The entire history of ALL methods and equipment that might extend or enhance human perceptions is very interesting.
However, that history is divided into sectors, only some of which have achieved societal support. Some of the sectors are not even recognized as belonging in the same category as others.
So the entire history has never been pulled together into a given conceptual framework that can house it.
One of the factors that links the entire history is the fact that extensions and enhancements of perceptions are highly desirable because many benefits can be downloaded from them. One such benefit is that the sum of human knowledge can be increased, often in single gigantic steps.
However, such increases in knowledge often have serious implications concerning the status quo stability of given societal frameworks. It is therefore not unusual that such increases are resisted, together with whatever methods and equipment might be involved.
Thus, one of the factors that defeats the linking of the entire history of perceptual enhancing methods and equipment has to do not precisely with their discovery, but rather what they portend with regard to preserving a given societal status quo.
BASIC POWERS OF PERCEPTION
For clarity, it can be said that basic powers of perception are conceptually formulated within only the given parameters of the physical senses, and then within mental activities based on them. In this sense, any given enhancement of the basic powers involves factors that increase perception beyond the limitations of the physical senses.
The rough distinction here is between what is visible-tangible via the basic physical senses, and what is invisible-intangible to them. Indeed, what the five well-known physical senses can’t “see” is “invisible” to them.
An examination of the structural elements of most societal formats easily reveals that a very large percentage of their “holding power” is closely linked to the management of the visible-tangible.
Although a lot can otherwise be discussed with regard to such societal structures, internal preservation of their holding power is quite dear to their managers, and probably to a large percentage of their followers as well.
Thus, feared difficulties might arise if and when perceptions of the invisible-intangible are introduced into their workings based principally on the physical senses. So the chief prophylactic mechanism is to forestall any emergence of extended perceptions.
If the prophylaxis doesn’t work, then more stringent measures can be designed and employed (as, for example, was the case regarding all of the rejected vital force research and developments discussed in Part I.)
DIFFICULTIES OF GETTING BEYOND THE VISIBLE
Recorded human history clearly reveals that most discoveries of methods and equipment to enhance perception much beyond the visible had a hard time of it at first, not because what they consisted of, but because of what they portended in societal terms.
For example, the general concept of the CAMERA OBSCURA (dark chamber) was known in ancient Greece and had been mentioned by Aristotle. However, its development during the Renaissance at first resulted in a significant societal brouhaha.
The camera obscura was a device that consisted principally of a dark box large enough for a person to stand in. A very small hole was picked into one side of the box, after which an inverted image of the scene outside the hole appeared on the opposite interior side of the dark box.
At first, the black box had high entertainment value ranging alongside the miraculous. But the idea that external visible reality could, in some invisible way, be reduced to a pin hole and appear upside-down had enormous philosophical and religious implications. Many of the black boxes were seized and committed to the flames, and proper citizens disavowed them.
The reputation of the camera obscura was rescued, in about 1519, by Leonardo da Vinci, who established its principle use as artistic device. He perhaps succeeded in doing so only because of his exceedingly high standing.
About three-hundred years later, in 1826, the Frenchman, Joseph Nicephore Niepce elaborated an invention based on the camera obscura. He achieved the recording of a negative image on a light-sensitive material.
When he coated a piece of paper with asphalt and exposed it inside the camera obscura for eight hours, a permanent image resulted on the paper, and the modern camera came into existence.
The scene outside of the black box had, of course, been illuminated. But when he placed a piece of paper inside the dark box at night when nothing outside of it was illuminated, various patterns of light appeared on it anyway.
When it was understood that only energies could expose the coated paper, what was later to be called psychic-energy photography had inadvertently come into existence—and which has remained a societal super-problem ever since.
The invention of the microscope in about 1590, and the telescope in about 1610, were at first resisted with societal vigor, sometimes to the noise of mob anger against them.
The idea that a micro universe existed, composed of tiny stuff the natural physical senses alone could not detect, was considered heretical not only by religious demagogues, but by philosophers and scientists alike.
The idea that a telescope could see through to the macro heavens confounded the concept of seven spheres thought to hover over the flat earth—especially when another round planet with rings (Saturn) could be espied.
This was enough to inspire various inquisitorial activities, and Galileo, an exponent of the new heavenly device, had his work cut out for him. He survived, but others were carted off to the flames.
There are many other examples of the above, some coming down to the present. But the point is that societal concerns predominate any inventions or factors regarding any extensions of perceptions by artificial means.
However, one such sector has to do with the enhancement extensions of perceptions of invisible energies discussed in this book. The actuality of various kinds of clairvoyance is perpetually embroiled within this sector.
It incorporates sensing activities that make their appearance during trance states.
The history of this particular sector has been competently written up in a book by the late historian of psychical matters, Brian Inglis, under the title of TRANCE: A NATURAL HISTORY OF ALTERED STATES OF MIND (1989).
The direct implication copiously elucidated by Inglis is that different states of consciousness each possess their special kinds of perceptual systems—something clearly established thousands of years ago by shamans world-wide.
CLAIRVOYANCE AS PERCEPTION-EXTENDING
FUNCTIONS OF THE HUMAN ENERGETIC SYSTEMS
In the historical sense, it is safe to say that any and all methods to extend the scope of human perceptions into the invisible have met with societal difficulties, and sometimes to the extreme.
For example, the field of so-called psychic photography is challenged with an enthusiasm that, by now, is entirely questionable. If some energy patterns appear on energy sensitive film, normal, infrared or ultraviolet, in conventional terms the appearance is blamed on fakery, fraud, or equipment failures, and there is a long history regarding this.
MEANWHILE, physicists have become adroit at capturing images and patterns of energetic particles passing through the walls of cloud chambers. Thereby, the real existence of those otherwise invisible energy bits has been made visible to the naked eye, with “photos” of them being published in leading science journals.
However, energetic implications of this knowledge package, scientifically acquired, have not been carried over to the phenomena of psychic photography—a topic that remains camera obscura, without any apertures, in the black box of the continuing rejection.
Likewise, scientifically acquired photos of certain energy structures in association with the human body have not been correlated with clairvoyant perceptions of the same.
CLAIRVOYANCE-ENHANCING TRAINING DEVICES
Throughout Part I, we have seen that the best evidence for invisible energies has occurred in relation to some kind of device or special environment set up.
Such was the case with Mesmer’s mysterious vats, the constituents of which have seemingly been erased from history.
The function of Reichenbach’s dark rooms is not exactly clear, but that they probably functioned along the lines of black boxes, and were apparently supercharged with odic force by his mediums certainly needs to be considered.
Certainly, the concept of an isolated box-room-environment becoming supercharged by orgone energy played a definite role in Wilhelm Reich’s efforts.
In the case of the early psychic force experiments of Cox and Sir William Crookes, the medium, Daniel Dunglas Home, apparently carried within his person an energetic supercharge he could activate—after which the amazing effects and phenomena promptly took place.
One of the concomitants of all these supercharges, even if somewhat different, was that they affected those attending upon the situations, themselves becoming supercharged, this resulting, among other phenomena, in sexualizing arousals.
And indeed, even in so-called normal life, those who like to experience sexual arousal, design or gravitate to environments that encourage supercharge arousal along such lines.
The point here is that if sexualizing energy supercharging is possible, then other kinds of such supercharging are also possible.
And if this is the fact of the matter, then human energetics must be involved—with special emphasis on the clairvoyant sensing of them. This sensing results at least in autonomic arousal, even if cognitive understanding of it doesn’t actually take place.
This is to say that the physical sensing systems are not, of themselves, responding to the energetics. But that the energy sensing systems are. This easily leads to the concept of an energetic “entity,” and which, by ITS phenomena, is somewhat distinct from the mere physical body.
With these observations now in hand, it is possible to suggest that any training device designed to elicit enhanced perceptual systems beyond the merely physical ones must, in some sense at least, first serve to energize the energy-sensing factors of the human organism.
A description of one such “training device” has been in existence since 1927. The source of the description—THE MAHATMA LETTERS—however, is so strange that it of is little wonder it escaped notice.
THE GREAT SELVES
The legendary Mahatmas are said to be Great Teachers living in the Trans-Himalayan vastness of Tibet or Mongolia.
The term MAHATMAN is Sanskrit, a compound word meaning Great Self. As described, the Mahatmans are perfected men.
They are men, not spirit entities, who have evolved through self-devised efforts in individual evolution, always advancing forward and upward until they attain “a lofty spiritual and intellectual human supremacy.”
They are not created by any extra-cosmic Deity. Rather, as it might be said, they have achieved intellectual and spiritual supremacy by lifting up themselves by their own boot-strap efforts.
As a result of this self-lifting, they are farther advanced along the “path of evolution” than the majority.
However, they possess knowledge of Nature’s secret processes and of hidden mysteries.
The Great Selves are Teachers, because they are occupied in the noble duty of instructing mankind, of inspiring elevating thoughts.
They are also Guardians of wisdom, forgotten or yet unknown. They can be called by other identifiers—Sages, Masters, Elder Brothers, Seers, Immortals, etc.
They are not dead persons, operating from ephemeral realms.
They are alive—with very extended life spans. They possess higher levels of thinking—along with extensive powers of clairvoyance and telepathy, and with abilities to influence minds of mere men, and to bilocate and appear to them.
So, of course, most people, during modern times at least, believe that the Mahatmas don’t exist—if they have even heard of them in the first place.
However, the Mahatmas communicated with several of the early Theosophists. As might be expected, the nature of the communicating was often exceedingly strange.
The Mahatmas would cause letters to be precipitated out of the air and fall down to a table or to the floor, or cause them to be discovered in unexpected places.
So, of course, the authenticity of the Mahatma Letters was of some concern (and not a little scandal) to the Theosophists. At some point, the Mahatmas began depositing Letters in a shrine at the Theosophical compound in Adyar, India.
When the shrine was later discovered to have a fake rear wall, Theosophy entire was convulsed with Great Doubts concerning the Great Selves and the possible existence of Lesser Selves who might have counterfeited something or other.
All in all, the Mahatma Letters make for interesting reading. But only one of them constitutes the substance of this chapter.
A. P. Sinnett (1840-1921) was one of the three principal, influential founders of the Theosophical Society which came into existence in New York in 1875.
Sinnett had been a long-term CHELA (student) of the Mahatmas, and at some point developed a method of posing questions in his own mind—while answers thereafter would be manifested by the Mahatmas.
THE COPPER MIRROR TRAINING DEVICE OF THE MAHATMAS
When the Theosophists set up headquarters in Adyar, India, Sinnett followed—and during the course of 1882 he was apparently wondering how to develop increases of self-awareness and clairvoyance.
The Mahatmas apparently had telepathically perceived Sinnett’s interest, and so he was in process of receiving letters about this from the Mahatmas.
He received a letter which, as most Mahatma Letters were, was immediately circulated among Theosophists, and finally published in THE MAHATMA LETTERS TO A. P. SINNETT (1923), the originals of which ended up in the British Museum.
In answer to Sinnett’s wonderment about how to develop increases of clairvoyance, the Mahatmas responded with the following short description of an enhancing device:
“The methods used for developing lucidity in our chelas may be easily used by you. Every temple has a dark room, the north wall of which is entirely covered with a sheet of mixed metals, chiefly copper, very highly polished, with the surface capable of reflecting in it things, as well as [being] a mirror
“The chela sits on an insulated stool, a three-legged bench placed in a fiat bottomed vessel of thick glass—[with] the Lama operator likewise, the two forming with the mirror wall a triangle.
“A magnet with the north pole up is suspended over the crown of the chela head without touching it. The operator having started the thing going leaves the chela alone gazing on the wall, and after the third time [the guiding Lama] is no longer required.”
Presumably, “the thing going” referred to increases of at least clairvoyance, as well as other more refined perceptions, and which at first required a guide to help it get going.
But as soon as the chela got the idea, the guide was no longer needed.
DRS. ELMER ANDALYCE GREEN BUILD THE COPPER MIRROR TRAINING DEVICE AT THE MENNINGER FOUNDATION
I remember reading THE MAHATMA LETTERS during the early 1960s when I was studying the Theosophical literature. I thought it might be interesting to set up the device and see what might happen—but never did.
In 1970, I began volunteering for parapsychological experiments, the successes of which led to working in that field for the next nineteen years.
The work with which I was involved was entirely composed of exploring perceptions, and had very little to do with physical developmental “assists” such as the Mahatma’s copper wall.
Even so, I could find no information that any Theosophists had ever tested the copper mirror, although it is conceivable that Leadbeater and Besant might have done so.
As we have seen in chapter 14, the reasons or causes of their astonishing clairvoyant powers have never been discussed in any depth.
In any event, the Mahatma training device passed from view until I heard about it from, of all people, Dr. Elmer Green at the Menninger Foundation at Topeka, Kansas.
Elmer Green, together with his wife and co-worker, Alyce, had become famous during the 1970s in the realm of researching brainwave biofeedback and “the image-making faculty.”
They had established the Voluntary Controls Program at the Menninger Foundation. The work of the Program focused on the alpha-theta brainwave biofeedback processes, and was at first funded primarily by the National Institutes of Mental Health.
At some point the Greens came across the Mahatma Letters and noticed the passage quoted above. Eventually they set up some informal experiments, the results of which inspired them to enlarge their approach by setting up a more formal series—during which some remarkable phenomena occurred.
LUCIDITY
In an earlier research proposal entitled PHYSICAL FIELDS AND STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS (1 June 1983), the Greens indicated:
“It is clear from a prima facie analysis of those suggestions [in the Mahatma Letter] that both magnetic and electrostatic fields are involved in this elicitation of the state of consciousness called LUCIDITY. Lucidity, whatever its definition, may not develop to a significant extent in three copper wall sessions, but the fact that the teacher, ‘after the third time is no longer required,’ implies sufficient progress by the student so that he can continue on his own.
“It is the elicitation and subsequent definition of lucidity with which we are basically concerned… whether it refers to becoming clearly conscious of normally-unconscious psychological processes only in the personal-consciousness domain described by Freud, or also has significance in the domain of transpersonal consciousness described by Jung.”
Elmer Green telephoned me occasionally to describe the work, and to invite me to participate in it. Knowing what I did about the Mahatma Letter and its description of a training device to enhance whatever it did, I was very eager to participate and instantly accepted the Greens’ invitation.
However, due to funding problems and research criteria, the written invitation didn’t arrive until 1987, five years after his first proposal.
During those five years the emphasis of the experiment had shifted from lucidity per se, to different proposal, conceptualized as CONSCIOUSNESS, BODY ELECTRICITY AND PSYCHOPHYSICAL LEARNING. The source of the funding had also shifted.
Despite the proposal’s title, the emphasis was actually on “healing,” a topic which interested the Fetzer Foundation which had agreed to fund the project with healing in mind.
As the proposal stated, “healers often have unusual electrical phenomena associated with their ‘healing’ activities. If this is factual, ‘healers’ of national repute may affect during ‘healing’ sessions, the ultrasensitive electrometers of the copper wall lab.”
For clarity, the emphasis of the experiments had shifted from LUCIDITY to researching whether the “unusual electrical phenomena” associated with healers would interact with the “electrostatic behavior” of the copper walls.
The interest was now focusing on the “Anomalous electrostatic phenomena in exceptional subjects” principally with regard to noted healers.
I felt obliged to explain to the Greens that I was not a “healer of national repute” and probably should not be a part of this particular type of experiment.
My expertise had focused in various modes of extrasensory perception, but which seemed to fall into the category of lucidity. Elmer countered by saying that even so, I had “national repute” as a psychic and clairvoyant, and that he hoped I would participate. So I accepted and became one of the nineteen subjects in the experiments.
Although the initial invitation took place in 1987, setting up the complicated experiment went on for months. I finally went to Topeka during the middle of June 1989 for a week’s work in the Voluntary Controls Program.
I found that the Mahatma’s copper wall had in fact become a copper ROOM whose four walls and floor were of large copper panels.
The whole experimental situation was exceedingly elegant and splendid. The copper sheets were hooked into several arrays of computer analyzers which recorded their electrostatic behavior.
The chair was not a tripod, but a comfortable padded one, with facilities to hook up the subjects to computerized brainwave and other physiological detectors.
The whole of the copper room was raised up on glass blocks whose function was to detach and insulate the room from Earth’s magnetic field.
The all-important 14-Gauss magnet was suspended in the air just over the subjects’ heads.
The environment was very impressive and thrilling.
Elmer and his several colleagues were nothing if not premeditated, thorough and careful, and altogether an inspiring group.
Complete records were kept in the forms of questionnaires, detailed interviews after “sittings” and frequent general discussions.
I was even permitted to design a limited number of experiments having to do with perceptual ESP—all of which went exceedingly well but which, with one exception, are not germane to this book.
I then “sat” in the copper room twice a day for seven days, for periods of about an hour each. As requested, I tried to “influence the electrostatic behavior” of the four copper walls, ultimately with minimal success.
But at about day three, something else began happening. I was about to discover what supercharging was all about. This was both fabulous and wonderful—and ultimately wrecked my life for about the next year.