Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible PowersAtkinson, William Walker
Religion
Genuine Mediumship; or, The Invisible Powers
Atkinson, William Walker
Mediums
As a matter of fact, as all the advanced students and teachers of the
occult doctrine know full well, we have no direct knowledge whatsoever
of anything that is "outside of the realm of nature, and of Nature's
laws." It is true that we may, by an act of faith, profess to believe in
powers and beings entirely apart from the great realm of Nature--in
fact, most persons do believe in such powers and beings in connection
with their formal religion--but their belief is entirely within the
category of Faith, and is not even pretended to be based upon actual
experience and phenomenal manifestation.
The moment that there appears any manifestation which is possible of
being known to, or experienced by, the human senses, ordinary or
extraordinary, that moment the phenomena and the immediate cause thereof
must be regarded as being properly classed in the category of "natural."
This is true not only of such phenomena as are perceived by means of our
ordinary five senses, but also of those which are perceptible only to
the highest powers of perception, or higher senses, which are latent in
all human beings but which are unfolded only in the case of a
comparatively few individuals of the race.
It should be clearly understood by all students of occultism or psychic
phenomena that man's knowledge and experience, normal or supernormal, is
confined to the realm of Nature. There is a "ring pass-not" around the
boundaries of the Kingdom of Nature which mortals cannot pass, no matter
how high may be their degree of development and advancement. Even those
great mystics whose writings are filled with the startling revelations
of "union with the Divine," and of "At-one-ment with Deity," are under
no illusion concerning this fact they know full well that only in so far
as Deity involves itself in Nature--wraps itself up in the garments of
Nature--can it be directly experienced by man, and thus actually known
by him.
Supernormal, Not Supernatural
Perhaps a clearer understanding of this important subject will be had if
we but substitute the term "supernormal" for that of "supernatural." The
term "supernormal" is not commonly employed, and but few know that such
a word is to be found in the dictionaries, much less know its meaning;
but a study of its meaning, and its adoption in our thinking, will serve
to give us a clearer conception of the true nature of many strange
phases of experience of which we have become conscious, either by
reasons of their manifestation by ourselves, or else by the
manifestation on the part of others. It will accordingly be well for us
to carefully examine this term and its meaning.
"Subnormal" means: "Beyond, above, or exceeding that which is NORMAL;
extraordinary, inexplicable perhaps, but NOT supernatural." Now, the
term "normal" means: "Conforming to a certain standard, rule, or type";
hence, anything that is "supernormal" is something that is ABOVE THE
USUAL PATTERN, RULE, OR TYPE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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