More stuff on late 19th/early 20th century rationalism/romaticism (actually, this book was published around 1918 or something, so it's a bit late in the day, but the author's expressing a point of view that was current around the turn of the century). I've had it on my computer for years and I suddenly remembered it today. Everyone knows about the links between psychology, hypnotism and spiritualism, but I think that this passage mashes them together better than most other texts:
However much these examples of a sixth
sense may tax our credulity, there are, in all
literature, very many instances of a similar
kind.
Now, what is the explanation of these phe
nomena f Are they caused by the subliminal or
subconscious mind of the operator? Psycholo
gists tell us that there are certain undefined
functions of the mind which act independently
of our senses and are outside our ordinary con
sciousness. Father Maher, in his "Psy
chology"; says: "It ought not to be forgotten
that besides the mental operations which re
veal themselves in consciousness, there is much
evidence to establish the existence of vital ac
tivities of which we are not at times aware.
. . . There is considerable dispute as to their
exact nature and how their relation to the mind
should be conceived. It is sufficient to call at
tention to their reality and to admit that, al
though unsusceptible of introspective observa
tion, some of these activities are intimately con
nected with our conscious life."
There is apparently beneath our conscious
mind a secondary and mysterious process of
mind action, distinct from and independent of
our primary self, as if there were two minds,
a conscious and subconscious mind, each per
forming its own distinctive function. In or
dinary terms the difference between the two
may be stated as follows : The one or objective
mind takes cognizance of the visible or objec
tive world. It acts through the five senses, and
its highest function is that of reasoning. The
subjective or subliminal mind perceives things
or persons, as do clairvoyants, independently of
the senses. It experiences as if by intuition.
It sees without the eyes, the natural organs of
vision, and, on occasions, apparently at least,
leaves the body, travels to distant places, and,
returning, records whom arid what it has seen.
This brings us to the phenomenon of bilocation,
with which we will presently deal.
There are so many well authenticated attesta
tions to the existence of this psychic power or
sense that they cannot be disregarded by impar
tial minds.
The man possessed of a sixth sense sees not
only the direction in which he should travel,
but the objective itself, his village, his house
and its surroundings. The many examples re
corded in Enemoser's "History of Magic" and
in Smedley's "Occult Sciences"; of the reality
of this sense, are persuasive if not convincing
evidence of its existence.
It is much easier to deny the possibility of the
acts than to account for them, but examples such
as those mentioned are too numerous and too
strongly attested by honest and impartial wit
nesses to be consistently denied. It is more
rational to accept the facts than to conclude
in spite of overwhelming testimony that those
who have seen and testify to the occurrences are
enthusiasts who were deceived, or are deceiving
others.
There is such an intimate connection between
clairvoyance, second sight, and orientation that
it becomes difficult to draw lines of separation.
Possibly, however, savage man and wild ani
mals have the five senses so highly developed
and perfected that in the very long time de
manded for that development the psychic facul
ties or sense perceptions may have also ac
quired a development resulting in clairvoyance,
conscious or subconscious. In attacking this
hypothesis as simply a connected chain of
opinions, those who undertake to destroy a link
of the chain should supply its place by a
stronger link. Now that comparative psy
chology is reaching the dignity of a science,
there ought not to be insuperable obstacles in
the path leading to a solution of the problem.
It is time that a consistent theory should be
propounded regarding the subject, if only on
the foundation of the old adage that even a
faulty hypothesis is better than none at all and
that all progress must have a point from which
it moves forward. When confronted with the
problems of clairvoyance and orientation we
are tempted to exclaim with Renan, "On est pris
de vertige - one's head is seized with dizziness."
- Dean W. R. Harris (also wrote hearty books with titles like "With Rod and Gasket through the Canadian Wilds")
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