consciousness of some evil having befallen my son, Herbert, that at the last, I wrote down that I was unable to shake off the impression that something had happened to him, and noted this down for remembrance.”  There is nothing unusual about this case, for it has been duplicated in the experience of many persons.  Its chief importance lies in the fact that it is recorded by a man of wide reputation and high standing, and also that the Bishop had taken the precaution to note down the thing at the time, instead of merely recalling it after he had heard of the accident.

You will notice that in many cases of this kind the phenomenon closely approaches the aspect of true clairvoyance, or astral sensing.  In some cases there appears to be a blending of both telepathy and astral clairvoyance.  In fact, there is but very little difference between the highest phases of ordinary telepathy, and the more common phases of clairvoyance.  Here, as in many other cases of Nature’s forces, there seems to be a gradual blending, rather than a sharp dividing line between the two classes of phenomena.  Moreover, the student developing his telepathic powers will frequently find that he is beginning to unfold at least occasional flashes of clairvoyance.

In the case of telepathy, the recipient merely senses what is in the mind of the projector.  In some cases a picture in the mind of the projector may be seen by the recipient, and may thus be mistaken for a case of pure clairvoyance.  But, in investigating closely, it will be found that the real scene was slightly different from the impression, in which case it shows that the impression was simply telepathic.  Clairvoyant vision shows the scene as it really is, or rather as the physical eye of the recipient would have seen it.  The astral sight really sees the scene, and does not merely receive the mental impression of the projector.  The first is original seeing; the second, merely a reproduction of images already in the mind of the projector, and colored by his personality, etc.

In the next lesson, I shall give you a number of exercises and methods designed to develop your telepathic powers.  You will find the practice of these most interesting and entertaining, and at the same time most instructive.  You will find that as you practice the exercises given therein, you will become more and more adept and proficient in producing telepathic phenomena.  From the lower stages, you will be able to proceed to the higher.  And, in time, you will be surprised to find that almost unconsciously you have passed into the stage in which you will have at least occasional manifestations of clairvoyance, psychometry, etc.

In fact, there is no better way known to practical occultists to develop in a student the powers of clairvoyance than just this method of starting the student with the exercises designed to develop the telepathic power.  It has been found by centuries of experience that the student who develops telepathic power, in a systematic way, will gradually unfold and evolve the clairvoyant and psychometric power.  It constitutes the first rungs on the ladder of psychic development.