Read Ebook: Louis Spohr's Autobiography Translated from the German by Spohr Louis

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LESSON I--THE NATURE OF MIND READING 5

A plain, practical, scientific explanation of this Vast, Mysterious 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 investigations regarding this subject; practical proof and indisputable facts.

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 Demonstrations are explained; full directions for performing them are given, so that the student may reproduce the experiments and demonstrations.

LESSON VI--DIFFICULT DEMONSTRATIONS 66

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.

The Driving Feat; the Combination Lock Feat; the Office Detective Feat; the Postoffice Box Feat, and many other sensational demonstrations explained, together with an exposure of "Fake Demonstrations."

Demonstrations without contact. Development Directions. Long Distance Experiments. Automatic Writing. Valuable Suggestions and Advice.

THE NATURE OF MIND READING.

Only a few years ago the general public was in almost total ignorance of the great truth of Thought Transference, Thought Projection, Telepathy, or Mind Reading. It is true that here and there were to be found a few scientists 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 Telepathy, as it is called. Scientific men write and teach of its fascinating manifestations, and even the general 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 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 mysterious 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 consciousness of their respective subjects are already beginning 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 president of the "Society for Psychical Research."

Prof. Crookes then went on to say: "It is supposed 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 narrows almost to extinction during mental activity. This condition is so singularly like that of a Branly or Lodge coherer as to suggest 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 connecting 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 external movements of the atoms themselves."

A formidable range of phenomena must be scientifically sifted before we effectually grasp a faculty so strange, so bewildering, and for ages so inscrutable, as the direct action of mind on mind. It has 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. Science 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 transcend all we now think we know of matter, and to gain new glimpses of a profounder scheme of Cosmic Law. In old Egyptian days a well-known inscription 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 wonderful with every barrier that is withdrawn.

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 approved 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 compares 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.

THE PROOFS OF MIND READING.

As we have said in the previous chapter, the general public is gradually awakening to 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 composed 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.

Nearly everyone has had evidences of Mind Reading 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 person himself would appear. These instances are so common as to be generally recognized, without question. 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 wings."

Mark Twain, in an article printed several years ago, spoke of a plan that he had frequently practiced, i.e., that of writing a letter to a person upon some subject, then addressing the envelope and inserting 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, answering 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 people 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 satisfaction.

Perhaps the best available evidence of Mind Reading 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 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 conclusively proven that the thought-waves set into motion by the mind of one person may be consciously 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 England--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 conducted by members of the English Society was that of the family of the Rev. A.M. Creery, of Derbyshire, England. This investigation was made upon hearing the report of the Rev. Mr. Creery regarding a number of experiments he had conducted with his four children. He reported that he had begun 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 object 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 seldom made a mistake. I have seen seventeen cards chosen by myself, named right in succession without 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 general 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 secured from them."

The Society then began a series of careful investigations extending over a period of one year. The utmost care was taken to obviate the chance of 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 generally obtained. The report goes on to say:

One of the experiments is reported as follows:

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 perhaps a minute the answer was given. Definite objects in the room, for instance, were first thought of, and in the majority of cases the answers were correct. These numbers were thought of and the answers 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."

"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 Reading, is demonstrated by physical contact between the Transmitter and the Receiver in order to afford an easy channel for the passage of the vibrations, thought-waves, nerve-currents, or magnetism of the Transmitter . The second class, "Telepathic" Mind Reading, is demonstrated by the transferral of the "waves," "vibrations," "currents," or "magnetism" of the Transmitter to the Receiver over the ether, through space without the more convenient "wires" of the nerves of the two agents.

You will readily see that two classes of phenomena closely resemble the two classes of telegraphic phenomena, i.e., the "wire" system and the "wireless" system. There is a striking analogy between electric phenomena and mental force phenomena all the way through the subject, and this subject of 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 simplest and most easy of accomplishment and demonstration. 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 publicity 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 according to scientific principles. And the careful investigators soon discovered that in certain cases there was no Mind Reading at all, but only a clever imitation 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 persons, he would push up against him, and by a clever system of pushing, pulling, leading, and leaning would detect the muscular movements of the Transmitter, and by careful practice would learn to interpret these movements 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 performer 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 conclusion 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 Contact Mind Reading on this hypothesis. Of course some of the public may prefer to accept this erroneous theory, but we wish to say here positively that if any person will honestly investigate for himself, and will learn to make the demonstrations personally, he or she will soon discover that "muscle reading" has nothing to do with the genuine phenomena. 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 indignation arising from the attempts to belittle a noble scientific principle, and practice, by an explanation arising from the witnessing 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 impulses 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 the muscles causing them to contract. A current from a galvanic battery will cause the muscles to act in the same way. But the muscle is the machinery affected and set into motion, and the nerves are the delicate telegraphic wires leading to the parts.

The tips of the fingers of a person of fine sensibilities, 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 another. 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 reading" theories, for they have disproved them repeatedly 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, instead of muscularly contracted, is another proof of the absurdity of the theory above mentioned. Besides this, wires may be used between the two persons, 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.

And, then, and then only will he be able to intelligently 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 person'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 pretended scientists with those "doubting Thomases" who, when gas was first introduced in the British House of Parliament, insisted that the pipes rendered 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, wondering why they felt no heat. We trust that we have said enough to convince you of the ridiculousness 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" Mind Readers who have visited the leading cities of this country and other lands. Of course, the average public performer soon discovers that the average patron of his performance attends principally to be amused, and entertained, rather than to be instructed. 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 demonstration 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 confederates, and in other ways introducing unscientific methods in order to intensify the interest and satisfaction 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 scientific 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, instructing the public regarding their great subject and illustrating their theories by striking experiments along scientific lines. And we think that this little book will do its part in the direction of educating the public mind to appreciate such an entertainment, as well as serving to educate future entertainers 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 carefully 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 public performance are the same. These same instructions and directions have been studied and applied by some of the best performers now before the public, illustrating the wonders of Contact Mind Reading. So that if any of the students of this work have ambitions in the direction of public performance, 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 good Contact Mind Reader by practice, and perseverance. 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.

DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES.

Begin the Development Exercises by selecting one or more friends who are in sympathy with you, and who are interested in the subject. Do not have any unsympathetic or uncongenial persons around when you are practicing, for such people tend to distract your attention from your work, and really exert a detrimental effect upon the preliminary work. Select one of your friends as the Transmitter and take the part of the Receiver yourself.

Begin your practice by establishing a Psychic Harmony, or Rapport, between yourself and your Transmitter by means of Rhythmic Breathing. Although this feature of the work has been overlooked by many investigators of the subject, still it is a very important feature of the work, and one that is conducive to the production of the very best results along these lines of psychic demonstrations.

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