How to Read the Crystal; or, Crystal and Seer

by Sepharial

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.