L. N. FOWLER & CO.,

7 IMPERIAL ARCADE, LUDGATE CIRCUS, E. C.
^Practical Mind Reading)
Copyright 1907, bv THE LYAL BOOK COMPANV
Copyright 1908, by ADVANCED THOUGH!' * uBLISHING CO,
GIFT
NOTICE — This book is protected by Copyright and simultaneous publication, in Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and other countries. All foreign rights re- served.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EDUC.
PSYCH.
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Lesson I — The Nature of Mind Beading 5
A plain, practical, scientific explanation of this Vast, Mys- terious Subject, explaining the action of Mind upon Mind, and the Mental Wireless Telegraphy, according to the latest and best authorities.
Lesson II — The Proofs of Mind Reading 13
The result of the latest scientific experiments and investiga- tions regarding this subject; practical proof and indisputable facts.
Lesson III — Contact Mind Reading 24
Full instruction regarding the (( Nerve Currents" passing from the human Transmitter to the human Receiver; stated so plainly that any one may instantly grasp the theory and practice.
Lesson IV — Development Exercises 34
How to develop yourself ; how to grow proficient in practice ; how to find Locations; how to find Objects; how to perform the necessary elementary feats, and thus prepare for Public Work.
Lesson V — Simple Demonstrations 49
Public or Parlor Demonstrations. Fourteen Practical Dem- onstrations are explained; full directions for performing them are given, so that the student may reproduce the experiments and demonstrations.
940
Lesson VT— Difficult Demonstrations 6(5
Explanations and instructions given for their performance. The Banknote Test ; the Blackboard Feats ; Drawing Pictures ; Telepathic Chess and Checkers, etc., described, explained, and full instructions given for their reproduction.
Lesson VII — Sensational Feats 79
The Driving Feat; the Combination Lock Feat; the Office Detective Feat; the Postoffice Box Feat, and many other sen- sational demonstrations explained, together with an exposure of "Fake Demonstrations."
Lesson VIII — Higher Phenomena 85
Demonstrations without contact. Development Directions. Long Distance Experiments. Automatic Writing. Valuable Suggestions and Advice.
THE NATURE OF MIND READING
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LESSON I.
THE NATURE OF MIND READING.
|NLY a few years ago the general public was in almost total ignorance of the great truth of Thought Transference, Thought Pro- jection, Telepathy, or Mind Reading. It is true that here and there were to be found a few scien- tists earnestly investigating and eagerly uncovering the hidden truths concerning the subjects. But the mass of the people were either entirely ignorant of the subject, or else were intensely skeptical of any thing concerning the matter, laughing to scorn the daring thinker who ventured to express his interest or belief in this great scientific phenomena.
But how different to-day. On all hands we hear of the wonders of Thought Transference, or Tele- pathy, as it is called. Scientific men write and teach of its fascinating manifestations, and even the gen- eral public has heard much of the new science and believes more or less in it, according to the degree of intelligence and knowledge concerning the subject possessed by the individual. Listen to these words from the lips of some of the greatest scientists of the day.
Prof. William James, the eminent instructor at Harvard University, says : "When from our present
6 PRACTICAL MIND READING
advanced standpoint we look back upon the past stages of human thought, whether it be scientific thought or theological thought, we are amazed that a universe which appears to us of so vast and mys- terious a complication should ever have seemed to anyone so little and plain a thing. Whether it be Descartes' world or Newton's; whether it be that of the Materialists of the last century, or that of the Bridgewater treatises of our own, it is always the same to us — incredibly perspectiveless and short. Even Lyell's, Faraday's, Mill's and Darwin's con- sciousness of their respective subjects are already be- ginning to put on an infantile and innocent look." These remarks are doubly significant by reason of their having been made by Prof. James as the pres- ident of the "Society for Psychical Research."
The eminent English scientist, Sir William Crookes, in his address as president of the Royal Society, at Bristol, England, a few years ago, said: "Were I now introducing for the first time these inquiries to the world of science, I should choose a starting point different from that of old, where we formerly began. It would be well to begin with telepathy; with the fundamental law, as I believe it to be, that thoughts and images may be trans- ferred from one mind to another without the agency of the recognized organs of sense — that knowledge may enter the human mind without being
THE NATURE OF MIND READING
communicated in any hitherto known or recognized ways. Although the inquiry has elicited important facts with reference to the mind, it has not yet reached the scientific stage of certainty which would enable it to be usefully brought before one of our sections. I will therefore confine myself to point- ing out the direction in which scientific investigation | can legitimately advance. If telepathy take place, we have two physical facts — the physical change in the brain of A. the suggestor, and the analogous physical change in the brain of B. the recipient of the suggestion. Between these two physical events there must exist a train of physical causes. . When- ever the connecting sequence of intermediate causes begins to be revealed, the inquiry will then come within the range of one of the sections of the British Association. Such a sequence can only occur through an intervening medium. All the phenom- ena of the Universe are presumably in some way continuous, and it is unscientific to call in the aid of mysterious agencies when with every fresh ad- vance in knowledge, it is shown that ether vibrations have powers and attributes abundantly equal to any demand — even the transmission of thought."
Prof. Crookes then went on to say: "It is sup- posed by some physiologists that the essential cells of nerves do not actually touch, but are separated by a narrow gap which widens in sleep while it nar-
PRACTICAL MIND READING
rows almost to extinction during mental activity. This condition is so singularly like that of a Branly or Lodge coherer (a device which has led Marconi to the discovery of wireless telegraphy) as to sug- gest a further analogy. The structure of brain and nerve being similar, it is conceivable that there may be present masses of such nerve coherers in the brain whose special function it may be to receive impulses brought from without through the connect- ing sequence of ether waves of appropriate order of magnitude. Roentgen has familiarized us with an order of vibrations of extreme minuteness compared with the smallest waves of which we have hitherto been acquainted, and of dimensions comparable with the distances between the centers of the atoms of which the material universe is built up ; and there is no reason for believing that we have here reached the limit of frequency. It is known that the action of thought is accompanied by certain molecular movements in the brain, and here we have physical vibrations capable from their extreme minuteness of acting direct upon individual molecules, while their rapidity approaches that of the internal and ex- ternal movements of the atoms themselves."
A formidable range of phenomena must be sci- entifically sifted before we effectually grasp a faculty so strange, so bewildering, and for ages so inscru- table, as the direct action of mind on mind. / It has
THE NATURE OF MIND READING
been said that nothing worth the proving can be proved, nor yet disproved. True this may have been in the past, it is true no longer. The science of our century has forged weapons of observation and analysis by which the veriest tyro may profit. Sci- ence has trained and fashioned the average mind into habits of exactitude and disciplined perception, and in so doing has fortified itself for tasks higher, wider and incomparably more wonderful than even the wisest among our ancestors imagined. Like the souls in Plato's myth that follow the chariot of Zeus, it has ascended to a point of vision far above the earth. It is henceforth open to science to tran- scend all we now think we know of matter, and to gain new glimpses of a profounder scheme of Cos- mic Law. In old Egyptian days a well-known in- scription was carved over the portal of the Temple of Isis : 'I am whatever has been, is, or ever will be ; and my veil no man hath yet lifted/ Not thus do modern seekers after truth confront Nature — the word that stands for the baffling mysteries of the Universe. Steadily, unflinchingly, we strive to pierce the inmost heart of Nature, from what she is, to reconstruct what she has been, and to prophesy what she yet shall be. Veil after veil we have lifted, and her face grows more beautiful, august and won- derful with every barrier that is withdrawn." Camille Flamarrion, the eminent French astron-
10 PRACTICAL MIND READING
omer, is a believer in Thought Transference and Mind Reading, and has written the following ex- pression of his convictions on this subject: "We sum up, therefore, our preceding observations by the con- clusion that one mind can act at a distance upon another, without the habitual medium of words, or any other visible means of communication. It ap- pears to us altogether unreasonable to reject this conclusion if we accept the facts. There is nothing unscientific, nothing romantic, in admitting that an idea can influence the brain from a distance. The action of one human being upon another, from a distance is a scientific fact ; it is as certain as the ex- istence of Paris, of Napoleon, of Oxygen, or of Sirius." The same authority has also said "There can be no doubt that our psychical force creates a movement of the ether, which transmits itself afar like all movements of ether and becomes perceptible to brains in harmony with our own. The transfor- mation of a psychic action into an ethereal move- ment, and the reverse, may be analogous to what takes place on a telephone, where the receptive plate, which is identical with the plate at the other end, reconstructs the sonorous movement transmit- ted, not by means of sound, but by electricity."
We have quoted at length from this eminent authority to show once and for all that this great science of MIND-READING is recognized, and ap-
{
THE NATURE OF MIND READING 11
proved of by the highest authorities on Modern Science, and also to give our students the benefit of the current scientific theories upon the subject. In this work we have but very little to say about theory, but shall confine ourselves to facts, and actual instruction.
Science knows and has proven that thoughts may be and have been transmitted from one mind to another, in some cases over thousands of miles of space, but it has not as yet solved the mystery of the "Why" of the subject, and contents itself with explaining the "How." The nearest approach to a correct theory seems to be the one which com- pares the mind with the "wireless telegraph," and which supposes that the vibrations of thought travel through the ether, just as do the waves of this high order of electricity. The mind of one person acts like a "transmitter" of the wireless telegraph, while the mind of the other acts as a "receiver" of the same set of instruments^
There are undoubtedly vibrations set up in the brain when one thinks, and there are undoubtedly waves of thought just as there are waves of elec- tricity. Science informs us that there is an increase of temperature in the human brain during periods of thought-activity, and also that there are constant chemical changes in the structure going on when the brain cells are active. This is akin to the gener-
12 PRACTICAL MIND READING
ation of electricity in a battery, and undoubtedly acts in the same way in producing vibrations, and transmitting them to the brain of another. Sir William Crookes, in the address just quoted, points out the direction of the scientific theories concern- ing the matter. But, this is all that we shall have to say about the theory of Mind Reading. We shall now pass on to the actual practical instruction. The student is asked, however, to always carry in his mind the fact that Mind travels in waves from one brain to another just as electricity travels from the Transmitter to the Receiver. By holding this pic- ture in your mind, you will have the whole practi- cal theory, in condensed form, right before you, so that you may be able to act accordingly.
THE PROOFS OF MIND READING 13
LESSON II. THE PROOFS OF MIND READING. S we have said in the previous chapter, the
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\f\\ general public is gradually awakening to v— J the knowledge of the reality of Mental Transference, and it is scarcely necessary to devote the time and space to a proof of the reality of the phenomena in these days, although a few years ago a work on the subject would have had to be com- posed principally of evidences and proofs. But, nevertheless, it may be well for us to take a hasty look at the nature of the proof in this work. f Nearly everyone has had evidences of Mind Read- ing or Thought Transference in his or her own life. Nearly every one has had experiences of being in a person's company when one of the two would make a remark and the other, somewhat startled, would exclaim, "Why, that's just what I was going to say," or words to that effect. Nearly every one has had experiences of knowing what a second person was going to say before the person spoke. And, likewise common is the experience of thinking of a person a few moments before the person came into sight. Many of us have suddenly found ourselves thinking of a person who had been out of our minds for months, or years, when all of a sudden the per-
14 PRACTICAL MIND READING
son himself would appear. These instances are so common as to be generally recognized, without ques- tion. These occurrences have given rise to the two common "sayings," viz., "Speak of the devil and his imps appear," or "Speak of angels and you hear the rustle of their wingSj/T
Mark Twain, in an article printed several years ago, spoke of a plan that he had frequently prac- ticed, i.e., that of writing a leter to a person upon some subject, then addressing the envelope and in- serting the letter, and then tearing the whole thing into pieces instead of sending it. He stated that in a large percentage of such cases he would receive within a short time a letter from the person to whom the destroyed letter had been addressed, an- swering the questions asked, or else speaking along the same lines as those of the destroyed letter. We have known of this experiment being tried on peo- ple thousands of miles away from the writer, and also in cases in which the other person had not been heard of for many years. There is a field open for experiment along these lines which some of our students might investigate with profit and satisfac- tion.
Perhaps the best available evidence of Mind Read- ing at the disposal of the public to-day is that found in the records of the English Society for Psychical Research. The experiments of the members of this
THE PROOFS OF MIND READING 15
Society and other investigators have resulted in the piling up of a mass of facts more than sufficient to fully establish the correctness of the theory of Mind Reading. Series of carefully managed experiments have been conducted, the results of which have con- clusively proven that the thought-waves set into motion by the mind of one person may be con- sciously received by the mind of another. We shall quote here from the reports of those investigators, in order to show you the important results that have been obtained, and to set at rest forever any lurking doubts as to the reality of the phenomena which may still find lodgment in your mind. Remember, please, that these committees were composed of some of the leading scientific authorities of Eng- land— men whose standing and reliability, as well as whose judgment, was beyond question. These cases form a part of the scientific records of the English Society.
THE CREERY EXPERIMENTS.
One of the interesting series of experiments con- ducted by members of the English Society was that of the family of the Rev. A. M. Creery, of Derby- shire, England. This investigation was made upon hearing the report of the Rev. Mr. Creery regard- ing a number of experiments he had conducted with his four children. He reported that he had begun
16 PRACTICAL MIND READING
by practicing a variation of what is generally known as the "willing game," in which one of the party leaves the room, and the company selects some ob- ject to be hidden, after which the person is recalled to the room when the company concentrates its mind upon the hidden object, and the seeker eventually finds it by means of Mind Reading. The reverend gentleman said in his report to the Society:
"We began by selecting the simplest objects in the room; then chose names of towns, people, dates, cards out of a pack, lines from different poems, etc., any thing or series of ideas that those present could keep before the mind steadily. The children sel- dom made a mistake. I have seen seventeen cards chosen by myself, named right in succession with- out any mistake. We soon found that a great deal depended upon the steadiness with which the ideas were kept before the minds of the thinkers, and upon the energy with which they willed the ideas to pass. I may say that this faculty is not confined to the members of one family ; it is much more gen- eral than we imagine. To verify this conclusion I invited two of a neighbor's children to join us in our experiment, and very excellent results we se- cured from them."
The Society then began a series of careful inves- tigations extending over a period of one year. The utmost care was taken to obviate the chance of
THE PROOFS OP MIND READING 11
fraud, collusion, mistakes, or outside influences. The experiments were conducted partly in Mr. Creery's house and partly in rooms selected by the members of the investigating committee. Having selected at random one of the children, the child would be taken from the room and accompanied by a member of the committee would wait out of sight or hearing of the room. The remainder of the committee would then select a card from a pack, or else write down a name or number which occurred to them at the moment. The following verbatim report of what followed will give you an idea of the results gen- erally obtained. The report goes on to say:
"On re-entering the room the little girl would usually stand with her face to the wall, placed thus by us. But sometimes she would stand with her eyes directed toward the ground for a period of silence varying from a few seconds to a minute, till she called out to us some number, 'card or what it might be." The report states that in the case of giving the names of objects chosen, the child scored six cases out of fourteen. In the case of naming of small objects held in the hands of members of the commitee, she scored five out of six. In the case of naming cards she scored six out of thirteen. In the case of stating fictitious names chosen by the committee she scored, at a first trial, five out of ten.
18 PRACTICAL MIND READING
One of the experiments is reported as follows : "One of the children was sent into an adjoining room, the door of which was closed. The com- mittee then thought of some object in the house and wrote the name down on paper. The strictest silence was observed. We then all silently thought of the name of the thing selected. In a few seconds the door of the adjoining room opened, and the child would appear generally with the object selected. No one was allowed to leave the room after the object had been fixed upon ; no communication with the child was conceivable, as her place was often changed. Further, the only instructions given to the child were to fetch some object in the house that we would fix upon and would keep in mind to the exclusion of all other ideas. In this way we wrote down, among other things, a hairbrush — it was brought; an orange — it was brought; a wine-glass — it was brought; an apple — it was brought," etc., etc.
The report to the Society sums up the following results: Three hundred and eighty-two trials were made in the series. In the test of naming the chosen letters of the alphabet, cards, and numbers of two figures, the chances against the girl were 21 to i, 51 to 1, and 89 to 1, respectively. In the case of stating chosen surnames the odds against her were very much in excess of the figures just
THE PROOFS OF MIND READING 19
named. In the cases of the experiments of naming chosen cards it was calculated that a mere "guesser," according to the law of probability, would be able to correctly name but seven and one-third out of a total of the three hundred and eighty-two trials. The actual results obtained by the child were as follows: On the first attempt, one hundred and twenty-seven ; on the second attempt, fifty-six ad- ditional; and on the third attempt, nineteen addi- tional— making a grand total of two hundred and two successes out of a possible three hun- dred and eighty-two! On one occasion five cards straight running were successfully named on a first trial. The mathematical chances of a mere "guess" doing this feat, under the Law of Average, or Proba- bilities, are estimated at over a million to one against the chartce. And this was not merely an isolated, exceptional case, for there were other "long runs"; for instance, there were two cases in which runs of eight straight consecutive successes were scored, once with names, and once with cards. In the case of the eight consecutive cards it has been figured that the chances against the girl would figure up at least 140,000,000 to 1, according to the Law of Average and Probabilities. To understand just what this means it may help you if you will think that the feat was like picking out one chosen man in a population of one hundred and forty millions,
20 PRACTICAL MIND READING
nearly double the population of the United States. And yet there are people who would dismiss mat- ters like this with the remark, "mere coincidence"!
The interest in the Creery children attracted the notice of Prof. Balfour Stewart, LL.D., and Fellow of the Royal Society. This distinguished gentleman testifies as follows:
"In the first instance, when I was present, the thought-reader was outside a door. The object or thing thought of was written on paper and silently handed to the company in the room. The thought- reader was then called in, and in the course of per- haps a minute the answer was given. Definite ob- jects in the room, for instance, were first thought of, and in the majority of cases the answers were cor- rect. These numbers were thought of and the an- swers were generally right, but, of course, there were some cases of error. The names of towns were thought of, and a good many of these were right. Then fancy names were thought of. I was asked to think of certain fancy names and mark them down and hand them around to the company. I then thought of, and wrote on paper, 'Bluebeard,' 'Tom Thumb,' 'Cinderella/ and the answers were all correct."
Subsequent experiments with the Creery children, at the house of the well known investigator, Mr. F. W. H. Myers, at Cambridge, England, proved
THE PROOFS OF MIND READING 21
equally successful. The children, and their ages, were as follows: Mary, 17; Alice, 15; Maud, 13. The percentage of successes obtained at Mr. Myers* house tallied very well with those obtained else- where. One remarkable result was obtained, though, that had not been obtained before. On one occasion the child was asked to name the "suit" of cards chosen one after another. That is, of course, the child was asked to name which suit, "hearts," "dia- monds," "clubs" or "spades," were shown of the card drawn and seen by the committee, and then thought of. On this occasion the child scored a run of fourteen straight running, consecutive suc- cesses. The chances against this success were 4,782,969 to 1.
We will close by mentioning another remarkable series of experiments conducted by the same So- ciety. The Mind Reader was M. G. A. Smith, of England. Among other startling feats successfully performed by Mr. Smith, that of the reproduction of Geometrical Figures was perhaps the most re- markable. In this feat Mr. Smith sat blindfolded, in a room belonging to the committee, with a pad of paper before him and a member of the committee on each side of him. A selected member of the com- mittee then would go outside of the room, and be- hind a closed door would draw some geometrical figure at random. Returning to the room the figure
22 PRACTICAL MIND READING
would be shown to the commitee, and also to Mr. Douglas Blackburn, who acted as the Transmitter for Mr. Smith, the latter being known as the Re- ceiver. The Transmitter, with closed eyes, now took his position immediately back of Mr. Smith, but at a distance of two feet from him, no contact being allowed, this precaution being taken to obvi- ate charges of confederacy, etc. The Transmitter would then concentrate his mind intently for a few minutes, and in a short time Mr. Smith would re- ceive the impression of the mental image in the mind of the Transmitter, and would begin to attempt to reproduce it on paper. In the series of experiments running over a period of four days thirty-seven drawings were made, of which only eight were con- sidered unsuccessful. Twenty-nine successes out of a possible thirty-seven, remember.
The committee reports that it took all the precau- tion to guard against secret signals, etc., and that confederacy, fraud, collusion, or similar methods were out of the question. The eight cases of failure consisted of four cases in which Mr. Smith received no impression, and therefore could not reproduce the drawing; and four cases in which the drawing was so vague and imperfect as to be called a total fail- ure. Some of the figures were grotesque, unusual, and complicated, but all were reproduced in a more or less perfect manner. The drawing was made
THE PROOFS OF MIND READING 23
deliberately and without hesitation, and as if Smith had actually seen the figure shown to the Transmitter a few moments before. On one occasion, in order to be doubly guarded against collusion, they closed Mr. Smith's ears with putty, tied a bandage around his eyes and ears, pulled a bolster-case over his head, and then covered him all over with a blanket which completely enveloped his body and head. And under these extraordinary conditions he repro- duced the figures with his usual success.
We could proceed relating case after case, experi- ment after experiment, conducted by these scientific bodies of learned and careful men. But the story would be no more convincing than that related above. And, after all, there is a method of satisfy- ing yourself that is far more conclusive than the reading of any results of experiments of others — and that is to learn to perform the feats of Mind Read- ing yourself. By means of a very little practice you will be able to reproduce many of the demonstra- tions of the public performers, as well as the experi- ments of the scientific societies, and then when you have realized that you can do these things you will need no further proof of the reality of the science of Mind Reading.
24 PRACTICAL MIND READING
LESSON III. "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 Read- ing, is demonstrated by physical contact between the Transmitter (or active agent) and the Receiver (or passive agent) in order to afford an easy chan- nel for tne passage of the vibrations, thought-waves, nerve-currents, or magnetism of the Transmitter (according to the several theories favored by sci- entists). The second class, "Telepathic" Mind Read- ing, 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) with- out the more convenient "wires" of the nerves of the two agents.
You will readily see that two classes of phenom- ena closely resemble the two classes of telegraphic phenomena, i.e., the "wire" system and the "wire- less" system. There is a striking analogy between electric phenomena and mental force phenomena all the way through the subject, and this subject of
"CONTACT" MIND READING 25
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 sim- plest and most easy of accomplishment and demon- stration. 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 pub- licity 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 accord- ing to scientific principles. And the careful investi- gators soon discovered that in certain cases there
26 PRACTICAL MIND READING
was no Mind Reading at all, but only a clever imita- tion 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 prsons, he would push up against him, and by a clever system of pushing, pulling, leading, and leaning would detect the mus- cular movements of the Transmitter, and by care- ful practice would learn to interpret these move- ments 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 per- former 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 con- clusion 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 Con- tact Mind Reading on this hypothesis. Of course some of the public may prefer to accept this erro- neous theory, but we wish to say here positively
"CONTACT" MIND READING 27
that if any person will honestly investigate for him- self, and will learn to make the demonstrations per- sonally, he or she will soon discover that "muscle reading" has nothing to do with the genuine phe- nomena. 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 indigna- tion arising from the attempts to belittle a noble scientific principle, and practice, by an explanation arising from the \ itnessing 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 im- pulses 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 +he musclen causing them to contract. A current from a galvanic br.ttery will cause the muscles to act in the same way. But the muscle is the machinery affected and set into mo- tion, and the nerves are the delicate telegraphic wires leading to the parts.
28 PRACTICAL MIND READING
And so it is with this transmission of the mental waves and currents. The brain of the Transmitter, aroused by his active Will, sends a powerful cur- rent or wave through his nervous system. When it reaches the extremity of his fingers it leaps over the tiny space separating his nerves from the nerves of the Receiver, and enters the nervous system of the latter, and influences his actions. The Receiver being in a passive condition, and his brain sending practically no impulses over his nerves, he is in a receptive condition to the imparted nervous cur- rent, which acts upon him something like an im- pulse from his own brain, only weaker. That is the whole secret of Contact Mind Reading. It is "Nerve Reading" if you like, but certainly not Muscle Reading.
The tips of the fingers of a person of fine sensi- bilities, and delicate touch, are known by anatomists to be filled with masses of nerve-matter similar to that forming parts of the brain. In fact they are tiny finger-brains, and they will send out, convey, and receive delicate impulses from one mind to an- other. Those of you who have experienced the peculiar touch of some persons of this kind, can bear witness to the fact that a subtle "magnetism" or current passed from them to you. This is a fact well known to investigators of psychic phenomena, and such people laugh at the crude "muscle read-
"CONTACT" MIND READING 29
ing" theories, for they have disproved them repeat- edly in actual careful experiments. And you may do the same, if you will practice the demonstrations given in this book. The fact that the developed Contact Mind Reader usually walks ahead of his Transmitter, instead of being led by him; and that he usually allows the latter's arm to hang limp, in- stead of muscularly contracted, is another proof of the absurdity of the theory above mentioned. Be- sides this, wires may be used between the two per- sons, or even a third person may be placed between them. But, as we have said, after all the best and only real test is to try the experiments yourself and learn that "muscle reading" has nothing to do with the real phenomena.
The experimenter will soon find that when he gets into the work and is engaged in a search for a hidden object, by means of Mind Reading, he will forget all about the Transmitter. He will almost forget where he is, and will feel himself floating and gliding over the floor and scarcely touching it with his toes. He will find himself drawn or impelled irresistibly toward the hidden object, as if by some outside energy or fine force. He will feel the hidden object drawing him like a magnet, and attracting him to the spot. He will forget his audience, and everything else, in his desire to reach the Centre of Attraction. These experiences cannot well be
SO PRACTICAL MIND READING
explained in print, but the investigator will soon learn to know them for himself, and he will be amazed and filled with wonder at the strange psychical phenomena in which he is taking a prin- cipal part.
And, then, and then only will he be able to intelli- gently reject the absurd and unjust theories of "muscle reading," and to see the crudeness of the attempted explanation. He will see that the foolish theory is as far out of the way as the ignorant per- son's idea that the telegraph messages are sent by the wires being "pulled" or "jerked," instead of being but channels for the passage of the electric fluid, or magnetic waves. He will class such pre- tended scientists with those "doubting Thomases" who, when gas was first introduced in the British House of Parliament, insisted that the pipes render- ed the building unsafe, because they would become heated by the passage of the light; and who when the system was seen in actual operation, would gently feel the pipes with their gloved fingers, won- dering why they felt no heat. We trust that we have said enough to convince you of the ridiculous- ness of the "muscle reading" theory, and to give you sufficient interest to demonstrate the matter for yourself.
Many of our readers have witnessed the public performances of the several well-known "Contact"
"CONTACT" MIND READING 31
Mind Readers who have visited the leading cities of this country and other lands. Of course, the aver- age public performer soon discovers that the aver- age patron of his performance attends principally to be amused, and entertained, rather than to be in- structed. And he is apt to gradually add sensational features to the performance, for the purpose of thrilling and mystifying the audience, knowing that by so doing he will better please his patrons than if he were to give them a strictly scientific demon- stration of the science of Contact Mind Reading as produced in the psychological laboratories of the great investigators of the subject. Some of these public performers have even gone so far as to add "fake" features to their performance, employing con- federates, and in other ways introducing unscientific methods in order to intensify the interest and satis- faction of their audiences.
But notwithstanding this fact, the average public Mind Reader, in spite of his sensational additions, generally gives his audience enough of "the real thing" to render his performance of sufficient scien- tific interest to make it worthy of attendance by the earnest student of the subject. And we believe that the time is approaching when a strictly scientific performance will prove of sufficient interest to the public to render it worth while for a new class of entertainers and lecturers to arise and take the field,
32 PRACTICAL MIND READING
i i ii
instructing the public regarding their great subject and illustrating their theories by striking experi- ments along scientific lines. And we think that this little book will do its part in the direction of edu- cating the public mind to appreciate such an enter- tainment, as well as serving to educate future enter- tainers for their life work.
However, in this little book, we shall treat the subject as if a parlor demonstration was all that is desired, and our instructions and directions shall be chiefly toward that end, although we wish to say that any man or woman who will carefully study these instructions and directions, and who will care- fully practice the feats and exercises, will be able to gradually develop sufficient ability and skill to give a successful public performance, and perhaps reap a goodly share of fame and financial. reward. The principles of the parlor demonstration, and the pub- lic performance are the same. These same instruc- tions and directions have been studied and applied by some of the best performers now before the pub- lic, illustrating the wonders of Contact Mind Read- ing. So that if any of the students of this work have ambitions in the direction of public perform- ance, they will find herein the methods calculated to develop them into a successful public entertainer and demonstrator.
Anyone may develop himself, or herself, into a
"CONTACT" MIND READING
good Contact Mind Reader by practice, and perse- verance. As in everything else in life, some will succeed better than others; and some will find the work easier than do others, but all may develop quite a respectable degree of proficiency in a short time. A little careful, conscientious practice and experiment will accomplish wonders.
Mind Reading feats depend upon the degree of Will and Concentration on the part of the Trans- mitter, and upon the degree of Receptivity and Pas- sivity upon the part of the Receiver. We are tak- ing it for granted that the student will wish to act as a Receiver (or Performer of the feat of Mind Reading) rather than as the Transmitter (or person called upon to have his mind read). And so we shall address him as such, with this understanding. But we shall also give herein full directions for the Transmitter, as well, in order to give the student the methods necessary to act in either capacity, and to also enable him to instruct the Transmitter in his work. The Receiver should understand the duties of the Transmitter, in order that the best possible results be obtained, and the proper harmony and rapport conditions may be established.
34 PRACTICAL MIND READING
LESSON IV. DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES.
mHE student should practice privately with the assistance of a few friends, before he ven- tures before a parlor audience, for by so doing he overcomes the first lack of confidence in himself, and the awkwardness natural to the be- ginner 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 ac- tions, 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 atten- tion to his work, without annoying self-conscious- ness 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. Se- lect one of your friends as the Transmitter and tak- the part of the Receiver yourself.
DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES 35
Begin your practice by establishing a Psychic Harmony, or Rapport, between yourself and your Transmitter by means of Rhythmic Breathing. Al- though 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 re- sults 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; correspond- ence; sympathetic accord." It is used by occultists in the sense of : "having harmonious vibrations with another," the occult teachings being that every per- son has his or her own rate of mental vibration which, when in harmonious accord with the vibra- tions of another, induces the most favorable condi- tions for the production of mental or psychic phe- nomena, or mental relations; sympathetic under- standing, 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 dis- cord. 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-
36 PRACTICAL MIND READING
operative work. Hence the necessity of good rap- port 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 in- drawn 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 nec- essary 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
DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES 37
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 breath- ing 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 sooth- ing, calming, quieting effect upon both persons, and will produce in each a mental earnestness and con- centration 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
38 PRACTICAL MIND READING
the Transmitter. This destroys the Rapport Con- dition.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS.
The prime requisite for a successful demonstra^ tion of Mind Reading is the acquirement, or pos- session, by the Transmitter, of a clear idea of direc- tion 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 accord- ance with the Will of the Transmitter. Remember the two points to be observed by the Transmitter.
Begin by having the Transmitter standing be- side you in the centre of the room, you being blind- folded. 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 concen- trating his entire Attention upon the projection of his Will. He must not content himself merely form-
DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES 39
ing 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 per- fectly passive_ and receptive state of mind, resigning your own Will for the time being, and being per- fectly 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 blind- folded, 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 impres- sions from the mind of the Transmitter, who is mak- ing 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
40 PRACTICAL MIND READING
forward. Obey this impulse and take the first step, which will often be in an entirely opposite direc- tion 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 your- self 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 Pro- jector, 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 re- ceive and follow the mental telegraph message
DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES 41
you will find the impulse growing stronger and stronger until you walk right into the corner se- lected, 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 guid- ing 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, some- times 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 num- ber of persons acting as the Transmitter, so that you may become familiar with the different degrees of Concentration, personal characteristics of people
42 PRACTICAL MIND READING
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 men- tal 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
DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES 43
rooms, and with different Transmitters, until you can go readily to the selected corner. Do not be dis- couraged, but remember that "practice makes per- fect," 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 experi- ments 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, man- tels, windows, alcoves, projections, etc. Try a num- ber of these selected locations in turn, gaining a variety of experiences which will prove valuable
44 PRACTICAL MIND READING
later on. In all of these experiments the Transmit- ter 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 con- cern 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 won- derful things, for you need just this training. You will realize the importance of these exercises after you begin to appear before friends and evening com- panies, etc., when you will be called upon to find hidden objects, selected articles secreted under ta- bles, 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
DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES 45
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 ex- periences as possible along the line of Mind Read- ing of this kind.
PRACTICE EXERCISE IV. FINDING HID- DEN ARTICLES.
After you have mastered the last mentioned ex- ercise, 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. Pro- ceed 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 com- panies, 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
46 PRACTICAL MIND READING
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 train- ing will be of the greatest possible benefit to you when you are called upon later to find objects hiddep in people's pockets, etc.
GENERAL REMARKS ON PRACTICE.
The above exercises will train the student to re- ceive and act upon the mental commands or mes- sages of the Transmitter, under a great variety of cir- cumstances and conditions. Many of the most suc- cessful 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 chap- ters a number of interesting and startling feats and experiments which are intended for parlor audiences, etc., but which may be most profitably practiced pre- viously 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 them- selves from time to time, to the intelligent student
DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES 47
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 gen- eral 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 Trans- mitter 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 your- self 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
48 PRACTICAL MIND READING
to the exercise until you become a Master of Mind Reading, when you need fear no audience whatso- ever, 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, re- membering, always that the feats and experiments that we shall mention, should be practiced by you privately, with the aid of a friendly Transmitter, be- fore you reproduce them in public. In the case of feats, in which the audience is a party to the experi- ment, such as the finding of a scarf-pin on a mem- ber of the audience, you may practice with a dummy audience, that is with an imaginary audience con- sisting of chairs, etc., until you familiarize yourself with the details of the feat.
SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIONS 49
LESSON V. SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIONS.
IN beginning a public demonstration, it will be well for you to give a short preliminary talk —J to the audience, somewhat along the follow- ing lines:
OPENING TALK.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, with your assistance I shall endeavor to give you a demonstration of prac- tical Mind Reading, beginning with some simple feats, and then proceeding gradually to more compli- cated demonstrations. In these demonstrations, I must have your co-operation, for the success of the experiments depends as much upon you as upon my- self. In the first place, I must ask that you refrain from conversation, laughter, etc., while I am demon- strating, for these things distract the mind of the Transmitter and prevent him from concentrating his Mind and Will upon mine ; and also prevent me from maintaining that Passive Mental State which is essential to the success of the experiments. I trust that you will help me in this way. I also ask that during the experiments, you will all concentrate your Mind and Will upon me, and help me in the work. In order to obtain the best results all Mind
50 PRACTICAL MIND READING
Readers prefer that their audiences concentrate their Wills upon the work, with the purpose of mentally willing that the demonstrator be successful. In fact the success of the experiments depend very mate- rially upon the Willing exerted by the audience. If you Will in my favor, I shall be successful ; if you Will that I shall fail, I shall feel the effect. There- fore, kindly give me your aid. I ask you to blind- fold me and take such other means to prevent unfair methods and practices, as your judgment may dic- tate. I am now ready to proceed with the tests."
CHOOSING THE TRANSMITTER.
Then have the audience select a committee to blindfold you and remain outside of the room with you, while the remainder of the audience select the object that you are to find, etc. When you return to the room, select someone to act as Transmitter. If possible get someone with whom you have pre- viously practiced, and established rapport condi- tions. This will aid you very materially, of course. If this is not possible, select someone of the audi- ence that is in harmony with you, and who will have a strong enough will to give you the vibrations. Sometimes women are very good at this work, as they get very much in earnest when interested, and therefore Will intently. If your first Transmitter is not satisfactory, test another, and so on until you
SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIONS 51
get a good one. You may change Transmitters during the evening, if you prefer; in fact this is a good plan, if you are an adept, for it shows the audi- ence that there is no collusion.
INSTRUCTING THE TRANSMITTER.
You should instruct the Transmitter, along the lines indicated in a previous chapter, i. e. that he must hold the thought of direction, fix his eyes on the chosen spot and then concentrate his will upon it, and that your success will depend materially upon his ability to concentrate his Mind and Will upon the task. You should explain to him that you receive your impulses through his thought-waves or vibrations, and that the stronger these are, the better you will succeed. Make this plain to him. When the Transmitter fails to concentrate his Will, you will know it at once, and should call his atten- tion to it, saying "Concentrate, concentrate now — harder — use your Will," or words to that effect. You should impress upon the Transmitter that it is the strength of his Will that produces the mental vibrations that give you the impressions.
BEGINNING THE TEST.
Then, take the hand of the Transmitter, in the manner already described in previous lesson, plac- ing it to your forehead, or else holding it up high
52 PRACTICAL MIND READING
in front of you. Then begin a wavering motion, or direction, preferably describing a circle, slowly. In this meaningless wavering motion remain perfectly passive awaiting impressions. Soon you will be- gin to feel a mental resistance to certain direc- tions, and a mental willingness that you move in another direction. Then move along the line of the least mental resistance. In some cases you will re- ceive a strong mental urge, pull, or push, in the direction of the selected spot. Here is where your practice comes in, for in your practice experiments you have acquired the art of recognizing these im- pressions as they come to you, in their different forms, and so are prepared to yield to them and move accordingly. It is impossible to describe in writing just how these impressions come, and feel like, for actual experience is necessary before you will know just what is meant. But once you have accustomed yourself to receive and recognize the impressions, the rest is all a matter of practice and development.
And now for the demonstrations themselves. You should begin with the simplest feats, and then work up gradually to the more complicated and difficult ones. This plan will build up your own powers, and will develop the Transmitter's. We herewith give a number of interesting feats and demonstrations, explaining the details of each. Of
SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIONS 53
course, the general directions we have given regard- ing the receiving of impressions, etc., will apply to all of these feats, for the principle underlying them all is the same, precisely.
FINDING A LOCATION. DEMONSTRATION I. Begin by having the audience select a part in the room, which may be easily reached by you. Then proceed as directed, until you feel that you have reached the right place, or location.
FINDING A PERSON.
DEMONSTRATION II. Have the audience se- lect a person, one of their number. Find the gen- eral location of the person. Then standing still, reach out your right hand, and begin "feeling about." You will find that as your hand moves away from the right person you will feel a drawing back impression, whereas when you reach toward the person you will receive an urging forward im- pression. A little practice will soon enable you to distinguish these mental impressions. Then place your hand on the person who seems to be the centre of the impressions. If this is the wrong person, you will receive a mental impression of "Wrong" ; in which case you must start up the moving your hand to and fro, and around, until you feel the urge im- pression, when you should place your hand on the
54 PRACTICAL MIND READING
person immediately in front of you. When you reach the right person, you will receive an unmis- takable impression and mental message of "All Right," followed by a lessening of the Will tension, and you will know that you have succeeded. You should practice this in private before attempting public demonstration.
FINDING A SMALL OBJECT.
DEMONSTRATION III. Have the audience select some small object in plain sight in the room. Then find it in the manner described of above in the case of the selected person. The rule is identi- cally the same. But there are some other details to be observed, in the matter of "up or down," for the object may be higher than your shoulder or lower, in which case you will have to either reach up or down. In this reaching up or down, follow the same general rule as given. When you reach the right location, you will feel an impression of "not yet fin- ished" from the mind of the Transmitter. Then reach up slowly. If this is right you will receive a corresponding impression, and may go on to centre the object. But if it is not right, you will receive a mental urge downward, which you should follow. The rule always is to follow the line of the least mental resistance. You will always receive the re- sistance when you are not succeeding, and -will
SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIONS 55
always receive the lack of resistance when you are succeeding. Learn to focus these impressions until they centre positively and constantly on the same spot — then you have succeeded, for there will be your object right under your hand.
FINDING A BOOK. DEMONSTRATION IV. Have the audience se- lect a book on the shelves of a book case, and then find it in the manner just related. The two feats are precisely the same, although the latter will ap- pear more startling to the observer.
THE FLORAL TRIBUTE.
DEMONSTRATION V. This test is known as ;'The Floral Tribute." It is performed by having a bouquet of flowers on the table. Then select some young man in the audience, and let him pick out some young woman in the audience whom he wishes to have the flowers. You must retire from the room, of course, while he selects the young lady and men- tions her name and position to the audience. Then returning to the room, pick up the bouquet, and taking the hand of your Transmitter, find the young lady and present her with the flowers. Of course this feat is merely a fancy rendition of the simple feat of finding the person thought of, and is per- formed in the same way. (Study the directions for
56 PRACTICAL MIND READING
Demonstration II, and apply in the present case, with appropriate variations.)
THE REUNITED COUPLE.
DEMONSTRATION VI. This test is known as "The Reunited Couple." It is performed by having the audience select two persons, a young man and a young woman, and stand them up in front of the room, like a couple about to be married. Then they should have a third person, a man, selected and stood before them as the parson who will tie the knot. The three persons should then take their seats, and when you enter the room, and take the hand of your Transmitter, you must first find "the Parson"; then "the Groom"; and then "the Bride," and arrange them in their proper positions. This is a highly effective test, and invariably brings hearty applause, and the hunt affords much merriment to the audience. But, as you will see readily, it is but a variation of Demonstration II.
THE HIDDEN JEWELRY.
DEMONSTRATION VII. Have the audience se- lect some small article, like a scarf-pin, ring, etc., and hide it on the person of some one of the audience. Then you are to find it. This demonstration com- bines the features of Demonstration II, and Demon- stration III, that is you have first to find the per-
SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIONS 57
son, as described in Demonstration II, and then the object which is practically a variation of Demon- stration III. Study the details of Demonstration III, and practice the present demonstration in pri- vate before trying it in public.
THE DISCOVERED COURSE. DEMONSTRATION VIII. Have a member of the audience walk around the room, following a pre- scribed course selected by the audience. Have your Transmitter memorize the course accurately, and then you must walk over the same course when you return to the room. This is effective, but is merely a variation of the "Finding the Corner" dem- onstration.
REPLACING THE PIN. DEMONSTRATION IX. This is called "Re- placing the Pin," and is very effective when prop- erly performed. Have a member of the audience take a pin and insert it in the wall in a spot plainly visible to the audience, not too high up, however — about on the level of your shoulder is best. Then have him withdraw the pin and hide it somewhere in the room. Then when you return to the room, and take the Transmitter's hand, you should first find the pin, (in the manner heretofore described) and then find the place where it had been stuck; then circling your hand around in narrowing circles
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until you feel the proper impression push the pin home in the spot in which it formerly was driven. This final effort is really merely a modification of "finding the spot," and with a little practice may be easily performed.
THE THEFT DETECTED. DEMONSTRATION X. This feat is called "The Theft," Have one of the audience play "the thief," and steal an article of jewelry, or similar small object from a second person called "the victim." Then the thief should hide his spoil in a safe place about the room. Returning you first find the thief; then the hidden article; then the person, according to the methods already given. This is a very effective feat, but is merely a combination of "Finding the Per- son," and "Finding an Object."
THE RECONSTRUCTED TABLEAU. DEMONSTRATION XI. This feat is known as the "Reconstructed Tableau." It is performed by having several of the audience form a simple tableau group, and then retire to their seats. Returning to the room you are to find each person; lead him or her to the former spot; then reconstruct the group. This is somewhat difficult, but not nearly so much so as you might suppose. A little private practice will enable you to perform it with ease,
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THE MURDER AND THE DETECTIVE.
DEMONSTRATION XII. This test is known as the "Murder and the Detective," and is very spec- tacular and sensational, and is accordingly one that is in great favor with the public performers. It is performed as follows : The audience selects one man to act as the "murderer"; another to act as "the victim"; and also some object to act as the dagger; and lastly a place in which the body is to be con- cealed. Then the "murderer" picks up the "dagger," and "kills" his "victim," afterward concealing the body in some part of the room (usually sitting in a chair) and the "dagger" in another place. Then when you return to the room you first find the "body"; then the "wound"; then the "dagger," and then the "murderer." This is usually announced as a wonderful piece of "telepathic detective work," and is extremely effective, and may be reserved as the "principal effect" of your series of demonstrations.
You will notice that the feat is merely an elaborate combination of the simpler feats of "Finding the Person," "Finding the Object," etc.
THE RETURNED HATS. DEMONSTRATION XIII. Have the hats of a number of men in the audience placed on a table or other place, and then returning to the room, blind- folded of course, you pick up the hats, one by one,
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and place them upon the heads of their proper own- ers, who are seated in different parts of the room. This is a simple feat although very effective. It is, of course, merely a variation of the feat of "finding the person." There is one point, however, that must be remembered in this feat, and that is that the Transmitter should know just whose hat is held in your hand — just who the owner of that particular hat is and where he is sitting or standing. Other- wise he cannot send you the mental impulses which will enable you to find the owner. It will be well for the Transmitter to hold the hat to that it can be seen by the audience, requesting the owner to rise in his seat so as to indicate his whereabouts — your back being turned to the audience while this is being done in order to avoid suspicion of your "peeping," etc.
THE LADY AND THE RING.
DEMONSTRATION XIV. This feat is per- formed by having a lady in the audience loan the Transmitter her ring. When you return to the room, you find the lady and replace the ring upon the finger from which she took it. The Transmitter must remember the lady, and the particular finger, of course — the rest is simply a combination of the "finding the person" and "finding the spot" feats. It is very effective, if neatly performed.
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GENERAL ADVICE.