Practical Mind-Reading / A Course of Lessons on Thought-Transference, Telepathy, Mental-Currents, Mental Rapport, &c.

by William Walker Atkinson

"CONTACT" MIND READING.

Mind Reading is divided by the authorities into two general classes, viz., "Contact" Mind Reading and "Telepathic" Mind Reading.

The first of these classes, "Contact" Mind Reading, is demonstrated by physical contact between the Transmitter (or active agent) and the Receiver (or passive agent) in order to afford an easy channel for the passage of the vibrations, thought-waves, nerve-currents, or magnetism of the Transmitter (according to the several theories favored by scientists). The second class, "Telepathic" Mind Reading, is demonstrated by the transferral of the "waves," "vibrations," "currents," or "magnetism" of the Transmitter to the Receiver over the ether, through space (often for thousands of miles) without the more convenient "wires" of the nerves of the two agents.

You will readily see that two classes of phenomena closely resemble the two classes of telegraphic phenomena, i.e., the "wire" system and the "wireless" system. There is a striking analogy between electric phenomena and mental force phenomena all the way through the subject, and this subject of Mind Reading is simply one of the many forms of the resemblance.

We shall begin by giving you instructions in the first form—Contact Mind Reading, as it is the simplest and most easy of accomplishment and demonstration. And besides, the best Telepathists have been trained by means of the practice of Contact Mind Reading at the start. One leads to the other, just as the ordinary wire telegraph naturally led to the "wireless" system, which is even now but in its infancy.

At this point we wish to point out to you a most grievous error, and unjust judgment, that certain so-called scientists and investigators have fallen into regarding this matter of Contact Mind Reading. In order to give you a clearer idea of the nature of this error, we must call your attention to the fact that Contact Mind Reading has been given much publicity through the advertisements and performances of several celebrated public performers, and their lesser-light imitators.

These performers, like many others, have sought to give an attractive public entertainment rather than a scientific demonstration, and some of them have found it much easier to "fake" some of the demonstrations rather than to perform them according to scientific principles. And the careful investigators soon discovered that in certain cases there was no Mind Reading at all, but only a clever imitation which was styled "Muscle Reading." In other words, instead of the performer receiving his mental impressions from the mind of the Transmitter, over the nervous system of other persons, he would push up against him, and by a clever system of pushing, pulling, leading, and leaning would detect the muscular movements of the Transmitter, and by careful practice would learn to interpret these movements so as to get an indication of the location of the hidden objects and practically be led or pushed toward the spot. But even in these cases, the performer would of necessity have to employ more or less genuine Contact Mind Reading to finish the feats. The only advantage the performer gained by resorting to these unfair methods was that it was less fatiguing to his mind and enabled him to "fake" through the performance with less mental wear and tear.

The investigators, easily discovering the above mentioned "faking" performances, came to the conclusion that the whole thing was a "fake," and could be explained by the "muscle reading" theory entirely. And so the news was spread broadcast, and you will find a number of books written explaining Contact Mind Reading on this hypothesis. Of course some of the public may prefer to accept this erroneous theory, but we wish to say here positively that if any person will honestly investigate for himself, and will learn to make the demonstrations personally, he or she will soon discover that "muscle reading" has nothing to do with the genuine phenomena. The proof of the thing is in the doing of it, and you may learn the truth for yourself if you will but try the feats and demonstrations, herein given, just as we teach them. The result of such practice will cause you to feel with us the indignation arising from the attempts to belittle a noble scientific principle, and practice, by an explanation arising from the witnessing of "fake" imitations of the real thing.

The truth is that the muscles have nothing to do with the passage of the mental currents or waves from the Transmitter to the Receiver any more than they have to do with the transmission of nervous sensations from body to brain, or the motor impulses from brain to body. When you wish to close your hand you send a nervous current from your brain to the muscles controlling your hand. The current travels along the nervous system, and is by it distributed over the muscles causing them to contract. A current from a galvanic battery will cause the muscles to act in the same way. But the muscle is the machinery affected and set into motion, and the nerves are the delicate telegraphic wires leading to the parts.