Thanks to modern communication technology, we live in a world where we can be bombarded by the inner thoughts of people thousands of miles away moments after they have them.  As I read about the astral plane, an immaterial, super-physical area where consciouses vibrate, I’m reminded of the Twitter feed.  Is it possible that our dependence on these types of technologies are reducing our ability to access latent spiritual powers?  That is one of the questions posited by occult author and publisher Clint Marsh, in his introduction to Swami Panchadasi’s Clairvoyance and Occult Powers.

Swami Panchadasi’s Clairvoyance and Occult Powers: A Lost Classic is a reprint of a book published in 1916 by William Walker Atkinson, who, as it turns out, was also Swami Panchadasi.  A leader in the New Thought Movement (an antecedent of the New Age movement) at the turn of the twentieth century, Atkinson wrote over a hundred books under more than ten pseudonyms in the last thirty years of his life.  The adoption of an Eastern guru identity was not uncommon amongst New Thought writers of the period who hoped it would lend an air of both credibility and mysticism to their writings.

While Marsh does not think the deception lessens the power of the text, I’m disappointed to discover Swami Panchadasi is a fiction.  And without any reference made of the actual origins of the teachings in the book, such as perhaps a place Atkinson studied, I’m left wondering what else in the book is a fabrication.  Can you imagine if an author pulled a similar stunt of perpetrating as a guru today?  He or she would be banished from the community, regardless of the validity of the text.

Nonetheless, Marsh  contends that anyone who brings an open mind and takes the time to follow the teachings will see results.  He also compares the book to modern self-help tomes such as The Secret, which advances strikingly similar notions about the power of positive thinking, visualization and focus.

Positive thinking in the form of confidence, visualization and focus are Swami Panchadasi, or Atkinson’s keys to psychic ability.  I’ve always lumped psychic powers into the realm of the supernatural, along with sorcery and mediumship.  According to Atkinson this is a common misconception.  Psychic abilities such as clairvoyance and telepathy are not supernatural, he says, but super-physical.

Everything that we can sense in the universe causes vibrations and waves.  And just as there are colors of light we can’t see and pitches of sound we can’t hear, the activities on the astral plane, where all psychic activity occurs, are simply conducted at a higher vibration than the activities on a physical plane.  While we can’t perceive them with the five common senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste), there are two extra senses that we can re-awaken to receive their vibrations.  Those senses are the ability to sense the presence of other living beings, and the telepathic sense, the sending and receiving of thought messages.

Atkinson says that all humans have these two extra senses, but they’ve been dulled by civilized life.  Behavior dictated by presence sensing and telepathy can still be seen in animals, such as horses, who might spook at something we are unable to perceive, or dogs, who can sense their owner’s feelings and health.  I always thought animals were reacting to a sound or smell that was beyond human senses, but I have heard instances of animals sensing natural disasters such as earthquakes and changing their behavior before they happened. So I suppose it’s possible.

Honestly I don’t know about enough science to dispute or promote Atkinson’s claims.  Physics was one of my worst subjects, and I have a limited grasp on the vibrations of things we do see. The book does advance interesting theories about brain function including that all ideas and emotions manifest as vibrations which can be sensed outside of the body by people open to receiving them.

Atkinson writes in an assuring tone that generally left me thinking, okay, maybe.  Maybe animals have senses people have suppressed.  Maybe you can influence other people with powerful thoughts.  Maybe psychometry, a form of object reading where a residue of vibrations from the history surrounding the object can be felt and interpreted by someone in contact with that object, is possible.  But I’m not convinced.  And it’s clear that if you do not have complete faith in the application of these principles, they are not going to work for you.

For those people hoping to cultivate psychic faculties, Atkinson recommends beginning with simple mind-reading and meditation practices.  He gives several exercises that are supposed to work those senses.

Even though I finished the book feeling ambivalent about psychic abilities, I still got a lot out of it.  It’s a fascinating look at occult ideas and history.  I especially appreciated anecdotes about the Society for Psychical research, premonitions and people who sense a family member’s murder as it’s happening.  And it’s fun to read about the telepathic exercises between people who are separated by a great distance, and then think, or we could just hit each other up on Facebook.  In some ways our world is a lot more magical than the world of a hundred years ago.  Even if we have sacrificed some of our senses and focus.

The only place that the author crossed a line for me was in the final chapter, Psychic and Magnetic Healing. This short chapter describes the way psychic vibrations can heal or cure ailments. No limitations are placed on its ability to eradicate health problems. While I have no problem with faith and psychic healing being a small part of a larger medical treatment that encourages a patient to stay positive, relying on faith healing as treatment is dangerous and irresponsible. At best, faith healers are wackadoodle, at worst, they’re frauds.

If you are looking for a book which provides a foundation for general knowledge about clairvoyance and occult powers, or a historical reference to a spiritual subculture at the turn of the century, this is an excellent and interesting choice.  I would not, however, recommend it for advanced occultists.  While it provides some rudimentary basics to get someone started using astral senses, it’s a text for beginners.  Readers are advised not to try too deep a foray into the astral plane without a teacher.

Have you read this book or other books about clairvoyance?  Do you think psychic abilities are real, lucky guesses, or honed observational skills on the physical plane?

Swami Panchadasi’s Clairvoyance and Occult Powers: A Lost Classic is available from Amazon for $11.63.

*I received this book from the publisher, but was under no obligation to post a good review.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Read. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.