ivity by any save the most remote of our ancestors, it will
not be thought remarkable that it should be at first difficult get any
definite results. Rather should it be a matter of surprise that the
power is still with us, that it is not wholly irresponsive to the voice
of the soul. While, in the course of physical evolution, many
important functions have undergone remarkable changes, and
organs, once active and useful, have become stunted, impotent,
and in some cases extinct; yet it is said that seeds have lain
dormant in arid soil for hundreds of years, to spring into leaf and
flower as soon as the rains have fallen and the climate changed.
The faculty of pure vision is like the latent seed-life. It waits only
the conditions which favour its growth and development; and
though for hundreds of years it may have lain dormant, yet in a
few days, weeks, or months it may attain the proportions of a
beautiful flower, a thing of wonder and delight, gracing the garden
of the soul.

CHAPTER IV.

THE VISION

Visions seen in the crystal are of two kinds, both of which may be
conveyed to the perception of the seer in two ways. The two kinds
of visions are: 1, Direct visions; 2, Symbolic visions. The first of
these is a representation of scene or incident exactly as it will
transpire, or has already happened, either in relation to the seer,
those sitting with him, or yet in relation to public affairs. The
second order of vision is a representation, by means of symbol,
ideograph, or other indirect means, of events similar to those
conveyed by direct vision.

In most cases it will be found that answers, to questions take the
form of symbols. But this is not always so, as will appear from
the following remarks concerning the manner in which these
impressions or visions are conveyed to the perception of the seer.

The vision is conveyed in one of two ways--first, as a vivid picture
affecting the focus and retina of the eye, perfect in its outline and
colouring, and giving the impression of being either distant or near
or at moderate range, Secondly, it may be conveyed as a vivid
impression accompanied by a hazy and undefined formation in the
crystal field. In this form it becomes an apperception rather than a
perception, the consciousness receiving the impression of the
vision to be conveyed before it has had time to form and define
itself in the crystal.

The _direct_ vision is more generally found in association with the