I have never actually seen such bruises myself, but I have been told of them by people who have either had them themselves, or seen them.
It is a well-known fact that if an occultist, functioning out of the body, meets with unpleasantness on the astral plane, or if his subtle body is seen, and struck or shot at, the physical body will show the marks.
I myself have many times found curiously patterned bruises on my body after an astral skirmish.
The mechanism of the production of such marks must, I think, be of the same nature as that which produces the stigmata of saints and the curious physical marks and swellings sometimes seen in hysterics - the mind, powerfully stirred, affects the etheric double, and the etheric double acts upon the physical molecules held in its meshes.
I dare to prophesy the next advances in medicine will be bound up with the knowledge of the nature and function of the etheric double.
The next type of psychic attack which we must consider is that conducted by means of artificial elementals.
These are distinguished from thought-forms by the fact that, once formulated by the creative mind of the magician, they possess a distinct and independent life of their own, though strictly conditioned as to nature by the concept of their creator.
The life of these creatures is akin to that of an electric battery, it slowly leaks out by means of radiation, and unless recharged periodically, will finally weaken and die out.
The whole question of the making, charging, recharging, or destruction of these artificial elementals is an important one in practical occultism.
The artificial elemental is constructed by forming a clear- cut image in the imagination of the creature it is intended to create, ensouling it with something of the corresponding aspect of one’s own being, and then invoking into it the appropriate natural force.
This method can be used for good as well as evil, and “guardian angels” are formed in this way.
It is said that dying women, anxious concerning the welfare of their children, frequently form them unconsciously.
I myself once had an exceedingly nasty experience in which I formulated a were-wolf accidentally.
Unpleasant as the incident was, I think it may be just as well to give it publicity, for it shows what may happen when an insufficiently disciplined and purified nature is handling occult forces.
I had received serious injury from someone who, at considerable cost to myself, I had disinterestedly helped, and I was sorely tempted to retaliate.
Lying on my bed resting one afternoon, I was brooding over my resentment, and while so brooding, drifted towards the borders of sleep.
There came to my mind the thought of casting off all restraints and going berserk.
The ancient Nordic myths rose before me, and I thought of Fenris, the Wolf-horror of the North.
Immediately I felt a curious drawing-out sensation from my solar plexus, and there materialised beside me on the bed a large wolf.
It was a well-materialised ectoplasmic form.
Like Z., it was grey and colourless, and like him, it had weight.
I could distinctly feel its back pressing against me as it lay beside me on the bed as a large dog might.
I knew nothing about the art of making elementals at that time, but had accidentally stumbled upon the right method -the brooding highly charged with emotion, the invocation of the appropriate natural force, and the condition between sleeping and waking in which the etheric double readily extrudes.
I was horrified at what I had done, and knew I was in a tight corner and that everything depended upon my keeping my head.
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
The method for creating elementals involves forming a clear-cut image in the imagination and brooding with emotion, which is a form of active contemplation.
The magical manufacture of a semi-autonomous entity from the operator's own creative mind-stuff, formulated with sufficient force and sustained attention that it acquires a distinct, independent life of its own beyond an ordinary passing thought-form — directable as tool, weapon, or guardian, but capable of escaping the operator's control if mishandled. Distinct from spirit_conjuration (binding a spirit that already exists, rather than manufacturing one) and from word_power_incantation (the causal force of the spoken word itself, rather than the sustained mental construction of an entity).
The passage explicitly defines, describes the construction of, and provides a personal anecdote about creating an artificial elemental (a were-wolf).
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 explains how events on the astral plane (subtle body) directly affect the physical body, illustrating a correspondence between levels of existence.
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 text details the phenomenon of functioning out of the body (astral projection) and the physical consequences (bruises) resulting from interactions on the astral plane.
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 creation of elementals is described as a function of the creative mind and will, specifically noting how brooding charged with emotion can accidentally manifest forms.
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 discusses psychic attacks conducted by artificial elementals and the author's experience of injury from an astral skirmish.