to the Argon of the atmosphere. It is
+capable of taking up, sympathetically, the vibrations of those bodies or
+elements to which it is temporarily related. But of itself it has no activity,
+although in its still, well-like, and calm depths it holds the potentiality of
+all magnetic forces. This Odyle, then, is particularly potent in the quartz or
+beryl, when brought into activity by the intention of the seer. It produces and
+retains more readily in that form the various images communicated to it from the
+soul of man. And the soul, in this connection, must be regarded as the
+repository of all that complex mass of emotions, thoughts, impressions,
+perceptions, feelings, etc., included in the inner life of man; for the soul of
+man is not the less a scientific fact because there are those who bandy words
+concerning its origin and nature. Reichenbach has shown by a series of
+experiments upon sensitive and hypnotised subjects that metals and other
+substances produce very marked effects in contact with the human body. Those
+experiments showed, too, that the same substance affected different patients in
+diverse manner. The hypnotic experiments of Dr. Charcot, the well-known French
+biologist, also demonstrate the <i>rapport</i> existing between the sensitive
+patient and foreign bodies when in proximity or contact; as for example, when a
+bottle containing a poison was taken at random from among a number of
+others of exactly similar appearance, and applied to the back of the patient's
+neck, the hypnotised subject would once develop all the symptoms of poisoning by
+arsenic, strychnine, prussic acid, etc., it being afterwards ascertained that
+the bottle thus applied actually contained the toxine whose effects had been
+portrayed by the subject.</p>
+
+<p>It need not, then, be a matter of surprise to learn that the
+Crystal exerts a very definite and sensible effect upon the nervous system of a
+certain order of subjects. It does not affect all alike, nor act in exactly the
+same way on those whom it does so affect. Where its action is more or less rapid
+and remarkable, the quartz or beryl Crystal may be taken as the most effective
+medium for producing the vision. In other cases the concave mirror, either of
+polished copper or black japan, will be found serviceable for inducing the
+clairvoyant state. In some other cases, again, a bowl of water is sufficient.
+The ecstatic vision was first induced in the case of Jacob Boehme by the sun's
+rays falling upon a bowl of water which caught and dazzled his eyes while he was
+engaged in the humble task of cobbling a pair of shoes. As a consequence of this
+exaltation of the sense of sight we have those remarkable works, "The Aurora,"
+"The Four Complexions," "The Signatura Rerum," and many others, together with a
+volume of letters and commentaries which, in addition to being of a highly
+spiritual nature, must also be regarded as scholarly when referred to their
+authorship.</p>
+
+<p>In cases like the above it may be said that the clairvoyant
+faculty is constitutional and already fully developed, waiting only the
+circumstances which shall serve to bring it into active play, Emanuel Swedenborg,
+if we remember rightly, was 54 years of age before he awoke to the consciousness
+of his spiritual vision.</p>
+
+<p>The medium employed for inducing the clairvoyant state cannot
+be definitely prescribed. It must remain a matter of experiment for each
+investigator. This, however, may be said:&nbsp; <i>Every person whose life is
+not wholly sunk in selfish and material pleasures, but in whom the aspiration to
+a nobler and purer life is a hunger the world cannot satisfy, has within himself
+the power to see and know that which he seeks behind the veil of his earthly
+senses. Nature has never produced a desire she could not satisfy. There is no
+hope, however vague, that the soul cannot define, and no aspiration, however
+high, that the wings of the spirit cannot reach. Therefore be patient and
+strive</i>.</p>
+
+<p>That there are some in whom the psychic faculties are more
+prone to activity than in others is certain, as also some in whom these powers
+are native, by spiritual or hereditary succession; all of which may be
+determined from their genitures by the astrological art. In others, the
+determination of the natural powers takes a more practical and mundane tendency,
+making them more successful in the affairs of daily life than in aught of a
+spiritual nature St. Paul has spoken of a diversity of gifts. "One
+star differeth from another in glory," he says, in very truth. This distribution of
+natural gifts proceeds from the celestial world, and is so ordered that each
+person born on this earth may fulfil his part in the economy of life. And
+because the spiritual needs of mankind are of primary importance, there are
+those born in whom the power of spiritual interpretation is the dominant
+faculty, such persons being the natural channels of intercourse between the
+superior and inferior worlds. These are to mankind what a certain order of
+microbic life is to the body of man—organic interpreters, translating the
+elements of food into blood, nerve, fibre, tissue, etc., agreeably to the laws
+of their being.</p>
+
+<p>For those who would aspire to the gift of pure vision, and in
+whom the faculty is striving for expression, the following pages are written. To
+others we would say, Be content. All birds are not eagles. The nightingale has a
+song, the humming-bird a plumage which the eagle will never possess. The
+nightingale may sing to the stars, humming-bird to the flowers, but the eagle,
+whose tireless eyes gaze into the heart of day, is uncompanioned in its lofty
+loneliness in the barren mountain-tops.</p>
+
+<a name="2"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER II.</p>
+
+<p>QUALIFICATIONS</p>
+
+<p>There are in existence certain magical works, such as those of
+Trithemius and Barrett, wherein the use of the Crystal is accompanied by certain
+rites and invocations. This ceremonial magic we are disposed to repudiate as
+highly dangerous. It brings into play a number of forces which may well prove
+disastrous in inexperienced hands. All action and reaction are equal and
+opposite. A child might easily fire a cannon, but could not possibly withstand
+its recoil. So in the education of the spiritual faculties, it is better to
+encourage their natural development by legitimate exercise than to invoke the
+action of stimulants which we may not afterwards be able to control. The
+continual fretting of the water will wear away a rock, though none doubts the
+water is softer than the rock. If the barrier between this and the soul-world be
+like granite, yet the patient and persistent action of a determined mind will
+sooner or later wear it away, the last layer will break down, and the light will
+stream through, dazzling the unaccustomed eyes with its effulgence.</p>
+
+<p>It is our desire to indicate by what means and by what
+persons the natural development of the clairvoyant faculty may be achieved.
+</p>
+
+<p>First, in regard to the subject, medium or seer. There are two
+distinct temperament in which the faculty is likely to be dominant, and capable
+of high and rapid culture. There is the nervous temperament associated, with a
+high muscular development, classified as the "mental-motive" temperament. It is
+characterized by extreme activity of body and mind, a certain nervous
+excitability, prominent features, full osseous development, prominent brows,
+intent gaze, and generally a swarthy complexion. This type represents the
+<i>positive</i> seers, in whom the mind goes out towards the images of the soul.
+The other, in whom the <i>passive</i> temperament is present, and to whom the
+soul-images come by passive reflection, as things mirrored in a moveless lake,
+are known by the following characteristics: Full and lymphatic habit, pale or
+delicate complexion, generally blue eyes, straight fine hair; small, plump, and
+cold hands; a high, piping or feeble voice, and languid disposition.</p>
+
+<p>These two types—of which there are many varieties—achieve
+their psychic development by quite opposite means. The positive seer works with
+effort, throwing out the soul-images by the power of his will, perceiving them
+with more or less accuracy, and thereafter turning them over in the mind,
+reasoning and questioning concerning their import and meaning. The passive seer,
+on the contrary, works not at all and makes no effort, the visions coming
+slowly, almost imperceptibly, and in most cases having a literal interpretation.
+The visions in this case are not allegorical, emblematic, or symbolic, as in the
+case of the positive seer, but are actual visions of facts just as they have
+happened, or will transpire in the future. Of the two orders, the passive is the
+more serviceable because the more perspicuous, but it has the disadvantage of
+being largely under the control of external influences, and hence is frequently
+incapable of "seeing" anything whatever.</p>
+
+<p>The positive type of seer exercises an introspective vision,
+searching inwardly towards the soul-world whence the revelations proceed. Of
+what nature these revelations are will appear in the following pages. The
+passive type of seer, on the contrary, remains <i>in statu quo</i>, open to
+impressions coming inwards towards the perceptive faculty, but making no effort
+towards either outward or inward searching. The success of each depends upon the
+observance of that method which is agreeable to their respective temperaments.
+</p>
+
+<p>In regard to the qualifications which should supplement and
+sustain the natural aptitude of the seer or seeress, the following remarks may
+be of general service.</p>
+
+<p>Self-possession and confidence in one's own soul-faculties
+must be the firm rock upon which all revelations should rest. The purer the
+intention and motive of the seer, the more lucid will be the visions
+accorded. No reliable vision can be obtained by one whose nature is not
+inherently truthful. Any selfish desire dominanting the mind in regard to any
+thing or person will distort the visions and render them misleading, while a
+persistent self-seeking spirit will effectually shut the doors upon all visions
+whatsoever. Therefore, above all things it is essential for the investigator to
+have an unflinching love of truth, to be resigned to the will of Heaven, to
+accept the revelations accorded in a spirit of grateful confidence, and finally
+to dispel all doubt and controversy by appeal to the eyes of one's own immortal
+soul. These are qualifications with which the seer or seeress should be
+invested, and if with these the quest is unsuccessful after a period of earnest
+trial, it must be taken as sufficient warrant that the faculty is not in the
+category of one's individual powers. Haply, the same qualifications brought to
+bear upon some other psychic faculty will result in a rich recompense.</p>
+
+<a name="3"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER III.</p>
+
+<p>PRELIMINARIES</p>
+
+<p>Having obtained a good Crystal, as free as possible from
+blemish, care must be taken to keep it is much as possible in a dark place when
+not in use. The best covering therefore is a black one of soft material, such as
+velvet, which will not scratch the polished surface of the quartz.[*] Exposure to
+the sun's rays not only scores the faces of the crystal, but also puts the odylic
+substance into activity, distributing and dissipating the magnetic
+force stored up therein. It must not be understood that the visions are in the
+crystal itself. They are in the soul of the seer. But the odylic substance is
+acted upon by the nervo-vital emanations of the body of the seer, and reacts
+upon the brain centres by means of the optic nerves. That is why it is necessary
+to keep the crystal as free as possible from disturbing elements. For the same
+reason, when in use, the crystal should be overshadowed by the seer, and so
+placed that <i>no direct rays</i>
+of light from sun, or lamp, or gasalier may fall upon
+it. The odyle, as has been already stated, rapidly responds to surrounding
+magnetic conditions, and to the vibrations of surrounding Bodies, and to none
+more powerfully than the etheric perturbation caused by combustion—indeed, to
+light of any kind.</p>
+
+<p>[*] It is bad policy to buy a cheap article. A good crystal is more than
+worth the outlay. Our publishers supply crystals, varying from 15s. 6d. upward,
+and from what we have seen of them we can safely recommend them as reliable
+articles.</p>
+
+<p>For similar reasons the room in which the sitting is conducted
+should be only moderately warm and shady as possible, provided it be not
+actually dark. A light by which one can just see to read average print is
+sufficient for the purpose in view. The crystal with which we have had the
+most satisfactory and surprising results is a cube of fine azure beryl, the deep
+blue of its serene depths being peculiarly restful and inspiring. But, as we
+have said, nothing is more effective than the white quartz crystal when found
+suitable.</p>
+
+<p>It is important that all persons sitting in the same room as
+the seer should be at arm's length away from him—farther if possible. Silence
+should be uniformly observed by those present. A recorder should be at hand to
+set down everything the seer may give voice to. If any questions are
+addressed to the seer while the sitting is in progress, they should be spoken in
+an undertone and as nearly a monotone as may be so that the seer is not suddenly
+surprised into consciousness of his surroundings, and the psychic thread thereby
+broken.</p>
+
+<p>At first the sittings should not be of longer duration
+than fifteen minutes, but it is important they should take place <i>regularly</i>,
+every day if possible, and always at the same hour and in the <i>same place</i>.
+By this method of procedure it will be found that a cumulative effect is produced
+and success more speedily ensured. The reason is obvious. All actions tend to
+repeat themselves, to become automatic, to pass from the purposive into the
+habitual, and hence the psychic faculties will, if actuated at any set time and
+place, tend to bestir themselves towards the same end as that to which they were
+first moved by the conscious will and intention of the seer.</p>
+
+<p>Until definite and satisfactory results are obtained, not more
+than two persons should be present at the sittings, and these should be in
+sympathy with the seer and each other. When the sitting is over, it will be
+found agreeable and useful to discuss the results obtained; or if none are
+elicited, the seer can give an account of his or her impressions and feelings
+during the sitting. It will be interesting to note these experiences and to
+compare them from time to time.</p>
+
+<p>The seer or seeress must not be disheartened if at the first
+few sittings nothing of any moment takes place, but must persevere, with
+patience and self-control. Indeed, when one comes to consider the fact that for
+hundreds of generations the psychic faculties inherent in mankind have lain in
+absolute neglect, that perhaps the faculty of "clear vision" has never yet been
+brought into activity by any save the most remote of our ancestors, it will
+not be thought remarkable that it should be at first difficult get any definite
+results. Rather should it be a matter of surprise that the power is still with
+us, that it is not wholly irresponsive to the voice of the soul. While, in the
+course of physical evolution, many important functions have undergone
+remarkable changes, and organs, once active and useful, have become stunted,
+impotent, and in some cases extinct; yet it is said that seeds have lain dormant
+in arid soil for hundreds of years, to spring into leaf and flower as soon as
+the rains have fallen and the climate changed. The faculty of pure vision is
+like the latent seed-life. It waits only the conditions which favour its growth
+and development; and though for hundreds of years it may have lain dormant,
+yet in a few days, weeks, or months it may attain the proportions of a beautiful
+flower, a thing of wonder and delight, gracing the garden of the soul.</p>
+
+<a name="4"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER IV.</p>
+
+<p>THE VISION</p>
+
+<p>Visions seen in the crystal are of two kinds, both of which
+may be conveyed to the perception of the seer in two ways. The two kinds of
+visions are: 1, Direct visions; 2, Symbolic visions. The first of these is a
+representation of scene or incident exactly as it will transpire, or has already
+happened, either in relation to the seer, those sitting with him, or yet in
+relation to public affairs. The second order of vision is a representation, by
+means of symbol, ideograph, or other indirect means, of events similar to those
+conveyed by direct vision.</p>
+
+<p>In most cases it will be found that answers, to questions take
+the form of symbols. But this is not always so, as will appear from the
+following remarks concerning the manner in which these impressions or visions
+are conveyed to the perception of the seer.</p>
+
+<p>The vision is conveyed in one of two ways—first, as a vivid
+picture affecting the focus and retina of the eye, perfect in its outline
+and colouring, and giving the impression of being either distant or near or at
+moderate range, Secondly, it may be conveyed as a vivid impression accompanied
+by a hazy and undefined formation in the crystal field. In this form it
+becomes an apperception rather than a perception, the consciousness receiving
+the impression of the vision to be conveyed before it has had time to form and
+define itself in the crystal.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>direct</i> vision is more generally found in
+association with the <i>passive</i> type of seer. It is not usually so regular
+and constant as the symbolic vision, owing to the peculiarities of the negative temperament. When it
+does appear however, it is particularly lucid and actual, and has its literal
+fulfilment in the world of experience and fact. It is an actual representation
+of past or future event, or yet of what is then presently happening at some
+place more or less distant.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>symbolical</i> vision is more closely associated with the
+<i>positive</i> temperament. It has the advantage of being more ready and constant in
+its manifestation than the <i>direct</i> vision, while on the other hand it is
+frequently a matter of speculation as to what the symbolic vision may portend.</p>
+
+<p>The positive temperament, centripetal and forceful in its
+action, appears to throw off the soul-images, afterwards going out towards them
+in a mood of speculative inquiry. The passive temperament, however, centrifugal
+and sensitive, most frequently feels first and sees afterwards, the
+visionary process being wholly devoid of speculation or mental activity. The one
+sees and thinks, the other feels and sees that, in a word, is the
+distinction between the two temperaments.</p>
+
+<p>In the early stages of development the crystal will begin to
+cloud over, first becoming dull, then suffused with milky clouds, among which
+sparkle a large number of little specks of light like gold dust in the sunlight.
+The focus of the eyes is inconstant, the pupil rapidly expanding and
+contracting, the crystal at times disappearing entirely in a haze or film which
+seems to pass before the eyes. Then the haze will disappear, and the crystal
+will loom up into full view again, accompanied by a lapse of the seer into full
+consciousness. This may be the only experience of the first few
+sittings, it may be that of many; but, sooner or later, there will come a moment
+when the milky clouds and dancing starlights will suddenly vanish—a bright
+azure expanse like an open summer sky will occupy the field of vision; the brain
+will take up a spasmodic action, as if opening and shutting in the superior
+coronal region; there will be a tightening of the scalp on a level with the base
+of the brain, as if the floor of the cerebrum were contracting; the seer will
+catch his breath with a spasmodic sigh, and the first vision will stand out,
+clear and life-like, against the azure screen of heaven.</p>
+
+<p>The danger at this supreme moment is that the seer will be
+surprised into full waking consciousness. During the process of abstraction
+which precedes every vision or series of visions, the consciousness of the seer
+is gradually and imperceptibly withdrawn from his surroundings. He forgets
+that he is seated in this or that room, that such a person is at his right
+hand, such another at his left. He forgets that he is gazing into the crystal.
+He hears nothing, sees nothing, save what is passing before the eyes of his
+soul. He loses sight, for the time, even of his own identity.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, when his vision is suddenly arrested by an
+apparition, startling in its reality and instantaneous production, even though
+hoped for and expected, the reaction is so violent and rapid that the seer is
+frequently carried back into the full consciousness of his physical conditions.
+Therefore, the qualifications of self-possession and confidence in one's own
+soul-faculties have been stated as of primary importance in this domain of
+research. Excess of joy or fear at sight of the vision will be fatal to its
+continuance and to the condition of mind required for the process of
+development. This fact must therefore be borne in mind.</p>
+
+<a name="5"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER V.</p>
+
+<p>DIFFICULTIES</p>
+
+<p>Under this head we propose to cite a few of the obstacles to
+be met with in the process of inducing the psychic vision, and some also which
+may be expected in connection with the faculty when induced.</p>
+
+<p>Putting aside the greatest of all obstacles—that of
+constitutional unfitness—as having been already discussed in preceding pages,
+the first obstacle to be avoided is that of ill-health. The importance of a
+moderate and sustaining diet in regard to psychic development cannot be too
+strongly urged. All overloading of the stomach with indigestible food and
+addiction to alcoholic drinks tends to cloud the spiritual perception, It
+depletes the brain-centres, gives the heart too much work, and overthrows the
+equilibrium of the system. Ill-health follows; the mind is centred upon the
+suffering body, spiritual aspiration ceases, and the soul folds its wings and
+falls into the sleep of oblivion. The consciousness of man works from a
+centre, which co-ordinates and includes all the phenomena of thought, feeling,
+and volition. This centre of consciousness is capable of rapid displacement,
+alternating between the most external of our bodily functions and the most
+internal of our spiritual operations. It cannot be active in all parts of our
+complex constitution at one and the same moment. Hence it follows that when one
+part of our nature is active another is dormant as happens in sleeping and
+waking, dream-life being that wherein the centre of consciousness hovers between
+the body and the soul.</p>
+
+<p>With these considerations in mind it will be obvious to every
+one that a condition in which the consciousness is held in bondage by the
+infirmities of the body is not one conducive to psychic development. The
+constitution need not be robust, but it should at all events be free from
+disorder and pain. Some of the most ethereal natures are associated with a
+delicate organism, but while the balance is maintained the soul is free to
+develop its latent powers.</p>
+
+<p>It is advisable not to sit for crystal reading, or indeed for
+any order of psychic exercise, immediately after or before a meal. The body
+should be at rest, and the mind contented and tranquil. Again, the attitude of
+the seer should not be too expectant or over-anxious in regard to the production
+of the vision. Let the development take its natural course. Do not force the
+young plant in its growth or it will come to a premature end. Take time, as
+Nature does. It is a great work, and much patience is needed. The acorn becomes
+the sturdy oak only because Nature is contented with small results, because she
+can afford to wait and is never in a hurry to see the result of her
+operations. And because she is patient and careful in her beginnings, her works are
+wonderfully great and complete in their issues. Above all, they endure. Whoever
+breathes slowest will live the longest. This is an Eastern saying which voices a
+fundamental truth.</p>
+
+<p>The vision is produced. The faculty of clairvoyance has become
+more or less under the control of the mind. New difficulties arise,
+and, of these, two will be conspicuous. The first is that of time-measure, and
+the other is that of interpretation. The former is peculiar to both orders of
+vision, the <i>direct</i> and the <i>symbolic</i>. The difficulty of interpretation is, of
+course, peculiar to the latter order of vision.</p>
+
+<p>Time-measure is, perhaps, the greatest difficulty
+encountered by the seer. It is sometimes impossible to determine whether a
+vision relates to the past, the present, or the future. In most cases, however,
+the seer learns by experience how to distinguish, and frequently it will be
+found that an intuitive impression of the period involved comes with the vision
+itself. In our own experience the foreground, middle distance, and background,
+mark off the present, the approximate, and the distant future. In tracing the
+succession of events, we have found it convenient to think of time-measure at
+the outset, bending the sight upon, each month or year separately and in
+succession, noting the visions that arise with each in order. And as regards
+the past or future, we distinguish between them by an intuitive sense
+rather than by any other means, and very rarely is this sense deceived, for it
+is part of the psychic faculty we had in training.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, if the vision appears in the foreground and, as
+it were, at the feet of the seer, then it may be taken as relating to the
+present or a quite recent date. In the same way, the middle distance indicates
+the near past or future, and the background denotes the more distant past or
+future. The other difficulty we have mentioned is that of interpretation of such
+symbols as may arise. The following pages will indicate some of the symbols and
+their meanings. The rest must be left to the intuition of the seer.</p>
+
+<a name="6"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER VI.</p>
+
+<p>SYMBOLS</p>
+
+<p>Symbols are thought-forms which convey, by the association of
+ideas, a definite meaning in regard to the mind that generates them. They depend
+wholly upon the laws of thought, and the correspondence that exists between the
+spiritual and material worlds, between the subject and the object of our
+consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>Among the ancients symbols were the original form of record,
+of communicating ideas, and of writing. The hieroglyphs of the Egyptians, the
+word-pictures of the aborigines of Central America, the ideographic writing of
+ancient Mongolia, are all forms of symbolic writing, drawn from natural objects.
+The Hebrew alphabet, the names of its 22 letters, clearly indicate the nomadic
+and simple life of those "dwellers in tents." Thus the names of the letters
+include such objects as ox, tent, tent-door, tent-peg, camel, fish, fish-hook,
+an eye, a hand, a basket, a rope-coil, a head, an ox-goad, water, etc. From the
+combination of these simple forms the words are constructed. Thus the word used
+to signify "knowledge" is derived from three letters, Yod, Daleth, Oin, which
+mean a hand, a door, an eye. The <i>hand</i> denotes action, power, etc.; the
+<i>door</i> denotes entering, initiation, etc.; the <i>eye</i> denotes seeing, vision. Therefore
+the three ideograph; when combined, denote "opening the door to see," which is a
+very graphic way of conveying the idea of acquiring knowledge. One cannot help
+seeing the hand of the young Hebrew drawing aside the canvas door of the tent
+and peeping in to see what secrets may be learned!</p>
+
+<p>All symbols, therefore, may be translated by reference to the
+known nature, quality, and uses of the objects they represent. Thus a foot
+signifies a journey, and also understanding; a mouth denotes speech,
+revelation; an ear news, information, and, if ugly and distorted, scandal or
+abuse. The sun, shining brightly, denotes prosperity, honours. The moon, when
+crescent denotes success, increase, and improvement. When gibbous, it denotes
+sickness, decadence, losses, and trouble. The sun eclipsed shows death or ruin
+of a man; the moon, similarly afflicted, denotes equal danger to a woman. These
+are natural interpretations.</p>
+
+<p>Every symbol, however, has a threefold interpretation, and
+the nature of the inquiry or the purpose for which the vision is sought must
+determine the meaning of the symbols. If they refer to the spiritual world the
+interpretation must be agreeable to the nature of the spirit, and similarly if
+they refer to the intellectual or physical worlds. Thus a pair of scales would
+denote Divine Justice in the spiritual sense, judgment in the intellectual
+sense, and obligation in the material sense. If the scales were evenly
+balanced the augury would be good. But if weighed down on one side it is <i>Mene,
+mene, tekel, upharsin</i>, "Thou art weighed and found wanting"; it shows a corrupt
+judgment, a wrong conclusion, an unbalanced mind, failure in one's obligations,
+injustice, etc. And if a sword should lie across the scales or be seen overhead,
+then a speedy judgment will be meted out.</p>
+
+<p>A ship is a symbol of intercourse, of trading, of voyaging,
+etc. If in full sail it shows that the communication with the spiritual world is
+increasing, that news from far-off lands will come to hand, that trade will
+increase, that a voyage will be taken. If aught is written on the sails it will
+be an additional source of enlightenment. If the symbol of death be written
+there, it shows speedy translation to a far-off country in which the subject
+will die. That far-off country may be the spiritual world itself in which case
+the death would be a natural one. But if the ship's sails are drooping, then
+it denotes a falling away of spiritual influx of intelligence, and of trade.
+Expected news will not come.</p>
+
+<p>Black bread denotes a famine, and if it be spotted with yellow
+blotches it shows a plague. This symbol was seen, with a goat butting at it, in
+June, 1896. There followed a famine and plague in India, which country is said
+to be ruled by the zodiacal sign Capricorn! The symbol was not deciphered
+till the event came to throw light upon it. In the same way a leaf of shamrock,
+denoting the Triple Alliance, has been seen split down the centre with a black
+line, denoting the fracture of the treaty. It would also seem to indicate that
+Ireland, whose symbol is the shamrock, will be separated by an autonomous
+government from the existing United Kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>In similar manner all symbols arising in the crystal may be
+interpreted by reference to their known qualities and uses, as well as the
+associations existing between them and other things, persons, and places, in the
+mind of the seer. As we have already said, however, the meanings of most of the
+symbols will be conveyed to the consciousness of the trained seer at the
+time of their appearance in the crystal. Experience will correct many errors,
+and a symbol, once known, will assume a constant meaning with each seer, so that
+after repeated occurrence it will hold a definite signification.</p>
+
+<p>It should be mentioned, however, that the same symbol will
+have different meanings with different seers. It is difficult to say why this is
+the case. But it probably arises from the difference of individual
+temperament, and the Order to which the soul belongs in the spiritual world.
+These dissimilarities exist between individuals down to the lowest of our
+sensations. We have the same laws of thought and the same general constitution.
+Humanity holds us all within the bonds of a single nature. Yet, despite
+this fact, we have differences of opinion, of emotion, of sympathy and
+antipathy, of taste, and so forth, Therefore it would appear that the soul
+images projected by the magical power of the mind must have different
+significations with each of us, their interpretation being in some peculiar way
+in agreement with the nature of the person who sees them. Necessarily no
+definite rule can be laid down as to interpretation, but it is advisable that
+the seer or seeress should be his or her own interpreter.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, although every symbol has some general signification in
+agreement with its natural qualities and uses, yet it obtains a particular
+signification in regard to each person. It is within common experience that this
+is the case in regard to dreams, wherein the faculty of seership is acting in
+its normal plane. Every person is a seer in dream-life, but few persons pay that
+attention to dreams that their origin and nature warrant. The crystal is but a
+means of bringing this normal faculty of dreaming into activity in the waking
+life. Yet, as stated above, the differences of import or meaning, even in the
+dream-world, of any particular symbol is a common experience. Thus one person
+will dream to be wading in water whenever there is trouble ahead. Another will
+dream of a naked child when similar troubles are about to occur, Butcher's meat
+will signify financial troubles to one person, to another a fortunate
+speculation. The controlling factor in this matter is probably to be found
+in the constitution of the mental and psychic qualities conferred by the
+hereditary and psychic influences converging at the conception of an individual, and
+expressed in the birth. Probably, too, an argument could be established in
+regard to the influence of the planets ruling at the nativity, and also from the
+dominion of the signs of the zodiac in the horoscope of birth. But this would be
+beyond the scope and intention of this short treatise.</p>
+
+<a name="7"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER VII.</p>
+
+<p>SOME EXPERIENCES</p>
+
+<p>The following facts, in connection with predictions made
+from the Crystal, have come within the knowledge of the writer, either as
+personal experiences or in association with others in which the faculty of clear
+vision is active.</p>
+
+<p>A lady of title visited the seer in the month of June, 1896,
+and was told that she would hear news from abroad in some hot country concerning
+the birth of a child, a boy, who would arrive in the following year in the
+month of February. The lady did hear such news, and in February, 1897, a boy was
+born to the lady's sister in India. The same lady was told that on a certain
+date, while travelling, she would meet with an accident to the right leg. She
+fell between the platform and the footboard while getting into a train, and
+suffered severe abrasion of the right leg, together with a serious muscular
+strain which laid her up for several days. Previous to that the lady was to be
+surprised by some good fortune happening to her son in connection with papers
+and a contest. This happened at the time specified. Her son passed his
+examination for the military college with honours.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. H. was consulted by a lady of some ability in a
+special line of literature. This fact was not, however, within the knowledge of
+the seeress. She was told that she would go up a certain staircase into a dingy
+room with a roll of something under her arm. She would see a dark man who was
+thick-set and of quiet demeanour. The man would take the roll, and it would be a
+source of good fortune to her at a later date.</p>
+
+<p>The lady-consultant did so take a certain manuscript rolled up
+beneath her arm. She went up the dingy staircase described by the seeress, and
+saw the man whose description had been given.</p>
+
+<p>The manuscript was transferred from her hand to that of the
+publisher, for such was the man's occupation. The manuscript was accepted, and
+later on was published. So the prediction was literally fulfilled.</p>
+
+<p>In the first case cited the vision was <i>symbolical</i>, and the
+interpretation was made by the seer himself. In the second case the vision was
+literal, and needed no interpretation. These two cases will serve for an
+illustration of the two types of vision.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. A. was consulted by a lady of the writer's acquaintance
+in 1893. She was told that she would not marry the person to whom she was then
+engaged, but would have to wait till a certain person, who was described,
+should come from a foreign country and take her away. This would happen, it
+was said, in the month of January, three years later. This event transpired in
+due course exactly as predicted, though nothing was further from the probable
+course of events; in fact, the lady was not a little irate at the allusion to
+the breaking off of her then existing relations, while the idea of marrying a
+person whom she had never seen, and for whom she could have no sort of regard,
+was naturally revolting to one so wholly absorbed as she was at the time.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. G. consulted the seer on September 27th, 1894. She was
+told she would have sickness incidental to the loins and shooting pains in the
+knees. [A figure was seen with a black cloth around the loins, the figure
+stooping and resting its hands upon its knees.] She would be the owner of a
+house in the month of December. [A house was seen covered with snow; the trees
+were bare.] A removal would be made when the trees were without leaf. [A bird
+was seen on a branch without leaf; the bird flies off.] The consultant would be
+engaged in a dispute concerning money. [Several hands seen grabbing at a pile of
+money.]</p>
+
+<p>These events came to pass at the time predicted. It is
+advisable to note that in the first instance the symbolical vision is seen; in
+the second, a <i>literal</i> vision supervenes; and in the third and fourth
+cases the vision reverts to the symbolical. Here we have an instance of the
+overlapping of the two conditions of the temperament, the active and the passive state
+alternating.</p>
+
+<p>As an illustration of the extreme difficulty of interpretation
+in the normal state of consciousness a symbol may be cited which was seen in
+the crystal for Miss X. "A shield, and a lion rampant thereon, in red." Now this
+might mean anything. It suggests the armorial bearings of a princely family. The
+lion rampant might mean the anger of a person in authority, as the lion is the
+avowed king of beasts. Its colour, red, and its attitude are naturally
+expressive of anger. The shield might be a protection, though little needed by a
+lion, especially if the assailant were the fragile Miss X. to whom the vision
+had reference.</p>
+
+<p>Now observe the interpretation of the seer. "You will hear
+news from a man of medium height and fair complexion concerning a foreign
+country. A letter will come in reference to something written by you which will
+be the very best thing that could happen. You will score a great success." This
+interpretation, which is quite in line with the fact and which afterwards
+transpired, is probably as far removed from all that one might have expected
+as anything could well be. But we have to remember that the condition in which
+the seer voices the interpretation of symbols seen by him is a psychological
+one, and no doubt in that state natural symbols take on quite a different
+signification to that which they would hold in the normal state of waking
+consciousness. How often do dreams have a marked influence upon the dreamer
+while still asleep; how often do they assume proportions of magnitude and
+become pregnant with meaning to the dreamer, only to dissolve into ridiculous
+triviality and nonsense as soon as the person awakes! It would indeed appear
+that a complete hiatus exists between the visionary and the waking states of
+consciousness, so that even the laws of thought undergo a change when the centre
+of consciousness is removed from the outer to the inner world of thought and
+feeling.</p>
+
+<p>The writer has known cases of sickness predicted with
+remarkable accuracy, the time and the nature of the sickness being foretold with
+more or less accuracy. The reception of unexpected letters and telegrams;
+their import and consequences; the various changes, voyages, business
+negotiations and speculations occurring in the consultants' lives have been
+foretold by means of the crystal. Deaths have been foreseen, and even changes
+in the religious views of the consultant or his associates.</p>
+
+<p>In one case the writer saw a vision of a public square in
+which was the effigy of a lamb mounted upon a pedestal. The lamb was made of
+solid silver and was mounted on marble. A Catholic priest came along and pointed
+at the lamb. Immediately a flash of lightning came from the sky and struck the
+effigy, melting off one of its ears.</p>
+
+<p>This was stated to signify that the community to which
+the consultant belonged would immediately lose a member by conversion to the
+Roman Church. By the next mail the consultant learned that such was the case—an
+important member of the community having gone over to the Roman Catholics
+exactly as predicted.</p>
+
+<p>In another case a man was seen dressed in black and wearing
+the habit of a judge. He held some papers in his hands which he was endeavouring
+to conceal. He appeared unsuccessful in his efforts. A snake was seen at his
+feet. It rose up against him. A change took place in the field of the vision and
+the same man was seen lying on his death-bed. From this it was predicted that
+the man designated by the vision would be guilty of misrepresentation, and would
+be cut off by death three years from that time. The prediction was in every
+respect verified.</p>
+
+<p>Not unfrequently the visionary state is induced by excessive
+emotion, during which the prophetic faculty is considerably heightened. Some
+temperaments of a peculiarly sensitive order will fall into the clairvoyant
+condition while engaged in thought. The thread of thought is broken, and there
+appears a vision wholly unconnected with the subject but a moment ago in the
+mind. It would appear that the soul of the sensitive, while probing the depths
+of its inner consciousness, suddenly comes into contact with the thin partition
+which may be said to divide the outer world of thought and doubt from the
+inner world of intuition and direct perception, and, breaking through, emerges
+into the light beyond. The same may be said of cases which manifest the faculty
+of clear visions while in the hypnotic state, whether spontaneous or induced.
+The trance condition frequently manifests this faculty in conjunction with
+others, such as clairvoyance or clear-hearing and the sense of psychic touch.</p>
+
+<p>The following instance, which was reported in the <i>Morning
+Leader</i> of Friday, 14th August, 1896, is remarkable for its extreme pertinence to
+the subject under consideration:</p>
+
+<p>"Last month a man named David Thomas, who had for a short time
+been employed by Lord Windsor as his estate carpenter, was found shot dead in a
+lonely spot on the roadside near Fairwater, a village not far from Cardiff. No
+trace of the murderer could be found, and no motive has been supplied for the
+fell deed.</p>
+
+<p>"David Thomas was, from all accounts, a quiet, peaceable
+fellow, well liked by his intimates, and happy in his domestic relations. He
+was a native of the little fishing village Aberaeron, in Cardiganshire, but he
+had lived in Glamorganshire for some years, and had married a respectable
+woman, a native of the Vale of Glamorgan. A few months ago he received the
+appointment of carpenter on Lord Windsor's estate. He then removed with his
+family to live in the little village of St. Fagan's a few miles out of Cardiff.
+He had hardly settled down there when the tragedy took place. It happened
+on a Saturday night. He had given up work early, and had come home to cut the
+grass in the little green in front of his cottage, and to tidy up his new home.
+Early in the afternoon he seems to have grown tired of the work and went
+indoors. His wife asked him to take the children out for a stroll. He made no
+reply, and his wife, busy in another part of the house, did not pay much
+attention to his subsequent movements. She knows, however, that he washed and
+went upstairs to put himself tidy, and then went out—without the children.</p>
+
+<p>"He seems to have met a friend on the road, and went for a
+walk with him. They called at a public-house, and had a glass or two of beer.
+Then, about ten o'clock, they parted. Thomas was quite cheerful, and started for
+home at a brisk pace. He came presently to a lonely part of the road. A wayfarer
+heard a pistol shot and a scream, and presently met a man who was hurrying away
+from the direction of the scream, and who wished him a gruff good-night. Two
+hundred yards farther on the traveller saw in the dim night the body of a man
+stretched out on the side of the road. He fetched assistance: the body was that
+of David Thomas. He had been shot about a hundred yards behind, but he had not
+been killed outright. He had run in terror up the road, spouting blood as he
+went, and leaving a ghastly trail behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"But a weird story which is told in the <i>Western Mail</i> of
+Cardiff serves to lend that touch of horror to the tale which renders it more
+thrilling than any story which the most daring novelist would venture to create.</p>
+
+<p>"A young girl, who is not yet 20, has been in the habit for
+some time past of attending séances held by the Cardiff Psychological Society.
+One night at a séance, while in a state of trance, she was seized with a strange
+convulsion. Through her lips came the words:</p>
+
+<p>"'I—WILL—have—my—revenge.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Who are you, friend?' asked the interlocutor.</p>
+
+<p>"'David—Thomas. I—was—shot.'</p>
+
+<p>"This entirely unexpected answer was followed by sensational
+statements concerning the murder and the identity of the murderer. Some days
+after she was taken out to Fairwater—which she had never before visited—and
+reenacted in a trance the scene of the murder.</p>
+
+<p>"The story leaked out, and came to the ears of the <i>Western
+Mail</i>. Doubts were cast at once on the <i>bôna fides</i> of the girl and the whole
+story. An offer was made to repeat the experiment in the presence of two <i>Mail</i>
+representatives. The offer was accepted, and one night this week, at ten
+o'clock, the little party met outside the Railway Inn, where poor David Thomas
+had had his last drink.</p>
+
+<p>"A start was made. The medium walked at an easy pace between a
+male and female friend, whose arms were linked. The faint outline of the
+road ahead led always on towards a wall of blackness.</p>
+
+<p>"At last they came near Fairwater. Suddenly the medium spoke:</p>
+
+<p>"'I see a pistol right in front of me—held towards me—it is
+a shiny one—there it is, held up—it has a large mouth.'</p>
+
+<p>"Forty yards farther on the medium spoke again: 'Hark! I hear
+footsteps! I see a man!'</p>
+
+<p>"'Where?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Right in front of us. There he is, creeping along the
+hedge. He is keeping out of sight.'</p>
+
+<p>"'What is he like? How is he dressed?'</p>
+
+<p>"The medium described her vision very minutely. Her pace
+increased suddenly; she dragged her linked companions on with a lurch forward.
+The farmhouse where she first saw the phantom stranger was well passed. She was
+following him, eagerly now.</p>
+
+<p>"A piercing scream came from the girl. A pressman sprang to
+her side and helped to prevent her body pitching headlong forward.</p>
+
+<p>"This was at the spot where David Thomas fell at the first
+shot.</p>
+
+<p>"'O—o—oh!' moaned the medium, twisting her left arm round
+to the back, to a spot immediately below the shoulder-blade, as if in intense
+agony. Then, supported on either side, she staggered forward.</p>
+
+<p>"A light was struck to see her face. It was the hue of
+death. Her eyes were turned until the whites only were visible.</p>
+
+<p>"'Let her go down!'</p>
+
+<p>"Moaning, she was allowed to sink, and lay there prone. Her
+moans expressed intense agony, and were like those of a man dying, blood
+gurgling in the sound; it was scarce conceivable a woman actually lay there.</p>
+
+<p>"'Speak, friend,' said her interlocutor, and presently came the
+slow answer, a whisper:</p>
+
+<p>"'David—T-T-Thomas.'</p>
+
+<p>"'What do you want of us, friend?'</p>
+
+<p>"'I—was—shot!' The tones of the voice were those of a man.</p>
+
+<p>"'Who shot you?'</p>
+
+<p>"A name was given.</p>
+
+<p>"'What do you want to do, my friend?'</p>
+
+<p>"Slowly, distinctly, with relentless purpose came the answer:</p>
+
+<p>"'I—will—have—my revenge. He shot me.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then the medium told them where the pistol had been bought by
+the murderer a year ago under an assumed name, and where the pistol would be
+found. All this while the poor girl lay prone on the roadside under the thin
+sinister telegraphic pole.</p>
+
+<p>"Gradually she revived. 'Look, look!' she cried, in a voice of
+horror, 'Look at the blood.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Where?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Here—look! Look here!' indicating spots visible to any one
+else. 'Take me away,' she shuddered, but before her frightened exclamation
+could be obeyed her body suddenly stiffened. 'He is there!' she said, with a
+pitiful horror in her tone, but with her face expressionless and her eyes
+still white.</p>
+
+<p>"'What do you see?'</p>
+
+<p>"'The ghost.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then the party returned, shaken in mind and surfeited with
+horrors."</p>
+
+<p>Examples of a similar nature might be multiplied indefinitely,
+and would but serve to show what has already been stated as a matter of personal experience among
+all those in whom the psychic faculties have attained any degree of development,
+viz., that the <i>rapport</i> existing between the human soul and the world of
+subjective consciousness is capable of being actively induced by recourse
+to appropriate means, or cultivated, where it exists to any degree,
+by means of the crystal and other accessories, such as the
+metal disc used in China, or the Shiva-lingam stones used in India.</p>
+
+<p>The following example of the psychic sense of feeling will
+serve to show that all the senses, not that of vision alone, are capable of
+development under suitable conditions. A contributor to the <i>Westminster
+Budget</i>, in December, 1893, sends the following account of the use of the
+divining rod for the purpose of spring-finding:</p>
+
+<p>"A few weeks ago took place
+some operations with the divining rod by Mr. Stears, of Hull, who was called to
+Mr. S. Campion's farm at East Heslerton, near Malton, to search for a water
+supply. At that time he marked two places near the farmhouse where, he said, the
+presence of water was indicated by the rod. Since then Mr. E. Halliday, plumber
+of Malton, has bored an artesian well at one of the places indicated, and found
+a very copious supply of water at a depth of 87 feet, after going through sand,
+clay, and a bed of what Mr. Halliday says is quartz and lead ore. Mr. Campion,
+who was previously without a supply of pure water, is delighted with the results
+of the visit of the 'diviner,' and has faith in his power with the rod. Mr.
+Stears has since been called in to experiment on several farms on the Birdsall
+estate of Lord Middleton, the operations being conducted in the presence of
+Julia, Lady Middleton, the Hon. Geoffrey and Mrs. Dawnay, Mr. Persons (Lord
+Middleton's agent), and others. Other farms were visited, and Mr. Stears,
+after employing the rod, indicated the presence of water at each. Mr. Halliday
+has also received instructions to make tests at these places, and operations are
+now in progress. Mr. Stears has successfully 'divined' for water on two of Mr.
+Lett's farms in the East Riding, and also at Amotherby, near Malton; and his
+success is drawing fresh attention to the 'divining rod' and its capabilities in
+the hands of a duly 'inspired' professor. Mr. Stears claims that he can also
+discover metals as well as water, and he alleges that not one person in 10,000
+can use the rod successfully. His explanation of the power he possesses
+beyond the ordinary run of his fellow-men is that it is what he would call
+'animal electricity,' because at times, after using the rod for a long period, he
+loses his power with it, and only recovers it after a short rest and
+refreshment. In the presence of Lady Middleton and the rest of the company he
+made several interesting experiments—for instance, standing on a china dish, to
+show that china is a non-conducting agent (the rod ceasing to oscillate even
+when over water); finding metals hid in the ground, etc."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Louise Cotton, writing of the operation itself, says:</p>
+
+<p>"When a sensitive person who has the power of feeling the
+existence of water or mineral under the surface of the earth, steps exactly over
+the course of a spring or running water, or metallic vein, etc., the piece of
+wood or other medium used turns in the hands—in most cases upwards for water
+and downwards for minerals. The motion varies according to individual
+temperaments: in some hands the turning is slow and but slightly felt, or scarcely
+perceptible by lookers-on; with others it rotates rapidly, and when held tightly
+by the thumb, the bark of the branch or twig often peels off; and, with very
+susceptible operators. I have seen the rod fly, out of the hands, or, if very
+tightly held, break."</p>
+
+<p>As yet, however, the majority of people are wholly
+oblivious to the fact that such psychic faculties exist, and even those who
+possess them, <i>i.e</i>., who have them in something like working efficiency, are
+conscious of having but an imperfect control over them.</p>
+
+<p>Probably it is as suggested by Mr. F. H. Myers, these things
+are, as yet, imperfectly understood. Genius, far from being a condition
+bordering on neurosis or other nervous ailments—as Lombroso and Nordau have
+erroneously taught—is an exaltation of faculty which brings its subject into
+relations with a plane of life possibly far in advance of one's normal
+experience; so that while new centres of activity are as yet under imperfect control,
+the normal functions of the brain and other centres of action are left in
+neglect. Hence, to the casual observer, the erratic nature of Genius is not
+distinguishable from some incipent forms of insanity.</p>
+
+<p>In just the same way the opening up of new centres of activity
+in the psychic nature of man is frequently attended by temporary loss of
+control over the normal brain functions. Loss of memory, hysteria,
+absentmindedness, unconscious utterance of one's thoughts, illusions and
+hallucinations, irritability, indifference to one's surroundings, and similar
+perversions, are among the products of the newly-evolved psychic faculty.</p>
+
+<p>These, however, will pass away when the faculty has been
+brought under control of the mind. Nature is jealous of its offspring, and
+concentrates the whole of its forces when in the act of generation. That is the
+reason of its apparent neglect of powers and function already under its
+control while the evolution of a new faculty is in process.</p>
+<p>The would-be seer, therefore, must be prepared to pay the
+price of any success which may attend his efforts in the direction of inducing
+clairvoyance by means of the crystal.</p>
+
+<p>"The universe is thine. Take what thou wilt, but pay the
+price," is the mandate of Nature. "What shall be the price of this new
+faculty?" the reader may ask. The answer is the same in regard to this or any
+other faculty of the soul: "What is it worth to yourself? That is the price you
+must pay."</p>
+
+<p>With this equation in mind the reader is asked to consider
+seriously the phenomena indicated in the foregoing pages.</p>
+
+<a name="8"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER VIII.</p>
+
+<p>DIRECTIONS FOR USING THE OVOIDS AND SHPERES FOR CRYSTAL OR MIRROR VISION</p>
+
+<p>Daylight and artificial light are both equally suitable. A
+North light is the best suited to the human eye.</p>
+
+<p>Observer should sit back to the light, holding the Ovoid or
+Sphere in the palm of the hand, which may rest comfortably on the lap, or it can
+be placed on a table with a stand under it, and a back screen of black velvet or
+dark material. The latter materially assists by cutting off side lights and
+reflections. Steady gazing in complete silence is absolutely necessary, for
+unlike other occult phenomena, the distraction the attention of primary
+(ordinary) consciousness is a great disadvantage. Success depends chiefly upon
+idiosyncrasy or faculty in the gazers, for "Seers" are very often men and
+women of imperfect education, in fact they seem "born rather than made" but the
+faculty may be developed in many people, seemingly at first insensitive, by
+frequent short trials, say fifteen to twenty minutes at a time, or less if the
+get tired.</p>
+
+<p>Success is indicated when the Sphere or Ovoid, ceasing to
+reflect, becomes milky, a clouded colour following (generally red, and its
+complementary green), turning to blackness, which seems to roll away like a
+curtain, disclosing to the view of the student, pictures, scenes, figures in
+action, sentences of warnings, advice, etc., etc.</p>
+
+<p>Revival of latent or lapsed memory is one of the leading
+features of this experiment. A book of instructions, carefully copied by Raphael
+from the old astrological works, is prepared specially for his crystals, price
+1s. 2d. post free.</p>
+
+<p>THE PRACTICE OF CRYSTAL VISION</p>
+
+<p>Magi Spheres are considered the best. The price a few years
+ago was £3 3s. each, but the sale having become larger and the process less
+expensive, they are now sent packed with instructions for 15s. 6d., in a
+velvet-lined specially made jewel case. "Some persons see at once, others after
+a time. Women see better than men visions of the past, present, and future, on
+the subjects upon which the mind feels anxious. It does not require a knowledge
+of astrology to be able to use the crystal."</p>
+
+<p>No. 1, in case, with instruction, 15s. 6d. <br>
+&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp; 2,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 21s.
+<br>
+&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp; 3,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 50s.
+<br>
+&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp; 4,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 60s.</p>
+
+<a name="9"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>CHAPTER IX.</p>
+
+<p>CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGICAL TERMS</p>
+
+
+<p>AFFLICTION.—When a planet is on the cross (square) or in
+opposition, it is said to afflict.</p>
+
+<p>AIRY SIGNS.—Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. These are the mental signs.</p>
+
+<p>ANGLES.—The cardinal points forming the cross or square; the
+first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses.</p>
+
+<p>APPLICATION.—As its name implies, when one planet applies to
+another. The Moon applies to all the planets, being the quickest traveller.</p>
+
+<p>AQUARIUS (the Water bearer).—The eleventh sign of the
+zodiac, or 300° from the 0° of Aries. The Sun enters Aquarius about the 21st of
+January each year.</p>
+
+<p>ARIES (the Ram).—The first sign of the zodiac. In making
+up the 360° in the zodiac, we count from 0° of Aries. The Sun enters Aries on
+the 21st of March each year.</p>
+
+<p>ASCENDANT.—This is the first house, or that point which rises
+at birth.</p>
+
+<p>ASCENDING.—When a planet is between the fourth and tenth
+house; it is always the east.</p>
+
+<p>ASPECTS.—This means the relationship one planet, or sign, has
+to another in the zodiac. The Table of Aspects should be well studied; it is
+important.</p>
+
+<p>BENEFICS.—Jupiter and Venus are always good, because
+they give Hope and Love, and, if we add the Sun, we have Faith, Hope, and
+Charity.</p>
+
+<p>BESIEGED.—A term used when a planet is found between two
+others; if between Jupiter and Venus, it is good; if between Saturn and Mars,
+evil.</p>
+
+<p>BI-CORPOREAL SIGNS.—So-called because they are double. It is
+rarely used. The signs are Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces.</p>
+<p>CADENT.—The third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth houses are
+cadent. It means falling from angles.</p>
+
+<p>CANCER (the Crab).—The fourth sign of the zodiac; it is 90° from 0°. The Sun enters Cancer on 21st June.</p>
+
+<p>CAPRICORN (the Goat).—The tenth sign of the zodiac, into which the Sun enters on the 21st of December.</p>
+
+<p>CARDINAL SIGNS.—Aries, Cancer, Libra, and, Capricorn. These
+four signs form the <br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; S<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; E + W<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; N</p>
+
+<p>they are important signs.</p>
+
+<p>COMMON SIGNS.—Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.</p>
+
+<p>CONJUNCTION.—When two planets are close together, or
+within orbs of each other. At New Moon the Moon is conjunction Sun.</p>
+
+<p>CULMINATE.—When a planet is in the mid-heaven, it is said to
+culminate; it means being on the cusp of the tenth.</p>
+
+<p>CUSP.—The beginning of any house. At noon the Sun is on
+the cusp of the tenth house. It means the first point of the houses.</p>
+
+<p>DECLINATION.—The distance any planet is North or South of the
+Equator.</p>
+
+<p>DECREASING IN LIGHT.—When a planet is past the opposition of
+the Sun, it is then said to be weak.</p>
+
+<p>DEGREE.—The 360th part of the zodiac; its mark is °; 90°
+is a square; 120° a trine of the zodiac.</p>
+
+<p>DESCENDANT.—The seventh house, or opposite to the Ascendant;
+the West.</p>
+
+<p>DESCENDING.—When a planet is between the tenth and seventh houses.</p>
+
+<p>DETRIMENT.—A planet in a sign opposite to its own house is in
+its detriment. The house of the Moon is Cancer. When the Moon is in Capricorn,
+it is in its detriment.</p>
+
+<p>DIGNITIES.—When a planet is in exaltation, or in an angle, increasing in light, etc.</p>
+
+<p>DIRECT.—When the planets are moving in their true order through the zodiac.</p>
+
+<p>DIRECTIONS.—The period after birth. The position of the
+planets as life advances. The Sun moves about one degree per day, and this is
+equivalent to one year. The thirtieth day after birth would denote the thirtieth
+year of life, and the Directions would be taken out of the ephemeris for this
+day, the Sun's aspects forming the primary directions and the Moon the
+secondary.</p>
+
+<p>DRAGON'S HEAD.—The Moon's North Node, or when she
+crosses the ecliptic into north latitude. The Moon's course is of serpentine
+form, having a head and tail.</p>
+
+<p>DRAGON'S TAIL.—The Moon's South Node when she crosses into south latitude.</p>
+
+<p>EARTHLY SIGNS.—Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.</p>
+
+<p>ECLIPSE.—An obscuration of a heavenly body, owing to the
+interposition of another. The Moon in the shadow of the Sun is eclipsed.</p>
+
+<p>ECLIPTIC.—The circle of the heavens which the Sun appears to
+describe in the course of the year, in consequence of the earth's motion round
+him.</p>
+
+<p>ELEVATED.—The planet nearest to the mid-heaven is elevated over any other.</p>
+
+<p>EPHEMERIS.—A Table for each day, giving the latitude and
+longitude of the planets. "Raphael's" <i>Ephemeris</i>, price 1s., is
+considered the best. It is all that is needed to cast the horoscope.</p>
+
+<p>EQUINOCTIAL SIGNS.—Aries and Libra.</p>
+
+<p>EXALTATION.—There are certain houses in which a planet is
+exalted, as follows: Sun, Aries; Moon, Taurus; Mercury, Gemini; Jupiter, Cancer;
+Saturn, Libra; Mars, Capricorn; Venus, Pisces.</p>
+
+<p>FALL.—When a planet is in a sign opposite to its exaltation,
+it is weak.</p>
+
+<p>FEMININE SIGNS.—The odd signs, as Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces.</p>
+
+<p>FIERY SIGNS.—Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.</p>
+
+<p>FIGURE.—A map of the heavens is called by astrologers a figure.</p>
+
+<p>FIXED SIGNS.—Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius.</p>
+
+<p>FORTUNES.—Jupiter, Venus, and the Sun when well placed.</p>
+
+<p>FRUITFUL SIGNS.—Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.</p>
+
+<p>GEMINI.—The third sign, or house of Mercury. The Sun enters the sign about 21st May.</p>
+
+<p>GENETHLIACAL.—That which applies to the geneture in nativity.</p>
+
+<p>GEOCENTRIC.—As viewed from the centre of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>GELIOCENTRIC.—As seen from or having reference to the centre of the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>HOUSES.—One of the twelve divisions of the zodiac.</p>
+
+<p>IMUM COELE.—The fourth house, or lower meridian.</p>
+
+<p>INCREASING IN LIGHT.—When the Moon or any planet is leaving
+the Sun, until the opposition is reached.</p>
+
+<p>INFORTUNES.—Saturn, Mars, and Uranus when afflicted.</p>
+
+<p>INTERCEPTED.—A sign lying between the cusp of two houses.</p>
+
+<p>LATITUDE.—The distance of any planet north or south of the ecliptic.</p>
+
+<p>LEO.—The fifth sign in the zodiac; the house of the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>LIBRA.—The seventh sign and house of Venus.</p>
+
+<p>LOGARITHMS.—Of great use to astrologers. A Table of
+artificial numbers; to be found at the back of "Raphael's" <i>Ephemeris</i>.</p>
+
+<p>LONGITUDE.—The angular distance of a heavenly body from the
+first point of Aries, measured from the ecliptic as seen from the earth.</p>
+
+<p>LORD.—The ruler of a sign or house. Mars is the lord of
+Aries, and if Aries was in Ascendant, it would be lord and ruler.</p>
+
+<p>LUMINARIES.—The Sun and Moon.</p>
+
+<p>LUNATION.—A lunar period.</p>
+
+<p>MALEFICS.—See Infortunes.</p>
+
+<p>MASCULINE SIGNS.—Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius.</p>
+
+<p>MASCULINE PLANETS.—Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.</p>
+
+<p>MODERN ASTROLOGY.—A monthly magazine of interest to all thinkers.</p>
+
+<p>NORTHERN SIGNS.—Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo.</p>
+
+<p>OCCIDENTAL.—The western portion of the map.</p>
+
+<p>OPPOSITION.—When two planets are opposite each other, or 180° distant.</p>
+
+<p>ORBS.—The orbs of the planets are the number of degrees
+allowed to each in which their influence is felt. Five degrees all round is the
+safest number to give.</p>
+
+<p>ORIENTAL.—When a planet is in the eastern part of the heavens.</p>
+
+<p>PARALLELS.—The declination north or south of the
+equator. It is a position considered of the nature of a conjunction.</p>
+
+<p>PART OF FORTUNE.—A point in the horoscope where the rays of the Sun and Moon converge.</p>
+
+<p>PISCES.—The twelfth sign of the zodiac.</p>
+
+<p>QUERENT.—One who asks a horary question.</p>
+
+<p>QUESITED.—The one enquired about.</p>
+
+<p>QUINTILE.—An aspect of 72° in longitude.</p>
+
+<p>RADICAL.—That which is connected with the radix, or root, dealing with the horoscope.</p>
+
+<p>RECEPTION.—The planet that receives the aspect.</p>
+
+<p>RECTIFICATION.—A method by which the true Ascendant is discovered.</p>
+
+<p>RETROGRADE.—An apparent motion of a planet that is not in the order of the signs.</p>
+
+<p>REVOLUTIONS.—A solar revolution is the return of the Sun to its place at birth.</p>
+
+<p>SAGITTARUS.—The ninth sign of the zodiac.</p>
+
+<p>SCHEME.—A map of the heavens.</p>
+
+<p>SEMI-SEXTILE.—A difference of 300 in longitude; a weak, good aspect.</p>
+
+<p>SEMI-SQUARE.—An aspect of 450 difference in longitude; an evil aspect.</p>
+
+<p>SEPARATION.—When a planet is separating from another.</p>
+
+<p>SESQUIQUADRATE.—An evil aspect being a difference of 1350 in longitude.</p>
+
+<p>SEXTILE.—A good aspect, a difference of 60° in longitude.</p>
+
+<p>SIGNIFICATION.—The ruling planet, or word, of the Ascendant.</p>
+
+<p>SOUTHERN SIGNS.—Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.</p>
+
+<p>SPECULUM.—A Table of the aspects in the horoscope.</p>
+
+<p>STATIONARY.—When a planet appears to have no motion, it is said to be stationary.</p>
+
+<p>SUCCEDENT.—Those houses which follow the angles. The second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh.</p>
+
+<p>TABLE OF HOUSES.—A Table for calculating nativities.</p>
+
+<p>TAURUS.—The second sign of the zodiac and the house of Venus.</p>
+
+<p>TRANSITS.—The passing of the planets over places or points in
+the horoscopes by daily motion, as seen from the Ephemeris.</p>
+
+<p>TRINE.—A good aspect; a difference of 120° in longitude.</p>
+
+<p>URANUS.—The name given to the planet Uranus, or Herschel.</p>
+
+<p>VIRGO.—The sixth sign in the zodiac; the house of Mercury.</p>
+
+<p>ZENITH.—The point directly overhead. The pole of the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>ZODIAC.—The belt of the heavens containing the twelve signs,
+divided into 300 parts each, making 3600.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Read the Crystal, by Sepharial
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO READ THE CRYSTAL ***
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+</pre>
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+</body>
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+</html>
diff --git a/26622.txt b/26622.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cf363a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/26622.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1921 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Read the Crystal, by Sepharial
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: How to Read the Crystal
+       or, Crystal and Seer
+
+Author: Sepharial
+
+Release Date: September 14, 2008 [EBook #26622]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO READ THE CRYSTAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Ruth Hart
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Note:  In the original text, the Concise Dictionary of
+Astrological Terms displayed a small astrological glyph illustration
+next to each term, but I have not indicated these in this online text.]
+
+
+
+HOW TO READ THE CRYSTAL
+OR, CRYSTAL AND SEER
+
+WITH A CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGICAL TERMS
+
+BY
+
+SEPHARIAL
+
+AUTHOR OF "BOOK OF CARDS," "THE LITTLE BOOK OF MAGIC," ETC.
+
+
+LONDON FOULSHAM & CO., LTD.
+10 & 11, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C.
+1922
+
+
+_Printed in Great Britain_
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Chapter I.     A Postulate                                5
+Chapter II.    Qualifications                            13
+Chapter III.   Preliminaries                             17
+Chapter IV.    The Vision                                21
+Chapter V.     Difficulties                              25
+Chapter VI.    Symbols                                   29
+Chapter VII.   Some Experiences                          35
+Chapter VIII.  Directions for Using the Ovoids and
+               Spheres for Crystal or Mirror Vision      51
+Chapter IX.    Consise Dictionary of Astrological Terms  53
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A POSTULATE
+
+Any attempt at a scientific explanation of the phenomenon of
+"crystal seering," to use an irregular but comprehensive term,
+would perhaps fall short of completeness, and certainly would
+depend largely upon the exercise of what Professor Huxley was
+wont to call "the scientific imagination." The reasons for this are
+obvious. We know comparatively little about atomic structure in
+relation to nervous organism. We are informed to a certain degree
+upon atomic ratios; we know that all bodies are regarded by the
+physicist as a congeries of atoms, and that these atoms are
+"centres of force." Primarily, the atomic theory would refer all
+heterogeneous bodies to one homogeneous substance, from which
+substance, by means of a process loosely referred to as
+"differentiation," all the elements are derived. These elements are
+the result of atomic arrangement, and the atoms of each are known
+to have various vibrations, the extent of which is called the "mean
+free path of vibration." The indestructibility of matter, the fact that
+all nature is convertible, and the absolute association of matter and
+force, lead to the conclusion that since every change in matter
+implies a change of force, matter must be ever living and active,
+and primarily of a spiritual nature. The great Swedenborg, no less
+a scientist than a spiritual seer, laid down his doctrine of
+"Correspondences" upon the primary concept of the spiritual
+origin of all force and matter. Matter, he argued, was the ultimate
+expression of Spirit, as Form was that of Force. Spirit was to Force
+what Matter was to Form--our ideas of Matter and Form being
+closely related. Hence, for every _Spiritual Force_ there is a
+corresponding _Material Form_, and the material or natural world
+corresponds at all points with the world of spirit, without being
+identical. This, in brief, is the conclusion to which the "scientific
+imagination" of the present day, extending as it does from the
+known into the unknown, is slowly but surely leading up.
+
+Taking as our postulate the scientific statement of the atomic
+structure of bodies, atomic vibration and molecular arrangement,
+we turn to consider the action exerted by such bodies upon the
+nervous organism of man.
+
+The function of the brain--which must be regarded as the bulbous
+root of a nervous plant whose branches grow downwards--is
+twofold; to affect, and to be affected. In its active or positive
+condition it affects the whole of the vital and muscular processes
+in the man, finding expression in vital action. In its passive or
+negative state it is affected by impressions coming to it in different
+ways through the sense-organs, resulting in nervous and mental
+action. It is this latter phase of brain-function with which we are
+immediately concerned.
+
+The range of our sense-perception puts us momentarily and
+continually in relation with the material world, or rather with a
+_certain portion_ of it. We say a certain portion because we
+know from scientific experience that the scale or gamut of
+sense-perception is limited, both as to its extent and as to its
+quality. Many insects, birds, and quadrupeds have keener perceptions
+in some respects than man. The photographic plate can register
+impressions which are beyond the perception of our highest sense
+of sight. The Roentgen rays have put us into relations with a new
+order of impression--records quite beyond the range of our normal
+vision. The animalcule and microbic life, itself microscopic, has
+yet its own order of sense-organs related to a world of vitality
+beyond our ken. These, and a host of other observations, serve to
+show that our normal perceptions are extremely limited, and,
+further, that nature does not cease to exist where we cease to
+perceive her.
+
+The relation of our sense-organs to the several degrees of matter,
+to solids, fluids, gases, atmospheric and etheric motions, vary in
+different individuals to such a wide extent that the average
+wool-sorter leaves many an artist behind in his perception of
+colour-shades. The same odour is perceptible by one person and
+unrecognisable by another. In the gradation of sound, too, the
+same differences of perception will be commonly noticed. But
+quite apart from the scale or range of perception, the _quality_ of a
+sense-impression is found to vary with different persons. By this
+we mean that the same body will affect different persons in
+dissimilar manner. Hence arises the variety of "tastes" in regard to
+forms, colours, flavours, scents, sounds, fabrics, etc., what is
+agreeable to one being highly objectionable to another. The
+experience is to common to need illustration; but the conclusion to
+which we are led is that, in relation to the nervous system of man,
+every material body has a variable effect. And this clears the
+ground for a statement of our views in regard to the Crystal and its
+effects upon the seer.
+
+The Crystal itself is a clear pellucid piece of quartz or beryl,
+sometimes oval in shape, but more generally spheroidal. It is
+accredited by Reichenbach and other researchers with highly
+magnetic qualities capable of producing in a suitable subject a
+state analogous to the ordinary waking trance of the hypnotists. It
+is believed that all bodies convey, or are the vehicles of, a certain
+universal magnetic property, variously called Od, Odyle, etc.,
+which is regarded as an inert and passive substance underlying the
+more active forces familiar to us in kinetic, calorific, and
+electrical phenomena. In this respect it bears a position analogous
+to the Argon of the atmosphere. It is capable of taking up,
+sympathetically, the vibrations of those bodies or elements to
+which it is temporarily related. But of itself it has no activity,
+although in its still, well-like, and calm depths it holds the
+potentiality of all magnetic forces. This Odyle, then, is particularly
+potent in the quartz or beryl, when brought into activity by the
+intention of the seer. It produces and retains more readily in that
+form the various images communicated to it from the soul of man.
+And the soul, in this connection, must be regarded as the
+repository of all that complex mass of emotions, thoughts,
+impressions, perceptions, feelings, etc., included in the inner life
+of man; for the soul of man is not the less a scientific fact because
+there are those who bandy words concerning its origin and nature.
+Reichenbach has shown by a series of experiments upon sensitive
+and hypnotised subjects that metals and other substances produce
+very marked effects in contact with the human body. Those
+experiments showed, too, that the same substance affected
+different patients in diverse manner. The hypnotic experiments of
+Dr. Charcot, the well-known French biologist, also demonstrate
+the _rapport_ existing between the sensitive patient and foreign
+bodies when in proximity or contact; as for example, when a bottle
+containing a poison was taken at random from among a number of
+others of exactly similar appearance, and applied to the back of the
+patient's neck, the hypnotised subject would once develop all the
+symptoms of poisoning by arsenic, strychnine, prussic acid, etc., it
+being afterwards ascertained that the bottle thus applied actually
+contained the toxine whose effects had been portrayed by the
+subject.
+
+It need not, then, be a matter of surprise to learn that the Crystal
+exerts a very definite and sensible effect upon the nervous system
+of a certain order of subjects. It does not affect all alike, nor act
+in exactly the same way on those whom it does so affect. Where its
+action is more or less rapid and remarkable, the quartz or beryl
+Crystal may be taken as the most effective medium for producing
+the vision. In other cases the concave mirror, either of polished
+copper or black japan, will be found serviceable for inducing the
+clairvoyant state. In some other cases, again, a bowl of water is
+sufficient. The ecstatic vision was first induced in the case of
+Jacob Boehme by the sun's rays falling upon a bowl of water
+which caught and dazzled his eyes while he was engaged in the
+humble task of cobbling a pair of shoes. As a consequence of this
+exaltation of the sense of sight we have those remarkable
+works, "The Aurora," "The Four Complexions," "The Signatura
+Rerum," and many others, together with a volume of letters and
+commentaries which, in addition to being of a highly spiritual
+nature, must also be regarded as scholarly when referred to their
+authorship.
+
+In cases like the above it may be said that the clairvoyant faculty is
+constitutional and already fully developed, waiting only the
+circumstances which shall serve to bring it into active play,
+Emanuel Swedenborg, if we remember rightly, was 54 years of
+age before he awoke to the consciousness of his spiritual vision.
+
+The medium employed for inducing the clairvoyant state cannot
+be definitely prescribed. It must remain a matter of experiment for
+each investigator. This, however, may be said:  _Every person
+whose life is not wholly sunk in selfish and material pleasures, but
+in whom the aspiration to a nobler and purer life is a hunger the
+world cannot satisfy, has within himself the power to see and
+know that which he seeks behind the veil of his earthly senses.
+Nature has never produced a desire she could not satisfy. There is
+no hope, however vague, that the soul cannot define, and no
+aspiration, however high, that the wings of the spirit cannot reach.
+Therefore be patient and strive_.
+
+That there are some in whom the psychic faculties are more prone
+to activity than in others is certain, as also some in whom these
+powers are native, by spiritual or hereditary succession; all of
+which may be determined from their genitures by the astrological
+art. In others, the determination of the natural powers takes a more
+practical and mundane tendency, making them more successful in
+the affairs of daily life than in aught of a spiritual nature St. Paul
+has spoken of a diversity of gifts. "One star differeth from another
+in glory," he says, in very truth. This distribution of natural gifts
+proceeds from the celestial world, and is so ordered that each
+person born on this earth may fulfil his part in the economy of
+life. And because the spiritual needs of mankind are of primary
+importance, there are those born in whom the power of spiritual
+interpretation is the dominant faculty, such persons being the
+natural channels of intercourse between the superior and inferior
+worlds. These are to mankind what a certain order of microbic life
+is to the body of man--organic interpreters, translating the
+elements of food into blood, nerve, fibre, tissue, etc., agreeably to
+the laws of their being.
+
+For those who would aspire to the gift of pure vision, and in whom
+the faculty is striving for expression, the following pages are
+written. To others we would say, Be content. All birds are not
+eagles. The nightingale has a song, the humming-bird a plumage
+which the eagle will never possess. The nightingale may sing to
+the stars, humming-bird to the flowers, but the eagle, whose
+tireless eyes gaze into the heart of day, is uncompanioned in its
+lofty loneliness in the barren mountain-tops.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+QUALIFICATIONS
+
+There are in existence certain magical works, such as those of
+Trithemius and Barrett, wherein the use of the Crystal is
+accompanied by certain rites and invocations. This ceremonial
+magic we are disposed to repudiate as highly dangerous. It brings
+into play a number of forces which may well prove disastrous in
+inexperienced hands. All action and reaction are equal and
+opposite. A child might easily fire a cannon, but could not
+possibly withstand its recoil. So in the education of the spiritual
+faculties, it is better to encourage their natural development by
+legitimate exercise than to invoke the action of stimulants which
+we may not afterwards be able to control. The continual fretting of
+the water will wear away a rock, though none doubts the water is
+softer than the rock. If the barrier between this and the soul-world
+be like granite, yet the patient and persistent action of a
+determined mind will sooner or later wear it away, the last layer
+will break down, and the light will stream through, dazzling the
+unaccustomed eyes with its effulgence.
+
+It is our desire to indicate by what means and by what persons the
+natural development of the clairvoyant faculty may be achieved.
+
+First, in regard to the subject, medium or seer. There are two
+distinct temperament in which the faculty is likely to be dominant,
+and capable of high and rapid culture. There is the nervous
+temperament associated, with a high muscular development,
+classified as the "mental-motive" temperament. It is characterized
+by extreme activity of body and mind, a certain nervous
+excitability, prominent features, full osseous development,
+prominent brows, intent gaze, and generally a swarthy complexion.
+This type represents the _positive_ seers, in whom the mind
+goes out towards the images of the soul. The other, in whom
+the _passive_ temperament is present, and to whom the soul-images
+come by passive reflection, as things mirrored in a moveless
+lake, are known by the following characteristics: Full and
+lymphatic habit, pale or delicate complexion, generally blue
+eyes, straight fine hair; small, plump, and cold hands; a high,
+piping or feeble voice, and languid disposition.
+
+These two types--of which there are many varieties--achieve their
+psychic development by quite opposite means. The positive seer
+works with effort, throwing out the soul-images by the power of
+his will, perceiving them with more or less accuracy, and
+thereafter turning them over in the mind, reasoning and
+questioning concerning their import and meaning. The passive
+seer, on the contrary, works not at all and makes no effort, the
+visions coming slowly, almost imperceptibly, and in most cases
+having a literal interpretation. The visions in this case are not
+allegorical, emblematic, or symbolic, as in the case of the positive
+seer, but are actual visions of facts just as they have happened, or
+will transpire in the future. Of the two orders, the passive is the
+more serviceable because the more perspicuous, but it has the
+disadvantage of being largely under the control of external
+influences, and hence is frequently incapable of "seeing" anything
+whatever.
+
+The positive type of seer exercises an introspective vision,
+searching inwardly towards the soul-world whence the revelations
+proceed. Of what nature these revelations are will appear in the
+following pages. The passive type of seer, on the contrary, remains
+_in statu quo_, open to impressions coming inwards towards the
+perceptive faculty, but making no effort towards either outward
+or inward searching. The success of each depends upon the
+observance of that method which is agreeable to their respective
+temperaments.
+
+In regard to the qualifications which should supplement and
+sustain the natural aptitude of the seer or seeress, the following
+remarks may be of general service.
+
+Self-possession and confidence in one's own soul-faculties must
+be the firm rock upon which all revelations should rest. The purer
+the intention and motive of the seer, the more lucid will be the
+visions accorded. No reliable vision can be obtained by one whose
+nature is not inherently truthful. Any selfish desire dominanting
+the mind in regard to any thing or person will distort the visions
+and render them misleading, while a persistent self-seeking spirit
+will effectually shut the doors upon all visions whatsoever.
+Therefore, above all things it is essential for the investigator to
+have an unflinching love of truth, to be resigned to the will of
+Heaven, to accept the revelations accorded in a spirit of grateful
+confidence, and finally to dispel all doubt and controversy
+by appeal to the eyes of one's own immortal soul. These are
+qualifications with which the seer or seeress should be invested,
+and if with these the quest is unsuccessful after a period of earnest
+trial, it must be taken as sufficient warrant that the faculty is not
+in the category of one's individual powers. Haply, the same
+qualifications brought to bear upon some other psychic faculty
+will result in a rich recompense.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+PRELIMINARIES
+
+Having obtained a good Crystal, as free as possible from blemish,
+care must be taken to keep it is much as possible in a dark place
+when not in use. The best covering therefore is a black one of soft
+material, such as velvet, which will not scratch the polished
+surface of the quartz.[*] Exposure to the sun's rays not only scores
+the faces of the crystal, but also puts the odylic substance into
+activity, distributing and dissipating the magnetic force stored up
+therein. It must not be understood that the visions are in the crystal
+itself. They are in the soul of the seer. But the odylic substance is
+acted upon by the nervo-vital emanations of the body of the seer,
+and reacts upon the brain centres by means of the optic nerves.
+That is why it is necessary to keep the crystal as free as possible
+from disturbing elements. For the same reason, when in use, the
+crystal should be overshadowed by the seer, and so placed that _no
+direct rays_ of light from sun, or lamp, or gasalier may fall upon
+it. The odyle, as has been already stated, rapidly responds to
+surrounding magnetic conditions, and to the vibrations of
+surrounding Bodies, and to none more powerfully than the etheric
+perturbation caused by combustion--indeed, to light of any kind.
+
+[*] It is bad policy to buy a cheap article. A good crystal
+is more than worth the outlay. Our publishers supply crystals,
+varying from 15s. 6d. upward, and from what we have seen of
+them we can safely recommend them as reliable articles.
+
+For similar reasons the room in which the sitting is conducted
+should be only moderately warm and shady as possible, provided
+it be not actually dark. A light by which one can just see to read
+average print is sufficient for the purpose in view. The crystal with
+which we have had the most satisfactory and surprising results is a
+cube of fine azure beryl, the deep blue of its serene depths being
+peculiarly restful and inspiring. But, as we have said, nothing is
+more effective than the white quartz crystal when found suitable.
+
+It is important that all persons sitting in the same room as the seer
+should be at arm's length away from him--farther if possible.
+Silence should be uniformly observed by those present. A recorder
+should be at hand to set down everything the seer may give voice
+to. If any questions are addressed to the seer while the sitting is in
+progress, they should be spoken in an undertone and as nearly a
+monotone as may be so that the seer is not suddenly surprised into
+consciousness of his surroundings, and the psychic thread thereby
+broken.
+
+At first the sittings should not be of longer duration than fifteen
+minutes, but it is important they should take place _regularly_,
+every day if possible, and always at the same hour and in the
+_same place_. By this method of procedure it will be found that a
+cumulative effect is produced and success more speedily ensured.
+The reason is obvious. All actions tend to repeat themselves, to
+become automatic, to pass from the purposive into the habitual,
+and hence the psychic faculties will, if actuated at any set time and
+place, tend to bestir themselves towards the same end as that to
+which they were first moved by the conscious will and intention of
+the seer.
+
+Until definite and satisfactory results are obtained, not more than
+two persons should be present at the sittings, and these should be
+in sympathy with the seer and each other. When the sitting is over,
+it will be found agreeable and useful to discuss the results
+obtained; or if none are elicited, the seer can give an account of his
+or her impressions and feelings during the sitting. It will be
+interesting to note these experiences and to compare them from
+time to time.
+
+The seer or seeress must not be disheartened if at the first few
+sittings nothing of any moment takes place, but must persevere,
+with patience and self-control. Indeed, when one comes to
+consider the fact that for hundreds of generations the psychic
+faculties inherent in mankind have lain in absolute neglect, that
+perhaps the faculty of "clear vision" has never yet been brought
+into activity by any save the most remote of our ancestors, it will
+not be thought remarkable that it should be at first difficult get any
+definite results. Rather should it be a matter of surprise that the
+power is still with us, that it is not wholly irresponsive to the voice
+of the soul. While, in the course of physical evolution, many
+important functions have undergone remarkable changes, and
+organs, once active and useful, have become stunted, impotent,
+and in some cases extinct; yet it is said that seeds have lain
+dormant in arid soil for hundreds of years, to spring into leaf and
+flower as soon as the rains have fallen and the climate changed.
+The faculty of pure vision is like the latent seed-life. It waits only
+the conditions which favour its growth and development; and
+though for hundreds of years it may have lain dormant, yet in a
+few days, weeks, or months it may attain the proportions of a
+beautiful flower, a thing of wonder and delight, gracing the garden
+of the soul.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE VISION
+
+Visions seen in the crystal are of two kinds, both of which may be
+conveyed to the perception of the seer in two ways. The two kinds
+of visions are: 1, Direct visions; 2, Symbolic visions. The first of
+these is a representation of scene or incident exactly as it will
+transpire, or has already happened, either in relation to the seer,
+those sitting with him, or yet in relation to public affairs. The
+second order of vision is a representation, by means of symbol,
+ideograph, or other indirect means, of events similar to those
+conveyed by direct vision.
+
+In most cases it will be found that answers, to questions take the
+form of symbols. But this is not always so, as will appear from
+the following remarks concerning the manner in which these
+impressions or visions are conveyed to the perception of the seer.
+
+The vision is conveyed in one of two ways--first, as a vivid picture
+affecting the focus and retina of the eye, perfect in its outline and
+colouring, and giving the impression of being either distant or near
+or at moderate range, Secondly, it may be conveyed as a vivid
+impression accompanied by a hazy and undefined formation in the
+crystal field. In this form it becomes an apperception rather than a
+perception, the consciousness receiving the impression of the
+vision to be conveyed before it has had time to form and define
+itself in the crystal.
+
+The _direct_ vision is more generally found in association with the
+_passive_ type of seer. It is not usually so regular and constant as
+the symbolic vision, owing to the peculiarities of the negative
+temperament. When it does appear however, it is particularly lucid
+and actual, and has its literal fulfilment in the world of experience
+and fact. It is an actual representation of past or future event, or
+yet of what is then presently happening at some place more or less
+distant.
+
+The _symbolical_ vision is more closely associated with the
+_positive_ temperament. It has the advantage of being more ready
+and constant in its manifestation than the _direct_ vision, while on
+the other hand it is frequently a matter of speculation as to what
+the symbolic vision may portend.
+
+The positive temperament, centripetal and forceful in its action,
+appears to throw off the soul-images, afterwards going out towards
+them in a mood of speculative inquiry. The passive temperament,
+however, centrifugal and sensitive, most frequently feels first and
+sees afterwards, the visionary process being wholly devoid of
+speculation or mental activity. The one sees and thinks, the other
+feels and sees that, in a word, is the distinction between the two
+temperaments.
+
+In the early stages of development the crystal will begin to cloud
+over, first becoming dull, then suffused with milky clouds, among
+which sparkle a large number of little specks of light like gold dust
+in the sunlight. The focus of the eyes is inconstant, the
+pupil rapidly expanding and contracting, the crystal at times
+disappearing entirely in a haze or film which seems to pass before
+the eyes. Then the haze will disappear, and the crystal will loom
+up into full view again, accompanied by a lapse of the seer into
+full consciousness. This may be the only experience of the first
+few sittings, it may be that of many; but, sooner or later, there will
+come a moment when the milky clouds and dancing starlights will
+suddenly vanish--a bright azure expanse like an open summer sky
+will occupy the field of vision; the brain will take up a spasmodic
+action, as if opening and shutting in the superior coronal region;
+there will be a tightening of the scalp on a level with the base of
+the brain, as if the floor of the cerebrum were contracting; the seer
+will catch his breath with a spasmodic sigh, and the first vision
+will stand out, clear and life-like, against the azure screen of
+heaven.
+
+The danger at this supreme moment is that the seer will be
+surprised into full waking consciousness. During the process of
+abstraction which precedes every vision or series of visions,
+the consciousness of the seer is gradually and imperceptibly
+withdrawn from his surroundings. He forgets that he is seated in
+this or that room, that such a person is at his right hand, such
+another at his left. He forgets that he is gazing into the crystal. He
+hears nothing, sees nothing, save what is passing before the eyes
+of his soul. He loses sight, for the time, even of his own identity.
+
+Therefore, when his vision is suddenly arrested by an apparition,
+startling in its reality and instantaneous production, even though
+hoped for and expected, the reaction is so violent and rapid that
+the seer is frequently carried back into the full consciousness
+of his physical conditions. Therefore, the qualifications of
+self-possession and confidence in one's own soul-faculties have been
+stated as of primary importance in this domain of research. Excess
+of joy or fear at sight of the vision will be fatal to its continuance
+and to the condition of mind required for the process of
+development. This fact must therefore be borne in mind.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+DIFFICULTIES
+
+Under this head we propose to cite a few of the obstacles to be met
+with in the process of inducing the psychic vision, and some also
+which may be expected in connection with the faculty when
+induced.
+
+Putting aside the greatest of all obstacles--that of constitutional
+unfitness--as having been already discussed in preceding pages,
+the first obstacle to be avoided is that of ill-health. The importance
+of a moderate and sustaining diet in regard to psychic development
+cannot be too strongly urged. All overloading of the stomach with
+indigestible food and addiction to alcoholic drinks tends to cloud
+the spiritual perception, It depletes the brain-centres, gives the
+heart too much work, and overthrows the equilibrium of the
+system. Ill-health follows; the mind is centred upon the suffering
+body, spiritual aspiration ceases, and the soul folds its wings and
+falls into the sleep of oblivion. The consciousness of man works
+from a centre, which co-ordinates and includes all the phenomena
+of thought, feeling, and volition. This centre of consciousness is
+capable of rapid displacement, alternating between the most
+external of our bodily functions and the most internal of our
+spiritual operations. It cannot be active in all parts of our complex
+constitution at one and the same moment. Hence it follows that
+when one part of our nature is active another is dormant as
+happens in sleeping and waking, dream-life being that wherein the
+centre of consciousness hovers between the body and the soul.
+
+With these considerations in mind it will be obvious to every one
+that a condition in which the consciousness is held in bondage by
+the infirmities of the body is not one conducive to psychic
+development. The constitution need not be robust, but it should at
+all events be free from disorder and pain. Some of the most
+ethereal natures are associated with a delicate organism, but while
+the balance is maintained the soul is free to develop its latent
+powers.
+
+It is advisable not to sit for crystal reading, or indeed for any order
+of psychic exercise, immediately after or before a meal. The body
+should be at rest, and the mind contented and tranquil. Again, the
+attitude of the seer should not be too expectant or over-anxious in
+regard to the production of the vision. Let the development take its
+natural course. Do not force the young plant in its growth or it will
+come to a premature end. Take time, as Nature does. It is a great
+work, and much patience is needed. The acorn becomes the sturdy
+oak only because Nature is contented with small results, because
+she can afford to wait and is never in a hurry to see the result of
+her operations. And because she is patient and careful in her
+beginnings, her works are wonderfully great and complete in their
+issues. Above all, they endure. Whoever breathes slowest will live
+the longest. This is an Eastern saying which voices a fundamental
+truth.
+
+The vision is produced. The faculty of clairvoyance has become
+more or less under the control of the mind. New difficulties arise,
+and, of these, two will be conspicuous. The first is that of
+time-measure, and the other is that of interpretation. The former is
+peculiar to both orders of vision, the _direct_ and the _symbolic_.
+The difficulty of interpretation is, of course, peculiar to the latter
+order of vision.
+
+Time-measure is, perhaps, the greatest difficulty encountered by
+the seer. It is sometimes impossible to determine whether a vision
+relates to the past, the present, or the future. In most cases,
+however, the seer learns by experience how to distinguish, and
+frequently it will be found that an intuitive impression of
+the period involved comes with the vision itself. In our own
+experience the foreground, middle distance, and background, mark
+off the present, the approximate, and the distant future. In tracing
+the succession of events, we have found it convenient to think of
+time-measure at the outset, bending the sight upon, each month or
+year separately and in succession, noting the visions that arise with
+each in order. And as regards the past or future, we distinguish
+between them by an intuitive sense rather than by any other
+means, and very rarely is this sense deceived, for it is part of the
+psychic faculty we had in training.
+
+Therefore, if the vision appears in the foreground and, as it were,
+at the feet of the seer, then it may be taken as relating to the
+present or a quite recent date. In the same way, the middle distance
+indicates the near past or future, and the background denotes the
+more distant past or future. The other difficulty we have
+mentioned is that of interpretation of such symbols as may arise.
+The following pages will indicate some of the symbols and their
+meanings. The rest must be left to the intuition of the seer.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+SYMBOLS
+
+Symbols are thought-forms which convey, by the association of
+ideas, a definite meaning in regard to the mind that generates
+them. They depend wholly upon the laws of thought, and the
+correspondence that exists between the spiritual and material
+worlds, between the subject and the object of our consciousness.
+
+Among the ancients symbols were the original form of record, of
+communicating ideas, and of writing. The hieroglyphs of the
+Egyptians, the word-pictures of the aborigines of Central America,
+the ideographic writing of ancient Mongolia, are all forms
+of symbolic writing, drawn from natural objects. The Hebrew
+alphabet, the names of its 22 letters, clearly indicate the nomadic
+and simple life of those "dwellers in tents." Thus the names of the
+letters include such objects as ox, tent, tent-door, tent-peg, camel,
+fish, fish-hook, an eye, a hand, a basket, a rope-coil, a head, an
+ox-goad, water, etc. From the combination of these simple forms the
+words are constructed. Thus the word used to signify "knowledge"
+is derived from three letters, Yod, Daleth, Oin, which mean a
+hand, a door, an eye. The _hand_ denotes action, power, etc.; the
+_door_ denotes entering, initiation, etc.; the _eye_ denotes seeing,
+vision. Therefore the three ideograph; when combined, denote
+"opening the door to see," which is a very graphic way of
+conveying the idea of acquiring knowledge. One cannot help
+seeing the hand of the young Hebrew drawing aside the canvas
+door of the tent and peeping in to see what secrets may be learned!
+
+All symbols, therefore, may be translated by reference to the
+known nature, quality, and uses of the objects they represent. Thus
+a foot signifies a journey, and also understanding; a mouth denotes
+speech, revelation; an ear news, information, and, if ugly and
+distorted, scandal or abuse. The sun, shining brightly, denotes
+prosperity, honours. The moon, when crescent denotes success,
+increase, and improvement. When gibbous, it denotes sickness,
+decadence, losses, and trouble. The sun eclipsed shows death or
+ruin of a man; the moon, similarly afflicted, denotes equal danger
+to a woman. These are natural interpretations.
+
+Every symbol, however, has a threefold interpretation, and the
+nature of the inquiry or the purpose for which the vision is sought
+must determine the meaning of the symbols. If they refer to the
+spiritual world the interpretation must be agreeable to the nature of
+the spirit, and similarly if they refer to the intellectual or physical
+worlds. Thus a pair of scales would denote Divine Justice in the
+spiritual sense, judgment in the intellectual sense, and obligation
+in the material sense. If the scales were evenly balanced the
+augury would be good. But if weighed down on one side it is
+_Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin_, "Thou art weighed and found
+wanting"; it shows a corrupt judgment, a wrong conclusion, an
+unbalanced mind, failure in one's obligations, injustice, etc. And if
+a sword should lie across the scales or be seen overhead, then a
+speedy judgment will be meted out.
+
+A ship is a symbol of intercourse, of trading, of voyaging, etc. If in
+full sail it shows that the communication with the spiritual world is
+increasing, that news from far-off lands will come to hand, that
+trade will increase, that a voyage will be taken. If aught is written
+on the sails it will be an additional source of enlightenment. If the
+symbol of death be written there, it shows speedy translation to a
+far-off country in which the subject will die. That far-off country
+may be the spiritual world itself in which case the death would be
+a natural one. But if the ship's sails are drooping, then it denotes a
+falling away of spiritual influx of intelligence, and of trade.
+Expected news will not come.
+
+Black bread denotes a famine, and if it be spotted with yellow
+blotches it shows a plague. This symbol was seen, with a goat
+butting at it, in June, 1896. There followed a famine and plague in
+India, which country is said to be ruled by the zodiacal sign
+Capricorn! The symbol was not deciphered till the event came to
+throw light upon it. In the same way a leaf of shamrock, denoting
+the Triple Alliance, has been seen split down the centre with a
+black line, denoting the fracture of the treaty. It would also seem
+to indicate that Ireland, whose symbol is the shamrock, will be
+separated by an autonomous government from the existing United
+Kingdom.
+
+In similar manner all symbols arising in the crystal may be
+interpreted by reference to their known qualities and uses, as well
+as the associations existing between them and other things,
+persons, and places, in the mind of the seer. As we have already
+said, however, the meanings of most of the symbols will be
+conveyed to the consciousness of the trained seer at the time of
+their appearance in the crystal. Experience will correct many
+errors, and a symbol, once known, will assume a constant meaning
+with each seer, so that after repeated occurrence it will hold a
+definite signification.
+
+It should be mentioned, however, that the same symbol will have
+different meanings with different seers. It is difficult to say why
+this is the case. But it probably arises from the difference of
+individual temperament, and the Order to which the soul belongs
+in the spiritual world. These dissimilarities exist between
+individuals down to the lowest of our sensations. We have the
+same laws of thought and the same general constitution. Humanity
+holds us all within the bonds of a single nature. Yet, despite this
+fact, we have differences of opinion, of emotion, of sympathy and
+antipathy, of taste, and so forth, Therefore it would appear that the
+soul images projected by the magical power of the mind must have
+different significations with each of us, their interpretation being
+in some peculiar way in agreement with the nature of the person
+who sees them. Necessarily no definite rule can be laid down as to
+interpretation, but it is advisable that the seer or seeress should be
+his or her own interpreter.
+
+Thus, although every symbol has some general signification in
+agreement with its natural qualities and uses, yet it obtains a
+particular signification in regard to each person. It is within
+common experience that this is the case in regard to dreams,
+wherein the faculty of seership is acting in its normal plane. Every
+person is a seer in dream-life, but few persons pay that attention to
+dreams that their origin and nature warrant. The crystal is but a
+means of bringing this normal faculty of dreaming into activity in
+the waking life. Yet, as stated above, the differences of import or
+meaning, even in the dream-world, of any particular symbol is a
+common experience. Thus one person will dream to be wading in
+water whenever there is trouble ahead. Another will dream of a
+naked child when similar troubles are about to occur, Butcher's
+meat will signify financial troubles to one person, to another a
+fortunate speculation. The controlling factor in this matter is
+probably to be found in the constitution of the mental and psychic
+qualities conferred by the hereditary and psychic influences
+converging at the conception of an individual, and expressed in the
+birth. Probably, too, an argument could be established in regard to
+the influence of the planets ruling at the nativity, and also from the
+dominion of the signs of the zodiac in the horoscope of birth. But
+this would be beyond the scope and intention of this short treatise.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+SOME EXPERIENCES
+
+The following facts, in connection with predictions made from the
+Crystal, have come within the knowledge of the writer, either as
+personal experiences or in association with others in which the
+faculty of clear vision is active.
+
+A lady of title visited the seer in the month of June, 1896, and was
+told that she would hear news from abroad in some hot country
+concerning the birth of a child, a boy, who would arrive in the
+following year in the month of February. The lady did hear such
+news, and in February, 1897, a boy was born to the lady's sister in
+India. The same lady was told that on a certain date, while
+travelling, she would meet with an accident to the right leg. She
+fell between the platform and the footboard while getting into a
+train, and suffered severe abrasion of the right leg, together with a
+serious muscular strain which laid her up for several days.
+Previous to that the lady was to be surprised by some good fortune
+happening to her son in connection with papers and a contest. This
+happened at the time specified. Her son passed his examination for
+the military college with honours.
+
+Mrs. H. was consulted by a lady of some ability in a special line of
+literature. This fact was not, however, within the knowledge of the
+seeress. She was told that she would go up a certain staircase into
+a dingy room with a roll of something under her arm. She would
+see a dark man who was thick-set and of quiet demeanour. The
+man would take the roll, and it would be a source of good fortune
+to her at a later date.
+
+The lady-consultant did so take a certain manuscript rolled up
+beneath her arm. She went up the dingy staircase described by the
+seeress, and saw the man whose description had been given.
+
+The manuscript was transferred from her hand to that of the
+publisher, for such was the man's occupation. The manuscript was
+accepted, and later on was published. So the prediction was
+literally fulfilled.
+
+In the first case cited the vision was _symbolical_, and the
+interpretation was made by the seer himself. In the second case the
+vision was literal, and needed no interpretation. These two cases
+will serve for an illustration of the two types of vision.
+
+Mrs. A. was consulted by a lady of the writer's acquaintance in
+1893. She was told that she would not marry the person to whom
+she was then engaged, but would have to wait till a certain person,
+who was described, should come from a foreign country and take
+her away. This would happen, it was said, in the month of January,
+three years later. This event transpired in due course exactly as
+predicted, though nothing was further from the probable course of
+events; in fact, the lady was not a little irate at the allusion to
+the breaking off of her then existing relations, while the idea of
+marrying a person whom she had never seen, and for whom she
+could have no sort of regard, was naturally revolting to one so
+wholly absorbed as she was at the time.
+
+Mrs. G. consulted the seer on September 27th, 1894. She was told
+she would have sickness incidental to the loins and shooting pains
+in the knees. [A figure was seen with a black cloth around the
+loins, the figure stooping and resting its hands upon its knees.] She
+would be the owner of a house in the month of December. [A
+house was seen covered with snow; the trees were bare.] A
+removal would be made when the trees were without leaf. [A bird
+was seen on a branch without leaf; the bird flies off.] The
+consultant would be engaged in a dispute concerning money.
+[Several hands seen grabbing at a pile of money.]
+
+These events came to pass at the time predicted. It is advisable to
+note that in the first instance the symbolical vision is seen; in the
+second, a _literal_ vision supervenes; and in the third and fourth
+cases the vision reverts to the symbolical. Here we have an
+instance of the overlapping of the two conditions of the
+temperament, the active and the passive state alternating.
+
+As an illustration of the extreme difficulty of interpretation in the
+normal state of consciousness a symbol may be cited which was
+seen in the crystal for Miss X. "A shield, and a lion rampant
+thereon, in red." Now this might mean anything. It suggests the
+armorial bearings of a princely family. The lion rampant might
+mean the anger of a person in authority, as the lion is the avowed
+king of beasts. Its colour, red, and its attitude are naturally
+expressive of anger. The shield might be a protection, though little
+needed by a lion, especially if the assailant were the fragile Miss
+X. to whom the vision had reference.
+
+Now observe the interpretation of the seer. "You will hear news
+from a man of medium height and fair complexion concerning a
+foreign country. A letter will come in reference to something
+written by you which will be the very best thing that could happen.
+You will score a great success." This interpretation, which is quite
+in line with the fact and which afterwards transpired, is probably
+as far removed from all that one might have expected as anything
+could well be. But we have to remember that the condition in
+which the seer voices the interpretation of symbols seen by him is
+a psychological one, and no doubt in that state natural symbols
+take on quite a different signification to that which they would
+hold in the normal state of waking consciousness. How often do
+dreams have a marked influence upon the dreamer while still
+asleep; how often do they assume proportions of magnitude and
+become pregnant with meaning to the dreamer, only to dissolve
+into ridiculous triviality and nonsense as soon as the person
+awakes! It would indeed appear that a complete hiatus exists
+between the visionary and the waking states of consciousness, so
+that even the laws of thought undergo a change when the centre of
+consciousness is removed from the outer to the inner world of
+thought and feeling.
+
+The writer has known cases of sickness predicted with remarkable
+accuracy, the time and the nature of the sickness being foretold
+with more or less accuracy. The reception of unexpected letters
+and telegrams; their import and consequences; the various
+changes, voyages, business negotiations and speculations
+occurring in the consultants' lives have been foretold by means of
+the crystal. Deaths have been foreseen, and even changes in the
+religious views of the consultant or his associates.
+
+In one case the writer saw a vision of a public square in which was
+the effigy of a lamb mounted upon a pedestal. The lamb was made
+of solid silver and was mounted on marble. A Catholic priest came
+along and pointed at the lamb. Immediately a flash of lightning
+came from the sky and struck the effigy, melting off one of its
+ears.
+
+This was stated to signify that the community to which the consultant
+belonged would immediately lose a member by conversion to
+the Roman Church. By the next mail the consultant learned
+that such was the case--an important member of the community
+having gone over to the Roman Catholics exactly as predicted.
+
+In another case a man was seen dressed in black and wearing the
+habit of a judge. He held some papers in his hands which he was
+endeavouring to conceal. He appeared unsuccessful in his efforts.
+A snake was seen at his feet. It rose up against him. A change took
+place in the field of the vision and the same man was seen lying on
+his death-bed. From this it was predicted that the man designated
+by the vision would be guilty of misrepresentation, and would be
+cut off by death three years from that time. The prediction was in
+every respect verified.
+
+Not unfrequently the visionary state is induced by excessive
+emotion, during which the prophetic faculty is considerably
+heightened. Some temperaments of a peculiarly sensitive order
+will fall into the clairvoyant condition while engaged in thought.
+The thread of thought is broken, and there appears a vision wholly
+unconnected with the subject but a moment ago in the mind. It
+would appear that the soul of the sensitive, while probing the
+depths of its inner consciousness, suddenly comes into contact
+with the thin partition which may be said to divide the outer world
+of thought and doubt from the inner world of intuition and direct
+perception, and, breaking through, emerges into the light beyond.
+The same may be said of cases which manifest the faculty of clear
+visions while in the hypnotic state, whether spontaneous or
+induced. The trance condition frequently manifests this faculty in
+conjunction with others, such as clairvoyance or clear-hearing and
+the sense of psychic touch.
+
+The following instance, which was reported in the _Morning
+Leader_ of Friday, 14th August, 1896, is remarkable for its
+extreme pertinence to the subject under consideration:
+
+"Last month a man named David Thomas, who had for a short
+time been employed by Lord Windsor as his estate carpenter, was
+found shot dead in a lonely spot on the roadside near Fairwater, a
+village not far from Cardiff. No trace of the murderer could be
+found, and no motive has been supplied for the fell deed.
+
+"David Thomas was, from all accounts, a quiet, peaceable fellow,
+well liked by his intimates, and happy in his domestic relations.
+He was a native of the little fishing village Aberaeron, in
+Cardiganshire, but he had lived in Glamorganshire for some years,
+and had married a respectable woman, a native of the Vale of
+Glamorgan. A few months ago he received the appointment of
+carpenter on Lord Windsor's estate. He then removed with his
+family to live in the little village of St. Fagan's a few miles out of
+Cardiff. He had hardly settled down there when the tragedy took
+place. It happened on a Saturday night. He had given up work
+early, and had come home to cut the grass in the little green in
+front of his cottage, and to tidy up his new home. Early in the
+afternoon he seems to have grown tired of the work and went
+indoors. His wife asked him to take the children out for a stroll. He
+made no reply, and his wife, busy in another part of the house, did
+not pay much attention to his subsequent movements. She knows,
+however, that he washed and went upstairs to put himself tidy, and
+then went out--without the children.
+
+"He seems to have met a friend on the road, and went for a walk
+with him. They called at a public-house, and had a glass or two of
+beer. Then, about ten o'clock, they parted. Thomas was quite
+cheerful, and started for home at a brisk pace. He came presently
+to a lonely part of the road. A wayfarer heard a pistol shot and a
+scream, and presently met a man who was hurrying away from the
+direction of the scream, and who wished him a gruff good-night.
+Two hundred yards farther on the traveller saw in the dim night
+the body of a man stretched out on the side of the road. He fetched
+assistance: the body was that of David Thomas. He had been shot
+about a hundred yards behind, but he had not been killed outright.
+He had run in terror up the road, spouting blood as he went, and
+leaving a ghastly trail behind him.
+
+"But a weird story which is told in the _Western Mail_ of Cardiff
+serves to lend that touch of horror to the tale which renders it more
+thrilling than any story which the most daring novelist would
+venture to create.
+
+"A young girl, who is not yet 20, has been in the habit for some
+time past of attending seances held by the Cardiff Psychological
+Society. One night at a seance, while in a state of trance, she was
+seized with a strange convulsion. Through her lips came the
+words:
+
+"'I--WILL--have--my--revenge.'
+
+"'Who are you, friend?' asked the interlocutor.
+
+"'David--Thomas. I--was--shot.'
+
+"This entirely unexpected answer was followed by sensational
+statements concerning the murder and the identity of the murderer.
+Some days after she was taken out to Fairwater--which she had
+never before visited--and reenacted in a trance the scene of the
+murder.
+
+"The story leaked out, and came to the ears of the _Western Mail_.
+Doubts were cast at once on the _bona fides_ of the girl and the
+whole story. An offer was made to repeat the experiment in the
+presence of two _Mail_ representatives. The offer was accepted,
+and one night this week, at ten o'clock, the little party met outside
+the Railway Inn, where poor David Thomas had had his last drink.
+
+"A start was made. The medium walked at an easy pace between a
+male and female friend, whose arms were linked. The faint outline
+of the road ahead led always on towards a wall of blackness.
+
+"At last they came near Fairwater. Suddenly the medium spoke:
+
+"'I see a pistol right in front of me--held towards me--it is a shiny
+one--there it is, held up--it has a large mouth.'
+
+"Forty yards farther on the medium spoke again: 'Hark! I hear
+footsteps! I see a man!'
+
+"'Where?'
+
+"'Right in front of us. There he is, creeping along the hedge. He is
+keeping out of sight.'
+
+"'What is he like? How is he dressed?'
+
+"The medium described her vision very minutely. Her pace
+increased suddenly; she dragged her linked companions on with a
+lurch forward. The farmhouse where she first saw the phantom
+stranger was well passed. She was following him, eagerly now.
+
+"A piercing scream came from the girl. A pressman sprang to her
+side and helped to prevent her body pitching headlong forward.
+
+"This was at the spot where David Thomas fell at the first shot.
+
+"'O--o--oh!' moaned the medium, twisting her left arm round to
+the back, to a spot immediately below the shoulder-blade, as if in
+intense agony. Then, supported on either side, she staggered
+forward.
+
+"A light was struck to see her face. It was the hue of death. Her
+eyes were turned until the whites only were visible.
+
+"'Let her go down!'
+
+"Moaning, she was allowed to sink, and lay there prone. Her
+moans expressed intense agony, and were like those of a man
+dying, blood gurgling in the sound; it was scarce conceivable a
+woman actually lay there.
+
+"'Speak, friend,' said her interlocutor, and presently came the slow
+answer, a whisper:
+
+"'David--T-T-Thomas.'
+
+"'What do you want of us, friend?'
+
+"'I--was--shot!' The tones of the voice were those of a man.
+
+"'Who shot you?'
+
+"A name was given.
+
+"'What do you want to do, my friend?'
+
+"Slowly, distinctly, with relentless purpose came the answer:
+
+"'I--will--have--my revenge. He shot me.'
+
+"Then the medium told them where the pistol had been bought by
+the murderer a year ago under an assumed name, and where the
+pistol would be found. All this while the poor girl lay prone on the
+roadside under the thin sinister telegraphic pole.
+
+"Gradually she revived. 'Look, look!' she cried, in a voice of
+horror, 'Look at the blood.'
+
+"'Where?'
+
+"'Here--look! Look here!' indicating spots not visible to any one
+else. 'Take me away,' she shuddered, but before her frightened
+exclamation could be obeyed her body suddenly stiffened.' He is
+there!' she said, with a pitiful horror in her tone, but with her face
+expressionless and her eyes still white.
+
+"'What do you see?'
+
+"'The ghost.'
+
+"Then the party returned, shaken in mind and surfeited with
+horrors."
+
+Examples of a similar nature might be multiplied indefinitely, and
+would but serve to show what has already been stated as a matter
+of personal experience among all those in whom the psychic
+faculties have attained any degree of development, viz., that the
+_rapport_ existing between the human soul and the world of
+subjective consciousness is capable of being actively induced by
+recourse to appropriate means, or cultivated, where it exists to any
+degree, by means of the crystal and other accessories, such as the
+metal disc used in China, or the Shiva-lingam stones used in India.
+
+The following example of the psychic sense of feeling will serve
+to show that all the senses, not that of vision alone, are capable of
+development under suitable conditions. A contributor to the
+_Westminster Budget_, in December, 1893, sends the following
+account of the use of the divining rod for the purpose of
+spring-finding:
+
+"A few weeks ago took place some operations with the divining
+rod by Mr. Stears, of Hull, who was called to Mr. S. Campion's
+farm at East Heslerton, near Malton, to search for a water supply.
+At that time he marked two places near the farmhouse where, he
+said, the presence of water was indicated by the rod. Since then
+Mr. E. Halliday, plumber of Malton, has bored an artesian well at
+one of the places indicated, and found a very copious supply of
+water at a depth of 87 feet, after going through sand, clay, and a
+bed of what Mr. Halliday says is quartz and lead ore. Mr.
+Campion, who was previously without a supply of pure water, is
+delighted with the results of the visit of the 'diviner,' and has faith
+in his power with the rod. Mr. Stears has since been called in to
+experiment on several farms on the Birdsall estate of Lord
+Middleton, the operations being conducted in the presence of
+Julia, Lady Middleton, the Hon. Geoffrey and Mrs. Dawnay, Mr.
+Persons (Lord Middleton's agent), and others. Other farms were
+visited, and Mr. Stears, after employing the rod, indicated the
+presence of water at each. Mr. Halliday has also received
+instructions to make tests at these places, and operations are now
+in progress. Mr. Stears has successfully 'divined' for water on two
+of Mr. Lett's farms in the East Riding, and also at Amotherby, near
+Malton; and his success is drawing fresh attention to the 'divining
+rod' and its capabilities in the hands of a duly 'inspired' professor.
+Mr. Stears claims that he can also discover metals as well as water,
+and he alleges that not one person in 10,000 can use the rod
+successfully. His explanation of the power he possesses beyond
+the ordinary run of his fellow-men is that it is what he would call
+'animal electricity,' because at times, after using the rod for a long
+period, he loses his power with it, and only recovers it after a short
+rest and refreshment. In the presence of Lady Middleton and the
+rest of the company he made several interesting experiments--for
+instance, standing on a china dish, to show that china is a
+non-conducting agent (the rod ceasing to oscillate even when over
+water); finding metals hid in the ground, etc."
+
+Mrs. Louise Cotton, writing of the operation itself, says:
+
+"When a sensitive person who has the power of feeling the
+existence of water or mineral under the surface of the earth, steps
+exactly over the course of a spring or running water, or metallic
+vein, etc., the piece of wood or other medium used turns in
+the hands--in most cases upwards for water and downwards
+for minerals. The motion varies according to individual
+temperaments: in some hands the turning is slow and but slightly
+felt, or scarcely perceptible by lookers-on; with others it rotates
+rapidly, and when held tightly by the thumb, the bark of the branch
+or twig often peels off; and, with very susceptible operators. I have
+seen the rod fly, out of the hands, or, if very tightly held, break."
+
+As yet, however, the majority of people are wholly oblivious to
+the fact that such psychic faculties exist, and even those who
+possess them, _i.e._, who have them in something like working
+efficiency, are conscious of having but an imperfect control over
+them.
+
+Probably it is as suggested by Mr. F. H. Myers, these things are, as
+yet, imperfectly understood. Genius, far from being a condition
+bordering on neurosis or other nervous ailments--as Lombroso and
+Nordau have erroneously taught--is an exaltation of faculty which
+brings its subject into relations with a plane of life possibly far in
+advance of one's normal experience; so that while new centres of
+activity are as yet under imperfect control, the normal functions of
+the brain and other centres of action are left in neglect. Hence, to
+the casual observer, the erratic nature of Genius is not
+distinguishable from some incipent forms of insanity.
+
+In just the same way the opening up of new centres of activity in
+the psychic nature of man is frequently attended by temporary loss
+of control over the normal brain functions. Loss of memory,
+hysteria, absentmindedness, unconscious utterance of one's
+thoughts, illusions and hallucinations, irritability, indifference to
+one's surroundings, and similar perversions, are among the
+products of the newly-evolved psychic faculty.
+
+These, however, will pass away when the faculty has been brought
+under control of the mind. Nature is jealous of its offspring, and
+concentrates the whole of its forces when in the act of generation.
+That is the reason of its apparent neglect of powers and function
+already under its control while the evolution of a new faculty is in
+process.
+
+The would-be seer, therefore, must be prepared to pay the price of
+any success which may attend his efforts in the direction of
+inducing clairvoyance by means of the crystal.
+
+"The universe is thine. Take what thou wilt, but pay the price," is
+the mandate of Nature. "What shall be the price of this new
+faculty?" the reader may ask. The answer is the same in regard to
+this or any other faculty of the soul: "What is it worth to yourself?
+That is the price you must pay."
+
+With this equation in mind the reader is asked to consider
+seriously the phenomena indicated in the foregoing pages.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DIRECTIONS FOR USING THE OVOIDS AND SHPERES FOR CRYSTAL OR MIRROR
+VISION
+
+Daylight and artificial light are both equally suitable. A North
+light is the best suited to the human eye.
+
+Observer should sit back to the light, holding the Ovoid or Sphere
+in the palm of the hand, which may rest comfortably on the lap, or
+it can be placed on a table with a stand under it, and a back screen
+of black velvet or dark material. The latter materially assists by
+cutting off side lights and reflections. Steady gazing in complete
+silence is absolutely necessary, for unlike other occult phenomena,
+the distraction the attention of primary (ordinary) consciousness is
+a great disadvantage. Success depends chiefly upon idiosyncrasy
+or faculty in the gazers, for "Seers" are very often men and women
+of imperfect education, in fact they seem "born rather than made"
+but the faculty may be developed in many people, seemingly at
+first insensitive, by frequent short trials, say fifteen to twenty
+minutes at a time, or less if they get tired.
+
+Success is indicated when the Sphere or Ovoid, ceasing to reflect,
+becomes milky, a clouded colour following (generally red, and its
+complementary green), turning to blackness, which seems to roll
+away like a curtain, disclosing to the view of the student, pictures,
+scenes, figures in action, sentences of warnings, advice, etc., etc.
+
+Revival of latent or lapsed memory is one of the leading features
+of this experiment. A book of instructions, carefully copied by
+Raphael from the old astrological works, is prepared specially for
+his crystals, price 1s. 2d. post free.
+
+THE PRACTICE OF CRYSTAL VISION
+
+Magi Spheres are considered the best. The price a few years ago
+was L3 3s. each, but the sale having become larger and the process
+less expensive, they are now sent packed with instructions for 15s.
+6d., in a velvet-lined specially made jewel case. "Some persons
+see at once, others after a time. Women see better than men
+visions of the past, present, and future, on the subjects upon which
+the mind feels anxious. It does not require a knowledge of
+astrology to be able to use the crystal."
+
+  No. 1, in case, with instruction, 15s. 6d.
+   "  2,    "          "         "  21s.
+   "  3,    "          "         "  50s.
+   "  4,    "          "         "  60s.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGICAL TERMS
+
+AFFLICTION.--When a planet is on the cross (square) or in
+opposition, it is said to afflict.
+
+AIRY SIGNS.--Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. These are the mental
+signs.
+
+ANGLES.--The cardinal points forming the cross or square; the
+first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses.
+
+APPLICATION.--As its name implies, when one planet applies to
+another. The Moon applies to all the planets, being the quickest
+traveller.
+
+AQUARIUS (the Water bearer).--The eleventh sign of the zodiac,
+or 300 deg. from the 0 deg. of Aries. The Sun enters Aquarius 
+about the 21st of January each year.
+
+ARIES (the Ram).--The first sign of the zodiac. In making up the
+360 deg. in the zodiac, we count from 0 deg. of Aries. The Sun enters
+Aries on the 21st of March each year.
+
+ASCENDANT.--This is the first house, or that point which rises at
+birth.
+
+ASCENDING.--When a planet is between the fourth and tenth
+house; it is always the east.
+
+ASPECTS.--This means the relationship one planet, or sign, has to
+another in the zodiac. The Table of Aspects should be well
+studied; it is important.
+
+BENEFICS.--Jupiter and Venus are always good, because they
+give Hope and Love, and, if we add the Sun, we have Faith, Hope,
+and Charity.
+
+BESIEGED.--A term used when a planet is found between two
+others; if between Jupiter and Venus, it is good; if between Saturn
+and Mars, evil.
+
+BI-CORPOREAL SIGNS.--So-called because they are double. It
+is rarely used. The signs are Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces.
+
+CADENT.--The third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth houses are cadent.
+It means falling from angles.
+
+CANCER (the Crab).--The fourth sign of the zodiac; it is 90 deg. from
+0 deg. The Sun enters Cancer on 21st June.
+
+CAPRICORN (the Goat).--The tenth sign of the zodiac, into
+which the Sun enters on the 21st of December.
+
+CARDINAL SIGNS.--Aries, Cancer, Libra, and, Capricorn. These
+four signs form the
+
+         S
+       E + W
+         N
+
+they are important signs.
+
+COMMON SIGNS.--Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.
+
+CONJUNCTION.--When two planets are close together, or within
+orbs of each other. At New Moon the Moon is conjunction Sun.
+
+CULMINATE.--When a planet is in the mid-heaven, it is said to
+culminate; it means being on the cusp of the tenth.
+
+CUSP.--The beginning of any house. At noon the Sun is on the
+cusp of the tenth house. It means the first point of the houses.
+
+DECLINATION.--The distance any planet is North or South of
+the Equator.
+
+DECREASING IN LIGHT.--When a planet is past the opposition
+of the Sun, it is then said to be weak.
+
+DEGREE.--The 360th part of the zodiac; its mark is  deg.; 90 deg. is a
+square; 120 deg. a trine of the zodiac.
+
+DESCENDANT.--The seventh house, or opposite to the
+Ascendant; the West.
+
+DESCENDING.--When a planet is between the tenth and seventh
+houses.
+
+DETRIMENT.--A planet in a sign opposite to its own house is in
+its detriment. The house of the Moon is Cancer. When the Moon is
+in Capricorn, it is in its detriment.
+
+DIGNITIES.--When a planet is in exaltation, or in an angle,
+increasing in light, etc.
+
+DIRECT.--When the planets are moving in their true order
+through the zodiac.
+
+DIRECTIONS.--The period after birth. The position of the planets
+as life advances. The Sun moves about one degree per day, and
+this is equivalent to one year. The thirtieth day after birth would
+denote the thirtieth year of life, and the Directions would be taken
+out of the ephemeris for this day, the Sun's aspects forming the
+primary directions and the Moon the secondary.
+
+DRAGON'S HEAD.--The Moon's North Node, or when she crosses
+the ecliptic into north latitude. The Moon's course is of
+serpentine form, having a head and tail.
+
+DRAGON'S TAIL.--The Moon's South Node when she crosses into
+south latitude.
+
+EARTHLY SIGNS.--Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.
+
+ECLIPSE.--An obscuration of a heavenly body, owing to the
+interposition of another. The Moon in the shadow of the Sun is
+eclipsed.
+
+ECLIPTIC.--The circle of the heavens which the Sun appears to
+describe in the course of the year, in consequence of the earth's
+motion round him.
+
+ELEVATED.--The planet nearest to the mid-heaven is elevated
+over any other.
+
+EPHEMERIS.--A Table for each day, giving the latitude and
+longitude of the planets. "Raphael's" _Ephemeris_, price 1s., is
+considered the best. It is all that is needed to cast the horoscope.
+
+EQUINOCTIAL SIGNS.--Aries and Libra.
+
+EXALTATION.--There are certain houses in which a planet is
+exalted, as follows: Sun, Aries; Moon, Taurus; Mercury, Gemini;
+Jupiter, Cancer; Saturn, Libra; Mars, Capricorn; Venus, Pisces.
+
+FALL.--When a planet is in a sign opposite to its exaltation, it is
+weak.
+
+FEMININE SIGNS.--The odd signs, as Taurus, Cancer, Virgo,
+Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces.
+
+FIERY SIGNS.--Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.
+
+FIGURE.--A map of the heavens is called by astrologers a figure.
+
+FIXED SIGNS.--Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius.
+
+FORTUNES.--Jupiter, Venus, and the Sun when well placed.
+
+FRUITFUL SIGNS.--Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.
+
+GEMINI.--The third sign, or house of Mercury. The Sun enters the
+sign about 21st May.
+
+GENETHLIACAL.--That which applies to the geneture in nativity.
+
+GEOCENTRIC.--As viewed from the centre of the earth.
+
+GELIOCENTRIC.--As seen from or having reference to the centre
+of the Sun.
+
+HOUSES.--One of the twelve divisions of the zodiac.
+
+IMUM COELE.--The fourth house, or lower meridian.
+
+INCREASING IN LIGHT.--When the Moon or any planet is leaving
+the Sun, until the opposition is reached.
+
+INFORTUNES.--Saturn, Mars, and Uranus when afflicted.
+
+INTERCEPTED.--A sign lying between the cusp of two houses.
+
+LATITUDE.--The distance of any planet north or south of the
+ecliptic.
+
+LEO.--The fifth sign in the zodiac; the house of the Sun.
+
+LIBRA.--The seventh sign and house of Venus.
+
+LOGARITHMS.--Of great use to astrologers. A Table of artificial
+numbers; to be found at the back of "Raphael's" _Ephemeris_.
+
+LONGITUDE.--The angular distance of a heavenly body from the
+first point of Aries, measured from the ecliptic as seen from the
+earth.
+
+LORD.--The ruler of a sign or house. Mars is the lord of Aries,
+and if Aries was in Ascendant, it would be lord and ruler.
+
+LUMINARIES.--The Sun and Moon.
+
+LUNATION.--A lunar period.
+
+MALEFICS.--See Infortunes.
+
+MASCULINE SIGNS.--Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius,
+Aquarius.
+
+MASCULINE PLANETS.--Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
+
+MODERN ASTROLOGY.--A monthly magazine of interest to all
+thinkers.
+
+NORTHERN SIGNS.--Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo,
+Virgo.
+
+OCCIDENTAL.--The western portion of the map.
+
+OPPOSITION.--When two planets are opposite each other, or
+180 deg. distant.
+
+ORBS.--The orbs of the planets are the number of degrees allowed
+to each in which their influence is felt. Five degrees all round is
+the safest number to give.
+
+ORIENTAL.--When a planet is in the eastern part of the heavens.
+
+PARALLELS.--The declination north or south of the equator. It is
+a position considered of the nature of a conjunction.
+
+PART OF FORTUNE.--A point in the horoscope where the rays
+of the Sun and Moon converge.
+
+PISCES.--The twelfth sign of the zodiac.
+
+QUERENT.--One who asks a horary question.
+
+QUESITED.--The one enquired about.
+
+QUINTILE.--An aspect of 72 deg. in longitude.
+
+RADICAL.--That which is connected with the radix, or root,
+dealing with the horoscope.
+
+RECEPTION.--The planet that receives the aspect.
+
+RECTIFICATION.--A method by which the true Ascendant is
+discovered.
+
+RETROGRADE.--An apparent motion of a planet that is not in the
+order of the signs.
+
+REVOLUTIONS.--A solar revolution is the return of the Sun to its
+place at birth.
+
+SAGITTARUS.--The ninth sign of the zodiac.
+
+SCHEME.--A map of the heavens.
+
+SEMI-SEXTILE.--A difference of 300 in longitude; a weak, good
+aspect.
+
+SEMI-SQUARE.--An aspect of 450 difference in longitude; an
+evil aspect.
+
+SEPARATION.--When a planet is separating from another.
+
+SESQUIQUADRATE.--An evil aspect being a difference of 1350
+in longitude.
+
+SEXTILE.--A good aspect, a difference of 60 deg. in longitude.
+
+SIGNIFICATION.--The ruling planet, or word, of the Ascendant.
+
+SOUTHERN SIGNS.--Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius Capricorn,
+Aquarius, Pisces.
+
+SPECULUM.--A Table of the aspects in the horoscope.
+
+STATIONARY.--When a planet appears to have no motion, it is
+said to be stationary.
+
+SUCCEDENT.--Those houses which follow the angles. The second,
+fifth, eighth, and eleventh.
+
+TABLE OF HOUSES.--A Table for calculating nativities.
+
+TAURUS.--The second sign of the zodiac and the house of Venus.
+
+TRANSITS.--The passing of the planets over places or points in
+the horoscopes by daily motion, as seen from the Ephemeris.
+
+TRINE.--A good aspect; a difference of 120 deg. in longitude.
+
+URANUS.--The name given to the planet Uranus, or Herschel.
+
+VIRGO.--The sixth sign in the zodiac; the house of Mercury.
+
+ZENITH.--The point directly overhead. The pole of the horizon.
+
+ZODIAC.--The belt of the heavens containing the twelve signs,
+divided into 300 parts each, making 3600.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Read the Crystal, by Sepharial
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO READ THE CRYSTAL ***
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+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #26622 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26622)