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 MEDIUMSHIP 
 
 ITS USE AND ABUSE. 
 
 Being Number Three of 
 
 LESSONS OF PROGRESS 
 
 BY 
 WILL J. ERWOOD 
 
 PRICE FIFTY CENTS. 
 
Class -_JVPjjl7^_ 
 
 Book____J[T7 
 CopyrightN 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
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 MEDIUMSHIP 
 
 ITS USE AND ABUSE. 
 
 Being Number Three of 
 
 LESSONS OF PROGRESS 
 
 BY 
 WILL J. ERWOOD 
 
 717 EAST TWENTY-SECOND STREET 
 Baltimore, Maryland. 
 

 ^...,, 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1909 
 
 BY WILL J. ERWOOD 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 ©HU259I79 
 
MEDIUMSHIP. 
 ITS USE AND ABUSE. 
 
 VERY close observer of na- 
 ture may readily discern the 
 fact that but two laws, or 
 rules of being, obtain in life. 
 And these are: the law of 
 Use; and, the law of Abuse. 
 Everything with which we come in contact 
 comes within the operation of one, or the 
 other, of these two rules; we either use, 
 properly, or we abuse, the powers, forces 
 or functions of life. 
 
 Clearly: if the law of use was ob- 
 served, in connection with every function, 
 or force of being, there would be a vastly 
 greater degree of development than now 
 obtains among humanity. The era of the 
 superior man and woman would be inaug- 
 urated ; then, many of the grave conditions 
 which now confront us would be eliminated. 
 The ability to use, wisely and well, any 
 given function or privilege, is measured by 
 the degree of knowledge possessed con- 
 cerning that function. And the tendency 
 to abuse its privileges is gauged by the ex- 
 tent of the ignorance thereof. Manifestly, 
 then, the ideal state is that one in which we 
 have acquired a greater degree of know- 
 ledge — hence a greater measure of useful- 
 ness. 
 
And this applies just as readily to the 
 spiritual functions as to the material condi- 
 tions of life. There is not a natural law, 
 and a supernatural. Were this not true we 
 would have the spectacle of a Universe 
 within a Universe — each being antithetical 
 to the other. And there would be two or- 
 ders of law — each, likewise, the antithesis of 
 the other. And that would be confusion. 
 
 In an orderly Universe, however, there 
 could not be this confusion of elements, or 
 forces, for that would be to court disinte- 
 gration. The same general laws apply to 
 all. Spirit and matter are co-existent and 
 co-eternal ; they are amenable to the same 
 fundamental rules. 
 
 This is so true that we cannot, in the 
 last analysis, disassociate spirit and matter. 
 They so interpenetrate each other that their 
 progress is interdependent — the one must 
 needs function through the other. 
 
 We are the creatures of habit. And 
 we have acquired the habit of designating 
 things as material — as spiritual. Meaning 
 thereby : that which applies more directly 
 to objective life ; and that which deals with 
 the realm of causes — the soul man ; the 
 eternal man. 
 
 And, at times, we abuse them both — 
 the spiritual as well as the physical ; and 
 abuse always means to divert from the 
 normal channel ; use means to conform to 
 
the normal. Which facts supply the incen- 
 tive in this lesson on Mediumship. A de- 
 sire to incite use, in lieu of abuse. 
 
 Any student of the Occult — of Spirit- 
 ual phenomena — will understand the mean- 
 ing of the term "mediumship". Some there 
 may be, however, who will search their 
 lexicons for its meaning ; they will approach 
 us with the assertion that everything is a 
 medium — everything is a phenomenon. All 
 of which is true. 
 
 The telegraph is a medium ; the tele- 
 phone ; the railroad ; the ocean liner — all are 
 mediums : mediums of communication, of 
 travel ; and are extensively useful. And all 
 are phenomena of the most marked char- 
 acter. But they are not the mediums, or 
 the phenomena, of which we write here. 
 
 The "Mediumship" now under discus- 
 sion is the mediumship of Occultism— of 
 Spiritualism. The "Medium" of whom we 
 speak is that person who has developed, to 
 greater or lesser degree, the super-phys- 
 ical sense— who spiritually contacts with 
 the souls who have taken up their abode 
 on a higher plane of conscious activity than 
 that upon which the, so-called, mortal man 
 now functions. 
 
 In other words: the "Medium" of this 
 lesson is the individual who, consciously, or 
 unconsciously, occupies the position of me- 
 diator — or means of communication — be- 
 
tween the incarnate and discarnate man ; 
 who is spokesman, as it were, between those 
 humans who dwell upon this material plane, 
 and those who function upon the sphere of 
 consciousness designated by Occultists as 
 the "Astral Plane." 
 
 The conscious medium, as already 
 stated in a previous Lesson — "The Message 
 of Spiritual Phenomena" — is the one who 
 has an awakened, individual spiritual per- 
 ception ; who is so awakened, spiritually, as 
 to be enabled to communicate with human 
 souls upon the different planes of concious- 
 ness ; who may convey, to the one for whom 
 it be intended, the message received from 
 any discarnate soul, or souls. 
 
 And the unconscious medium is the 
 one who, through the law of hypnosis, is 
 subjected to the controlling influence of a 
 discarnate being ; who is so controlled that 
 his own personality is submerged, tem- 
 porarily, by that of the controlling being, 
 who uses the medium as a piece of mech- 
 anism — a telephone — through which to con- 
 verse, or transmit communications. 
 
 This "unconscious medium" i. e., the 
 person who allows another being to induce 
 a state of hypnosis in order that he may use 
 the human mechanism for the transmission 
 of communication —is one who occupies t 
 relatively, the same position as he who 
 moves out of his dwelling and turns it over 
 to the control, and occupancy, of another. 
 
Again : he is like the engineer who steps 
 down from his engine and turns the con- 
 trol of the throttle over to another. And 
 sometimes the medium who steps down 
 from the seat of self-control, and turns over 
 to another the control of that human engine, 
 occupies a position analagous to that of an 
 engineer who would leave his engine, al- 
 lowing an inexperienced and incompetent 
 person to assume control. 
 
 This is said with a view to calling at- 
 tention to one flagrant abuse of the phe- 
 nomenon of mediumship. And that is the 
 indiscriminate manner in which many peo- 
 ple seek to develop mediumship. 
 
 There are all too many who desire to 
 become mediums, who are absolutely indif- 
 ferent to details, or conditions, which should 
 obtain in such an effort. Their only thought 
 is to become a medium ; they never stop to 
 consider what it means — nor do they think 
 of whom it may be that will control them. 
 Consequence : many an unpleasant experi- 
 ence ; sometimes nerve depletion ; some- 
 times moral depreciation ; and many times 
 loss of volitionary effort, and health. 
 
 There are too many who assume the 
 attitude of one whom the writer heard say: 
 " Dear friends, every sense of my being is a 
 room for the use of the Spirit World, and 
 any Spirit who so desires may use it ! " The 
 one making the statement did not realize 
 
the significance of such a declaration. Such 
 an attitude means complete subjection to 
 the will of the discarnate ; it means abso- 
 lute surrender. 
 
 Too many people still cling to the idea 
 that the process of death is a miraculously 
 moving power, or agency, which cleanses 
 the individual from all error, and endows 
 him with all wisdom. Naturally, those hold- 
 ing such a view regard every denizen of the 
 world of expression beyond the Border of 
 Death as a Socrates ; a Plato ; a Buddha, or a 
 Jesus, in spiritual unfoldment and wisdom. 
 
 And such people contend that there is 
 nothing more to be desired than to be " con- 
 trolled n by some discarnate personage. To 
 be controlled means to be subject to the 
 dominion of another. It means, at least, 
 comparative subjugation to the will, the 
 wishes, and the whims of someone else. 
 
 Let us remember that life is not de- 
 signed for subjugation — it is rather for 
 expression. It is not for the purpose of 
 discovering how many bodies and minds 
 may be controlled by one individual, either 
 discarnate or incarnate, but is rather for the 
 purpose of aiding each person— each hu- 
 man, in the evolution of individual charac- 
 ter ; is designed to afford the opportunity 
 for each to become absolute master of his 
 selfhood. 
 
In too many instances, then, subjective 
 mediumship means this : the becoming of 
 an automaton, instead of a conscious, voli- 
 tionary being — an instrument in the hands 
 of another, instead of a master musician 
 playing upon the harpstrings of the soul. 
 
 It means being the possesser of a mar- 
 velously attuned instrument upon which the 
 owner is best fitted to play ; it means to be 
 the inhabitant of a wonderful temple; it 
 means to be Emperor in the realm of one's 
 selfhood ; it means to be, and possess, all 
 of this, only to abdicate in favor of some 
 alien. It means the surrender of instru- 
 ment, of temple and Empire to the do- 
 minion, and use, of another. 
 
 Let us get firmly fixed in the mind 
 that : Death makes no change in the chem- 
 istry of character ; that whatsoever a man 
 is the day of his transition, he is the day 
 after. 
 
 His wisdom may be no whit greater 
 because of the change of his plane of con- 
 scious activity. He may be no more capa- 
 ble of advising wisely, and well, than he was 
 prior to his departure from scenes more 
 physical. 
 
 He is no more capable of manipulating, 
 and controlling, your organism, your vocal 
 organs and mind, than when he was in the 
 physical form. In short, he is no better, no 
 worse for the change; he is simply the 
 
same man — the same human, and liable to 
 the mistakes in judgment which have been 
 his wont here. 
 
 And so mediumship — we speak now 
 of the mediumship of subjectivity — which 
 demands the giving up of one's selfhood to 
 the dominion of another is an abuse of the 
 opportunities of life. It is an affliction 
 instead of a blessing. It retards grow:h 
 instead of accentuating it. 
 
 The beauty of life, in the individual, 
 lies in the well rounded out character — a 
 splendidly poised individuality. It is to be 
 found in the mind well clarified by thought 
 — in the soul firmly seated upon the throne 
 of selfhood. It is to be seen in the nearer 
 and nearer approach to the cosmic con- 
 sciousness which brings us in touch with 
 all there is. Freedom ! Liberty ! Justice ! 
 Progress ! This is the quartet of princi- 
 ples which make for the larger manhood 
 and womanhood. 
 
 What we want is the freedom to grow, 
 untrammeled by the encroachments of an- 
 other. We desire the Liberty to express, to 
 its fullest, the luminous consciousness of 
 the higher self. What we need is Justice 
 enthroned in the courts of life, that we may 
 be, and let be. And we should aspire to the 
 degree of Progress, in heart and mind, that 
 will welcome every advancing step in the 
 evolution of the God man. 
 
If mediumship always meant conscious 
 co-operation, within the bounds of reason, 
 all would be well. If in every instance it 
 meant the personal illumination of the sub- 
 ject it would be vastly different. And be it 
 said to the credit of exalted souls, who have 
 sought to raise the material to a higher plane 
 of development, that co-operation, and not 
 subjugation, has been the goal toward which 
 they have ever striven. 
 
 This expresses it: — in the words of a 
 well loved Teacher from beyond the Bor- 
 der — "we have absolutely no right to inter- 
 fere with one needful experience of your 
 life; we have no right to forcibly detain you; 
 our rights end when we have pointed the 
 way; we have no right to control — we have 
 only the right to guide ! n 
 
 And that desire to co-operate, rather 
 than subjugate, is the one which has pre- 
 dominated in the attitude of every exalted 
 intelligence with whom the writer has come 
 in contact. And it is very much to be hoped 
 that it will become the dominant note in 
 every mind interested in this subject. 
 
 It should be fully understood, (and is 
 by those who have given the matter much 
 thought) that a person does not have to 
 submit to subjugation in order to become 
 a medium in the truest, and best, sense of 
 that word. 
 
Of course, if we use the word medium 
 in the limited, and very much restricted 
 sense, the foregoing would not be true. For 
 the generally accepted sense of the term 
 it means "one who is controlled by spirit 
 power. R 
 
 But, the real Medium, Psychic, or mem- 
 ber of the Illuminatti, whom we most ad- 
 mire, is the one who has become conscious- 
 ly exalted, spiritually; whose soul percep- 
 tions have become intensified; who is thus 
 brought consciously in contact, or commun- 
 ication, with those who may be separated, 
 by the change called death, from this im- 
 mediate sphere of activity. 
 
 And such an individual is one who 
 must appreciate the responsibility of his 
 position; is usually one who has given the 
 matter of soul development much thought; 
 who has approached the subject with a full 
 realization of its import. And he is veiy 
 rarely the one who will, in any way, abuse 
 the privelege which is his. 
 
 And he is also fully aware of the fact 
 that the best, and most satisfying phenom- 
 ena, or communications, assistance or in- 
 struction, vouchsafed by the denizens of 
 the super-mundane spheres of action, are 
 the result of spontaneity, and are never 
 forced. He knows, too, that the inhabitants 
 of the super-mundane zone of life are other- 
 wise, and better occupied than they would 
 
be if, as some suppose, they had nothing 
 else to do than dance attendance to every 
 whim and fancy of the citizens of this 
 mortal plane. 
 
 There can be no doubt that a very 
 prolific source of much of the abuse, of 
 mediumship, is found in the fact that so 
 large a number of people are of the opinion 
 that their discarnate friends have naught 
 else to do than to play lackey to the whims 
 of their earth friends. 
 
 That mediumship has, in a measure, 
 been diverted from its legitimate field of 
 operation and use, there can be no ques- 
 tion. How large a degree in which it has 
 been thus diverted, we may not know ; but 
 we do know that abuses exist. There are 
 numerous causes which have led up to the 
 abuses ; some of them may be classed as 
 follows : 
 
 First : An overpowering credulity which 
 causes some persons to regard every peri- 
 patetic chill as evidence of the presence of 
 a discarnate being. 
 
 Second : An exaggerated sense of im- 
 portance which causes such a person to be- 
 come possessed of so stupendous a conceit 
 as will convince him that a Socrates ; a 
 Plato or a Milton, is the "chiller." 
 
 Third : A blind and inane dependence 
 upon the denizens of the "Spirit World," 
 which persuades the individual that there 
 
is no necessity for individual effort. That 
 to study and think for self is little short of 
 criminal — for "the guide (?) will teach me 
 all I need to know." 
 
 Fourth : The idea that to be controlled 
 by a discarnate individual is the acme of 
 unfoldment; and the attainment of this 
 boon leaves nothing else to be desired in life. 
 
 Fifth : That idea, which finds lodg- 
 ment in the minds of all too many, that 
 mediumship is designed as an easy means 
 of livelihood; and that immediately upon 
 its development, the possessor must assume 
 the position of oracle. And must, at once 
 set up shop as a director of the destiny of 
 man— at so much per direction. 
 
 Sixth : That consumate — and diabolical 
 — ignorance, or cupidity, which persuades 
 many an individual that the moment he is 
 controlled, by a discarnate being, he has 
 become endowed with a superior order of 
 intelligence ; and that he has control of the 
 denizens of the Spiritual plane of existence, 
 to the extent that he, even he, is the official 
 purveyor of mediumship. And for a cer- 
 tain stipend — always very liberal — he will 
 undertake to furnish, at a moment's notice, 
 a band of "controls," and supply any per- 
 son with mediumship to order. 
 
 Seventh : The flippant, frivolous and 
 irrational way in which so many approach 
 the subject ; and the indiscriminate man- 
 ner in which are gathered together the per- 
 
sons who are to make up the "circle" for 
 development. The utter disregard of the 
 fitness of things — the failure to observe rea- 
 sonable conditions for personal unfoldment. 
 
 Eighth : Rushing blindly into psychic, 
 or mediumistic, development, without any 
 thought as to what it involves, what it re- 
 quires, or what it may result in ; with no 
 other thought but : "let me be controlled." 
 
 Ninth : The tendency to deify the 
 dwellers in the astral plane, or summer- 
 land ; the practice of accepting every word 
 from such sources as the very last authority 
 upon any subject; the belief in their in- 
 fallibility. 
 
 Tenth : The failure to use reason when 
 dealing with the discarnate ; failure to ana- 
 lyze, sift and weigh the statements of super- 
 mundane authorities, as well as those of 
 this plane. Added to which is the tend- 
 ency to make mediumship a purely mer- 
 cenary thing. 
 
 These are but a few of the reasons for 
 the existence of abuses of mediumship ; but 
 they are quite sufficient to show the foun- 
 dation of a world of trouble. They will 
 show the cause of much of the disrepute 
 which has attached to the subject of medi- 
 umship in the opinion of the general public. 
 Then, let us add to the above the fact 
 that subjective mediumship is not a matter 
 of morality; nor is it dependent upon 
 
spirituality. Every writer of note upon 
 this subject admits this fact. It simply 
 means that, irrespective of moral qualifica- 
 tions, men and women may be controlled, 
 through a hypnotic process, by discarnate 
 beings. 
 
 Granting this : then taking into consid- 
 eration the discriminate methods of devel- 
 opment ; the fact that the law of attraction 
 determines the class of beings drawn to 
 one — incarnate or discarnate — and the prac- 
 tice^of those who, knowing nothing of me- 
 diumship or its meaning, yet urge others of 
 all classes to make haste and become me- 
 diums, regardless of character or qualifica- 
 tions. Taking all of this in view, we have 
 a very evident source of abuse. 
 
 Unfortunately those who are not of a 
 reasonably moral character are often more 
 easily controlled, and developed into medi- 
 ums of the subjective class. This because 
 they are in the habit of giving way to every 
 emotion — of letting every passion have its 
 fullest sway. They do not possess them- 
 selves as fully as does the man of poise and 
 character. 
 
 And then this fact remains: where there 
 is a tendency to moral delinquency, it is ac- 
 centuated by the process of subjugative 
 mediumship— by the frequency of hypnotic 
 control. (And this is precisely what is in- 
 volved in trance mediumship— hypnosis.) 
 
This accentuation is due to the fact 
 that continued submission to the will of 
 another — to control — undermines the voli- 
 tionary power of the individual. It annuls 
 his powers of resistence. He forms, more 
 strongly than ever, the habit of submission; 
 then, for every emotion, and its conse- 
 quence, he blames the "control." And 
 these, too, are abuses of mediumship. 
 
 Every phase, every condition, and every 
 aspect of the subject — mediumship — which 
 tends to minimize the usefulness of the in- 
 dividual, is an abuse. And the failure to 
 recognize this fact lies back of many an un- 
 pleasant experience ; and gives rise to much 
 of the odium and reproach under which 
 mediumship has been brought. 
 
 Now let it be said, once for all, that 
 there are many honest and conscientious 
 mediums, whose sole desire is to be of 
 use — of legitimate service to humanity. And 
 they are rightly considered: "Messengers 
 of light and joy." 
 
 But they must suffer because these 
 abuses exist. The world at large takes no 
 thought of the magnitude of the subject; 
 nor does the bulk of humanity stop to con- 
 sider what mediumship is, or what it is 
 not — neither do they ask its use. 
 
 Thus, when an "Elsmere," posing as 
 the world's "most renowned," makes way 
 with the diamonds and cash of the over 
 
credulous publican, the honest mediator 
 must bear the brunt. The "Elsmeres" de- 
 part for parts unknown ; the honest worker 
 remains. And the uninformed populace 
 classes them both in the same category. 
 
 The true must suffer because of the 
 false. The usefulness must be curtailed by 
 the abuses which obtain. And thus it will 
 continue to be until the subject is studied 
 more than it is now — until there is an effort 
 on the part of those who are true, to make 
 clear to all what the high use of medium- 
 ship really is. The public must be made to 
 know that the real use of mediumship is 
 illumination — growth and progress. 
 
 There are few who will deny the truth 
 of the assertions made above ; few who 
 will deny the existence of the abuses — un- 
 less it be those who are practicing the 
 abuses mentioned. And all of those who 
 have come in contact with any one of these 
 abuses must know that they result from di- 
 verting mediumship from its legitimate use. 
 
 They well know that greed, cupidity, 
 and the lust for power and ease, have com- 
 bined to lead many persons away from the 
 legitimate field of mediumship. They well 
 know this greed, and its concomitant ig- 
 norance has caused the making a fetish of 
 the slightest degree of mediumistic devel- 
 opment ; it has crowded those who had but 
 a modicum of development into public 
 
work, to make of mediumship a by-word, 
 and to interfere with the proper use of its 
 phenomena. 
 
 They also know, that whereas medi- 
 umistic phenomena should, in all cases, 
 have tended to accentuate the desire for 
 personal unfoldment, too many have looked 
 upon those phenomena, and that medium- 
 ship, as a means of evading their legitimate 
 responsibilities. The results are obvious. 
 
 It should be apparent to all that those 
 wise souls who were back of the more gen- 
 erally awakened interest in this theme, had 
 something more than a mercenary interest 
 in the subject. 
 
 It should be obvious that, when they 
 sought to inaugurate an era of increasing 
 spirituality through an enlightened medi- 
 umship, they had in view something more 
 than the subjugation of a few mortals to 
 the dominant control of their wills. Great 
 souls do not seek to control — to dominate ; 
 they seek to guide — to point the way ! They 
 do not seek to lessen, but rather to increase 
 the individuality! They do not seek to 
 submerge other souls, but rather to set 
 them free. 
 
 Those "Masters of Progress" who have 
 co-operated in eliminating the barriers be- 
 tween the mortal and spiritual phases of 
 life, could not, in the very nature of things, 
 have desired to inaugurate that which would 
 be distructive in its tendency. 
 
Nor can we bring ourselves to believe 
 that their motive was to introduce an era of 
 fortune- telling and neciomancy; nor can we 
 conceive it to ha /e been their design to use 
 someone merely as a mouthpiece — as a pho- 
 nograph. 
 
 All real spiritual philosophy, ancient 
 or modern, has as its slogan: "Man, Know 
 Thyself!" It fairly scintillates with the 
 thought of self culture; individual develop- 
 ment — illumination. Hence, it must be 
 obvious to every thinking person, that there 
 is a higher motive, back of the spiritual 
 movement, than the mere subjection of 
 humans; something nobler than self-ag- 
 grandizement; something greater than the 
 making of human automatons. 
 
 Every great thing has been misunder- 
 stood —and mis-applied; the inauguration of 
 the spiritual basis of mediumship, was no 
 exception. But everything must make pro- 
 gress; it must be clarified by much thought 
 — it must be purged by the passing of time 
 and the coming of experience. It must be 
 tried in the crucible of applicability— it must 
 be carried from the alphabetical stage to 
 that of the mathematical, the geometric, the 
 scientifically correct and useful. 
 
 And in this process many of the, one 
 time, well cherished concepts of the princi- 
 ples involved, must pass away. 'Twas so 
 with everything. *Tis so with this. And 
 it is a fact which spells Progress. 
 
Once the only means of communica- 
 tion, with distant points, was by foot mes- 
 senger; later it was by mounted courier; still 
 later it was the slow going, first models of 
 the railroad train, or early steamboat. Then 
 came the telegraph, trans-Atlantic cables; 
 telephone, and now wireless telegraphy. 
 Ere long it will be mental telepathy. 
 
 And so with the various concepts of 
 mediumship. They too must keep 
 pace with progress — with the spirit of the 
 age. The principles involved in each of 
 the improvements above, have alway exist- 
 ed in nature. They only waited for souls 
 large enough — sufficiently attuned to catch 
 their import; to recognize and apply them. 
 
 And mediumship in its highest aspect 
 has always been a fact in nature. But we 
 have been blind — we have failed to see its 
 greatness; and consequently we have mis- 
 used the opportunities we have had. 
 
 We have thought of but one phase of 
 mediumship — and that subjective; passive 
 and dependent. We have exalted ignorant 
 beings, who have simply been played upon 
 by mischievous souls from the zone beyond 
 death's portal, and made demi-gods of them. 
 We made fools of them; they made fools of 
 us! But we are learning! 
 
 This of course may be misunderstood. 
 And those who do not understand will in- 
 sinuate that we do not appreciate what has 
 
been done, by discarnate and incarnate 
 souls, for the good of humanity. They 
 will intimate that we have not sufficient 
 reverence for the fact of intercommunion 
 between the two spheres of life. But it is 
 reverence which prompts the writing. 
 
 And so there is reason for every state- 
 ment in the forgoing arraignment; and he 
 who runs may read" the reason, if he will, 
 in the evidences everywhere. So to proceed. 
 
 We will all admit that any degree of 
 mediumship which adds to the individ- 
 uality; which enlarges the consciousness, 
 which widens the scope of usefulness, 
 is beneficial to an unlimited degree. 
 
 And all who are reasonable will con- 
 cur in the statement that every phase, or 
 degree of mediumship, which narrows the 
 scope of individual usefulness; which de- 
 tracts from the individuality, or which di- 
 minishes the volitionary power, of the me- 
 dium, is detrimental to that person; and, 
 likewise, an impediment to human progress. 
 
 The progress of a race, or nation, is 
 the sum of the greatest collective, spiritual 
 and intellectual development. And any- 
 thing which, in any measure, lowers that 
 collective unfoldment — which depreciates 
 the average of racial, or national develop- 
 ment, is, in the very nature of it, injurious 
 to mankind. 
 
The measure of the value of anything 
 is to be found in the degree in which it 
 makes for a larger manhood and woman- 
 hood; can be discerned in the manner in 
 which it adds to, or detracts from, the de- 
 velopment of character. 
 
 Granting the above, it then follows 
 that there is, as intimated before a right and 
 wrong use for everything; it also follows 
 that, in the last analysis, the application 
 which adds to the sum of human character 
 and achievement — which enlarges the scope 
 of human brotherhood, must be counted 
 right. That which operates conversely 
 must be adjudged wrong. 
 
 Obviously, then, we must needs study 
 everything; we must apply principles — we 
 must watch results. The more we know — 
 the more correctly we apply what we know 
 the greater are the emoluments that will 
 accrue. We must analyze; we must clarify 
 — we must prepare to use the principle. 
 Even so it is with mediumship. 
 
 "But 11 says one (and there are many 
 such) "you would not have me study to be 
 a medium; I am in the hands of my guide; 
 is that not enough?" 
 
 In answer let us say : If only a degree 
 of subjective mediumship is desired ; if the 
 student desires nothing more than to be a 
 machine, an automaton , if he simply wishes 
 to be an instrument in the hands of some 
 
discarnate being, it does not require so very 
 much. In that event, he has done enough 
 when he has joined himself to some devel- 
 oping circle, and made himself as passive 
 as possible. 
 
 He has but to open the door of his 
 mind and let any person who so desires 
 take possession thereof; he might even 
 call in a mesmerist to place him in the state 
 of subjugation. That would hasten the 
 matter. 
 
 But if the desire is to be a conscious 
 master of his own selfhood ; one who is 
 illumined — one whose soul self has become 
 quickened to the degree that he may come 
 into concious communion with Master 
 Minds, both incarnate, or discarnate ; if all 
 of this be the student's desire — it becomes 
 another matter. And it is for such as he 
 that these thoughts are expressed. 
 
 Conscious unfoldment means the read- 
 justment of the entire being — a quickening 
 of the vibratory activity of soul and body ; 
 in other words, it means the rechemicaliza- 
 tion of the body through which the soul 
 functions. It means training the brain cells 
 that they be enabled to register, without loss 
 of consciousness, the thought vibrations 
 from master souls in the various realms of 
 experience. 
 
 And this certainly is not the work of a 
 moment— nor the work for laggards to un- 
 
dertake. It means getting acquainted with 
 the soul self — it means conscientious effort ; 
 it means an abundance of time applied to 
 the work of self evolvement. 
 
 Here are a few things worth remem- 
 bering — points which will aid in clarifying 
 the mind of the student: 
 
 Everything partakes somewhat of the na- 
 ture of the channel through which it passes. 
 Moral : The more nearly the channel cor- 
 responds to the high quality of the substance 
 passing through it, the less adulterated, or 
 contaminated, will that substance be when 
 it reaches its destination. 
 
 The law of magnetic attraction deter- 
 mines the class of individuals and events 
 drawn to each person ; every person drawn 
 to another, must of necessity have some- 
 thing affinitive within. To attract the best, 
 we must unfold the best within us. It then 
 becomes accentuated by association ; we 
 thus become more and more magnetic to 
 the higher. 
 
 Within the crude iron ore may be found 
 all the potentiality of the finer steels ; but 
 without the smelting, the furnaces, the re- 
 fining, and the repolarization — the accentu- 
 ated vibratory activity, the potency, would 
 lie forever dormant. 
 
 The musician can produce all the mu- 
 sic there is within his own soul, when he 
 has mastered his own soul ; and he can 
 
only produce that which is within him. To 
 do so he must have an instrument which is 
 adequate to express what his soul feels. 
 The instrument must possess the fibre, the 
 quality and tone which corresponds, in de- 
 gree, to that of the player. Thus : the finer 
 the instrument the more nearly the mu- 
 sician can come to expressing himself. 
 
 The unconscious medium — the sub- 
 jective medium —is an instrument, loaned 
 to, and played upon by some alien soul; a 
 soul other than self. No doubt, the finer — 
 the more fully developed he is, the better 
 will be the music produced by the player. 
 And the player will correspond to the best 
 he (the instrument) has developed. 
 
 The conscious medium is the "Master 
 Musician" readjusting his own instrument 
 — expressing thereupon the music of his 
 own soul. The instrument is his — he is the 
 player. 
 
 The unconscious medium is a funnel 
 through which the water of another's opin- 
 ion is poured; during the operation the fun- 
 nel is moist; after it, it becomes dry, with 
 no residuum of the mental liquid remaining 
 to keep the mind of the medium lubricated. 
 
 The conscious medium is a camera 
 filled with sensitive plates which record the 
 impressions made from the thought world 
 of the souls who inspire him; and the im- 
 pressions made by his original thought. 
 
He is a magnet to which adheres particles 
 of Spiritual steel. 
 
 He is a library in which are stored 
 copies of the thought volumes loaned him 
 by the Teachers who come within his range 
 — who temporarily contact with his aura. 
 Within him is the dynamic energy of con- 
 scious activity, which co-operates with the 
 soul of things in rounding out his fuller, and 
 greater individuality. 
 
 The unconscious medium is the chariot 
 in which rides another's will — indeed he is 
 both steed and chariot, held in leash, or 
 driven wildly, by the one who holds in the 
 whiphand, the lash of hypnotic control. 
 
 The one who is consciously developed 
 is Sovereign in the realm of his selfhood. 
 The chariot is his own — he drives whither 
 he will. He contacts consciously, intention- 
 ally, and co-operatively, with souls of this, 
 and other planes of activity; from this con- 
 tact he derives benefit, personal instruction 
 — illumination. 
 
 Unconscious, or subjective medium- 
 ship, is not dependent upon moral stability 
 —upon integrity; it depends, fundamentally 
 upon susceptibility to control — to psycho- 
 logical influence, to automatism. 
 
 On the other hand, where there is con- 
 scious illumination, or development, it calls 
 for moral correspondence; for spiritual a- 
 wakening; for conscious self-mastery; in 
 
fact, morality and spirituality are the cor- 
 rollaries of medial illumination. For this 
 reason this degree of mediumship, comes 
 only with that development which involves 
 the evolution of the highest and best. 
 
 It will, in all probability, be argued by 
 some, that this is a diatribe against all 
 mediumship; and those who have made a 
 fetish of their subjective mediumship, and 
 who feel that the acme of unfoldment has 
 been reached in the fact that they have 
 been controlled, will undoubtedly have 
 much to say, disparagingly, of our position. 
 So be it ! It will not alter the facts in the 
 case. 
 
 In order that all such may save their 
 breath, and be relieved of the necessity of 
 proving their contention, we will admit the 
 following : 
 
 This lesson is, in a sense, a diatribe 
 against all such mediumship as destroys 
 the individuality of the human. 
 
 It is an attack upon the practice which 
 causes a goodly number to look upon med- 
 iumship as infallible; and upon mediums as 
 more than human. 
 
 It is in opposition to the concept which 
 incites so many persons to depend entirely 
 upon discarnate beings; and moves them to 
 run after every person who poses as a me- 
 dium. 
 
It is an argument against the practice 
 of submerging one's individuality into that 
 of another being, either incarnate or dis- 
 carnate. 
 
 It is, emphatically, in opposition to that 
 class of persons who assume to have medi- 
 umship for sale (?), and who offer to barter 
 development for a stipulated sum in the 
 coin of the realm. 
 
 It is a warning against that class of 
 persons who take advantage of the credul- 
 ity of people to the extent that they, for a 
 certain stipend — usually large — offer to sup- 
 ply guiding bands of spiritual beings, from 
 among the illustrious souls of antiquity. 
 
 It is a warning against all persons who 
 under the guise of mediumship, offer for 
 sale, charms, amulets, and potions; who set 
 themselves up as qualified to infallibly di- 
 rect manipulations upon the stock exchange; 
 who undertake the adjustment of all ills 
 and contentions to which the human is heir. 
 
 In short, it is an argument against 
 every single and collective abuse of medi- 
 umship: of whatsoever character the abuse 
 may be, and whatsoever it may take place. 
 And, conversely, it is an argument in sup- 
 port of every legitimate use, and application 
 of the principles of mediumship. 
 
 It is a call to those interested, to make an 
 effort to aid in the inauguration of the era in 
 which the true shall be elevated; the false de- 
 
posed. It is a call for the unfoldment of 
 the Divine man — he of whom we shall speak 
 in a subsequent lesson on "Unfolding The 
 Finer Forces." 
 
 But what of the use of mediumship? 
 Surely every word — every line which speaks 
 of the freer, more fully illumined human, 
 tells of the use of mediumship. Briefly, 
 however its use is : 
 
 To bring knowledge in place of belief; 
 to institute self-reliance in place of depend- 
 ence — servility; to install truth in place of 
 falsehood. To bring knowledge in place of 
 sorrow; light in place of darkness. 
 
 To inaugurate a broader faith in place 
 of morbid doubt; to bring humans, con- 
 sciously, in contact with the Sages who 
 have gone before — when it is the pleasure 
 of those Sages to give comfort, counsel 
 and instruction. 
 
 To depose ignorance, and enthrone, 
 for aye, that rare enlightenment which in- 
 stalls man as king — woman as queen; which 
 will make of Honor, our guide; of Virtue, 
 our pleasure; and of Brotherhood, the aim 
 of our every effort and endeavor, 
 
 To install in every life, that sane trin- 
 ity: Analysis; Concentration; Optimism, 
 with whose infallible aid we are taught to 
 see the beauty of life in the absolute— and 
 seeing become, like unto the eternal, beauti- 
 ful in Soul. 
 
To inspire us with a recognition of our 
 At-One-Ment with all the good— with the 
 Over-Soul, in its every aspect and degree. 
 In short it is to inspire the mind— the Soul, 
 to sing — and put into action this thought: 
 
 "I AM ONE WITH ALL THERE IS! 
 TRUTH AND I ARE ONE ! MAKER OF PRO- 
 GRESS AM I ! I HAVE FOUND THE TRUTH 
 AND IT HAS MADE ME FREE! I HAVE 
 FOUND THE ONE JOY THAT NEVER 
 FAILS— IT IS TO BE OF USE TO MAN." 
 

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 BALTIMORE. MO 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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