drawn inwards to a
focus beyond the surface of the agent. This opening up of the
field of vision is the symptom of success. The next step is
indicated by a change in the atmosphere of the field. Instead of
reflecting or remaining translucent, the agent will appear to cloud
over. This will appear to become milky, then to be diffused with
colour which changes to black or murky brown, and finally the
screen appears to be drawn away, revealing a picture, a scene,
figures in action, symbolical forms, sentences, etc.

The physiological symptoms are: first, a slight chill along the
spine like cold water trickling from the neck downwards;
secondly, a returning flush of heat from the base of the spine
upwards to the crown of the head; thirdly, a gaping or spasmodic
action of the brain; and lastly, a deep inward drawing of the
breath, as if sobbing. When these symptoms follow closely upon
one another, vision will be assured. It generally happens,
however, that the various symptoms are separately developed by
repeated sittings, only appearing in proper sequence when the
experiment is finally successful.

One of the most interesting phases of this development of second
sight is the opening up of lost impressions, the revival of lapsed
memories; "looking for one thing, you find another" is an
experience in daily life which has a psychological application.
The things which pass into the limbo of forgetfulness are never
lost to us. They remain stored up in latency and are ready to
spring into activity as soon as the depths of the mind are probed.
Necessarily this experience is more generally interesting than
pleasant, but it serves to give one a sense of the connectedness of
life's incident and to show a certain sequential necessity in the
course of events. The "whyness" of our various experiences is
revealed when they are displayed in their true relations and given
their true value in the scheme of individual evolution. As
detached experiences they appear without reason or purpose,
apparently futile, often painful and even cruel; but as a
consecutive scheme, completed by the revival of all the
connecting links, the wisdom, justice, kindness and beneficence
of the Great Arbiter of our destinies are fully and conspicuously
revealed. My own first suspicions of a former embodied existence
were derived from psychic experiences, and later on were
confirmed by the course of events. I saw myself reaping that
which I had sown, and I obs