That there are some in whom the psychic faculties are more prone to activity than in others is certain, as also some in whom these powers are native, by spiritual or hereditary succession; all of which may be determined from their genitures by the astrological art. In others, the determination of the natural powers takes a more practical and mundane tendency, making them more successful in the affairs of daily life than in aught of a spiritual nature St. Paul has spoken of a diversity of gifts. "One star differeth from another in glory," he says, in very truth. This distribution of natural gifts proceeds from the celestial world, and is so ordered that each person born on this earth may fulfil his part in the economy of life. And because the spiritual needs of mankind are of primary importance, there are those born in whom the power of spiritual interpretation is the dominant faculty, such persons being the natural channels of intercourse between the superior and inferior worlds. These are to mankind what a certain order of microbic life is to the body of man--organic interpreters, translating the elements of food into blood, nerve, fibre, tissue, etc., agreeably to the laws of their being. For those who would aspire to the gift of pure vision, and in whom the faculty is striving for expression, the following pages are written. To others we would say, Be content. All birds are not eagles. The nightingale has a song, the humming-bird a plumage which the eagle will never possess. The nightingale may sing to the stars, humming-bird to the flowers, but the eagle, whose tireless eyes gaze into the heart of day, is uncompanioned in its lofty loneliness in the barren mountain-tops. CHAPTER II. QUALIFICATIONS There are in existence certain magical works, such as those of Trithemius and Barrett, wherein the use of the Crystal is accompanied by certain rites and invocations. This ceremonial magic we are disposed to repudiate as highly dangerous. It brings into play a number of forces which may well prove disastrous in inexperienced hands. All action and reaction are equal and opposite. A child might easily fire a cannon, but could not possibly withstand its recoil. So in the education of the spiritual faculties, it is better to encourage their natural development by legitimate exercise than to invoke the action of stimulants which we may not afterwards be able to control. The continual fretting of the water will wear away a rock, though none doubts the water is softer than the rock. If the barrier between this and the soul-world be like granite, yet the patient and persistent action of a determined mind will sooner or later wear it away, the last layer will break down, and the light will stream through, dazzling the unaccustomed eyes with its effulgence. It is our desire to indicate by what means and by what persons the natural development of the clairvoyant faculty may be achieved.