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