DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES.
The student should practice privately with the assistance of a few friends, before he ventures before a parlor audience, for by so doing he overcomes the first lack of confidence in himself, and the awkwardness natural to the beginner along any new line of work. By careful and repeated practice he gains confidence in himself by reason of his growing success in his experiments, and besides wears off the "rough edges" of his actions, etc., so that when he finally appears before an audience he will feel perfectly self-possessed and at ease, and thus be able to devote his entire attention to his work, without annoying self-consciousness and awkwardness.
Begin the Development Exercises by selecting one or more friends who are in sympathy with you, and who are interested in the subject. Do not have any unsympathetic or uncongenial persons around when you are practicing, for such people tend to distract your attention from your work, and really exert a detrimental effect upon the preliminary work. Select one of your friends as the Transmitter and take the part of the Receiver yourself.
Begin your practice by establishing a Psychic Harmony, or Rapport, between yourself and your Transmitter by means of Rhythmic Breathing. Although this feature of the work has been overlooked by many investigators of the subject, still it is a very important feature of the work, and one that is conducive to the production of the very best results along these lines of psychic demonstrations.
The term "Rapport" is one frequently met with in occult and psychic books. The word is defined by Webster as "Relation; conformity; correspondence; sympathetic accord." It is used by occultists in the sense of: "having harmonious vibrations with another," the occult teachings being that every person has his or her own rate of mental vibration which, when in harmonious accord with the vibrations of another, induces the most favorable conditions for the production of mental or psychic phenomena, or mental relations; sympathetic understanding, etc. This "harmonious vibration" does not necessarily mean that the two persons must be attuned to precisely the same key, but that their keynotes must harmonize, instead of producing discord. The comparison of the notes of the musical scale will illustrate the principle thoroughly. When two persons are in "rapport" with each other, there is a mental and psychic harmony between them, which is productive of the best possible mental co-operative work. Hence the necessity of good rapport conditions in Mind Reading.
Rhythmic Breathing has been known to occultists of all ages as one of the important adjuncts of Psychic Phenomena, and its use in bringing about Rapport Relations is thoroughly understood by all Practical Occultists. Rhythmic Breathing consists in the person breathing in slow measured regular rhythm. It may be acquired by counting the indrawn breath, the retained breath, and the outgoing breath, by regular beats like the ticking of a large clock. For instance, draw in your breath slowly, counting mentally according to the ticking of an imaginary large clock: "one—two—three—four." Then hold the breath, counting "one—two." Then breathe out slowly: "one—two—three—four." The rule is that the indrawn breath should have the same number of counts as the outgoing breath, the held-breath taking up but one-half the counts of either of the others. The above count illustrates this matter. The advanced occultists get their time-beat from the pulse-beats, but this is not absolutely necessary in this connection. The principal point about Rhythmic Breathing that we wish to impress upon you now is that the two persons, the Transmitter and Receiver, should breathe in unison with each other—that is in perfect time and rhythm. This breathing in unison will soon establish the very best possible rapport conditions between them. From four to seven Rhythmic Breaths will be sufficient to establish the proper conditions in ordinary cases. In the performance of a test, in case you should feel the power of the Transmitter failing, you should stop and ask him to breathe in unison with you for a moment, and then re-start your work. By breathing a little loud the other person will catch your time, so that it is not necessary for you to instruct him in the science or theory of Rhythmic Breathing. Simply tell him to breathe in unison, and keeping time with you.
Begin all your practicing with this Rapport Breathing, and start each demonstration with it, also. You will find that it will have a very soothing, calming, quieting effect upon both persons, and will produce in each a mental earnestness and concentration that will help along the demonstration of Mind Reading.
We shall not mention this Rhythmic Breathing or Rapport Condition when we proceed to give you the detailed direction, for the demonstration, but you must remember that it should be observed in each case. Of course, you will be able to get results without it—but not so easily, or so thoroughly and satisfying.
It is well to conclude your practice by taking a few deep breaths by yourself, and not in unison with the Transmitter. This destroys the Rapport Condition.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS.
The prime requisite for a successful demonstration of Mind Reading is the acquirement, or possession, by the Transmitter, of a clear idea of direction in his mind. The associated requisite is that the Transmitter be able to concentrate his will upon the mind of the Receiver, impressing upon him the Sense of Direction so strongly that he will move in accordance with the Will of the Transmitter. Remember the two points to be observed by the Transmitter.
Begin by having the Transmitter standing beside you in the centre of the room, you being blindfolded. Have him mentally select some one corner of the room, saying nothing to you of his choice. Then let him concentrate his mind upon that one corner, forgetting every other part of the room. Then have the Transmitter grasp your Left Hand with his Right Hand, you grasping his fingers in your hand and lifting the hand to your forehead. Hold the hand against your forehead, just above your eyes. Instruct him then to will that you go to the corner of the room that he has selected, shutting out all other thoughts from his mind, and concentrating his entire Attention upon the projection of his Will. He must not content himself merely forming a Mental Picture of the selected corner, but must think of the Direction of that corner, just as he would in case he were to wish to walk there himself. He must not simply think "That Corner"—he must think "There!" using the sense of Direction. He must will that you shall go there, carrying the words "Go There!" in his mind.
You, the Receiver, must place yourself in a perfectly passive and receptive state of mind, resigning your own Will for the time being, and being perfectly willing and desirous of being mentally directed or led by the Will of the Transmitter. He is the Active factor, and you the Passive. It is the strength of his Will, and the degree of your Receptivity that makes the demonstration a success.
Keep your eyes closed, even though you be blindfolded, for by so doing you induce a Passive state of mind, and even the stray glimpses that you may catch through the handkerchief will serve only to distract you. You must shut out sights, and even thought of sights.
Stand quiet a moment or two, awaiting impressions from the mind of the Transmitter, who is making the mental command: "Go there; go there, I say!" while at the same time he is willing that you follow his command.
After a moment or two of passive and receptive waiting, you will begin to feel an impulse to move forward. Obey this impulse and take the first step, which will often be in an entirely opposite direction from the selected corner. The idea of this first step is to "get started." While you are taking the first step or two, you will feel a clearer impulse toward the real selected corner, and will find yourself swinging around to it. Do not grow impatient, for you are but learning to receive the impressions. Advance one foot forward, hesitatingly, resting your weight on the ball of the other foot, and you will soon feel yourself being compelled to move in a certain direction, which will end in your moving toward the right corner. You will soon become conscious of being directed by the Will of the Projector, whose mind is acting upon yours and leading and directing you toward the right place.
It is difficult to describe to you the exact feeling that you will experience, but a little practice will soon make it clear to you. Follow the impulse, and you will soon begin to feel the mental command, "This way—this way—no, not that way but this way," until you will reach the desired spot, when you will feel the command: "That's right—stop where you are—this is the place." If you start to wander off in the wrong direction you will begin to feel the correcting impression: "This way—this way, I tell you," and if you will but passively receive and follow the mental telegraph message you will find the impulse growing stronger and stronger until you walk right into the corner selected, when you will feel that you have "reached Base," as the children say in their games. When you walk in the right direction you will feel the mental message, "Right, right you are"; and when you move in the wrong direction you will feel the mental message, saying "No, no, not that way—This way, I say, come along, come!" By practice you will soon become quite sensitive to these guiding thought-waves, and will act upon them almost automatically. Practice will soon so sharpen your perceptive faculties that you will often be able to move right off to the desired corner at once, sometimes actually running right to it, dragging the Transmitter after you.
You will soon begin to notice that there is quite a difference in the power of Concentration on the part of different people acting as the Transmitter. Some will be able to Concentrate so forcibly that they will send you the message clear and sharp, while others will send only a feeble and wavering message. The more Concentration the Transmitter has the stronger will be the message. It will be very advisable for you to experiment with a number of persons acting as the Transmitter, so that you may become familiar with the different degrees of Concentration, personal characteristics of people in Transmitting, etc. This will aid you when you begin your parlor performances.
When you find a lazy Transmitter who is sending only feeble messages, you must remonstrate with him, telling him that he must exercise his Will-Power more. This plan will often arouse in them a desire to give a good exhibition of their Will-power, and they will begin sending you strong mental impulses. It is a good plan, when you have an unsatisfactory Projector, to extend his arm out its full length and hold it up about the height of your eyes. In this way he feels the strain, and it arouses his Will in order to hold it there, which seems to act in the direction of his sending sharper and clearer messages and impulse. In case the Transmitter proves very unsatisfactory, substitute another for him. But as a rule this unsatisfactoriness arises from the fact that he does not fully understand his duties—does not know what is required of him. A little practice and instruction will bring him out all right. It is often advisable to let the Transmitter read this book of instructions, if he happens to be a personal friend who is helping you out in your practicing and experiments. The Transmitter will find that by looking toward the selected corner, he will be aided in concentrating his attention and directing his Will Power.
Practice this exercise and experiment, in different rooms, and with different Transmitters, until you can go readily to the selected corner. Do not be discouraged, but remember that "practice makes perfect," and that like any other thing the art must be learned by patient practice and repetition. It is like learning to play the violin—skating—dancing, or anything else. If after a number of trials you begin to feel tired, stop practicing and adjourn the experiments until the next day. Do not unduly strain yourself, or tire out your mind. When the next day comes you will be surprised at the added proficiency you have gained.
You may vary the above method by holding the Transmitter's hand out at arm's length, instead of holding it up to your head. Some find one plan more effective, and others prefer the second. The principle is the same in both cases, so adopt either plan, or any variation thereof, providing it proves effective.
PRACTICE EXERCISE I. FINDING LOCATIONS.
After you have grown proficient in locating the corners of rooms, you may have the Transmitter select other parts of the room, such as doors, mantels, windows, alcoves, projections, etc. Try a number of these selected locations in turn, gaining a variety of experiences which will prove valuable later on. In all of these experiments the Transmitter must guard you from running into obstacles, furniture, etc., by telling you to avoid them, guiding you past them, and in other proper ways prevent you from bruising yourself or breaking or upsetting things. You must impress this upon his mind, and then you should give yourself into his care with the utmost confidence, giving yourself no further concern about these things, and keeping your mind as passive as possible. Don't allow your mind to be distracted by outside things—attend to the matter of the experiment in which you are engaged.
PRACTICE EXERCISE II. FINDING LARGE OBJECTS.
The next step should be the selecting and finding of large objects in the room, such as chairs, tables, etc. Proceed as in the previous exercises. Do not neglect this exercise in your desire to do more wonderful things, for you need just this training. You will realize the importance of these exercises after you begin to appear before friends and evening companies, etc., when you will be called upon to find hidden objects, selected articles secreted under tables, on persons, on furniture, etc. If you can find selected chairs you will be able to more readily find persons seated on chairs. Continue this exercise until you can readily find any and every piece of furniture in a room, and the other large objects in a room as well, when they are thought of by the Transmitter.
PRACTICE EXERCISE III. FINDING SMALL OBJECTS.
After mastering the above exercise have the Transmitter select some small articles, such as a book, vase, ornament, etc., on a table, mantel-piece, etc. Proceed as before, varying the objects and places, endeavoring to get as wide a range of experiences as possible along the line of Mind Reading of this kind.
PRACTICE EXERCISE IV. FINDING HIDDEN ARTICLES.
After you have mastered the last mentioned exercise, have the Transmitter select a small object, such as a watch-key, match-safe, etc., and secrete it in some part of the room, you remaining out of the room until the article is selected and hidden. Proceed as before, until you find the secreted object. Your Transmitter should endeavor to give you a great variety in this exercise, in order to properly train you for the public demonstrations before companies, etc. Have him place a key in a book, under a rug, back of a picture, and in similar difficult places. Let him exercise his ingenuity in finding strange places in which to hide the object. In the experiments in finding the hidden objects he must train himself to give you the mental messages "up"; "down"; "to the right"; "to the left," etc., just as he did his old message or impulse "this way." And you must train yourself to receive them. This training will be of the greatest possible benefit to you when you are called upon later to find objects hidden in people's pockets, etc.
GENERAL REMARKS ON PRACTICE.
The above exercises will train the student to receive and act upon the mental commands or messages of the Transmitter, under a great variety of circumstances and conditions. Many of the most successful public "Mind Readers" started out in public work with far less careful and thorough training. But there are now still greater degrees of proficiency possible. The student will find in succeeding chapters a number of interesting and startling feats and experiments which are intended for parlor audiences, etc., but which may be most profitably practiced previously with the aid of a good friendly Transmitter, in order that the Performer may familiarize himself with the details of the experiment, and thus be more at his ease when he demonstrates it in public. Then other new experiments and feats will suggest themselves from time to time, to the intelligent student which, likewise, should be practiced previous to a public demonstration.
In finding a hidden object, the first thing to do is to get an idea of the direction. Then the general location of the hiding place; and so on, from general impressions to detailed ones, until at last the fingers close upon the object itself. The Transmitter will be greatly relieved when the object is finally found, and the relaxing of his mental tension may be distinctly felt, and then you will know that your search is at an end.
PREPARING FOR PUBLIC WORK.
Before taking you on with the work before an audience, we must urge upon you to prepare yourself thoroughly by means of the above mentioned exercises. The great tendency among students is to hurry through to the public work, and skipping the exercises as much as possible. This is all wrong. You will never be a thoroughly good demonstrator of anything in life, until you master the rudiments, and by practice familiarize yourself thoroughly with the details of the work. And Mind Reading is no exception. It is true that after a few exercises you may be able to give a fair demonstration before an audience, but you will never get further than "fair" without careful practice. And therefore we urge you to have patience and perseverance, and to stick to the exercise until you become a Master of Mind Reading, when you need fear no audience whatsoever, and will be able to give a demonstration that will be a great credit to both yourself and to us, your instructors.
And, now for your work before an audience, remembering, always that the feats and experiments that we shall mention, should be practiced by you privately, with the aid of a friendly Transmitter, before you reproduce them in public. In the case of feats, in which the audience is a party to the experiment, such as the finding of a scarf-pin on a member of the audience, you may practice with a dummy audience, that is with an imaginary audience consisting of chairs, etc., until you familiarize yourself with the details of the feat.
