How to Read the Crystal by Walter Gorn Old (pdf to ebook reader .txt) 📖

The direct vision is more generally found in association with the passive type of seer. It is not usually so regular and constant as the symbolic vision, owing to the peculiarities of the negative temperament. When it does appear however, it is particularly lucid and actual, and has its literal fulfilment in the world of experience and fact. It is an actual representation of past or future event, or yet of what is then presently happening at some place more or less distant.

The symbolical vision is more closely associated with the positive temperament. It has the advantage of being more ready and constant in its manifestation than the direct vision, while on the other hand it is frequently a matter of speculation as to what the symbolic vision may portend.

The positive temperament, centripetal and forceful in its action, appears to throw off the soul-images, afterwards going out towards them in a mood of speculative inquiry. The passive temperament, however, centrifugal and sensitive, most frequently feels first and sees afterwards, the visionary process being wholly devoid of speculation or mental activity. The one sees and thinks, the other feels and sees that, in a word, is the distinction between the two temperaments.

In the early stages of development the crystal will begin to cloud over, first becoming dull, then suffused with milky clouds, among which sparkle a large number of little specks of light like gold dust in the sunlight. The focus of the eyes is inconstant, the pupil rapidly expanding and contracting, the crystal at times disappearing entirely in a haze or film which seems to pass before the eyes. Then the haze will disappear, and the crystal will loom up into full view again, accompanied by a lapse of the seer into full consciousness. This may be the only experience of the first few sittings, it may be that of many; but, sooner or later, there will come a moment when the milky clouds and dancing starlights will suddenly vanish—a bright azure expanse like an open summer sky will occupy the field of vision; the brain will take up a spasmodic action, as if opening and shutting in the superior coronal region; there will be a tightening of the scalp on a level with the base of the brain, as if the floor of the cerebrum were contracting; the seer will catch his breath with a spasmodic sigh, and the first vision will stand out, clear and life-like, against the azure screen of heaven.

The danger at this supreme moment is that the seer will be surprised into full waking consciousness. During the process of abstraction which precedes every vision or series of visions, the consciousness of the seer is gradually and imperceptibly withdrawn from his surroundings. He forgets that he is seated in this or that room, that such a person is at his right hand, such another at his left. He forgets that he is gazing into the crystal. He hears nothing, sees nothing, save what is passing before the eyes of his soul. He loses sight, for the time, even of his own identity.

Therefore, when his vision is suddenly arrested by an apparition, startling in its reality and instantaneous production, even though hoped for and expected, the reaction is so violent and rapid that the seer is frequently carried back into the full consciousness of his physical conditions. Therefore, the qualifications of self-possession and confidence in one's own soul-faculties have been stated as of primary importance in this domain of research. Excess of joy or fear at sight of the vision will be fatal to its continuance and to the condition of mind required for the process of development. This fact must therefore be borne in mind.

CHAPTER V.

DIFFICULTIES

Under this head we propose to cite a few of the obstacles to be met with in the process of inducing the psychic vision, and some also which may be expected in connection with the faculty when induced.

Putting aside the greatest of all obstacles—that of constitutional unfitness—as having been already discussed in preceding pages, the first obstacle to be avoided is that of ill-health. The importance of a moderate and sustaining diet in regard to psychic development cannot be too strongly urged. All overloading of the stomach with indigestible food and addiction to alcoholic drinks tends to cloud the spiritual perception, It depletes the brain-centres, gives the heart too much work, and overthrows the equilibrium of the system. Ill-health follows; the mind is centred upon the suffering body, spiritual aspiration ceases, and the soul folds its wings and falls into the sleep of oblivion. The consciousness of man works from a centre, which co-ordinates and includes all the phenomena of thought, feeling, and volition. This centre of consciousness is capable of rapid displacement, alternating between the most external of our bodily functions and the most internal of our spiritual operations. It cannot be active in all parts of our complex constitution at one and the same moment. Hence it follows that when one part of our nature is active another is dormant as happens in sleeping and waking, dream-life being that wherein the centre of consciousness hovers between the body and the soul.

With these considerations in mind it will be obvious to every one that a condition in which the consciousness is held in bondage by the infirmities of the body is not one conducive to psychic development. The constitution need not be robust, but it should at all events be free from disorder and pain. Some of the most ethereal natures are associated with a delicate organism, but while the balance is maintained the soul is free to develop its latent powers.

It is advisable not to sit for crystal reading, or indeed for any order of psychic exercise, immediately after or before a meal. The body should be at rest, and the mind contented and tranquil. Again, the attitude of the seer should not be too expectant or over-anxious in regard to the production of the vision. Let the development take its natural course. Do not force the young plant in its growth or it will come to a premature end. Take time, as Nature does. It is a great work, and much patience is needed. The acorn becomes the sturdy oak only because Nature is contented with small results, because she can afford to wait and is never in a hurry to see the result of her operations. And because she is patient and careful in her beginnings, her works are wonderfully great and complete in their issues. Above all, they endure. Whoever breathes slowest will live the longest. This is an Eastern saying which voices a fundamental truth.

The vision is produced. The faculty of clairvoyance has become more or less under the control of the mind. New difficulties arise, and, of these, two will be conspicuous. The first is that of time-measure, and the other is that of interpretation. The former is peculiar to both orders of vision, the direct and the symbolic. The difficulty of interpretation is, of course, peculiar to the latter order of vision.

Time-measure is, perhaps, the greatest difficulty encountered by the seer. It is sometimes impossible to determine whether a vision relates to the past, the present, or the future. In most cases, however, the seer learns by experience how to distinguish, and frequently it will be found that an intuitive impression of the period involved comes with the vision itself. In our own experience the foreground, middle distance, and background, mark off the present, the approximate, and the distant future. In tracing the succession of events, we have found it convenient to think of time-measure at the outset, bending the sight upon, each month or year separately and in succession, noting the visions that arise with each in order. And as regards the past or future, we distinguish between them by an intuitive sense rather than by any other means, and very rarely is this sense deceived, for it is part of the psychic faculty we had in training.

Therefore, if the vision appears in the foreground and, as it were, at the feet of the seer, then it may be taken as relating to the present or a quite recent date. In the same way, the middle distance indicates the near past or future, and the background denotes the more distant past or future. The other difficulty we have mentioned is that of interpretation of such symbols as may arise. The following pages will indicate some of the symbols and their meanings. The rest must be left to the intuition of the seer.

CHAPTER VI.

SYMBOLS

Symbols are thought-forms which convey, by the association of ideas, a definite meaning in regard to the mind that generates them. They depend wholly upon the laws of thought, and the correspondence that exists between the spiritual and material worlds, between the subject and the object of our consciousness.

Among the ancients symbols were the original form of record, of communicating ideas, and of writing. The hieroglyphs of the Egyptians, the word-pictures of the aborigines of Central America, the ideographic writing of ancient Mongolia, are all forms of symbolic writing, drawn from natural objects. The Hebrew alphabet, the names of its 22 letters, clearly indicate the nomadic and simple life of those "dwellers in tents." Thus the names of the letters include such objects as ox, tent, tent-door, tent-peg, camel, fish, fish-hook, an eye, a hand, a basket, a rope-coil, a head, an ox-goad, water, etc. From the combination of these simple forms the words are constructed. Thus the word used to signify "knowledge" is derived from three letters, Yod, Daleth, Oin, which mean a hand, a door, an eye. The hand denotes action, power, etc.; the door denotes entering, initiation, etc.; the eye denotes seeing, vision. Therefore the three ideograph; when combined, denote "opening the door to see," which is a very graphic way of conveying the idea of acquiring knowledge. One cannot help seeing the hand of the young Hebrew drawing aside the canvas door of the tent and peeping in to see what secrets may be learned!

All symbols, therefore, may be translated by reference to the known nature, quality, and uses of the objects they represent. Thus a foot signifies a journey, and also understanding; a mouth denotes speech, revelation; an ear news, information, and, if ugly and distorted, scandal or abuse. The sun, shining brightly, denotes prosperity, honours. The moon, when crescent denotes success, increase, and improvement. When gibbous, it denotes sickness, decadence, losses, and trouble. The sun eclipsed shows death or ruin of a man; the moon, similarly afflicted, denotes equal danger to a woman. These are natural interpretations.

Every symbol, however, has a threefold interpretation, and the nature of the inquiry or the purpose for which the vision is sought must determine the meaning of the symbols. If they refer to the spiritual world the interpretation must be agreeable to the nature of the spirit, and similarly if they refer to the intellectual or physical worlds. Thus a pair of scales would denote Divine Justice in the spiritual sense, judgment in the intellectual sense, and obligation in the material sense. If the scales were evenly balanced the augury would be good. But if weighed down on one side it is Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin, "Thou art weighed and found wanting"; it shows a corrupt judgment, a wrong conclusion, an unbalanced mind, failure in one's obligations, injustice, etc. And if a sword should lie across the scales or be seen overhead, then a speedy judgment will be meted out.

A ship is a symbol of intercourse, of trading, of voyaging, etc. If in full sail it shows that the communication with the spiritual world is increasing, that news from far-off lands will come to hand, that trade will increase, that a voyage will be taken. If aught is written on the sails it will be an additional source of enlightenment. If