Part 16

"Here a sensible emotion pervaded the whole company, and the countenance of the host was dark and lowering--they began to feel that the joke was becoming too serious. Madame de Grammont, in order to dissipate the cloud, took no notice of the reply, and contented herself with saying in a careless tone: 'You see, that he will not leave me even a confessor!' 'No, madame!' replied Cazotte, 'you will not have one--neither you, nor any one besides. The last victim to whom this favor will be afforded will be--' Here he stopped for a moment. 'Well! who then will be the happy mortal to whom this prerogative will be given?' Cazotte replied: 'It is the only one which he will have then retained--and that will be the King of France!'" This last startling prediction caused the company to disband in something like terror and dismay, for the mere mention of such thing was akin to treason.

The amazing sequel to this strange story is that within the six years allotted by the prophecy, every detail thereof was verified absolutely. The facts are known to all students of the French Revolution, and may be verified by reference to any history of that terrible period. To appreciate the startling nature of the prophecy when made, one needs but to be acquainted with the position and characteristics of the persons whose destinies were foretold. This celebrated instance of highly advanced future-time clairvoyance, or prevision, has never been equalled. The reason, perhaps, is that Cazotte indeed was an advanced and highly developed occultist--the account mentions this, you will notice. This class of persons very seldom prophecy in this way, for reasons known to all occultists. The ordinary cases recorded are those in which the manifestation is that of a person of lesser powers and less perfect development.

Advanced occultists know the danger of a careless use of this power. They know that (omitting other and very important reasons) such revelations would work a terrible effect upon the minds of persons not sufficiently well balanced to stand the disclosure. Moreover, they know that if the average person knew the principal details of his future life on earth, then he would lose interest in it--it would become stale and would lose the attraction of the unknown. In such a case, the pleasant things to come would lose their attractiveness by reason of having been dwelt on so long that their flavor was lost; and the unpleasant things would become unbearable by reason of the continual anticipation of them. We are apt to discount our pleasures by dwelling too much upon them in anticipation; and, as we all know, the dread of a coming evil often is worse than the thing itself--we suffer a thousand pangs in anticipation to one in reality. But, as I have intimated, there are other, and still more serious reasons why the advanced occultists do not indulge in public prophecies of this kind. It is probable that Cazotte decided to, and was permitted to, make his celebrated prophecy for some important occult reason of which La Harpe had no knowledge--it doubtless was a part of the working out of some great plan, and it may have accomplished results undreamed of by us. At any rate, it was something very much out of the; ordinary, even in the case of advanced occultists and masters of esoteric knowledge.

Another case which has a historic value is the well-known case concerning the assassination of Spencer Perceval, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in England, which occurred in the lobby of the House of Commons. The persons who have a knowledge of the case report that some nine days before the tragic occurrence a Cornish mine manager, named John Williams, had a vision, three times in succession, in which he saw a small man, dressed in a blue coat and white waistcoat, enter the lobby of the House of Commons; whereupon another man, dressed in a snuff-colored coat, stepped forward, and, drawing a pistol from an inside pocket fired at and shot the small man, the bullet lodging in the left breast. In the vision, Williams turned and asked some bystander the name of the victim; the bystander replied that the stricken man was Mr. Spencer Perceval, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The valuable feature of the case, from a scientific standpoint, lies in the fact that Williams was very much impressed by his thrice-repeated vision, and was greatly disturbed thereby. His anxiety was so great that he spoke of the matter to several friends, and asked them whether it would not be well for him to go to London for the purpose of warning Mr. Perceval. His friends ridiculed the whole matter, and persuaded him to give up the idea of visiting London for the purpose named. Those who had a knowledge of the vision were greatly startled and shocked when several days afterward the assassination occurred, agreeing in perfect detail with the vision of the Cornishman. The case, vouched for as it was by a number of reliable persons who had been consulted by Williams, attracted much attention at the time, and has since passed into the history of remarkable instances of prevision.

In some cases, however, the prevision seems to come as a warning, and in many cases the heeding of the warning has prevented the unpleasant features from materializing as seen in the vision. Up to the point of the action upon the warning the occurrence agree perfectly with the vision--but the moment the warned person acts so as to prevent the occurrence, the whole train of circumstances is broken. There is an occult explanation of this, but it is too technical to mention at this place.

What is known to psychic researchers as "the Hannah Green case" is of this character. This story, briefly, is that Hannah Green, a housekeeper of Oxfordshire, dreamt that she, having been left alone in the house of a Sunday evening, heard a knock at the door. Opening the door she found a tramp who tried to force his way into the house. She struggled to prevent his entrance, but he struck her with a bludgeon and rendered her insensible, whereupon he entered the house and robbed it. She related the vision to her friends, but, as nothing happened for some time, the matter almost passed from her mind. But, some seven years afterward, she was left in charge of the house on a certain Sunday evening; during the evening she was startled by a sudden knock at the door, and her former vision was recalled to her memory quite vividly. She refused to go to the door, remembering the warning, but instead went up to a landing on the stair and looked out the window, she saw at the door the very tramp whom she had seen in the vision some seven years before, armed with a bludgeon and striving to force an entrance into the house. She took steps to frighten away the rascal, and she was saved from the unpleasant conclusion of her vision. Many similar cases are recorded.

In some cases persons have been warned by symbols of various kinds; or else have had prevision in the same way. For instance, many cases are known in which the vision is that of the undertaker's wagon standing before the door of the person who dies sometime afterward. Or, the person is visioned clad in a shroud. The variations of this class are innumerable. Speak to the average dweller in the highlands of Scotland, or certain counties in Ireland, regarding this--you will be furnished with a wealth of illustrations and examples.

This phase of the general subject of clairvoyance is very fascinating to the student and investigator, and is one in which the highest psychic or astral powers of sensing are called into play. In fact, as I have said, there is here a reflection of something very much higher than the astral or psychic planes of being. The student catches a glimpse of regions infinitely higher and grander. He begins to realize at least something of the existence of that Universal Consciousness "in which we live, and move, and have our being;" and of the reality of the Eternal Now, in which past, present and future are blended as one fact of infinite consciousness. He sees the signboard pointing to marvelous truths!

LESSON XIV.

ASTRAL-BODY TRAVELING

There is much confusion existing in the minds of the average students of occultism concerning the distinction between astral visioning by means of the astral senses in clairvoyance, and the visioning of the astral senses during the travels of the astral body away from the physical body. There is such a close connection between the two several phases of occult phenomena that it is easy to mistake one for the other; in fact, there is often such a blending of the two that it is quite difficult to distinguish between them. However, in this lesson I shall endeavor to bring out the characteristics of astral body visioning, that the student may learn to distinguish them from those of the ordinary clairvoyant astral visioning, and recognize them when he experiences them.

The main points of distinction are these: When visioning clairvoyantly by means of the astral senses, as described in the preceding chapters of this book, the clairvoyant usually perceives the scene, person or event as a picture on a flat surface. It is true that there is generally a perfect perspective, similar to that of a good stereoscopic view, or that of a high-grade moving picture photograph--the figures "stand out," and do not appear "flat" as in the case of an ordinary photograph; but still at the best it is like looking at a moving picture, inasmuch as the whole scene is all in front of you. Visioning in the astral body, on the contrary, gives you an "all around" view of the scene. That is to say, in such case you see the thing just as you would were you there in your physical body--you see in front of you; on the sides of you, out of the corner of your eye; if you turn your head, you may see in any direction; and you may turn around and see what is happening behind you. In the first case you are merely gazing at an astral picture in front of you; while in the second place you are ACTUALLY THERE IN PERSON.

There are some limitations to this "seeing all around" when in the astral body, however, which I should note in passing. For instance, if when in the astral body you examine the akashic records of the past, or else peer into the scenes of the future, you will see these things merely as a picture, and will not be conscious of being present personally in the scene. (An apparent exception is to be noted here, also, viz., if your past-time visioning includes the perception of yourself in a former incarnation, you may be conscious of living and acting in your former personality; again, if you are psychometrizing from fossil remains, or anything concerned with a living creature of the past, you may "take on" the mental or emotional conditions of that creature, and seem to sense things from the inside, rather than from the outside. This, of course, is also a characteristic of the ordinary clairvoyant vision of the past.) But when, in the astral body, you perceive a present-time scene in space, you are, to all intents and purposes, an actual participant--you are actually present at the place and time. The sense of "being actually present in the body" is the leading characteristic of the astral body visioning, and distinguishes it from the "picture seeing" sensing of ordinary clairvoyance. This is stating the matter is as plain and simple form as is possible, ignoring many technical details and particulars.

You, being a student of occultism, of course know that the astral body is a fine counterpart of the physical body, composed of a far more subtle form of substance than is the latter, that under certain conditions you may travel in your astral body, detached from your physical body (except being connected with it with a slender astral cord, bearing a close resemblance to the umbilical cord which connects the newborn babe with the placenta in the womb of its mother), and explore the realms of the astral plane. This projection of the astral body, as a rule, occurs only when the physical body is stilled in sleep, or in trance condition. In fact, the astral body frequently is projected by us during the course of our ordinary sleep, but we fail to remember what we have seen in our astral journeys, except, occasionally, dim flashes of partial recollection upon awakening. In some cases, however, our astral visioning is so distinct and vivid, that we awaken with a sense of having had a peculiar experience, and as having actually been out of the physical body at the time.

In some cases, the person traveling in the astral is able to actually take part in the distant scene, and may, under certain circumstances actually materialize himself so as to be seen by persons in their physical bodies. I am speaking now, of course, of the untrained person. The trained and developed occultist, of course, is able to do these things deliberately and consciously, instead of unconsciously and without intention as in the case of the ordinary person. I shall quote here from another writer on the subject, whose point of view, in connection with my own, may serve to bring about a clear understanding in the mind of the student--it is always well to view any subject from as many angles as possible. This writer says:

"We enter here upon an entirely new variety of clairvoyance, in which the consciousness of the seer no longer remains in or closely connected with his physical body, but is definitely transferred to the scene which he is examining. Though it has no doubt greater dangers for the untrained seer than either of the other methods, it is yet quite the most satisfactory form of clairvoyance open to him. In this case, the man's body is either asleep or in a trance, and its organs are consequently not available for use while the vision is going on, so that all description of what is seen, and all questioning as to further particulars, must be postponed until the wanderer returns to this plane. On the other hand, the sight is much fuller and more perfect; the man hears as well as sees everything which passes before him, and can move about freely at will within the very wide limits of the astral plane. He has also the immense advantage of being able to take part, as it were, in the scenes which come before his eyes--of conversing at will with various entities on the astral plane, and from whom so much information that is curious and interesting may be obtained. If in addition he can learn how to materialize himself (a matter of no great difficulty for him when once the knack is acquired), he will be able to take part in physical events or conversations at a distance, and to show himself to an absent friend at will.

"Again, he will have the additional power of being able to hunt about for what he wants. By means of the other varieties of clairvoyance, for all practical purposes he may find a person or place only when he is already acquainted with it; or, when he is put en rapport with it by touching something physically connected with it, as in psychometry. By the use of the astral body, however, a man can move about quite freely and rapidly in any direction, and can (for example) find without difficulty any place pointed out upon a map, without either any previous knowledge of the spot or any object to establish a connection with it. He can also readily rise high into the air so as to gain a bird's eye view of the country which he is examining, so as to observe its extent, the contour of its coastline, or its general character. Indeed, in every way his power and freedom are far greater when he uses this method than they are in any of the lesser forms of clairvoyance."

In many well authenticated cases, we may see that the soul of a dying person, one whose physical end is approaching, visits friends and relatives in the astral body, and in many cases materializes and even speaks to them. In such cases the dying person accomplishes the feat of astral manifestation without any special occult knowledge; the weakened links between the physical and the higher phases of the soul render the temporary passing-out comparatively easy, and the strong desire of the dying person furnishes the motive power necessary. Such visits, however, are often found to be merely the strongly charged thought of the dying person, along the lines of telepathy, as I have previously explained to you. But in many cases there can be no doubt that the phenomenon is a clear case of astral visitation and materialization.

The records of the Society for Psychical Research contain many instances of this kind; and similar instances are to be found in other records of psychical research. I shall quote a few of these cases for you, that you may get a clear idea of the characteristics thereof. Andrew Lang, an eminent student and investigator along the lines of the psychic and occult, gives us the following case, of which he says, "Not many stories have such good evidence in their favor." The story as related by Mr. Lang in one of his books is as follows:

"Mary, the wife of John Goffe of Rochester, being afflicted with a long illness, removed to her father's house at West Mailing, about nine miles from her own. The day before her death she grew very impatiently desirous to see her two children, whom she had left at home to the care of a nurse. She was too ill to be moved, and between one and two o'clock in the morning she fell into a trance. One widow, Turner, who watched with her that night, says that her eyes were open and fixed, and her jaw fallen. Mrs. Turner put her hand to her mouth, but could perceive no breath. She thought her to be in a fit, and doubted whether she were dead or alive. The next morning the dying woman told her mother that she had been at home with her children, saying, 'I was with them last night when I was asleep.'

"The nurse at Rochester, widow Alexander by name, affirms that a little before two o'clock that morning she saw the likeness of the said Mary Goffe come out of the next chamber (where the elder child lay in a bed by itself), the door being left open, and stood by her bedside for about a quarter of an hour; the younger child was there lying by her. Her eyes moved and her mouth went, but she said nothing. The nurse, moreover says that she was perfectly awake; it was then daylight, being one of the longest days of the year. She sat up in bed and looked steadfastly on the apparition. In that time she heard the bridge clock strike two, and a while after said: 'In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, what art thou?' Thereupon the apparition removed and went away; she slipped out of her clothes and followed, but what became on't she cannot tell."

In the case just mentioned, Mr. Lang states that the nurse was so frightened that she was afraid to return to bed. As soon as the neighbors were up and about she told them of what she had seen; but they told her that she had been dreaming. It was only when, later on, news came of what had happened at the other end of the line--the bedside of the dying woman, that they realized just what had happened.

In a work by Rev. F.G. Lee, there are several other cases of this kind quoted, all of which are stated by Mr. Lee to be thoroughly well authenticated. In one of the cases a mother, when dying in Egypt, appears to her children in Torquay, and is clearly seen in broad daylight by all five children and also by the nursemaid. In another, a Quaker lady dying at Cockermouth is clearly seen and recognized in daylight by her three children at Seattle, the remainder of the story being almost identical with that of the Goffe case just quoted.

In the records of the Society for Psychical Research, the following case appears, the person reporting it being said to be of good character and reputation for truthfulness and reliability. The story is as follows: "One morning in December, 1836, A. had the following dream, or he would prefer to call it, revelation. He found himself suddenly at the gate of Major N.M.'s avenue, many miles from his home. Close to him was a group of persons, one of whom was a woman with a basket on her arm, the rest were men, four of whom were tenants of his own, while the others were unknown to him. Some of the strangers seemed to be assaulting H.W., one of his tenants, and he interfered. A. says, 'I struck violently at the man on my left, and then with greater violence at the man's face on my right. Finding, to my surprise, that I had not knocked down either, I struck again and again with all the violence of a man frenzied at the sight of my poor friend's murder. To my great amazement I saw my arms, although visible to my eye, were without substance, and the bodies of the men I struck at and my own came close together after each blow, through the shadowy arms I struck with. My blows were delivered with more extreme violence than I ever think I exerted, but I became painfully convinced of my incompetency. I have no consciousness of what happened after this feeling of unsubstantiality came upon me.'

"Next morning, A. experienced the stiffness and soreness of violent bodily exercise, and was informed by his wife that in the course of the night he had much alarmed her by striking out again and again in a terrific manner, 'as if fighting for his life.' He, in turn, informed her of his dream, and begged her to remember the names of those actors in it who were known to him. On the morning of the following day (Wednesday) A. received a letter from his agent, who resided in the town close to the scene of the dream, informing him that his tenant had been found on Tuesday morning at Major N.M.'s gate, speechless and apparently dying from a fracture of the skull, and that there was no trace of the murderers.

"That night A. started for the town, and arrived there on Thursday morning. On his way to a meeting of magistrates, he met the senior magistrate of that part of the country, and requested him to give orders for the arrest of the three men whom, besides H.W., he had recognized in his dream, and to have them examined separately. This was at once done. The three men gave identical accounts of the occurrence, and all named the woman who was with them. She was then arrested and gave precisely similar testimony. They said that between eleven and twelve on the Monday night they had been walking homewards altogether along the road, when they were overtaken by three strangers, two of whom savagely assaulted H.W., while the other prevented his friends from interfering. H.W. did not die, but was never the same man afterwards; he subsequently emigrated."

Stead, the English editor and psychical researcher, relates the following case, which he accepts as truthful and correct, after careful investigation of the circumstances and of the character and reputation of the person relating it. The story proceeds as follows:

"St. Eglos is situated about ten miles from the Atlantic, and not quite so far from the old market town of Trebodwina. Hart and George Northey were brothers, and from childhood their lives had been marked by the strongest brotherly affection. Hart and George Northey had never been separated from their birth until George became a sailor, Hart meantime joining his father in business. On the 8th of February, 1840, while George Northey's ship was lying in port at St. Helena, he had the following strange dream: