BEFORE we can leave the subject of attack by incarnate human beings, we must consider the subject of etheric projection.
In this case not only is the mind at work, but also something which is pretty nearly physical; sufficiently physical, at any rate, to leave bruises on the flesh of the victim, throw the furniture about, or at least make a considerable amount of noise.
Where such manifestations take place, it is obvious that we are dealing with something more substantial than the mind, for although mind can influence mind, and through it the body to an extent to which in the present state of our knowledge it is difficult to set limits, mind cannot manipulate matter directly: that is to say, you cannot smash a window by means of a thought.
There must be some physical vehicle that can be manipulated by the mind if effects are to be wrought on the physical plane.
The living body is such an instrument; it is manipulated by the mind every time a voluntary movement takes place, and the operations of spiritual healing are simply an extension of this principle to the involuntary muscles and physiological processes not ordinarily directed by the conscious mind.
Occultists maintain that mind affects body by means of the etheric double, as it is called, the “mortal mind” of the Christian Scientists.
We may not unreasonably conclude that when physical action is produced at a distance by occult means, it is done by employing this etheric double.
The etheric double is primarily a body of magnetic stresses in the framework of whose meshes every cell and fibre of the physical body is held as in a rack.
But intermediate between this and the dense physical body as we know it, there is what may be called the raw material out of which dense matter is condensed.
This was called by the ancients, Hyle, or First Matter, and by the moderns, Ectoplasm.
It is this projected ectoplasm which produces the phenomena whenever physical manifestations are in question.
It may be projected as long rods, which will operate up to a distance of a dozen feet or so; or it may be projected as a nebulous cloud, connected with the medium by a tenuous thread.
This cloud can be organised into distinct forms, having the semblance of life and acting as vehicles for conscious wills.
There is a great deal of information available on this subject in the literature of spiritualism, to which reference may be found in the bibliography at the end of this book.
The adept who was head of the occult college to which I have previously referred, and from whom I received my first training in occultism, was able to perform this operation, and I have many times seen him do it.
He would go into deep trance, after a few convulsive movements, somewhat like a slow tetany, and would then lose about two-thirds of his weight.
I have many times helped to lift him, or even lifted him single-handed, when he was in this state, and he weighed no more than a child.
A man can fake many things, but he cannot fake his weight.
I have lifted him single handed from the floor on to a sofa when in this state.
It is quite true that, being rigid as a board, he was much easier to handle than the ordinary limp, unconscious human form; but there is a certain ratio between the weight of a grown man and the strength of a woman of average physique.
What became of the missing weight on these occasions I found out one night.
He had been ill, with some delirium, and the lion’s share of the nursing, especially the night work, had fallen to my lot.
There came a time, however, when we decided that he was so far recovered that it was unnecessary for anyone to sit up with him, so to bed we all went, for the first time for several days.
I shared a room with another member of the community.
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The text describes the etheric double as a body of magnetic stresses and ectoplasm that acts as a medium for mind to affect matter, closely aligning with the concept of a universal fluid or medium transmitting will.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The text implies a correspondence between mental will and physical effect mediated by the etheric plane ('mind affects body by means of the etheric double').
A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).
The author mentions receiving training from an 'adept who was head of the occult college,' implying a chain of transmission for this knowledge.
The doctrine and practice by which the etheric or astral double separates from the physical body, at will or involuntarily, to act, travel, or encounter other entities on a plane subtler than the physical — remaining tethered to the body by a silver cord, and capable of returning physical injury (bruises, exhaustion) sustained while thus projected. Distinct from linga_sharira (the static doctrine that a subtle form persists as a template) in describing its active operative use, and from shamanic_journey (a trance-journey framed within a shamanic ritual complex, undertaken to return with knowledge, songs, or a recovered soul) in being a Western-esoteric technical practice with its own physiology of cord-attachment and reciprocal wounding.
The passage is explicitly titled and focused on the doctrine and practice of etheric projection, detailing its physical effects, mechanism via ectoplasm, and anecdotal evidence of weight loss during the process.
The persistent form or image of a human being that exists from birth to death, distinct from the impermanent physical matter.
The 'etheric double' described as a persistent form holding the physical body's cells and fibres corresponds to the concept of the linga sharira or subtle body template.
The doctrine that human volition, cultivated by discipline and emancipated from passion and servitude, is the primary instrument of magical operation — will confirmed by persistent acts acquires causal power over self, others, and nature; distinct from faith and from mere desire.
The text emphasizes that the etheric double is manipulated by the mind and organized into forms acting as vehicles for 'conscious wills' to produce physical effects.
The doctrine and practice of one person deliberately inflicting harm on another through trained will, mind-power, or occult technique alone, without physical contact — producing exhaustion, illness, breakdown, or death in the victim; recognised cross-culturally as witchcraft, hexing, or the evil eye, and treated in Western esotericism as a genuine occult hazard requiring diagnosis and defence rather than dismissed as superstition. Distinct from magical_will (the general doctrine that trained volition has causal power, of which this is one malevolent application) and from spirit_conjuration (which subordinates an already-existing summoned spirit, rather than directing the operator's own power at a person).
The passage begins by situating etheric projection within the context of 'attack by incarnate human beings' and describes phenomena like bruising victims and throwing furniture as manifestations of this power.
Organized, persisting groups — fraternities, orders, lodges — that maintain esoteric knowledge or practices as an institution distinct from public religion or mainstream society, holding 'the keys' collectively rather than through any one master-disciple pair. Distinct from esoteric_lineage (a genealogical chain of individual transmission, not an institution) and hidden_sayings (the concealment of a teaching's meaning, independent of whether any organized body holds it).
Reference to an 'occult college' and a 'community' suggests an organized group maintaining esoteric practices distinct from the public.