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only the same kind of knowledge familiar to Modern Spiritualists. There is
in man a power which enables him to use all beneath him or upon a level
with him, to the extent of his ability but his ability is the governing
factor, he cannot go beyond that. The power of the will, governed by the
enlightened soul and intelligence, enables him to accomplish many things
that seem most remarkable to the untrained.'
MAGIC, WHITE AND BLACK,
Dr. Franz Hartmann says in his work on 'Magic, White and Black':
'Magic is that knowledge of the spiritual powers hidden within the
constitution of man, which enables him to employ them consciously and
intelligently. If he employs them for the purpose of attaining perfection
through the realization within himself of the highest ideal, common to all
mankind, it is called "white magic"; and he may use these powers for
beneficent purposes and in harmony with the universal law of love and
justice; if he employs them for low or selfish purposes, or in opposition
to divine law, he makes the high subservient to the low, he degrades the
spirit, and with it himself. This misuse of divine powers is called "black
magic," and it is not my object to teach this art, but to warn the readers
against it.' It will be seen that black magic differs from white in the
character of the motives and methods of the one who practices it. The
white magician exerts his influence over others for their good. His motives
are true and kindly; he
A Guide to Mediumship 233
uses his will, magnetism, suggestion, and vital force to strengthen and
stimulate those with whom he deals to virtuous courses. He heals the sick,
comforts the sad, encourages the weary, and helps the weak to become
firm and brave. He does not seek to dominate others that he may use and
bend them to his own purposes, but he strives to awaken in them the
power of self-control and to assist them to gain the higher level of spiritual
consciousness, that they may be intromitted to the world of souls and
interiorly grasp spiritual truth.
The black magician, on the other hand, endeavors to exert his
psychological powers to fascinate others and render them subservient to
his will, so that they shall become his tools to do his behests and further
his scheme, gratify his love of power, his vanity, passion, or avarice; yield
obedience to his whim, or execute his malicious designs to injure others.
Those who thus seek to employ the force of will to dominate others, and
exercise psychical control over them to gratify their own private and
personal ends, are unworthy custodians of the power, and while they may
succeed temporarily, they will themselves most assuredly suffer in the
long run, and eventually, to use a Scotch proverb, 'sup sorrow with a big
spoon.'
HYPNOTISM: ITS DANGERS.
There is, we fear, too much ground for the statement that we read
recently that the study of magic is pursued in many cases for the sake of
the power it is supposed to give to the student to cause others to do
according to his will, and that he may be able to make the forces of Nature
serve him in the prosecution of his selfish designs. There are a number of
advertisers who, according to their own assertions, are prepared to teach
others how to hypnotize so that they can 'compel success,' even to the
extent of making unwilling people sign documents in their favor. * The
power of hypnotism in the hands of unscrupulous
* Here is an extract from a circular by one of these advertisers: 'We
show you how people are made to execute wills in favor of certain
persons. Hundreds of wills have been made contrary to the
234 A Guide to Mediumship
people, when employed against ignorant, unsuspicious, or credulous
persons who can be terrorized, is a most dangerous one, and no one who
respects himself will submit to the experiments of a would-be operator
whom he does not know, or cannot trust, because the subject is put into a
peculiar state of semi-trance or sleep, and the operator dictates what he
shall see, feel, think, and remember; thus the senses are subjugated, the
memory is interfered with, and the subject is subservient to the will, or
thought, or suggestion, or mental direction of the operator. Wherever the
personal influence of the operator is the dominant factor in the situation
and one person leans upon another for strength and guidance, there is
likelihood of trouble. There is no danger in the use of hypnotic influence
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