Classes of Psychic Pictures.
An English writer on the subject furnishes the following general classification of the psychic pictures manifested in the process of crystal gazing. The said authority might well have added that each and every form of clairvoyant picturing is possible in crystal gazing; for crystal gazing is merely one particular form or method of inducing clairvoyant or psychic vision, and is not a distinct branch of psychic phenomena in itself. The classification of the English authority, however, is as follows:
"1. Images of something unconsciously observed. New reproductions, voluntary or spontaneous, and bringing no fresh knowledge to the mind.
"2. Images of ideas unconsciously acquired from others. Some memory or imaginative effort which does not come from the gazer's ordinary self. Revivals of memory. Illustrations of thought.
"3. Images, clairvoyant or prophetic. Pictures giving information as to something past, present, or future, which the gazer has no other chance of knowing."
General Directions for Crystal Gazing.
An old English authority on the subject of crystal gazing handed down to his students a certain set of general directions and rules to govern the conduct of their experiments. These rules and directions have never been improved upon by the later writers on the subject, according to the opinion of the best authorities; and such stand today as perhaps the simplest and best set of general rules and directions on this important subject. For this reason we have thought it advisable to include the same in this chapter, for the guidance of our own students. Here follow the said general rules and directions:
"What is desired through the regular use of the translucent sphere is to cultivate a personal degree of clairvoyant power, so that visions of things or events, past, present, and future, may appear clearly in the interior vision, or eye of the soul. In the pursuit of this effort only, the crystal becomes at once a beautiful, interesting and harmless channel of pleasure and instruction, shorn of dangers, and rendered conducive to mental development. To the attainment of this desirable end, attention is asked to the following practical directions, which, if carefully followed, will lead to success:
Selection of Place, Etc.
"(1) Select a quiet room where you will be entirely undisturbed, taking care that it is as far as possible free from mirrors, ornaments, pictures, glaring colors, and the like, which may otherwise distract the attention. The room should be of comfortable temperature, in accordance with the time of year, neither hot nor cold. About 60 to 65 degrees Fahr. is suitable in most cases, though allowance can be made where necessary for natural differences in the temperaments of various persons. Thus thin, nervous, delicately organized individuals, and those of lymphatic and soft, easy-going, passive types, require a slightly warmer apartment than the more positive class who are known by their dark eyes, hair and complexion, combined with prominent joints. Should a fire, or any form of artificial light be necessary, it should be screened off, so as to prevent the light rays from being reflected in, or in any other manner directly reaching the crystal. The room should not be dark, but rather shadowed, or charged with a dull light, somewhat such as prevails on a cloudy or wet day.