Strange Psychological Experiments of Electrical Phenomena.

In giving these experiments 1 do not pretend to give you that which is new; but they are facts among still more wonderful ones which are known to the few, if not to the many. I would wish before completing my series, of which this little work is the first, to take those who desire to go with me through all the pathways of mystery, and in company together we will try and illuminate with the light of reason, everything that may exist in murky darkness, and implant upon them the torchlight of natural intelligence, that posterity or future man may walk continually in the light of day.

I think it wise not to give much of this strange phenomena at once, but to divide it into easy lessons, commencing, of course, with the most simple, and gradually by and by, to go into heights still more wonderful, and which are lit up with intellectual delights. I will give, to commence with, three very simple experiments which are only preliminary or stepping-stones to things more wonderful and strange, I simply give them to those that have not heard of these strange forces and powers that exist around us, and if in the meantime they, by experiment, prove to their satisfaction that this force and powder do really exist, it will give me much pleasure in my next issue to explain why and how, and to take them still farther into mystery, that we may become acquainted with all forces, and nothing around us be strange, but lit up with the daylight of understanding. I myself do believe that there arc forces and powers, and many wonderful inherent qualities that are latent in man, and which are lying dormant for the want of exercise. Do I not develop the muscles of my arms by exorcising my arms, and those of the different parts of my being by exercising those parts; and do I not develop the different gifts of mind in the same way? When I commit anything to memory I develop my reflective faculties, and when I endeavour to penetrate the great truths of Nature I develop my perceptive faculties. Like with music, so with language. A phrenologist may say that I have time and tune large, but if I never cultivated music I should never be able to play, and the first time I sat down to an instrument I would get very little music out of it; there would not be much harmony, and it would only be by persistent cultivation that I could develop the power, and after persistent page 36 exercise be able to play. The same with language. A phrenologist may say I have language large, but if I was never taught any language I should not be able to speak much, ami in my first lessons my baby talk was of a very imperfect kind; and it is only after years of exercise that I am able to express my ideas in this now very imperfect way. If a child starts to learn music, and when it sits down to the instrument at first, and we hear the discordant notes, shall we stamp with our self possessed discernment, that that is the apex of the child's musical attainments, and because we hear no harmony in its first struggles to develop its musical faculties, that therefore, there is nothing beautiful in music, and so we will set our face against cultivating the power, and lift up our voice in condemnation against any one else attempting it either.

And so it is with electrical psychology; its force and powers are to be developed by cultivation and exercise, and in its higher phases of development it would be the means of doing much good, for it would lead man into that light that he would better know himself. I was saying our first experiments will be of a very simple kind; any one may try them in their own homes; nearly all will be able to do them after a little exorcise or cultivation, and even at the commencement, two or three out of every four or five will be more or less successful; tell others how you get on, and if you were not successful yourself, you will be likely to hear if others were. Our first will be an experiment showing the power of mind, or united mind acting on mind. Many have heard of the mind or thought-reading of Mr. Irving Bishop, or Mr. Stewart Cumberland, or perhaps of the Rev. K. H. Sugden, of England : but you must not think that this is anything new or that this power was first discovered by either of these gentlemen, or that they are in possession of any power greater than that which you may cultivate yourself; it is a force that has been known to exist for a long time, and some have developed in the power to a most wonderful extent, and Mr. Irving Bishop has shown, so far as his public exhibitions have gone, only the first stage of development.—How to experiment. If there are three or more of you in a room, let one go outside for a little, and while outside, then arrange among yourselves some little act that this person shall do when brought into the room. In the first experiments let it be some very simple thing, such as lifting any little thing off the table or chair, or sitting down in a particular chair, &c., and when you have decided, then go outside and blindfold this person and lead him into the room; let one page 37 stand on each side of the party blindfolded, and while being brought in let them have their two hands clasped across the shoulders of the one they are experimenting upon, that is, the one that is standing on the right side will clasp his two hands upon or across the right shoulder, and the one that is standing on the left side do the same upon the left shoulder. You must not put any great pressure on with your hands, or influence the subject by pressure either one way or the other; but your hands are simply upon the shoulders to put you in rapport with the subject, and you must keep them there and your minds concentrated upon what you wish the subject to do, till they do it; it may sometimes be five minutes before you get the result, but generally much less. The subject must be very passive, not try and think of what he is wanted to do, in fact must try and keep from thinking at the time as much as possible, but be led into the room slowly, and if the subject feel a desire to go backwards or forwards, or to the right or to the left, or put their hand out in any particular direction, or take hold of anything, just do it; do whatever they feel influenced or a desire to do, and the rule will be they will do that which is desired. If any others are sitting in the room they must all concentrate their thought upon what they wish the subject to do. If you are successful with this you can then try a more difficult test, and as the subject develops, they will not require you to lead them in, in the way described, but just one to lead them in by the hand, or to keep the hand touching them in any part, so as to be in contact. The next experiment will be one showing the power of mind on matter. Get some one to lie upon a table, and four others, two to stand on either side of the table; let the two that are standing opposite the body put a finger just under each shoulder and another finger of the other hand under each hip, and those that are standing cither side by the legs put a finger under each hip and another under each ankle, and then, so as you will all be thoroughly in unison, commence to breathe together, and while you breathe thus, wish that the subject will be lifted from the table; the subject must breathe with the others and also help to give force by wishing too; say you breathe together three times and hold your lungs fully inflated at the fourth breath and at the same time command the subject to rise, and then all lift together and you will find that you will lift the subject with very little weight, and he will go up easily on your fingers. Now to prove that your will, apart from the muscular force, assisted much in lifting the weight, try to lift the body in the same way with your fingers, only page 38 do not breathe together, do not unite your wills with the desire that the body will be lifted, and the subject laying on the table, let his will be that he shall not be lifted, and you will find always there will be an immense increase of weight, and generally under these conditions impossible to lift the subject. The third experiment will be mind acting on inanimate matter.—And is this the divining-rod that we read was used in olden times? Take a light, straight stick, say from ¼ to ¾ of an inch in diameter and about 3 or 4 feet long, and then let two gentlemen, or what is better, a lady and a gentleman, as their magnetisms as a rule are different—male positive, female negative—they must stand in an easy and comfortable position opposite and facing each other with the stick held horizontally between them; they must hold the stick between the tips of their fingers and thumbs and be careful that the fingers on the one side do not touch the thumbs on the other, all their hands must also be apart, one having their two hands inside or outside those of the other. They must hold the stick this way firmly yet lightly, the muscles of the arms must be thoroughly relaxed and perfectly passive, so that if the stick has the slightest tendency to move in any direction the arms would follow it. Very often the stick thus held will commence to move in a very remarkable way and sometimes show intelligence and answer questions by an arranged code of signals, or if you hang the alphabet on the wall a comfortable height for yourselves, it will then spell out words. The answers you get to questions at first are generally of a very imperfect kind, but as you develop in the course of time they become of a most extraordinary and pleasing description. The most favourable position to stand in is that in which the stick is pointing north and south, so as the earth's current may be utilized in assisting the force. The rod will sometimes move in a few minutes, at other times it takes longer. If you do not succeed with one, perhaps your magnetisms are not favourable, then try with some one else; but after a little time in experiment, most will be successful. Using the alphabet by placing a glass of water directly underneath will have a good effect.