normal state
throughout, see him floating about the room--whisking over chairs and
tables, as though the law of gravity had no further influence upon him!

We might, perhaps, also account for "invisibility" in one or two other
ways. Thus, the magician or fairy might possess the power of interposing
some veil or screen between himself and the seer--etheric or
physical--by some act of will. Or we could suppose that some chemical
might be applied to the body, rendering its structure and tissues
transparent. (One is here reminded of H. G. Wells' _Invisible Man_.) Or,
we might assume that the magician possessed the power of neutralizing
light-waves, reflected from his body, by some method of
"interference"--thus rendering himself invisible. This might be due
either to a greater understanding of the laws of physics--i.e., the
ability to manipulate light-energy in this manner, or to some purely
psychic power--volitional, etc. Precise instructions for doing this have
indeed been published (_Equinox_, vol. iii.). Of course, all such
speculations as these are purely fantastic, until some proof of their
possibility be forthcoming.

It may be thought that this knowledge was not possessed by the ancients
to the requisite extent; but there is abundant evidence to show that
"mesmerism" has been practised from very ancient times. It is probable
that the passage in Exodus vii, 10, 11, 12, refers to this, when it
says: "Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants,
and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and
the sorcerers: and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner
with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they
became serpents; but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." It is
interesting to note that Professor S. S. Baldwin, otherwise known as
"The White Mahatma," recently saw a very similar feat performed in
Egypt, and gives an account of it in his book, _The Secrets of Mahatma
Land Explained_. Doubtless the effects in both cases were produced by
suggestion, and a species of hypnotic influence. That the ancients were
well versed in magic, and the power of suggestion and personal
influence, is best illustrated by an old Egyptian papyrus at present in
the British Museum, which contains an account of a magical seance given
by a certain Tchatcha-em-ankh before King Khufu, 3766 B. C. In this
manuscript it is stated of the magician: "He knoweth how to bind o