Hellsehen (Clairvoyance)

There are many similar cases — similar not in the possession of this particular form of sight referring to a unique case mentioned previously (which in my experience is unique), but rather cases that indicate the development of only a small part of full and clear sight on the astral plane the world of emotions and desires and etheric plane the subtlest state of physical matter. In nine cases out of ten, such one-sided clairvoyance will also lack clarity. This means that very vague impressions and conclusions will often emerge instead of the clear definition and certainty of a person trained in it. Examples of this kind are found very frequently, especially among people who announce themselves as probationary and "professional clairvoyants."

Furthermore, there are those who are only clairvoyant at times and under certain, special conditions. Among these are various subdivisions. Some people are able to bring about the state of clairvoyance at will by recreating the same conditions. In others, clairvoyance occurs sporadically without any special relationship to their surroundings. In some, clairvoyance shows itself only once or twice in their lives.

To the first of these subdivisions belong those who are clairvoyant only in a magnetic trance state a sleep-like state induced by mesmerism or animal magnetism. Outside of this state, they are unable to see or hear anything extraordinary. These may sometimes achieve a high degree of knowledge and are extraordinarily accurate in their statements. When this is the case, they usually go through a course of regular training, but are nonetheless unable, for some reason, to free themselves from the leaden weight of earthly life without outside help.

In the same class, one can place those — mainly Orientals a historical term for people from Eastern cultures, particularly India or the Middle East — who become temporarily clairvoyant only under the influence of certain agents or through the performance of certain ceremonies. The practitioner of the ceremony sometimes hypnotizes himself by repeating it and becomes clairvoyant to a certain degree in this state. More often still, he simply places himself in a passive state in which he is possessed by some other

entity a distinct being, often non-physical who speaks through him. Sometimes his ceremonies are not intended to act upon himself, but to call upon some astral entity to provide him with the desired information. But that is, of course, an example of magic the use of ritual to influence the physical or spiritual world, and not of clairvoyance. Narcotics as well as ceremonies are methods to be strictly avoided by those who wish to reach the higher side of clairvoyance and use this gift for their own progress and to help others. The Central African medicine man or "witch doctor" and some of the Tartar shamans spiritual practitioners who interact with the spirit world through altered states are good examples of this type.

Those who only occasionally have a certain clairvoyant power, without wishing for it themselves, are often hysterical and very nervous persons. In these cases, this gift is largely one of the symptoms of their illness. The physical body is then weakened to such a degree that it is not an obstacle to a certain kind of etheric or astral sight. An extreme example of this class of clairvoyant is the drinker who is in the state of delirium tremens original Latin: trembling madness; a state of absolute physical ruin and hallucinations caused by alcohol. In a condition of absolute physical ruin and impure psychic excitement caused by the ravages of this gruesome evil, he is able for a time to see the loathsome elementals nature spirits or artificial thought-forms and other entities that he has created himself through his continuous habits of degraded and bestial satisfaction. However, there are other cases where the power of clairvoyance has appeared and disappeared again, seemingly without any relationship to physical health. But most likely, if these had been examined thoroughly enough, a change in the state of the etheric body the subtle energetic double of the physical body would also have been noted.

Those who have only one instance of clairvoyance to record in their whole life are very difficult to classify exhaustively because of the great variety of accompanying circumstances. For many, this experience occurred at some supreme moment of their lives, and it can be understood that a temporary heightening of their abilities