vision, but it is open only to the combined password of Calmness,
Patience, and Perseverance. If at the first attempt to ride a bicycle,
failure ensues, the only way to learn is to pay attention to the necessary
rules, and to persevere daily until the ability to ride comes naturally.
Thus it is with the would-be seer. Persevere in accordance with these
simple directions, and success will sooner or later crown your efforts.
"(3) Commence by sitting comfortably with the eyes fixed upon the crystal,
not by a fierce stare, but with a steady, calm gaze, for ten minutes only,
on the first occasion. In taking the time it is best to hang your watch at
a distance, where, while the face is clearly visible, the ticking is
rendered inaudible. When the time is up, carefully put the crystal away in
its case, and keep it in a dark place, under lock and key, allowing no one
but yourself to handle it. At the second sitting, which should be at the
same place, in the same position, and at the same time, you may increase
the length of the effort to fifteen minutes, and continue for this period
during the next five or six sittings, after which the time may be
gradually increased, but should in no case exceed one hour. The precise
order of repetition is always to be followed until the experimenter has
developed an almost automatic ability to readily obtain results, when it
needs no longer to be adhered to.
"(4) Any person, or persons, admitted to the room, and allowed to remain
while you sit, should (a) keep absolute silence, and (b) remain seated at
a distance from you. When you have developed your latent powers, questions
may, of course, be put to you by one of those present, but even then in a
very gentle, or low and slow tone of voice; never suddenly, or in a
forceful manner.
"(5) When you find the crystal begins to look dull or cloudy, with small
pin-points of light glittering therein, like tiny stars, you may know that
you are commencing to obtain that for which you seek--viz., crystalline
vision. Therefore, persevere with confidence. This condition may, or may
not, continue for several sittings, the crystal seeming at times to
alternately appear and disappear, as in a mist. By and by this hazy
appearance, in its turn, will give place quite suddenly to a blindness of
the senses to all else but a blue or bluish ocean of space, against which,
as if it were a background, the vision will be clearly apparent.
"(6) The crystal should not be used soon after taking a meal, and care
should be taken in matters of diet to partake only of digestible foods,
and to avoid alcoholic beverages. Plain and nourishing food, and outdoor
exercise, with contentment of mind, or love of simplicity in living, are
great aids to success. Mental anxiety, or ill-health, are not conducive to
the desired end. Attention to correct, breathing is of importance.
"(7) As regards the time at which events seen will come to pass, each seer
is usually impressed with regard thereto; but, as a general rule, visions
appearing in the extreme background indicate time more remote, either past
or future, than those perceived nearer at hand, while those appearing in
the foreground, or closer to the seer, denote the present or immediate
future.
"(8) Two principal classes of vision will present themselves to the
sitter--(a) the Symbolic, indicated by the appearance of symbols such as a
flag, boat, knife, gold, etc., and (b) Actual Scenes and Personages, in
action or otherwise. Persons of a positive type of organization, the more
active, excitable, yet decided type, are most likely to perceive
symbolically, or allegorically; while those of a passive nature usually