I called to her to return, and as she entered she exclaimed, “Look what has happened to the door!” and we found that one of the panels had split clean in two.
It was this that had evidently caused the loud crack we had both heard.
I offer no explanation of this incident for the good and sufficient reason that I do not know what the explanation may be.
I merely state what happened.
My readers can explain it as they please.
When it is not possible to seal the room, it is a very useful thing to be able to seal the aura.
Stand upright and cross yourself, by touching forehead, breast, right shoulder and left shoulder, saying, “By the power of the Christ of God within me, whom I serve with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength (extend your hands forward as far as you can reach at the level of the solar plexus, finger tips touching, then sweep them round to the back and touch the finger-tips together again behind you, saying), I encompass myself about with the Divine Circle of His protection, across which no mortal error dares to set its foot.” This is an old monkish formula.
It is very effectual, but its potency only lasts about four hours.
There are various other devices which are useful, not only in dealing with psychic attacks, but in any case of undue influence or domination.
If you have to interview persons whose influence you find overwhelming, imagine that they are separated from you by a sheet of plate-glass.
You can see them, and hear them, but their magnetism cannot reach you.
Visualise this sheet of glass until it appears to you to be absolutely tangible.
If you have to associate with persons who distress you, but are not actually interviewing them, imagine that they are separated from you by a brick wall, and say to yourself, “You just aren’t there.
I can’t see you or hear you, and you simply don’t exist.” When dealing with a person who saps your vitality, interlace your fingers, and lay your folded hands upon your solar plexus, keeping your elbows pressed against your sides.
Keep your feet touching each other.
You have thus contacted all your own terminals and made of your body a closed circuit.
No magnetism will go out from you while you maintain this attitude.
Your friend will probably complain of your lack of sympathy, however kindly you may speak.
If anyone tries to dominate you by gazing intently into the eyes, do not attempt to return gaze for gaze, for this only leads to an exhausting struggle in which you may get the worst of it, but look steadily at the spot just above the base of their nose, between the inner ends of the eyebrows.
If you are merely dealing with an ordinary bully, you will immediately have the upper hand.
If, however, your antagonist has knowledge of mind-power, you may not be able to dominate him, but he certainly will not be able to dominate you, and the result will be a stalemate.
Do not attempt to dominate him, merely keep your eye on the spot and wait for him to weary of his attempt to dominate you.
You will not have long to wait.
By the use of the methods described in the preceding pages any person of normal courage and mentality, provided he avoids drugs, alcohol and long periods without food, can, if he does not lose his nerve, wear down any ordinary psychic attack; or in the case of attacks of abnormal potency, can at least ensure himself time to make good his escape and seek help.
The sacraments are also a most potent source of spiritual power, and a church where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, or which is sufficiently old to have been consecrated before the Reformation, is an effectual sanctuary.
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
The text instructs the reader to visualize specific barriers (plate-glass, brick wall) and perform physical postures to achieve protection, which is a form of active contemplation using imagery.
The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.
The formula explicitly states 'the Christ of God within me', asserting the divine presence resides inside the individual.
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 techniques rely on the practitioner's ability to visualize barriers and maintain postures to control the flow of magnetism, demonstrating the use of will in magical operation.
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 entire passage is dedicated to methods of defense against psychic attacks, undue influence, domination, and vitality-sapping.
The condition, often unconscious on the vampire's part, in which one person chronically drains the vital force of another in close relationship, leaving the victim persistently exhausted or ill while the vampire is sustained. Distinct from psychic_attack in mechanism (a parasitic, often unintentional energy-transfer within an ongoing relationship, rather than a deliberate willed assault) and in being a chronic condition rather than a discrete event.
The text describes dealing with persons who 'sap your vitality' and drain magnetism, which aligns with the concept of psychic vampirism.
Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.
The use of specific gestures (crossing oneself), words, and postures to invoke divine protection aligns with theurgical practices of engaging divine power through material symbols.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
The passage provides a specific verbal formula ('By the power of the Christ...') to be spoken aloud to effectuate protection, demonstrating belief in the causal force of spoken words.