_Murderous Rage and Sustained Anger._--In Figs. 22 and 23 we have two
terrible examples of the awful effect of anger. The lurid flash from
dark clouds (Fig. 22) was taken from the aura of a rough and partially
intoxicated man in the East End of London, as he struck down a woman;
the flash darted out at her the moment before he raised his hand to
strike, and caused a shuddering feeling of horror, as though it might
slay. The keen-pointed stiletto-like dart (Fig. 23) was a thought of
steady anger, intense and desiring vengeance, of the quality of murder,
sustained through years, and directed against a person who had inflicted
a deep injury on the one who sent it forth; had the latter been
possessed of a strong and trained will, such a thought-form would slay,
and the one nourishing it is running a very serious danger of becoming a
murderer in act as well as in thought in a future incarnation. It will
be noted that both of them take the flash-like form, though the upper is
irregular in its shape, while the lower represents a steadiness of
intention which is far more dangerous. The basis of utter selfishness
out of which the upper one springs is very characteristic and
instructive. The difference in colour between the two is also worthy of
note. In the upper one the dirty brown of selfishness is so strongly
evident that it stains even the outrush of anger; while in the second
case, though no doubt selfishness was at the root of that also, the
original thought has been forgotten in the sustained and concentrated
wrath. One who studies Plate XIII. in _Man Visible and Invisible_ will
be able to image to himself the condition of the astral body from which
these forms are protruding; and surely the mere sight of these pictures,
even without examination, should prove a powerful object-lesson in the
evil of yielding to the passion of anger.
[Illustration: FIG. 22. MURDEROUS RAGE]
[Illustration: FIG. 23. SUSTAINED ANGER]
_Explosive Anger._--In Fig. 24 we see an exhibition of anger of a
totally different character. Here is no sustained hatred, but simply a
vigorous explosion of irritation. It is at once evident that while the
creators of the forms shown in Figs. 22 and 23 were each directing their
ire against an individual, the person who is responsible for the
explosion in Fig. 24 is for the moment at war with the whole world round
him. It may well express the sentiment of some choleric old gentleman,
who feels himself insulted or impertinently treated, for the dash of
orange intermingled with the scarlet implies that his pride has been
seriously hurt. It is instructive to compare the radiations of this
plate with those of Fig. 11. Here we see indicated a veritable
explosion, instantaneous in its passing and irregular in its effects;
and the vacant centre shows us that the feeling that caused it is
already a thing of the past, and that no further force is being
generated. In Fig. 11, on the other hand, the centre is the strongest
part of the thought-form, showing that this is not the result of a
momentary flash of feeling, but that there is a steady continuous
upwelling of the energy, while the rays show by their quality and length
and the evenness of their distribution the steadily sustained effort
which produces them.
[Illustration: FIG. 24. EXPLOSIVE ANGER]
_Watchful and Angry Jealousy._--In Fig. 25 we see an interesting though
unpleasant thought-form. Its peculiar brownish-green colour at once
indicates to the practised clairvoyant that it is an expression of
jealousy, and its curious shape shows the eagerness with which the man
is watching its object. The remarkable resemblance to the snake with
raised head aptly symbolises the extraordinarily fatuous attitude of the
jealous person, keenly alert to discover signs of that which he least of
all wishes to see. The moment that he does see it, or imagines that he
sees it, the form will change into the far commoner one shown in Fig.
26, where the jealousy is already mingled with anger. It may be noted
that here the jealousy is merely a vague cloud, though interspersed with
very definite flashes of anger ready to strike at those by whom it
fancies itself to be injured; whereas in Fig. 25, where there is no
anger as yet, the jealousy itself has a perfectly definite and very
expressive outline.
[Illustration: FIG. 25. WATCHFUL JEALOUSY]
[Illustration: FIG. 26. ANGRY JEALOUSY]