"People will soon find this out, if they have not already done so, with
regard to hypnotism. In the time that is coming no creed shall save a
man, for the wonders that shall be done on the earth shall deceive all
those who have not experienced the realization of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen; all those in fact who are not able to
distinguish truth from falsehood by the instinct of their own hearts.
It is doubtless for this reason that scientists have so long had their
eyes blinded. When the time shall come, and the people are ready, these
men shall lead, as they have ever led, the march of progress; yet they
must abandon pride if they hope to succeed.
"I perceive, however, that like many others, you are more anxious to
hear of the marvellous, or to see it, than to listen to the future
possible condition of things which probably will not take place in your
lifetime. If, therefore, you will lie down on the couch in that recess,
I will continue my story, though on a somewhat different plan from that
to which you are accustomed."
I lay down, and he drew the curtain that divided us from the rest of the
room, and sitting beside me, said,
"If I remember rightly, I left off last time when, having just recovered
from my first trance, I found Vera and Vancome standing over me. I felt
very little the worse for my experience, and seeing that I did not
appear likely to faint again, my companions went on their way to Heather
Lodge, leaving me to walk back home. During the evening I began to feel
nervous and distressed; a weight of anxiety seemed to be hanging over
me, none the less real because it was undefined. I went to bed early,
but instead of feeling better, the nervousness increased. On whatever
subject my thoughts turned, the unpleasant impression followed them,
haunting me and driving sleep far away. At last in despair I determined
on an experiment. I would try to think of nothing, and keep my eyes
steadily fixed on some imaginary spot just over my head. The room was
dark, but (as any one who has tried the experiment will know) if you
concentrate the eyes on one dark place for any length of time, that spot
will appear light. As I watched the light it revolved at first slowly,
and then with increasing rapidity. Though unknown to me at the time, the
method I had adopted is the simplest and easiest way of hypnotizing
oneself, and with a little patience most people could do it, for if the
light does not soon revolve it is easy to start it by moving the eye, as
it always follows; the great difficulty is to keep the mind from
wandering.
"When these revolutions had continued for some few moments, I became
about every alternate second, as it were, blind, seeing nothing, and my
mind also during the same period became a blank; then pictures
alternately flashed across the darkness, so rapidly that I could not
perfectly grasp them. But after a time I was able to see quite clearly,
and this is the picture which I saw."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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