darkness to be maintained as an essential feature of such
phenomena. While many mediums insist upon the condition of darkness at
seances, it is thought by some careful thinkers that this arises from
the fact that such mediums have been accustomed to such conditions from
their earliest days of mediumship, and have grown to believe that the
same are absolutely necessary. It is thought that if such mediums would
begin over again, practicing in full light in the company of a few
sympathetic friends, they would before long grow accustomed to the new
conditions, and would then be able to reproduce all of their most
important phenomena in full light. Using the terms of modern psychology,
it would seem that such mediums are the victims of their own
"auto-suggestion," and fixed beliefs; and, as all students of the
subject well know, the mental states of the medium have a most important
bearing of the quality of the phenomena produced, and form a very
important factor of the conditions governing the success of the seance.

Developing Circles.

The person who is developing mediumship will do well to surround himself
with persons of a certain type of psychical power, and to form circles
of such persons. Such persons are invaluable in constituting a
"developing circle." Such persons need not be mediumistic themselves,
nor are they required to actually do anything. Instead, their service is
that of being present as psychical reservoirs of force upon which the
spirits can draw for manifesting power. The medium, being sensitive to
helpful influences, and the reverse, will recognize such persons by the
congenial and harmonious influence they exercise upon him; and he will
do well to encourage such persons to sit in his developing circles.

Impersonating Mediumship.

What is known as "impersonating mediumship" occurs where the medium is
so completely under the control of the manifesting spirit that he will
exhibit, often in a marvelously accurate manner, the personal
characteristics and mannerisms of the spirit, and which are readily
recognized as such by the spirit's surviving friends in earth-life.
Sometimes the medium will actually re-enact the dying moments of the
controlling spirit. In many cases such impersonations have been so
nearly photographically and phonographically correct that they have
afforded the most convincing proof to investigators, and in other cases
have been a great consolation to relatives of the spirit wh