The student should practice privately with the assistance of a few
friends, before he ventures before a parlor audience, for by so doing he
overcomes the first lack of confidence in himself, and the awkwardness
natural to the beginner along any new line of work. By careful and
repeated practice he gains confidence in himself by reason of his
growing success in his experiments, and besides wears off the "rough
edges" of his actions, etc., so that when he finally appears before an
audience he will feel perfectly self-possessed and at ease, and thus be
able to devote his entire attention to his work, without annoying
self-consciousness and awkwardness.
Begin the Development Exercises by selecting one or more friends who are
in sympathy with you, and who are interested in the subject. Do not have
any unsympathetic or uncongenial persons around when you are practicing,
for such people tend to distract your attention from your work, and
really exert a detrimental effect upon the preliminary work. Select one
of your friends as the Transmitter and take the part of the Receiver
yourself.
Begin your practice by establishing a Psychic Harmony, or Rapport,
between yourself and your Transmitter by means of Rhythmic Breathing.
Although this feature of the work has been overlooked by many
investigators of the subject, still it is a very important feature of
the work, and one that is conducive to the production of the very best
results along these lines of psychic demonstrations.
The term "Rapport" is one frequently met with in occult and psychic
books. The word is defined by Webster as "Relation; conformity;
correspondence; sympathetic accord." It is used by occultists in the
sense of: "having harmonious vibrations with another," the occult
teachings being that every person has his or her own rate of mental
vibration which, when in harmonious accord with the vibrations of
another, induces the most favorable conditions for the production of
mental or psychic phenomena, or mental relations; sympathetic
understanding, etc. This "harmonious vibration" does not necessarily
mean that the two persons must be attuned to precisely the same key, but
that their keynotes must harmonize, instead of producing discord. The
comparison of the notes of the musical scale will illustrate the
principle thoroughly. When two persons are in "rapport" with each other,
there is a mental and psychic harmony between them, which is productive
of the best possible mental co-operative work. Hence the necessity of
good rapport conditions in Mind Reading.
Rhythmic Breathing has been known to occultists of all ages as one of
the important adjuncts of Psychic Phenomena, and its use in bringing
about Rapport Relations is thoroughly understood by all Practical
Occultists. Rhythmic Breathing consists in the person breathing in slow
measured regular rhythm. It may be acquired by counting the indrawn
breath, the retained breath, and the outgoing breath, by regular beats
like the ticking of a large clock. For instance, draw in your breath
slowly, counting mentally according to the ticking of an imaginary large
clock: "one--two--three--four." Then hold the breath, counting
"one--two." Then breathe out slowly: "one--two--three--four." The rule
is that the indrawn breath should have the same number of counts as the
outgoing breath, the held-breath taking up but one-half the counts of
either of the others. The above count illustrates this matter. The
advanced occultists get their time-beat from the pulse-beats, but this
is not absolutely necessary in this connection. The principal point
about Rhythmic Breathing that we wish to impress upon you now is that
the two persons, the Transmitter and Receiver, should breathe in unison
with each other--that is in perfect time and rhythm. This breathing in
unison will soon establish the very best possible rapport conditions
between them. From four to seven Rhythmic Breaths will be sufficient to
establish the proper conditions in ordinary cases. In the performance of
a test, in case you should feel the power of the Transmitter failing,
you should stop and ask him to breathe in unison with you for a moment,
and then re-start your work. By breathing a little loud the other person
will catch your time, so that it is not necessary for you to instruct
him in the science or theory of Rhythmic Breathing. Simply tell him to
breathe in unison, and keeping time with you.
Begin all your practicing with this Rapport Breathing, and start each
demonstration with it, also. You will find that it will have a very
soothing, calming, quieting effect upon both persons, and will produce
in each a mental earnestness and concentration that will help along the
demonstration of Mind Reading.
We shall not mention this Rhythmic Breathing or Rapport Condition when
we proceed to give you the detailed direction, for the demonstration,
but you must remember that it should be observed in each case. Of
course, you will be able to get results without it--but not so easily,
or so thoroughly and satisfying.
It is well to conclude your practice by taking a few deep breaths by
yourself, and not in unison with the Transmitter. This destroys the
Rapport Condition.