" is a very useful adjunct to prayer and
meditation. The subtle bodies of the worshipper are attuned to its high
vibrations, and he finds himself quieted, soothed, pacified, without
effort on his own part. He is thrown into a condition in which prayer
and meditation are easy and fruitful instead of difficult and barren,
and an irksome exercise becomes insensibly delightful. If the object be
a representation of some sacred Person--a Crucifix, a Madonna and Child,
an Angel, a Saint--there is a yet further gain. The Being represented,
if his magnetism has been thrown into the image by the appropriate Word
and Sign of Power, can re-inforce that magnetism with a very slight
expenditure of spiritual energy, and may thus influence the devotee, or
even show himself through the image, when otherwise he would not have
done so. For in the spiritual world economy of forces is observed, and a
small amount of energy will be expended where a larger would be
withheld.

An application of these same occult laws may be made to explain the use
of all consecrated objects--relics, amulets, &c. They are all magnetised
objects, more or less powerful, or useless, according to the knowledge,
purity, and spirituality of the person who magnetises them.

Places may similarly be made sacred, by the living in them of saints,
whose pure magnetism, radiating from them, attunes the whole atmosphere
to peace-giving vibrations. Sometimes holy men, or Beings from the
higher worlds, will directly magnetise a certain place, as in the case
mentioned in the Fourth Gospel, where an Angel came at a certain season
and touched the water, giving it healing qualities.[355] In such places
even careless worldly men will sometimes feel the blessed influence, and
will be temporarily softened and inclined toward higher things. The
divine Life in each man is ever trying to subdue the form, and mould it
into an expression of itself; and it is easy to see how that Life will
be aided by the form being thrown into vibrations sympathetic with
those of a more highly evolved Being, its own efforts being reinforced
by a stronger power. The outer recognition of this effect is a sense of
quiet, calm, and peace; the mind loses its restlessness, the heart its
anxiety. Any one who observes himself will find that some places are
more conducive to calm, to meditation, to religious thought, to worship,
than others. In a room, a building, where there has been a great deal of
worldly thou