As a writer well says:  “Through the astral tube the astral senses actually ‘sense’ the sights, and often the sounds, being manifested at a distance, just as one may see distant sights through a telescope, or hear distant sounds through a telephone.  The astral tube is used in a variety of forms of psychic phenomena.  It is often used unconsciously, and springs into existence spontaneously, under the strong influence of a vivid emotion, desire or will.  It is used by the trained psychometrist, without the use of any ‘starting point,’ or ‘focal centre,’ simply by the use of his trained, developed and concentrated will.  But its most familiar and common use is in connection with some object serving as a starting point or focal centre.  The starting point or focal centre, above mentioned, is generally either what is known as the ‘associated object’ in the class of phenomena generally known as psychometry, or else a glass or crystal ball, or similar polished surface, in what is known as crystal-gazing.”

Another authority tells his readers that:  “Astral sight, when it is cramped by being directed along what is practically a tube, is limited very much as physical sight would be under similar circumstances, though if possessed in perfection it will continue to show, even at that distance, the auras, and therefore all the emotions and most of the thoughts of the people under observation. * * * But, it may be said, the mere fact that he is using astral sight ought to enable him to see things from all sides at once.  And so it would, if he were using that sight in a normal way upon an object which was fairly near him—­within his astral reach, as it were; but at a distance of hundreds or thousands of miles the case is very different.  Astral sight gives us the advantage of an additional dimension, but there is still such a thing as position in that dimension, and it is naturally a potent factor in limiting the use of the powers on that plane. * * * The limitations resemble those of a man using a telescope on the physical plane.  The experimenter, for example, has a particular field of view which cannot be enlarged or altered; he is looking at his scene from a certain direction, and he cannot suddenly turn it all around and see how it looks from the other side.  If he has sufficient psychic energy to spare, he may drop altogether the telescope he is using, and manufacture an entirely new one for himself which will approach his objective somewhat differently; but this is not a course at all likely to be adopted in practice.”

The student will find that, as we progress, many of these points which now seem complicated and obscure will gradually take on the aspect of simplicity and clearness.  We must crawl before we can walk, in psychic research as well as in everything else.

LESSON VIII.

Clairvoyant reverie.