THE NORMAL EXPERIMENTS WITHOUT CONTACT.
A pleasant hour or so can be profitably filled up on a long winter’s evening with experiments in mind reading, without resorting to mesmerism. It will be found that there are mind-readers in every family—some boy, girl, or young woman more sensitive than the rest to impressions.
Sometimes it has been found, when two or more persons think of the same object, as in the “willing game,” the impression becomes more vivid, and the sensitive finds, or describes, the article, or thing, more easily. It has been left to the versatility of Professor Lodge, of the University College, Liverpool, to project two distinct images at the same time to a sensitive. He requested two friends to look at a paper that he had given to each. On one paper a square was drawn, and on the other an oblique cross. Neither person knew what the other was looking at, and after they had looked intently at these diagrams for a short time, the sensitive, who was in a normal condition, but blindfold, said:—“I see two figures—first I see one, and then, below that, another. I do not know which I am to draw. I cannot see either plainly.” Having been requested to draw what she saw, she drew a square, with an oblique cross inside of it. On being questioned, she replied that she did not know why she placed the cross in the square. The two images projected by distinct minds, intermingled, and were produced, as narrated by Professor Lodge. We can readily see that confusion will arise where a number of persons are thinking of different subjects, or when some positive-minded individual declares mind-reading to be an impossibility.
Something after the above experiments of Professor Lodge are those which were conducted by Mr. Guthrie, a London barrister, and reported by him to the Society of Psychical Research.
A number of diagrams, roughly drawn off-hand at the time, were shown to the agent or precipitant, Mr. G., the subject, or percipient, a lady, being blind-fold. During the process of transference, the agent looked steadily and in silence at the drawing, the subject meanwhile sitting opposite to him, and behind the stand on which the drawing lay, so that it was entirely out of her range of vision had her eyes not been blind-folded.
The agent stopped looking at the drawing when the subject professed herself ready to make the attempt to reproduce it. The time occupied thus was from half a minute to two or three minutes. Then the handkerchief was removed, and she drew with a pencil what had occurred to her mind.
RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS IN THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.
RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS IN THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.
The reproductions were made generally without the agent following or watching the process. We reproduce several of the attempts here, giving both the successes and the failures. Even the failures show the effect Mr. G. produced upon the reader’s mind.
The experiments conducted so successfully in the family of the Rev. Mr. Creery, of Boston, and made public by Professor Barrett in The Journal of Psychical Research, show to what extent thought-reading may be successfully carried on in the quietude and confidence of a well-regulated family.
The mode of procedure adopted by Professor Barrett to test the faculty as possessed by the children was as follows:—“One of the children,” says Professor Barrett, “was sent into an adjoining room, the door of which I saw was closed. On returning to the sitting-room, and closing the door also, I thought upon some object in the house, fixed upon at random. Writing the name down, I showed it to the family present, the strictest silence being preserved throughout. We then all silently thought of the name of the thing selected. In a few seconds the door of the adjoining room was heard to open, and after a short interval the child would enter the sitting-room, generally speaking, with the object selected. No one was allowed to leave the sitting-room after the object had been fixed upon, and no communication with the child was conceivable, as her place was often changed. Further, the only instructions given to the child were to fetch some objects in the house that I would think upon and, together with the family, silently keep in mind, to the exclusion as far as possible of all other ideas.”
Now, if Professor Barrett had told the children to select a word, and upon coming into the room were to spell or state what the word was, I question if the experiments would have been so successful. The articles thought of, whether a hair brush, an orange, wine glass, apple, or a playing card, were of such a nature that a definite picture or image of the thing thought of could be formed in the mind. The father, mother, and even Professor Barrett, seem to have been especially in rapport with the little sensitives, and thus all the more readily were they able to transmit the mental picture of the articles selected. Trick or collusion in this case is absolutely out of the question. It would be interesting to know if these young sensitives, who were so bright in 1881, still retain, or have increased or lost, their powers.
There were 312 trials made during Professor Barrett’s stay of six days, who adds—“One most striking piece of success, when the things selected were divulged to none of the family, was five cards running named correctly on the first trial—the odds against this happening once in our series, being considerably over one million to one. We had altogether a good many similar batches, the two longest runs being eight consecutive successes, once with cards and once with names, when the adverse odds in the former case were over one hundred and forty-two millions to one, and on the latter, something incalculably greater. Walls and closed doors made no difference.” [The italics are mine.—J.C.]
Something after the foregoing style are drawing-room entertainments given. If failure result, no one is blamed, and ridiculous mistakes only lend pleasure to the company, where all are known one to the other.
The usual method is to select someone for thought-reader. Lady or gentleman, matters little. He or she is sent out of the room. Some one in the room generally takes the lead, who may suggest the article to be selected and hidden, which the thought-reader is to find. The article selected is thought of by the entire company. The reader is to go to the place where it is, lift it, put it down, or give it to some one else; or to find a certain book and remove it from its place on table or elsewhere, and put it somewhere else; to come in and sit on a certain chair or to lead someone else to it, or perform whatever other test that is decided upon. The reader is admitted into the room, and, if at all receptive, will do or say something like what is desired—often going direct to the spot, lifting the article, or doing the things which the company have decided upon.
A good plan is to get the assistance of one or two friends, use a bag of counters, upon which numbers 10 to 100 are placed; also a smaller bag with numbers 1 to 9. Let the sensitive sit at a table in such a position, so as, if not blindfolded, he or she could not see what the agent has in his hand. Use the small bag to begin with. Let one friend hold the bag, another select a number. When both have carefully looked at it, let it be handed to the agent, who shall fix his eyes steadily upon the figure, and picture the said figure on his mind. The sensitive will in one or two minutes either say or write down what the figure is. If these experiments become satisfactory, the larger bag can be used. The experiments with numbers must not be continued too long, and so weary the faculty. In the same way a number of simple outline designs can be used—these presented one by one to the agent or operator—a fish, a boy and barrow, a fireman with escape, a negro and banjo, a lecturer on platform, an orange, a book, etc., such as are found in children’s school books; repeating the same processes as above. No one must speak but the agent and the percipient, nor is the agent to know what the numbers or designs are before the experiments are commenced.
Should failure occur, select another medium. In a company of twenty to thirty persons it will be very strange if a good thought-reading sensitive is not found. In which case, more serious experiments may be attempted subsequently, and attain scientific value.
The thought-reader should be blindfolded, and resign himself to the influence of the agent or operator. Although he understands that something is expected of him, he is not to be anxious about what, but simply act as he feels himself prompted.
In proportion as the sensitive is able to give up anxiety and desire, so will he be able to become a good reader.
The operator, or agent, must concentrate his mind upon what is required, and will the sensitive to do it. When two or more persons, or all in the room, are concentrating their minds upon the thing, object, or word, the sensitive may all the sooner be influenced; but I prefer that one person should be chosen as the operator, and all intended experiments be submitted to him.
The process is analogous to that of mesmerism. We see traces here of the influence of mind over mind. We see the operator determines and the subject performs, although it may not be very clear how thought is actually projected, or in what way it is received, other than already suggested.
Practice makes perfect in this as in other things. Success is proportionate to success. A reader showing a degree of susceptibility at first attempts will generally improve by subsequent efforts. In a similar way, operators will make headway with practice. Some operators and sensitives will be successful at first trial; others again have failed after repeated attempts.
Plenty of time should be taken for all first attempts. Let the operator, for instance, keep his mind thoroughly fixed on the object. Should the reader be going away from it, let the agent strongly wish him to go back, touch it, lift it, etc., as previously decided upon by the company.
All sensitive persons are likely to make good thought-readers; the less sensitive, muscle-readers.